The Secret of Common Time

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble pranams! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

In the material world we see that there are bodily differentiations among all varieties of living entities. Apart from that even in the same species also each living entity has his or her own nature and because of that there are so many differences. Hence it becomes extremely difficult for us to have loving relationships with all. We always have the tendency to differentiate and discriminate. This is very sternly condemned by the lord in Srimad Bhagavatam 3.29.26:

ātmanaś ca parasyāpi yaḥ karoty antarodaram
tasya bhinna-dṛśo mṛtyur vidadhe bhayam ulbaṇam

As the blazing fire of death, I cause great fear to whoever makes the least discrimination between himself and other living entities because of a differential outlook.

The question comes to our mind as to how we can practically be loving to one and all. But we also have the experience of seeing our beloved Guru Maharaj who walked before our very eyes and we have also experienced the love he showered on each and every one of us without any discrimination. What is the secret of this loving relationship? The answer to this question is revealed in the following transcription of a portion of a speech by our beloved Guru Maharaj in Malaysia. This realization by Maharaj is most stunning and awe inspiring and make us wonder how things can be looked at and realized in this angle also. The purity, grace and love of Maharaj is immediately felt just by hearing this.

"We are followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is a very merciful incarnation. Very merciful to each and every living entity. And it is our duty to be very whole-heartedly related to every living entity. I will tell you one secret of our behavior. I have this body. You have that body. Dog has that body. Ant has that body. These are different bodies but there are innumerable souls which don’t have bodies at the moment. Only a few bodies we are seeing. Apart from these bodies there are innumerable souls who are not in the body. So those who are in the body and with us in this world, somehow or the other, they are related to us. I do not know what relation is that. Otherwise if we were not intimately related, how can you have the body, I have the body and we have the same time staying together? Otherwise you will not be having the body in front of me. Because I am having the body and you are having the body we have the common time on the planet. Why we are having the common time on the planet? That is why, whenever we see the living entity don’t think that he is a Malaysian or Singaporean or Australian or American. That is the teaching of our Srila Prabhupada. The first thing he told that don’t think you are different and this is the secret of his teaching. Why Krishna has given the common time to us? Not to fight with each other. What we do? We come together and we fight with each other. We misunderstand each other. This is not the way. We are related, whether I know you or not. There are so many Malaysians here wherever we go. We see the same Krishna is wandering about and this is our relation. So don't think that somebody is not related or he does not talk to me; I do not talk to him. No. We are all having common time. That is Krishna's arrangement and Krishna is the 'complete whole' to send us all together on this planet and because He has sent us all together in this planet, it is our duty to save each other.

That is why in Granthraj Srimad Bhagavatam, Jada bharata was jumping while carrying the palanquin. He wanted to save the ants. He was not mad. King Rahugana thought that this was a rascal because he was having the jerks inside and he was upset with him. But when he heard the answers, he could realize, at least he had the knowledge to realize. Otherwise the other kings will not realize at all. This is the culture we are following. This shows that whether I know you or you know me or not, we do not know, but we are all related. Outside living entities, they are also related.

And one thing we have to remember again, that we are here in a very nice happy atmosphere being near to Krishna, being with the books and scriptures and hearing Srimad Bhagavatam and hearing Krishna katha daily we are very happy. But those who come from outside, they are really burning with the miseries. So those whoever has come here, it is our duty to calm them down and how to calm them? Just smile at them. Talk to them nicely. Offer some prasadam to him and that will really uplift them to come to the temple very often and this was Srila Prabhupada’s method, you know.

What Prabhupada used to do in the beginning days in America is, he used to prepare big jar of rasagullas and he used to keep the jar near the door and the hippies they used to come and put first rasagullas in their mouth and then ask, "Prabhupada, how are you? eh…." Rasagulla was in their mouth and then they thought, "Oh! Prabhupada is beautiful." It was not that they came to hear Krishna katha. It was rasagulla they were attracted. So many elevated living entities, they were ringing form their offices, they were working in the offices, "Prabhupada, you prepare samosas very nicely. Please, I am coming for lunch. You prepare samosas." And Prabhupada said, "yes, yes.. you come" and Prabhupada used to prepare samosas. And then when they came to the movement they thought that we were asking this acarya to prepare samosas and he used to do it for us. They went inside his room and they said, "Prabhupada we are very sorry. We were really troubling you to make samosas." Prabhupada said, "Fools! You don’t understand. I was buying you by giving samosas (laughs). I did not have lakshmi but I wanted to buy you. So I had only samosas and because I gave you samosas you are now my slaves."(laughs). These are very simple things but these things make us great. Simple things make us great."

Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev,
Vaijayantimala devi dasi
Abu Dhabi.