Boston Sankirtana Party 1969–1970

Giriraj Swami:

CC Madhya 6.256
 

ei dui śloka — bhakta-kaṇṭhe ratna-hāra

sārvabhaumera kīrti ghoṣe ḍhakkā-vādyākāra

TRANSLATION

These two verses composed by Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya will always declare his name and fame as loudly as a pounding drum, because they have become pearl necklaces around the necks of all devotees.

COMMENT

Yesterday, we were giving the example from the Bhāgavatam that If one decorates himself, automatically his reflection will be decorated. We are like reflections of Krishna. So, by decorating Lord Krishna, we become decorated. By glorifying Lord Krishna, we become glorious. So, here Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami confirms that Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya became glorious because of his verses in glorification of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

TEXT 257

sārvabhauma hailā prabhura bhakta ekatāna

mahāprabhura sevā-vinā nāhi jāne āna

TRANSLATION

Indeed, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya became an unalloyed devotee of Caitanya Mahāprabhu; he did not know anything but the service of the Lord.

TEXT 258

‘śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya śacī-sūta guṇa-dhāma’

ei dhyāna, ei japa, laya ei nāma

TRANSLATION

The Bhaṭṭācārya always chanted the holy name of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, son of mother Śacī and reservoir of all good qualities. Indeed, chanting the holy names became his meditation.

COMMENT

So, this concludes the description of the two verses composed by Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya in glorification of Lord Chaitanya. Are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: How can we understand that the relation with the spiritual master is not material?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the spiritual master teaches the science of devotional service. And the process of devotional service is completely spiritual. So, if we follow the instructions of the spiritual master and follow the process of devotional service then the relationship is spiritual. If we try to use the spiritual master for our sense gratification or take his instructions for our mental speculation, then of course, there will be some disturbance in the relationship. But If we strictly follow the instructions of the spiritual master, and follow the process of devotional service without any ulterior motive, then the relationship is pure and spiritual.

Devotee: [Translated] He says that in his case, as you mentioned, the chanting of the holy name and the study of the books. And for him, the study of the books give conviction to chant the holy name. For instance, yesterday that king was very ecstatic or in your case when Srila Prabhupada was there and were these big projects, everyone was very inspired to the service. But in normal times, when they learned this big plans towards Krishna consciousness, the study gives new challenges to people committed to chanting.

Giriraj Swami: What you say, is true. Srila Prabhupada remarked that distributing my books will keep them enthusiastic, and reading my books will keep them. He also said that if the devotees don’t read his books, then the “Haribol! Haribol!” may be finished. So you are right. We need to know the philosophy of Krishna consciousness and be reminded of the philosophy all the time, so that we don’t forget the reason that we are here, and so that we don’t give up the chanting and following of the regulative principles.

Well, Srila Prabhupada had criticized some famous impersonalists, religious figures in India and Dr. Patel got upset. So, Srila Prabhupada was suggesting that Dr. Patel was an impersonalist, because he was so attached to impersonal teachers. But he and Srila Prabhupada, both were very upset. And Dr. Patel actually started to almost shout at Srila Prabhupada because he felt that Srila Prabhupada was insulting some great spiritual leaders. And Srila Prabhupada was shouting at Dr. Patel. He was saying, “I am not saying, Krishna is saying, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ, prapadyante narādhamāḥ [BG. 7.15] ‘They are fools and rascals.’ I am not saying. Krishna is saying.” And seeing how angry Srila Prabhupada had become, Dr. Patel’s friends were advising him, that he is an old man, he has a heart condition. “You shouldn’t upset him so much.”

So, everyone was very upset and Dr. Patel decided he would never come back to walk with Srila Prabhupada again. So, the next day for the first time after so many years of them going on the morning walk together every day, Dr. Patel didn’t come. Srila Prabhupada went for his walk separately and Dr. Patel went for his walk separately. But eventually Srila Prabhupada was coming one way on Juhu beach and Dr. Patel was coming the other way. And Dr. Patel was too much attracted by Srila Prabhupada, so he just came up to Srila Prabhupada and touched his feet. And he said to Srila Prabhupada that he was sorry he got upset, but he was trained from his childhood to respect all saints of India. And Srila Prabhupada replied that he was also trained to say who is a saint and who is a rascal. Anyway, they set aside their differences and they started to walk together again. But Srila Prabhupada said, “No more discussions and no more arguments. From now on, instead of talking on the morning walk, we will just read from the Kṛṣṇa book.” So, for some days, we were just reading from the Kṛṣṇa book. And then after some time when the wounds healed, they began to talk again.

So, to be so attracted to Srila Prabhupada is not ordinary. And, even today Dr. Patel comes to the Juhu beach every morning and walks. And after the walk, he comes to the Juhu temple for deity greetings, and he offers a flower to Srila Prabhupada in guru-puja every morning. So, definitely there is some devotion there. There may be some element of impersonalism also. We can’t really say, but somehow, he got Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, so we must honor him and respect him.

Devotee: [Translated] He says that sometimes, we the westerners have a tendency to impersonalism because we have been following Christianity and different catholic systems and to reach the level of [Unintelligible 00:18:00–00:18:08].

Giriraj Swami: Yes. Srila Prabhupada’s mission was, nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe, to deliver the western countries which are full of impersonalism and voidism. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was also a great impersonalist. But He was delivered by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy. So, Srila Prabhupada is following exactly in the footsteps of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and delivering the impersonalist, engaging them in pure devotional service.

We used to go out every day. Actually, in the beginning, saṅkīrtana had not begun in ISKCON much. In the Boston temple, of course I was a very new devotee, but once in the Boston temple, there was a meeting of the devotees because the devotees could not meet the expenses of the temple. So, the devotees were all very sincere and surrendered. So, we were all sitting on the floor in the temple room and discussing what to do. So, it seems that the only solution would be for some of the devotees to get jobs. And, Srila Prabhupada said that devotees could hold jobs too and earn money. So, one said that he used to work as a postman, so, he could try to get a job as a postman again. And another said he could try to get a job in the grocery store down the street. So, one by one different devotees volunteered to get jobs. And there were only about six or eight devotees in the whole temple. But then, one devotee named Nanda Kishor said quite innocently that Srila Prabhupada had written one letter, in which he said that If we go on saṅkīrtana then all of our problems will be solved, materially and spiritually. He said, “Why don’t we just try what Srila Prabhupada said and go on saṅkīrtana.” So, everyone agreed, yes, we should do what Srila Prabhupada suggested. Of course, then, saṅkīrtana really meant chanting in the streets.

So, next day we all went out and chanted Hare Krishna in the street. And some of the devotees would have begging bowls. They would ask the people on the street to contribute some money. Some people would give five cents, ten cents. A few would give a bigger amount like twenty-five cents. But at the end of the day, we counted the money and we had seven dollars, which seemed like a big amount then. So we all were very encouraged. So, the next day we went out and did the same thing. And at the end of the day, we had about twelve dollars. So, we are thinking that, yes, what Srila Prabhupada said is true. All of our problems are being solved spiritually and materially. Then the third day, we did the same thing and at the end of the day, we had eighteen dollars. So then, we were convinced that this is really the only thing we have to do. We used to go out for hours every day almost say, from ten in the morning until five or six in the evening and just chant Hare Krishna. And in the evening on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we had Bhagavad-gītā class. So, on Tuesday, and Thursday, and Saturday, we would come back, take some prasāda, and then we would go out again. At the time, Satsvarupa Maharaja was the temple president. But under Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, he kept his job in the welfare department. So, he would leave early in the morning right after breakfast prasāda. In fact, he used to have to take his prasāda before the rest of us and then we wouldn’t see him until five in the afternoon, when he would come back to the temple. So, it became a rare treat for us to go out and do hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana with Satsvarupa Maharaja in the evening.

So, at the time, we just had two or three books. An Easy Journey to Other Planets, the abridged Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, published by Macmillan and The Teachings of Lord Chaitanya. I forget exactly what the old print run was for BTG, but It was just a few thousand per month, maybe two thousand per month for the whole movement. But Srila Prabhupada had very big plans. He decided to increase the print run from about two thousand to twenty thousand, and each temple had to take a quota of magazines. So, our quota was two thousand per month which came to about seventy per day, and we used to do about seven per month. It wasn’t sure, maybe three, four, maybe seven. So, Satsvarupa Maharaja had a meeting with the devotees and explained the situation. So then we would go out and chant, and at the same time, devotees with the chanting party would distribute BTGs. And we would take turns; sometimes we would chant and sometimes we would sell magazines. And those who were selling magazines, they would come and chant. But it seemed difficult to approach people with the magazine. It seems safer and easier just to chant. But one lady devotee named Jahnava, she had some special potency to sell BTGs. She was doing eighteen to twenty every day, going up to thirty, which was almost half of the daily quota for the whole temple.

So, every day we would check the scores to see If we were coming up to the target of seventy issues. And Satsvarupa Maharaja was so sincere and so surrendered that after coming home from the welfare department, he would take a little prasāda, and then he would also go out and sell magazines. And he didn’t sell many copies. He was very meek and humble but the fact that he went out every night, even though he didn’t sell many copies, was even more inspiring to us. We felt so encouraged that If he is going out and he is not even selling many copies then definitely, we should go out. And gradually, we started to make the quota. Then, of course, Srila Prabhupada would increase the print runs and the quota would go up. And again, we would think, how will we ever make this quota? Somehow, we always did.

Sometimes we would go to Boston Commons to chant and distribute magazines. And there was a big street, maybe one or two blocks away from the park. And there were more shops, and offices there, and more pedestrians on the street there. So, Mother Jadurani, she used to go to that street and distribute magazines, and she really used to distribute a lot. But I would think, How could she go so far from the saṅkīrtana party? I thought it was very hard not to fall in maya, even if we were just two feet away from the chanting party. But she really used to distribute a lot. It was as if there were no barriers with her. She would just walk up to the people as if she was an old friend, and like not only did she know them for years but like, she was their best friend and best well-wisher. And she would be serious and enthusiastic at the same time. And people could not resist her. So per day, she was the biggest distributor, the biggest collector in the whole United States. But ultimately, she had to do her painting work for Srila Prabhupada’s books, so she would only be able to come out once a week. And after her, I was the biggest collector. So overall, I collected more because I went out every day but in one day, she used to do as much as I did in three or four days. And in my one day, I pretty much used to do as much as everyone else put together in Boston.

Anyway initially, we were staying in a small storefront in Glenville Avenue in Allston which is a part of Boston outside of the center of the city. So, there is just the store front and on the ground floor behind the storefront, was a kitchen and toilet. And under the storefront was a basement. All the brahmacharis would stay in the basement, and there was no real facility to take bath. But the devotees had got an old bath-tub from somewhere. And they had propped it up on cinder blocks, like bricks, and there was a sink in the basement. So, they ran a hose from the faucet of the sink into the bathtub. And the water was freezing cold; especially in the winter, it was really freezing. So anyway, we would pour the water on us through the hose and I don’t know where the water went. Because it went out the bottom of the tub, there must have had some buckets under the bathtub to collect the water.

I first came in march and around August or September, I think maybe August 31st, the contract with the landlord ended. So, some devotees felt we should look for another place, a better place, or a bigger place. And they were looking but the days were passing and it was almost the end of the month and they hadn’t found any place. So, finally the end of the week came. September 1stt, which was the beginning of the next year, maybe fell on Sunday. So, on Friday Satsvarupa Maharaja decided that we haven’t found any alternative and the contract is expiring, we have to renew the contract. So, we have to tell the landlord that we are ready to renew it. So, I was very new only a few months old in Krishna consciousness. And especially I had so much respect and appreciation for Satsvarupa Maharaja, I thought that, How can I tell him anything? But something in my heart just kept telling me that we should not renew the contract; that we should keep looking for another place. So finally, it was completely overpowering and even though I didn’t want to approach him, I was impelled to approach him and suggest that we still try to find another place. So, I approached him and he said that, “But the contract expires over the weekend and by the beginning of the next week, we should have renewed the contract.” He is very straightforward. But I said, anyway, one or two days won’t make any difference and the landlord is not going to get any other tenant in the meantime, so just don’t tell him anything.

So, somehow in the next few days we found the place, a very big mansion which had actually been a funeral parlor. Anyway, we met the owner and he was willing to sell it to us. We didn’t know if he would agree to sell it to us. It was such a big thing because we had never bought any properties in ISKCON so far. We had only rented and we couldn’t take such a big decision ourselves. So, Satsvarupa Maharaja and I went somewhere to use the phone which is also a big thing. We went to phone Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, we can take it.” He said we should consult my father because he knew my father was a lawyer. So we phoned my father and explained the situation, and on the face of it, he also said, “Yes, we can go ahead.” Maybe he said to send the documents when they are ready, but anyway, he said we could go ahead. I remember it was actually on Radhastami day, just by chance, it was on Radhastami day that we met the landlord to actually sign the final contract. And in any case, I used to be very afraid to go out of the temple, and especially on Radhastami. And, we were fasting and I wasn’t used to fasting at all. But there was one other incident that happened with the landlord some days earlier. He was a very rich man, and he had another at least one fancy funeral parlor and he seemed to own many properties. He dressed very nicely with suit and tie and he drove a big car.

So, one morning we had an appointment with him at one of his offices, maybe 9:00 in the morning. So, Satsvarupa Maharaja and I went. He had a very big desk, table, and we were sitting on the other side of the table waiting for him. We were sitting opposite his seat on the other side of the big table waiting for him to come but he didn’t come. And we were very nervous because we didn’t know, what would happen to the deal. About fifteen or twenty minutes later, he came in the door and he was in a very frantic mood. He came and sat down on his big chair. And he said, he was up all night, he hadn’t even gone home to take rest. And he started looking in his pockets for a cigarette but he didn’t have any cigarettes with him. So then, he looked into his ashtray and he saw some cigarette butts. So he picked up one his old cigarette butts and lit it and began to smoke. And I was thinking, He is such a big millionaire, but he is picking up cigarette butts and smoking them just like a bum on the street. And afterwards Satsvarupa Maharaja quoted one statement from Srila Prabhupada in his purports to Bhagavad-gītā that, “The demons, even though they have lots of wealth, they are not able to enjoy their wealth.

Anyway, we got the house and Srila Prabhupada was very enthusiastic. We had already planned that we would use this big hall for the Sunday feast and use this big hall for the temple room and so on. But Srila Prabhupada had another idea. He wanted to establish the press there and we had no idea that Srila Prabhupada had any idea of a press. We didn’t even know that a press could be part of Krishna consciousness. But Srila Prabhupada had been corresponding with some of the devotees in New York like, Brahmananda, Advaita, Uddhava, and encouraging them to get a press. Anyway, I remember before we finally signed the deal with the landlord, we were having a discussion, Satsvarupa Maharaja and myself, that such a big place, what if we fell into maya, living there? We were actually sitting in the house although we hadn’t finalized the deal. Sometimes we were wondering, how we will ever get the money to make the payment? So, during the summer, we were able to make the payments. But when the winter came and the weather in Boston was very cold in the winter, we couldn’t collect much. And every month was like touch and go, whether we would be able to make the payment or not. Anyway, we were barely managing to make the payments, but then by the late maybe February or something, January, February, the days were coming close to the end of the month and we didn’t have the money and we didn’t see how we could get the money. And if we didn’t make the payment, not only would we lose the house but we would lose all the money that we paid. It seemed like a completely hopeless situation and we had to make the payment on Monday or Tuesday. Anyway, on Sunday one elderly lady came to the Sunday feast and somehow, she took a liking to one of Jadurani’s paintings that was on the wall and she wanted to buy it. So, she asked how much she had to pay?

So, in the end, she agreed to pay an amount which was just the amount we needed to make the mortgage payment. So, Krishna saved us. Then, when the press came, they started to bring out the books, and the first issue was Īśopaniṣad, then The Nectar of Devotion., then the First Chapters of the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Srila Prabhupada wanted each chapter to be published as a small book, and Srila Prabhupada personally gave the titles for the books like, The First Step in God Realization, The Lord in the Heart, Pure Devotional Service, Change of Heart. So, like that we brought out about four or five chapters, and Srila Prabhupada was very enlivened. There is a big history how book distribution developed. Because in October of the following year, I was invited to go to India so I left the United States. And by the time I left, still the main program was that the devotees would go and chant and a few of the devotees would distribute magazines around the chanting party. And some bold ones like mother Jadurani, they would go one or two blocks away and distribute. I was the saṅkīrtana leader and also the treasurer and temple commander. And Hridayananda Maharaja was the Assistant saṅkīrtana Leader. So, before I left, I had to train him up to take over because he was much more qualified than I was. I remember that I had a very difficult time remembering to bring everything that we needed on saṅkīrtana. There are just so many things to remember: the magazines, the mantra sign, the kartals, the mridanga, the bags that each devotee used to put the money in; there were just so many things. And every day I would usually forget at least one of the things if not two or three.

So, mother Jadurani could understand my plight. One morning she came down to the saṅkīrtana room where we had all the books and other paraphernalia and started going over the different items like, “Did you remember this? Did you remember that?” It was difficult. . . So, we were very conditioned when we first joined and maybe she saw that some false ego was coming when she started to suggest I might have forgotten something. So she was very intelligent and very gentle. She said, “You shouldn’t take it that anyone is reminding you, you should just take it that the Supersoul is reminding you.” So anyway, it was a struggle definitely. I remember one day, maybe I forgot the mantra sign and Satsvarupa Maharaja said I should go back to the temple and get it, something like that. Anyway, I got very upset. I didn’t want to go back to the temple and get the mantra sign. So, since I joined, I had never even thought of disobeying what the senior devotees told me and I never even had any negative thought about any of them, especially Satsvarupa Maharaja. But somehow, I got very disturbed. Anyway, I consulted some of the other devotees. So, they said that Satsvarupa Maharaja is a very sincere devotee and he was very dear to Srila Prabhupada and I should just do what he said and I shouldn’t be upset. Gradually, I was becoming like dejected—a combination of discouraged and depressed—I had too much to do really. Much, too much to do. Somehow, I got it in my mind that Srila Prabhupada was displeased with me. I told Mother Jadurani that I am feeling bad and Srila Prabhupada is not pleased with me. So she said, “How do you know Srila Prabhupada is not pleased with you. Did he tell you?” I said no. So she said, “How do you know he is displeased with you?” I couldn’t really answer. So then, she said that when maya wants to attack a devotee, the first thing she does is, attack the devotee’s relationship with the spiritual master. So she said I shouldn’t allow that to happen.

Another morning, we had gone on saṅkīrtana and we were walking from the place of saṅkīrtana to the van together. So, I started to lament that I have so many material desires. So she said, “Why? Do you want a lot of money?” I said no. So she said, “Do you want to have a lot of girlfriends?” I said no. So she said, “What are your material desires? You have no material desires.” Anyway, as I mentioned sometimes it would become extremely cold in the winter, and most of the devotees didn’t want to go out when it was very cold. And many of them would be sick also. I remember one very cold day in particular, there was just myself and one other devotee who went out. We went to Harvard Square and we would take turns. One of us would chant with the kartals and the other one would distribute BTGs. We almost could have decided not to go out at all but still we went. Generally, I was determined that every day we must go out. And one very nice young man approached us and he was really attracted to the philosophy. And eventually he came to the temple. I think maybe the next day he came to the temple and he joined and became a very good devotee, Madhavananda dasa. One other little incident. I was the temple commander and I wanted to save money because we didn’t have much money and we had to make so many big payments for the house. So, I would always turn down the heat. So, there was some discussion about the temperature in the house and I said that I don’t need more heat than this. But the devotee corrected me and said that well, “You are a staunch brahmachari so maybe you can tolerate the cold. But there are women here, there are children here, they may not be able to tolerate so much cold.” And I realized that actually I was just being quite self-centered, thinking of myself.

But I remember when I would approach the people on saṅkīrtana, the first thing I would do is, put the magazines or when we started to get small books, put the magazines or the books in the people’s hands. I would walk up to them very enthusiastically. Actually, I was enthusiastic and I would put the book in their hand, almost as If we are giving them away. And then, I would start to talk about the book, what’s in the book. And usually, they would like what they heard and then, I would say, “Would you like to keep it?” So, probably they thought it was free, and most of them would say, “Yes, I would like to keep it.” And then, I would say, “Well, we just ask for a small donation to cover the cost of the printing.” And by then, they already had the book in their hand and they had already said they wanted to keep it and they were sort of attached to the idea of keeping it. So most of them didn’t mind giving a donation. But after they took the book and gave the donation, I would always spend a few more minutes to encourage them to read the book, and come to the temple, and chant Hare Krishna, so they wouldn’t think that we are just after the donation, but they would feel that we really cared about their spiritual life. It was very nice, of course, book distribution. Even in India, we did some book distribution and it was always very nice.

A few years ago, I did a marathon in Mauritius and that was so much nectar. I used to think, Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe, I should have just stayed a book distributor. But when the marathon was over, again I guess, by Prabhupada’s arrangement we returned to our other duties, but definitely, there is nectar in book distribution. There are so many incidents but I can’t tell them all, but we really had almost no other activity besides chanting. Well, we had the temple programs, chanting our rounds, and classes. And then, the rest of the day was just chanting Hare Krishna and distributing books. And then, Sunday would be the Sunday program. And even Sunday, we would go to the Cambridge Commons. All the young people would come there and there would be dance, playing, and different things. We would do kirtan and we would invite people to the Sunday program. There was one incident there that Srila Prabhupada appreciated. Many of the young people then were interested in different forms of spiritual life. So, I went up to one young man and he was very anxious to talk. So he said that he is a disciple of Meher Baba and that Meher Baba was God. So I said, “How do you know he is God?” So he said, “Well, he says that he is God.” So, I had heard all of Srila Prabhupada’s arguments, so I just repeated the same argument. So I said, “Well, if I tell you that I am the president of the United States, will you believe me?” Of course, any honest person would say, “No.” But he wanted to maintain his false prestige so he said,” Yes.” So I said, “Okay, I am the president of the United States. So now, you have to do what I say, so give me all your money.” So, he took out all of his money, and it was a lot. In those days, it was about ninety-seven dollars. It was his whole pay from his job. So I said, “Okay, give it to me.” So he gave it to me. I gave him a book and then I disappeared in the crowd to distribute books to others and to avoid any further discussion with him.

So, I got absorbed in the bliss of book distribution, I forgot about the boy. And after about half hour or an hour, he saw me. So he approached me and he said that, “Actually, I gave you my whole salary and I have to pay the rent. So, could you give me at least twenty dollars back so I can pay the rent. Anyway, we had heard that once someone gives to Krishna, we can’t give it back. We invited him to the temple. Somehow, he didn’t mind. But some days later, I heard that someone had informed Srila Prabhupada about the incident and he had even mentioned it in a morning walk. And it was Srila Prabhupada’s kindness or magnanimity that he would tell us everything. What to do? What to say? And when we just did what he said to do and there were some good results, he would give us the credit for it. He would give us some credit. Of course, also the credit goes to Krishna. But I would never like to come back in the evening from saṅkīrtana. We had certain hours that we were supposed to go out in the evening, say, 7:00 to 9:00. But when 9:00 o’clock would come, I would think that we should stay out a little more. And I was thinking that these people on the street, they may never get the chance to meet devotees again. They may never get the chance to do devotional service, get a book.

So, I was thinking that for me, it may mean spending an extra two minutes or five minutes. But for the person, it might mean that he could save millions of lifetimes in the material world. So, thinking like that I would decide, I should stay one or two more minutes or five minutes until the next person came. And then after that person came, I would think the same thing. That for me, it might mean spending an extra two or three minutes on saṅkīrtana, but for the person, it could mean saving millions of lifetimes. So usually, we would go in the evening on one busy street called Boylston Street. So, sometimes, it was more than maybe ten or fifteen minutes late and it was really good, and I wanted to stay out longer. And of course, it meant all the other devotees would stay because the chanting party was there. So then, I would phone Satsvarupa Maharaja, take his permission. But he was very nice, he liked our enthusiasm and he encouraged us. But sometimes, when it was too late, he would say, “No, it is enough, you should come back now.” So we would come back. But I remember the phone calls very vividly because there were no telephones there on the street. And the only place we could go to use the phone was a bar. And I wasn’t used to going into bars. Even before I joined, I never went in one. It was exciting because it was like a special mission for Krishna that we are going to use the telephone, like out of a movie; going in the bar and using the phone, but It was for Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Transcendental Book Distribution ki jaya!
Hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana ki jaya!
Gaura premānande, Haribol!

Devotee: Srila Giriraj Maharaja, ki jaya!