My Experiences with Srila Prabhupada

Host: He has put all his energy in the services of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada’s beloved disciple, His Holiness Girish Swami Maharaja is in between us. And all those pastimes, whatever it is, as much time we have, Maharaja will tell you. Listen carefully. Maharaja will say in English. Our great translator, B.B.T. The book translation that was done in Hindi, we have called him here a special translator so that you will not miss a single word. Now what is going to happen is a Amrit-kathā. Haribol! Every story has its own Amrit. The most beautiful Amrit in the story is Bhagavad-kathā. And that Bhagavad-kathā if hear from mahā-bhāgavata, if the devotees listen to it, is more transcendental and more sweet. Like the Bhagavad-kathā spoken by Śukadeva Gosvami said it is more sweet. Because Śukadeva means a parrot. And when a parrot eats mango, it is more sweet than before. So, if we hear such stories from the disciples of Prabhupada are great. So listen carefully and calmly. It will be in both languages, English and Hindi. Listen carefully, if it is in Hindi, listen in Hindi.

So, once again we welcome the guru Maharaja His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja with a loud voice, say it once Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna my dear devotees. I will begin by singing the maṅgalācaraṇa prayers and leading a short kirtan, and then I will speak about the Srila Prabhupada.

[Prayer and kirtan]

Hare Krishna my dear devotees, please keep shanti.

When I was in high school, I had the desire to find perfect happiness. But I understood that perfect happiness could not be achieved materially but only spiritually. And then I understood that to progress spiritually, I needed a guru. And then my quest became to find my guru. And I went to many gurus or so-called gurus, but I was not satisfied with any of them and I almost became hopeless. Also, I had a vague impression of what my guru looked like. And he didn’t have hair and all the other gurus had long hair. Anyway, I was a student at Brandeis University near Boston, and I had an apartment off campus but near the campus. I had already become vegetarian, and I had some friends over for dinner. The plan was that we would have dinner and go to see a movie. In those days, there used to be art houses where they show special movies.

That day I had seen a poster on the university campus. “Lecture-Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, A C Bhaktivedanta Swami. Schwartz Auditorium. 7:00 P.M.” So, something inside me was impaling me that I had to go to this lecture. And one lady friend in particular was very upset and she said, “Why can’t you be like a normal person? Why do you always have to be chasing after these Swamis and gurus?” She raised her voice. And I was an obliging sort of person, I didn’t want to disappoint anyone but something in my heart was impelling me, you must go to this lecture. So when she said, why can’t you be like a normal person? Why do you always have to keep chasing after these Swamis and gurus? I said, “Alright, this will be the last one I ever go to,” which was true.

So we went to the auditorium, and because of all the discussion and argument, we got there late. They were having the last kirtan on the stage and students from the audience were climbing up on the stage and enjoying the chanting and dancing. And I also wanted to do that. But I knew that would be too much for my friends, so I just stood up and swayed in time with the music. At the end of the kirtan, Satsvarupa announced that if anyone is driving to Cambridge or Boston, they should meet the devotees in the lobby because the devotees needed a lift. The movie was at Harvard Square in Cambridge, so I met the devotees in the lobby. And the first devotee who spoke to me was Baradraja Prabhu, the father of the kirtan singer Gauravani.

Anyway, I told them that I could give the devotees a lift. I had a red Rambler station wagon that my father had given me as a high school graduation present. So they all piled in the car. So I was in the front seat driving the car, and with me was that lady friend and a lady devotee named Jahnava. And then in the back were my best friend at the time named Gary, and Satsvarupa and all the other devotees. So I have been reading many books and I had many questions. And one of the books I read was Autobiography of a Yogi by Swami Yoga Nanda. So I asked her about Swami Yoga Nanda. And she said, “Oh, he is just a shopkeeper. Whatever you want, he keeps it in stock. If you want Krishna, he has Krishna, if you want Ganesh, he has Ganesh; if you want Shiva, he has Shiva. And if you go to his ashram, he has a memorial for Mahatma Gandhi as a worker for world peace.” She said, “Mahatma Gandhi wasn’t a worker for world peace, he wanted to drive the British out of India. He doesn’t even know who Mahatma Gandhi is.” So then I asked about Zen Buddhism which was one of the other paths that I was exploring. And she gave an explanation of Zen that was better than any explanation I read within the Zen tradition, and it went further. So she said, “What we see are like images on a movie screen. They have no reality, and if you draw your consciousness back from the screen, there is a beam of light. And the beam of light comes to a point. That is void. So, behind that point, there is a movie projector, and behind the movie projector is a person.” So she was saying that, there is a person who is behind the material creation. So, she was answering with such clarity and such force, but she was just a young girl of about twenty years. So I knew she couldn’t be speaking on her own authority. She must be speaking on the authority of her guru. So I became very eager to meet her guru.

So we reached Harvard Square, and I let the devotees out of the car. But then I realized I didn’t know how to get in touch with them, so I ran out of the car, and the first devotee I met was named Patit Pavan dasa. And he said, “See all these people, they are just like sleepwalkers. They don’t know who they are or where they are going.” Everything the devotees said was so profound. But suddenly I heard the sound of cars honking and I realized that all the traffic was backed up because I had left my car there at Harvard Square. So I said to Patit Pavan, “Quick, give me the address of the temple, I want to come.” So the next day I went to the temple, and Srila Prabhupada was giving a lecture. But because he had quite a thick Bengali accent then, and I was not familiar with the philosophy, I couldn’t understand that much. But at one point, he said that, “Out of many thousands of men, one will seek perfection.” And I thought, That is me; he is talking about me.

So after the lecture, he called for questions. And I asked the question that was burning in my heart. I said, “There are so many swamis and gurus, and each recommends a different process, and each says that his method is the best. So how do I know which is actually the best?” And Srila Prabhupada’s response was brilliant. He asked me, “What is your goal? Do you want to serve God or do you want to become God?” Because I was asking what is the best means? But a more fundamental question is, the best means to achieve what end? But he said, “If you want to become God, that means you are not God now. And how can ‘not God’ become God? Krishna is God. He is always God. He doesn’t have to become God by yoga or meditation. 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. So if you sow the seed of service to God and water it by chanting, God will provide the sunlight and all the 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? You can become godly but you cannot become God. So what do you think? Do you want to become God or you want to serve God?”

So at that time, I had the distinct feeling that Srila Prabhupada is seen through the walls of the temple, over the roads, into my apartment, into my bathroom, where I had inscribed in very ornate colorful lettering, a sign that said, “You Are God,” in case I forgot. So back in the temple, Sri Srila Prabhupada asked me, “So, what do you think? Do you want to serve God or you want to become God?” So by then I understood that I should want to serve God. So I said, “I want to serve God.” But I also knew I couldn’t cheat Srila Prabhupada. So I said, “But actually I wanted to become God.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes.” So, that was it. I found my perfect spiritual master. I bowed down my head in surrender, and I kept it down for quite a long time, mainly in the mood of surrender to Srila Prabhupada. But I was also afraid to look up because I thought that people in the temple room were glaring at me, Oh, he wanted to become God. But after some time, I heard the sounds that indicated that food was being served. So I thought this would be a safe time to come up. And I looked around, nobody was glaring at me, everyone was happy. And I had this plate of prasāda in front of me with so many different colors and textures. The first item I tried was a cauliflower pakora. And there was such an explosion of taste in my mouth, I never tasted anything like it. And like that, there were so many different preparations. They were all wonderful. So then I thought Everything about Krishna consciousness is perfect. The guru is perfect, the philosophy is perfect, the process of chanting is perfect, the food is perfect, everything is perfect.

So then, I would come every evening. Srila Prabhupada’s program was that Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, he would speak at the temple. And Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, he would speak outside. Tuesday and Thursday usually at a university. And then Sunday would be the Sunday feast program and he would speak at the temple. So one day, the devotees said that Srila Prabhupada was leaving and they asked if I wanted to go to the airport. I didn’t know that Srila Prabhupada would ever leave. I didn’t know that there were so many other centers of ISKCON in different places. So I said, “Yes, I would like to go.” So at the airport, in those days you could just go to the boarding gate, there was no restricted space. And I saw that a lot of the devotees were crying. So I asked Arundhati, “Why are they crying?” And she replied that, “Srila Prabhupada said that on the absolute platform in spiritual realm, there is no difference between meeting and separation.” So it sounded like a good answer, but I wasn’t sure how practical it was. So the devotees saw Srila Prabhupada board the aircraft, and they waited until the plane took off and it disappeared in the distance. And she said that, Srila Prabhupada had said that the devotees to watch the airplane until it disappears in the distance, just like the gopīs watched Krishna’s chariot when He was leaving Vrindavan for Mathura until it disappeared in the distance.

So, some days later, we were doing hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana outside the Capri Square subway station, and suddenly I felt Srila Prabhupada’s presence descend on me. It was very tangible and palpable. And then I thought of what Arundhati had said, that on the absolute platform there is no difference between meeting and separation; both are occasions of ecstasy. So from then on, my whole goal in life, my whole purpose in life was to introduce people to Srila Prabhupada. But after Srila Prabhupada departed this world, I was thinking now what can I say or speak. But I realized that I can still introduce people to Srila Prabhupada. That they can still feel his presence and get that his mercy by reading his books and following his instructions, by serving his mission, by distributing his books, and by associating with his devotees. So, I feel I can still introduce people to Srila Prabhupada, and that is what I want to do. And that gives me great satisfaction and it also makes people happy. And of course, in Kali-yuga, our main process is chanting the holy names.

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā

One should chant the holy names, chant the holy names, chant the holy names of Hare Krishna. There is no other way, no other way, no other way to success in the present age of Kali. So as far as possible, we should always chant. In one talk in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada said, “If you have time, chant Hare Krishna. Don’t waste time, don’t speak nonsense, chant Hare Krishna, Krishna.” So let’s all chant.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

So, my dear devotees, thank you for listening so patiently and attentively. Now, if any of you have any questions, comments, or any reflections you want to share, you can raise your hand.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, guru Maharaja, thank you for. . . My question is, you coming from India and joined to Prabhupada in Juhu project, that time Prabhupada moved and Prabhupada gave you instructions for building the temple. That time pastime, make a review.

Giriraj Swami: I wrote a whole book on this subject and it is being translated into Hindi. So the translation work is being done. They hope to have it ready by Nityananda Trayodashi. And we are also getting a Marathi translation, which he is doing.

Haribol!

Translator: I am trying to make him in Marathi with the blessings of Maharaja. Prabhuji is saying that he wants to hear from your mouth.

Giriraj Swami: I will tell you an incident. It is not about the Juhu project but it happened in Juhu. Srila Prabhupada had a very good friend named Bhogilal Patel, who was actually three years older than Srila Prabhupada. He was so pious, that when ISKCON devotees met him, and told him about Srila Prabhupada’s accomplishments, Seth Bhogilal wept perfuse tears of joy and appreciation and gratitude. So some years later, Bhogilal Patel came to meet the Prabhupada in Juhu. And because I was cultivating him, I accompanied him to see the Srila Prabhupada’s room at the back of the property. The two of them were talking, and as is natural, when Bhogilal Patel was speaking, I would look at him and when Prabhupada was speaking, I would look at him. But once when Bhogilal was speaking, I looked at Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada was looking at me with so much love and affection, like a doting father, like a doting grandfather. But as soon as he saw me looking at him, he became very reserved. He didn’t want me to see that loving expression. But by some special arrangement of Krishna’s I was able to see that. And he showed his love for us by teaching us about Krishna consciousness and engaging us in devotional service. And that was a special occasion I got to glimpse his loving expression.

Devotee: We have read a lot of things about the Juhu project from your book. So, we are not satisfied yet. And we will not be satisfied. Because your pastimes are very good. So, we are getting time to do it. But when we come to India next time, we will do Prabhupada kathā for five days. So please accept our invitation.

Giriraj Swami: That sounds like a good idea. Were you the one who mentioned about Arjuna?

Devotee: Yes, he was.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, Srila Prabhupada said that Bombay is like Kurukshetra and Giriraj is like Arjuna. He also said, Bombay is Giriraj and Giriraj is Bombay, which he took from, I think, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which said “Napoleon is France and France is Napoleon.”

Any other questions?

Devotee: There are many questions but I want to tell you two best pastimes of Maharaja. One is what is the dedication of a disciple towards his guru. And that too of a foreigner and that too of a very rich person. That you have opened that temple in your presence. We are seeing that the temple is not open but the house is open. That is Prabhupada’s mercy. Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: I will be with you in spirit. So after some time I went to Madras. I was among the first devotees to go to Madras, and we were staying at different people’s homes and eating lots of sambar, dosa, idli, etc. And I put on a lot of weight. When my parents saw me in Calcutta, I was quite thin. So I arranged a program for Srila Prabhupada in Madras and when he saw me, he said I should take a picture of myself and send it to my mother. He hadn’t forgotten and he wanted to reassure her that I was healthy.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! [applause]

Devotee: So, thank you very much Maharaja Ji for coming here to tell us your association, your beautiful speech. So, Maharaja has written a book on Juhu project. Those who take the book, the Maharaja Ji will sign on it. It is a very beautiful book, I Will Build You A Temple—The Juhu Story. And there is Dancing White Elephants. Because Prabhupada, you have taught the foreign students dancing on the earth. Because they were so bright, tall, fair, and when they walked, they looked like a white elephant. So this is a beautiful book. There are other books in Hindi too. In the form of Simchan. So whoever wants to take these books, Maharaja will sign it.

Now, there will be ārati. He can sign. After ārati, there will be prasādam. Everything is perfect. I thank and welcome everyone for coming for program.