The Juhu Story

Nagapatni dasi: Hare Krishna Maharaja. I haven’t seen you for a long time, but it’s with great honor and gratitude that I’m able to introduce you today to our class. And I just want to say a little something about His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja that he has accomplished so much in Krishna consciousness, and I’m sure today he’s going to be sharing with you his new book which is a just a wonderful read for everyone to share and to really understand this terrific battle that Srila Prabhupada had with Mr. N. When Srila Prabhupada left, we all felt so much separation and so much grief. And at the beginning and after some time of grief, there’s finally a lightening—a lightening of that grief, and we’ve seen—I’ve seen personally that—that lightening has been through seeing Srila Prabhupada in my different godbrothers and god sisters — different qualities that Srila Prabhupada has, and so in Giriraj Maharaja, I see that compassion and that love that Srila Prabhupada emanates so beautifully. So before I just go on taking up all this time, I’d like to introduce His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja. Hare Krishna Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: So, before I begin to speak about the Juhu story, I will sing the maṅgala-ācaraṇa prayers and lead a short kirtan. 

[Kirtan] 

As Her Grace Nagapatni devi dasi was introducing tonight’s program, I thought of reading two excerpts from the book that deal with very momentous events in the history of the Juhu struggle. Just to give some background. . . Well, it’s really a background about the story, but it comes in the form of statements about the book. So at one stage, after a long fight or battle with Mr. Nair, who was the owner of the land, Srila Prabhupada was able to get the conveyance of the land signed in his name for ISKCON, and afterwards he leaned back at his aasan and said, “It was a good fight. Someone should write a book about it.”

And earlier, as early as 1971, Srila Prabhupada had instructed me to write. He said, “You should take up writing as your first business.” And it was an instruction that he repeated to me over the years. So although I have many disqualifications, but with the support and encouragement of many friends and devotees, I took up writing about the Juhu story. 

His Holiness Radhanath Swami says, “I’ll Build You a Temple transports us into one of the great events of our time. Giriraj Swami gives us personal witness into the life of Srila Prabhupada at a time when Prabhupada faced insurmountable odds at every step. The story reveals Prabhupada’s unwavering faith, indomitable courage, and profound humility. I’ll Build You a Temple is a contemporary narration that shares the emotions, excitement, and message of sacred texts such as the Rāmāyaṇa, Mahābhārata, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Bhagavad-gītā whose conclusive teachings are revealed through the lives of great souls such as Srila Prabhupada, who battled and ultimately vanquished powerful enemies against seemingly insurmountable odds.” 

Srila Prabhupada said that his project in Bombay was his heart. And then a quotation from His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja, “Srila Prabhupada spent more time in Bombay – 554 days—than in any other city in the world and that indicates the significance of the Juhu project and of this book. In I’ll Build You a Temple, Giriraj Maharaja has translated his long years of commendable involvement in the leadership of ISKCON Juhu as well as his intense desire to serve Srila Prabhupada’s instruction to him to write into a riveting, thoughtful, and inspiring book. I welcome you all to take a dip in the nectarean pastimes of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari, in Juhu, which glorify their pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada.”

So the title of the book, I’ll Build You a Temple, comes from a promise that Srila Prabhupada made to the deities Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari. Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari were originally worshiped in a rented apartment that we had in a building called Akash Ganga on Bhulabhai Desai Road, or earlier it was known as Warden Road. And eventually, Srila Prabhupada got the Juhu land. And initially, we didn’t have a proper place for the Deities. When we got the land, Srila Prabhupada wanted us to hold a pandal program on the property which we did. The Deities were transported by taxi from the Akash Ganga building at Warden Road to Hare Krishna land in Juhu, and They were first worshiped in Juhu during the pandal program. And then, after the pandal program was over and Srila Prabhupada left on his travels, I believe to Australia, a devotee named Nara Narayana and his wife Dina Dayadri made it like a small shaamayana for the Deities and Radha-Rasabihari were moved there, but Srila Prabhupada promised the Deities that You just stand here, and I will build You a temple. And so the title comes from Srila Prabhupada’s promise to Radha-Rasabihari that You just stay here and I will build You a temple, which he did despite so much opposition and so many obstacles.

So I’ll begin by reading a description of how the temple was rebuilt. Yes, so eventually, Janmashtami 1972, we moved the Deities from that small pandal into a semi-permanent structure. And there was like a, you could say, a kirtan hall in the front what we would call it like the temple room, but on three sides it was open, and then there was a deity room, and then behind the deity room was a pujari room, and then behind the pujari room was the deities’ kitchen. 

So maybe in May of 1973, the Municipal Corporation, with support from the police, came to demolish our temple. And it is said that they were bribed, and I certainly can believe it that they were bribed by Nair. So they came, and they claimed falsely that we didn’t have permission for the temple. That the temporary permission we got which was good for one year had not been renewed, which was false. So I came forward with my file, and I showed them that we have the. . . that the commissioner has agreed to extend the permission for another year, but they were not interested. They were determined to proceed with their plan, no matter what. So one-by-one, the devotees rushed forward to stop the demolition crew, and one-by-one the devotees were apprehended and put in the paddy wagon, the police wagon. But one person, one devotee did not rush forward. He was a Gujrati devotee named Manasvi dasa originally known as Manoj Patel. And Manasvi dasa, he was hiding in the bushes watching the whole thing. And he made a phone call to a friend of ours who knew Bal Thackeray, who was the founder of the Shiv-sena political party, which was staunchly Hindu. Bal Thackeray phoned the Municipal Commissioner, and told him that I hear that you people are demolishing the Hare Krishna temple in Juhu, and you must stop! 

The Police Commissioner, who had been bribed, we were quite sure, said they don’t have permission, which wasn’t true. 

READING from I’ll Build You a Temple

Bal Thackeray said, “Mr. Desai,” [the commissioner’s name was M.W. Desai, he said, “Mr. Desai,] don’t forget who this city belongs to,” which was sort of a veiled threat. And then the commissioner said, “Yes Balasaheb, yes, Balasaheb.” Then he phoned the [unintelligible 00:30:23] to the site to stop the demolition. 

Thereafter we were systematically meeting the Municipal Councilors, who formed the Bombay Municipal Corporation to persuade them of our case, and we met almost all of them, and they were quite convinced. But at a certain stage we realized, we don’t actually need them to give us permission, we already have permission. So we can just rebuild the broken temple and that is what we decided to do. And so I will read a description of that glorious event or challenge. 

Somehow, Mrs. Nair found out what we were planning to do, to rebuild the temple. And the next day, Friday, she went to the high court with a petition for an injunction to prevent us from rebuilding. It was her property, she argued, and she had not given us permission. But the judge, Justice Nain, was familiar with our Society and activities and appreciative of Prabhupada and our movement. He said he would consider granting the injunction only after he had heard both sides. Because it was Friday, he pointed out, at the end of the week, he would take up the matter on Monday. “Just give a temporary injunction for the weekend, and then you can decide on the permanent injunction,” Mrs. Nair appealed, but her request was denied. “No,” Justice Nain responded, “without hearing the other side, I will not pass any judgment.” When we heard of Mrs. Nair’s petition and the judge’s response, we knew we had to take advantage of the opportunity. If the judge ruled against us, we would be prohibited from going ahead with the reconstruction. But once the temple was up, we understood, an injunction—even if it were granted—would be meaningless. The temple would already be in place, and no rebuilding would be necessary. We figured we had the weekend, until Monday morning, to put up the structure.

So the next day, Saturday, I went to try to arrange the construction materials, especially sheets, sand, bricks, cement, and it just so happened that on that Saturday, Mr. P. L. Sethi, real hero of the Juhu story, a very staunch devotee of Srila Prabhupada. . . His devotion to Srila Prabhupada reminded me of Hanuman’s devotion for Lord Rama. So Mr. Sethi was in Juhu with his family to check on his house under construction (not far from the temple) and to enjoy a weekend beach outing. And before returning home, he thought of visiting the temple. “When we came,” he recalled, “we saw that the small shed had been demolished. And the description given to us of the demolition was horrifying. Not only was the temple demolished, but they wanted to take away the Deities.”

Mr. Sethi was in poor health, but he declared, “No matter whether laborers are available or not, I will rebuild this temple and if I have to, I will do the labor work myself.” As it turned out, he was able to bring plenty of laborers and also supplies from his own construction sites because he was a building contractor. “I got the material from where my work was going on,” he later recounted. “Bricks, sand, cement, and asbestos cement sheets for the roof. We got an electric welding machine, and a person from a jhopadpatti [slum] who knew welding and welded all the pipes upon which the asbestos sheets would go.”

In the course of the day, Mrs. Nair, Mhatre, and Mrs. Nair’s solicitor, Bachubhai Shah, all came to the site. “You can’t do this,” they shouted, demanding that we stop. Bachubhai Shah, the son of Chimanlal Shah, came to serve me with what I presumed to be a notice stopping me from rebuilding the temple and threatening me with consequences if I did. But when I saw him, I ran away as fast as I could. And he came running after me as fast as he could, in his suit and tie. “The respectable solicitor Bachubhai Shah is running after me like a child in a playground,” I thought. “Where is his dignity?” He couldn’t catch me, and when I looked back from a safe distance, I saw him, looking frustrated, leave the letter with someone else who just happened to be there—with no proof that I had received it or ever would.

Mhatre, who was a local Municipal Corporator and who was in cahoots with Nair also demanded that we halt the construction. 

“No,” Mr. Sethi replied. “Why should we stop?” “You can build it up,” Mhatre threatened, “but I will come in the night with fifty goondas [hooligans] and break it down.”

Mr. Sethi turned to his son who was by his side, and said, “Brij Mohan, bring my revolver and my rifle.” Then he said to Mhatre, “Don’t bring fifty goondas. Bring a hundred. Bring two hundred. I have two hundred and fifty cartridges. You’ll have to bring at least two hundred and fifty-one.” He had a kshatriya side, and he was staunch. “They did not count on the amazing heroism and bravery of my personal hero, Mr. P.L. Sethi,” Maithili, who was the head pujari, said later, echoing everyone’s admiration.

As Brij Mohan Sethi remembered, “So, with the revolver in my hand and the rifle in daddy’s hand, we started the work. We could do this not because of something in us, but because of the blessings of Prabhupada. Only with his blessings and mercy could we start the construction. The entire night it was raining cats and dogs, [that means raining very heavily] but we never stopped the work; it went on.” 

As the rain fell, Mr. Sethi recalled how by lifting Govardhana Hill Lord Krishna had protected the residents of Vrindavan from the devastating rainfall sent by Indra. He was unperturbed. Indra wants to test me, he thought. All right, if you want to come down, you can come down more heavily, but I have the blessings of Srila Prabhupada. I have to rebuild the temple, and I will.

Mr. Sethi and his son, the friends, and life members, and the laborers stayed up all night to protect and complete the construction. “I was there with a gun,” Mr. Sethi recounted. “We started at nine. At eleven, one man came to the road, but I challenged him, ‘If you come inside, I will shoot you,’” and he ran away and shouted to some other men, “They are ready to fight—don’t go there.”

[Mr. Sethi:] “It was pouring rain and the lighting was bad, and when the men were putting up the asbestos sheets, they were slipping on the ground.” [This is Mr. Sethi speaking] “So we brought around fifty mats and put twenty men on them—one man supporting another so that there was no slipping. Ten masons worked all night, and we completed the walls and the plaster.

Sridhar was at the site, too, chanting japa in the Jeep. When someone asked him why he was in there, he joked, “If anybody comes, I can make a quick escape.” “Actually, the whole thing was right in keeping with my nature,” he recalled. “When there is a good chance for a fight for Krishna, I don’t run away from it. It was very exciting. I was ready. We stayed up all night. Miserable night, but we were waiting for them to come. Mr. Sethi had his gun, and I had a knife or some other weapon.” And the devotees, life members, masons, and other skilled workers, laborers, and other friends did it: they put it all up in that one night, finishing around four in the morning, and no one came to disturb the work. And then we had maṅgala-ārati.

Later that morning, we appeared in the High Court and told the judge that the temple had already been rebuilt. “What is built is built,” he said to Mrs. Nair. “No one can destroy the temple.”

COMMENT

Yeah, there is a very nice glorification of Mr. Sethi and his kshatriya spirit by Srila Prabhupada but because of time constraints, I won’t read that, but I will move ahead to the news of Mr. Nair’s death. 

READING (condinued)

One Sunday, as I was walking through the streets in Dhobi-talao, South Bombay, briefcase in hand, on my way to meet someone, I happened to stop for a moment by the Metro Cinema and looked at the periodicals on sale along the sidewalk (something I generally never did). Standing on the busy corner, with traffic rushing from all directions, I glanced at the newspaper headlines. Big, black, bold letters jumped out from one front page: “A.B. Nair dead.” And directly under the headline was a photo of Mr. Nair. I couldn’t believe it. “A.B. Nair dead.” How could it be? The paper was The Bharat Jyoti, the Sunday edition of the Free Press Journal, where Nair had been editor.

I was jubilant—I felt like dancing in ecstasy. But then I wondered if that was the proper way for a Vaishnava to respond. I am supposed to be developing saintly qualities, I reflected. Maybe I should be feeling sorry. Still, I could not contain my exultation, and I rushed back to our flat in Colaba to share the news.

Bali Mardan, the most senior devotee there, suggested that we call Srila Prabhupada and went out to look for a phone. I decided I should go to Juhu. The devotees there had already heard the news and had been rejoicing and celebrating, chanting, and distributing sweets. But I was still uncertain—was this the proper way for Vaishnavas to behave? 

When Bali Mardan phoned Auckland to inform Prabhupada of Nair’s death, the phone call came during Prabhupada’s morning massage, just before lunchtime. Srutakirti was sitting on the floor behind him, massaging his back, with Tusta Krishna and Siddha Svarupa nearby. Tusta Krishna took the call, and then Srutakirti came to the phone. After just a few minutes, Srutakirti ran back into the room. “Srila Prabhupada,” he said, “That was Bali Mardan on the phone. He wanted to tell you that Mr. Nair is dead.”

Srila Prabhupada joined his hands together above his head, as if in prayer. “Oh, thank You, Krishna!” He said. “I prayed that Krishna would kill him. He caused us so much difficulty. He gave so much trouble to the devotees. I was praying that Krishna would do something to this demon.” And he quoted a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.9.14):

tad yaccha manyum suras ca hatas tvayādya
modeta sādhur api vṛścika-sarpa-hatyā
lokāś ca nirvṛtim itāḥ pratiyanti sarve
rūpaṁ nṛsiṁha vibhayāya janāḥ smaranti  

Prahlada Maharaja said, “Even a saintly person becomes pleased when a snake or a scorpion is killed.” “Nair was a big snake. So it is very good.” 

As Srutakirti continued his massage, Prabhupada recounted some of the struggle and revealed more of his inner mood. “The Deities were installed on the property,” he said. “Mr. Nair had insulted Krishna by trying to remove Him, and that I could not tolerate.”

Some of my disciples didn’t understand. They wondered why their spiritual master was so attached to that piece of property. In truth, we had money; we could have bought property anywhere. We didn’t need that piece of property. But Krishna was standing there at Juhu, and therefore I was determined to have it. Even some of my disciples were ready to leave the property, but I promised the Deities that I would build Them a beautiful temple there. 

COMMENT

So I think I could end the reading. Of course there is a lot of nectar. We covered two – touched on two important incidents, and now if any of the devotees have any questions, you can raise your hand and ask. Jahnavi Priya has raised her hand.

Jahnavi Priya: Hare Krishna Maharaja, daṇḍavat-praṇāmas. Though the story is actually already sweet and in your voice it, it became actually sweetest. Thank you for narrating it, Maharaja. My question is that looking at your nature, looking at your behavior, you are very soft by nature. As Prabhupada said for you, “Our Giriraj is very simple.” So going through this complicated situation where goondas were coming, and they are fighting with devotees, and there is life threat. What inspired you to be there so determined? 

Giriraj Swami: Well, ultimately it was my conviction that service to the spiritual master is the essence and secret of success in spiritual life, and I knew it was service to Srila Prabhupada. There was a little exchange that night that we rebuilt the temple, which I skipped over for the sake of time but I think it plays into answering your question very nicely. It was sort of different from my nature. 

So, when they were doing the reconstruction, I was overseeing the rebuilding, and Tamal Krishna told me, “I want you to stay up all night and make sure the work is done. People will be working all night long, and goondas may come to attack. I want you to stay up and make sure that the work keeps going and that nothing goes wrong.”

A few days earlier, Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, my first temple president, by whom I was greatly inspired, had passed through Bombay. I appreciated his humble and gentle demeanor, and I wanted to emulate him. When Tamal Krishna told me to stay up all night and oversee the work, I mentioned how I wanted to be like Satsvarupa Maharaja—a simple, humble sadhu. Tamal Krishna looked at me straight in the eyes, and with a firm intensity and controlled anger, he responded, “Your humility will be to stay up all night and make sure this temple gets rebuilt.” I thought about it, and I had to agree: Where was the humility if I was not ready to surrender to the order or desire of the spiritual master? To be humble meant to be ready, without personal consideration, to do whatever the spiritual master wanted, whether or not it conformed to popular conceptions of a humble sadhu.  

Prema Manjari dasi: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja. I don’t have any questions but I just want to say my comment. We have started reading your book. We have made a small circle—we are about five to six members and every afternoon the time like one hour, one-and-half hour, we read together on Zoom, and we really enjoyed so much, and we have clearly stated that everyone has two pages, but nobody will stop—they will read two pages, and they’re going to third one, then finally you have to say, ‘Stop, give others a chance.’ They get so absorbed and even I’m hearing from you again the same thing that when you’re reading with so many emotions and all. I feel so I can relate more now because we have already read some part today. I mean I wish we could hear from you only the entire book and all your emotions, and I really wish we can make a movie out of it with all the dramatics and all. I have still not read the whole book, but I’m sure like I’ll get more realizations and I can share later, and also Vraja Vihari and Sweta Manjari also read every evening on their own—they have different batches for evening, the ladies in the afternoon, the children in the evening, so I wanted Vraja Vihari to share because every day he comes out with something. He says, “I can’t believe Guru Maharaja he did like that and says that,” so I just wanted Vraj Vihari to speak.

Vraja Vihari dasa: Hare Krishna. I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful book. We heard all these pastimes in the past as well as you’ve narrated them so many times, and we heard it from other people, but when we heard in the past we used to sort of not get attached to it. It was not relatable because it was always like Prabhupada had a big army of devotees who were as powerful as demigods. Everyone was just so strong and so hard working and so determined but now that the book is out, we are seeing the emotions behind all these incidents, and the human side of it is coming out, and it’s becoming so much more relatable for us. So thank you so much because how would we know otherwise? There was just a collection of stories, and the way you stitched it together in that book that’s fantastic! I mean everything about this book, the story, the people in it, the cover, everything it’s just a full package of goodness. Thank you so much.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you. And we have a young devotee Radhika Jijodia. She goes to Srila Prabhupada’s quarters in Juhu and she reads the book out loud to him to his deity.

Malati dasi: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to your divine grace. Guru Maharaja, I have a comment and a question too. I’ll just read this book before I go to take a rest. I feel I’m reading Krishna book actually, it’s like this līlā is more captivating for me – seeing how Prabhupada is tackling all the situations and staying calm wherever needed. So actually, we wouldn’t have known so much details about Srila Prabhupada, if you wouldn’t have written this book Maharaja. Thank you so much for all the efforts, I feel every page has a lot of struggle—what you must have gone through—say it health or getting all the details collected, and major and minor issues, but then you have done your best for all of us to know Srila Prabhupada in detail. I learned a big lesson actually reading this book. While you are serving your spiritual master or Krishna, actually I sometimes serve my senses so this is not proper. It’s like you have to serve and please Krishna and your Guru Maharaja. So it’s a big lesson for me, Guru Maharaja. Thank you so much and please accept me. Because while I’m reading this book, I’m getting closer to you. And please accept me Guru Maharaja, and that’s my prayer at your lotus feet. Thank you very much.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you Malati. That was beautiful. Just for the sake of other devotees, I want to inform you that Malati was an initiated disciple of my God brother, Sridhar Swami Maharaja. 

Malati dasi: I have a question related to this actually. This is called a Juhu battle actually externally. We are going through many internal battles too, so one of the questions about this is: how can we get rid of the guilt we have in ourselves because that guilt I have heard a lecture that you should not have so much of guilt in you[rself] because that finishes us up like more confidence in you[rself] and it kills you from within. So many devotees I’m sure must be going through a lot of guilt, so I want to know how we can get rid of it?

Giriraj Swami: Well, guilt is not always bad, and one way to get rid of the guilt is to stop doing or thinking about what you feel guilty about. I mean but otherwise if the guilt is sort of an obsession, then I think of what your Guru Maharaja used to say, “There is no utility in negativity.” If we feel guilty because our conscience is prodding us because we are doing something wrong, then we should try to find out what we’re doing wrong and stop it. 

Malati dasi: Maharaja, sometimes you [we] accuse yourself [ourselves] so much and which is not needed sometimes but your [our] nature is that you [we] accuse that you [I] have done wrong, and the relationship will never be revived, and this is not right, and then this really plays on your [our] mind so much that it’s difficult to come out of it. 

Giriraj Swami: Well, I can just say—surrender to Krishna more, take shelter of the holy name, read Srila Prabhupada’s books. 

Malati dasi: Thank you, Guru Maharaja. 

Catura devi dasi: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Thank you for your sweet lecture on this Juhu temple. This is Catura devi dasi from China. I had once more requested: could you tell us something more detailed about why [Prabhupada] should write a letter to Dr. Chenna Reddy asking for help?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, Dr. Chenna Reddy was already a good friend of Srila Prabhupada, and he was the governor of, maybe, Andhra Pradesh. And Srila Prabhupada spared no effort in trying to get help for the cause of getting the land from Mr. Nair and then getting the permission to build the temple. And so yeah, he regularly wrote—regularly means from time to time—he wrote to Governor Chenna Reddy to get his help, and a real turning point came when we met the Chief Minister of Maharashtra named S.P. Chavan, who later became a Central Minister in the government. He was a very good man, and he could see what was going on, and he put his foot down. He just didn’t tolerate all the troubles that the departments were giving us. And then Prabhupada wrote to Governor Chenna Reddy and told him the good news. 

Madan Gopal dasa: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances to the best of your lotus feet. Maharaja, when I’m hearing so many realizations from other devotees, I just thought of adding something from my end also. Well, we are hearing so much from you in multiple sessions about the Juhu temple story, and it has been so much in detail. You’re telling though in bits and pieces, but you’re trying to tell everything about the struggle that you all have gone through, so that’s really amazing. And I thank you for this book which you have come up with, and it’s not so easy. Otherwise it would have been so difficult for me to understand Prabhupada and your. . . though you are being so soft person, and so this is also an example that when there is true love for your Guru Maharaja, even a soft person can fight for his Guru Maharaja and his goal, so that is really nice, and I really appreciate that quality of yours Maharaja. And if someday, I can imbibe those qualities in me from you that would be really a good blessing Maharaja. And I’m so grateful to you. I’m also grateful to Prema Manjari Mataji that she gifted me this wonderful book that’s the best gift I’ve received from my mentor. And it's so amazing. I’m really grateful to all of you. Thank you Guru Maharaja. 

Giriraj Swami: Thank you.

Advaita Hari dasa: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja. Please accept my most humble obeisances at the dust of your divine lotus feet. Thank you so much for the wonderful class Guru Maharaja, wonderful narration of Srila Prabhupada’s past times. I would actually, I mean present to you the, I mean we were recently given the service for coordinating for the dispatches that have been made in the Juhu, I mean within Bombay, and I got a very inspiring message, so I was very happy to have the good fortune for interacting with, I mean approaching His Grace Krishna Chandra Prabhu from Chowpatty.

Giriraj Swami: Who? 

Advaita Hari dasa: Krishna Chandra Prabhu, Mafatlal Prabhu, Hrishikesh Mafatlal Prabhu, disciple of Radhanath Maharaja. 

Giriraj Swami: Oh yes, I know Krishna Chandra prabhu.

Advaita Hari dasa: For the pleasure of your divine grace, I mean I would like to mention to you that he took fifteen books from the Juhu temple from Hemagiri Prabhu from the bookstore, and he is mentioning that he knows at least ten more devotees who would like to take that book, take the I`ll Build You a Temple—The Juhu Story book, and he had personally messaged to me a very inspiring message that I would like to share with your divine grace. His message is: All glories to Srila Prabhupada’s dear disciples like Giriraj Maharaja whose unbelievable sacrifices for this Juhu project have been hidden from the whole world so far but not anymore. And actually my wife also has a question for you Vrinda Priya lila dasi but unfortunately she is diagnosed with chickenpox, so she is feeling shy to switch on her camera. 

Giriraj Swami: She can speak without the camera. 

Advaita Hari dasa: All right, okay. 

Advaita Hari dasa: She actually is requesting that I only ask that question. Actually the question she had was that while. . . I mean, she’s been reading the book also for the pleasure of your divine grace so she had this question that while when the temple was not built and when you all were having the makeshift temple, she was wondering what was happening in the other parts of the whole Hare Krishna land? What were the activities you were doing besides maintaining the temple? That’s her question. 

Giriraj Swami: Well we were. . . The main program, Srila Prabhupada said the main program for India was making life members which he devised in part as a way to distribute his books to the more affluent class. So there were several teams of preachers who would go out every day to make life members. I headed up one team, Sridhara Swami headed up one team, Jagat Purush Prabhu headed up one team, Lokanath Swami headed up one team, and we would go out to make life members and then other devotees, they would do deity worship, they would cook, and then some devotees would go out on book distribution. So we had activities and at one stage, when it seemed hopeless that we would never get the permission, Srila Prabhupada said, “All right, if they don’t give us the permission, we’ll just turn Hare Krishna land into a bus stop, and we’ll fill up our buses with books, and send out the devotees to distribute books. They can come back when they’re out and get more books and go out.”

Vrinda Priya lila dasi: Thank you Guru Maharaja. Thank you very much.

Giriraj Swami: Then there was one devotee, a very sweet devotee named Shanta dasa, who is in Alachua now I believe, and he was a gardener. Prabhupada wanted him to grow flowers for the deities and also fruits. And at first he wasn’t successful, and we passed by the garden every morning on Srila Prabhupada’s morning walk on the way to Juhu beach. And he’d point his cane and like nothing’s happening, nothing is happening, “Shanta dasa is just bluffing. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.” But then things started happening, the trees started to bear fruit, and the flowers started to come up, and then Prabhupada was pleased. And then every day, Shanta dasa would present Srila Prabhupada a flower from the garden, and he termed himself, he called himself Prabhupada’s flower boy. So that was also going on. And Prabhupada really liked prasāda to be made from fruits and vegetables that we ourselves had grown.

Surat Charan Renu dasi: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to you. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Thank you Guru Maharaja for the wonderful narration. I just remembered that a few years back we were visiting Bombay for your Vyas puja, and we were staying at a guest house, and next room was Haridasa Prabhu’s room. So it so happened that I was coming out and myself, my Prabhu, and Haridasa Prabhu also came out of his room, and he said, “How are you?” So I said, “We have come for Guru Maharaja’s Vyas puja—His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja.” So he said, “Oh, you know who he is?” and he said, “These pillars and floors of this temple are his bones and blood.” So Guru Maharaja, I am so happy about this book that I come to know more about you and by your narrations it becomes so sweet, and I’m really very thankful for giving this book to all of us. It’s a wonderful book, and it will tell many things about your struggle, your dedication, and the dedication of your God brothers. So much, so thank you Guru Maharaja, thank you so much.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you, that was a nice story—that’s appreciation. 

Nikunja lila devi dasi: Hare Krishna Maharaja. This is Nikunja lila devi dasi from Surat, disciple of His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaja. How are you doing, Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: I am very fine. 

Nikunja lila devi dasi: I always have a desire to meet you and see you and take your blessing. It is so nice, due to zoom, I am able to talk to you today.

Maharaja, I just wanted to tell you thank you for being with Srila Prabhupada, and today being with Prabhupada. It is so nice to hear from you about the construction of the Juhu temple and yes, I have seen and heard about the Juhu temple from His Holiness Bhakti Charu Maharaja’s video on Srila Prabhupada. And I just wanted to tell you one thing, sorry it’s getting longer. To me, ISKCON started with Bhagavad-gītā, then I came to know about Srila Prabhupada, and after that if any disciple I would ever hear about most was His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja. So thank you once again for being with us and also bringing along Srila Prabhupada. Maharaja, I would like you to meet my Prabhu, Badranath Gopal dasa. I would like you to meet myself. I would love to meet you when you come to Mumbai.

Giriraj Swami: I would love to meet you in Mumbai. 

Nikunja lila dasi: Please bless us Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: What blessing do you want?

Nikunja lila dasi: Thank you and please be with our Guru Maharaja His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja all the time. Hare Krishna Maharaja. Thank you Maharaja, Haribol. 

Giriraj Swami: Of course, His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja figures quite prominently in the book. He did say something that I included at the end. At the end of the book, there’s an epilogue and the epilogue begins:

Bombay had been a strategic location in Prabhupada’s war against maya. As Jayapataka Swami later said, “For us, Bombay is a very important place, one of the most important with which Prabhupada was connected. Prabhupada said that Vrindavan was his home, Bombay was his office, and Mayapur was his place of worship. Bombay was the most modernized, greatest financial powerhouse in India. It was India’s most westernized city and was home to the Bollywood movie industry. 

Hence, Prabhupada wanted to establish a temple there with a mission: to stop the westernization and to preserve the Krishna consciousness. Sometimes, he would tell us how his Guru Maharaja had ordered him to preach in the West, “My guru didn’t specifically order me to preach in India,” he said, “So, whenever I preached in the West, I was very successful.” His idea was to build temples in Vrindavan and Mayapur for his western devotees to come and visit the holy places, but then, he said, how could he stand by and see India going to hell? He was disturbed by how Indians were losing their culture by following the West and becoming degraded in various ways, forgetting their Krishna consciousness. He said that it was his personal mission to preach in India. 

Brahmananda Prabhu recounted that Prabhupada had told him that the Deity Dwarkadhish in Los Angeles had personally spoken to him and ordered him, ‘You have to go back to India and preach there.’”

So that was a very nice explanation by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaja. 

Shivani: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. I have no words to. . . I feel very insignificant to speak to you, Maharaja. Maharaja, your kirtan was so sweet I was thinking if it could go for eternity, and then your narration was also amazing. Actually I’m so thankful for this book Maharaja, and I please wish that you bless us with all that we progress in our spiritual life, and I get the shelter of Radhanath Maharaja. Please bless me, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Jay! Beautiful! I’m indebted to Her Grace Nagapatni Mataji for teaching this Srila Prabhupada Līlāmṛtacourse at VIHE, inviting me to be a part of it. 

Shivani: I always took pride in being a part of it, and now it just doubled with the association of stalwarts like you Maharaja. 

Radha Charan dasa: Guru Maharaja, please accept our humble obeisances. Our grandchildren are saying something. . .

Shweta Singh: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Daṇḍavat praṇāma. I am a very new person in the ISKCON scheme of things – very very new I would say the journey started with the Why bhakti sad-achar? Course, and it’s been really really wonderful and enlightening for me – listening to all the ISKCON gurus, and I take all the classes Nagapatni Mataji, Haribol Mataji, it’s been really really wonderful to get this opportunity in this world today I would say, and it’s really wonderful that through this online technology zoom, we are able to have darshans of you Guru Maharaja and also to listen to the, I would say, guru vāṇī from all of you. It's a small seed which has just come to my heart, I would say, and it’s growing and growing and growing, and I feel very very blessed to get this opportunity. Maybe it is just the mercy of you all that somehow I’ve just started this journey, and I feel really very blessed though I would say, I have so many things to read through and to know about even for I would say, during the session, I got to know, being very frank, about the book of yours, I would want to read that now. And there’s so much literature about the association with Srila Prabhupada, so it’s a new world for me all together, and I’m liking it, and I’m really enjoying it. And I’m telling my family also about it and they feel very good about it, and they said, “Okay, you learn and then you tell us what you’re learning every day.” So it’s been a very very nice journey that I’ve just taken a few steps here, and I seek for your blessings that I really go ahead in my spiritual journey. Thank you so much Guru Maharaja. 

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, it’s wonderful, very enlivening, and inspiring. I wish you all the best. 

Amrita: Hare Krishna Maharaja. daṇḍavat praṇāma. It’s so nice to get to know about your book and I really feel that when we go to any temple, we just go to see the deities and we see beautiful temples, but through your book, through your realizations, we can just understand the struggle behind that beautiful temple, the devotees go through all those struggles. So now when we go to any temple we can just see that we should also realize the struggle and the hard work that you all have done, and Prabhupada has done for us to make such a beautiful temple and make us associate with all the devotees. So thank you so much Maharaja for your wonderful session, and please bless us so that we can also do something for Prabhupada and for his mission, 

Giriraj Swami: Beautiful, beautiful. Yes, there’s also a lot of effort involved in the Vrindavan temple. Yeah, it’s good not to take for granted these beautiful temples that Srila Prabhupada arranged for us, especially Mumbai, Vrindavan, and Mayapur. Nice. 

Catura devi dasi: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Actually in 2019, I went to Juhu temple. I was. . . Yeah, I was so impressed, it’s so wonderful, amazing. Yeah, so I stayed there for about ten days, and I can see, yeah so many facilities, and a full set of facilities, and also the deities—They’re so very beautiful so I already recommend Chinese devotees to visit this temple. Yes, so thank you for your wonderful achievement. Yeah, also I will go and buy a book and read this carefully. Thank you so much.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you. Well, Radha Charan Prabhu, not from Surat, wants to translate the book into Chinese, his wife.

Catura devi dasi: Yeah okay. 

Giriraj Swami: But if you know English, I think it’s good to read the original if you can. For other Chinese devotees who don’t know English, there should be a Chinese edition. 

Catur devi dasi: Okay, so would you let me translate it for you?

Giriraj Swami: I will ask Giridhari Swami. He’s in charge of the BBT there. Thank you for offering. 

Catur devi dasi: Okay. Thank you very much. 

Host: Maharaja, I don’t know if we have the right words to thank you for speaking with us today and spending time sharing your realizations and memories of the Juhu story. Thank you so much, and if you have anything else you’d like to say to us that we just wish for your blessings that we can continue on in Krishna consciousness.

Giriraj Swami: I wish all of you all success in Krishna consciousness by Srila Prabhupada’s grace. Keep reading about Srila Prabhupada, speaking about Srila Prabhupada, and serving Srila Prabhupada and his mission. Yeah, we are so blessed by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, and we shouldn’t take that for granted of course, and we should appreciate every moment we have in Krishna consciousness, and utilize every moment in the best way in Krishna consciousness. 

Host: Good advice. Hare Krishna. Thank you very much.

Prasanta dasi: Hare Krishna Giriraj Swami Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. This is Prasanta dasi. I was like everyone else, drinking the nectar. You are such a. . . It’s fantastic to have a historian in our ISKCON movement. It’s so divine to hear so many details of the Juhu struggle, and I know you know many more stories not just about Juhu, but this was your particular interest to write this book. And I want to thank you Maharaja for agreeing to come and speak at the VIHE as you see we have introduced this Līlāmṛta class. It's been about three years already that we’ve been running this class. It was very much my desire so that the new devotees as you see someone was saying when we go to the new devotees, go to the temple, they don’t know what’s behind, how these temples have been built, and how this movement has been established. So it was so much my desire to give this background to the devotees and with the help of Nagapatni devi dasi, she’s leading that effort, and I see the devotees transforming and understanding so much more their connection with Srila Prabhupada and with everything that ISKCON has to offer. And we need to have persons like you to come, and everything becomes so much real, like the pages of the Līlāmṛta suddenly become like alive, and we actually see the actors, and that is so wonderful. And I’m sure the kind of niṣṭhā or faith and determination that all of you have had to help Srila Prabhupada and establish a movement. Hopefully our desire is that by hearing of all these stories, the new devotees will also get that determination to serve and that desire to work hard and to sacrifice for the saṅkīrtana movement. So thank you so much Maharaja and we hope to have more of you any time. We are ready whenever you would like, you are most welcome to speak and give your association. 

Giriraj Swami: We can try to arrange. Thank you. 

Host: Maharaja, this concludes our class for today. we might end, if you’d like to just unmute to end and say your praṇāmas or goodbyes to Maharaja, that’d be nice. Thank you.