Prabhupada Festival

Giriraj Swami: Hearing His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaja speak, I thought, I will also speak about Prabhupada. I would tell about many of the same incidents if you recount it. I think every disciple has a different perspective and a different realization, but I think I will talk about some other incidents that may overlap.

After the first Bombay pandal, Srila Prabhupada wanted to have a second in Calcutta, and we sent Tamal Krishna Goswami from Bombay to Calcutta to arrange the pandal. And another incident similar to the one where Prabhupada received the [Unintelligible 00:27:53] threat, which showed the other side of fearlessness, which is complete dependence on Krishna. So, as Maharaja mentioned, this communist Naxalite influence was very strong. And there were a mood of challenge. And before the program began, there was a little meeting with the members of the press and Srila Prabhupada behind the pandal. And one of the reporters challenged him, “Why are you spending so much money making this gorgeous arrangement, when you can be spending it to feed poor people? What is the point?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “The purpose is to give people the chance to hear. And the whole gorgeous arrangement that you’re seeing has come just from hearing. I went to America and some people heard me, and now they have come to India, and they have done all this. That is the purpose.”

So, anyway, the pandal opened, it was a grand affair, and that was quite common. There was a seating area on the side, and then in the center of that were dummies on the ground. And it was a gala event, the pandal was decorated very festively, and there was a red carpet leading down the middle up to the Deity. But these young Naxalites, they took objection, “Why some people are sitting on chairs, and other people are sitting on the ground? No chairs.”

And it reminded me of something my sixth-grade teacher said, that the communists don’t like that someone is driving a Lincoln and someone is driving a Porsche, they want everyone to ride bicycles. So, it was like that, everyone on the floor. But to express their protest, they were folding chairs. They started to fold up the chairs and strike them against each other, and make this real loud cracking sound. And some of the disciples went forward to try to reason with them, but they didn’t care, they wanted to embarrass us. So, they were shouting at the devotees, trying to make them shout, the devotees, to shout at them back, so that there would be an even greater destruction. And we didn’t know what to do, it was going from bad to worse. And suddenly, Srila Prabhupada picked up a pair of kartals, and we could just hear his voice booming over the sound system, govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi, and he started to sing the Govinda Prayers from Brahma-saṁhitā. And miraculously, these troublesome Naxalite youth, they just were completely disarmed. And they put the chairs back and they walked away without disruption.

So, during that time, I had a lot of questions in my mind. Not about the philosophy, but more about what I should do, what service I should do. So, I wasn’t in the inner circle of devotees who were being directly engaged by Srila Prabhupada like Maharaja, so I was thinking, What should I do? I wanted to check with Srila Prabhupada, but at the same time, we were all being told that we shouldn’t disturb Srila Prabhupada. So, I was just keeping it inside. So, I asked one of the devotees at the pandal, Yamuna devi, and she said, “No, you’re the type of disciple that Prabhupada would want to hear from.” I said, “Okay.”

So, I went to him, and I said, “Srila Prabhupada, before I joined, I was interested in making movies. So, sometimes I think maybe I should make movies about Krishna.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “There are others who can do that.” And he said, “Our main medium is books.” I was engaged in the first pandal in cultivating people and getting donations, and I said, “Sometimes I think I should cultivate important people.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, that is an important service.”

And then, I asked a little different type of question. I said, “Srila Prabhupada, now you are here and everything is alright, it’s up to the standard. But what if in the future, when you are not here, ISKCON falls from the standard? What should I do?” And as I mentioned, I was quite a new devotee, just to help the ISKCON system. And Srila Prabhupada said, “You are also an important member of the society. So, you work for the correction, but don’t leave.” And I took that as an important instruction. It was given to me, but I think it has larger implications.

So, after a while, a few months, my parents came to see me. And I was quite nervous because I didn’t know what was going to happen, and I also didn’t know how I would relate to them because my life was so different now. And I had a tendency towards renunciation, austerity, maybe impersonalism. And I didn’t say anything, I just mentioned to Srila Prabhupada that they were coming, that’s all I said. And Srila Prabhupada said, “You have to spend time with them, it’s your duty.”

So, they came, and eventually, they came into Srila Prabhupada’s room. There were already devotees in the room that Prabhupada had been speaking to. And Srila Prabhupada began talking about what a successful businessman he had been. And the way he spoke to my father was so skillful, it was like he just wowed this whole web of interesting talk that completely captured him. And he said how he had a pharmacy in Allahabad, and how an astrologer predicted that he was going to become the richest man in India, and how Motilal Nehru was his customer, Jawaharlal Nehru’s father, and how Motilal considered Jawaharlal to be useless, and how he basically wanted to get rid of him, and how his son was a made in England man.

I mean, in a very subtle and skillful way, he was basically telling my father, “I could have been a very rich man,” which was what he was seeing. And he was also telling him how prejudice Jawaharlal Nehru was against India, although he himself was Indian, and in that way [Unintelligible 00:39:11] prejudice my father [Unintelligible 00:39:11]. He said, “He was a made in England man, and he wanted everything made in England. And if it was made in India, he didn’t want it. And if I had the exact same medicine made in England and made in India, he would always take the one made in England, even if it cost ten times more than the one made in India and was exactly the same.”

So, anyway, my father was very intrigued by this whole discussion. But then, finally, he came to the point that he wanted me back, and he told Srila Prabhupada that he wanted to establish a trust for me with a million dollars in it. And Srila Prabhupada said, “You can do it.” And my father said, “But we want our son to come to America to sign the document.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “You can send the papers here, he will sign it here and send them back.” [laughter] And my father, he was a lawyer. [laughter] He had read the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is and made notes. [laughter] And especially all the parts that said you can practice Krishna consciousness at home. [laughter] So, he said, “Well, actually, we don’t mind if our son is a devotee, but we feel he should be closer to home.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “That’s alright, but the problem is the association.”

So, my mother could see the direction that the conversation was going, and she started to cry. And as a mother, I think she was worried about my health, because my health was frail. And Srila Prabhupada’s younger sister Pishima was there. And in her own way, she tried to preach to my mother what a blessing it was to the family to have a devotee, but it didn’t really have much effect, and Prabhupada told her to distribute some sandeśa, he had sandeśa on his table, “Give everyone some sandeśa.” He was really encouraging my mother to eat some, but she was crying. He tried to make her eat some to make her feel better.

So then, Srila Prabhupada tried to relieve the situation. Because they brought up a point about protein, they had the idea of a vegetarian diet not having enough protein. So, Srila Prabhupada said, “These sandeśa are made of cheese, they’re full of protein.” And he had rasagullās also. He said, “Rasagullās and sandeśa, they’re filled with protein. And then, he looked at me and said, “I want you to eat two thousand sandeśa and rasagullā every day.” [laughter] So then, Srila Prabhupada said, “Let him remain with me for six months, and when I come to America in April, I’ll bring him with me.”

So then, I said, “Just see how intelligent Srila Prabhupada is. When it’s cold in the West. . .” In Chicago, it would be very cold in the winters. “When it’s cold in the West and pleasant in India, Srila Prabhupada stays in India. And when it’s hot in India and pleasant in the West, he goes to the West.” So, my father, he was very enlivened himself by the whole association of Srila Prabhupada and he said to Srila Prabhupada, “Actually, you are intelligent.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “No, actually, your son is intelligent because he has understood my strategy.” [laughter] And then, my father said, “No, actually, you are intelligent.” And then, Srila Prabhupada said, “Well, I guess I must be. Otherwise, how could I attract so many intelligent young men like your son?” [laughter]

So, in the end, my father was really quite pleased with the whole experience. And as we were leaving Srila Prabhupada’s room, he said, and in his value system, these were the two highest compliments that he could pay to anyone, he said, “I will say two things about your master. One, he’s a brilliant organizer. And two, he really knows how to deal with people.” [laughter] [applause]

Let’s have one small one, because Maharaja had mentioned about the meeting with the aristocratic life members and donors and perspectives, supporters. There was one of them, his name was Maheshwar, that was his first name. He wasn’t one of the closest or even one of the biggest, but he was a substantial person, and intelligent and pious. And he asked Srila Prabhupada, “What will be the future of the movement after you leave?” And it was also there in my mind. And Srila Prabhupada said, “The future is bright.”

And then, Mr. Maheshwar said, “But, Swamiji, we see so often in India, the spiritual leader will establish an institution, as long as he’s there, everything will be fine. But after the leader leaves, the disciples begin to quarrel, and they fight over the property, and so on. How do you know that won’t happen in your institution?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “India is a poor country. And in India, they are prone to fight over material things. But these American and European boys and girls, who have joined, they had enough of those material things. They are not going to go back to that, and they’re not going to fight over that. So, the future of my institution is very bright.”

So, looking at all of you, wonderful devotees, I think Srila Prabhupada’s words have proven true. In fact, some bumps on the road along the way, which is to be expected, but we’re still here. I mean, Srila Prabhupada is still here, that we know. But the fact that we are here sitting at his feet, we realize that he’s still here to guide us through his instructions, by his example, and within our hearts. And if we continue, as we have, to follow his instructions, to chant and hear, which is in one sense, the basic instruction, and to preach, (and preaching really means chanting and hearing, but for a larger audience), we will continue to be successful.

In Srila Prabhupada’s last days in Vrindavan, in 1977, I was sleeping on the roof of the gurukula building, and in the middle of the night, between 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, some devotee came up to me, woke me up and said, “Prabhupada wants to see you. He’s calling you.” I didn’t know what was happening. [Unintelligible 00:50:45]. At that time, he could hardly speak. He was just lying on the bed and he could hardly speak. And with great difficulty, and because he was so frail, it was like any word could be his last, and therefore, every word had utmost importance. So, this could be the last instruction.

And Srila Prabhupada said, “Do you think this movement will go on without me?” And I said, “Yes, Srila Prabhupada. As long as we chant our sixteen rounds and follow the regulative principles, it will go on.” And there was a pause, and again, with great effort every syllable came out, and Srila Prabhupada said, “Organization. Intelligence and organization.” Meaning, yes, we have to chant our rounds, we have to follow the regulative principles, those are our first instructions, but we also have to be organized, we have to use our intelligence to progress in Krishna consciousness.”

And then, Srila Prabhupada said, “Is there anything else?” Meaning, “Do you want to say anything else?” And within my heart, I wanted to cry out, “Srila Prabhupada, please don’t leave. We need you, please don’t leave.” But somehow, I couldn’t say it. Although inside, I was just going wild to say, but somehow I didn't say it. And I said, “No,” and I offered my obeisances and left. But in retrospect, I regretted that I hadn’t said it.

But I think all of us who are here, and, who aren’t here, but who are attached to Srila Prabhupada, have learned that we have to cry out to Srila Prabhupada, “We need you, we want you.” And when we do that. . . I mean, he’s always there, but when we do that, he manifests himself to us more. And it’s on the basis of that crying out to Srila Prabhupada, “We need you, we want you, we can’t do without you, please help us, please guide us,” that we’re able to go on, and we are moving on. And the more we can cry out to Srila Prabhupada, the better we get.

Devotee: Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! [applause]