Krishna Janmashtami 1972 and 1974 at ISKCON Juhu

Devotee: We are very happy to have Sachdev Prabhu,  and we welcome you to ISKCON Association. And now we have Giriraj Swami, who will address us. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Happy Janmashtami. 

I thought to read two sections from my book I’ll Build You a Temple—The Juhu Story about our celebrations of Janmashtami in Juhu.

READING from I’ll Build You a Temple

The first one took place in Srila Prabhupada’s absence but we sent a report about it. That was at the very beginning. We were so preoccupied with just surviving, dealing with challenges and executing the specific tasks that Prabhupada has assigned to us, that I had hardly thought about the upcoming  Janmashtami, but when Harikesh brought it up I realized that yes, we must do something. We had no funds in reserve so I went door to door in the housing colony nearby to collect donations. And people were glad to contribute. The new semipermanent temple constructed with temporary permission from the municipal authorities was ready. There was a small room for the Deities and behind it another small room for the pujaris service. In front of the Deities room was a darshan mandap, an area to view the Deities, with a rook of asbestos sheets supported by steel tubes  over a raised floor covered by marble chipped tiles.  On Janmashtami eve, the Radha and Krishna Deities were taken in a colorful procession from the hut to Their new temple. Devotees were singing, playing mrdangas and kartals and dancing and many life members and friends came to participate in the festival. As Radharani and Krishna approached the front of the property, close to the road, They attracted many local people. It was a joyous landmark event. Harikesh had taken charge of organizing the next day’s program, “We had a great Janmashtami” he later recalled, “the best ever, we had ladies churning yoghurt, making lots of butter and when we broke the fast, we drank the buttermilk. We had a drama, a play about the appearance of Krishna. Srimati was Mother Yashoda and Dinanath was also in it. I organized the event. We had huge feast for everybody and lots of kirtan, it was a wonderful evening. Gandhiva’s mother, Yashoda, made the flower garlands Mrs Waraiha did the other decorations. Mr Sethi was involved and Jagat Purusa and Gandhiva cooked. Maithili was in the kitchen and in the temple were Srimati, Tungabhadra and Palika and Malati. Sridhar was doing kirtan with Dinanath and that skinny young Indian boy… who became Lokanatha Swami.

Srimati had made a baby Krishna and the local people stood in long lines to get a chance to rock Him, by pulling a chord attached to His cradle. They were all excited about celebrating the festival. “Everybody was so happy , the sounding of the conch shells and the ghantas, the bells, the curtain was drawn and the Lord took birth of Hare Krishna land. It was a beautiful site. The priest bathed the Lord with honey, milk, yogurt, ghee and water. Tears came rolling down my eyes, I had never seen such a site. The pujaris dressed the Lord and again we had darshan. Everyone was chanting and we all had caraṇāmṛta and prasad and in the end we all went away happy.  After the celebration, and the inauguration of the new semipermanent temple on September 16th I wrote Srila Prabhupada. “ We had a wonderful Janmashtami celebration. Over a thousand visitors attended, and they were are very much pleased by the continuous program of artis, kirtans, dramas and slides, lectures, butter churning and so many other nice preparations. Nice activities...

Prabhupada replied from Los Angeles, “I am glad to learn in detail how things are going on in Bombay. I am always thinking about that place. It is only a few steps to the Juhu Beach and there are many nice palm trees overhead with cooling breezes.”  

COMMENT

Now the more important one was when Srila Prabhupada was there. It was 1972, Janmashtami 1972. So now, this I think would be 1974.

READING from I’ll Build You a Temple

For Janmashtami, we made a stage in the area of the darshan mandap in the new temple. And setup rows of chairs amid the construction work and scaffolding. Prabhupada had heard that the devotees were rehearsing for the play “The appearance of Lord Krishna” and he wanted to see the play before departing for Hyderabad, two days before Janmashtami. Jagat Puruṣa had organized the play and played Kamsa. Ananga Manjari played Devaki, Bhajahari played Vasudeva and Acyutananda, plucking the strings of a tambura representing a veena, played Narada Muni. Prabhupada enjoyed the performance and applauded enthusiastically. And as was common in ISKCON dramas at the end the devotees and audience chanted Hare Krishna together. When Prabhupada began to leave for the airport, devotees jumped down from the stage and began to chase after him. And although his car left first some devotees managed to arrive at the airport before him. When he stepped out onto the curb, he found Ananga Manjari and Aditya there shouting Jaya Prabhupada Jaya Prabhupada…Ananga Manjari was still in costume as Devaki in an ornate wedding sari, but she was about to leave for America but as Prabhupada was both elderly and in fragile health she thought this might be the last time she would see him. And her makeup was smeared by tears. Prabhupada smiled broadly as the women offered their obeisances and as they jumped up and down in bliss, he processed into the terminal. Prabhupada stood there for the longest time, Ananga Manjari later recalled, leaning on his cane and smiling at me, practically laughing. When he moved on Aditya said, “did you see how he looked at you and smiled at you” and I thought this is the perfection of my life. I entertained him. Two days later in Hyderabad Prabhupada asked Saurabh, “ What news from Bombay?” Saurabh replied, “ The Janmashtami festival was a huge success, we counted approximately for the last two days, twenty thousand people. The place was packed. People were everywhere. They were sitting everywhere even on the balconies and the scaffolding. “Did the press and and the television people come”, Gopal Krishna asked, “every year the television comes, did they televise this?” “The film news” Saurabh answered. For the abhisheka ceremony which lasted for one hour up to one o’ clock, and everyone remained. There were thousands of people. They were just everywhere. Ten days thereafter, on a morning walk in Delhi, I told Prabhupada, there is a lot of enthusiasm for Krishna consciousness in Bombay. Just due to this Janmashtami festival we made about fifteen or twenty life members. They just kept coming and saying they attended this festival and then they arranged other programs for us and then become life members. The newspaper people also are starting, giving some coverage, Srila Prabhupada said. Yes, good coverage. The free press journal wants to make a two-page feature with pictures all about our activities.

COMMENT

The Janmashtami festival really brought the preaching, in Bombay, to the next level and it’s really amazing how people are attracted to glorify Krishna. In later years, after the new temple opened, literally hundreds of thousands of people would come. The traffic on the street in front of the temple was backed up for about a mile. I just thought to share those things but our celebration here is equally wonderful, if not better. Quality is more important than quantity, and I think we should just continue with our program.

Devotee: What is it going to take for us to get you into a Bhagavad-gītā verse here today? Yes, Prabhu.

Devotee: The verse that says one who is not disturbed by anyone and who doesn’t put others into anxiety.

Devotee: Okay, let us look at that verse – 12.15 

Devotee: Because I always put others into anxiety that is why it struck me.

Devotee: 12.15—and then if I may have asked His Holiness Giriraj Swami to give any thoughts about it.

Giriraj Swami: Can I read the purport and comment? 

Devotee: Yes.

TRANSLATION

He by whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

A few of a devotee’s qualifications are further being described. No one is put into difficulty, anxiety, fearfulness or dissatisfaction by such a devotee.

COMMENT

The Bhagavad-gītā is the basic textbook of bhakti-yoga and the science of bhakti-yoga is further elaborated in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu by Srila Rupa Gosvami, which Srila Prabhupada gave us as The Nectar of Devotion. And early in my time in India, I was with Gurudas Prabhu and we went to a shop to buy something, and I felt that the shopkeeper was over charging. And so I got into an argument with him about the price. 

Now one of the items of devotional practice stated in The Nectar of Devotion, is that one should not cause pain in the mind of any living entity, which is very much related to this verse in the Bhagavad-gītā. And after we left the shop, Gurudas Prabhu corrected me. He said that you had caused pain in the mind of that person. I thought I was just defending or trying to protect Krishna’s money, but he saw it in a different light; that I had caused pain in the mind of that person and that was against the principles of devotional service. And that was an important lesson for me. We may have the right intention or goal but we should also employ the right means, as far as possible, in such a way as not to cause painful action in the mind of any living entity.

PURPORT (continued)

Since a devotee is kind to everyone, he does not act in such a way as to put others into anxiety.

COMMENT

This calls to mind when Srila Prabhupada was in his last weeks in Vrindavan, actually in his last days, and he was proposing to go on bullock cart to Govardhana Hill. It was around the time of Govardhana-puja and there was a bit of a controversy because some devotees were saying that we should just follow the instructions of the spiritual master and not question them. But other devotees, especially the personal staff of Srila Prabhupada, His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, His Holiness Bhavananda Gosvami, and His Holiness Bhakti Svarupa Damodara Swami who wasn’t a sannyasi, they were completely opposed to Srila Prabhupada’s going on the bullock cart. So I was reminded of that by this line, “since the devotee is kind to everyone he does not act in such a way as to put others in anxiety.” 

So that night, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami had arranged to well Akiñcana Krishna dasa Babaji Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada’s godbrother, whom Srila Prabhupada said was a paramahamsa and he was always engaged in chanting the holy names…So Bhakti Charu Swami wanted to enlist Babaji Maharaja to convince Srila Prabhupada not to take that journey. Meanwhile Tamal Krishna Goswami and Bhavananda Gosvami were upstairs discussing. And more or less at the same time, Babaji Maharaja came back into Srila Prabhupada’s room; Bhakti Charu Swami was serving him prasāda but he wanted to serve him prasāda in a different room so that he could speak to him. And so Babaji Maharaja came and practically at the exact same time Tamal Krishna Goswami and Bhavananda Prabhu came down and Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “We are in so much anxiety thinking about you taking that trip because the roads are so bad, they are full of potholes and even if we put a mattress on the bullock cart, still you are going to be jostled and it will be very painful for you, and we were just in so much anxiety.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “No, I will not put you into anxiety.” 

So when I read this I immediately thought of that.

PURPORT (continued)

Since a devotee is kind to everyone, he does not act in such a way as to put others into anxiety. At the same time, if others try to put a devotee into anxiety, he is not disturbed.

COMMENT

Well, that I should clarify, that he is not disturbed if it is a matter of himself personally, but if it is a matter of Krishna’s service, he may feel anxiety. And that reminds me of another incident with Srila Prabhupada in Juhu. In essence, he determined that our construction materials were being stolen and he held Saurabh responsible because he was in charge of the construction. And he said, “Instead of a life of eternal bliss, I have a life of eternal anxiety.” But that was spiritual anxiety because it was for Krishna, it was not for himself. Once, Prabhupada had, well he became a disciple, Sai from Hawaii; he was initiated as Siddha-svarupa, but he had a very mellow approach to Krishna consciousness. And one time he said to Srila Prabhupada, “One thing I can’t stand about your disciples, is there always an anxiety.” And Srila Prabhupada replied. “That is their love, the gopīs were always in anxiety for Krishna,” – that is spiritual anxiety.

PURPORT (continued)

It is by the grace of the Lord that he is so practiced that he is not disturbed by any outward disturbance. Actually because a devotee is always engrossed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and engaged in devotional service, such material circumstances cannot move him.

COMMENT

There are a couple of times when Srila Prabhupada made that same point. Once the devotees were discussing his schedule, his program and Srila Prabhupada was very detached in a way and he said, “I am just like a cow, wherever you put me I will give milk.” So he wasn’t bothered about where they arranged for him to go. 

PURPORT (continued)

Actually because a devotee is always engrossed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and engaged in devotional service, such material circumstances cannot move him. Generally a materialistic person becomes very happy when there is something for his sense gratification and his body, but when he sees that others have something for their sense gratification and he hasn’t, he is sorry and envious. When he is expecting some retaliation from an enemy, he is in a state of fear, and when he cannot successfully execute something he becomes dejected.

COMMENT

Sometimes Srila Prabhupada quoted this saying “Failure is the pillar of success” and he said especially in spiritual life, failure should not be a cause of discouragement.

PURPORT (continued)

A devotee who is always transcendental to all these disturbances is very dear to Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee: So now we have in our bank account, one more chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, both Sanskrit and English with explanation given by His Holiness Giriraj Swami. Haribol.

So as is the principle with compounded interest, if you put a little away every day in your bank account and let it grow over time, then you become very wealthy. So, this is also the principle in spiritual life, that if you, every day, make a contribution to your spiritual bank account by hearing and chanting, and that includes chanting Hare Krishna, one of the processes called japa, chanting on japa beads the Hare Krishna mantra, and then chanting Bhagavad-gītā, then you’ll notice that there are certain kinds of benefits that you get. And they are mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Vāsudeve bhagavata bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ yasuwai ragyam gyanamcha yada hait tukam. That means that when you do the direct processes of devotional service like hearing and chanting that we just did, then as a concomitant, free gift, you get knowledge and detachment. Means you will notice that you are not as bound to material desires as you may have been before, you have a broader perspective and you are able to notice that you are not your body, but you are actually a spiritual being who is just temporarily traveling in the body. And that comes as gratis from the practice of hearing and chanting.

These are valuable qualities that can only be attained through the practice of krishna-bhakti. You can’t get them in other types of seminars; you can’t get them from pills or drugs, maybe temporarily, but then you end up worse off afterwards.

So the other practice which we will revisit throughout the night, is the process of saṅkīrtana. Kirtan comes from the word kirti—which means fame; to make somebody famous, to sing about somebody’s glories, which is our real occupation. Any of you ever travel across an international border? How many of you? Just a few, all of you, okay. So when you travel before we had those electronic systems so that you don’t have to check in with customs every time, did you ever fill out a disembarkation form and did it have occupation in it? Did you know what to put in? Well, I never know what to put in mine, so I sit there sometimes for a few hours trying to figure it out. But one of the ways that you can fill out that section – occupation, is appreciator. So you can try that next time when you are coming into a country and you put appreciator in there. And when they are looking at your disembarkation card and they say, “What does an appreciator do?” Say well, I am appreciating the job you are doing right here sir, or madam. The point is that we are created or we exist really to appreciate; appreciate whom, Krishna.

And so kirtan means to express that appreciation and swim in that pool of appreciation—more like an ocean actually, and it suits us very well. That is why kirtan is so joyful. Shall we try it a little more? Okay, three people said yes. The rest of you have to close your ears. We will hand out earplugs; no just kidding. Who would like to have kirtan?