Meeting through Service—First in Person, Then in Service

Parīkṣit Prabhu:

You mentioned that Sarvatma and his wife are doing a program at UC Santa Barbara. I was very fortunate in that respect. When I was nineteen I was going to Colorado State University in Fort Collins, and devotees from the Boston Temple were coming and having kirtan and distributing prasādam. One day I walked through the common area and I saw the devotees chanting there, and I saw this wonderful effulgence coming from these people who were chanting the maha-mantra. And from that I became attracted. I went to their meeting and by going to the meeting and chanting a little bit I became attracted and eventually, probably within three or four days, I joined the temple in Boulder, Colorado.

Really my association within the movement was through the devotees, and I was very fortunate. The temple in Boulder was small when I went there. And although they wanted me to stay in the temple in Boulder, I was asked to go to New Vrindavan during the Janmashtami festival to see about starting a country ashram, because I come from a rural background. And at the time, Giriraj Maharaja, were you there in New Vrindavan?

Giriraj Swami: No.

Parīkṣit Prabhu: You did not come to New Vrindavan earlier?

Giriraj Swami: No.

Parīkṣit Prabhu: It must have been Satsvarupa Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Parīkṣit Prabhu: Yes. He was telling me about the Art Department there. I spoke to him about the Art Department because I was an artist. Well, I had been trained to be an artist at Colorado State University, and when I went to New Vrindavan I heard how wonderful the Art Department was and that I should go to check it out. So that is what I did. Immediately after New Vrindavan I went to the temple in Boston and there was a very wonderful atmosphere in the temple in Boston at that time. There were probably about sixty or seventy devotees, and Maharaja was there among the devotees. He was there only about three months more before he left for India. But I had this wonderful impression of him as this very sincere, humble devotee. That was always my impression. We had fantastic feasts every Sunday, incredible feasts, and many, many people came to the feasts. It was such a wonderful experience to see all those people taking prasādam and chanting. And we also would go to Boston Commons and chant, and it was just a wonderful atmosphere in the temple.

It was a little austere the winter that you left. For some reason we were having a very hard time getting the Lakshmi to support the temple. At a certain point we had no money for heating. So we used to sit in the art department, and I would wear two coats and a pair of gloves while I was trying to paint. It was so cold I used to sleep at night with two coats on inside my sleeping bag. And we were eating bread balls and kidney beans because that was the only food we could get from the sort of food bank where they gave out free food—whole-wheat flour and kidney beans. So that is all we were eating, bread balls and kidney beans. But still there was a wonderful atmosphere in the temple.

The press actually moved to New York that winter. I can’t say I was sorry that we moved because when we got to New York there was plenty of halavā in the morning. And there was a very nice atmosphere there also. At that time there were four painters in the painting department, the BBT art department. Initially the reason I joined the art department is because I heard that Prabhupada liked the artists. Someone said that Prabhupada liked the artists and they got some special attention. So I thought this is something that I want to do, because I figured that there wasn’t much I could do to please Srila Prabhupada—a very ordinary person, just ordinarily full of sinful activities and sinful desires—but if I could do something that Prabhupada liked, that pleased Prabhupada, then my life would be perfect.

That is what I found so wonderful about this movement, that no matter what you do you can do it for Krishna. Whatever your desires, whatever your propensities, there is always something in Krishna’s service where those desires and propensities can be dovetailed. And I always felt so fortunate because for me painting was something that was very fun, very enjoyable. So I felt fortunate to be able to do something that I really liked to do and to be able to dovetail that in Krishna’s service.

Also I felt very fortunate because the other thing I liked to do was to listen, and while we were painting we had a perfect opportunity to listen to Prabhupada’s tapes. We always had a Prabhupada chanting tape or a Prabhupada lecture tape on in the art department. When we were in Los Angeles—after being in New York for three or four years the BBT moved to Los Angeles—I remember sometimes Jadurani Prabhu and I would have discussions when I would put on the chanting tapes. I liked to listen to Prabhupada’s lectures, but I loved the chanting tapes. And she always wanted more lectures. So there was always this thing going on, and if I would play too many chanting tapes, then Jadurani would want to hear the lectures. Of course, I loved listening to Prabhupada classes and his morning walks too. So I felt very fortunate that I could do the two things that I really like to do. I love to listen to Prabhupada chanting and Prabhupada speaking to devotees and I also love painting. So I felt very fortunate to be able to combine the two in my life. Prabhupada had named me Parīkṣit dasa, and Maharaja Parīkṣit attained perfection by hearing. So if there is one thing that I really enjoy doing it is hearing Prabhupada chanting and hearing Prabhupada’s lectures, just hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā.

At a certain point when we were in Los Angeles Prabhupada had translated so many books, he was seventeen books ahead of us. Maybe you know the story. Prabhupada was so far ahead of us with Caitanya-caritāmṛta that he was becoming discouraged that we were not publishing the books quickly enough. So he asked us to publish seventeen volumes in two months. Ramesvara Maharaja, who was head of BBT at that time, told Prabhupada that that sounded impossible. And Prabhupada said, “Impossible is a word in the fool’s dictionary.” So we dove into it. We brought artists from all over the movement. Wherever we could find someone who wanted to paint we asked him to come to Los Angeles and help us. And I remember Ramesvara Maharaja and Radha Vallabha Prabhu made up this big chart: “If we start here and progress like this at the end of two months we would have everything done.” So we very studiously started reading through all the books selecting all the paintings that we are going to do. I think it was something like six paintings per book we had to do, and after we selected them all we started doing sketches for them. Because our schedule was so tight we had to work on a lot of the paintings twenty-four hours a day. So we would have shifts where the men would work on the paintings for twelve hours and then the women would take over and work for twelve hours. Sometimes we worked during the day and they would work during the night, or they worked during the day and we worked during the night, depending on who was more tired.

Sometimes three or four of us would work on one painting: Someone would be painting down here, someone would be painting the clouds in the sky, and someone would be painting Lord Chaitanya. In this way we kept the painting going, progressing, so that at the end of two months we had actually finished all the paintings that we had hoped to finish. But really it was a miracle—only by Prabhupada’s grace and Krishna’s grace. It was a very special wonderful time for all of us.t

We had a similar situation when we were working on the Tenth Canto and there were a lot of paintings to be done. Several of us would be working at the same time. Something so wonderful about the art department—of course, being conditioned souls there were times when we had our disagreements about different things, but generally there was a very wonderful atmosphere of cooperation—all the devotees working together.

We would have meetings. At one point Nara Narayana Prabhu came to help us and we would all sit in the room like this—we all had read the text before—and we would discuss. Everyone would come up with ideas for what he thought would be good to illustrate. We discussed and narrowed them down to those we thought were most important. Then we would all do sketches and we would pass the sketches around and discuss them. And then we would refine the ideas and bring them closer and closer together, and then each artist would go off with his particular sketch and produce a more detailed sketch, and then a color sketch, and then finally the painting. It was just a very wonderful process, to be directly involved in helping with the production of Prabhupada’s books. For me it was a connection with something very dear to Srila Prabhupada because his translation was one thing that he kept throughout his travels. Among all the different things that he was doing, translation was very important work to him, and I felt very fortunate to be able to take part in that although I am not particularly qualified. The only qualification I had is that I wanted to help, and I feel that was my only qualification, that I wanted to assist in that process, and Krishna and Prabhupada were kind enough to allow me.

I am also very fortunate that Maharaja had asked me to come up here and see the wonderful place he has established here and to be here with the devotees and the chanting. Still I am a very fortunate soul. Thank you!

Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Just two days ago a devotee told me how he was distributing books basically just by showing the pictures. In the last months since I have been in America, I have heard so many stories from devotees of how they actually sell the books just by showing the pictures, which I did not know before because in India people have sentiment for the scriptures. But here people have no knowledge of the Vedic literatures, so the paintings are really important.

I remember once we were in a train with Srila Prabhupada. I think we were going from Gorakhpur to Calcutta in a first class compartment that seated four or six people. Srila Prabhupada asked us to read from the Kṛṣṇa book. One of the devotees asked, “Any special place?” and Srila Prabhupada said, “No, wherever you open.” So he opened to the story of the cowherd boys telling Krishna about the delicious fruits in the Talavana forest, that they wanted to enjoy them but couldn’t because of the demons there. Srila Prabhupada opened his eyes wide and said, “Just see! They are engaging Krishna for their sense gratification!” Then the devotee read some more. Then at one stage the devotee opened the book to the picture of Krishna and Balarama throwing the ass demons up into the trees, and when Srila Prabhupada looked at the picture he was so struck. He became very serious and remarked that the artists who have painted these pictures have done “a great service. It will not go in vain.” We have full faith in Srila Prabhupada’s words, and Parīkṣit Prabhu is a living example.

And of course, Prabhupada’s presence becomes more strongly felt in the presence of other devotees, especially like-minded devotees, servants, and followers of Srila Prabhupada, and in their association the kirtan and the talks—and later I am sure we’ll have the same experience with the prasāda—all come to life and become more relishable.

As for separation, Lord Chaitanya asked Ramananda Raya, “What is the most painful distress?” And Raya Ramananda answered, “Separation from the pure devotee of Krishna is the most unbearable unhappiness.” Even then the separation can be mitigated in the association of devotees or followers of Srila Prabhupada.

Today is Srimati Vishnu Priya’s appearance day. I think of her because of her separation from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. After He left home and took sannyasa, Vishnu Priya would just immerse herself in the holy names. After she completed one round, she would take one grain of rice from the stock and put it in a separate pile. She would spend the whole day chanting in separation from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and at the end of the day however many grains of rice she had moved, one after each round, that much she would boil and eat, and that was her meal. So separation is very much part of Krishna consciousness and the feelings of separation actually bring us closer to the Lord and to the pure devotees from whom we feel separation. I remember one letter that Srila Prabhupada wrote to Uddhava, who also served in the press as the photographer. Srila Prabhupada wrote, “I am separated from my Guru Maharaja since 1936, but I am always with him so long I work according to his direction. So we should all work together for satisfying Lord Krishna, and the feeling of separation will transform into transcendental bliss.”

Still, we cannot say that all devotees who strictly follow never feel separation. Today is also Raghunatha dasa Gosvami’s appearance day. After Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, Gadadhara Pandita, and all of Mahaprabhu’s important associates from Jagannatha Puri disappeared, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami felt such separation that he went to Vrindavan to give up his life by jumping from Govardhana Hill. In Vrindavan, Raghunatha dasa first wanted to offer his respects to Rupa and Sanatana and then give up his life. But Rupa and Sanatana requested him to stay with them and tell them about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s later pastimes in Puri. Perhaps Sanatana Gosvami told him of his own experience with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu when he wanted to give up his life and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told him, “No, you have already surrendered your body to my service. Your body no longer belongs to you, so how can you give something to someone and try to take it back, or how can you give something to someone and then want to destroy it? You have already surrendered your body to my service and I have many tasks to perform through your body. I want to do many things through you in Vrindavan which I cannot do personally.” So when Raghunatha dasa Gosvami came to Vrindavan, Sanatana Gosvami and Rupa Gosvami shared their realizations and experience with him and requested him to stay with them. Because he had so much association with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Puri and they were also feeling separation, they wanted him to stay with them and tell them about his experiences with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Puri. And so they spent their days together.

They would meet every day and spend hours discussing Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and chanting the holy names. But after some time Rupa Gosvami also left. And Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was so attached to Rupa Gosvami. And if you read his poems or his biography, he was also completely dedicated to Govardhana Hill and in particular to Radha-kunda. But after Rupa Gosvami left he wrote that without Rupa Gosvami everything is different: Govardhana Hill, which he loved so much, is just like a python, and Radha-kunda, which he loved as Srimati Radharani, was like the gaping jaws of a tiger. So it is not that someone who follows strictly does not feel separation. One feels separation even more deeply, but at the same time one can also experience the departed’s presence, especially through devotion and dedication and service to the order and will of the spiritual master or the pure devotee.

So I also feel fortunate to have Parīkṣit Prabhu and all of you spend some time with us here and make me feel Srila Prabhupada’s separation and presence even more. Of course, Sarvatma Prabhu’s kirtans always make me feel Prabhupada’s presence. So it is not just the association but it is the practices in the association that really help us to open our hearts and experience what Krishna consciousness is, what Srila Prabhupada has given us, and have a glimpse of what it actually can be.

Srila Prabhupada ki-jaya!