26TH AUGUST 2019
MEMORIES OF PRABHUPADAA BY BELOVED GURUMAHARAJ.
Is India the only one in which, what Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was referring to, that prediction is going to happen. Then on this day Lord Gauranga gave birth to Srila Prabhupada.
Srila Prabhupada ki jai!
Right day after Krishna’s birthday. Krishna appeared & He gave birth to Srila Prabhupada just next day. I think, this can’t be accident or coincidence, but it’s an arrangement of Lord. He was very dear to Sri Krishna Chaitanya or Sri Krishna. That immediately day after His birthday, there is Prabhupada’s birthday. So that day, Srila Prabhupada who was born on this day is also called as Nandotsav. The day Nand maharaj celebrated Krishna Janmashtami. So, giving birth to Srila Prabhupada & making him the senapati bhakta. He became commander in chief of the sankirtan army. As I said senapati bhakta, so senapati is in front of the army or boat so he boarded the ‘Jaldoot’ boat. Doot means messenger. I say he was Krishna doot. Jaldoot, ‘Krishna doot’. Messenger of Sri Krishna or Gauranga riding the boat & this senapati bhakta wanted to shoot. He made New York as his target. The capital of the age of Kali or Kali’s capital – New York. When he arrived, many things happened on the way. I received this garland as arrived today. But when Prabhupada arrived in New York there was no one to receive. He did not know, whether to turn right or left. There was no hotel booking. Not much money in hand. Only five dollars, which are good enough to survive for five minutes in New York. At the age of seventy, he was supposed to be penny less, but I say he was the richest person, because he was carrying the wealth of the holy name.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram
Ram Ram Hare Hare
That was the wealth & talking of no friends, but the best friend Sri Krishna was with him, behind him. And this is senapati bhakta means he should have bombs with him, so his books became the time bombs. And he had temples, he had temple commanders & there were bullets also. ISKCON bullets came into being. So lot of things sounding like army, the senapati bhakta, bullets. Then Prabhupada did say that Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he took the holy name all over India & left the job of spreading HARE KRISHNA mahamantra to the rest of the world to International society for Krishna consciousness. He became the founder acharya of this International society for Krishna consciousness. He travelled all over making prediction of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu true.
Yadi Gaur na hoite, world would not have received the holy name & yadi Prabhupada na hoite, if Prabhupada would not have appeared on this day, then holy name would not have reached the rest of the world.
We had lots of devotees yesterday. Krishna’s devotees, but I think those who are arriving here to celebrate Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja mahotsav, they are real devotees. O! I am your devotee Lord. That’s nice! But if we could introduce ourselves, I am a devotee of your devotee O Lord! , O then Lord says you are my real devotee. Yesterday visitors were devotees of Krishna but today’s devotees are devotees of devotee of Krishna. Those who are present & participating in celebration of Prabhupada appearance day are real devotees. They are dearer to Krishna. Srila Prabhupada was once asked by the reporter, swamiji, why have you come to our country England? Prabhupada replied, ‘you also came to our country, India & whatever you & your Viceroys thought was valuable, they were all stealing & bringing to England. Whether it was silk or spices or ‘Kohinoor ka Hira’, the diamond called Kohinoor which has ended up in London museum, you stole it. But while thinking this is valuable or that is valuable, you actually forgot the most valuable items of India. O! What are those? India’s culture. What else? – the teachings of Bhagavad-Gita & Bhagavatam. What else? The holy name of the Lord. Something that your viceroys left behind I have come to give home delivery of the same.
In Kumbh-mela of seventy-seven devotees were talking how British empire had spread all over & where is it now? & then there is a famous statement, Sun never sets in British empire’ & Prabhupada said, ‘But sun never rises in England.’ But now in ISKCON empire sun never sets. Wherever there is Sun, there is Mangal aarti going on, this aarti, that aarti, books & Prasad is being distributed. So now in ISKCON empire Sun never sets. Srila Prabhupada after conquering West America & North America, then later he was based in Bombay. Bombay was Prabhupada office & as officers spend lot of their time in office, similarly Prabhupada also spend a lot of his time in Bombay.
We were Bombay brahmacharis or Brahmacarinis. We used to get opportunity to receive Prabhupada at airport, every now & then, hundreds of times. I have written a book ” Bombay is my office”. There is a whole record of, how many times Prabhupada arrived & departed from Bombay & spent weeks & months together in Bombay. Prabhupada used to arrive from wherever. We used to go to the terminal building & we used to discuss, O! He is coming by British airways, like that. We used try to track, which aeroplane he is in now ? Is it this one or that one. Then Prabhupada used to come out & we used to watch him stepping down the stairs, & walking to the terminal building with a stick in his hand. I used to feel Prabhupada has come back after some victory, this frontier or that frontier, he is Senapati bhakta also. So he has conquered the world, he has conquered this territory, that territory. I used to feel he is walking like a victorious general. Srila Prabhupada ki jai!
So Prabhupada sent after having conquered some of the territories, he got the famous grihastha, Tamal Krishna & Gurudas, Mukund & Shamsundar. They were all married, accompanied by their wives & he took London & England on storm.
Then Prabhupada said, ‘What Gaudiya sanyasis couldn’t do, my householders Grihastha disciples have achieved or conquered. They have succeeded in spreading Krishna consciousness to England or London. He was very proud with first batch arriving there & doing kirtan & this & that.
This property came from George Harrison. George Harrison ki jai! Why George Harrison took to chanting? I think this Prabhupada & his followers were buying properties, big big churches , castles etc. , But property like this , of this magnitude, which came to be known as Bhaktivedanta Manor, expensive property which was seventeen acers had never come. This was the generous donation from George Harrison. All glories to him. Why did he not give him spiritual name? — he already had one. Hari-son, he is Hari’s son. He has already spiritual name. George Harrison he played a big role in spreading the holy name, not only by contributing the property. The place where we are sitting became the spiritual capital of England and George Harrison also paid for printing of Krishna book.
His record album which was sold all over the world. ‘Hare Krishna’ became the hit all over the world. He was a big help.
Before Srila Prabhupada’s team would have arrived in this country or that country, the harinaam had already reached there. People had reached to ‘Hare Krishna’, before the devotees reached Hare Krishna centre or temple. I think we should be remembering George Harrison as his name is eternally associated in spreading of Krishna consciousness. Glories of Srila Prabhupada, includes glories of George Harrison also.
Last Janmashtami festival, Prabhupada celebrated over here. Not only Janmastami but last Vyaspuja when Srila Prabhupada was on the planet was celebrated here in Bhaktivedanta Manor. I am sure, that should be bringing a lot of memories of Prabhupada, in England, in London, & other places. Radha-Londaneshwar ki jai!
These are the first deities installed, here fifty years ago. It was declared, He is the Ishwar, He is the proprietor. Londaneshwar is here. We were waiting. These were Prabhupada’s preaching skills. Moksha Laxmi was also there. Seventy- seven he had come back from Rishikesh. No! no!! no!!! Bring me back to Vrindavan. Once he was back home, he improved a bit & then immediately he wanted to go out & preach. And the plans were being made to bring him to Gita-nagari , America. So on the way to Gita-nagari Prabhupada stopped here in England to celebrate Janmastami , & Vyaspooja. Why I mentioned about Moksha Laxmi, is when Prabhupada was leaving from Vrindavan to airport, sitting in the car, not even able to sit down. Mattress was kept on the back seat & Prabhupada was lying down, but in that condition also, Prabhupada wanted to still go out & preach. That is the spirit of Srila Prabhupada, which we all should be remembering. So anyways, he didn’t go to America, but instead he returned to India. We were there to receive him in Mumbai. This time he arrived & reached airport differently. No more walking, with a stick looking up. But he came in a car. Prabhupada had three ambassador cars. One in Kolkata, one in Mumbai & one in Delhi. Prabhupada’s personal car was given by Haridas & there was a different kind of greetings that time. Prabhupada was wearing big black glasses when he arrived in ‘Hare Krishna’ land. We had made palanquin for Prabhupada to sit. Then he was carried to his apartment on the fifth floor. We were there with Srila Prabhupada. He was on bed. No more morning walks. One time Prabhupada was there for three months in Bombay. That time, every morning there used to be a morning walk. Hundred times he went on morning walks, hundred times he returned from morning walks, hundred times he greeted Radha-Rasbihari, hundred times we offered him guru puja, hundred times we heard Bhagavatam classes in a stretch. Those days had gone & that time Prabhupada was just on the bed we were doing kirtans. In the middle of the Kirtan, I asked Prabhupada, ‘anything we could do? Something we haven’t done, which we can do so that, you could be cured?’ He said, “chant”. I continued chanting more. These are some of the memories. Prabhupada then went to open the temple, Radha-Rasbihari temple, but he couldn’t stay on, so he went to Vrindavan. Vrindavan is my home & Bombay is my office, Mayapur is my place of pilgrimage. So that is where we went or followed him. We drove in our Harinaam travelling vehicles. I was Narad Muni travelling Sankirtan party leader, book distribution party leader. We travelled & arrived there.
Then Prabhupada sent me, or I was sent to Allahabad, ‘Go get his doctor friend, Ghosh.” Tamal Krishna maharaj gave me money & told you fly, rush to get the doctor. That was my first flight to Prayagraj, Allahabad. Upon arriving at his home in Allahabad I found out he was in Darjeeling Assam, at his granddaughters place. I had to come to airport to catch another flight to Assam. On the way I saw big Hanuman. I was thinking of Hanuman, you also were on the mission when Lakshman who is Adi Guru, was not well or he was in the middle of the battle. He was attacked and he was unconscious and he needed some cure so you were sent to himalayas. I also had to go to Himalaya, so I was making that connection. You had gone to bring the medicine and not the doctor but I had to go to Himalaya ( Darjeeling is on the top of Himalaya), I had to go to get the doctor and not the medicine. You were successful in your mission now please bless me to find this doctor. I was praying like that to Hanuman and I was successful. I found the doctor and he was very much willing. let’s go! Prabhupada wants you. He is in Vrindavan. So, he came and did what he had to do. Then and we had gone travelling all over. We were in Badrikashram. We knew that Prabhupada is not well but there was no way to find out the status, so we had to come back to Vrindavan to find out how Prabhupada is doing. Prabhupada was very kind to give us audience, Prabhupada was lying in bed and I was sitting next to him. When he used to talk, we had to be next to him so that we could hear what he is saying, as he was barely audible when he used to speak. He inquired, how was the book distribution? Which books were sold more and which was sold most? Prabhupada always loved listening to Sankirtan reports as this morning also Sankirtan reports were offered to him. The mail would come through, O! open that mail from Los Angeles, there is some books scores. He wanted also know the book scores from us. We told him Prabhupada we have come from Badrikashram. There we showed your Bhagwad Gita to Vyasa Dev. In Badrikashram there is a cave in which Vyasa Dev. resides. It is called ‘vyasa gufa’ We were carrying Prabhupada’s books with us, of course we did not see Vyasdev but for sure Vyasdev must have seen us & Prabhupada’s Bhagvad Gita. When I told Prabhupada, that we showed your Bhagavad-Gita to Vyasdev, then Prabhupada was very happy. It was seen from his face. When we were leaving Prabhupada’s room, my party men had all left, I was the last one. Before leaving, I just wanted to have one more glance at Prabhupada. As I look at him, he signalled me to come back. He wanted to say something. As I went near him he said, I want to meet you & talk to you. What time is good for you? That was shocking for me as in that condition also he asked me what time suits me. Whatever. Is 4 o’clock okay? Yes. The way he was talking was very grave & serious & I was wondering, about what he wanted to talk to me. So, all day I was thinking & thinking & not coming to any conclusion. Finally, at 4 o’clock I was at the door of Srila Prabhupada. The secretary, told go to reception of Krishna Balaram guest house. When I went there all Srila Prabhupada’s servants & secretaries & all big men had gathered around. I realized what he wanted to talk to me, he had already spoken to some of them. Prabhupada wanted to go on pilgrimage he wanted to travel or he wanted to leave this world fighting with maya. He was feeling restless lying in the bed. He wanted to go out, and we couldn’t imagine. Prabhupada wanted to travel in an oxcart. When he saw me he remembered he is the one to whom he had told to travel in oxcart. He had inaugurated our ox cart travelling program. Go from Vrindavan to Mayapur so that walk was inaugurated by Srila Prabhupada. It was very successful. Prabhupada was very much pleased. He had said, we should have millions of carts like this all over the world. When he saw me, he remembered the bullock cart program & he wanted to travel himself in a bullock cart. So those men who were sitting there, in Krishna -Balaram temple reception, they told, Prabhupada wants you to organize bullock cart for him. Then we had gone, Trivikram Swami & Panchdravid & myself. We had gone to Mathura. It was not easy as it was time for Govardhan Pooja and usually they worship bulls, they give rest to the bulls they don’t get work done from the bulls. But we managed as one farmer agreed. Then cart had come in front of Krishna Balram Temple. But then there were more talks and concerns and house was divided. We should just go with Prabhupada’s desire. No! no! how could he go? The bumpy roads. Govardhan was made a trial destination & then he would travel beyond, if this goes ok. But then things transpired differently & bullock cart travelling was dropped. Hari! Hari!!
Then Prabhupada’s travelling idea was not over. Just a day after when this bullock cart travelling idea was dropped, we were sitting around Prabhupada. Prabhupada in the middle on the bed, in a room, full of senior men. Prabhupada said,’let me travel with the buses.’ He was not ready to give up the idea of travelling. Ok, not bullock cart, then buses. And of course those days. This was welcomed. It was considered indication, meaning he is not leaving us behind. He is staying on! He is staying on! From time to time we were saying, don’t leave us. Don’t leave us. Prabhupada used to say to pacify us that Krishna appeared & He also left.
When Bus travelling idea came up, there were some scientific minded people. Bhakti Swarup Damodar maharaj was there. He had some guesrs together, some conference with the scientists. He asked could I go? – yes you could go. Then Giriraj he was not Maharaj, he was a brahmachari. There were always some big people, businessmen, I could make them life members. Could I go? -yes. You could go. There was Bhakti Chaitanya Swami from Punjab, India. He said, I am a good driver Prabhupada, could I go? – yes. Like that so many Devotees were taking turns. Could I go? – yes. Could I go? – yes. And I also, I knew for sure as the whole dialogue had taken place about this bus travelling & advance party. So, there was some experience & Prabhupada wanted me to go. Then I asked in a humorous way, could I go? & Prabhupada said, ‘ you will be our leader’. Then I had to anyway go. So, all were delighted, Prabhupada is staying on with us & he is going to travel with the buses & we were preparing, where to get buses from. Tamal Krishna maharaj, Bhavanand maharaj & Bhakticharu maharaj they had brought big map of India & they were deciding which way to travel or go. As we were making all these preparations on the unfortunate day of 14th of November, the Kaviraj , the doctor who was looking after Prabhupada, he was going all over temple, Gurukul, guest house, here there , giving us the news that Prabhupada is leaving, he is getting ready to leave. We dropped everything & we rushed to Prabhupada’s quarter. What was remaining was to cry. Everyone was singing & everyone was leading. There was not one person leading & others following. We were all singing & crying. We were around his divine grace. Hari! Hari!
Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja mahotsav ki Jai!
Nitai Gaur premande Hari Hari Bol!