Introduction
what you have done is beyond anyone’s imagination. You should not feel that there is anything more to be done. Now you should just relax.’ “Then ¼r¦la Prabhup§da told me, ‘What I have done is fifty-percent; the other fifty-percent is to establish var£§ªrama. Not that everyone will become a devotee. Those who won’t become devotees, for them we need var£§ªrama.’”1 Abhir§ma Prabhu, who was ¼r¦la Prabhup§da’s nurse in 1977, narrates two occasions when he heard ¼r¦la Prabhup§da say a similar thing: “The first time, several devotees were with ¼r¦la Prabhup§da, and we knew that his health was getting weaker. He was talking to the devotees about his imminent departure. ‘I have no lamentation,’ Prabhup§da said, then paused for a few seconds and added, ‘No, I have one lamentation.’ “Tamal Krishna Goswami asked, ‘That you have not finished translating ¼r¦mad-Bh§gavatam?’ “¼r¦la Prabhup§da replied, ‘No, that I have not established var£§ªrama.’ “On the next occasion, some time later, I was with ¼r¦la Prabhup§da in his room when he made the statement, ‘Fifty-percent of my work is not complete because I have not established var£§ªrama.’”2 While some devotees in ISKCON may remain sceptical of the importance of var£§ªrama, the majority are increasingly convinced of the need to realise ¼r¦la Prabhup§da’s mission. 12
