A couple of days back, I got some time, and I was able to chant a few rounds in Shrila Prabhupada’s quarters above Radha Madhav temple hall in Mayapur. It was such a blessing to be able to chant there! Although a handful of devotees were coming and going, I was able to absorb myself a bit on Shrila Prabhupada’s glory, and I was trying to beg for his grace in our lives.

Later I had a thought – we might pray more to Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda in Nabawipa. We might try to shift our consciousness more on Radha and Krishna in Vrindavan. We might endeavor to absorb ourselves in the glories of Jagannath in Jagannath Puri. But as regards to Shrila Prabhupada, we pray, or rather we must pray in all these dhams, and even when we are not in a dham.

It is Prabhupada’s causeless mercy we are able to connect with dham, and we are able to connect with the Supreme Personality of Godhead present in the dham.

We cannot pray to Radha and Krishna alone, we need to have the grace of acaryas. We cannot jump to Caitanya Mahaprabhu directly, we need the grace of Lord Nityananda. We cannot have the grace of Nityananda independent of the grace of Gauranga.

If we pray to Shrila Prabhupada alone, without praying to the Deities, can we be successful in life?

This is a beautiful excerpt from the seventh volume of Prabhupada Lilamrita which I am very much fond of. Prabhupada was in Mexico. After the lecture, he was having a question and answer session.

One evening, after an unusual number of impertinent questions, Hṛdayānanda Maharaja stopped translating and instructed the crowd not to ask nonsensical questions. Immediately one of the ladies raised her hand. “I’ve heard from the devotees,” she began, “that at the time of leaving my body it will be a very important test for my life for getting my next body.

I’ve also heard from the devotees that it is important for us to think of Lord Kṛṣṇa at that time of passing away of our body.

What I want to ask Your Divine Grace is: Is it as good as thinking of Kṛṣṇa at the time of my death to think of you?”

Hṛdayānanda Mahārāja presented her question to Prabhupāda.

Śrīla Prabhupāda smiled. “Yes, that is very good. You will get the same result.”

Prabhupada has himself assured of the result for one who remembers him.

In Caitanya Caritamrita, Kaviraja Goswami writes,

guru kṛṣṇa-rūpa hana śāstrera pramāṇe
guru-rūpe kṛṣṇa kṛpā karena bhakta-gaṇe
According to the deliberate opinion of all revealed scriptures, the spiritual master is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa in the form of the spiritual master delivers His devotees. CC Adi 1.45

“Only out of His immense compassion does the Personality of Godhead reveal Himself as the spiritual master. Therefore in the dealings of an ācārya there are no activities but those of transcendental loving service to the Lord. He is the Supreme Personality of Servitor Godhead.” CC Adi 1.46 Purport

Firstly, praying to Shrila Prabhupada or spiritual master is non-different than praying to Krishna.

Secondly, approaching Shrila Prabhupada is easier than approaching Radha and Krishna directly.

Thirdly, what is there in the heart of Shrila Prabhupada? Radha, Krishna and Lord Caitanya!

So won’t Krishna manifest in the hearts of those who remember Shrila Prabhupada alone? Definitely He will. Not only Krishna, but all the associates of Krishna, the entire spiritual world will be revealed to such a devotee by the grace of Shrila Prabhupada.

Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura writes in Guru Vandana,

jāhāra prasāde bhāi, e bhava toriyā jāi,
krṣṇa-prāpti hoy jāhā hāte

The grace of the spiritual master enables one to cross over the ocean of material existence and obtain the mercy of Krishna.

Therefore, a disciple’s meditation has to be on the spiritual master – his instructions, his compassion, his love for Krishna, his mercy on us etc. By such remembrance, everything inauspicious is destroyed, and naturally the remembrance of Radha and Krishna arises in the core of the heart.