30th Anniversary of Krishna Balaram Mandir

[Guest guest]

Day Two - April 18th

 

The next morning on Rama Navami, the devotees found the temple decorated in an

unprecedented manner with flowers. The Deities altars were draped with bright

orange marigolds with gates elaborately decorated with flowers and bannana

trees. Not only the altars, but even the entire darshan mandap was turned into

a flower palace with delicate white jasmine flowers crisscrossing overhead. It

seemed that the Deities, whom the devotees are ever eager to serve, had found a

way to serve Their devotees by making a flower palace for them! The Tamal tree

is also in full bloom with its thousands of tiny light yellow bell-shaped

flowers adding their divine fragrace to the potpouri of scents.

 

In the morning session of katha, Dhanajaya Prabhu very jovially described how

he had become president of Krishna Balaram Mandir. Previously he had

volunteered to help Guru Dasa in Vrindavan, but Srila Prabhupada told that his

service in Rome was more important. Later while serving in the Manor, the Prime

Minister of Sri Lanka had visited and promised all support to anyone who would

open an ISKCON branch there. With an idea to open a branch there, he had gone

to Mayapur to seek Prabhupada's blessings.

 

This intention in mind he entered Prabhupada's room, which was full of GBCs and

sannyasis, waiting for the opportunity to bring up the subject. Brahmananda

entered the room and sat next to Gargamuni. Seeing both the brothers,

Prabhupada mentioned how it was so nice to see them both together. He went on

to describe how dear these brothers were to him. They had gone to Pakistan on

his bidding as white hindu sannyasis and had done some preaching for a little

while before being forced to leave the country because war with India had

broken out. Sarvabhauma Prabhu, Vice President of ISKCON Vrindavan, piped up

from the audience, that he was one of the results of their preaching.

 

Meanwhile, somehow an article came out in the news that two American sannyasis

had been killed in Karachi. When someone brought this article to Srila

Prabhupada, he was thouroughly distraught and began to cry and lament that it

was his fault that he had sent them there only to be killed. Later it turned

out that there being no flights to India because of the war, they had flown to

Sri Lanka and had to wait several days to catch a flight to Delhi and finally

they made their way to Bombay. Communication was very difficult in those days,

so no one knew anything about their whereabouts. When they arrived safe and

sound in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada was so overjoyed to see them that he embraced

them and their kurtas became wet with his tears, now tears of joy!

 

Sitting in Mayapur, he remarked how nice it was to see them in his room

together. In his talk at this point as an aside, Dhanajaya remarked that now

those two brothers are here with us in Vrindavan together. Remembering that

they had gone to Sri Lanka, Prabhupada quoted a Bengali proverb, that whoever

sets foot on Lanka becomes a Ravana. After a remark like that, Dhanajaya felt

it was not the time to bring up the subject going to Sri Lanka.

 

Somehow in the conversation, Prabhupada saw Dhanajaya and said that maybe

Dhanjaya should be the president of the new temple in Vrindavan. Everybody in

the room said haribol. So Prabhupada asked if there was a quorum of the GBC

body present and there being so, he proceeded to write up a resolution on piece

of notebook paper and have all the GBCs sign it. Up to this point Dhananjaya

had not said a word, this all happened in front of his eyes.

 

Then Prabhupada waved for everyone to leave the room except Dhanajaya. Then he

told him to go to Vrindavan, but not tell anyone that he was the president,

that Prabhupada would do when he came there later. When he asked Dhananjaya

where was his wife and he replied in England. Prabhupada told him to send for

her immediately to stay with him in Vrindavan. "Wherever the wife is, the

husband will go there," Prabhupada chuckled.

 

Telling him to do some other service in Vrindavan, Prabhupada sent him there.

By the time the GBC meeting came in March of 1975, some sannyasis had objected

to a householder being the president of Vrindavan, Prabhupada compromised and

made New Zealand born Aksayananda Maharaja the co-president with Dhananjaya.

 

Seeing Kishori Mataji, ex-wife of Surabhi, present who had flown here from

Paris this morning only to be present for the festival, Dhananjaya asked Deena

Bandhu if we could invite her to speak. Deena Bandhu Prabhu responded that

that's exactly what he had planned to do. While she was making her way to the

front of the temple, Deena Bandhu asked Devamrita Prabhu, the new temple

president of Vrindavan, that since Dhananjaya had just mentioned about the two

brothers and how dear they were to Srila Prabhupada, whether they were going to

come and speak. He shook his head no, and Deena Bandhu explained to the

audience that since the GBC had seen fit to punish us all by not letting them

give class, they had refused Devamrita's invitation.

 

Kishori Mataji bathed us all in a sweet ocean of nectar as she described her

association with Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada had asked her to cook for

him in Vrindavan. She made so many elaborate preparations that Prabhupada

called her into the room and said that everything is so nice and tasty, but how

am I to eat all these things? Thinking that her service was finished, her heart

sank, but then Srila Prabhupada smiled and told her cooking was very nice, just

make it simple. Then she was floating on cloud nine as she left the room

overjoyed to have such a intimate service with Srila Prabhupada.

 

One day in Jaipur, she tasted some namkeen (salty preparation) and liked it so

much she decided to make this for Srila Prabhupada. Then Prabhupada called her

into the room and asked Kishori what is this. She told him it was bonafide

since she had made it, (in those days, she explained we never ate any thing

outside.) Prabhupada immediately said you must make this every day. You take

Hari Sauri to the kitchen and teach him also, I want this every day whereever I

am in the world. She said later in Bombay one time, he told her to again take

Hari Sauri to the kitchen and teach him again as his namkeen was not up to par.

 

After the Deities were installed, she was cooking for Them, but was always

getting in trouble for cooking so much. She was thinking that Krishna is the

Supreme Personality of Godhead and He should get plenty of things to eat even

if we don't have enough money, He will supply whatever is neccessary.

Unfortunately the president didn't feel that way. She went to see Srila

Prabhupada and he said that Krishna is a young man, He needs to eat a lot and

you should cook a big pile of rice, animatedly indicating with his hands a huge

pile of rice, like this.

 

Somehow there was once an argument in the kitchen and one devotee left the

temple and Kishori was accused of kicking him out of the temple. Somebody told

her that Prabhupada was very angry with her. So she went crying to Prabhupada's

old friend Bhagatji's house, threw herself on the bed, covered herself with a

blanket and told Bhagatji she would never move from that place as her life was

finished.

 

Bhagatji went to see Srila Prabhupada and came back and beat his cane on the

bed saying get up you're in maya. Prabhupada wants to see you now and hear your

side of the story and your complaints. He took her to Prabhupada's quarters and

opened the door and she went in, but he did not follow.

 

Hearing that Prabhupada wanted to hear her complaints, she started thinking of

all the things she wanted to say, but as she sat there she began to become

smaller and smaller. Prabhupada walked into the room, sat down and without

looking at her said Kishori, what is the problem? She was silent. Again he

repeated his question in a very grave voice. She couldn't speak. Then he said

what is this argument and fighting? Kishori, unless you became humble and

tolerant you will never make it in spiritual life. Then he quoted the Trinad

api verse and repeated that without becoming tolerant, there is no advancement

in spiritual life.

 

So she went out of the room and went to Malati and remembering how Prabhupada

had told them that his guru maharaja had said that one should wear this verse

around the neck, they tattooed it on to each other's neck. Despite the pain and

all they managed to do it.

 

Now in her shop in Paris, people always ask what it is around her neck. Most of

them she puts off with it's a prayer, but at least once a day she has to

explain that verse to one customer who insists on knowing what it means!

 

She told how Malati and other SKP devotees were telling Prabhupada of their

book distribution and how they had a van and distributed books. She noticed how

Prabhupada was smiling and so pleased with them. So after they left, she went

to him and told how she didn't know how to drive, but she wanted a van so she

could go out and distribute books and all. Prabhupada smiled and said very

sweetly, Kishori, you want to leave me? You're not happy with me here in

Vrindavan. Then her heart was filled with bliss and she realized that he

accepted all services equally.

 

Other speakers repeatedly mentioned the wonderful smile on Srila Prabhupada's

face as he did the first artika. Again and again they mentioned that despite

the elaborate arrangements for yajna, Prabhupada said the real installation was

the 24-hour kirtan.

 

Deena Bandhu finished off with a vivid description of how the Deities were

standing in the middle of the darshan mandapa with wax over Their eyes and the

brahmins were very joyfully splashing all the abhishek ingredients over them.

They seemed to be really enjoying themselves.

 

Then the final moment came when the Deities went on the altar, were dressed,

and had Their first offering. Finally the door opened with billows of incense

and Srila Prabhupada was standing in bright saffron silk on Krishna Balarama's

altar to do artika. At that moment, the crowd surged forward and Deena Bandhu

was swept off his feet. Being very young, and remembering news reports of

people in 3rd World countries being trampled to death, he panicked as he was

taken 15 feet this way and 10 feet this way and his feet were not even on the

ground.

 

Finally he made his way to the courtyard like an American football player and

turned to see Srila Prabhupada's smile of fuuuuulllllll satisfaaaaaction. Every

time he finished offering an article to the Lords, he would turn to offer it to

the devotees and his smile increased each time, like ten, 100, 1000, and

finally millions of suns rising in the sky!

 

Then there was a simultaneous maha abhishek of all three sets of Lords.

Everyone sat peacefully as Aindra sang one of his lively kirtans and relished

the wonderful ceremony. Sri Gaura Nitai Ki Jaya, Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Ki

Jaya, and Sri Sri Radha Shyamsunder Ki Jaya rent the air.

 

The feast was really fantastic with even the Gurukul present, in fact many of

the servers were the older gurukul boys. Very nicely cooked and served for the

satisfaction of all the devotees.

 

The Grand Finale came at the afternoon artika, with the flower outfits

artistically made by all the devotee women. Flower crowns, earings, ornaments,

and dresses. Mainly large yellow flowers, but there were highlights of blue,

violet, and pink. The outfits appeared to come straight from Goloka Vrindavan.

Radharani had a beautiful outfit made with wonderful pink flowers that was just

stunning. No one could take their eyes off Their Lordships.

 

Sri Sri Gaura Nitai Ki Jaya! Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Ki Jaya! Sri Sri Radha

Shyamsunder, Lalita, Visakha Ki Jaya! Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir 30th

Anniversary Mahamahotsava Ki Jaya.

 

In service of Sri Sri Krishna Balaram,

Deena Bandhu dasa