By Indradyumna Swami
Monday June 26, 1995
Today Prabhavisnu Maharaja left to continue his visit to Central Asia, Govinda Maharaja flew back to Western Europe, and Sri Prahlada and I flew to Moscow. It was diffiicult having to separate from Govinda Maharaja. We had been through so much together during the past two months.
Friendship in Krsna consciousness is based on service to the Supreme Lord, and because the service is profound, being of a transcendental nature, the relationships are also profound between devotees who serve Krsna together. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for Maharaja, and I’m sure he feels the same towards me. Such a relationship is rare in this world, and I cherish his friendship very much.
Although Sri Prahlada and I will spend a day and a half in Moscow, I am thinking of Poland in preparation for our summer tour beginning next week. By Krsna’s grace, I have several good men in Poland who organize the festival tours while I am traveling and preaching outside the country. In particular, Amrtananda dasa works diligently in my absence to assure the tour is properly arranged before I return. We Recently he informed me that the anti-cult people in Poland have stepped up their offensive against us with negative articles appearing in the press. Several unfavorable television programs have also appeared. I had always hoped it would never happen in Poland, because the preaching is especially nectarean and sweet there. But those envious of our success cannot tolerate us any longer, and they are poisoning the minds of the people with false charges and accusations. So I feel as though I am going from one battlefiield to another. The pressure is on from all sides.
But I suppose we have to expect such fiights because, after all, this is the material world, and the devotees and asuras have been at odds with each other since time immemorial. We are at the forefront of a great spiritual renaissance in society, as predicted by Lord Caitanya 500 years ago when He said the chanting of Hare Krsna would be heard in every town and village in the world.
Srila Prabhupada also shed light on ISKCON’s role in the future when he said the following to Guru dasa in London in 1971: “This movement will save the world in its darkest hour.”
There may be diffiicult times ahead, as indicated by recent events in Russia and Poland, but if we take shelter of Krsna we will most certainly be victorious.
Srila Prabhupada says: “If the preachers in our Krsna consciousness movement are sincere devotees of Krsna, Krsna will always be with them because He is very kind and favorable to all His devotees. Just as Arjuna and Krsna were victorious in the Battle of Kuruksetra, this Krsna consciousness movement will surely emerge victorious if we but remain sincere devotees of the Lord and serve the Lord according to the advice of the predecessors (the six Gosvamis and other devotees of the Lord). . . . . If we attempt this seriously within the society, it will be successfully done. There is no question of estimating how this will happen in the mundane sense. But without a doubt, it happens by the grace of Krsna.” [Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila purport 4.79]