Inauguration of the Temple at the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula

 Giriraj Swami: So, any of you have any questions or requests for me to speak about something? Please, the microphone?

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna, Maharaja, [Unintelligible 00:18:51]

Giriraj Swami: Thank you. Well, I will start at the beginning. Before Srila Prabhupada went to America, he would visit Srimati Sumati Morarji at her bungalow on Juhu Beach. And on his way to meet her, he would pass the same land that eventually became Hare Krishna land, and he would think, “This would be a nice place to build a temple of Krishna.” Then, many years later, after Srila Prabhupada went to America in 1965, he had the thought to return to India. And one devotee asked Srila Prabhupada that, “Your guru Maharaja ordered you to preach in the West. So, why are you going back to India?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “I have already done that,” meaning preached in the West, “And I want to revise the spiritual culture of India.” So, in October of 1970, when Srila Prabhupada was traveling in India to different places, and in fact, the subject of my next book, which I have already written but it is going to the editing process, covers traveling with Srila Prabhupada in India. So, we arrived in Bombay, but soon thereafter, Srila Prabhupada was invited by an old friend of his named Hare Krishna dasa Agarwal, to go to Amritsar for a Vedanta Samelan. So, we went to Amritsar, and then from there, we took a train to Bombay. The train halted in Delhi, and in Delhi, a gentleman who had been corresponding with Srila Prabhupada met Srila Prabhupada at the train station and asked him to leave some devotees in Delhi to begin our activities there.

So, Srila Prabhupada put together a small team; Gurudasa, Yamuna, Gopal, Bruce, who later became Bhanu dasa, and then Bhanu Swami, and myself. So, we stayed in Delhi for some time, and during that period, there was a lot of propaganda against us that we are CIA. And Srila Prabhupada wanted us to get our picture taken with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He thought that if he had that picture, it would quash the rumors about us. And we did, we arranged to have a meeting with Prime Minister Gandhi and our picture was taken with her. Then there was a program in Indore for Gita-jayanti. Then in Surat, [Unintelligible 00:24:19] reception by the people of Surat. Then Srila Prabhupada stopped over in Bombay for a few days, then he went to Allahabad for the Ardh Khumba-mela, and then to Gorakhpur where we stayed at Sri Krishna Niketan [Unintelligible 00:24:49] personal estate of Hanuman Prasad Poddar, the head of the Gītā Press. And one day was the appearance day of his guru Maharaja, and so we had a small ceremony at midday, but Srila Prabhupada said that we should have a big program in the evening and invite all the people from Gītā Press, so we did. And then, after the program, there was a feast downstairs on the veranda, and during the feast, Srila Prabhupada’s servant Nanda Kumar dasa came down with two messages from Srila Prabhupada. First, Srila Prabhupada said, “My guru Maharaja is very pleased with all of you.” And second, Srila Prabhupada said, “The feast was so good I could not control my senses.” [laughter]

Many things happened in Gorakhpur. It was there that Srila Prabhupada introduced the bhajana, jaya Radha-Madhava, and then many things happened. And then we had the Delhi pandal, and after the Delhi pandal, Srila Prabhupada was going to Vrindavan, and all the devotees were looking forward to going to Vrindavan with Srila Prabhupada for the first time. But Srila Prabhupada had received an invitation to go to Madras, and he wanted some of devotees to go to Madras. So, from early on, I was convinced that the secret of success in spiritual life is to serve the instructions of the spiritual masters and please them. So, I have offered to go, and Srila Prabhupada said, “Don’t you want to go to Vrindavan?” And I said, “Well, I feel that whenever I am serving you, that is Vrindavan.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, my guru Maharaja also had the same idea.” So, a small group of us went to Madras, and then after Madras was the first Gaura-purnima Festival, and in Mayapur, I met Srila Prabhupada in his bhajana-kuṭira, he had a thatch hut, which is still there in Mayapur towards the entrance to the property, and he said that, “During the British rule, there were three provinces; Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. So, which do you want?” I said, “Srila Prabhupada, I will go wherever you want me to go and I will do whatever you want me to do.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “No, I want you to decide.” So, I reflected on Srila Prabhupada’s instruction. I asked him, “Can I have some time to think about it?” And he said, “Yes.”

So, I was reflecting on something that Srila Prabhupada had said, that a third-class disciple receives the instructions from the spiritual master, and forgets [Unintelligible 00:30:17], or as once Srila Prabhupada said, to receive an instruction from the spiritual master and then, after meeting the [Unintelligible 00:30:28], he will think, Now, what was it that guru Maharaja wanted me to do? That is third class. Second-class receives an instruction from the spiritual master and executes it perfectly. And first-class knows what the spiritual master wants and does it even without being told by the spiritual master. So, when Srila Prabhupada told me that he wanted me to decide, I thought, Well, maybe he is trying to make me a first-class disciple who knows what the spiritual master wants to do without being told.

From Mayapur we went to Calcutta, and I would chant my rounds in front of the deity and pray for guidance, but I was not getting an answer. So, one day, I decided to try to trick Srila Prabhupada into revealing where he wanted me to go. So, I went into his room and I said, “Srila Prabhupada, I was thinking of going back to Madras,” and then I gave the reasons why I should go back to Madras, and Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, you can do.” Then I said, “But then again, Srila Prabhupada, I was thinking of staying in Calcutta,” and then I gave him reasons why I should stay in Calcutta. And in the exact same tone of voice and facial expression, Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, you can do.” So, by then, I got the idea that I was not going to be successful in tricking Srila Prabhupada into revealing where he wanted me to go. But I was already invested into this strategy, so I played it out to the end and I said, “But then again, I was thinking of going to Bombay,” and I gave the reasons why. And again, the same tone of voice, the same facial expression, “Yes, you can do.” So, I actually felt exhilarated that my spiritual master was so intelligent that he couldn’t be tricked by his foolish disciple.

So, I went back to my chanting and praying, and in the meantime, Srila Prabhupada went to Bombay. And one day, I got an insight, you could say, that I should go to Bombay. Because also important program in India again was life membership. Like Srila Prabhupada said, “If you just get three life members a day,” all over the world, “If you just get these three life members a day, I will do everything else.” So, life membership was the most important program, it had many facets to it, but part of it, as Srila Prabhupada said, it was a means to distribute his books. And I saw that if we took good care of the life members, they themselves would make other people life members. But if we didn’t take good care of them, even if we ourselves went to make someone a life member, it might happen some people heard that we don’t keep our promises. And then I reasoned that Bombay is the head office.

So, I wrote Srila Prabhupada that, “I think I should come to Bombay and take over the life membership program.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, come to Bombay immediately.” So, I went to Bombay, and when I arrived, I went straight to one Mr. Acharya [Unintelligible 00:35:55]. So, the front of our Hare Krishna Land was vacant, and at the back, there were six apartment buildings, two-story apartment buildings, and Srila Prabhupada was staying on the ground floor of one of the apartment buildings, which was occupied by one Mr. Acharya. And when Srila Prabhupada entered that place, he commented that I am taking shelter of the acharyas. So, Srila Prabhupada greeted me, and then he took me around the property, he was very enthusiastic, he was pointing out all the coconut trees and what a good location it was, near Juhu Beach, and he was very, very enthusiastic.

So then, a couple of days later, he called a meeting of the devotees to discuss who will take charge of the project. So, the devotees went into Srila Prabhupada’s room, and the atmosphere was quite tense. And then suddenly, Srila Prabhupada said to me, “So, Giriraj, you will take charge.” And my mind rebelled against the idea. I mean, that was not my idea. When coming to Bombay, I just wanted to look after the life membership program. But I knew that the secret to success in spiritual life is to serve the instructions of the spiritual master and please him, so I said, “Srila Prabhupada, if that is what you want me to do, I will do it.” And then, a little later, he said, “So, now the whole responsibility is on you.” And I thought, How could Srila Prabhupada say that? He must know how difficult this is, and then he is rubbing it in.” It was in my mind that by saying, “Now the whole responsibility is on you.” But anyway, I had heard and I believed that when the spiritual master gives an instruction, he also gives the potency to execute it.

So, I ended up in Bombay, and we got that land. Mr. A.B Nair [Unintelligible 00:39:18] was a demon. Once, I gave a class in Los Angeles in which. . . I mean, it was related to the verse about Hiraṇyakṣa, he was the original demon, and in that context, I told the story of the Juhu land, and I mentioned that Mr. Nair was a demon. And afterwards, His Grace Veer Bhahu [Unintelligible 00:39:58] Prabhu said that he usually doesn’t like it when devotees refer to people as demons, “But I actually have to agree that Mr. Nair was a demon, and so were many of his accomplices.” So, yes, he tried, [Unintelligible 00:40:35], which you can read about in my book “I’ll Build You a Temple, The Juhu Story.” He cheated someone else before, taking money for the same plan and then canceling the agreement on some pretense, and then he did the same thing with us.

So yes, there were many obstacles, but I had faith in Srila Prabhupada. Some disciples didn’t like the Juhu land. They thought it was too far from the city and too far away from most of our life members and big supporters, but I had faith in Srila Prabhupada’s vision. And at one stage, Srila Prabhupada said, “Giriraj is the only one who has understood my plan for the Juhu land.” So, the first challenge was to get the property signed over, and after a long battle, eventually it was happening, and the registrar from Bombay came to Juhu so Srila Prabhupada didn’t have to go to the city. And yes, it was a very momentous occasion, and Mrs. Nair signed over the property, and then Srila Prabhupada had the devotees serve a feast, and then after the feast, Srila Prabhupada retired back in his room and he said, “It was a good fight. Someone should write a book about it.” And then later in 1977 in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada was recalling the struggle in Juhu, and again he said, “Someone should write a book about it. It is worth writing, it is history.”

So earlier, Srila Prabhupada had instructed me to write, and he had repeated that instruction many times over the years. And he wanted someone to write the history of Juhu story, and I was the only devotee to be intimately involved in the project from the beginning to the end, so I took up that assignment, and the result was that book that you [Unintelligible 00:43:57]. But yes, I guess you could say what motivated me was, yes, my faith in Srila Prabhupada. And what kept me steady or focused was my japa. My morning japa was a very important part of my day’s activities. And so, making the effort to chant sincere japa in the morning was instrumental in keeping me focused and steady in my purpose there.

Yes, I don’t know is that answers your question or you would like some more elaboration on some point? Can we give her a microphone?

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Yes Maharaja, [Unintelligible 00:46:03].

Giriraj Swami: Okay, it is a good question. Any other questions? Yes?

Devotee: Hare Krishna. [Unintelligible 00:46:37]?

Giriraj Swami: I attribute my faith in Srila Prabhupada to Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. When I was in high school, I had the desire to attain perfect happiness, but I understood that I could not attain perfect happiness materially but only spiritually, and then I understood that I could only progress spiritually if I had a guru, and then my quest became to find my guru. And after meeting many so-called Swamiji, gurus, and being disappointed by all of them and almost giving up all, I met Srila Prabhupada. And from the first meeting, I was convinced that he was my perfect master.

The first time I went to the temple, after his talk, he asked for questions, and I asked the question that was burning in my heart, which was, “There are so many different Swamis and gurus and each recommends a different process of realization, and each says that his is the best. So, how do I know which is actually the best?” And Srila Prabhupada answered very intelligently, by asking me, “What is your goal?” Because I was asking, “What is the best means?” But the best means to what end? Depending on what the end is, different means might be more suitable. He said, “Do you want to serve God, or do you want to become God? If you want to become God, it means that you are not God now, and how can ‘not God’ become God? Krishna is always God; He doesn’t have to become God by yoga or meditation, He is always God. He is God when He is playing on the lap of Mother Yasoda, He is God when He is speaking the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, He is always God. And if you sow the seed of service to God and water it by chanting, then God will provide the sunlight and all the other favorable conditions to make it grow. But if you want to become God, you are only cheating yourself because why should God help the competition?” He said, “You can become godly, but you can’t become God.”

I got the distinct impression that Srila Prabhupada was seeing straight through me, through the walls of the temple, ultimately, into my apartment, into my bathroom where I had inscribed in colorful ornate lettering a sign, which I put on the wall that said, “YOU ARE GOD.” [laughter] So, Srila Prabhupada said, “So, what do you think? You want to serve God, or you want to become God?” So, by then, I understood I couldn’t become God, so I said, “I want to serve God,” but I know I couldn’t cheat Srila Prabhupada, so I said, “But I realized I wanted to become God.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes.” And then I knew I met my perfect master and I bowed down my head in surrender, and I kept my head down for a long time, partly in surrender, largely because I was also afraid to look up because I thought everyone in the room would be glaring at me that, “He wanted to become God, he wanted to become God.”

So, I kept my head down for quite a while, but then I heard sounds that indicated that food was being served. So, I thought, Okay, this is now a good time to come up.” And I looked, nobody was glaring at me, everyone was smiling, and I was given this plate of prasāda. It was so colorful, with so many different textures. And I think the first item I tried was a cauliflower pakorā, and when I bit into it, there was such an explosion of taste in my mouth, like nothing I had ever tasted before. And all the items were like that, a different level of experience. So then, I was convinced, everything was perfect; the guru was perfect, the philosophy was perfect, the process of chanting was perfect, the food was perfect, everything about Krishna consciousness was perfect. So then, maybe two weeks later, the devotees told me that Srila Prabhupada was leaving. And I was shocked, I didn’t know that he would leave Boston. He was there, and I assumed that he would stay there. The devotees asked if I wanted to come to the airport to see him off, I said yes. So, we went to the airport, and yes, many of the devotees were crying, and I asked one of the devotees, [Unintelligible 00:54:56], and she said that Srila Prabhupada said that, “On the absolute platform, meeting and separation are the same.” And it sounded like a good answer, but I wasn’t sure how practical it was.

But then, maybe two weeks later, we were doing hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana outside the Bombay Square Subway station, and I just felt Srila Prabhupada’s presence descended upon me. And then I thought that what she said was true, that even in the separation, there can be meeting. Yes, but during Srila Prabhupada’s presence, I considered my main service was to bring people to him. And then, after he left, I wondered, What will be my service now? But then I came to understand that Srila Prabhupada is always present, and that even in his physical absence, we can bring people to him. They can read his books, they can apply his instructions in their life, they can serve his mission and get his mercy. Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:56:57]

Giriraj Swami: So, Srila Prabhupada said 90 percent of Krishna consciousness is association. So, if you keep being in good association, then you will be able to remain steady and make progress in Krishna consciousness.” Srila Rupa Gosvami in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu has enumerated sixty-four items of devotional service, and of the sixty-four, he said that five are most potent; sādhu-saṅga, nāma-kīrtana, bhāgavata-śravaṇa, mathurā-vāsa, and mūrtira śraddhāya sevana. So, one of those is sādhu-saṅga, and Rupa Gosvami gives a precise definition of sādhu-saṅga. Of course, in general terms, it means association with devotees, but his exact definition is sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare. So, sajātīyāśaye means, in a literal sense, you can say, in the same community, and sajātīyāśaye snigdhe. Now, snigdhe means affection, and in Srila Prabhupada’s translation of the verse, he says, “Who has a similar affection for the Lord.” But snigdhe also means that the sadhu should be affectionate to you, which is also true. So, sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare, svato vare means that he should be more advanced than you are. So, [Unintelligible 01:00:50] and make a good progress in Krishna consciousness and not be affected much by maya.

Ashtavakra Muni [Unintelligible 01:01:16]. And once, he was invited to a meeting with Janak Maharaja. They were outdoors, and Janak Maharaja asked him, “How can I become free from the clutches of maya?” So, Ashtavakra ran up to a tree, he put his arms around the trunk, the holding on to the trunk and saying, “Let me go, let me go, let me go.” And the idea is that maya is not holding on to us, we are holding on to maya. So, it is not a question of maya letting go of us, we have to let go of maya. Hare Krishna.

So, we have reached the end of our time. So, what is next, prasādam?

All right, thank you for your patience, attention.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!