[Nectar] Living In Mayapur

[Guest guest]

The following is an excerpt from "Srila Prabhupada Is Coming!," by

Mahamaya Devi Dasi. In keeping with the theme of the podcasts sent

from Mayapur, we will post several different Mayapur pastime articles

in the coming days...

Chapter 15

Mayapur - November, 1975-March, 1976

 

Living in Mayapur

 

Mayapur was quiet when I arrived, compared with festival time. So few

devotees lived there: a few brahmacaris, about two dozen Westerners

and several families, most refugees from Bangladesh. All the men -

even grhasthas - occupied rooms along the boundary wall. Homes for the

Bengali ladies and their daughters and pre-school sons were in the

boundary-wall rooms nearest the Big Kitchen; their older sons lived in

the gurukula rooms, also in the boundary wall, near the front gate.

The school included a few local nondevotee boys, and classes took

place outdoors on the grass.

Living above the Big Kitchen were the Western ladies: Vrindaban

Biharini dasi, from South Africa; Krishna-rupa dasi, from Australia;

Svati dasi and her three-year-old son Sivajvara, from England;

Kamadhuk dasi, from Scotland; Khandabasi dasi, with her eight-year-old

daughter Susasita, from Germany; and Australian Rasamandala and her

two-year-old son Damodara. A round bathroom building accommodated

everyone: men in the outer ring and ladies in the inner circle. Two

hand-pumps provided water.

The Deities - Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, Lord Caitanya and a saligram-sila

(a stone Deity of Krishna) - were nicely looked after by only three

pujaris: Jananivasa dasa brahmacari, from England, the dedicated head

pujari since Day One of ISKCON Mayapur; Pankajanghri dasa brahmacari,

his identical twin brother; and Anakadundubhi dasa, another

Englishman, whose wife was Vrindaban Biharini prabhu. The Bengali men

maintained a twenty-four-hour kirtan in the temple room, and many of

them sang like Gandharvas (angels).

The Lotus Building rooms were reserved for guests. Huge tulasi bushes,

some nearly five feet high, grew at the back of the building, and more

distant was a small vegetable garden. The Deities' flower gardens, all

along one side of the path from the front gate, provided many fragrant

varieties and even imported American roses.

Muslim guards played sahnai music in a small room above the front gate

during every sunrise. No shops or rickshaws, except one or two, were

outside the front gate, and guests were rare.

The weather was hot and humid most of the year, with perhaps eight

weeks of cold in mid-winter. The storm season was most exciting. The

cyclones approached so fast that, if I was in my room, I had only

enough time to close the wooden shutters before the high winds

blasted. The incredible beauty of the rainy-season skies proved that

Krishna is the supreme artist. At every sunrise and sunset there was a

twenty-minute light show.

Bhavananda Maharaja told us that once he asked Srila Prabhupada: "Is

it wrong to enjoy the beauty of Mayapur?"

"No," Srila Prabhupada said. "I've given you Mayapur to enjoy."

And we did enjoy Mayapur. Here we could appreciate the wonderful

sunrises and sunsets and not be in maya - Srila Prabhupada said!

Mayapur only seemed to be in the material world, but actually it was

entirely spiritual.

Communication with the outside world practically didn't exist. Letters

delivered through the Muslim-run post office near the Yogapitha - if

they did arrive - were already opened. Mayapur had one telephone in

the Lotus Building, on the back verandah behind the stairs. If someone

phoned, everyone in the vicinity could hear the person on our end

yelling into the receiver. Hardly anyone called.

The lack of communication really didn't matter, because we were in the

holy dhama, Lord Caitanya's home, and He is especially merciful to

fallen souls. I could feel His presence often. Even the banana trees

reminded me of Him. Our real, important business was chanting Hare

Krishna. Although quiet, Mayapur was the world headquarters of the

International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The sankirtan

movement started here, which made it the center of the universe.

I noted that when large groups of pilgrims came, they invariably

consisted of all women, with two or three men chaperones. So I

understood that women formed the bulk of the Krishna devotees in

India. Even though to stay in India we Western women were more or less

forced to accept being treated as lower-class citizens, I understood

that having a woman's body was conducive to spiritual life. Women were

naturally in a subservient position, which is necessary for

maintaining a proper, humble relationship with guru and Lord Krishna.

The back verandah of the Lotus Building was my outdoor office. To

type, I sat cross-legged on the floor and perched my typewriter on its

hard case. Jayapataka Maharaja dictated letters on tapes, but I didn't

have a transcriber; so I nearly wore out my tape player transcribing

his tapes.

As the temple secretary, I had a few other duties, such as keeping a

current list of the foreign devotees' names and passport numbers, for

the Foreign Registration Office (FRO), in nearby Krishnanagar.

I also helped Krishna-rupa dasi sew for the Deities. Navadvipa was the

nearest town. I hardly ever went shopping there. However, a few times

I traveled by train to Calcutta with Krishna-rupa to shop for cloth,

trims and decorations for Radha-Madhava's outfits.

 

The Bengali Devotees

 

The Bengali ladies were Krishna devotees at heart, but they had a

problem chanting japa. When given japa beads, they'd just sit around

and talk. So Srila Prabhupada told them to do service instead of japa,

and thus directly after mangal-arati they went to the Big Kitchen to

hull rice or to cut fruits and vegetables.

Srila Prabhupada was merciful in giving first initiation to all the

Bengali devotees, forgiving the ladies' their lack of discipline in

chanting japa. However, only the three ladies who did chant sixteen

rounds were later offered second initiation.

The mother of Haridasa prabhu from Bombay temple came to live in

Mayapur. Being a cultured lady who could read and write, she didn't

live with the Bengali ladies, but shared a room with me above the Big

Kitchen.

We called her "Haridasa Ma" (Haridasa's mother), as was the custom -

the ladies were known by their child's name. She lived in Mayapur for

quite some time before we discovered she was a fabulous cook. After

that, she cooked for Radha-Madhava. At some point, the devotees

started calling her Didi Ma, meaning "older sister."

The Bengali men made saris on looms. This cottage industry provided

income for the temple when the saris were sold during the Gaura

Purnima festival. Once or twice a year each female devotee living in

Mayapur received one of the colorful handloom saris.

The Bengali ladies wrapped their saris differently than we Western

ladies - only city slickers in India wore their saris like us - so we

adopted their style, which was faster to wrap and cooler to wear,

though harder to keep over the head.

I liked to watch the easily pleased Bengali children. The toddlers

were satisfied playing with a small stick or some leaves. They were

not suffering for lack of store-bought toys. Kids in America were less

peaceful, though perhaps more intelligent because of being brought up

on cows' milk.

 

Prasadam

 

Everyone ate in the prasadam pavilion behind the Big Kitchen. The

prasadam was austere by Western standards, but it was "either eat

there or starve." Except for a few bites of maha-prasadam each

morning, we had no other prasadam, not even for a price - and no means

to buy bhoga (unoffered foodstuffs), nor any facilities for cooking.

There was one concession for Western devotees: we each received a

piece of fruit at four p.m. daily.

I looked forward to the twice-monthly Dvadasi day - the day after

Ekadasi, when we fasted from grains and beans - for this was the only

time we got a few mouthfuls of sweet prasadam. That small amount of

delicious atta (wheat flour) halava, however, was insufficient to

satisfy my sweet tooth. I never realized how many naturally sweet

things I was accustomed to eating until I was deprived of them -

hardly any fruit, no fruit juices, no Sunday feast.

Desperate, during my daily stint at the temple book table, I'd sneak

some gur-badam - peanuts and gur - meant for the infrequent guests. I

also asked the purchaser, or "kitchen in charge," to buy me a supply

of rock candy, which I kept in a jar in my room.

Instead of a Sunday Love Feast we had two "feasts" per week, on

Saturday and Sunday: kittri cooked with mustard oil-distributed to two

thousand people besides us. I no longer looked forward to the weekends

as I used to in America. However, when a feast day came around, Radha-

Madhava ate sumptuously, and so did we. I felt very satisfied. The

Bengali ladies really knew the art of cooking!

We drank water from the hand pumps, none of which were deep wells. I

suffered from stomach ailments caused by the lack of pure water but

bottled water and filters were unknown to us.

 

"Better Not to Mix"

 

We did not visit other temples in Mayapur except as a group, once a

year, during the Gaura Purnima festival, because Srila Prabhupada

didn't want us to associate with his Godbrothers. He wrote to Rupanuga

prabhu, on April 28, 1974, in a letter that circulated all over

ISKCON:

.. . . Actually amongst my Godbrothers no one is qualified to become

acarya. So it is better not to mix with my Godbrothers very intimately

because instead of inspiring our students and disciples they may

sometimes pollute them. This attempt was made previously by them,

especially Madhava Maharaja and Tirtha Maharaja and Bon Maharaja but

somehow or other I saved the situation. This is going on. We shall be

very careful about them and not mix with them. This is my instruction

to you all. They cannot help us in our movement, but they are very

competent to harm our natural progress. So we must be very careful

about them. . . .

Because we lived so near to Srila Prabhupada's Godbrothers in Mayapur,

our local leaders stressed this point even more: "Don't go to their

temples; don't buy their books; don't take prasadam there. Be

respectful if you meet them, but don't mingle."

Other Vaisnavas were bound to have perspectives different than Srila

Prabhupada's and to say things differently, and the result would be

confusion. Besides that, Srila Prabhupada told us many times that some

of his Godbrothers envied his success. Therefore Srila Prabhupada

wrote, "We shall be very careful about them and not mix with them.

This is my instruction to you all." Not just Srila Prabhupada's

Godbrothers, but many camps and philosophies were represented in

India. Our spiritual lives depended on our chastity in following Srila

Prabhupada strictly, without deviating - no adding, no subtracting, no

interpreting.

And why should we neglect his pure teachings to hear from others?

Obviously, Srila Prabhupada was the only one of his Godbrothers to

fully understand and fulfill the desires of their guru, Srila

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, to preach Krishna consciousness worldwide.

Lord Caitanya's mercy was flowing through Srila Prabhupada, enabling

him to succeed in spreading Krishna consciousness on an unprecedented

scale. Our spiritual father was the greatest empowered personality -

the jagat-guru, or guru of the universe.

I was glad to live in India, because I clearly understood the urgency

of Srila Prabhupada's instructions regarding his Godbrothers.

Practicing spiritual life, we were on the razor's edge - any

inattention and we could be cut. Eventually I saw devotees who paid no

heed to his warnings and wandered off the path. Srila Prabhupada

rectified some of them, but others he couldn't retrieve.

 

Srila Prabhupada's Arrival

 

On January 17, 1976, all the Mayapur devotees - Bengalis and

Westerners - had a rousing kirtan outside the now completed front

gate. We were waiting for Srila Prabhupada to arrive and expecting him

to stay through the Gaura Purnima festival in March. Finally, his car

came! "Jaya Srila Prabhupada! Haribol!" We paid obeisances to him in

the street.

Bhavananda Maharaja handed Srila Prabhupada a pair of scissors to cut

a wide, inaugural ribbon hanging on the gate. With kirtan going full

blast we all followed him under the arch and through the metal gates.

We were so happy to see Srila Prabhupada! We were not identifying with

our bodies, but were truly an international family, exuberantly

celebrating the arrival of our glorious spiritual master.

Srila Prabhupada walked the main path to the Lotus Building. Just as

he approached the templedoor, a flower shower that looked like an

offering from the demigods fell on Srila Prabhupada, thanks to Svati

and Kamadhuk prabhus, one flight up.

After taking darshan of Radha-Madhava, Srila Prabhupada sat on his

vyasasana. In his arrival address, he expressed exactly what I was

feeling that day:

It was Bhaktivinoda Thakur's aspiration that the Europeans, Americans,

and Indians all together dance jubilantly and chant "Gaura Hari." So

this temple, Mayapur Candrodaya temple, is meant for a transcendental

United Nations. What the United Nations has failed to achieve, that

will be achieved here by the process recommended by Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu: prthivita ache yata nagaradi grama, sarvatra pracara haibe

mora nama. So you have come from all parts of the world and are living

together in this temple.

So train these small boys. I am very glad, especially, to see that the

small children from all other countries, and Indian, Bengalis, all

together, forgetting their bodily consciousness. That is the greatest

achievement in this movement, that everyone forgets the bodily

conception of life. Nobody thinks themselves here as European,

American, Indian, Hindu, Muslim, Christian. They forget all these

designations, and simply they are ecstatic in chanting the Hare

Krishna mantra. So kindly what you have begun, do not break it.

Continue it very jubilantly. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the master of

Mayapur, He will be very much pleased upon you, and ultimately you

will go back to home, back to Godhead. Thank you very much.

 

The Long Building

 

Whenever I saw Srila Prabhupada, I hardly knew of his activities as

the manager of his worldwide organization, even if I was right there

in the same temple. But occasionally news trickled down. For instance,

the day after his arrival he toured the grounds and suggested that a

new building be constructed along the north boundary line, parallel to

the Lotus Building. He wanted it finished in time to house the

visiting devotees during the Gaura Purnima festival.

"But, Srila Prabhupada, the festival is only six weeks away," the

leaders protested. "How can we get it finished on time?"

The task was impossible, but Srila Prabhupada asked that they try. He

often pushed his disciples to increase their service, sometimes

quipping that "impossible" was a word found in the fool's dictionary.

The new building did go up - quickly, too.

Srila Prabhupada himself got involved with some details of the

construction, and he kept Jayapataka Swami, Pancaratna prabhu and many

other devotees busy. Almost a thousand feet long - five times the

length of the Lotus Building, and similarly designed - everyone called

it "the Long Building" and the nickname stuck.

Since the Ganga flooded Mayapur every eight or nine years, the plans

called for two floors of rooms above the hollow space around the

plinths on the ground level. Realizing that this was a waste of space,

Srila Prabhupada later told the workers to enclose the ground floor to

make basement rooms. Srila Prabhupada mentioned it at an evening

darshan, "For a few more rupees you get thousands of square feet of

useable space, so I told them to finish it off."

 

Morning Walks

 

Women were not invited on Srila Prabhupada's morning walks, but I was

always outside chanting japa during that time. Spotting His Divine

Grace, I would usually offer obeisances three times: when I first saw

him from a distance, when I could see him more clearly, and when he

was very close.

The pukkur near the front gate was his favorite destination. It was a

man-made pond, crudely dug, more or less square. Srila Prabhupada

walked along and around its raised sides, his entourage following in

single file. The raised sides were fifteen-foot-high piles of dirt

blocking the sight of the pond itself. Patches of wild subjees - okra

and portals - grew on these small hills. I relished watching Srila

Prabhupada's stately form, even from a distance. He walked

majestically, using his cane to balance himself as he went around the

pukkur.

One morning I picked a beautiful, newly opened rose from the flower

garden and handed it to Srila Prabhupada as he passed. I felt so good

about this - until Bhavananda Maharaja, who hung back, heavily

criticized me for picking the rose.

"Roses have to be fully bloomed before you can pick them," he yelled.

He angrily banned me from picking roses.

I was aware of his rule about picking only fully bloomed roses, but

what he didn't consider was that a fully bloomed rose, whose petals

are wide open, is on the verge of falling apart, as the garland-makers

experienced daily, with great frustration. The pleasure of giving

Srila Prabhupada that "contraband" newly opened rose outweighed the

aggravation of being scolded for picking it.

One time I was walking on the construction site of the Long Building,

so absorbed in my chanting that I didn't notice Srila Prabhupada and

his entourage approaching from behind. I was caught by surprise! For a

minute I was part of the morning walk as they encircled me. They

continued walking on without me, of course.

 

The Srimad-Bhagavatam Classes

 

The Mayapur temple schedule that we followed throughout the year

differed, in some details, from the schedule of the annual

international festival. Normally, during the year - after mangal-

arati, tulasi-puja and some japa - we'd sing "Udilo Aruna" at sunrise.

This song celebrates the rising of the sun in Mayapur, a time of day

when Lord Caitanya would perform sankirtan through the village. And

usually we held the Srimad-Bhagavatam class before we greeted the

Deities. So now Srila Prabhupada followed this normal schedule.

Srila Prabhupada gave classes on the Seventh Canto, Chapter Nine.

After his first class was over, he turned to Subhaga dasa and said,

"Now you translate it into Bengali." Subhaga prabhu was stunned. Srila

Prabhupada had not asked him to translate sentence by sentence.

Rather, without warning, Srila Prabhupada expected him to remember the

class and summarize it. So difficult! He was on the spot and could say

hardly anything. Srila Prabhupada then asked Nitaicand dasa, and he

made a passable attempt.

After that, it became a regular feature that one of the bilingual

devotees would give a synopsis of the class in Bengali. Now they knew

what to expect and listened carefully to the class.

 

Guru-puja

 

After the Deity curtains opened at seven a.m., we greeted the Deities

with the "Govindam" prayers, followed by Srila Prabhupada sitting on

his marble vyasasana, with its brightly colored cushions, for guru-

puja. Then Srila Prabhupada circumambulated the temple room three

times, stopping to ring the bells on either side of the altar.

Surrounded by dancing gurukula boys, Srila Prabhupada gestured to

encourage them to dance and jump higher. We all had just as much fun

dancing for Srila Prabhupada's pleasure as we did with the festival

crowds.

One morning Srila Prabhupada had gotten up after guru-puja and was

walking towards the Deities when Jananivasa prabhu stopped him,

holding out a plateful of mangal-arati sweets. Srila Prabhupada took a

piece and popped it into his mouth. Then he distributed the remainder

of the sweets to those lucky devotees nearby.

The next day Jananivasa prabhu brought the plate of mangal-arati

sweets earlier, while Srila Prabhupada was still on the vyasasana and

the kirtan was still going on. Srila Prabhupada again popped a piece

in his mouth and indicated that the gurukula boys should come forward

to receive pieces. The area right in front of the vyasasana was very

congested, but the boys pushed and shoved to line up, and approached

Srila Prabhupada through the small opening in a marble barrier that

separated the vyasasana area from the temple room. They looked so

happy to receive their sweets from his hand.

This was the start of a daily routine. If Srila Prabhupada broke up

the sweets into small enough pieces, there were enough for the men to

also receive sweets. Some days there were still some leftover after

all the boys and men had received theirs, so the little girls - there

were only five or six of them - would get sweets.

Last came the women. Oh, those rare and wonderful days when the ladies

got the mercy of receiving pieces of mangal-arati sweets from Srila

Prabhupada's hand! He wouldn't just drop the sweet into my

outstretched palm - he would push it into my hand, touching it.

When the sweets didn't stretch to include us, however, the little

girls were so generous that they would share their tiny pieces with

the ladies, so no one missed out.

The blond-haired boys, Sivajvara and Damodara, loved getting sweets

from Srila Prabhupada. They stationed themselves in front of his

vyasasana and would not budge. They kept their hands out constantly.

Srila Prabhupada reciprocated by giving them sweets three or four

times. Srila Prabhupada often laughed at their antics. Each time one

of them got a piece, he ate it, wiped his hand on his sikha (the tuft

of hair left on the shaved head of male Vaisnavas) and held out his

hand for more - all in one motion. The boys must have been imitating

the guests who received in their right hands a tiny spoonful of

carinamrta - the Deities' bath water mixed with yogurt and sugar - and

sipped it, then wiped their hands on the back of their heads.

Srila Prabhupada's distributing prasadam to all of us was a sweet and

intimate affair.

 

Flower Pastimes

 

The little nine- and ten-year-old Bengali girls picked flowers from

the gardens for the Deities' garlands every morning after mangal-

arati. It was dark at that time of the morning in the winter, but that

didn't deter them. These girls were quite responsible and made all the

garlands.

Now they increased the amount of flowers so as to make a garland daily

for Srila Prabhupada. They made a huge garland, four inches in

diameter, with spirally strung, super-fragrant flowers called rajani-

gandha ("the queen of scents"), which resemble small white bugles. The

girls included in the garland both sections of red and pink roses and

variously colored marigolds. It was a masterpiece every day, often

reaching Srila Prabhupada's knees. Srila Prabhupada looked

aristocratic wearing these garlands.

Usually there were extra flowers and petals that the little girls

sprinkled on top of Srila Prabhupada shoes, outside the door. Srila

Prabhupada put on his shoes with a devotee's assistance, and when he

started walking, the flowers would fall off.

One day they didn't fall off. I watched Srila Prabhupada take several

steps and then look down. Noticing that the flowers were still there,

he lifted one foot and gently shook it, then the other, but the

flowers didn't move! He looked puzzled.

The little girls were in stitches watching this, for they had played a

joke and tied small garlands of flower petals around the toe of each

shoe. They had let the ladies in on their trick, and we were also

cracking up. Then Srila Prabhupada figured it out and laughed, too,

enjoying the joke very much! He had a great sense of humor and didn't

mind the girls playing a joke.

Evening Darshans

Evening Darshans

Bhavananda Maharaja renounced his room on the Lotus Building roof for

Srila Prabhupada's use, particularly for his afternoon nap. Coming

down from the roof after four o'clock, Srila Prabhupada started

evening darshans at five. Anyone could come. From the day he arrived,

I was inspired to go.

I really liked these evening darshans and kicked myself for not going

to them when I could in Vrindaban and Bombay. Hearing Srila

Prabhupada's enlightening conversations and watching his facial

expressions and gestures was like tasting nectar. So was seeing him

deftly pour water from his drinking glass into his mouth without

touching the glass to his lips. His every move was majestic, and he

was the cynosure of all eyes. Comfortable and relaxed, Srila

Prabhupada was at home in Mayapur. Srila Prabhupada's right hand would

often be in his beadbag during a darshan, and I'd notice him chanting

quietly during lulls in the conversation.

Being in close proximity to Srila Prabhupada both exhilarated and

penetrated my mind. He was so focused on Krishna that his every word

and action revealed his addiction to the Lord. Because I felt I

couldn't hide anything from him, not even my mind, I thought, "I must

think of Krishna so that my thoughts aren't a disturbance to Srila

Prabhupada's meditation."

 

 

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