Giriraj Swami: So, Maharaja, before you arrived, Madavisa Prabhu explained the idea of having the three of us speak, and proposed that the theme should be “Srila Prabhupada in India” because we were all with Srila Prabhupada and with each other in India, and you being the senior most amongst us, we would request you to begin.

Jayapataka Swami: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Jayapataka Swami: My Indian story begins here in New Jersey because it was here that I got the order from Prabhupada to go calling out to his supporters. At that time, he told me that I should go to India and join Achyutananda dasa. He was the person who became Achyutananda Swami, the co-writer of our songbook. But then, a second time, I came to Srila Prabhupada, and at that time, Achyutananda had written that he didn’t exactly have a place to stay in Calcutta, so that he would get one soon. And then, Prabhupada said that you go and help Bhagavan in Chicago, and then we will call you as soon as it is ready.”

So, at that time, Achyutananda  was serving Srila Prabhupada, so he said something, I don’t know why, but he said something negative about the god brothers, and Prabhupada said, “You see, they are my godbrothers, I can talk about them, you shouldn’t say anything because they are your uncles.” So, then I didn’t understand, of course, the situation, but I thought, I have to see they have got the sauce So then, I went to Chicago and I helped to open the temple there, and then I was phoned by Garga Muni, and he said, “Prabhupada wants you to go to India.” I said, “Money.” He said, “Well, you collect it.” [laughter] So like that, I went to UK, I met with Gurudasa and my godbrother Shyamasundara, and they were having a Ratha-yatra in UK. So, I wanted to know if I could stay for the Ratha-yatra and then go to India. So, I sent a message to Prabhupada, but I didn’t get the answer. So, I took the order that I had to go, and I went to buy the cheapest airline I could find, that was this brothers’ airline; three brothers, Yusef, Ali, and Muhammad. [laughter] They had bought a TC3 or something from the World War II, and this flew from Belgium to Rome, to Cairo, to Yemen, to Karachi, to India. It was terrible, they forgot to put air pressure in it.

At that time, there was no temple in India, so I landed in Bombay. So, in Bombay, there was this vigorous security and then beggars came and approached me and said, “[Unintelligible 00:05:12].” So, I didn’t know what to do, I started to call up some numbers I had in Bombay, nobody answered. So, then someone said, “Dollars, rupees, rupees.” So, I bought some rupees at the airport for a cheap rate and bought a ticket to Calcutta. So, I flew to Calcutta, and that time, I took a taxi to the Gaudiya Matha, this was the Chaitanya Gaudiya Matha. So, it took me a long time of getting around, and around, and around. When I reached, they said, “Thirty rupees.” I said, “Thirty rupees? It is only six rupees from the airport.” So, the guy gave me a whole tour of the town. So then, I stayed in the Gaudiya Matha for about two or three months. And I won’t talk about that, then we got a place donated, and as long as we got a separate place, Prabhupada agreed to come. And then, Prabhupada came from Japan where he had been to sign a contract with the Dal Nippon for the Kṛṣṇa book. So, they took him to the VIP lounge in Calcutta. And now, Achyutananda dasa was a very good singer so he sang Ohe Vaisnava Thakura. And there was a couple of lawyers, devotees in the Gaudiya Matha. And none of the senior members of the Gaudiya Matha, they didn’t come to meet Prabhupada, only some brahmacharis. So, they said, “We want to take you to the Gaudiya Matha.” Prabhupada went into the car, and he said, “Drive off.” And so, I ran, I got in the car, he said, “I am not going to the Gaudiya Matha, we are going straight to the house. Tell the Gaudiya Matha that they can send the prasāda” So, I didn’t understand what was going on.

Later, Prabhupada explained, “If they came from the airport to the Gaudiya Matha, then they would have claimed that they had sent me to the West, and they would have claimed all the credit for all the preaching I did.” So, this was way over my head at that time. So, he said, “Going to the sacred place, I keep my independence, and then if they want, they can send me prasāda.” So, like this, we were now in a place on the lake, [Unintelligible 00:08:55] or something, in Southern Calcutta, near [Unintelligible 00:09:00], nearby the house of Bhakti Charu Swami, but at that time, he didn’t know us, he was in Germany or something. So, anyway, that is Prabhupada in India. And then, Tamal Krishna, he told us that they had a Vyasa-puja in Japan but if we like to do the puṣpāñjali. So, Prabhupada, at the end of the Vyasa-puja said, “Your Vyasa-puja doesn’t count. You have to do it again tomorrow because you didn’t do the puṣpāñjali.” So, they did two Vyasa-pujas in Japan, one was with  puṣpāñjali and one without So, that is how Prabhupada arrived in India.

Devotee: I was there.

Jayapataka Swami: You were there always with Prabhupada?

Devotee: Yes.

Jayapataka Swami: Alright.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:10:26]

Jayapataka Swami: So through the Vyasa-puja?

Devotee: Yes, for the Vyasa-puja one with and one without.

Jayapataka Swami:  So, don’t forget to do the puṣpāñjali [laughter] Haribol. So, I kicked it off, Prabhupada is in India.

Devotee: Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! [applause]

Giriraj Swami: I guess my story of Prabhupada in India begins in Boston. [laughter] I joined the temple in Boston, and some of my senior godbrothers and godsisters whom I knew there are here today, and I am very indebted to them for their care and guidance and service. After the first group arrived in India, Srila Prabhupada said that he wanted one person from each temple in America, there were about fourteen at the time, the second person from each temple. So, I was selected from Boston, and at the time, Rukmini dasi was the main Pujari. And somehow, before leaving the temple, I offered obeisances to the deity, and I had this impression that Lord Jagannatha was sending me to India. And as I was just about to leave the temple, Rukmini approached me and said, “You know? I think Lord Jagannatha is sending you to India.” [laughter] And, he is the Lord of the universe, Jagannatha, and Prabhupada is Jagat-guru. I arrived in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada had arranged a friend, or more of a friend of a friend, Kailash Seksaria, to receive us at the airport, and he took us to his residence on Marine Drive. And in the meantime, Srila Prabhupada was in Calcutta, and we got the news that he would be coming to Bombay to meet us. So, we were filled with anticipation. That was quite a nice group of devotees there in Bombay, Gurudasa and Yamuna, there were a number, Tamal Krishna Goswami. And Tamal Krishna said that anticipating Prabhupada’s arrival was like waiting for a comet to descend from the heavens, and it was like that. And then, he postponed his arrival for a day, there was so much eagerness and anticipation and another day’s delay. But eventually, he came and we stayed together in Seksaria Bhavan.

One small incident that comes to mind, the Seksaria family had a guest house on the ground floor where we were accommodated, and Srila Prabhupada had his room. And one time, Gurudasa Prabhu began to praise another devotee who was there with us named Dinanath Prabhu for his kirtan. And then, Gurudasa noted that Srila Prabhupada’s small Radha-Krishna deities were there. He said, “Oh, I am sorry Srila Prabhupada. According to The Nectar of Devotion, we shouldn’t praise anyone in front of the deities.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Krishna is already glorified, but He takes more pleasure when His devotees are glorified.” So, that is why we have gathered here today.

From Bombay, Srila Prabhupada received an invitation to go to Amritsar for the Vedanta Sammelan. And for some time, we traveled with Srila Prabhupada, Amritsar. On the way from Amritsar back to Bombay, Srila Prabhupada asked a few devotees to get down and see what they could do in Delhi. So, that was Gurudasa, Yamuna, a devotee named Gopal, and another devotee, Bhakta Bruce, who later became Banu dasa and now Banu Swami. And then, from Bombay, Srila Prabhupada was invited to Indore for the Gita-jayanti celebrations. So, we met Prabhupada there, and from there we went to Surat where we received a tremendous welcome. And in Surat, one devotee named Rishi Kumar approached me in a very confidential mood, that Prabhupada had a special program that he had devised for India called life membership, and he wanted a few devotees to go to Bombay and establish the life membership program, would I like to be part of the team. It sounded like some sort of confidential service that would please Srila Prabhupada. So, I agreed even though it meant leaving Srila Prabhupada in Surat. And Prabhupada came to Bombay, from there he went to the Ardh Khumba-mela. That was the first time I met His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja.

Devotees: Haribol!

Bhakti Charu Swami: [Unintelligible 00:19:48]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, I was thinking of how to describe it discreetly. It was a place that was reserved for men. And I saw him, he was a new person, so I asked who he was. Do you want to tell that little exchange?

Bhakti Charu Swami: Well, I can really imagine why Giriraj Maharaja was hesitating to tell us where we met for the first time, it was in the toilet. [laughter] In the morning, they were kind of makeshift basins, and we were brushing our teeth. Giriraj Maharaja was there, and I just happened to be using the next basin. And so, Maharaja just looked at me, and in his very usual warm and merciful way he asked me, “Who are you?” [laughter] Thank you. And just that ‘Who are you?’ displayed so much love and concern, which I experienced whenever I meet Giriraj Maharaja and whenever I remember him, his heart is so full of love and affection.

Devotees: Haribol! [applause]

Giriraj Swami: Yours is, and therefore you see it in others. [laughter] Anyway, when Madvisa Prabhu introduced me, I thought there was such a vast range of experiences with Srila Prabhupada in India, but because he had mentioned Juhu, I thought I would just focus on that, just the beginning of that. So, from Khumba-mela we went to Gorakhpur, then Calcutta. Then I went to Madras, and from Madras I came and met Srila Prabhupada in Mayapur at the time of the first Gaura-Purnima celebration when Srila Prabhupada laid the cornerstone and many of his godbrothers came, and it was a very significant event. But when I arrived in Mayapur, Srila Prabhupada was in. . .

Devotee: Maharaja, tell me why you went to Madras? Why did Prabhupada send you and I to Madras? [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: Why don’t you tell them? [laughter] Well, there was a famous dancer, Bharatnatyam dancer in Bombay, named Vyjayanthimala, and she was married to a doctor, Dr. Bali. And so, Dr. Bali really wanted Srila Prabhupada to come to Madras, and it turns out that he had a motive, because Vyjayanthimala had a very big mansion, estate in Madras, but she had gone from classical Indian dance to become a Bollywood film actress, so they didn’t really need the mansion in Madras. And so, Dr. Bali thought if Prabhupada came to Madras for a program, he could get him to buy the estate and use it as a center. So, that was really a very nice time. Eventually, we did arrange a program for Srila Prabhupada, and yes, the people of Madras really received him very well and he met many very important people. He met Dr. Radhakrishnan who had been the vice president of India and had written some impersonal translation of the Bhagavad-gītā that Srila Prabhupada thoroughly denounced. And when we met him, Dr. Radhakrishnan, he was really paralyzed, and he could hardly speak. I guess we just never know what will happen. But I think Prabhupada said something to the effect that he didn’t use his power of speech properly so Krishna took it away, something like that. And we met. . .

Devotee: The High Court justice

Giriraj Swami: Yes, we met Mr. K.K. Shah, he was the governor of Madras. Mr. A. B. Nair knew him and arranged for Srila Prabhupada to meet him. And during that time, Mr. Veeraswami, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madras, was really taking interest in Krishna consciousness, and I would regularly be meeting him and, I would tell Srila Prabhupada about what we discussed, and Prabhupada would give me ideas about what to say to him. And he said that in Madras, there is a lot of tension between the brahmans and non-brahmans, and he said, “I think that the Chief Justice is from a non-brahman family. So, you can tell him that if he joins with us and follows our process, we will make him a brahman.” And then, at that time, there was also a government program to build better accommodations for people who were living in slums. And Indian slums are really just like hutmans thrown together with whatever materials are available. But it was disclosed in the course of time that the recipients of the nice apartments, the poor people, they were renting out their apartments and living in the hutmans where they always lived, and using the rent money to buy intoxicants and just live the same life they were living before. So, Srila Prabhupada said, “I should tell the Chief Justice that this program will not work because their consciousness is the same. You can try to change their environment, but as long as their consciousness is the same, it will drag them to the same position. So, we have to introduce a method to purify their consciousness and elevate their consciousness, and that is Krishna consciousness.”

So, the Chief Justice came to the stage where he asked if he could get initiated by Srila Prabhupada. So, I explained about the four rules in chanting, and he said the only problem he has is drinking tea. So, as usual, I would go back and report to Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada said, “For a very important person, you can make an exception. And drinking tea is not such a serious sin.” It did not happen that he took initiation. But after Srila Prabhupada’s regular program, which we arranged at the Mayapam Kalyana Mandapam on Sir Elliot Road, Prabhupada had a few more days, and the Chief Justice arranged a program for him in Adyar with all the other high court judges and all the high court advocates. It was a pandal program outdoors, and it was really a very esteemed group of judges and advocates. And Srila Prabhupada spoke about the Six Gosvamis, how they had very respectable positions in society, mandala-pati-srenim, and they left it all to join the movement of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And he appealed to all of them that they should do the same. [laughter]

So then, after the lecture and kirtan, the Chief Justice invited Srila Prabhupada and the disciples to have dinner at his residence. And there was some free time before the meal actually began, and Srila Prabhupada was sitting in the drawing room on a little sofa, and the disciples were sitting on the floor. And the Chief Justice was very cultured, he presented Prabhupada with a sandalwood garland and just different presentations and a little silver statue of Krishna. And at that time, Srila Prabhupada did something amazing. He did something amazing; he engaged Shyamasundara Prabhu’s daughter, Sarasvati, who was about three years old, in a pastime that was highly instructive for all of us. So, he held this little statue of Krishna in front of Sarasvati, and she had no inhibitions, she was just a little girl, so she just came right up and she was looking at it. And then Prabhupada hid it and said to Sarasvati, “Sarasvati, where is Krishna?” And she hadn’t seen that he hid it behind his back, and she became so anxious, “Where is Krishna? Where is Krishna?” She would be looking; she couldn’t see him. And then, I guess, being that age, she got a little distracted. And then again, Prabhupada said, “Sarasvati, where is Krishna?” And again, she was so anxious, “Where did Krishna go? Where did Krishna go?” And she was just looking everywhere. This went on for a while, and then finally, someone said, “Sarasvati, who has Krishna?” And then immediately, her face lit up and her eyes opened wide, and she said, “Prabhupada has Krishna.”

Devotees: [laughter] Haribol! [applause]

Giriraj Swami: So then, she ran up to Prabhupada and Prabhupada brought Krishna out from behind his back, and there was Krishna. And then, Srila Prabhupada said that from this mood of separation, we are drawn to Krishna and Krishna is drawn to us. And he again recited from the prayers of the Six Gosvamis a different verse from the one he had quoted to the judges and advocates,

he radhe vraja-devike ca lalite he nanda-suno kutah
sri-govardhana-kalpa-padapa-tale kalindi-vane kutah
ghosantav iti sarvato vraja-pure khedair maha-vihvalau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

And that was how he instructed us through this spontaneous young girl of three years. And later, I related that incident to the song by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, ohe Vaisanava Takhura  “Krishna is yours, you have the power to deliver Him. So, I am simply running behind you, shouting, ‘Krishna, Krishna.’” Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Haribol! [applause]

Devotee: You drifted away from Bombay pastimes. [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: All right, I will move ahead then. So, from Madras, Srila Prabhupada stopped in Calcutta and went to Mayapur, and I wound up the business in Madras and joined Srila Prabhupada in Mayapur. And there, he was staying in that little straw hut, which is still there. But at that time, it just had a dirt floor; cow dung. And it was very simple, very basic. And I went in, and Srila Prabhupada was just sitting alone, it was dusk and there was no light on. And he had tears in his eyes, and when he spoke, it was slightly choked, slightly choked. And he said, “Krishna is so merciful, Krishna is giving us all facility.” And he asked how were things in Madras, he knew how they had gone, and then he said, “During the British rule, there were three provinces; Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. So, which do you want?” I said, “Srila Prabhupada, I will do whatever you want me to do, just tell me what you want me to do and I will do it.” And he said, “No, I want you to decide.” So, this became a big problem for me because until then, I had never made any important decision in Krishna consciousness on my own, I always did what my authorities told me. And here, Srila Prabhupada was asking me to make such a significant decision. So, I thought about it, Why? And I concluded that the only way that I would get the correct answer would be if I surrendered to Krishna more, I felt Prabhupada was trying to bring me to a deeper level of surrender.

So, from Mayapur, we came to Calcutta, and every morning I would chant in front of Radha-Govinda in a prayerful mood, “What to answer Srila Prabhupada,” and I would chant as sincerely as I could. I would look at the deities and I would spend a long time, but I wasn’t getting an answer. So finally, I devised a plan to go into Srila Prabhupada’s room and propose and give reasons, I thought of different reasons, propose to go to each place, and see what his response would be. So, I went into his room, the room is still there, 3 Albert Road. I said, “Srila Prabhupada, I was thinking I should go to Madras because. . .” and then I gave the reason, he said, “Yes, you can go.” And I said, “But then again, I was thinking I should stay in Calcutta,” and then I gave the reason, and with the exact same facial expression, the exact same tone of voice, he said, “Yes, you can stay.” So then, I started to get a sinking feeling that this trick was not going to work, but I was committed to it, so I thought I would play it out. So I said, “But then again, I was thinking I should go to Bombay,” and I gave the reason, he said, “Yes, you can go.” So, I realized that this plan did not work. But I actually felt happy, I actually felt happy that my spiritual master was too intelligent to be tricked by some over intelligent disciple.

So then, Prabhupada left, there was still no conclusion, I was chanting, praying, thinking. And one day, I don’t know how it happened, I just got the answer, I got the answer that at that time, life membership was the most important program in India and Bombay was the head office, and I had seen that if we took good care of the life members, they themselves would make more members for us. But if we didn’t take good care of them, they would get upset with us, they would feel cheated, they would complain, they might complain to us or not, but they would complain to their friends, and people would have such a negative impression of us that even if we personally went to them, we couldn’t make them a life member. And in a way, in the present context, it might be hard to understand the significance of the program, but Prabhupada said, “If you just get me three life members a day, I will do everything else.” And we really emphasized that. So I thought, Bombay is the head office, if we take care of the members, they will be happy, they will make more members, and Prabhupada will do everything else. So, I wrote Prabhupada, “I think I should come to Bombay and take over the membership office.” So, he. . . I think it was on the telegram, “Yes, come to Bombay immediately.”

So, I came to Bombay, and Madavisa Prabhu had been the temple president, but as he mentioned, he had lost his enthusiasm for that particular preaching field, and Prabhupada said, “You go to Australia.” And Brahmananda Prabhu was there, he had been in East Africa, and Prabhupada had the idea he could take charge. But then, there were some problems in East Africa without Brahmananda there so Prabhupada said to Brahmananda, “You have to go back to East Africa.” So then, the question was, “Who is going to take charge?” And I wasn’t a big manager, I wasn’t a manager at all. And so, I think Garga Muni thought he would be the next choice, and yes, there was some talk like that, who is going to take charge.

So, Prabhupada called all the devotees into his room, “All right, who is going to take charge?” So, maybe different devotees made different proposals, Prabhupada just listened. Then he looked at me and he said, “So, Giriraj, you will take charge?” And my heart sank. It was a huge responsibility. It was a big project, and we are just living in these huts, and the land was infested with mosquitoes, and I had come to help with the life membership department. [laughter] But I knew that I should do what the spiritual master wants, that was my basic principle. He said, “So, Giriraj, you will take charge?” So, even though internally I was shrinking from the idea, not just shrinking, my mind was racing away from it, I said, “Yes, Srila Prabhupada.” So then, he smiled, he chuckled, and he looked at me, he said, “Now the whole responsibility is on you.” [laughter] And I was thinking, Oh, why did he have to say that? [laughter] And then, that was the end of the meeting, everyone got up and walked out, and nobody could understand it, least of all me. [laughter] But I stayed, if nothing else, I stayed. And Srila Prabhupada did appreciate that. In general, he appreciated when devotees stuck to a service, in good times and bad, just stayed with it. And later, after Prabhupada left, I felt that I had received some good fortune as a devotee, and I was thinking, Why?

Actually, I was chanting in his room in Mayapur, in front of his deity, the deity of Srila Prabhupada at his table in Mayapur, and I got the sense that because of those austerities in Juhu, Prabhupada reciprocated in different ways even after his physical departure. But I was really a fool and all I did was stay, that was basically it. I just stayed and it is like that now, I am just staying, just sticking around, I am not able to do much but I am just sticking around Prabhupada’s wonderful followers. Hare Krishna. [applause]

Bhakti Charu Swami: Madavisa Prabhu, do you have time?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:50:59]

Bhakti Charu Swami: Hare Krishna. During the last days of Srila Prabhupada, Prabhupada was making many trusts, not just in one day Prabhupada got the idea about the trust, he was getting the ideas on different days. And he would call Tamal Krishna Maharaja, and he would tell him that he would make such and such trust. And I would notice that in every trust, he put Giriraj Maharaja in there. That showed what an immense trust Srila Prabhupada had on Giriraj Maharaja. And also, why not? Because I got to know later on that. . . Actually, Prabhupada himself said that, that Giriraj Maharaja’s father, to allure him away from Krishna consciousness, made him an offer of a million dollars. And those days, million dollars was a lot of money. But Giriraj Maharaja declined. And also, the kind of sacrifice that Giriraj Maharaja has made in the early days, also the way Jayapataka Maharaja also made, in Mayapur and in Bombay. Madavisa Prabhu honestly admitted that he couldn’t stomach it; no accommodation whatsoever, just living in huts or tarpaulin tents, even on the rooftop, and no facilities and filled with mosquitoes. And so, in that situation, to commit himself in such a way, was an incredible sacrifice and surrender to Srila Prabhupada. And same with Jayapataka Maharaja, in Mayapur early days there was nothing, and he just took the responsibility and he committed himself, and under his able leadership, Mayapur developed in such a wonderful way.

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaja ki jaya! [applause]

His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya! [applause]

Jagat-guru Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! [applause]

Jayapataka Swami: His Holiness Bhakti Charu Maharaja ki jaya! [applause] He was very very dear to Srila Prabhupada [Unintelligible 00:54:55]

Bhakti Charu Swami: Thank you, Maharaja. [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: For those who didn’t hear, His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja said that Bhakti Charu Swami was very dear to Srila Prabhupada. And we could all see it. From the very beginning, Srila Prabhupada was so affectionate toward him. And I think Maharaja came maybe towards the end of 1976, just within Prabhupada’s last year, and just one after the other, almost simultaneously, Srila Prabhupada gave him first initiation, second initiation, and sannyasa, and he included him in his entourage. And in Srila Prabhupada’s last months in Vrindavan, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami was one of his most intimate caregivers. So, that was what His Holiness Jayapataka Swami said before Maharaja took the microphone. [laughter]