These are bogus, that ‘I do not go out of Vṛndāvana.’

[New Delhi and Aligarh, October 9th, 1976]

Hari Śauri: Prabhupāda pointed out that Lord Caitanya could have remained at home as a big devotee but didn’t.

He went out all over India to spread the holy names, and He instructed His followers to spread it all over the world.

Prabhupāda spoke strongly against the mood of many of the bābājīs in Vṛndāvana that one should never leave the place.

And as he spoke I couldn’t help but be reminded of Nitaī dāsa’s recent criticism’s of ISKCON and Prabhupāda’s refutation of them.

“Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma [Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya 4.126]. ‘All over the world, as many towns and villages are there, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should be . . .’

“Not that ‘We are big, big gosvāmīs and bābājīs. We do not go out of Vṛndāvana.’ Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma. And they have become very big Vaiṣṇava: ‘No, I don’t go beyond the limits of Vṛndāvana.’

“What is this nonsense? Did Caitanya Mahāprabhu say like that, that ‘You do not go beyond the limits?’ A devotee, wherever he is, that is Vṛndāvana. That is Vṛndāvana tīrtha.

“A pure devotee can make any hell a tīrtha, a holy place. That is devotee. Tīrthī kurvanti tīrthāni [SB 1.13.10]. That was Bhagīratha. Gaṅgā was hesitating that ‘I shall go to the material world.

“All sinful men will take bathing, and I’ll be overloaded with sin. Then how I shall get out of this accumulation of sins?’ So Bhagīratha said, ‘My mother, don’t hesitate. When a holy man will take bath in your water, then all the sins he will assimilate.’

“Then she agreed. So if we become holy man, actually, then immune. There is no difference. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

“These are bogus, that ‘I do not go out of Vṛndāvana.’ They are making Vṛndāvana limited. Vṛndāvana is not limited. Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, wherever there is a Rādhā Kṛṣṇa temple, that is Vṛndāvana.

“Caitanya Mahāprabhu, once only He went to Vṛndāvana. Does it mean He was not in Vṛndāvana? So this is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mission, that preaching must go on in hell and heaven.

“We should be very much expert and follow the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the simple instructions. Mukunda mādhava yādava hari bolena bolo re vadana bori. Simply chant the holy names of Lord, mukunda mādhava yādava.

“This is Caitanya. Rise early in the morning. You go and preach, and work hard, day and night, and that is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s . . . This song indicates.”

Prabhupāda sat back and with a sideways tip of his head brought the short darśana to close. “Thank you.”

As the devotees dispersed, Surendra hung back to express his appreciation of Prabhupāda’s comments.

“As you rightly said that these Vaiṣṇavas, they want to become maṭha deśas, they want to become like kings. They don’t want to leave their empire and go out, working hard like you and spreading the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”

Prabhupāda was happy that he had caught his mood.

“Yes. That is our mission.”

“That is the right attitude,” Surendra continued. “Even if there is one bhakta, that is Vṛndāvana.”

Telling him that a bhakta creates Vṛndāvana, Prabhupāda concluded,

“Kṛṣṇa says, ‘I do not stay in Vaikuṇṭha.’ Nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭhe yogināṁ hṛdayeṣu [Padma Purāṇa]—’Neither I stay at the core of the heart of the yogis.’ Tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada yatra gāyanti mad bhaktāḥ—’When My pure devotee chants the glories of My . . . I immediately stay there. I immediately stay.’

“It’s not that He is packed up in some place. He’s all pervading. Therefore His name is Vāsudeva. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam. He’s everywhere. Electricity is everywhere. Only one who knows how to take the electricity . . .

“So Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s preaching and teaching, their effect you have to follow. Then our life will be successful. We don’t manufacture ideas. That is not wanted.”

Prabhupāda said that some Hindus had manufactured the idea that if one goes over the sea, he becomes fallen.

He shook his head in consternation because it was just the opposite of what the Lord had said.

“Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma. [CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126] Foolish theories. Just see—as soon as you cross over the Bay of Bengal or Indian Ocean, you become immediately fallen.”

“Now this movement is there, and unless we do it very sincerely and vigorously, it cannot be pushed on.”

—Hari Śauri

[22. Biographies and Glorification of Śrīla Prabhupāda / A Transcendental Diary Volume 5 – Hari Śauri dāsa / Volume Five]