Mārkine Bhāgavata-dharma Preaching Bhāgavata-dharma in America by his Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Friday, August 13th1965, at 9 in the morning, a lonely elderly gentleman, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami, boards a ship at Calcutta port, sailing to NewYork. The black cargo ship, small and weathered, is anchored at dockside. Sailors curiously see the elderly saffron dressed sadhu as he speaks last words to his companion in the taxi and walks determinedly towards the boat. He has only a suitcase, an umbrella and a supply of dry cereal as hand baggage. There is no one on the shore to bid him good-bye, no friends, no supporters, no disciple. He is going toAmericato preach Krishna bhakti which had been known only in India. What follows is a remarkable tale of faith and determination beyond anyone’s expectation. He carries with him Rs.40. He has no institutional backing and no support awaits him. He is going, on the order of his spiritual master, to teach Krishna consciousness to the English speaking world. He is carrying the almost forgotten spiritual culture of vedic India to plant it in the heart of America’s cultural turmoil of 1960’s. But such a long sea voyage is not an easy one for someone aged 69. The ensuing journey presents considerable hardships. Onboard the ship, Srila Prabhupada writes in his diary of sea sickness, dizziness, vomiting, heavy rains in Bay of Bengal, more sickness. On the thirteenth day of the voyage, during the passage through Arabian sea, he suffers a massive heart attack. All alone, without medical assistance, in his uneasy sleep that night, he has a dream, a vision. Lord Krishna appears and takes charge of the ship along with His other incarnations. Krishnais smiling at Srila Prabhupada and pulling the ship all the way to America. After crossing theMediterranean Sea, the ship comes into the Atlantic Ocean but the ocean becomes like a placid lake. The captain says that never in his entire career had he seen such a calm Atlantic crossing. Captain’s wife asks Srila Prabhupada to come back with them so that they may have another such smooth sailing. Srila Prabhupada writes in his diary, ”If the Atlanticwould have shown its usual face, I would have died. But Lord Krishna has taken charge of the ship”. After a total of 38 days, the ship at last arrives at Newyork where Srila Prabhupada disembarks unto a lonely Brooklynpier, not knowing whether to turn left or right, to begin his mission in the West. Srila Prabhupada’s voyage on the Jaladuta thirty eight years ago marked the beginning of a spiritual revival and the twelve years after his arrival in America saw the Hare Krishna movement spread to major cities worldwide. For thousands of years, the Vedic tradition had been confined to the boundaries of India. To a world immersed in materialistic ethos, Srila Prabhupada revealed the wisdom of this timeless philosophy. The poem, markinebhagavata-dharma, Srila Prabhupada writes after arriving in Boston at Common Wealth pier on September 17th1965. Seeing the Boston skyline and rampant materialism prevalent in the lives of people there, Srila Prabhupada realizes the difficulties in his mission. He sees the hellish city life where people are dedicated to the illusion of material happiness. He feels weak, lowly and unable to help them on his own. He is penniless, has barely survived the two heart attacks at sea, speaks a different language and dresses strangely, at least according to American standards. He has come to tell people to giveup sinful habits which are inseparable part of their lives. He has come to teach Americans worship of Lord Krishna, who to them is a mythical Hindu god. What would he be able to accomplish! Helplessly he speaks his heart to Lord Krishna in this poem.

(1) boŕo-krpā koile kŗşŋa adhamer prati ki lāgiyānile hethā koro ebegati My dear Lord Krsna, You are so kind upon this unless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me. (2) āche kichu kārja  taba ei anumāne nahe keno āniben ei urgu-sthāne But I guess You have some business here, otherwise why would You bring me to this terrible place? (3) rajas tamo gune erā sabāi ācchanna vāsudeb-kathā ruci nahe se prasanna Most of the population here is covered by the material modes of ignorance and passion. Absorbed in material life, they think themselves very happy and satisfied, and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva. I do not know how they will be able to understand it. (4) tabe jadi taba kŗpā hoy ahaitukī sakal-i sambhava hoy tumi se  kautukī But I know Your causeless mercy can make everything possible because You are the most expert mystic. (5) ki bhāve bujhāle tārābujhe sei rasa eta kŗpā koro prabhu kori nija–baśa How will they understand the mellows of devotional service? O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy so that I will be able to convince them about Your message. (6) tomā ra icchā ya saba hoy mā yā -baśa tomā ra icchā ya nā śa mā yā r paraśa All living entities have come under the control of the illusory energy by Your will, and therefore, if You like, by Your will they can also be released from the clutches of illusion. (7) taba icchā hoy jadi tādera uddhār bujhibe niścai tabe kathā se tomār I wish that You may deliver them.  Therefore if You so desire their deliverance, then only will they be able to understand Your message. (8) bhāgavater kathā se taba avatār dhīra hoiyā śune jadi kāne bār bār The words of Srimad-Bhagavatam are Your incarnation, and if a sober person repeatedly receives it with submissive aural reception, then he will be able to understand Your message. (9)      sŗŋvatām sva-kathāh kŗşņah puņya-śravaņa-kīrtanah hŗdy antah-stho hy abhadrāņi vidhunoti suhŗt satām              naşţa-prāyeşv abhadreşu nityam bhāgavata-sevyā bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naişţhikī   tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāh kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye ceta etair anāviddham sthitam sattve prasīdati   evam prasanna-manaso bhagvad-bhakti-yogatah bhagavat-tattva-vijʼnānam mukta-sańgasya jāyate   bhidyate hŗdaya-granthiś chidyante sarva-samśayāh kşīyante cāsya  karmāŋi dŗşţa evātmanīśvare It is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17-21): “Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma (Supersoul)  in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. By regularly hearing the Bhagavatam and rendering service unto the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed, and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact. At the time loving service is established in the heart, the modes of passion (rajas) and ignorance (tamas) and lust and desire (kama) disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness and he becomes happy. Thus established in the mode of goodness, the man rejuvenated by loving service to the Lord gains liberation from  material association[mukti] and comes to know scientifically of the personality of Godhead.  Thus the knots of the heart and all misgivings are cut to pieces. The chain of fruitive actions [karma] is terminated when one sees the self as master.” (10) rajas tamo hate tabe pāibe nistār hŗdoyer abhadra sab ghucibe tāhār He will become liberated from the influence of the modes of ignorance and passion and thus all inauspicious things accumulated in the core  of the heart will disappear. (11) ki ko’ re bujhābo kathā bara sei cāhi khudra āmi dīna hīna kono śakti nāhi How will I make them understand this message of Krsna consciousness? I am very unfortunate, unqualified, and the most fallen. Therefore I am seeking your benediction so that I can convince them, for I am powerless to do so on my own. (12) athaca eneho prabhu kathā bolibāre je tomār icchā prabhu koro ei bāre Somehow or other, O Lord you have brought me here to speak about you. Now, my Lord, it is up to you to make me a success or failure as you like. (13) akhila jagat-guru! bacana se āmār alańkŗta koribār khamatā tomār O spiritual master of all the worlds! I can simply repeat your message, so if you like you can make my power of speaking suitable for their understanding. (14) taba kŗpā ha’le mor kathā śuddha habe śuniya sabāra  śoka  duhkha je ghucibe Only by your causeless mercy will my words become pure. I am sure that when this tr transcendental message penetrates their hearts they will certainly fell engladdened and thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life. (15) āniyācho jadi prabhu āmāre nācāte nācāo nācāo prabhu nācāo se-mate kaşţhera puttali jathā nācāo se-mate O Lord, I am just like a puppet in Your hands. So if you have brought me her to dance, then make me dance, make me dance, O Lord make me dance as you like. (16) bhakti nāi beda nāi nāme khub daŕo “bhaktivedānta” nām ebe sārthak koro I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krshna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now if You  like you can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.

 Signed.

A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami, on board the ship Jaladuta, Commonwealth Pier, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A

Dated 18^th September, 1965