One who loves Krishna will certainly love Krishna’s children- other living entities and devotees of the Lord. In the Adi Purana, the Lord instructs Arjuna that one who claims to be His devotee is not actually a devotee whereas a person who becomes a devotee of His devotee, is Krishna’s real devotee.
How does one apply this truth in our day to day life? Srila Prabhupada taught us by his own example.
During his last days in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada received the painful news of dacoits attacking the Mayapur temple complex, and how the partisan newspapers presented erroneous reports, accusing devotees of beating cows and attacking the villagers instead. Srila Prabhupada cried when he heard how the devotees were badly injured in the attack. One devotee, Nitai Chand had tried to stop the Muslim neighbours from stealing the crops, and they attacked him and later a group of 250 men ransacked the temple- they stripped a lady naked, cut both the arms of a gurukul teacher, and injured the others. When devotees complained to the police, they were arrested instead. Although Srila Prabhupada explained through his transcendental vision that the people would soon discover the truth and support ISKCON- and that did happen- yet, as a loving father he felt the suffering of his disciples. He cried in pain and profusely thanked them for their sacrifices in pushing on the movement.
Later, when the situation improved in Mayapur, Srila Prabhupada was still concerned about the well-being of devotees. When the governor of Tamilnadu visited Srila Prabhupada and offered his royal palace in Madras for Srila Prabhupada to recover his health, Srila Prabhupada preferred to raise the topic of attack on devotees. He requested the governor to talk to the prime minister and help devotees. While the governor promised to assist, he again offered Srila Prabhupada treatment in Madras where the best South Asian doctors would attend to him. Srila Prabhupada graciously thanked the governor and quickly asked him to help his foreigner disciples to get permanent residency in India.
Srila Prabhupada worried about his devotees; he wanted them to remain safe and happy, although during this time, he often told devotees that his own end was near and he’d soon leave the world to go back to Krishna.
To be continued…
