Srila Prabhupada Lila—The Juhu Story

Host: Srila Prabhupada and Prabhupada’s līlā and we have a very, very special guest speaker today, very exalted personality of ISKCON. He is a very senior spiritual teacher, spiritual leader, I have nowhere to express my gratitude and happiness, but trust me we are very, very fortunate to have this wonderful person. Let me speak about two minutes, if some of you are not aware of this wonderful personality within ISKCON.

So, this devotee came in contact with Prabhupada in 1969 and from 1970 Prabhupada started giving him very, very responsible services. He wrote first article for BTG in 1970 and then Prabhupada gave him the most responsible service to build a temple in Juhu, the first major project in India. Maharaja was temple president there, overseeing each and every aspect of Juhu temple, which we all know Juhu temple had so many ups and downs, so many testing times and that’s why it was so dear to Srila Prabhupada.

And Maharaja is very-very dear and sincere disciple of our founder acharya, Prabhupada. He is an initiating spiritual master serving as GBC for many-many years and Maharaja has been greatly instrumental in building a hospice care center in Vrindavan. Before that he built Govardhana Bhakti Vedanta Ashram at Govardhana and he has performed many-many wonderful services for the pleasure of our founder acharya, Srila Prabhupada. So, let me not take more time. Let’s hear from this beautiful person, from the right source. Let’s welcome His Holiness, Giriraj Swami Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

And Maharaja is going to launch his book today, especially for Noida devotees, I Will Build You a Temple. This is the book Maharaja will speak from and Maharaja will officially launch just for Noida. Thank you. Over to you Maharaja. We are so happy to have you and thank you so much for accepting our invitation. Thank you, Maharaja, over to you.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you. Thank you for that wonderful introduction. So, yes, I will begin by singing the maṅgala-ācaraṇa Prayers and leading a short kirtan and then I will speak about Srila Prabhupada, as is fitting for the occasion, in celebration of his 125th appearance anniversary, and as requested by His Grace, Bhuddimanta dasa, I will read some excerpts from my new book, I Will Build You a Temple.

[Prayers]

Hare Krishna. So, I will be reading from this book, I Will Build You a Temple: The Juhu Story. Just to give a little introduction, although I imagine most of you are familiar with many of the features of the Juhu story. Srila Prabhupada had a benefactor who lived in Juhu, named Sumati Morarji, who was the, I guess, nowadays we would say the CEO of Scindia Steam Navigation Company. And Srila Prabhupada would visit her before he went to America and on the way to her bungalow on Juhu beach, he would pass by a vacant plot of land and he thought to himself, ”This would be a very nice place to have a temple.”

Then Srila Prabhupada went to America and began the Krishna consciousness movement there and after about five years, he decided to return to India with some of his American-European disciples and pretty much everyone wanted to go to India and be with Srila Prabhupada. At that time, there were maybe fourteen centers in America, and so the policy was that the number two man from each temple could go and I was the number two man in the Boston temple. At the time Satsvarupa dasa Adhikari, he was the temple president and I was the saṅkīrtana leader, a temple commander and treasurer. So, I was the number two man and I got to go.

And for a year and a half, we traveled with Srila Prabhupada around India and then in 1972, February, one of the devotees going for preaching, in Bombay, came across one Mr. A.B. Nair, who was the editor of the Free Press Journal newspaper. It turned out that Mr. Nair had a property that he offered to Srila Prabhupada for a reasonable amount and that was the same property that Srila Prabhupada had noticed before he went to America, near Sumati Morarji’s bungalow.

So, it turned out that Mr. Nair was a cheater, to be straightforward about it, he was a cheater. He had cheated others before Srila Prabhupada and he also wanted to cheat Srila Prabhupada. Now, at that time in India one of our main preaching programs, one of Srila Prabhupada’s main preaching programs was pandal programs. And so, we had a pandal program at Cross Maidan, a very central location in downtown Bombay. And so now, I will read an excerpt that will tell you about some of the, or one of the results of the pandal program. Also on a side note, I’d like to request the devotees with us on Zoom, as far as possible, to put on your cameras so we can see your moon-like faces.

So, I will read. Oh! yes, I should mention that when we got the land, Srila Prabhupada had a program in the vacant portion at the front of the pandal program and the Deities of Radha-Rasabihari, who were in our temple in the Akash Ganga building on Boulavard Desai road in Bombay; They were brought to Juhu and They made Their first appearance at the pandal program on our Hare Krishna Land. So now, I will read.

[Book Reading 00:27:35–01:17:06]

So, of course, there is so much in the Juhu story. I’ve just selected some highlights about His Holiness, Lokanath Swami Maharaja and about that very dramatic rebuilding of the temple overnight. So, thank you for joining and Bhuddimanta Prabhu, do we have time?

Host: Yes, Maharaja. We have time for questions and before that with your permission, I would like to show a few slides of your books quickly and then by the time you can receive some questions from listeners.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yes.

Host: Simply wonderful, Maharaja, the way you describe this. I Will Build You a Temple is not less than any Bollywood or Hollywood blockbuster movie. It’s more than that actually, especially the way you were describing. . . So, Maharaja has come up with very nice books, Many Moons and then we have Life’s Final Exam, Watering the Seed, this book is also available in Hindi also, “Beej ka Sinchan” and it is available in our Noida temple bookstore. And this is the latest book, I Will Build You a Temple: The Juhu Story, which Maharaja has presented to Prabhupada on Prabhupada’s 125th anniversary year.

And it is available in our Noida store. If you want to order, we can ship you online also, we can courier. Call this number and we will arrange by courier and we have limited editions. So, you have to be quick. So, now you can ask questions. Okay, there is a one question Maharaja already there, from a listener. The question is, Maharaja, what made you also fearless and ready to take on a fight for the movement? How can we have the same spirit?

Giriraj Swami: Is the person who asks the question on Zoom? I’d like to see the questioner face to face.

Host: Okay, they send us on chat, in personal chat actually.

Giriraj Swami: Okay.

Host: What made you all so fearless and how can we have the same spirit?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we had faith in Srila Prabhupada and we were pretty much ready to do anything for him and it just never occurred to me to be afraid. After Prabhupada left, shortly after he left, the dramas continued, you could say, there was a sort of a riot just the year after Prabhupada left, at Hare Krishna Land and one man died. So, all these enemies, same enemies, Mhatre and others, they tried to accuse us of being murderers and they filed a court case and they were, they really wanted to get me.

So, they had a lineup where they in. . . they had a lineup and so, the witnesses they would point out, “Oh, he was there, he was there, he was there, he was there, he was there.” So, they pointed out to me that I was there and I said, ” I couldn’t have been there, because I was visiting Yasomati Nandan prabhu in Ahmedabad. I was away the whole weekend. So, they had to let me go, because it was obviously false that I was there and it’s good because I had to do a lot of work for the other devotees who they did put in jail.

But yeah, there is just no question of fearlessness. I mean, at one stage I heard that some of the enemies were trying to. . . they were waiting for me to kill me and so when I heard that, yeah, I didn’t go back to the temple that night. I spent the night with a very good friend, who was a lawyer, R.K. Maheshwari, who was later initiated as Mahaprabhu dasa. So yeah, I spent most of the night at his place, maybe at two in the morning I went back and I could, it was safe.

So, I wouldn’t say I was afraid but I did take precaution. I thought there was some danger and I can only say that it was, whatever, Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, our faith in him. So, yeah, I think, I mean, there is a lot in the shastra about fear; Srila Prabhupada has said a lot about fear, fear comes from worrying about the future, different things like that. But then again, he said a devotee has no reason to fear because his future is very bright. So. . .

Host: Thank you, Maharaja. Another question, Maharaja, why did this book come after so many years?

Giriraj Swami: Well, in the meantime, I wrote three other books which you showed; Watering the Seed, then Many Moons, and Life’s Final Exam, because there was need for those books. In a way, it was more urgent and this book, I began in earnest about three years ago. It took three years to write. It involved a lot of gathering of material and in that regard my disciple Rohini-nandana dasa, in Israel, was very helpful in collecting material for me and organizing in different ways and then it went through a very thorough editing process. Pretty much everything I write goes through four levels of editors. The editor-in-chief is Kalachandji dasa, Tamal Krishna Goswami’s brother, then there is, next level is Vishaka Priya, who’s in Vrindavan and the next level is Madurika dasi, who is in Alachua, Florida, and then the final level is Nikunja Vilasini, who is in Durban, South Africa. So, yeah, sometimes good things take time.

Host: Perfect, next question; Can you please share some pastime when Srila Prabhupada asked to contact Bal Sahib Thackrey to save the temple?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, I almost read that. I almost read that. So, when the temple demolition was going on, as I mentioned, the police were there with their paddy wagon and one by one as we were trying to protect the temple and protect the deities. They were apprehending us and throwing us in the paddy wagon. But one person didn’t rush forward like the rest of us and his name was Manasvi dasa, he was a Gujarati devotee named Manoj Patel. He was rather hiding in the bushes watching the whole thing and then he phoned one of our supporters, who knew about Thackeray and the supporter phoned Bal Thackeray and told him what was happening. How the municipal workers were demolishing the temple, Hindu temple.

And Bal Thackeray phoned the municipal commissioner, the top man, the municipal commissioner Mr. Desai, and told him to stop the demolition. The commissioner falsely said that we didn’t have permission and Bal Thackeray didn’t hear that and he said to the commissioner, ”Commissioner Sahib, just remember who this city belongs to.” It was this, you could say, a veiled threat, and then the commissioner said, “Yes, Bala Sahib. Yes, Bala Sahib. I will stop it.”

And so, the commissioner called the local K ward office and the ward. . . In those days we didn’t have cell phones or any such thing. So, the ward officer himself, he came rushing to the site to stop the demolition. So, Bal Thackeray did some significant service, very significant service.

Host: Thank you Maharaja. The next question, Maharaja; Even today we have so much guṇḍāism prevailing in the world in the form of terrorism. As Hare Krishnas, how can we awaken the kshatriya spirit in us to counter terrorism through Prabhupada’s movement?

Giriraj Swami: Well, whenever I see the social ills in the world, which are becoming more and more prominent, I always think that we really need to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books more, because his books really will give guidance to help people come out of the lower modes of passion and ignorance that drives them to act in such horrible ways. So, yeah, I think book distribution. I don’t think that we can do anything, they have bombs, we don’t have bombs. I don’t think we could do anything on that level. The context was Mr. Sethi and the rebuilding of the temple was different. But yeah, I always think we have to distribute more books. Yeah.

Host: Thank you very-very much Maharaja for such a wonderful pastime you narrated with yourself and Prabhupada and the classic, the Juhu story. I wish a movie should be made on this Juhu story.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, some devotees have commented that it’s so dramatic that it could make a good movie.

Host: Yeah.

Giriraj Swami: Nrsimananda prabhu from ITV, who is now venturing into making films in India, he also said it would make a fabulous movie. Yeah.

Host: So, can we ask one more question, Maharaja, we just received if you have time. Please.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, yes.

Host: Thank you, Maharaja. Okay, question; Maharaja, I see around me more craze on physical vapuḥ sevā of the guru than the vāṇī sevā.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah.

Host: We see more craze on physical vapuḥ sevā of the guru than the vāṇī sevā, but in practically, the guru can’t always be near us physically. Why aren’t we enthusiastic to serve our guru’s vāṇī? In a nutshell, what was it in Srila Prabhupada which made you so loyal to him to fight for him and his vāṇī even in his absence?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, the real connection with the spiritual master is established by following his instructions and I had a significant talk with Tamal Krishna Goswami, fairly early in my Krishna consciousness in Calcutta. It was late at night; all the other devotees were asleep. Somehow, we happened to meet on the balcony and he was just sharing with me some of his realizations over the years. This was in 1971, early, and he said that the essence of spiritual life is service to the spiritual master, following the instructions of the spiritual master. And up until then I was doing everything, I was attending the morning program, I was chanting my rounds, I was reading books, I was doing service, I was preaching. But I didn’t have a focal point as such, but after that talk with Tamal Krishna Goswami the focal point really became service to Srila Prabhupada.

And yeah, vāṇī and vapuḥ is such a major theme and recently the GBC strategic planning team has been organizing interviews of devotees leading up, in relation to Caitanya-caritāmṛta, leading up to Gaura-purnima and so they interviewed me about Srila Prabhupada’s completing Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in Juhu, when I was present there. And every morning I would go up to Srila Prabhupada’s room at about six o’clock to accompany him on his morning walk on Juhu beach.

But one morning, I went up and the door to his section of the upstairs quarters was locked and the door to his servant’s quarters was also locked. And I was knocking sort of gently and I was wondering what’s happening, where is everybody? Then, Harikesh, who was Srila Prabhupada’s secretary at the time, he opened the door to the staff quarters, slightly and he said that Srila Prabhupada had been up all night and that he had completed the Caitanya-caritāmṛta and that he had dictated the most beautiful glorification of his Guru Maharaja, which is the concluding words to Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

And the concluding words is all about vāṇī and vapuḥ, with the emphasis on vāṇī, on following the instructions. And that has to be. . . As he says in the concluding words, physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not but vāṇī is always there. And he said, so, we should focus on the vāṇī, not the physical presence. And yeah, so I think it’s a very. . . Of course, I mean, there is opportunity for personal association, that’s well and good. But the real thing is to serve the instructions.

Host: Thank you Maharaja. Another question, Maharaja; You narrated how Srila Prabhupada had no filter when giving criticism and feedback to the devotees. So, the question is, have you ever been scolded by your spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, in fact. . . Well since we are reading the book as part of this program, I’ll read that little section. Yeah, that was very, what can I say, it was quite devastating at the time. Okay, so, there was an incident when the devotees were, this was before we actually had a temple for the deities. So, we had erected a sort of, let’s say, temporary pandal and we would have a brahmachari sleep there at night. But once some thief came in the middle of the night and stepped over the sleeping brahmachari and stole some of the deity’s paraphernalia. So, I’ll read that section and the aftermath:

“So, to protect the deities and their paraphernalia a devotee stood guard all night, but one night in April the devotee on duty fell asleep and some thieves crept under the canvas and stole the deities’ crowns and flute. There was no door. the pandal was really just a tent. So, the robbers had just walked in, stepped over the sleeping brahmachari, taken the flute and crowns and left. When Prabhupada heard about the incident, he wrote me, ‘I have got some reports that the deities in Bombay are being much neglected. This is most abominable affair. Radha and Krishna should never be neglected or left unprotected. So, I am wondering what you have done to rectify the situation? I have heard that Madhudvisa intervened to get the deities a better place. So, he has done nicely.’ 

“My mind was reeling. I was shaken to the core that Prabhupada had criticized me so severely, saying that the deities were neglected and calling the situation abominable. Still, I tried to maintain my spirit and formulate a proper reply, ‘You are so merciful to take time to chastise this useless soul,’ I wrote, ‘My sluggishness and thoughtlessness are very shameful and worst of all before receiving your letter, I was so unconscious of Them. But your absolute mercy is such that your chastisement is as good as your blessings. So, I pray that my determination and enthusiasm shall not be shaken in trying to follow your instructions.’”

So, I was really struggling after receiving that letter and then I continued and I wrote what we were doing to safeguard the deities. And then Prabhupada wrote back something very significant about criticism to sort of put it in perspective and I guess, you could say, make me feel better.

So, this is. . . So, still I was affected by all the criticism from the other devotees and most of all from Prabhupada himself, and Prabhupada understanding my heart in his next letter explained his service to me in such a way that I could appreciate his criticism which was clearly meant for my benefit. “Actually,” he wrote:

“It is the duty of the spiritual master to find fault with his students so that they may make progress, not that he should always be praising them. So, if you find some criticism, kindly accept it in that spirit. I am only interested that you along with my other students should become Krishna conscious.”

Host: Thank you very much, Maharaja. The second part of the same question Maharaja; My śikṣā-guru never scolds me, never gives me feedback. He is always sweet with me, how can I get my śikṣā-guru to give me critical feedback for my improvement?

Giriraj Swami: Well, I mean, the answer I’m going to give will not be relevant, most likely but Lord Chaitanya was always respecting Advaita Acharya as His superior which Advaita Acharya didn’t like. He actually wanted Lord Chaitanya to chastise him. So, he started to give discourses in which he spoke Mayavada philosophy. So, when Lord Chaitanya heard this news, He went to a Advaita Acharya’s place, and when Lord Chaitanya arrived there Advaita Acharya became even more enthusiastic in his impersonal preachings and then Lord Chaitanya very severely chastised him and thus He fulfilled Advaita Acharya’s desire.

So, once a disciple asked Srila Prabhupada whether he had been chastised by his Guru Maharaja and he said, ”Yes, once Guru Maharaja was giving a lecture and the man, the devotee sitting next to Srila Prabhupada began to speak with him during their Guru Maharaja’s lecture. And so, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakor chided both of them, because the man sitting next to Prabhupada had been a big donor and so, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta said to him, ”You think that by your donation you have purchased me?” And then to Srila Prabhupada he said, ”Oh, you don’t think you need to hear my lecture? Maybe you should come and give the lecture.” So, something like that.

So, yeah, Prabhupada said that yes, yeah, he was chided by his spiritual master. So, as far as you are wanting to be chided by your śikṣā-guru, I don’t know what to say. I guess, you can pray for it. I mean, I’m not suggesting that you deliberately do something to make him angry and chastise you, but there is historical precedence for that, but I don’t know if that would apply to us in our stage. But yeah, or maybe you should have two śikṣā-gurus. I mean, seriously at one stage I felt like that after Prabhupada left. I had a godbrother, he was like a śikṣā-guru. He is always very kind and encouraging, you could say. He was always very kind and encouraging but I felt I needed something more, I needed a more severe training, more strict correction.

And then I thought of another godbrother, they are both very senior and prominent devotees and I thought, I think maybe I need to spend time with him and I did. So, I started to spend time with him and he was stricter and I wanted that and I think I needed it and I got it from him, not from the other one.

Host: Oh, that’s wonderful. Thank you very much, Maharaja, for your patience, for your love and affection for Noida devotees and you’ve been very kind to be here today and you didn’t look at clock. I know it’s a night time for you, I think and it’s a bit late. But we really appreciate and we request Maharaja at your lotus feet, so please keep coming to Noida through Zoom and when the situation improves, we pray that one day we can have you in person here at Noida.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah.

Host: And hear you and serve you, on the way to Vrindavan Maybe, in your transit. Whenever you land in Delhi, please remember us.

Giriraj Swami: I will keep your invitation in mind.

Host: Thank you very much, Maharaja and we have no words to thank you. So, we can all unmute everyone for a moment and say three times Haribol at lotus feet of Maharaja.

Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!