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EDITORIAL  Prabhupada's Pranam Correction BY DEVASHIS DAS EDITORIAL, May 22 (VNN) — Sri Sri Guru Gaurangau Jayatah! Dandabat Pranam to all the worshipable Devotees of Sri Chaitanyadev. Whilst not wanting to be critical of Sriman Gopakumar Prabhu's article "Prabhupada's Pranam" which is no doubt meant to inform the devotees of the intimate relationship between Srila Sridhar Maharaj and Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupad, I have to none the less, inform all the respected readers that the pranam mantra refered to in his article was not infact composed by our revered master Srila Sridhar Maharaj. It is however no less wonderful and glorious in its composition and content. The original pranam mantra of Srila Prabhupad known and chanted by his devotees the world over, although filled with the devotion of his followers has many mistakes in the sanskrit composition. Many times Srila Prabhupad said "One day my disciple will correct it!" This beautiful mantra; namah om visnupadaya krsna-presthaya bhutale swami sri bhaktivedanta prabhupadaya te namah gurvajnam sirasi-dharyam saktyavesa sva-rupine hare-krsneti mantrena pascatya-pracya-tarine visvacarya prabaryaya divya karunya murtaye sri bhagavata-madhurya-gita-jnana-pradayine gaura-sri-rupa-siddhanta-sarasvati nisevine radha-krsna-padambhoja-bhrngaya gurave namah "I offer my humble obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is Krsna's beloved associate and who came down to this plane from Goloka. Taking the order of his guru on his head, he is the sakyavesa (empowered) avatar of Nityananda Prabhu personified. He distributed the Hare Krsna mantra all over the Eastern and Western world, delivering and uplifting all fallen souls. He is the best of millions of jagat-gurus, because he is the personification of divine mercy. He has distributed the sweet nectar of Srimad Bhagavatam and the transcendental knowledge of Bhagavad-gita all over the world. He is constantly engaged in exclusive devotional service to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, Srila Rupa Goswami, and Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu. I offer my humble obeisances unto Srila Prabhupada, who is like a bumblebee always tasting the nectar of the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha and Govinda. " is in fact composed by His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. The chosen successor of Srila Sridhar Maharaj and Acharyya of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Srila Govinda Maharaj also lived with Srila Prabhupad in Calcutta while he was a brahmacari and Prabhupad a grihasta. The first Calcutta Branch of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math was in rooms above Prabhupad's Chemist Laboratory. Srila Sridhar Maharaj liked that Srila Govinda Maharaj would learn Bhagavad -gita from "Abhay Babhu" and while he was in Calcutta Srila Govinda Maharaj lived like Prabhupad's own son in his house. Srila Govinda Mahraj often remembers how Prabhupad would send him around to businesses and tea shops armed with those early copies of Back to Godhead (making him the first distributor of Back to Godhead besides Srila Prabhupad himself). "Srila Govinda Maharaj further recollects, "He would take me with him for preaching. He would seat me on the chair as the speaker, because I was a saffron clad brahmacari (the saffron cloth is respected as the dress of the sadhu in India) and I would read the Scripture, but he would explain everything. I never saw anyone with so much fervour and earnestness to preach Krishna Consciousness as him." After Srila Prabhupad had established ISKCON and returned to India he came to stay at the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip to be with Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Srila Govinda Maharaj recalls, "We were serving some breakfast to him. He was sitting at the table and Hari Charan Prabhu was serving and I was directing, bring this, bring that. Then Prabhupad said, "Please Govinda Maharaj sit and take prasadam with me." I was thinking, he is a very great paramahamsa, it would not be correct for me to sit at the same table as him and so I declined his invitation. Then he said with agrin on his face, "Oh you think you will lose your caste because I have been associating with the mlechhas." Immeadiately I bowed down to him and sat with him and took prasadam." Out of great love and respect, considering Srila Prabhupad always as his Guru, Srila Govinda Maharaj composed this pranam mantra to Srila Prabhupad and now continues to spread Krishna Consciousness all over the Globe following in the footsteps of that Great Mahajan. All glory to Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupad, the great ambassador of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who said, "I consider Sridhar Maharaj as my Shiksha Guru and Govinda Maharaj as my dearmost son." May there be truth, harmony and revealation in the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya. with humilty I beg to remain A vaishnava's servant's servant Devashis das Secretary, London Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Contact VNN about this story  Send this story to a friend
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