Makara-sankranti and the Grand Opening of the Juhu Temple

Giriraj Swami: So, my dear devotees, thank you for joining us on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti. To begin, I will give an overview of the significance of Makar Sankranti, and then I will focus on its special significance for us as devotees of Srila Prabhupada.

READING from The Festival of Makara Sankranti

The auspicious day of Makara Sankranti falls in the Krishna paksha of Magha masa in the month of January.

Translator: Can you repeat, Guru Maharaja, the day?

Giriraj Swami: Well, that is all right.

Translator: Okay.

Giriraj Swami: We will skip that.

READING from The Festival of Makara Sankranti

It marks the entering of the sun into the sign of Capricorn or ‘Makara.’ Makara Sankranti marks the beginning of the auspicious six-month period of uttarāyaṇa. It is the date on which Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa, and it is also the date of the descent of the Ganges river onto this planet Earth.

After the battle of Kurukshetra, when Bhīṣma Dev was laying on a bed of arrows, about to leave his body, he was waiting for the sun to enter uttarāyaṇa, as it is considered to be an auspicious time, and therefore, he left his body on the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti while beholding the beautiful face of Lord Krishna in the holy place of Kurukshetra, which is also known as dharma-kṣetra.

Makara Sankranti also marks the date of the descent of Mother Ganges onto this earthly planet, after the severe austerities performed by King Bhagirathi with the aspiration to free his ancestors from the curse of Kapila Rishi, who, at being falsely accused of by the sixty thousand sons of King Sagar for stealing the sacrificial horse that was actually stolen by Indra, cursed them to go to the Nether regions. After being pacified by their prayers, he announced that the only means for their salvation would be if the Ganges river would descend from the heavenly planets and come down to the Earth, down to the Nether regions. Then by being purified by Mother Ganges, they shall be freed from the curse. After the penances of the King Bhagirathi, the most purifying Mother Ganges came down to the earth on the date of Makara Sankranti. And this descent of hers is celebrated till today in the form of the Gangasagara Mela, when numerous pilgrims go to the Sagar Islands in West Bengal and bathe in the holy confluence of the Ganga with the ocean.

Another significant event that took place on Makara Sankranti was the acceptance of the sannyasa order of life by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for the purpose of preaching and propagating the path of devotional service and delivering all the fallen conditioned souls in this age of Kali. It was on this date that He left His widowed mother and young wife in Mayapur, and in the village of Khatwa, He gave up His grihastha ashram and accepted sannyasa from Sri Keshava Bharati. Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one of His opulence is that He is the most renounced. And seeing the fault-finding nature of people and understanding that if He accepted the renounced order of life, the general populace would give him proper respect and refrain from committing offenses at His lotus feet, and thereafter, he inundated the entire universe with kṛṣṇa-bhakti. And it is due to His causeless mercy, that we are able today to tread the path of bhakti under the guidance and following in the footsteps of His followers.

COMMENT

Hare Krishna. So, now I will speak about the special occasion, the special event, that took place on Makara Sankranti in Juhu, Mumbai, in 1978.

READING from I’ll Build You a Temple

We could hardly sleep for nights before the grand opening, there were so much to do, and we were so excited. Many devotees had participated in the effort, but I also began to notice that some of our leaders preferred to work with, or accommodate, only their friends. Tamal Krishna Goswami commented that we had entered a new era. During Prabhupada’s time, we had all worked together for his pleasure. Now, many devotees would return to their home countries and cities to be in places where, and among people with whom, they felt more comfortable. Still, generally, everyone had cooperated nicely, and worked hard to publicize and organize the event. Finally, the big day arrived, Saturday, Makara Sankranti, January 14, 1978, exactly two months after Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance. Visitors started streaming through the gates from early in the morning, and our loyal supporters had stood by Prabhupada and the devotees through thick and thin, throughout all the years of struggle against so much opposition, were there to relish the triumphant occasion. Altogether, 15,000 people attended the inaugural function. The temple was decorated with elaborate flower arrangements, including festoons of marigolds strung from the large chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling of the darshan mandala to the pillars and balconies at the perimeter of the hall.

Now, I have a picture of this in my book, I’ll Build You a Temple: The Juhu Story, and I don’t know how well it will show up, but I hope you can get some idea.

Translator: A little dark.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, I have to move the light. So, yes, this picture shows the strands of marigolds strung from the chandelier in the middle of the temple room to the perimeter of the temple.

READING from I’ll Build You a Temple

When the conch shells sounded and the doors opened to reveal the Deities in Their new home, the devotees were overwhelmed with joy. “Rasabihari had such a big smile,” Pundarika Vidyanidhi remembered. “That was one time when I saw that the Deity was really alive. He had such a big smile on His face when the doors opened.”

A row of ornate chairs, like thrones, had been arranged for the special guests: Sri Vasantdada Patil, chief minister of Maharashtra; to his left, Sri Prabhudas Patwari, governor of Tamil Nadu; and to his left, Sri Raj Narain, union (central government) minister of health and family welfare. To his left was Tamal Krishna, and to the chief minister’s right was Sri Dharmsinh Dadubhai Desai, MP; I sat on his right, at the end of the row.

My heart was pounding with excitement. Scenes from the years of struggles flashed through my mind, and now it was actually happening—Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari’s new temple was about to open. How I wished Srila Prabhupada could have been personally present to relish the occasion and to bless the honored guests, the throngs of visitors, and his disciples, who had labored so long and hard to bring us to this stage, with his divine instructions.

But Krishna had another plan: We were to experience Prabhupada’s presence even in separation and assume the responsibilities for which he had so carefully and patiently trained us all those years.

I prayed that everything would go well, that there wouldn’t be any mishaps or missteps, and that in my nervousness I wouldn’t balk or bungle anything. I knew that at every step I was completely dependent on Srila Prabhupada’s mercy.

I had arranged for a framed painting of Shrinathji to be installed, to appeal to His followers, who were mainly Gujaratis, and I gave the honor of unveiling it to Sri D. D. Desai, who had helped us in many ways. Incidentally, Sri D. D. Desai was the father of Dr. Narendra Desai who was later initiated as Srinathji dasa.

In his talk, Chief Minister Patil said that all people should follow Lord Krishna’s advice in the Bhagavad-gītā for eternal peace and happiness. Raj Narain spoke in appreciation of the devotees, saying, “It is amazing to me that now Westerners have taken to the Indian culture just when we are losing it.”

Governor Patwari spoke extensively about the temple’s universal value and appeal: “I deem it a blessing to be associated with this solemn function. The Krishna consciousness movement is a divine spark, a movement which is meant to give peace and happiness to millions of people all over the world. So I welcome the construction of this temple and the opening of the Bhaktivedanta Center of Vedic Culture in this great cosmopolitan city of Bombay. I have no doubt that this Vedic institution will proclaim to the world that here flourishes a great movement, which has become the symbol of eternal religion (Sanatana-dharma).

“Krishna appeared like a common cowherd boy, and therefore He is attractive to the common man. Numerous incidents of His life, from childhood onward, reveal how easily He destroyed evil forces and brought success for the good. Now the Krishna consciousness movement has become an international movement, and this is due to the spiritual stature of Sri A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who, with single-minded devotion, dedication, and love for humanity, spread the gospel of Sri Krishna from continent to continent. Through the exalted mission of Swamiji, the life and teachings of Lord Krishna have inspired millions of men and women throughout the world. The departure of this great world-teacher of God consciousness is a severe loss for the whole world, but I am sure he will continue to guide the Krishna consciousness movement through his teachings, as he was guided by Lord Krishna.”

The governor continued to speak very nicely, and then he concluded:

“Let us, on this occasion, make a solemn resolve to strengthen the Krishna consciousness movement by untiringly spreading the teachings of Lord Krishna through many languages, to all people in all the nooks and corners of the world. In this way, by our genuine devotion to Krishna and by our austerities, we may create an international climate of peace and happiness and lay the foundation for a religious order acceptable to all on the basis of universal love and brotherhood. May we chant, ‘Hare Krishna! Jaya Sri Krishna!’ to purify our hearts and minds, and may Lord Krishna shower His blessings on humanity and make our humble endeavors a success.”

The next day, Sunday, we had a massive, festive hari-näma-saìkértana on Juhu Beach, with hundreds of devotees, many carrying orange flags that blew in the wind, with a framed photo and a small brass deity of Srila Prabhupada at the front of the procession. There were even fireworks, launched from coconut shells, making loud popping noises and flashes in the sky.

Because my parents had come to India in October when we had originally hoped that the temple would open, they hadn’t been able to come back for the opening, but my “second parents,” Grace and Mitchell Block, close friends of our family from the neighboring suburb of Highland Park, in Chicago, attended. I had never imagined that they would come all the way to Bombay to see me, what to speak of timing their visit to coincide with the temple opening—I was elated. They were highly impressed with the entire complex, especially the temple. And, of course, we were delighted to be together again, especially after so much time had passed and so much in my life had changed. I arranged a special lunch for them on the mezzanine floor of the restaurant, overseen by Michael Lord, who had been associated with a club in London, so he oversaw the lunch in his most dignified and charming manner, and again Grace and Michelle were duly pleased and impressed. Mitchell’s firm, Block and Company, manufactured products related to banking and other industries that interacted with the public, and seeing the needs at the reception counter in the guesthouse, he sent a key cabinet and some other items (which are still being used today).

One of the first-time visitors, a lawyer, R. K. Maheshwari (later initiated as Mahaprabhu dasa), later remembered hearing about the opening day: “I was playing cards at Khar Gymkhana, a well-known club in this area, and all of a sudden I saw a newspaper with a full-page advertisement about the Hare Krishna temple opening that day. So I thought, How much money do these people have? A full-page advertisement in The Times of India! Being a Marwari, I always thought of everything in terms of money.

“Then I decided, ‘Let me see what this place is,’ and I immediately drove to the Juhu temple. At the gate they asked me, ‘Have you got a pass or invitation card? Vaijayanti Mala is giving a dance performance, and the hall is booked, and Raj Narain, union minister, and Patwari, governor, are coming for the inauguration, so there’s a big crowd and only important people are invited today.’

“ ‘Is this a temple or what?’ I asked. ‘Well, today is inauguration day,’ the devotee replied. So, I approached another devotee, an Indian—Rama Tulasi. He was telling a group of visitors that, like fish out of water, in the material world nobody is happy. You are searching happiness in the wrong atmosphere. The Gétä has confirmed that this material world is duùkhälayam, a place of misery.

“The visitors were asking about the temple, why these foreigners were so much interested in Indian culture. ‘We are having some doubt,’ one said, ‘because when the British came to India . . . Now most of the people here are American. They are coming in the guise of religion and teaching us our sanätana-dharma. We cannot understand all this. We know Krishna very well.’

“But Rama Tulasi was speaking philosophy. ‘If you want to be happy,’ he told them, ‘connect yourself with Lord Krishna by chanting the holy name of the Lord. That is the connection. And if you chant the holy name of the Lord, wherever you may be, whatever situation, you will be blissful. I’m not talking about external happiness—you may be happy, you may not be happy—but blissful is something different. I cannot explain to you what is spiritual bliss. You have to experience it.’ Mahaprabhu recalled, So, yes, that much I understood.

“I wanted to know more; I wanted to go inside. So I found some stairs, and I got to the second floor and saw the program. I spent the whole day in the temple, and the next day too, and I came regularly thereafter. I could see that these people were genuine, and I made up my mind that I wanted to get involved and become a life member. My membership card was signed by the temple president: ‘Giriraj das Brahmachari.’ I was keen to get his association, and once I met him, that changed the lifestyle of this practicing lawyer of the Bombay High Court.

“For me, that was a total change. I had been so much involved in material things that when my wife would go to a temple, I would sit in the car. I was never interested to go to any temple because my impression of temples was that they were all cheats, fooling people and making money and not following any rules or regulations or properly guiding people—just making a business. But all that changed with my first visit to Hare Krishna Land, on the day of the grand opening.”

Poonam Thakur, the daughter of two of our early life members and supporters in Juhu, recalled, “I remember as a child being in the old temple and looking up at the tin roof and wondering, ‘How come these beautiful Radha-Krishna Deities are in such a humble place?’ I had no idea of the struggles being endured by the devotees for the grand Juhu temple. A couple of years later, when I saw the temple after its opening, my eyes grew large in amazement and awe: What a magnificent temple for Their Lordships!”

“After the grand opening,” Mukunda Maharaja remembered, “I took a stroll down Juhu Road, thinking that Srila Prabhupada would be very pleased. I felt that somehow or other, even though he was no longer physically present, the movement was going on.”

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari ki jaya! Juhu grand-opening ki jaya! Makara Sankranti ki jaya!

Organizer: Sure, we can, yes. There is time.

Giriraj Swami: My dear devotees, please feel free to raise your hand, your physical hand or your virtual hand, and speak your heart.

Organizer: We have Vivek Kumar with his hand raised, we can ask him to speak. Vivek Kumar, go ahead, please, unmute yourself and speak, please. Vivek Kumar!

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Thank you, Maharaja, for the wonderful class, and I was really touched and moved by so nice kirtan you had. It is like stirring [my] heart. We were sleeping over here. My friend over there is sleeping here, I called him and then we were relishing it like anything. Thank you so much, I am really happy.

Maharaja, I wanted to ask one thing, which one is a better goal, to go back to Godhead or to get attachment to the lotus feet of Vaishnava? And like, how to get attachment to the lotus feet of Vaishnava?

Giriraj Swami: Both are good, and they go together. If you become attached to the lotus feet of a Vaishnava, then he will take you back to Godhead. And you cannot go back to Godhead without the mercy of Vaishnavas. But I would say, if we are going to discuss where to begin, I would say begin with becoming attached to the lotus feet of a pure devotee.

Devotee: And how to develop attachment? 

Giriraj Swami: Where are you, geographically?

Devotee: Noida, India.

Giriraj Swami: In India?

Devotee: Yes.

Giriraj Swami: Where in India?

Devotee: Noida.

Giriraj Swami: Noida?

Devotee: Yes. Near New Delhi.

Giriraj Swami: I know Noida very well.

Devotee: Oh.

Giriraj Swami: Lokanath Swami has a big temple there.

Devotee: Yes, yes, temple is in nearby.

Giriraj Swami: There is so many pure devotees in that area. And you are not far from Vrindavan, you can easily go to Vrindavan and associate with advanced devotees there. And by hearing from them and following their instructions and serving them and pleasing them, you will become attached to them. Hare Krishna.

Organizer: Okay, so, next we have is a Hema Gauri, wants to speak also. She would like to share something.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja, Dandavat praṇāma. all glories to Srila Prabhupada. Dear listeners, thank you for joining us in today’s session. I would like to introduce the books written by Guru Maharaja. One of his first books is called Watering the Seed and I would want to read a little bit from page 196. It says:

Alone with my spiritual master, I sat at his feet, eyes and ears wide open.

“You should write. This is your first business. Go on writing. We require many, many such articles about Kåñëa conscious-ness. So you should devote yourself to writing.”

This is the first direct instruction that our Guru Maharaja has received from his Guru Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada. It says that one can delay the order of spiritual master but never neglect it. Guru Maharaja, few years back, when he had open-heart surgery, he was not able to travel. And, he dedicated himself to writing books. So, his first book is Watering the Seed. It’s about his personal interactions with Srila Prabhupada. And, it’s a beautiful book.

And, the second book is Many Moons. Prabhupada inspired many Swamis, exalted devotees who have left this world. So, Guru Maharaja wrote a book about them, these great personalities.

And, the third book is Life’s Final Exam which is preparing all of us for our last journey. It is preparing us how to take care of people in the last stage of life and how to remember Krishna in our last stages. It’s about death and dying from the Vedic perspective.

And, of course, the masterpiece from which Guru Maharaja has spoken today, I’ll Build You a Temple: The Juhu Story.  So, in your Facebook there will be contacts written. If you want to order any of these books in Europe, you may contact me. In UK, you can contact Vrindavan Chandra. Hare Krishna.

Organizer: Okay, so, next we have is Ayushnanda, he has raised hand. So, Ayushnanda, you can start speaking if you can.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances to Srila Prabhupada. Guru Maharaja, you told in the beginning that Bhīṣmadeva on his deathbed was waiting for uttarāyaṇa to leave his body, but he was already surrounded by great Vaishnavas, and Krishna was with him, so why he was waiting for an auspicious moment? There was already such auspicious moments, like, every great devotee was surrounding him.

Giriraj Swami: There are two reasons that come to mind. The first is that he was giving very valuable instructions on his bed of arrows. And so, by staying longer, he was able to impart more knowledge from his experience and realization. And also, he was humble, so he felt that he needed all the help that he could get. And therefore, he wanted to wait for the auspicious time. But yes, it would be nice today, on this auspicious occasion, to read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about the departure of Bhīṣmadeva and his talks before he left.

Devotee: Thank you, Guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: There are way more instructions there.

Devotee: Thank you, Guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna.

Organizer: So, Maharaja, I don’t see any more hands raised, I don’t know with if anybody else is interested in asking any question. There was one more before, but I think it went away. And now, Rasa Sundari, Rasa Sundari has raised her hand.

Giriraj Swami: There is two hands. Alright, Vrindavan dasa?

Organizer: Unmute yourself.

Devotee: I am very happy to see you, Guru Maharaja. Please accept my obeisances. I’d like to distribute Prabhupada’s books every week, it is my pleasure to serve you. Hare Krishna. And I am very happy that you give me the mercy to be in Juhu with you. And you were talking about the grand opening, and I was feeling that I was there with my heart, thank you. Haribol.

Giriraj Swami: Haribol. Vrindavan dasa, do you want to translate what you just said, or should Ganga translate?

Vrindavan dasa: Maybe Ganga can do it, if I do it, I try. Ganga, you can translate.

Giriraj Swami: Shyama Mohini devi dasi?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. Thank you so much for your always inspiring service.

So, we know that you had the blessings and inspiration from Srila Prabhupada, but as a young devotee on a totally different place, what was the instruction that probably kept you going and kept you motivated, and to this day continue to motivate you in your most valuable, inspiring, caring services?

Giriraj Swami: Of course, Srila Prabhupada did instruct me to write as my first business, and so, I have taken that to heart. And he also gave another instruction that I consider very significant. In Calcutta, I approached him in his room, and I said, “Now you are here and everything is all right, but what if in the future, when you are not here, ISKCON falls from the standard? What should I do?" And Srila Prabhupada replied, “You are also one of the important members of the society," which I didn’t consider myself to be back then, I was still quite new, but still, Srila Prabhupada said, “You are also one of the important members of the society, so you work for the correction, but don’t leave.” Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja.

Organizer: Okay, so, next is Ujeshwari dasi. Ujeshwari, can you unmute?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Please accept my respectful praṇāma Maharaja. When you were sharing that Juhu story, I was feeling so happy and excited, I wish I was there, and at the same time, my heart was aching that Prabhupada couldn’t see that day. Prabhupada really wanted to have that temple open, and it was exactly two months, 14th of November he left the party and the 14th of January, the salvation happened. So, I was saying, why did Prabhupada leave the body? He could wait, he knew it is going to be happening soon. So, why he couldn’t wait for that day?

Giriraj Swami: This point was actually discussed in Juhu, before Srila Prabhupada went to Vrindavan, at the end. And Tamal Krishna Goswami said that Srila Prabhupada was known as, a very powerful preacher, and the people of Bombay remembered him as a very powerful preacher, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for Srila Prabhupada, in his very weakened and sick condition, to be there for the opening in that condition, but we could feel his presence in separation.

Devotee: Thank you so much, Maharaja. Very loving story, we can hear over and over. I am reading the book again and again, I am just reading the page on the same page, I read it again. It is just so much like a book of love. Thank you so much, thank you, Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you, thank you.

Organizer: All right, next we have is Uttara and Chitra, they are asking a question, they have raised their hands but not digitally, but they are raising the hands. I am going to add them, okay. [Unintelligible 01:32:59], please unmute yourself. 

Devotees: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. [Unintelligible 01:33:10]

Translator: You want to translate, Chitra, or I translate it?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:33:53]

Translator: She is saying, Guru Maharaja, that she feels so happy to hear this pastime of Juhu, and she also wants to take advantage of this moment to appreciate, to give her appreciation to you for your help to the Spanish yatra, and she has such good memories from you, and she really appreciates you.

Devotees: [Unintelligible 01:34:23]

Translator: That you will always be in their hearts, that personally, she has a lot of love and appreciation for you.

Giriraj Swami: Jaya! Gracias.

Organizer: Okay, so, next is Alicia. Alicia can you just unmute and speak, please?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja, daṇḍavat praṇāma. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Maharaja, I have heard it in the conversation only between Prabhupada and Rama Krishnan Prasad, and [Unintelligible 01:35:01].

Giriraj Swami: Did you hear it? Are you able to translate?

Translator: I couldn’t understand, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Alicia, somehow the connection is not that good.

Devotee: Am I hearable now?

Giriraj Swami: Not much.

Translator: Alicia, your voice was braking.

Devotee: Am I audible now?

Translator: But it is not clear.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Can I [Unintelligible 01:36:25] question itself.

Translator: Maybe you can write the question on the chat.

Devotee: Sure, I will do that.

Translator: Thank you.

Organizer: Okay, so, well, sorry for the disturbances. So, we have Kameshwari devi dasi?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Daṇḍavat praṇāma, jaya Srila Prabhupada. Thank you so much, so happy to see you.

Giriraj Swami: When I went to ISV recently for Krishna Janmashtami and Srila Prabhupada’s Vyas puja, I stayed at her home.

Devotee: So kind of you, Guru Maharaja. Thank you so much for the wonderful class, Maharaja, and all the account from the Juhu story. Juhu temple is the first ISKCON temple I ever visited, and yes, I was young because my aunts stayed in Mumbai, I used to go from Nandai to Mumbai in summer, and then we always went to the Juhu temple.

I wanted to share, I remember when I always took darshan of the deities, and I don’t know, maybe it was the first visit itself, I was sitting in front of the deities and I was praying, and one of the guards, he indicated me. I had my eyes closed but he tapped on my shoulder, and he said, “You cannot face your back, and there is Guruji in back.” And then I looked in the back, there is Srila Prabhupada’s deity, and that is when I first noticed him and very beautiful darshan. Somehow, because we were not in touch with devotees, we just went and took darshan generally there, but when I saw Prabhupada, he looked, he was so alive, and it looked so effulgent. So, I moved towards left, towards right of Prabhupada and I sat there and then I prayed. But I looked at Prabhupada, his darshan was very beautiful, I bowed down to him, and I didn’t know who he was, but I continued my praying, I completed my prayer, then I went to my sister and then said, “This sadhu has shaved the head and generally, sadhus have long hair.” And then my sister said that, “All the Vishnu devotees, they follow Vamana Dev, that is why they shaved.” [laughter]

But, I feel very special that now, through your book, we know the history and how you have built the temple, so that makes the connection even more special. Thank you so much for writing this book and giving all the details, it is up to the core, it creates the whole picture, it creates the whole live picture while reading the book, and thank you so much, Maharaja. I would wish it is also translated in Marathi so that I can give to all my family who always visits Juhu temple, they are very favorable, but they like Juhu temple. So, if they get to know, this will be very nice for them also to know you from your words. Sorry, Maharaja, I am taking so long, I have one question if I can ask.

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: Okay. So, you mentioned about Bhīṣmadeva, we know that he fasted during the Kartik, the Bhisma-Panchaka days, and then he left the body during Sankranti. So, I had this question, did he leave in Kartik, or did he leave two months after, in Sankranti?

Giriraj Swami: He left on Sankranti.

Devotee: Okay.

Giriraj Swami: But coming back to your point about translating the book into Marathi, that is a good idea. Right now, we do have a team based in Pune, that is translating the book into Hindi, and one devotee named Shyamananda dasa from Chowpatty, disciple of His Holiness Radhanath Swami is overseeing the Hindi translation although he himself is Marathi. So, we can look into that Marathi translation. And there is a devotee in this call named Narottama Vilas dasa, and he is translating the book in Spanish.

Devotee: Thank you so much, Maharaja, thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna, thank you.

Devotee: Hare Krishna.

Organizer: Now, Maharaja, we have the question which Alicia, this phone was not working that time, we couldn’t hear well, so she has put on the chat, I will read it out for you.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, please.

Organizer: Okay. She says, “Maharaja, you always put interest of ISKCON before your own personal interest. Srila Prabhupada also said, “My motto is everything for Krishna, and nothing for me.” How do we cultivate spirit of selfless sevā and put aside ideas of sense gratification away, permanently?”

Translator: You want to translate it into Spanish, [Unintelligible 01:43:45] Prabhu?

Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada said that 90 percent of Krishna consciousness is association. So, by associating with advanced devotees who have that mood of, everything for Krishna and nothing for myself, you can develop that quality. Of course, the constitutional position of the living entity is that he is the eternal servant of Krishna. Jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa,’ Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says. And by mainly offenseless chanting and hearing of the holy name and reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books, you can revive your original Krishna consciousness. And when you do that, you’ll naturally be in the mood of everything for Krishna, nothing for me. But we have to understand what that means also, ‘Everything for Krishna and nothing for me.’ For example, you have your body, which you use to serve Krishna. So, you also have to take care of your body. I mean, sometimes, I guess in my enthusiasm to serve Krishna, I, maybe, neglected my body. And Srila Prabhupada told me, “To work hard for Krishna for two days, and then to have to recuperate for three days, it is not a very good proposal.” And he also wrote me a letter, I was speaking about my health. He wrote me, “If you are feeling tired, you may take rest. Your body is very valuable. It is dedicated to Krishna, so you must take care of the body very carefully. The best medicine is to rest and chant the Hare Krishna mantra, along with the doctor’s prescription. The Hare Krishna mantra is Bhava-Aushadi, the panacea for all material disease.” So, we are followers of the principle of yukta-vairāgya, engaging everything in the service of the Lord. And so, we don’t neglect things, such as our body, that would be used in Krishna service. So, “Everything for Krishna, nothing for myself," it doesn’t mean that you offer all the edibles to Krishna and don’t eat anything yourself, but it means you have no interest, you have no separate interest, you have no interest other than Krishna’s service.

Organizer: Okay, Maharaja, so, now we have again Rasa Sundari Mataji, I think, but it must be heard this time, she has a hand raised.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. Very nice lecture, thank you so much for your association. I have two questions, but they are short ones. One is, when you said that the inauguration was on the 14th of January. So, does it always fall on the 14th? Because normally, as far as I understood, these are moving dates. Or is it always the 14th  or it is just this year that it falls again on the 14th?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, Makar Sankranti is a very special day in the sense that it always falls on January 14th, every year. It is unusual because the other days in the Vedic calendar change, but somehow, Makar Sankranti is always January 14th.

Devotee: My second question is, how soon after Prabhupada’s disappearance after the opening of the temple was the murti of Srila Prabhupada installed because the Mataji when she was speaking about the beauty of the deity, and I was wondering. So, where you still there when the murti was installed? And what did you have before the murti was still in vyāsāsana? Was the vyāsāsana there already at that time when the temple opened? And if you had a picture? And which picture you had?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, a beautiful white carved marble vyāsāsana was there when the temple opened. But unfortunately, Srila Prabhupada did not physically sit on it because he didn’t come for the opening, he didn’t live till the opening. So, we had a painting of Srila Prabhupada.

Devotee: Is the painting still there in Juhu?

Giriraj Swami: I am going to look in the book just to see. Oh yes, yes. We do have the painting; we took it up to Srila Prabhupada’s quarters. Yes. When the temple opened, there was a full-page color article in Newsweek magazine. And in those days, they were just introducing color photos in the magazines, and the article had a picture of the vyāsāsana with that painting of Srila Prabhupada sitting on the vyāsāsana. Yes.

Devotee: Is it in the book?

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: Okay, so then I will look later. So, it is still there, nice. And then, when that murti got installed? Way after?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that was a while before we got those life-size deities. But he is so realistic. Like what Kameshwari Mataji said. Sometimes people would gather around the deity, and they would talk amongst themselves, “When is he going to speak?” Yes, wonderful contribution of my god-brother Lochana dasa who does these deities.

Organizer: The painting which Maharaja was talking about is here. I don’t know whether you can see it, but maybe let me, let me, yes.

Devotee: Oh, yes.

Organizer: Maharaja, it is so wonderful, I remember back in 1997 when we were in India and you were saying, “Have you seen the guest house in ISKCON Juhu? It is like a five-star hotel, you should come and stay.” And, we would always make excuses, “No, I have to go to my in-laws’ house” and all that but then, recently, a few years back, we had an opportunity to stay there for two weeks, and it was so amazing, so wonderful. The rooms, the guest rooms are so nice, and their deity, their decoration, I mean, the garlands, the deity clothes and the Prabhupada quarters, everything is so beautiful, it is heaven on earth, really, very nice.

Okay, Maharaja, so I think we have one more last question. Another question from Ayushnanda, so I think we will take it as the last question.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja. Maharaja, while contemplating upon uttarāyaṇa period, a verse from Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā came into my mind, it is 5.52.

yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ

rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ

yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

TRANSLATION

The sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is as the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey mounting the wheel of time.

Giriraj Swami: Beautiful.

Devotee: Guru Maharaja, so, is this verse talking specifically about the onward journey of sun to the northern hemispheres?

Giriraj Swami: Oh, I never took it that way, I haven’t seen any explanation to that effect, but it could, it certainly could, yes.

Devotee: Thank you so much, Guru Maharaja.

Organizer: Ok Maharaja, I think we wind up the program for now, today. I mean, of course, like [Unintelligible 01:59:32] to say something, a final message to all the devotees.

Giriraj Swami: Well, my message would be chant and be happy. Although once on a radio program in New York, the interviewer asked Srila Prabhupada if he had any final message for the people of New York, and Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, don’t live like cats and dogs.” [laughter] But yes, my final message is chant and be happy, read Srila Prabhupada’s books, distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books, be kind to one another, support and encourage one another in Krishna consciousness.

Organizer: Thank you, Maharaja. So, I just would like to thank you once again. I mean, we are truly grateful to Krishna, about Krishna and your spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada that today we had the opportunity to have a wonderful evening with your presence and receive your marvelous discourse with so much of spiritual instructions that we never will be able to repay with any service we may do in thousands of lives for you. So, again, if everyone wishes to glorify you once again and applaud for you and say Haribol for you, all are most welcome to open the mic and with the big Haribol, we conclude this event today.

Devotee: Guru Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: Yes?

Devotee: Is it possible to speak with you, like, privately?

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: Maybe after the recording?

Giriraj Swami: Oh, I don’t know that would work, but we can set up another Zoom, something to speak.

Devotee: Okay, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: But I don’t think we can combine it with this. I wouldn’t know how to do that. But yes, yes, we will speak.

All right my dear devotees, thank you again. So, how do we end? I will do it, Hare Krishna.