Vrndavana, February 11, 1974

Dr. Kapoor: This was my firm belief, and it was impossible for anyone to dislodge me from it. But you know…, and you'll not believe what happened one day when I first met my Prabhupada, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja, at Allahabad at the house of one Mr. De, sometime in the month of August 1931. As I went to see him, he stared into my eyes, seemed to be looking deep into me, and it appeared that he had discovered something that nobody had discovered. He had discovered the ghost in me, the ghost of Mayavada, which had possessed me. And at once, you see, he started his alchemy. It was a long and a passionate discourse, which continued for about an hour and a half. I listened to him, spellbound. It was magic. I was charmed. As the words were coming from his mouth, I felt…, I felt that they were cracking the innermost…, penetrating the innermost recesses of my heart and were working a wonderful change in me. There was a strange ring in his words. There was a magic in it. The words seemed to be rousing me from my dogmatic slumber of Mayavada. I seemed to wake up and see a new light. There was a great commotion in me, you see. All my old beliefs seemed to be dashed into pieces. The strongest arguments on which the edifice Mayavada is raised seemed to have been cut into pieces by the sharp arguments of Prabhupada, and it appeared to me that the edifice of Mayavada, which had stood like a temple in my heart, was crumbling. Pillar after pillar was falling, and I saw that in very little time it was reduced into ashes. There was, as I said, a great commotion in me, a great storm. Old beliefs and new — a tussle went on. And this went on for a very long time. It went on for about a year. And during this period, I followed Prabhupada wherever he went. I went with him from Allahabad to Benares, from Benares to Calcutta, from Calcutta to Darjeeling[?], from Darjeeling[?] back to Calcutta, and then to Allahabad, and then finally I came along with him here, Vrndavana. That tussle which had been going in my mind, that storm which was raging, had to subside. It did subside, and peace and calm was restored in my mind. But the peace that was restored, the calm that was restored, was not the calm of Mayavada, the still and barren calm of Mayavada, but the delightful and peaceful calm of bhakti. I was now a changed man. I was inclined to bhakti. I was inclined towards Vaisnavism. And so one day in Radha-kunda, perhaps in the month of Kartika on the day of Puranmasi, I was duly initiated by Srila Prabhupada. So I say that this day is a great day of great importance to me, because it has completely changed my life. I was just an insect of the grain. Prabhupada picked me up and made me a different man altogether. Now, Prabhupada is no more. But should I say that Prabhupada is no more when Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta Maharaja is with us? I believe that Prabhupada is functioning through him. He is also a great alchemist. He is also working wonders. What my Prabhupada did to me, he is doing to millions and millions of people all the world over. And it will not be an exaggeration if I say that the indomitable spirit with which he is working, the crown of success which he wears, leave no doubt that Srila Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta Maharaja is the true successor of Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja. So that we may say on this day of the appearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja that although Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja has disappeared, he lives in Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta Maharaja. And so Prabhupada has disappeared, and yet he is alive and active, and long, long live Prabhupada!