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Govardhana I asked an Indian

October 10th, 2000

Govardhana

I asked an Indian sadhu why only Westerners come to his lectures. He said that people in India, by psychology, are rarely able to afford luxury and that spiritual life now has become a luxury. That’s why Indians living in India no longer make so many contributions anymore to science, sports, philosophy, etc.

Bhurijana arrived today. I met with him briefly in the evening and hope to get more of his association. Srila Prabhupada has trained many intelligent men and, as they get older, they will give tremendous strength to the Krishna consciousness movement. He talked about the possibility of returning to Vrindaban in two years to live humbly and just speak the Bhagavatam. I felt like joining him. Bhurijana’s simplicity, detachment, and wisdom makes an impression, although he is unassuming. Srila Prabhupada said, “Don’t try to become a great devotee, just become a good devotee.”

I asked him why he is no longer taking disciples. He said that although he lectures systematically on Bhagavatam three times a week in the evening at the Perth temple, where many people are coming and becoming devotees, they don’t realize that he is guru because he lives at home and takes care of his family. They think he is more like a congregation member and that a guru is someone in saffron who just flies into the temple a few days a year. I told him that he is lucky that he is preaching in Australia because he would never get away with that in New York.

He was interested in my meetings with Varsana Maharaja. We both agreed that he is a special sadhu and has the heart of a devotee.

Jaya Gurupada, Bhurijana’s son, came up to his room to visit him while I was there. Bhurijana wants to spend some more time with him here. He explained that a father has a mystical sakti with his son, and if he deals with him carefully, there is a very subtle transference of experience and wisdom. His son is twenty and will soon leave home to go out on his own so he wants to make sure that he spends quality time with him in Vrindaban.

Jaya Gurupada was in the gurukula for ten years, since he was five years old. He is a good person?secure in himself, but unique. Born at Gita-nagari, raised in Vrindaban, but now living in Australia and fully identifying himself as an Australian. Since Bhurijana is from America, I always playfully argue with Jaya Gurupada that the USA is so much better than Australia, and that he should therefore embrace his father’s place of birth as his culture. He jokingly retorted today, “You mates have baseball, and although the championship is just among America teams you have the nerve to call it a World Series!” Good point.

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