Representatives of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati

Srila Prabhupada once told a group of his disciples in London that they were all brahmanas in their previous lives and that they had been ordered by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur to take birth to help Srila Prabhupada to spread the Krishna consciousness movement. He said that was why they were able to take to Krishna consciousness so quickly. Srila Prabhupada looked at each devotee in the room and said, "Now we are all together again," with a beaming smile. It was such a powerful moment that some of the devotees began to cry.

On 26 August 1972 Srila Prabhupada wrote a letter to all of his disciples in which he stated:

"My Spiritual Master knew it that alone I could not do this great work. Therefore He has very kindly sent you all to help me in this task. I accept you therefore as representatives of my Guru Maharaja playing as my affectionate disciples."

Considering Srila Prabhupada's words I sometimes wonder where I was in my previous birth and how it was that I took birth in America in a pious Christian family. I distinctly remember how when I went to India for the first time in 1980 that I had a very powerful emotional experience of feeling that now I have returned to my home.

So now without considering myself to belong to any particular nation here in this material world, I understand myself to a be citizen of the spiritual world who has been deputized or deputed by my spiritual master to serve the mission of the great Vaisnava acharyas, which is to bring about the complete respiritualization of the human society.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Srila Prabhupada in New Vrindavan--1969

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: What Does Krishna's Opinion Mean?

In the Bhagavad-gita verses Lord Krishna sometimes uses the phrase, "That is my opinion." For example, in Chapter 6 of the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says, "And of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me -- he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion."

Another example is in Chapter 6 when Krishna says, "For one whose mind is unbridled, self-realization is difficult work. But he whose mind is controlled and who strives by appropriate means is assured of success. That is My opinion."

So when He uses the phrase, "That is my opinion", what does it exactly mean? This phrase causes doubt and uncertainty in my mind. Could you help my clarify this and remove my foolish doubts?

Kartik P.

Answer: Krishna's Opinion is Law

Thank you for your intelligent question. When you or I give our opinion it is of relative value because our opinion could be wrong or it could be right. It does not hold much weight. But when Krishna gives His opinion, it is absolute. His opinion is law. It is final, just as when the supreme court gives an opinion that opinion becomes the law of the land.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari