The Tirobhava mahosatva (disappearance day celebration) of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada was celebrated by all the devotees present, by a half day fast, puspanjali (flower offerings to the spiritual masters' lotus feet), aratika and a very nice class, given by 2 resident svamis Srila BB Visnu Maharaja and Sripada BV Giri Maharaja. The talk highlighted the unique and distinct contributions of the most stalwart and original acarya in our sampradaya and the prominence he gave our line lives on through his disciples. As the absolute defender of the pure line of devotional service coming down from Srila Rupa Gosvami Prabhupada we all owe him our eternal respect and worship. Fools try to minimize him for their own glorification ever since he appeared, yet his preaching endures today untouched by the many jealous detractors.
His position in the world of spiritual life in India during the early 1900s was emphasized and celebrated as being such a bold and unique personality, yet he always 100% preached the truth no matter what the cost or risk to his own person. He challenged all comers everytime. He defeated all the apasampradayas (bogus lines of devotional service) and fought with all who dared to stand in his way, sahajiyas, mayavadis and even the nationalists of the day, for his mission was urgent and unstoppable.
The feast afterwards was grand and sumptuous, and after a half day of fasting everyone was ready to relish the wonderful prasadam. 17 different preparations were offered; vegetable rice, puris & chapatis, cheese pakoras, tamarind chutney, chickpea subji, cauliflower and potato subji, raita (cucumber salad), - and 2 favorites of Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada - rasam (spicy tomato dahl) and fried mung dahl. Then, came the sweets.... gulab jamuns, lemon cake, carob cake, ginger cookies, sweet rice, cashew burfis and halava... all washed down with a ginger drink to aid our digestion! For those who partook deeply of this feast, much reflection on this extraordinary mercy was required, for some that meant a bit of a rest.