Concluding Words

Today, Sunday, November 10, 1974—corresponding to the 10th of Karttika,
Caitanya Era 488, the eleventh day of the dark fortnight, the Rama-ekadasi—we
have now finished the English translation of Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami's Sri
Caitanya-caritamrta in accordance with the authorized order of His Divine Grace
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Gosvami Maharaja, my beloved eternal spiritual
master, guide and friend. Although according to material vision His Divine Grace
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada passed away from this ma-
terial world on the last day of December, 1936, | still consider His Divine Grace to
be always present with me by his vani, his words. There are two ways of associ-
ation—by vani and by vapu. Vani means words, and vapu means physical
presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but
vani continues to exist eternally. Therefore we must take advantage of the vani,
not the physical presence. Bhagavad-gita, for example, is the vani of Lord Krsna.
Although Krsna was personally present five thousand years ago and is no longer
physically present from the materialistic point of view, Bhagavad-gita continues.

In this connection we may call to memory the time when | was fortunate
enough to meet His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, sometime in the year 1922.
Srila Prabhupada had come to Calcutta from Sridhama Mayapur to start the mis-
sionary activities of the Gaudiya Matha. He was sitting in a house at Ulta Danga
when through the inducement of an intimate friend, the late Sriman
Narendranatha Mallika, | had the opportunity to meet His Divine Grace for the
first time. | do not remember the actual date of the meeting, but at that time | was
one of the managers of Dr. Bose’s laboratory in Calcutta. | was a newly married
young man, addicted to Gandhi’s movement and dressed in khadi. Fortunately,
even at our first meeting, His Divine Grace advised me to preach the cult of Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu in English in the Western countries. Because at that time |
was a complete nationalist, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi's, | submitted to His
Divine Grace that unless our country were freed from foreign subjugation, no one
would hear the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu seriously. Of course, we
had some argument on this subject, but at last | was defeated and convinced that
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s message is the only panacea for suffering humanity. |
was also convinced that the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was then in the
hands of a very expert devotee and that surely the message of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu would spread all over the world. | could not, however, immediately
take up his instructions to preach, but ! took his words very seriously and was al-
ways thinking of how to execute his order, although | was quite unfit to do so.

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