How he become known as "Srila Prabhupada."

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Here's How He Became Known as "Srila Prabhupada"

11 March 2025

In the early days of ISKCON up until May of 1968 Srila Prabhupada was known only as "Swamiji." Here's the true story told by my Godsister, Govinda dasi, how instead of "Swamiji" he came to be know as "Srila Prabhupada."

All along everyone knew of him as Swamiji. This is up until May of 1968. Because Gaurasundar (her husband) decided he wanted to call me Govindaji he asked Prabhupada and Prabhupada said, “No. actually Ji is a third class form of address. It’s better not to call her Govindaji."

So I piped up I was sitting right in front of him I said,
"Well, if its a third class form of address why are we calling you 'Ji'. Why are we calling you 'Swamiji' "?

And he said, “Oh, its not very important.”
I said, “No. It’s very important. If its a third class form of address then we don’t want to call you that. We want to call you the most first class form of address. So tell us what would be a good name for us to call you by."

And he was very humble very reluctant. But I pressed him. (Like, we’ve got to change this.) And he said, "You can call me Gurudeva, or Guru Maharaja or Prabhupada."

So I said, "That’s three. We need one. Which one is the best?" And he answered, "Srila Prabhupada is nice. That is the best."

So I said, “From today you will be called 'Srila Prabhuapda.' "

And So I told all the devotees. Some of the devotees did not like it because it is kind of a tongue twister: "Prabhupada." "Swamiji" kind of flows more easily but we gradually started calling him Srila Prabhupada from that time.

Our thanks to Govinda dasi for sharing with us one of the sweetest moments in Srila Prabhupada's eternal pastimes.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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Transcendental Correspondence

What is the hidden meaning behind Lord Krishna stealing butter?

S.D.

Answer

My Dear S.D.

Please accept my blessings.

Krishna does not have to steal because He owns everything. But to enjoy a special kind of pleasure He takes the role of being a naughty kid who is repeatedly chastised by His mother Yasoda for stealing butter. A nice example in this connection is this true story:

Once a very important gentleman had an appointment to meet Prime Minister Gladstone, who managed the entire British empire. That gentleman was waiting, waiting, waiting in the room next to prime minister’s office far beyond the time for his appointment. He was still not able to meet Prime Minister Gladstone. Finally, his curiosity got the best of him and he peeked through the door into the prime minster’s office to see what he was doing. The prime minister was down on his hands and knees crawling all over his office with his grandson on his back. He was finding more pleasure in playing like a horse for his grandson than in the being the prime minister of the mighty British empire.

In the same way Lord Sri Krishna derives a special pleasure playing the role of being the chastised naughty son of mother Yasoda, that far exceeds the pleasure He tastes by being the Lord of all existence.

I hope this meets you in the best of health and in a cheerful mood.

Your ever well-wisher,

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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My Spiritual Journey in a Nutshell

As an American youth I was taught to believe in the. "American dream": Study hard, get a good education and a good job to get a good wife some good kids in a good house to enjoy a good life. But when I got to college I realized that this was not enough. I wanted to know what is the meaning of life, but no one could tell me. So I took to the path of self-realization and was blessed in 1968 with the Hare Krishna mantra and the worship of Radha and Krishna. (I did not know about ISKCON.) This inspired me to drop out of college and renounce the world to become a holy beggar in India. But on the way to India I realized that to renounce everything I had to ultimately renounce renunciation itself and accept something transcendental Thus I embraced the mission of delivering the world from chaos. For this purpose I adopted the life a singer/songwriter who in 1969 became recognized and very much appreciated. In 1971, seeking spiritual perfection, I followed the example of Lord Jesus Christ and prayed to God how I could become His perfect servant. Then God revealed to me path of pure Krishna bhakti as taught by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. On the most auspicious day of 12 August 1971 he accepted me as his disciple. Now on his order and under his most expert guidance I have fully devoted my life for awakening pure love of God within my heart and for making the entire world Krishna conscious.

To read about my journey in detail get my memoir:

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