Giriraj Swami Remembers Srila Prabhupada

Prabhupada Memories

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Giriraj Swami:A guest asked, “If everything comes from Krishna, then illusion also comes from Krishna. But how can illusion, which comes from Krishna, cover Krishna?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “Everything comes from the sun. The cloud also comes from the sun, but the cloud doesn’t actually cover the sun. The cloud covers our vision of the sun, but the sun is never covered.” Then I asked, “There are so many swamis and yogis. Each one presents a different method of self-realization, and each one claims that his method is best. How can I know which one is actually best?” Srila Prabhupada replied by asking another question. He said, “What is your goal? Do you want to become God, or do you want to serve God? If you want to become God that means that right now you’re not God. How can not-God become God? God is always God. Krishna is God. He never has to become God by meditation or yoga. When He is playing on the lap of mother Yasoda, He’s God. When He is speaking Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, He’s God. He’s always God. He never has to become God. You can become godly, but you cannot become God. God is in your heart, and He is ready to help you. If you sow the seed of service to God, then God will give fresh air and sunlight to make that seed grow. Water the seed by chanting. God is within you. He’s in your heart. He’s ready to help you if you want to serve Him. But if you want to become God, why should God help the competition?” I said, “Srila Prabhupada, what is it like to be with Krishna?” When Srila Prabhupada replied, I thought he said, “That’s inconceivable,” but Hansadutta thought Prabhupada said, “That’s confidential.” Anyway, we drove to Harvard Divinity School, where Srila Prabhupada gave a brilliant lecture to a group of proud students. At the end of the lecture Srila Prabhupada said, “Any questions?” and many hands shot up. One young man said, “What is the utility of Krishna consciousness?” He mentioned how the Russian Revolution did some good for the people, but he could not see what good Krishna consciousness would do. Srila Prabhupada said, “Since the Russian Revolution, are the people in Russia happy?” The student said, “No.” Srila Prabhupada said, “Then what is the use? Even if things get better for some time, again after some time they will get worse, so what is the use?” Then he explained the benefit of Krishna consciousness. Another young man asked, “You say we should chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, but couldn’t we get the same effect by just counting numbers?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “You can try counting and after you’re tired of counting you can try chanting.” Everyone laughed. Then someone asked, “Have you seen God?” Srila Prabhupada said, “If I tell you that I have seen God, will you believe me?” At first the student didn’t understand. Srila Prabhupada repeated, “If I tell you that I have seen God, will you believe me?” The boy said, “No.” Srila Prabhupada said, “Then what is the use of the question?” One after the other, quickly and without any hesitation, Prabhupada completely defeated all the opponents. The students were stunned, and the whole room became hushed. They realized that they were in the presence of a superior personality. After I had been in the temple for only two-and-a-half months, I received a wonderful initiation letter from Srila Prabhupada. He wrote, “I’m glad to know that you’ve experienced at least some of the bliss of Krishna consciousness. Giriraj is a name of Govardhan Hill where Krishna tends his cows. Sometimes devotees take a stone from Govardhan Hill and worship it as Krishna. When I met you, I prayed to Krishna that this soul become aware of the importance of Krishna consciousness.” Our family’s name was Teton and as far as we knew we were the only Tetons in the whole world. We were very proud of our name. We identified with the Grand Teton Mountains. When Prabhupada gave me the name of a mountain, I was astonished. I thought, “He knows everything. He even knew I was proud of my mountain name and he gave me another mountain name just so I wouldn’t feel I lost anything.” That was my initiation. During a morning walk at Cheviot Hills in Los Angeles, I asked, “We preach that Krishna is the origin of everything, but sometimes people ask, ‘What is the origin of Krishna?’” Srila Prabhupada replied, “You tell them that as far as our information goes, Krishna is the origin. If you have something or someone who is the origin of Krishna, we will worship that thing or that person. But until you find someone who is the origin of Krishna, then worship Krishna as the origin of all.” One day in Surat when Srila Prabhupada was taking his massage, I asked, “How can we deal with envy?” I knew that I was envious, and I knew that envy was bad. Before I asked the question, I had been considering the subject, and I had come to the conclusion that there was no use in being envious, because Krishna is unlimited and Krishna’s service is unlimited and Krishna’s mercy is unlimited. If someone has some special service to Krishna or is getting some special mercy from Krishna, it doesn’t really prejudice my chances, because there’s unlimited service and unlimited mercy. But at the same time being envious was hurting my Krishna consciousness, so I asked Srila Prabhupada, “What to do with envy?” Srila Prabhupada replied by asking me, “Can you think of any reasons why you shouldn’t be envious?” I had already thought of many reasons so I said, “Yes.” Then Srila Prabhupada said, “To be envious of someone means that you don’t like that person. That ‘not liking’ should be directed against the demons that are causing so much trouble to the devotees and so much havoc in the world. That ‘not liking’ should not be directed towards the devotees.” I went into Srila Prabhupada’s room in Calcutta and said, “Before I came to Krishna consciousness, I used to make movies. Do you think I should make movies for Krishna?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “There are others who can do that. Our main medium is books.” Then I said, “I also like to cultivate big people.” He said, “Oh that is very important. Yes, you should cultivate big people and convince them of the importance of Krishna consciousness.” I said, “Srila Prabhupada, right now you’re here, and everything is going nicely. But what if in the future, when you’re not here, ISKCON falls from the standard? What should I do?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “You are also one of the important members of the Society. You work to correct the problems, but don’t leave.” When we first arrived in India, we thought we should do harinam in the streets every day as we had done in America. We were shocked when Srila Prabhupada said, “If you chant in the streets in India, people will think you’re beggars. In India many people chant in the streets just to get some paisa.” At this time, Srila Prabhupada was having many preaching programs, and we would accompany him, but we didn’t really know what to do until he unveiled the Life Membership Program. According to this program, the member would contribute 1,111 rupees and would get a lifetime subscription to Back to Godhead, all of Srila Prabhupada’s books, and free guest facilities in all ISKCON centers. Srila Prabhupada commented that he devised this membership program as a means to distribute his books. Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “If we give them all the magazines and all the books and free stay and prasadam in all the temples, during the Member’s life we may end up spending much more than 1,111 rupees.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “You’ll always be going back to the Life Members, and they’ll always be giving more and more. He may only give 1,111 rupees to become a Life Member, but in the course of his life he may give 10,000 rupees.” I understood that Srila Prabhupada wanted us to actively cultivate the Life Members and encourage them in Krishna consciousness. After the first Bombay pandal, Srila Prabhupada called for the first meeting of the Life Members, and he spoke to them about the six exchanges of love. He said, “The Membership Program is meant to facilitate these six exchanges. We give you books, we give you Krishna consciousness, and you give us contributions. We invite you for prasadam, you invite us for prasadam, you reveal your mind and ask questions, and we reveal our mind and answer.” The way Srila Prabhupada explained the whole thing was very sweet and transcendental. His idea was that we would make friends with the Life Members, they would become convinced about Krishna consciousness, and gradually become Krishna conscious and support the Movement. The main quality of Srila Prabhupada that strikes me is his compassion. His compassion was manifest in his intense desire to make everyone Krishna conscious. And his compassion was manifest in everything he did. Once Srila Prabhupada was giving a public program in the street, and there were hundreds and hundreds of people. The kirtan had just finished, and Prabhupada was about to lecture. I had many questions that I wanted to ask, and without thinking, I went up to Srila Prabhupada in the middle of the program and in front of everyone. I said, “Srila Prabhupada, you know the verse such-and-such, where does it come from?” Srila Prabhupada looked at me and said, “Perhaps Haribhakti- sudhodaya.” Then I sat down and the program continued. Years later, I reflected on that incident, because sometimes devotees would interrupt me when I was in the middle of some activity or some thought, and I’d be disturbed. Then I’d think of how, right in the middle of a big public program and for no reason at all, I asked Srila Prabhupada this silly little question. He didn’t get upset at all. He patiently and considerately answered it. Whenever I feel someone is interrupting me or intruding, I think of Srila Prabhupada and how kind he was. Srila Prabhupada said, “Do you ever feel like getting married?” I didn’t, so I said, “No. The only thing is that sometimes I see all the GBCs are married, so I think maybe I should marry.” He said, “You will never be GBC.” Then he said, “The demands of the body, like sex or any other demand, are like itching. If you try to scratch the itch, it will get worse. The best thing is to tolerate, and gradually the itching will subside. Whatever it may be, hunger also. It will subside. The best thing is to tolerate. You remain brahmachari for some time, and then I will give you sannyas.” I understood what Prabhupada wanted, and I decided without any doubt to remain a brahmachari. In Boston we hardly made any new devotees, but after some months a young man named Peter came. Peter was eccentric. He used to sit in the hallway at the entrance to the building, lean his back against the wall with his legs out straight, and read. Sometimes he would lay down in the hallway and sleep. We were getting upset because the first thing that a new person would see was Peter slouched in the hallway and sometimes asleep. Satsvarupa Maharaj wrote Srila Prabhupada, “What to do?” Srila Prabhupada wrote back, “What’s the matter, can’t you tolerate?” The answer was could we tolerate it? We felt uneasy, but we tolerated. After some days, “crazy Peter” left Boston and went to New York. We were a small family then, and I wondered what had happened to Peter. So on my way from Boston to India through New York, I asked about crazy Peter. The devotees said he had gone to New Vrindavan, and he was doing very well. He was going to be initiated. I was amazed. After that I lost track of crazy Peter until about twenty years later when I visited Los Angeles and I saw crazy Peter at mangal arati. I was surprised that he was still with us. I asked someone, “Who is that?” The devotee said, “Oh, that’s Kushakrata prabhu.” I thought, Kushakrata? He was famous because he translated scriptures from Sanskrit and Bengali into English. I thought, “My God, how merciful Srila Prabhupada is. By his mercy and compassion, crazy Peter, in whom we saw little potential, has come to the stage of translating Vaishnava literature.” Srila Prabhupada intensely wanted everyone to engage in Krishna’s service and act in Krishna consciousness. He saw potential in everyone, and he wanted to give everyone a chance. He was ready to extend himself to any extent for that end. Mr. Sethi of Bombay was an older Life Member and great sankirtan devotee. He had a construction company, and when we built additional floors on the existing buildings at the back of Hare Krishna Land, Mr. Sethi did the job. When the first ashram was almost ready, Mr. Sethi took Srila Prabhupada to see it, and Srila Prabhupada gave us instructions on how to live there. He said that every morning we should lift everything off the floor and wash the floor with water. Then Srila Prabhupada said to Mr. Sethi, “Just as you are building these rooms for my disciples here, Krishna is building rooms for you in Vaikuntha.” As time went by, we built the guesthouse, and on the top floor of the tower facing the sea were Srila Prabhupada’s quarters. When his quarters were ready, Srila Prabhupada invited Mr. Sethi to see them, and he told Mr. Sethi, “Just see what they’ve done for me; marble floors, chandeliers, carved wood, nice furniture, everything. Mr. Sethi, I always wanted you to join us, but you always felt that you couldn’t accept the austere conditions. So I want you to stay here, and I will stay somewhere else.” Mr. Sethi said, “But Prabhupada, I can’t stay here. Where will you go?” Prabhupada said, “Oh, I have so many places. I can stay anywhere. You stay here.” Again, Srila Prabhupada demonstrated how intensely he wanted everyone to be engaged in Krishna’s service. And he showed how much he was willing to sacrifice to engage one soul in Krishna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada never asked us to do anything that he wasn’t ready to do himself. Whatever austerities he asked us to accept, he accepted more. When we went to Kumbha Mela in 1971, we were living in tents, and it was freezing cold. Srila Prabhupada was right there with us in the next tent. His tent was a little bigger, because he would receive people and preach. It was so cold we could see our breath in the air, and in the mornings I wouldn’t want to get out of my sleeping bag. When devotees started to miss attending mangal arati, Srila Prabhupada got concerned. Generally a devotee used to heat water for him, and he would take bath later in the day, but just to set an example for us, one morning he took a freezing cold bucket of water from the pump and bathed in the cold. He may have gotten a little sick from that, but he did it. When we saw Prabhupada taking a cold bath, how could we stay in our sleeping bags? He was compassionate and sympathetic, but at the same time he wanted to elevate us. And he would push us. A devotee named Dravida, who later became Pancha Dravida Swami, approached Srila Prabhupada on the veranda in Calcutta. He said “In the early days, all the devotees had a personal relationship with you, but now ISKCON has become so big.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “ISKCON may be big, but I’m still small.” Dravida said, “But in the early days devotees could come and talk to you.” Prabhupada said, “Are you not talking to me now?” Dravida wanted to be a devotee but outside ISKCON. He said, “Well Srila Prabhupada, would it be all right if I left ISKCON and practiced Krishna consciousness outside?” Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes.” Dravida said, “So, do I have your blessings to move outside?” Prabhupada said, “How can I give you my blessings to do something I don’t want you to do?” I was cultivating the Chief Justice in the High Court in Madras, and when Srila Prabhupada came to Madras he encouraged me. I met with the Chief Justice almost every day, and he was taking a sincere interest in Krishna consciousness. Each day I would tell Srila Prabhupada what the Chief Justice had said, what I had said, what he had said, and so on. Srila Prabhupada explained that in Madras there was a big conflict between the brahmans and the non-brahmans. Prabhupada said, “I think that the Chief Justice is a nonbrahman, so tell him that we can make anyone into a brahman who follows our principles. Then the whole problem will be solved.” The Chief Justice finally came to the point where he wanted to be initiated, but he couldn’t give up tea. I told Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada said, “Well, for a big man, we can make a little exception.” Anyway, at the end of Srila Prabhupada’s stay, the Chief Justice arranged a big program on the grounds and invited all the judges and advocates of Madras. Srila Prabhupada spoke wonderfully. He explained how the Goswamis were highly placed in the government and in society and how they left everything to join the mission of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Prabhupada appealed to these people to join us. After the lecture, we went to the Chief Justice’s house. The Chief Justice had a small silver Deity of Krishna. At this time, Saraswati, Shyamasundar and Malati’s daughter was a few years old, and Srila Prabhupada engaged her demonstrating an important lesson in Krishna consciousness. Prabhupada held the little Deity of Krishna in front of Saraswati and then hid it behind his back. Saraswati became bewildered, and Srila Prabhupada said, “Saraswati, where is Krishna?” She didn’t know. She began looking this way and that way, everywhere, but she couldn’t find Krishna. Again Prabhupada said, “Saraswati, where is Krishna?” Saraswati became even more anxious, looking here and there. Finally, one of the devotees gave a hint; “Saraswati, who has Krishna?” Her eyes lit up in recognition, “Oh, Prabhupada has Krishna.” She looked towards Prabhupada, and Prabhupada very slowly and carefully brought the Deity of Krishna from behind his back and held Him in front of her. Saraswati said, “Prabhupada has Krishna.” Srila Prabhupada explained, “This is the mood of the Goswamis. They were always anxious, ‘Where is Krishna?’ Not that ‘Oh, I’ve seen Krishna, now my business is finished.’” Prabhupada continued explaining how the Goswamis kicked off all aristocratic association to join Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and work for the welfare of others. Prabhupada knew how to reciprocate with everyone and how to satisfy everyone. Simultaneously he reciprocated with a three-year-old child and a fifty-year-old High Court Justice. Many times he would paraphrase the Srimad-Bhagavatam or Bhagavad-gita in such a natural way that you would think he was speaking his own thoughts. Once there were construction workers staying on Hare Krishna Land. In the distance Prabhupada heard a small child crying, and he said, “Even in the presence of the mother who gives all care to the child, still the child cries. What is the reason?” Then he gave the answer, “One who is not cared for and protected by the Lord, even in the presence of the mother and the father, suffers.” Prabhupada was saying that when we do something on our own, we may or may not succeed. We must depend on the care and protection of the Lord. Later I found that he was paraphrasing Prahlad Maharaj. Prabhupada would give a business example to businessmen. To Mr. Mota, a businessman, Prabhupada said, “According to Chanakya Pandit, even if you spend crores [one crore equals ten million] of rupees, at the time of death you still cannot get one moment more to live.” Prabhupada was saying, “Every moment is worth crores of rupees. The time that is spent in Krishna consciousness is profit, and the time that is not spent in Krishna consciousness is a loss.” Prabhupada said, “Make a balance sheet and see the profit and loss. Then you will use all your time in Krishna consciousness.” Every morning Dr. Patel would walk with Srila Prabhupada along Juhu Beach. Sometimes Srila Prabhupada would call Dr. Patel a Mayavadi, although Dr. Patel would deny it and say that he was a Vaishnava. One morning, Srila Prabhupada criticized some famous Indian Mayavadi sannyasi, and Dr. Patel got so upset that he argued with Srila Prabhupada and chastised Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada argued back, “I’m not saying, Krishna’s saying.” The devotees were very upset, and later Tamal Krishna Goswami asked Srila Prabhupada, “Why do you spend so much time with him?” Srila Prabhupada said, “We have to engage everyone.” But it was very hard to understand Dr. Patel. Was he a Mayavadi or was he a Vaishnava? Srila Prabhupada told a story. “Once there was a man who spoke many languages. Nobody could figure out what his original language was, and everyone in the village wanted to know. They were curious, ‘Whom are we dealing with? What is his mother tongue? Where does he come from?’ But whatever language they spoke to him, he would respond perfectly and immediately in the same language. So, how to find out? Then one person said, ‘I will find out.’ So once, when the mysterious man wasn’t looking, this person came from behind and gave him a slap. Immediately the mysterious man started cursing in his original language.” Srila Prabhupada said, “Dr. Patel was like that mysterious man. Whatever language you spoke to Dr. Patel, he would respond in the same language. But when we hit on a sensitive point, then he spoke in his real language.” When I first met Mr. Mota, he started to preach impersonal philosophy. He said, “When Krishna says ‘Me’ in Bhagavad-gita, He doesn’t mean Krishna the person. Krishna is not Krishna. Krishna means something else. The all-pervading Krishna is greater than the person Krishna.” When Prabhupada was in Bombay, I’d come to him in the evening and report my day’s activities. So that evening I told Prabhupada about my meeting with Mr. Mota. Srila Prabhupada said, “First of all, if Krishna’s not Krishna, then is Mr. Mota not Mr. Mota? Does Mr. Mota mean something else? And secondly, you should ask Mr. Mota, ‘What is more valuable to you, one hundred million rupees spread out so that one rupee is in everyone else’s pocket or one million rupees in your pocket?” Prabhupada was saying, “Even if he thinks the all-pervading Krishna is greater, he’ll get more benefit from the person Krishna.” Again, Prabhupada gave a perfect analogy according to the mentality of the person. On the first night of the Calcutta pandal, there were many Naxalites (communists in Bengal) in the audience ready to disturb the program. On two sides of the pandal there were folding wooden chairs for VIPs to sit on, and in the middle and at the rear there was a carpet for everyone else to sit on. The Naxalites began making agitation, “Why do some people have chairs and not others?” They started to smash chairs together while Prabhupada was trying to speak. It was a big disturbance, and some devotees, went to talk to them, but the Naxalites starting shouting at the devotees and the devotees starting shouting at the Naxalites. The disturbance became worse, and we didn’t know what to do. Prabhupada stopped speaking, closed his eyes, and with intense absorption and love for Krishna, began to sing the Govindam prayers, Govindam adipurusamtam aham bhajami, over the microphone. Prabhupada was not thinking of anything else. Gradually the Naxalites were overcome by the influence of Srila Prabhupada’s devotion. They quieted down, put the chairs back in order, and left. Srila Prabhupada had complete faith in Krishna and in His holy name, more than he had faith in his personal strength or ability. When we act in the same way, depending on Krishna and Krishna’s mercy, Krishna always reciprocates. Srila Prabhupada was not of this world. For him to be in the material world was a sacrifice, but even within the material world, he sacrificed for our sake. For the sake of the fallen souls, for the sake of spreading Krishna consciousness, Prabhupada sacrificed so much. All of Srila Prabhupada’s good qualities came together in his one effort to spread Krishna consciousness. If we could dedicate ourselves and surrender to Srila Prabhupada’s mood and mission of spreading Krishna consciousness, we would also be forced to develop all good qualities, and we would get the reward of Prabhupada’s mercy. There is nothing higher than that.

To view the entire unedited video go to Memories 20 - Jadurani dasi, Giriraj Swami, Bhakti Caru Swami

Interview 02

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Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada was on a morning walk with many different types of people, including many devotees. Svarup Damodar Prabhu was there, and Srila Prabhupada discussed scientific matters with him. By chance, my mother and father had come to visit and were also there. Srila Prabhupada said to my mother, who was approaching 60 at the time, “Oh, Mrs. Teton, you look so young.” She was really pleased. At the end of the walk we came to the parked cars. At the time, Srila Prabhupada was using a Rolls Royce, and he may have noticed that my father was looking at his car. Very shyly and humbly, Srila Prabhupada looked down and said to my father, “My disciples have gotten this for me.” My father immediately said, “Oh, no, no, you deserve it. You deserve it.” Then again, dealing very expertly, Srila Prabhupada said to my father, “So you can come with me. We can ride back together in the car.” My father said, “No, you go with the other disciples.” Afterwards, Hari Sauri, who was Srila Prabhupada’s servant, said to Srila Prabhupada, “Srila Prabhupada, everyone loves you so much.” Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, because I love everyone.” Srila Prabhupada said that he was good friends with Doctor Mishra, who had a yoga camp in New York. When Doctor Mishra spoke Mayavad philosophy, Srila Prabhupada protested vehemently and argued, but on a personal level they were friends. Srila Prabhupada personally cooked for Doctor Mishra and nursed him back to life when he was sick. From this I understood that there’s a difference between philosophy and one’s personal dealings. On matters of philosophy, Srila Prabhupada strongly argued with him, but personally they were friends. During the struggle to get Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, we did not have proper accommodations for Srila Prabhupada. Each time he came we arranged a different place for him to stay. Once he stayed with one of our good friends and life members, Mr. Seti, who was building a house in the Juhu scheme. Although the house was not completed, Mr. Seti invited Srila Prabhupada to stay in an upstairs room. One day Srila Prabhupada was there talking with some respectable persons when suddenly a poor Indian laborer appeared at the doorway of the room. He was dark-complexioned and wearing only a little cloth around his waist. He walked right past the respectable persons and put some flowers on Srila Prabhupada’s table. Then he put his head down in obeisances, stood up, and walked out. At first Srila Prabhupada was completely stunned and silent. He was so moved by this offering that he couldn’t think about anything else for minutes. Finally he said, “Just see how he has come with devotion,” and he quoted the verse, “patram pushpam phalam toyam, yo me bhaktya prayacchati. If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water, I will accept it.” Srila Prabhupada said, “He offered some flowers with devotion, and how much I have been affected. Just imagine the greatness of Krishna. I am an ordinary living entity. Krishna’s the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but even if Krishna is offered just a leaf or a flower with love and devotion, He will accept it. So how great is Krishna?” One of Srila Prabhupada’s first disciples was in Calcutta and had started to smoke ganja again. When Srila Prabhupada was told about this, he said, “Tell him that if he does not give up this bad habit of smoking, I will reject him.” One of the devotees asked Srila Prabhupada, “Is that true, that if he doesn’t give up smoking ganja you will reject him?” Srila Prabhupada said, “No. I cannot reject any disciple. I only said that to encourage him to stop smoking.”

To view the entire unedited video go to Memories 10 - 1995 Prabhupada Festival

Interview 03

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Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada had to struggle very hard to build the Juhu temple. The first struggle was to get the land, the next struggle was to get permission to build the temple, and the last struggle was to actually build the temple and install the Deities. We had worked hard to get permission to build, which, in India, has many conditions. They give you permission, but you must fulfill certain conditions. One of the conditions was that we had to have an access road of a certain width, and it happened that there were some palm trees where the access road was to go. Once, when Srila Prabhupada came to Juhu after being away for some time, he noticed that one or two of the palm trees had been cut down and he was upset. He asked, “Why did you cut down the trees?” We thought we had the best answer—we had to get permission to build the temple. But Srila Prabhupada said, “No. You go to the municipality and tell them it is against our religion to cut down trees.” We had no choice. We did it and, of course, they argued. It struck me how concerned Srila Prabhupada was for the trees. The next time Prabhupada went on a world tour, he stopped in Tehran just before he returned to Juhu, and one of the first things he said was, “I was in Tehran and I have seen they have trees in the middle of the streets there. So we can also have trees in the middle of our street, it’s not so strange.” In the end, on Srila Prabhupada’s order, we held our ground and they gave us permission. The tree that Srila Prabhupada protected is still standing there with asphalt all around it. Srila Prabhupada has so much care, concern, and even love for a tree, then what to speak of us. It’s just because of Srila Prabhupada’s care, mercy and protection that we are able to stand in Krishna consciousness no matter what else is around us.

To view the entire unedited video go to Memories 32 - Jagadatri dd, Giriraj Swami and 6 others

The full Prabhupada Memories Series can be viewed here and also at www.prabhupadamemories.com

Following Srila Prabhupada

Interview DVD 02

Giriraj Swami: We were enthralled by the streets of Bombay, everything was so new and exotic, and I think the people were enthralled by us too from the way they looked at us. But we were thrilled to see how Krishna conscious the people were. You’d see people wearing dhotis and kurtas and, of course, most of the women wore saris. We’d see cows. We’d see names of buildings and businesses that included the Holy Names of Krishna and Rama. And we were just enthralled and at the same time filled with the sense that we were pioneers in Srila Prabhupada’s mission working to please him and serve him according to his superior guidance and vision, and we had faith that the whole process would culminate in some wonderful result. The Somanis were a very religious and wealthy family of Bombay. The senior Somani at the time was G.D. Somani and he became a Life Member, and gradually the other brothers and then sons and nephews also became Life Members. But they were very devout Hindus, and they were very active in promoting Hinduism in India. And when they met Srila Prabhupada, and practically all the pious and aristocratic Hindus of Bombay and India in general, when they came to know about Srila Prabhupada and the work he had done to spread sanatana-dharma in the West and throughout the world, they were astonished. They felt here is the first time that someone from India has gone abroad and really made an impact on people’s lives, really brought people to sanatana-dharma, to Krishna consciousness, and they wanted to come forward and help. They wanted to be part of the great movement that Srila Prabhupada had started. At the same time, Srila Prabhupada had the idea that the people of India want to imitate the West, they want to imitate the Americans. So Srila Prabhupada had the idea that if the Americans take to Krishna consciousness and then the Indians see it, they will also want to imitate the Americans taking to Krishna consciousness. And actually Srila Prabhupada’s thought worked. People looked again at their own tradition, at their own culture, at their own practices and saw there must be more there than they even thought themselves. Otherwise why would Americans and Europeans who had every chance to enjoy material facilities and sense gratification, why would they be chanting Hare Krishna and dancing, studying Bhagavad-gita and preaching, and then why would they come to India? So they were thrilled. And sometimes they were so moved when they saw us tears would come to their eyes, they were just so touched. At the end of Srila Prabhupada’s visit, Kailash Seksaria arranged a huge program on the terrace of his house and invited all the elite of Bombay and they came. But the thing that struck all of us was Srila Prabhupada’s humility. Here he was addressing some of the most affluent and aristocratic and influential people of India, and he spoke very briefly. He referred to his disciples and his work in the West, and then he appealed to the ladies and gentlemen present. He spoke the verse from Prabodhananda Saraswati, dante nidhaya trnakam padayor nipatya, “You are very learned and intelligent and pious people. I stand with a straw in my teeth and I beg you, please chant Hare Krishna.” And then he went into the last kirtan. Sometimes gentlemen would come to meet Srila Prabhupada and discuss with him. Once I was struck when Srila Prabhupada told one gentleman that the government of India should have a Department of Bhagavad-gita, that Bhagavad-gitais the greatest asset of India and it should be preached all over the world. But then he said, “Unfortunately, the government is neglecting.” Quite often he would say that India’s ambassadors go all over the world and beg, “Give me money, give me rice, give me this, give me that.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “But I am going not to beg but to give. I am giving the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, and people are appreciating.” As in other places, we would go into Srila Prabhupada’s room early in the morning and sing the prayers to the spiritual master. So one morning after the prayers, Prabhupada gave a little talk and then he asked, “Why does Krishna come into the material world?” So different devotees gave different answers, but Dinanath prabhu gave the answer that He comes to give pleasure to the devotees. And Srila Prabhupada said yes, that was the right answer, because the other purposes could be fulfilled by other agents but only Krishna could come and satisfy His pure devotees. So after Dinanath gave the answer, Srila Prabhupada said, “Now you are liberated because the Bhagavad-gita says janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah, that one who knows about the appearance and activities of Krishna in truth, tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so’rjuna, never has to take birth again but he goes back home, back to Krishna.” Here we see Vairagi Baba meeting Srila Prabhupada on the harinam procession at Kumbha Mela, and he was a devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He had huge kartals that we call whompers, and he would chant “haribol, haribol” and clash the whompers together. Srila Prabhupada had met Vairagi Baba earlier in Bombay at Prem Kutir, and then again Srila Prabhupada met him at the Gita Jayanti samelan in Indor. One evening Vairagi Baba joined Srila Prabhupada and the devotees on the stage and Srila Prabhupada got up off the vyasasana.

Interview DVD 03

Giriraj Swami: Before the pandal program began, some reporters came to interview Srila Prabhupada and one of them challenged, “What is the point of spending so much money making so many arrangements for this pandal when the money could be used for better purposes, to feed people?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “The purpose of the pandal is simply to give people a chance to come and hear. Where has the pandal come from? I went to America and I simply gave people a chance to hear. And because they heard, now they have come with me to India and they have made the pandal.” One evening an American young man, or a hooligan, came forward to the stage. He was bare-chested with a leather vest, he had tattoos all over his body, he had chains hanging from his neck and had wild long hair, and he came up to the stage in a very aggressive mood. He wanted to challenge Srila Prabhupada. So immediately Prabhupada’s disciples rushed forward to keep him away, but Srila Prabhupada surprised us all and said, “No, let him come on the stage.” So Prabhupada had him come on the stage, he had the disciples give him a cushion or asana to sit in, and Prabhupada had the disciples put a microphone in front of him. He said, “Have you realized yourself within yourself?” and Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes.” Then the young man was sort of taken aback and he said, “How old is the Bhagavad-gita?” Srila Prabhupada said, “Five thousand years.” Then the young man began to spout, “No, no, according to my authorities, according to my information Bhagavad-Gita is only about a thousand years old.” And Prabhupada said, “That’s nonsense.” Then the young man asked another challenging question and Prabhupada finally said, “No, you answer my question now. What is the process for learning Bhagavad-gita?” And the young man said, “No, I asked you first. You answer my question first.” And Prabhupada retorted, “No, I am not your servant, I don’t have to answer your question. You answer my question. What is the process for learning Bhagavad-gita?” So eventually…the two were shouting at each other, and Prabhupada motioned and the disciples escorted the man from the stage. Then Srila Prabhupada proceeded to explain what the process for receiving the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita is, and that is submissive oral reception, not by challenging. I was in the audience distributing books at the time, and the incident created pandemonium in the audience and the whole audience was polarized – some in favor of Prabhupada and some in favor of the young man. The ones that were sympathetic to the young man got up and surrounded us and started to challenge us and say, “Your Guru Maharaj should have answered his question.” So the mood was so agitated that all of us that were distributing in the audience made our way as quickly as possible back to the area of the stage. But later we realized what Prabhupada had done. He had created a situation to illustrate how one is unable to learn Bhagavad-gita and in contrast Srila Prabhupada explained what the real process is, and that is by submissive hearing from the authority. Before the festival, I had approached Srila Prabhupada on the balcony in Calcutta and said, “Srila Prabhupada, I’ve been trying to understand what you want of us, what your desire is.” I could see that Srila Prabhupada was really listening and taking every word into his heart. And then I said, “Two things seem to please you the most – distributing your books and building the big temple in Mayapur.” And Srila Prabhupada’s eyes opened wide, his face lit up, he smiled and he glanced at me and he said, “Yes, you have understood.” And then he said, “If you build this temple in Mayapur, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur will personally come and take you all back to Godhead.” While we were at Mayapur, one young man named Bob Cohen came to our camp. And we were really surprised because we didn’t get visitors just coming like that. Bob Cohen was very intelligent and sober. He was a Peace Corps worker in India. So he came to meet Srila Prabhupada. He had attended our pandal program at Desha Priya Park in south Calcutta, and he began to ask Srila Prabhupada very intelligent questions and Srila Prabhupada gave very elaborate answers. It became a regular routine that Bob would come and ask questions to Srila Prabhupada and, knowing that there was going to be an important discussion, I would ask Srila Prabhupada, “Should I call the others?” and he would say, “Yes.”

Interview DVD 05

Giriraj Swami: One morning we took a walk with Srila Prabhupada. At one stage, a bullock cart passed by with a few passengers in it. Srila Prabhupada commented how nice the simple life was, how people don’t really need motor cars and luxuries, they can just live very simply. We would walk past fields and Prabhupada said that all you really need to live is grains, rice and dal. He said you don’t even really need to have vegetables to live, you can just live from grains and save time for Krishna consciousness.

Interview DVD 06

Giriraj Swami: Many aristocratic people take their morning walks on Juhu Beach. One morning as we were approaching the end of the beach, some very poor and humble fisher ladies approached Srila Prabhupada and they very humbly joined their palms together and offered respects to Srila Prabhupada and said “Hare Krishna.” Srila Prabhupada commented that they are hundreds of times better than the rich people who don’t know how to respect a saintly person. Another time as we were walking back from Juhu Beach, Dr. Patel noticed the compound wall that Mr. Sethi had built around the property on Srila Prabhupada’s instructions. So Dr. Patel told Srila Prabhupada that “People are saying now you have a prison inside there.” Prabhupada paused for a moment and said, “No, the prison is outside. Inside is freedom.” Sometimes Srila Prabhupada would point to the seagulls or small birds that would walk just by the border of the ocean and he would say, “The huge ocean with such huge waves, at any moment the waves could drown the little birds. But still they dare to walk just at the tip of the water. Why?” Then Srila Prabhupada said, “Because the ocean is under the control of Krishna, and the birds know the ocean is under control. It cannot suddenly go out of its boundaries and drown them and, therefore, they dare to walk by the edge of the ocean.” Although Juhu had some opulent hotels, it was originally just a fishing village and there were many poor people who lived in the area; and their children would come to the evening programs and join the chanting and dancing and, of course, they would take prasad from Srila Prabhupada’s hand at the end of the arati. But Srila Prabhupada was concerned about them and he actually said that we should keep bins, one for clothing and one for food grains, and we should give the clothing to the poor children and give them prasad. In this way, Srila Prabhupada wanted to take care of them as young devotees of Krishna. In order to build the Juhu temple, we needed a No Objection Certificate from the police commissioner. After waiting and waiting and making so many efforts, finally the police commissioner sent a letter in which he refused to issue the No Objection Certificate on the grounds that the bhajan singing which has been complained about in the past is likely to be a nuisance in the future as well. We sent news to Srila Prabhupada in Vrindavan, and when he received it he became furious. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says satatam kirtayanto mam, that one should always engage in kirtan, and how dare the commissioner call kirtan a nuisance. So Srila Prabhupada wanted to protest the words of the commissioner and the refusal of permission, and so he asked the devotees who had come to India for the annual festival in Mayapur and Vrindavan to travel to Bombay. He wanted them to do Harinam Sankirtan throughout the streets of the city, to distribute books and to hold programs. And then when the people of Bombay were convinced about the value of Krishna consciousness, they themselves would prevail upon the government to give us the permission for the temple. He also wanted some of the more qualified devotees such as Balavanta prabhu to meet with the political leaders to get support. Eventually we were able to meet the Chief Minister of Maharastra, and he somehow saw through the whole case. He saw that actually we were innocent and we were being victimized by political interests, and within one day everything was reversed. The news spread everywhere to every government office that the Chief Minister is in favor of the temple, and it was like night and day. Suddenly everyone was very friendly and cooperative, and very soon thereafter we began the construction.

Interview DVD 11

Giriraj Swami: While Srila Prabhupada was in Mayapur after the Gaura Purnima festival, we arranged for what turned out to be Srila Prabhupada’s last public preaching program – the pandal program at Cross Maidan. As had been done in Delhi, we arranged prominent people to come as chief guests. But the biggest, of course, was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Sri S.B. Chavan. He had great appreciation for Srila Prabhupada, and he actually helped the devotees get permission to build the temple at Juhu. So Srila Prabhupada was very pleased when he came and spoke. And Srila Prabhupada also addressed him very nicely in his talk and told him that as long as we’re in the material world, as long as we’re in politics there will be upheavals, but we should tolerate the upheavals and continue with our duties in Krishna consciousness. One night in the middle of the night when I was sleeping on the roof of the gurukula building, one of Prabhupada’s assistants came and woke me up. And immediately so many thoughts rushed through my mind: Is Prabhupada leaving? Is something wrong? What’s happening? He said, “Prabhupada is calling you.” So I rushed into Srila Prabhupada’s room, and then every word of Srila Prabhupada’s was so full of meaning because one never knew, one thought it might be Prabhupada’s last words or last instructions. Srila Prabhupada asked me, “Do you think the movement will go on after I go?” And I said, “Yes, as long as we are sincere and chant our rounds and follow the regulative principles, it will go on.” And then Srila Prabhupada, with great difficulty because he was so sick and so weak, pronounced the words “intelligence and organization.” And I realized that yes, we do have to chant our 16 rounds and follow the regulative principles and be sincere in our devotional service. But to preach Krishna consciousness we have to be intelligent and organized, and Srila Prabhupada wanted to balance what I had said with the powerful instruction “intelligence and organization.” Then Srila Prabhupada asked, “Is there anything else?” And within my heart I wanted to cry out, “Srila Prabhupada, stay, please stay, don’t leave!” But somehow I couldn’t say it, and I just said, “No, there’s nothing else.” And later I regretted that I didn’t say what was in my heart.