his Spiritual master
The First Meeting
In 1969, Damodara was a student at the University of California, Irvine, U. S. A. doing his Ph.D. research work in Physical Organic Chemistry. One day, in April 1970 the secretary of the chemistry department save him a telegram from India informing him that his mother had passed away. Damodara had not seen his mother for more than three years and was unaware that she was suffering from any ill health, 50 the news was very shocking. He wanted to return to India in order to perform her shraddha or funeral ceremony, but he had no money for the flight. He managed to borrow some funds from the University and made arrangements to leave for India. Just before leaving however, he received a Letter from his guardian and teacher, Sri Kerani Singh, advising him not to return to India for the shraddha ceremony. He wrote, “Being a Vaishnava, you should lament neither for the living nor for the dead.” He further reminded Damodara that the body is temporary but the soul is eternal. Sooner or later there will be a time for everyone to Leave this temporary body, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita. He instructed Damodara not to waste any time worrying about the temporary body, but to concentrate on his studies and return to India after graduation. He assured Damodara that the shraddha ceremony would be properly arranged in his absence. So, Damodara cancelled his ticket to India but quickly began to lose interest in his studies.
He spent the succeeding nights meditating on the flickering nature of this material world. In life, incidents that act as a catalyst for introspection and inquiry about the purpose of life happen to individuals by the inconceivable mercy of the Supreme Lord. In this regard Srila Prabhupada states, “…it is a special reasoning power to inquire “Why am I suffering’? This is special reasoning. … Bhagavadgita says, out of many thousands, someone may develop this reasoning power… When there is some impetus to awaken this reasoning power, it is called brahma jijnasa.” This is confirmed in the first verse of the Vedanta Sutra, which asserts that this human form of life is meant for asking the questions of what the Absolute Truth is and how to solve the problems of suffering.
In life, incidents that act as a catalyst for introspection and
inquiry about the purpose of life heppen to individuals by the inconceivable
mercy of the Supreme Lord.
– Damodara with Dr. Rao
Hearing the sad news of his mother’s passing, Damodara’s friend, Dr. Ravindra Pratap Rao, came to see him. Dr. Rao suggested that they go for a drive. They drove along the Pacific Coast Highway to Laguna Beach. While walking along the coast they saw some ISKCON devotees chanting Harinam began to follow the devotees, eager to discover their destination. One of the devotees noticed Damodara and Dr. Rao following the sankirtan party and stopped to invite them to the local ISKCON temple in Laguna Canyon. The devotee explained to them that daily they chanted Lord Krishna’s Holy Names and partook of the delicious sanctified foods offered to Lord Krishna. He asked them to visit the temple and join them in the singing, dancing and feasting programs.
The following day, Dr. Rao went to the temple alone and on his return reported to Damodara that the devotees were wonderful and that everything in the temple was pleasant. Everyday Dr. Kao urged Damodara to accompany him to the temple. Damodara, citing academic pressures, declined each time. One day Dr. Rao told Damodara that Srila Prabhupada, the founder acharya of ISKCON, was staying in Los Angeles. He said, “Let us go and see Srila Prabhupada in Los Angeles tomorrow.” However, Damodara refused, saying that he was extremely busy in his academic work and could not go. Nevertheless, Damodara encouraged Dr. Rao and requested a report about the visit. Dr. Rao drove to Los Angeles and when he reached the temple, because he was a stranger, he was not allowed to see Srila Prabhupada. Dr. Rao told Damodara, “I was extremely disappointed. I decided to wait in my car and pray to Lord Sri Krishna. A Little later, a devotee came and informed me that Prabhupada wanted to see me. I felt my prayer to Lord Sri Krishna had been heard and I immediately went to Srila Prabhupada’s room. When Prabhupada saw me, he said, ‘You have been sent by Lord Krishna. I have been praying to Lord Krishna to send me at least one Indian boy to help me in
my mission. Krishna has sent you to me.”
Dr. Rao then again requested Damodara, “Let us go tomorrow to see Srila Prabhupada.” Damodara again declined. This incident recurred for a few days — Dr. Rao would go and meet Srila Prabhupada and on returning would request tomorrow morning Damodara to join him the following day. Damodara would to see Sri [a refuse to go and see Srila Prabhupada on the plea that he was busy with his studies.
Finally, one day, Dr. Rao presented Damodara with an never come and ultimatum, “If you do not accompany me tomorrow morning to see you again in see Srila Prabhupada I will never come and see you again in this lifetime. Our friendship will be finished forever.” Damodara was surprised at his friend’s seriousness. He did not have a good opinion of the Indian Swamis in the USA having heard of some of their activities. He mistakenly thought that Srila Prabhupada finished forever.” would also be like them. However, out of friendship he decided to accompany Dr. Rao the next day.
A somewhat similar event had taken place before Srila Prabhupada’s first meeting with his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Srila Prabhupada later recounted, “… in 1922 I met my Guru Maharaja through the insistence of my intimate friend, Mr. Narendranath Mullick. I did not wish to go, but my friend forced me. He told me, ‘There is a nice sadhu. Let us go and see him.’ I did not like these sadhus in those days due to my national spirit. So I said, ‘I have seen many sadhus. They used to come to my father’s house. I was not very pleased with their behavior.’ But my friend dragged me forcibly saying, ‘No, I have heard this person speak and he is very exalted.’ So I went..” (Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita)
In this regard, Srila Prabhupada mentions in his purport of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, verse 2.2.30, “A sincere soul is helped by the Lord through meeting a bona-fide spiritual master, the representative of the Lord. By the instruction of such a spiritual master, one gets the seed of bhakti-yoga.” This meeting of the prospective disciple and spiritual master is not an ordinary encounter. It is by the divine arrangement of the Supreme Lord.
That night Dr. Rao slept in Damodara’s apartment. They woke up at 4:oo a.m., bathed and drove to the Los Angeles temple. On the way, Dr. Rao revealed to Damodara that he was going to be initiated by Srila Prabhupada that morning.
Damodara, surprised by the sudden change in his friend’s life asked, “Will you shave your head? Will you wear a saffron dhoti in the Lab?” Dr. Rao replied, “It would be my pleasure”. Damodara was struck by his friend’s determination, enthusiasm and sincerity. He said, “I admire your great courage. You must be blessed by Srila Prabhupada.”
They reached the temple in Culver City, Los Angeles around 6:oo am SriLa Prabhupada – was just leaving for his daily morning walk. He returned after about an hour. He took darshan of the Deities and sat on the Vyasasana. Damodara was standing near the Deities, facing Srila Prabhupada, exactly opposite the Vyasasana. Damodara and Srila Prabhupada looked intently at each other for a few moments. Srila Prabhupada started singing — Sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda. Damodara’s mind was captivated by SriIa Prabhupada’s sweet, melodious and intense devotional singing. Immediately after the song, the initiation ceremony commenced. Dr. Rao was initiated and was given the spiritual name, Ramananda Ray Dasa. SriIa Prabhupada went to his room after the ceremony.
Ramananda Ray said to Damodara, “Let us go upstairs to Srila Prabhupada’s room and see him.” At this time, Damodara became very eager to see Srila Prabhupada. On Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, Ramananda Ray had carte blanche to enter his room. Upon entering Srila Prabhupada’s room they both sat humbly before him. Ramananda Ray introduced Damodara to Srila Prabhupada, informing him that Damodara was from Manipur and was currently working on his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. Srila Prabhupada was extremely happy and remarked, “Manipuri people are descendents of Babhruvahana, the son of Arjuna. They have been Vaishnavas since the time of the Pandavas and Manipuri kings have established Sri Krishna temples in Vrindavan, Radhakund and Nabadvip.” Srila Prabhupada appreciated the Vaishnava culture of Manipur, especially its devotional music and dance based on Sri Krishna’s pastimes. Srila Prabhupada then asked Damodara, “Being born in a Vaishnava family, why did you come here, crossing the ocean?”
” I have come here to give the Americans something very valuable which they do not have
– Bhagavata Culture. Why don’t you do the same as I am doing?
– Srila Prabhupada
Srila Prabhupada added, “You, young scholars and students, have come here to the U.S.A. as beggars to beg scientific knowledge and dollars. But I have not come here to beg. I have come here to give the Americans something very valuable, which they do not have – Bhagavata Culture. Why don’t you do the same as I am doing? Why are you simply taking? Why don’t you also give something?” Damodara was deeply moved by Srila Prabhupada’s words, which were similar in nature to the instructions given by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur to Srila Prabhupada upon their first meeting — “You are an educated young many why don’t you present Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s message throughout the whole world?”
After that momentous meeting Damodara started visiting SriIa Prabhupada in Los Angeles almost every day and after a short to give the period of time he received spiritual initiation. At the time of
Americans initiation Srila Prabhupada gave him the spiritual name, Svarupa Damodara Dasa. Later, after taking sannyasa initiation the prefix something very ‘Bhakti’ was added and since then he has been known as Sripada valuable which Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja.
The LSKCON temple in Los Angeles is known as New Dwarka and it served as Srila Prabhupada’s headquarters in the 1970s. While visiting SriIa Prabhupada in Los Angeles, Maharaja began to ask him questions on subjects such as ‘What is the nature of this material world? What is the nature of life? What is the Absolute Truth?” Whenever a sincere spiritual aspirant of the same as I am Absolute Truth meets a genuine spiritual master, this type of inquiry is natural. Srimad Bhagavatam recounts the story of Vidura meeting his spiritual master, Maitreya Muni, wherein Vidura similarly inquires from Maitreya Muni about the nature of life and the universe. Srila Prabhupada elaborates on this in his purport of the Bhagavad-gita verse 7. 3, where he says, “There are various grades of men, and out of many thousands, one may be sufficiently interested in transcendental realization to try to know what is the self, what is the body, and what is the Absolute Truth.”
Shortly after his initiation, Sriman Kamananda Kay Dasa Left the U. S. A. and returned to Gorakhpur, India and opened an ISKCON center there. Unfortunately, he left this world in 1976.
Maharaja is eternally grateful to Sriman Ramananda Ray Prabhu for his spiritual friendship and for having introduced him to Srila Prabhupada.