from Giriraj Swami

[Guest guest]

My dear Devotees,

 

Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

For the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of the Grand Opening of Sri Sri

Radha-Rasabihariji's Temple and Cultural Center at Hare Krishna Land, Juhu,

Mumbai, the devotees there requested me to share some of my experiences of

the project and Srila Prabhupada with them - within 2400 words. Here are the

words we offered. Some items have been adapted from my book, "Watering the

Seed," and some are new. In any case, we hope you enjoy them.

 

Thank you. Hare Krishna.

 

Yours in service to Srila Prabhupada,

Giriraj Swami

 

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MY EXPERIENCES

 

Here are some of my remembrances and realizations of Srila Prabhupada and

Hare Krishna Land:

 

SPONTANEOUS VAISNAVISM

 

When I arrived in Juhu from Calcutta, Srila Prabhupada was holding a pandal

program at Hare Krishna Land to draw people's attention to the project

there. After preaching at Hare Krishna Land for about two weeks, Srila

Prabhupada left for Australia, and soon thereafter one nice couple, Dr.

Captain K. H. and Mrs. Singhal, who had attended the pandal program, invited

us to their home for a small program of kirtana and prasada - our first

invitation after the pandal program.

 

Dr. and Mrs. Singhal were among our first friends in Juhu. As the days and

weeks went by, Dr. and Mrs. Singhal became closer and closer to the devotees

and offered more and more service. Dr. Singhal offered free medical

treatment, while Mrs. Singhal took care of the devotees and sometimes sewed

for the Deities. They introduced us to their friends, and through Dr.

Singhal we met Mr. K. L. Kejriwal, who was later initiated by Srila

Prabhupada as Man Mohan Das, as well as Dr. S. N. Podar, Mr. Amratlal

Pandya, and Mr. H. M. Bhatia. They all became life members and, in turn,

helped us enroll other members.

 

One morning, Mrs. Singhal invited Srila Prabhupada for lunch. Less than two

hours later, Srila Prabhupada, Tamal Krishna Goswami and I drove together to

the Singhals' small apartment in Ville Parle. Dr. and Mrs. Singhal received

us warmly, led us to the next room, seated us on the floor on cushions, and

affectionately served us prasada.

 

Towards the end of the meal, Mrs. Singhal and one of her lady friends

suddenly burst through the door into the room. They were singing Hare

Krishna, while Mrs. Singhal played on her violin. Tamal Krishna Goswami

Maharaja turned and gave a look as if to say, "What on earth is going on

here?" Srila Prabhupada turned to Tamal Krishna and said, "This is

spontaneous Vaisnavism. You have to learn to be a Vaisnava. They are

naturally Vaisnavas."

 

 

A GOOD FIGHT

 

Finally, after many months and years of struggle, in October of 1973, Mrs.

Nair signed the conveyance to transfer the Juhu land to "His Divine Grace A.

C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International

Society for Krishna Consciousness." It was a momentous occasion, as if two

powerful parties had come together to sign a peace treaty.

 

At the time, Srila Prabhupada was staying in the Khataus' beach house, a

thatched cottage near Juhu Beach. Many wealthy and aristocratic gentlemen

from Bombay had bungalows in Juhu, where they would come and spend weekends

and holidays near the seaside. They also used their Juhu bungalows as

guesthouses.

 

After the signing, Srila Prabhupada said we should have a feast. There were

fireworks, and after the event was over and all the guests had left, Srila

Prabhupada leaned back on his asana with his legs up and exclaimed, "It was

a good fight!"

 

(Then he added, "Someone should write a book about it.")

 

 

"BUT YOU ARE DISCOURAGING ME"

 

For some time Srila Prabhupada continued to stay in the Khataus' hut, near

Sumati Morarjee's bungalow. Mahamsa Prabhu, Dr. C. P. Patel, and I sat in

the room with Srila Prabhupada the day after the conveyance was signed.

Srila Prabhupada was anxious to begin construction, and said he needed one

crore (ten million) rupees. Dr. Patel ventured, "Prabhupada, you should

bring the money from America." Srila Prabhupada, disturbed by Dr. Patel's

suggestion, replied, "I could bring the money from America, but then what

will be your credit?" Prabhupada said that Bombay is such a place that if

people wanted, they could give one crore in one day. Dr. Patel countered,

"But people do not want." Dr. Patel went on insisting people wouldn't give,

and then said, "Of course, I don't want to discourage you, but...But,"

Srila Prabhupada interrupted, "you are discouraging me."

 

So, although Srila Prabhupada was superhuman, in one sense he was also very

human, and he could also feel discouraged.

 

 

"I ALWAYS GOT WHAT I WANTED"

 

Mr. Ratnaparkhi owned a dilapidated old dwelling at the corner of Hare

Krishna Land, right where Srila Prabhupada wanted to build the Deity rooms,

and Mr. Ratnaparkhi knew we needed to demolish the structure in order to

construct the temple. Although Mr. Ratnaparkhi originally had agreed to give

us the house for Rs. 8000, he later intimated he wanted Rs. 20,000. Even

then, we could not finalize the transaction. Finally, when Srila Prabhupada

returned to Juhu for the conveyance, Mr. Ratnaparkhi revealed that he wanted

to negotiate with Srila Prabhupada directly, and to have Srila Prabhupada

visit his home nearby on Juhu Road.

 

Srila Prabhupada agreed.

 

Mr. Ratnaparkhi was a volatile person who we feared could become violent.

Now, with Srila Prabhupada in his home, he asked Srila Prabhupada, "How much

will you give?" Immediately Prabhupada countered, "How much do you want?"

Ratnaparkhi insisted, "No, how much will you give?" Prabhupada repeated,

"No, how much do you want?" The situation was tense. Finally, Mr.

Ratnaparkhi said, "Thirty thousand rupees" - an outrageous amount.

 

Srila Prabhupada immediately agreed, "Yes."

 

On the way back to the Khataus' thatched hut, Srila Prabhupada commented,

"Whenever I really wanted something, I always got it. I didn't care how much

I had to spend, but I always got what I wanted."

 

 

BACK HOME, BACK TO BOMBAY

 

After serving in India for two and a half years, I had contracted jaundice.

With great patience and care, I was able to overcome my diseased condition,

but within two weeks I had a relapse. Then, no matter what I did, I could

not recover. Finally, Srila Prabhupada himself said that as long as I

remained in Bombay I would not get better.

 

With great difficulty I obtained the necessary stamps in my passport to

leave the country, and I undertook the arduous flight from Bombay to

Chicago. In Chicago, my parents received me at the airport and took me to

their home, where I had lived from the age of eight until eighteen. Then,

after some days, I flew to Los Angeles to continue my recuperation at the

temple there. Soon Srila Prabhupada also arrived in Los Angeles from India.

In response to appeals from India for me to return, he encouraged me, in his

words, to go "back home, back to Bombay." I got the distinct impression he

was telling me that if I would go back and serve him in Bombay, I would go

back to Godhead. After some time I was well enough to return back home, back

to Bombay.

 

 

MANAGING THE ESTATE

 

While Srila Prabhupada was in America, Tamal Krishna Goswami and the other

devotees had secured one of the apartments on Hare Krishna Land for Srila

Prabhupada. Finally Srila Prabhupada had his own place on his own land. And

as usual, he was concerned that his property be managed properly.

 

I was always attracted to the six Gosvamis of Vrndavana, and I imagined one

day I would be like them, roaming the forests of Vrndavana, chanting

"Krishna! Krishna!"

 

Srila Prabhupada knew my mind, and one day he said to me, "Raghunatha dasa

managed his father's estate just like an expert businessman. Similarly, you

should also manage your father's estate. Then you can go to Vrndavana and

become a gosvami."

 

 

BUILDING ROOMS

 

Eventually Srila Prabhupada's great friend and staunch devotee, Sri P. L.

Sethi, obtained permission to build one story on top of the apartments at

the rear of Hare Krishna Land, to serve as residential quarters for the

devotees. Mr. Sethi also arranged for the workers and the purchase of the

building materials, and he personally oversaw the construction.

 

When the first rooms were almost ready, Mr. Sethi took Srila Prabhupada up

to the third floor to see the new residences. Srila Prabhupada instructed

that every day the brahmacaris should take everything off the floor and wash

the floor with water. Then, with great affection and appreciation, Srila

Prabhupada said to Mr. Sethi, "Just as you are building these rooms for my

disciples here, Lord Krishna is building your rooms for you in Vaikuntha."

 

 

BUS STOP

 

Even after Srila Prabhupada got the permit to build the devotees'

residences, Srila Prabhupada still had to get permission to build the

temple. And the government seemed determined not to give it. Sometimes, when

things looked really bad, Srila Prabhupada almost appeared to become

hopeless. But even when he seemed hopeless, he would always see the positive

side. One day he said, "Even if we don't get permission and can't build the

temple, never mind. We'll make Hare Krishna Land into a bus stop. We will

have many buses and we'll send devotees out to do sankirtana and distribute

books, and every now and then they can come back and refuel."

 

Srila Prabhupada had an amazing way of turning something that appeared to be

negative into something positive.

 

Srila Prabhupada was always a fighter, always a hero.

 

 

PRISON

 

Soon after Srila Prabhupada acquired the Juhu land, he instructed Mr. Sethi

to construct a compound wall around the property. One morning, as we

approached the temple on our way back from Srila Prabhupada's morning walk,

Srila Prabhupada's friend and constant companion on his walks, Dr. C. P.

Patel, pointed to the new, 5 ft. high compound wall, and told Srila

Prabhupada, "Seeing this wall, people are saying you have made a prison

inside."

 

Srila Prabhupada immediately responded, "Nooo," elongating the "o" sound.

"The prison is outside. Inside is freedom."

 

 

STILL YOU MUST DANCE

 

After serving Srila Prabhupada as zonal secretary for India for more than

three years, Tamal Krishna Goswami returned to America to preach, and soon

Goswami Maharaja formed the Radha-Damodara traveling sankirtana party, which

enlisted new devotees, distributed books, and sent money to India. In the

meantime, Bhagavan dasa, who was Srila Prabhuapda's Governing Body

Commissioner (GBC) for France, came to spend some time as his GBC in Bombay,

and almost every day Bhagavan dasa and I would take the train to the city to

work on the permission for the temple. In fact, Srila Prabhupada himself was

determined not to leave Bombay until we obtained the certificate. During

this time, Srila Prabhupada was lecturing every evening on Lord Kapila's

teachings to Devahuti, and Bhagavan and I would usually return just in time

to take some prasada and attend Srila Prabhupada's class and kirtana. Srila

Prabhupada was so concerned about the work that sometimes he would call us

to the vyasasana during the program and ask for the news.

 

Still, Srila Prabhupada wanted us to be happy in Krishna consciousness. One

evening during the program, he announced from the vyasasana: "You have to

dance in the kirtana - even if you don't get the certificate."

 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

 

MYSTERY SOLVED

 

Months after the struggles to get the land and the permissions to build were

over, Srila Prabhupada sat in his room, deep in thought. Suddenly he looked

up at me, shook his head, and said, almost with wonder, "I thought Mr. D.

was our friend. I could not know he was implicated with Mr. N." He paused,

and then added, "Or, Krishna did not want me to know." - as if he just had

solved the mystery.

 

(Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca:

"From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.")

 

 

WHY SRILA PRABHUPADA WAS SUCCESSFUL

 

One of our best life members in Bombay was Sri Biharilal Khandelwal. He was

a very pious man, from a prominent industrial family. In fact, he was the

first life member in India to pledge one lakh (one hundred thousand) rupees

for any of Srila Prabhupada's projects. One day his secretary phoned and

gave us the bad news: Sri Biharilal Khandelwal had passed away, and we were

requested to come and perform kirtana in the presence of his widow and other

family members. So I organized whatever devotees I could, and we went to the

family's residence to chant and try to console Sri Biharilal's widow and

relatives with some words from the Bhagavad-gita.

 

One devotee we could not inform was Haridas Prabhu. That evening Haridas was

fanning Srila Prabhupada on the terrace on top of his apartment. At seven

o'clock, Srila Prabhupada noticed there was no sound of kirtana from the

temple. Srila Prabhupada asked Haridas, "Why?The devotees must have gone

to the city to collect and not yet returned," Haridas ventured. "This was

not my idea," Srila Prabhupada responded, "that they should go to the city

and collect all day and night. Our process is to please Krishna. They may go

at nine in the morning and return by five in the evening, and then chant in

front of the Deities. Otherwise, they will become like karmis.

 

"We are successful because we try to please Krishna, and Krishna is merciful

and reciprocates with us. Otherwise, Mr. Nair was much more powerful than we

were. He had money, influence - his own daily newspaper - he had contacts,

so many politicians and government officers. And who were we? We had no

money, no influence, and no support. Yet we were successful - by Krishna's

grace.

 

"So, we should come and sing and dance in front of the Deities and please

Them, and by Their grace we will get all success. We are not successful by

our own strength; we are successful by Krishna's grace."

 

 

HARE KRISHNA LAND

 

Srila Prabhupada named his Juhu project "Hare Krishna Land." One evening,

Srila Prabhupada was sitting in his room at the back of the property, and

from the temple he heard the sound of "Hare Krishna," the sounds of kirtana.

He commented, "This is Hare Krishna Land. Always 'Hare Krishna' should be

heard."

 

 

IN RETROSPECT, AND PROSPECT

 

Sometimes I consider that whatever assets I have in Krishna consciousness

now may be due to my service and austerities for Srila Prabhupada in Bombay.

Still, I am very poor. And whatever little hope I have now rests in Srila

Prabhupada's mercy and his devotees' mercy. I wish I could serve them

better.

 

yat-sevaya bhagavatah

kuta-sthasya madhu-dvisah

rati-raso bhavet tivrah

padayor vyasanardanah

 

"By serving the feet of the spiritual master and the devotees, one is

enabled to develop transcendental ecstasy in the service of the Personality

of Godhead, who is the unchangeable enemy of the Madhu demon and whose

service vanquishes one's material distresses." (SB 3.7.19)