Pushkar: In 1974 in Mayapur after the festival time, a series of events unfolded beginning with the fact that a lot of devotees were sick. Prabhupada was concerned so he brought in the leaders like Jayapataka, Tamal Krishna and Gargamuni into his room to discuss the situation. Prabhupada was explaining that he wasn’t satisfied that the devotees were sleeping. He had been on the upper floors and saw a lot of devotees sick and sleeping when they should have been on parikrama. The leaders were blaming each other and all of them saying that they didn’t have enough money to get better food. Also at this meeting was Chaku, a Bengali Muslim worker who loved Prabhupada and always wanted to just sit and listen to him. Sudama Vipra, who was a sannyasi and a very tough guy who had gone to the Philippines, came into the room as well. Prabhupada had previously praised him for his preaching but at the same time Sudama Vipra didn’t want anyone else to go to the Philippines and he even threatened other GBCs if they did so. Prabhupada was well aware of Sudama Vipra’s rough nature. During the course of the conversation Prabhupada said, “So if you require money, Sudama Vipra will supply,” motioning with his hand toward Sudama Vipra. The other leaders were shocked because the last person in ISKCON who would have given them a dime or a paisa would be Sudama Vipra. In a split second Sudama Vipra took off his expensive watch and handed it to Chaku so that Prabhupada could see how munificent he was. Whether or not Sudama Vipra understood the message, that’s something we’ll never know, but he gave the watch and at the same time shocked those leaders because they knew that there was no way he’d ever give them a dime. Basically, he’d rather kill them than give them money. So this was one of Prabhupada’s pastimes that exhibited his wit, wisdom and vast intelligence.
Another shocking and amazing thing was when Prabhupada learned about the leaders of his temple in New York. Bali Mardan and his wife Titreya had sort of been ruling over the Brooklyn temple. They were even called Maharani and Maharaj although he was no longer a sannyasi. I guess they considered themselves some sort of nobility. As things unfolded it had been proven that their status was unfounded. She was Japanese and they both stated that she was the heir to the Toyota fortune. Several devotees tried to speak Japanese with her but she never responded. It was pretty much a done deal that she wasn’t who she said she was. Prabhupada also said, “Well, she’s his mother’s age.” He also said, “I never instructed him to marry.” Prabhupada then paused and said, “It is a great mystery. Is it not?” Everybody went quiet. It was a Prabhupada11 ism that sticks in your head. “It is a great mystery. Is it not?” I felt the real mystery was that anyone could fall for this guy and his wife.
In 1974 I was asked to do a painting of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta for the Krishna-Balaram temple but we didn’t have any picture or photo to go by. I was sent to one of Prabhupada’s God-brothers to get a reference from a book. I was with him for about an hour and one thing he kept reiterating was that I should go to Sridhar Maharaj because he was a living guru. I thought, “Why is Prabhupada’s God-brother a living guru and Prabhupada’s not a living guru?” So I said to him, “Well, Prabhupada’s a living 14 guru.” But he kept saying it seven or eight times in an hour, “You should go to Sridhar Maharaj. He is a living guru.” Finally I got the book and went back to the temple where I told the leaders there, Bhavananda and Jayapataka, what he said. Later Bhavananda had gone up to see Prabhupada in Bombay and he mentioned this story. Prabhupada’s response he said was immediate. He was very angry. His lip was quivering practically in anger, very disturbed and he said, “I am not there, but you tell him for me that he is nothing but a bed bug.” Of course I don’t think they did that but he said it, “Nothing but a bed bug. He has taken sannyas thirty years ago and he’s done nothing but suck the blood of my guru maharaj.” That is what bed bugs do. Prabhupada was very protective of his ISKCON. We didn’t have the adhikar to say such things so it wasn’t conveyed. Only Prabhupada could have conveyed that statement.
