Tribute to a Dear Friend, Part 3
BY: PADMAPANI DAS
May 01, INDIA (SUN) A serial tribute to Sriman Tribhuvanatha dasa.
Preaching is the Essence
"Since we have started this movement in the Western countries, Europeans, Americans, Africans, Egyptians, and Japanese are all chanting. There is no difficulty. They are chanting very gladly, and they are getting the results. What is the difficulty?" (Srila Prabhupada lecture, November 1969, London's Conway Hall)
Srila Prabhupada often explained that the best servant or disciple anticipates the desire of the master and tries to fulfill it even before being asked to do so. In the above quote, Prabhupada revealed his desire to see the chanting of Hare Krishna spread far and wide, even to unlikely places such as Egypt and Africa. Our Godbrother, Tribhuvannatha Prabhu, took up such service with great enthusiasm and courage, and therefore we happily honor him here in the pages of The Prabhupada Connection. Furthermore, Prabhupada has repeatedly informed us that to be "the servant of the servant" is the most desirable position in Krishna consciousness:
"A Krishna Conscious person is never falsely puffed-up; he is satisfied with his humble position as the servant of the servant of the servant of Krishna." (Srila Prabhupada letter, June 1, 1968)
The simple stamp pictured above was designed by Tribhuvannatha Prabhu and it beautifully expresses the very essence of our philosophy. First, there is the image of Srila Prabhupada, our beloved Founder-Acarya, preaching Krishna consciousness. Prabhupada has stated that "preaching is the essence." Secondly, there is the name of Prabhupada's society or mission, the "International Society for Krishna Consciousness." And thirdly, beneath the acronym "ISKCON," there is reference to Tribhuvannatha's prabhu-datta-desa (the place of residence or preaching field as given by the spiritual master) at the time. Tribhuvannatha was very quick -- and smart -- to take the essence; and by doing so, he pleased our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. Once, after arranging a preaching program for Srila Prabhupada in Glasgow, Tribhuvannatha described Prabhupada's reaction:
"I had never seen Prabhupada like that before. I held the door and he put both his hands on my head and started rubbing it in a very gentle way. I couldn't believe it. He said, 'I am very pleased with what you have done. Now you preach Krishna consciousness all over Scotland.' It was so beautiful that it's hard to put into words. It was one of those amazing moments in life that can never be repeated."
Lord Krishna declares in the Bhagavad-gita (18.22-23) that no one is more dear to Him than he who preaches His sublime message. I remember Tribhuvannatha telling me a story about Prabhupada in London. At the end of a class there, Srila Prabhupada said to the audience, "Krishna consciousness is so simple, that you'll miss it." During a lecture in Boston in 1969, Srila Prabhupada stated that Krishna consciousness is "simple for the simple, but it is very hard for the crooked." Tribhuvannatha Prabhu exemplified that simplicity and he captured it well in the simple but sublime image above.
Life is Meant For Learning
Somehow or other, I had the good fortune of having Tribhuvanatha Prabhu's association for many years, especially during the 1970's and 80's in a number of foreign countries around the world. He was a wonderful friend -- the best anyone could ever have -- and he taught me so much about life, devotional service, and Srila Prabhupada in a natural spontaneous way. Because I was a few years younger than him, he automatically took me under his wing, and therefore I always felt confident that Tribhuvanatha would be there whenever I needed him. And of course, I naturally tried my best to reciprocate with him as best I could, so our relationship took on a sweetness which I had never experiened before, especially due to the life-and-death circumstances in a dangerous war zone in which we served in those days. And because Srila Prabhupada and our service to him was the center of our activities, we especially took shelter of one another's company during very trying circumstances. Quite simply, we shared a common goal in trying our best to co-operate with one another in pleasing Srila Prabhupada -- and not to mention, keeping body-and-soul together by the skin-of-our-teeth in a war zone (an experience that one never forgets and which certainly colors one's life from then on).
Additionally, it could be pretty dry out there in some of the hottest countries in the world in which we served (lacking simple vegetation), and with few signs of life during the day but for a lone camel or two ambling across the barren landscape. So we passed our time during the unbearable heat of the afternoons talking about Srila Prabhupada, and those exchanges have stayed with me until this day, some 30 years later. Unfortunately, since that time, our dear friend Tribhuvanatha Prabhu has left this world physically (October, 2001), but his memory and the love of the devotees whom he touched continues to keep him very much alive in the hearts of those who knew him so dearly. He was a man who lived life large for Srila Prabhupada, and he'll never be forgotten for it.
I know so many stories about Tribhuvanatha, and so many lessons learned from him, that as soon as I retire from Internet work, I'll begin compiling those experiences into something which I hope is worthy of his memory. Tribhuvanatha always used to tell me that, "Life is meant for learning." And he was the prime example of that for he wasn't reluctant to admit his mistakes in life. Whenever Tribhuvanatha made what he considered a mistake, he always profusely apologized. In fact, to this day, I still have letters, telexes, and e-mails where Tribhuvanatha offers his apologies for incidents in the Middle East which occurred through the ordinary course of life and were certainly not mistakes by any means. But that was just his nature -- humble through and through -- and especially to his friends. To him, his friends could do no wrong, and if they did, it was his tendency to blame himself -- probably one of the rarest qualities in human nature. That's how kind and considerate he really was.
And there were more strengths. When Srila Prabhupada spoke with the Irish poet, Desmond O'Grady, on May 23rd, 1974 in Rome, Italy, Prabhupada remarked: "But you Irish people, you are never tired to fight. Desmond O'Grady replied, "No. We've been fighting for three thousand years now." And Prabhupada replied, "I think the fighting is going on still." To this end, they both had a great laugh. Tribhuvanatha often quoted this exchange to reinforce his natural fighting spirit that came along with his Irish birth in this lifetime. "I'm an Irish fighter," he would often say to me. "I was born to fight for Prabhupada." Of course, he realized and admitted that Prabhupada was utilizing the above example as a material one, but he took pride in using it in Prabhupada's service, even if only humorously. Tribhuvanatha was a strong and fearless man by nature, and he was always ready to fight on behalf of Srila Prabhupada at a moment's notice. It was his second nature.
Tribhvanatha's choice of countries to spread Krishna Consciousness on behalf of Srila Prabhupada certainly attest to his inborn fighting spirit. Not content to rest on his laurels and live where he could be comfortable or glorified for past achievements in devotional service, Tribhuvanatha struck out for territories unknown and unexplored -- and often most dangerous. Rarely did he have enough money or facilities to ensure safe passage no matter where he chose to go, for he was happiest when he had very little, save and except his faith in the Holy Names of Krishna. I vividly recall so many times sitting beside him in an old delapidated van or car, just barely chugging along, as he sang his heart out with the Hare Krishna Mantra at the top of his lungs, totally ecstatic to be completely at the mercy of the Holy Names of Krishna and his complete faith in the spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. In fact, I often felt that Tribhuvanatha was the personification of the following verse in this age:
yasya deva para bhaktir
yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hy arthah
prakasante mahatmanah
"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed."
(Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.23)
For me, it seems like only yesterday that we often chanted our rounds together in the old "Al Jindoul" hotel in Bahrain, probably one of the most delapidated hotels on the face of the planet. We could barely squeeze ourselves in there, let alone chant our japa together without bumping into each other every ten seconds. To lighten things up, Tribhuvanatha would invariably add a touch of humor to the situation by relating an appropriate Prabhupada memory.
For example, we had to share an old sink which never seemed to work when we wanted it to, and which never, or at least rarely, had hot water. So we took turns shaving our faces with cold water, as the faucet sputtered and groaned and hopefully provided us with enough water to finish our mundane tasks. It was a great accomplishment if we succeeded, something we had always taken for granted in the Western countries. But in the Middle East no more. Just to get clean and refreshed on a daily basis was a resounding success and relief. (We even had a resident rat -- the size of a pet cat -- who made its home somewhere in our bathroom pipes to our great chagrin -- but that was par for the course in those parts, and we were advised to consider ourselves lucky that it wasn't something even more dangerous according to the locals.)
During those trials and tribulations, I never tired of hearing Tribhuvanatha Prabhu relate to us the now famous "Prabhupada Gillette" pastime. In those days, Gillette razors were considered the best in terms of quality and craftmanship. They were definitely Prabhupada's favorites and he didn't want any cheap imitations. Tribhuvanatha then related the following pastime, which has now become a perennial favorite:
"I was in the room with Prabhupada when he was about to shave. He had gotten soaped up and Nanda Kumar was standing behind him in a towel. Prabhupada was trying to use the razor and was disturbed. He looked at Nanda Kumar, pointed to the razor, because Prabhupada had a razor with an adjustment dial on it, and said, 'No dial?' Nanda Kumar said, 'No, that is not your regular razor, Prabhupada. It doesn't have a dial.' Prabhupada said, 'It is Gillette?' Nanda Kumar said, 'No, it is not Gillette.' In a wonderful, unbelievable way, Prabhupada said, 'Simply bogus.' He rejected that razor like he'd reject Mayavadi philosophy. The razor sort of floated to the shelf. I was fascinated by the way Prabhupada was so angelic."
There was another story -- my all-time favorite. After Tribhuvanatha arranged a large program in Glasgow, Scotland which was attended by hundreds of enthusiastic participants and which Srila Prabhupada particularly loved, Prabhupada unexpectedly rubbed Tribhuvanatha's head affectionately and told him how pleased he was with his efforts. Tribhuvanatha was speechless at the time, but later on he never tired of recounting such a spiritually memorable pastime -- and I never grew tired of hearing it either. Just imagine Srila Prabhupada rubbing your head with love and affection. It's pretty hard to top that one!
It was Prabhupada stories like these which made our long sojurn in the Middle East bearable. After all, five years is no small length of time to spend in any foreign nation, let alone a total of eight countries steeped in a culture and history far removed from what a few wide-eyed young Hare Krishnas had originally expected when they first set out on their journey so many years ago.