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Question: When Śrīla Prabhupāda was instructed by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura to preach in the western world in 1922 why did Śrīla Prabhupāda take so many years to fulfill the order of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura?

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Jayapataka Swami: Interesting question. We know that Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was a gṛhastha. He mentioned that in Allahabad he had a house, and it had a special room for visiting preachers. So, he facilitated many Gauḍīya Maṭha preachers. And he said that he wanted to marry a particular, good-looking girl. But his father told him to marry another lady who, in his estimation, was not as beautiful. In one sense he said, that by the mercy of my father it was easier for me to take sannyāsa. Anyway, he was a gṛhastha and had many children, he had responsibilities. Then, he took vānaprastha and finally took sannyāsa. So, in that way, he was able to go to the west and preach. Everybody is different and today we have many devotees who are gṛhasthas but they are doing full devotional service. But maybe at that time, one had to be a sannyāsī to be able to travel freely around the world. Secondly, Śrīla Prabhupāda never forgot the instruction he received in 1922, and he then went to the West, he came to America in 1965.
21-February-2022 Chennai, India