Danavir Goswami: Prabhupada spoke to guests at the Sunday night programs. At the end of his lecture he asked if there were any questions, and one old lady cried out, “Why have you come so late?” She was practically in tears that she had missed the opportunity to take to Krishna consciousness when she was younger. Prabhupada said, “Because you are so late.” On another occasion, another old person asked the same question, and Prabhupada answered in a different way; He said, “Better late than never.” Krishna sends the pure devotee when someone’s ready. If you’re not ready then Krishna won’t send.
Two ladies in their fifties asked if they could see Srila Prabhupada. I was the temple president, so I brought them to see him. They were very respectful but didn’t know what to say. There was silence. Finally one of them said, “Swamiji, we have been meditating for the last twenty years.” They thought that Prabhupada would be impressed, but he said, “What have you achieved by your meditation?” The lady thought for a moment and said, “We have learned to become silent.” Prabhupada said, “Stones are silent for millions of years. To become silent is not a very great accomplishment.” That set the mood for that discussion.
There was a young Indian gentleman who had been staying in one of the temples and who said to Srila Prabhupada, “I’ve noticed that some of your disciples nod out in the morning when they are chanting japa. I would like to teach them yoga exercises so they won’t fall asleep.” Prabhupada politely said, “Yes, yes. Sometimes they fall asleep, but they will learn and improve.” He sidestepped the question, but the man insisted, “If you just give me your permission, I will teach them yoga.” Prabhupada said, “No, it’s not required. Bhakti-yoga is—” The man became adamant. He said, “They are deficient. I must teach them.” Prabhupada became a little upset and said, “They may have some deficiencies, but they are still better than anyone else.” Prabhupada would not agree to have this man teach yoga in the temple. The man began to argue more, and we asked him to leave.
Pusta Krishna, Nanda Kumar, and I were sitting in the back seat of the car. I was in the middle. Shyamasundar was driving, and Prabhupada was sitting in the right front seat. There was no talking, and it seemed that Prabhupada was nodding off a little. I thought I would ask a very intelligent question. I said, “Srila Prabhupada?” He said, “Hmmm.” I said, “How much association did your Guru Maharaj have with Srila Gaurakishor das Babaji?” There was silence. It became a long silence. The other devotees in the back seat began to silently chastise me for asking a foolish, inappropriate question. They said, “Oh, no! Why have you . . .?” Even Shyamasundar turned around to give me a dirty look, although I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the question. After a silence that appeared to be practically forever, Prabhupada said, “Why do you ask?” Then I realized that it wasn’t an appropriate question. I said, “I’m sorry, Srila Prabhupada. It was just a question out of curiosity, and it wasn’t important,” and Prabhupada didn’t say anything more. I learned that, “Don’t try to make small talk. Don’t ask questions that are not appropriate to your level of understanding or that are not important. And don’t ask questions out of curiosity.”
I told Srila Prabhupada that some people claim there is nothing wrong with eating eggs because the eggs aren’t fertilized. Srila Prabhupada answered that if they allowed the male and female to mix, then there would be fertilization, and the eggs would become chickens. That was the main reason he gave.
We were driving to an engagement in Portland, when we stopped at an intersection. Prabhupada looked around and saw signs that said,“Enjoy Coca-Cola,” “Things Go Better With Coke,” and “Drink Coca-Cola.” It was a coincidence that there were all these different Coca-Cola signs at this particular intersection. Prabhupada light-heartedly said, “Write a letter to the Coca-Cola company and propose that they change the name of their drink to ‘Hare Krishna.’ They can keep the same drink, but the signs will say, ‘Enjoy Hare Krishna,’ ‘Things Go Better With Hare Krishna.’” From that we learned that we should try to promote Krishna consciousness on a broad scale. Somehow or other we should get the Holy Name to the public, even by using the media. We can use all kinds of methods, whatever we have to use.
In 1973 in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada’s personal servant, Nanda Kumar, asked me if I would like to go into Srila Prabhupada’s room. I said, “Sure” and went in. It was a very intense time. Karandhar and two other devotees were telling Srila Prabhupada about how the group in Hawaii had introduced a system called “psychic sleep,” or self-hypnosis. This group would have everyone lie down on the ground while they turned the lights low and played some mystical music. Then they would suggest things like, “Meditate on your legs being massaged,” or “Relax and think of Krishna.” Srila Prabhupada became upset when he heard this. He said, “When I was in Hawaii, they did not do this. Why have they started doing this after I left? This is an adulteration, and it is like the adulteration of milk. They pasteurize and homogenize milk and, then they adulterate it more and more, and after some time none of the good of the milk remains. It is simply an imitation. It may be colored but it has no value. Similarly, they will begin with this psychic sleep, and they will keep adulterating, and after some time they will think that they need LSD to enhance their chanting.” I was shocked when I heard that, because I couldn’t imagine how anyone could ever think that LSD could help your chanting. For many years Prabhupada’s statement remained an enigma, but then I was in England and, sure enough, one of our leaders thought that LSD would enhance chanting. I remembered Prabhupada’s prediction. If we aren’t careful to avoid adulterations, they could lead to further adulterations.
I was in charge of the Bhakta Program in Los Angeles, and on a walk I told Prabhupada about some new devotees that had joined. One gentleman was fifty-three. He was a Ph.D. and also a Christian priest. Prabhupada was very pleased and said, “You must take very good care of him. Give him special treatment, special care. Make sure he’s comfortable.”
In Mayapur I was one of Prabhupada’s guards, and sometimes a guard got the opportunity to go in Prabhupada’s room and sit down with the guests. Once, an old, poorly dressed sadhu came to see Srila Prabhupada. I came in with him, and we sat down. Only Prabhupada, this sadhu and I were there. They spoke in Bengali, so I couldn’t understand, but after some time Prabhupada gave the sadhu some rupees. The sadhu thanked him and went out.
One Saturday in Portland we organized a hari-nam party with fifteen or eighteen devotees. That day there happened to be a big downtown parade, and we chanted through the crowds. It was a very nice atmosphere, but suddenly for no apparent reason the police came, put us into vans, and took us to jail. We had never experienced that before. They set the bail at $50 per person, and our hearing wasn’t until Monday. Unfortunately the temple had no money, so we were stuck. I was especially sad because I was supposed to organize all the programs for Srila Prabhupada. After a few hours the warden came to our cell and said, “Are you such and such?” I said, “Yes,” and he said, “Okay, you’re bailed out.” Srila Prabhupada gave the money to bail me out. When I got back to the temple, Prabhupada called for me, and I went in to see him. He said, “We had to save at least one.” It was very touching for me. Then he asked, “So, what happened?” I said, “We were chanting, and they arrested us.” He said, “Yes, the Kazi also gave Lord Chaitanya problems with kirtan. But if they object to mridangas and kartals, you don’t have to play the instruments. You can just clap your hands and chant Hare Krishna.”
Prabhupada was supposed to be on a television show, but there was a mix-up, and they were not prepared to have Srila Prabhupada on the show. So Prabhupada was at the television station with nothing to do. Just then a young man came over and said, “I have a radio show here. If he would like to, I would be very happy to interview the Swami on the radio.” Prabhupada said, “Yes,” and we went to this man’s little studio in the same building. Only Srila Prabhupada, this interviewer, and I were there. The interviewer had a lot of respect for Prabhupada and asked nice questions. Prabhupada sat on a high stool, which was all that was available. At one point the young man asked, “Why did you come to America?” and Prabhupada said, “To explain to people what they have forgotten, love of God.” The young man took everything Prabhupada said very seriously, and he thought, “If you’ve come to teach love of God, then you must be the messiah,” so he asked Prabhupada, “Does that mean you are the messiah?” Prabhupada said, “Yes, I’m the messiah.” Then the young man asked, “Who sent you?” Prabhupada said, “My Guru Maharaj asked me to come.” So Prabhupada said, “Yes, I am the messiah, the savior of all the people,” not because God sent me, but because “my spiritual master sent me to do this.” The young man was very impressed and very pleased with that.
On a radio show there were call-in questions from many Christians who asked, “What about Christianity, and what are your feelings about Christ?” Prabhupada said, “There is no difference. Krishna consciousness is not sectarian. We are teaching what Christ taught, how to love God. But we are giving more information. We are giving God’s name and address, where he lives, his mother’s name, and how you can go there.” After the interview, while I was driving Srila Prabhupada back, Shyamasundar was praising him, saying, “Prabhupada, you answered so wonderfully. It was perfect the way you answered those questions.” Prabhupada said, “Really? You liked it?” Shyamasundar encouraged him more and said, “Yes!” Prabhupada said, “What did you like especially?” Shyamasundar said what he liked especially, and Prabhupada said, “Yes, that was a good point.” It was like a trainer saying to a boxer who had just won a fight, “Oh, that was a great fight, and then you hit him with this one and that punch”. Prabhupada was reliving the discussion somewhat like a boxer. He had defeated their different arguments. Later Prabhupada wrote to me about Portland. He said, “I remember that, when I was in Portland, many Christians asked about our feelings about Christ. Our philosophy is that we don’t say that you have to be this religion or that religion, but we are simply interested in love of God. In that regard, Christ is teaching the same thing.”
When I traveled in northern California selling Spiritual Sky incense, sometimes I stayed at Krishna das’ house. Krishna das was one of Prabhupada’s first disciples from San Francisco. He had married a Swedish devotee in Europe, had some children, and returned to resume his jewelry business. He was nice and gentle, and we were friends, but he had become more inclined toward Christianity than Krishna consciousness. In the evenings we would discuss that, and sometimes we’d debate and disagree. Not much later, Krishna das was on a morning walk with Srila Prabhupada in San Francisco, and he told Srila Prabhupada that one of his disciples said, “Christians are nonsense.” Prabhupada said, “Who said that?” and Krishna das said my name. Then the discussion changed, and the walk continued. At the end of the walk, around six in the morning, Prabhupada asked, “Where are the Christians now?” Krishna das said, “I guess they’re sleeping.” Prabhupada said, “Therefore I say they are nonsense.” I was somewhat exonerated by that statement.
We told Prabhupada that we were having more classes for the bhaktas, and Prabhupada said that it was a good idea but that the classes should not go beyond the jurisdiction of our books. So that’s been a guiding principle for our Bhakta Programs. We teach only from Prabhupada’s books. Prabhupada also said that theater performances based on Bhagavatam topics was a very nice way to present Krishna consciousness to people in general.
Prabhupada had just come, and 150 devotees were having a tumultuous, thundering kirtan. Everyone was so happy to see him. It was ecstatic. Prabhupada saw Umapati and stopped. Umapati was one of the first devotees, and Prabhupada hadn’t seen him for some time. The kirtan stopped as Prabhupada began speaking with Umapati. Prabhupada said, “It is very nice to see you. You are here now?” Umapati said, “Yes.” Prabhupada said, “What are you doing?” Umapati said, “I have a job. I am doing some computer work, and I live outside.” Prabhupada said, “Oh, that’s very nice. Are you giving fifty percent?” Umapati said, “Well, Srila Prabhupada, I’m not giving that much money; the expenses and my apartment are —” Prabhupada said, “You must give fifty percent no matter how much or how little you earn,” and then he walked off leaving Umapati dumbstruck. No compromise.
During the height of Spiritual Sky’s success, Prabhupada toured and looked at everything in the Spiritual Sky offices that were in a huge, modern building in Los Angeles. Prabhupada asked about some machine, and the devotees told him about it. Prabhupada said, “Don’t be extravagant in your purchase of machines.” Somehow or other, later on, that machine was stolen. Prabhupada approved of using machines in Krishna’s service but not extravagantly. Otherwise Krishna would take them away, as He did in this case.
At the 1974 Ratha-yatra, the temple president organized a special ceremony for Srila Prabhupada’s pleasure and auctioned off different ceremonial services, like bathing Srila Prabhupada’s feet with honey, milk, and yogurt; fanning him; and so on. Srila Prabhupada was to get all the money as dakshin. At this time I was a householder and had received a few thousand dollars inheritance. I thought this was a good opportunity, so I bid high and won a lot of different services. The one I wanted the most was to bathe Srila Prabhupada’s feet with honey, and I got to do that. When I was bathing Prabhupada’s feet I took my time. I wanted to get my money’s worth. At one point Prabhupada looked down and said, “Hurry up.” I could understand that he wasn’t enjoying getting his feet bathed and getting so much respect and worship, but he did it as a service. And I could understand that we shouldn’t try to enjoy the spiritual master, we should just do our duty.
In his lecture at the sannyas initiation ceremony for Brahmananda, Vishnujana, Subal, and Gargamuni, Prabhupada said, “Taking sannyas does not mean that you will be free from sex desire, but it means that now you cannot act on it.”
One summer day in Berkeley, Jayananda prabhu asked me if I would like to go with him to see Srila Prabhupada, and I said, “Of course!” We walked several blocks to Prabhupada’s apartment, and on the way we saw some big, gorgeous roses. Jayananda said, “Let’s see if we can get those roses.” He knocked on the door and asked the lady, “We are going to see our guru. Can we take two roses?” She said, “Yes, of course,” so we took these big, beautiful roses, went to Srila Prabhupada, paid our obeisances, and gave him the roses. The discussion was between Prabhupada and Jayananda. At one point Prabhupada said, “We have many construction projects in India. We could use some help there. Would you like to go and help with the construction?” Jayananda prabhu, said, “No, Srila Prabhupada, I’d prefer to stay here.” Prabhupada said, “Okay. That’s fine.” I thought, “I would have said yes, because Prabhupada wanted it.” Jayananda didn’t say yes, but Prabhupada respected his wish. I could understand that Prabhupada had a lot of confidence in Jayananda’s decisions about those types of things. Then Prabhupada asked about his disciple Chitananda, and we told him that Chitananda had been in a hospital. Prabhupada said, “You should take very good care of him. He is a pure devotee. He was willing to give his life for Krishna.” Evidently Chitananda was very ill in India, maybe with tuberculosis, and Prabhupada said, “I could see he was getting thinner every day, and I advised him to go back to the West, but he wanted to stay and do his service.” Prabhupada appreciated the service of his disciples who were willing to give their lives for the service of Krishna.
In 1977, when Srila Prabhupada last visited Bhaktivedanta Manor, we were very disturbed to see him so thin and weak, wearing sunglasses, being carried on a palanquin. But we were thrilled to have his association. He only came into the temple room in the morning, carried on the palanquin. A lot of devotees from Germany and France, and all the sankirtan devotees, had come, so the temple was packed. The kirtans were enthusiastic and strong. Prabhupada sat with his hands folded and didn’t move, but at some point during the kirtan, he’d move a finger. When we saw him move that finger, we’d all begin jumping and dancing in ecstasy. Before, when Prabhupada danced, everyone was forced to get up and dance, but at this time that same potency was there when Prabhupada just moved his finger. My service was to put three tiny drops of charanamrita in his hand. His fingers were so swollen that they were like little balloons. There was no way he could get his ring off. He would take those three drops, and then we’d wash his hand. It so happened that during this time he was rushed to the hospital for some minor emergency operation. While Srila Prabhupada was at the Manor we observed Vyasa-puja. Prabhupada came to the temple room, and Tamal Krishna Maharaj gave a long, detailed explanation of how Srila Prabhupada started the movement and how he preached in the early days. It was wonderful. Prabhupada was very pleased by that. He was reliving how he started his whole preaching movement, and once in a while he’d interject something. When Tamal spoke about Prabhupada’s early preaching in Los Angeles and how Prabhupada was going to different houses, Prabhupada said, “I was even going to a garage to speak.” Prabhupada had had programs in a garage in Los Angeles.
What impressed me most was that Prabhupada didn’t compromise the principles, that he didn’t change the original teaching to accommodate people who might not appreciate their strictness. For example, there was a bogus, new-age-type guru who printed some promotional brochures saying, “If you join our organization you don’t have to give up illicit sex; you don’t have to give up eating meat, fish, or eggs; you don’t have to give up intoxication; and you don’t have to give up gambling.” Where did he get those? In other words, Prabhupada had set the standard so strongly that this man was using Prabhupada’s standard for his own preaching, saying that you don’t have to give up these things. That Prabhupada didn’t change anything impressed me the most. He kept it as he got it from his spiritual master and presented it unchanged. He had faith that if he did that, then everything would be successful, that Krishna would be pleased, and everyone would be satisfied.
