Guru-Gauranga: As soon as I saw and heard Prabhupada, I knew this was the pivotal moment of my life. I knew that there was no more doing like I did before. It was like a fork in the road, and it was not a fork that I expected. It was not one that I desired, but I knew what I didn’t want. I was a conditioned soul who knew that he didn’t want anymore of that miserable conditioned life, although my life was a good life in that I wasn’t suffering in any visible way. But still, I didn’t understand why I was living. I didn’t understand what the purpose of everything I was doing was. I was really just satisfying third-party expectations, primarily parents. I was always told how well I was doing, and how great things were going to be. But whenever I attained a level, moving up the material mountain, and I was told that from this altitude the view would be great, it really never was. The only thing that I was told to console me was, “Keep climbing and when you get up even higher the view will be great.” But it never was. I decided that the material mountain does not produce good views. Therefore, I knew that I had to become a follower of Srila Prabhupada and that was that. I gave all my money, perhaps five or six hundred dollars to Harivilas and that was that. In the beginning I was really only receiving mercy as I felt I wasn’t reciprocating with enough service. When I went to Geneva later on, however, that’s when I started feeling some responsibility to do something significant for Srila Prabhupada. I liked the idea of having a mission for Prabhupada.
When Prabhupada came to Geneva there were many notable personalities, scholars, writers and scientists, who came to visit Srila Prabhupada. One such memorable conversation was with a Swiss author and researcher of myths, Sergius Golowin. He had been personal friends with Timothy Leary, the propagator of the LSD culture, and Friedrich Durrenmatt, a world famous Swiss-German writer. Being a contemporary of these gentlemen, Golowin had quite a following in Berne, the capitol of Switzerland. He was considered very avant-garde, a spiritualist and a researcher of esoteric spirituality. Because of his background I invited him to come meet Srila Prabhupada and he accepted. I brought Golowin into Srila Prabhupada’s quarters, and Prabhupada looked up and Golowin said, “Thank you for inviting me.” Prabhupada indicated he could take a seat on the floor where we had provided a cushion. He sat down and Prabhupada said, “So, do you have any questions?” The man said nothing. I thought to myself, “Did he understand Srila Prabhupada? Why isn’t he answering? He’s a writer and an intelligent person. Why is he just silent?” Then I started becoming panicky within myself, like “Why did I invite this man? Prabhupada just asked him if he had any questions and he’s not answering.” Just at that point the man said, “No, I have no questions. I’m just very happy to be here in your presence.” I felt relieved. I thought, “At least this gentleman knows that he’s in the presence of someone great.” And then there was silence again. Prabhupada didn’t speak and Golowin kept quiet. Again I started getting nervous. “Why had I arranged for this? What would Prabhupada say?” At that point, just as my doubts were crystalizing, Prabhupada asked for the harmonium and he began to play and sing a bhajan. It was the most intense solo bhajan I had heard or seen Prabhupada ever give. He continued for thirty minutes with his eyes closed. It was so clear to me that Prabhupada was in a place I have yet to be able to understand. It was a total meditation by everybody on Prabhupada. When Prabhupada finished his bhajan he looked up at everybody and again we were back to silence. Golowin finally spoke up and said to Prabhupada, “Thank you so much. It’s been an honor to be in your presence.” Prabhupada said, “Thank you,” tilting his head, and then he looked at me as Golowin was getting up to take leave and Prabhupada said, “Make sure he gets prasadam.” That was it. I realized from that exchange that Prabhupada could preach in any situation. A socalled big man with big thoughts, who had not a single thing to say to Prabhupada, but what did Prabhupada see? Did he see somebody who was ignorant? Perhaps. Did he see somebody who was receptive, and that the only way to get Krishna to this man was to chant? So that’s what Prabhupada did. What I take away from that is that every situation was a preaching situation for Prabhupada. There was no menu or formula that fit all. Prabhupada could reciprocate with each and every suffering conditioned soul in a way that only Prabhupada, being a pure devotee of Krishna, could understand and deliver Krishna consciousness. I always remembered after that, not to have preconceptions about who is worthy and what is the proper way or formula to preach. We have a vast array of tools that Prabhupada gave us, and any one of them, in this case the Holy Names, a bhajan, and prasadam were what was required.
One of the very prominent personalities that came to visit Srila Prabhupada was a French professor, named Jean Herbert. He was an oriental studies scholar and a so-called expert in Hinduism. He was quite famous in France, a disciple of Sri Aurobindo, and a chief interpreter at the founding of the United Nations. The man had a lot of weight, in all senses of the word. He was a big guy. I got in touch with this professor and told him that Prabhupada was coming to Geneva. I explained that we had a very active, busy program for Srila Prabhupada, and that his visit would not be complete unless he also participated by coming to talk with Prabhupada at the temple. Professor Herbert agreed, and on the appointed day when Professor Herbert was supposed to show up, he called about an hour before and said that sadly, he would be unable to make it. I was floored that how you can make an appointment, a commitment to the pure devotee, and now break that commitment? I just couldn’t process standing up a pure devotee. At this time we had rented a Mercedes for Prabhupada to pick him at the airport as well as to go to different places in Geneva like the palace of the government in Geneva, and the World Health Organization. This fine vehicle was sitting in the driveway as I was fuming over this professor’s refusal to come. I asked another other devotee to join me and I told him we’re just going to go find out where this professor lives, and we’re going to make a plea, that “How can you do this? Prabhupada is waiting for you.” I got his address and we drove about a half an hour to his villa in the Geneva countryside. He had a long driveway leading up to a very nice country estate. As we were driving up the driveway, he must have seen us because he was standing on the terrace watching the car approach. When we got to the end of the driveway we parked the car, opened the doors, and got out dressed in dhotis and tilak. Herbert took one look at us and of course he understood the purpose of our visit. He knew immediately who we were, where we were coming from, and why. Without us saying a word he said to me, “Wait one second while I get my hat.” He got into the car and we drove him to the temple arriving at just about the time that he was scheduled to meet with Srila Prabhupada. Professor Herbert came into the room and was greeted by Prabhupada who invited him to sit down on a cushion next to him. Professor Herbert told Srila Prabhupada how pleased he was to be able to share his understandings of Krishna. He explained to Prabhupada that he had been working on a book for more than twenty years, which was just about to be published, in which he, the professor, would explain the yogic interpretation of the myth of Sri Krishna’s childhood. You could just feel the storm clouds forming above his head. Now prior to the professor’s arrival, I had gone to see Srila Prabhupada and said, “Prabhupada, tomorrow we’re going to have this professor, and if you’d like to get familiar a little bit with where he’s coming from, I have his book here.” Prabhupada said, “Yes, sit down and you can read portions of it for me.” It was written in French so I did sight translations for Prabhupada. The more I read, the more I could see Prabhupada’s displeasure. At one point Prabhupada said, “That’s good, that’s enough.” (laughs) So the scene was set for the intellectual battle of Kurukshetra. When the professor said that he had taken more than twenty years to write this book, Prabhupada dryly commented, “And still there are mistakes.” The professor was so much taken aback by this comment he didn’t know what to say. Prabhupada then explained what Krishna consciousness is and that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not a myth. Strangely, the professor became quiet. Perhaps out of being polite and properly raised, or maybe because he was just submitting to a devotee of Krishna whose knowledge of Krishna was not mythical or fantastical or imaginary but real. I know that this professor made an impact on Prabhupada because in a letter Prabhupada wrote me some months later, he still remembered the professor. He said, “And regarding the visit of Professor Jean Herbert, tell him that the whole point of jnana (knowledge) as described by Krishna in Bhagavad-gita, is to come to an understanding that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then Prabhupada listed about five verses, one after the other: “Tell him, ‘Sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam….’ Tell him, ‘Yat karosi yad asnasi….’ Tell him …” The whole letter was ninety percent verses. My understanding is that Prabhupada came to the west to deliver us from nirvisesa and sunyavadi, from the impersonalism and the nihilist speculators who do not know Krishna and His supreme role as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Prabhupada again, as we saw so many times, was fearless. It didn’t matter how big or famous anybody was. Prabhupada schooled him. Prabhupada put him in his place, in a firm way but in the end the professor was glad. That was the magic, I think, of Prabhupada’s preaching, that no one ever took it in the wrong way.
On May 29, 1974 Prabhupada landed in Geneva and was accompanied by Satsvarupa Goswami and Nitai. We picked Prabhupada and his team up at the airport and brought him to the temple. I was very busy with all the arrangements for Prabhupada’s meetings and programs and for the official reception of Srila Prabhupada by the Governor of Geneva. I was unaware of the fact that Lilavati dasi, a disciple of Prabhupada’s, had previously arrived to Geneva to do typing for Prabhupada. About three days into Prabhupada’s visit, Prabhupada asked about Lilavati. I didn’t even know that she was in the temple so I went to inquire about her. It turned out that Lilavati had arrived sick with hepatitis from India and had to go directly to the hospital. I came back to Prabhupada’s room and said, “Prabhupada, she’s still in the hospital,” like I actually knew what was going on. Srila Prabhupada said, “We will go and visit Lilavati in the hospital. Make arrangements immediately.” I rushed out and told the devotees, “We’re all going to the hospital. Get the cars ready for Prabhupada and the devotees. Is there maha prasadam for her? Does she have Prabhupada’s books?” Finally when everything was ready I went back into Srila Prabhupada’s room and said, “Prabhupada, we’re ready now.” Then he said, “Very good. Now go.” And Prabhupada stayed in the temple and sent everybody else to the hospital to visit with Lilavati to give her prasadam and association. What I take from that obviously is that Prabhupada remembered his servants and cared for them. He felt for them and he missed them when they were not around. And he knew who everybody was.
Srila Prabhupada’s sole visit to Switzerland was from May 29 to June 8, 1974. He arrived in the morning and with special authorization we got to greet him on the tarmac along with the Swiss national television crew. That afternoon we had an official reception at the city hall of Geneva, the Hotel de Ville, where Srila Prabhupada was going to be welcomed by the Governor of Geneva. Sometimes devotees think it was the mayor of Geneva, like in Paris where it was the vice-mayor, but in Geneva it was the Governor of the Canton of Geneva. What I thought was significant about the Governor was that he addressed Srila Prabhupada as “Your Divine Grace”. For non-devotees it’s not the easiest way to address Prabhupada, but he minced no words. With respect he said, “Your Divine Grace” in the beginning and he said, “Your Divine Grace” at the end of his welcome speech. Then Prabhupada gave a response to the Governor as he talked about varnashram dharma. He explained how a perfect society is organized and how it functions. At the end of Prabhupada’s talk there was a small conversation between Prabhupada and the Governor. The Governor asked about a concern that he was feeling. He said, “Your Divine Grace, if everybody joins your movement, what will happen to the economy?” Going forward about ten months, it was time for the Mayapur festival in 1975. I went to India with a few Swiss devotees, and we had booked our flight through Bombay to Calcutta. When we arrived in Bombay we immediately drove by taxi from the airport to the temple in Juhu. Prabhupada was just leaving the compound for a morning walk with an entourage of devotees. We told the taxi driver to stop and we jumped out and did a one hundred eighty degree turn to go on the morning walk with Prabhupada. Everyone was talking about how Srila Prabhupada was about to leave for the Mayapur festival, but no one knew what flight Srila Prabhupada was taking. Everyone was eager to find out what flight it was so they could book their tickets on the same flight. But by the time it was known what flight Srila Prabhupada was on, the flight was fully booked and no one could get on. However, I looked at our tickets from Switzerland, and by pure serendipity we were on Prabhupada’s flight. When the devotees took Prabhupada through the airport with a rip-roaring kirtan, they couldn’t get past security, but we did. Everyone was saying, “What is it with those devotees? I tried but I couldn’t get on the flight. How did they pull that off?” We went to the small waiting room with Prabhupada, and I found myself with Prabhupada and only his secretary and the two other devotees from Switzerland. We could hear the kirtan in the distance but that was it. I decided I had to be very Krishna conscious because Prabhupada might notice me and I didn’t want to look anything but Krishna conscious. So I was chanting my japa pacing back and forth in the lounge area. As I turned to pace back I saw that Prabhupada was calling me. It was almost like in the movies where I had to look in both directions to see who he was talking to, because I couldn’t believe Srila Prabhupada was calling me. Prabhupada gestured for me to come over and he tapped the seat right next to him for me to sit down. Prabhupada asked me, “So how is the Governor of Geneva? Is he still worried about the Swiss economy if everyone joins our movement?” At that moment I realized that Srila Prabhupada knew who I was because it’s not that Srila Prabhupada always called us by our name. When we were in his presence sometimes you wonder, “Does Prabhupada really know who I am?” What I learned from that experience was that Prabhupada not only remembered me, he not only remembered the Governor, he remembered everything that had been said and he also remembered that that was the service that I performed for him. Prabhupada could pick up exactly where we had left off, the same conversation, knowing exactly who was doing what for him. That gave me an enormous amount of inspiration, that truly no service is unrecognized by Srila Prabhupada.
A short, sweet story that was told to me by Hiranmayi dasi, a French-Swiss devotee who lives in Montreal, was about another French-Swiss devotee named Krishna Kanta dasi. Krishna Kanta was one of the very first Swiss devotees to join in Geneva. When Prabhupada came she had some affliction in her leg and had strict orders from the doctor to keep her leg up. When she heard that Srila Prabhupada was going to speak at the World Health Organization at the United Nations, she very much wanted to attend. Of course there was no room in a car for a brahmacharini, so she decided to hitchhike from the temple to the World Health Organization, which she did. She managed to get in and she attended the entire lecture that Srila Prabhupada gave. On the way out Srila Prabhupada noticed her and said to us, “How will this brahmacharini get back to the temple? Who is looking after her?” We all looked at each other, clueless, having given no concern whatsoever to that problem. But then we made arrangements for her to get back safely to the temple. I realized that Srila Prabhupada recognized and appreciated all of his disciples, man or woman. That’s a theme that I saw recur over and over—that no servant and no service was too small to escape Srila Prabhupada’s notice and care.
If there is one quality of Srila Prabhupada that stands out in my mind, in my heart, it’s the unmitigated authenticity of Srila Prabhupada. Here was someone who would never cheat me. Here was someone who was actually what he said he was. Here was someone who knew Krishna and there was no need to speculate. There was no need for Prabhupada to think things over. He already just knew. And in his personal habits, Prabhupada followed exactly the same program he asked us to follow, only better. When we had the good fortune of Srila Prabhupada’s company for ten days in a very small temple, I could see with my own eyes what Srila Prabhupada was doing. In the morning you could see the light coming out from underneath his door. Prabhupada was already up at two thirty in the morning. He was chanting rounds. He was dictating the Srimad Bhagavatam translations and purports. He was eating frugally. He was living humbly. Prabhupada was, for me, the embodiment of someone who had realized God and who could give God to others. And somehow, I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I could see it myself. I didn’t have to read about it only and I didn’t have to ask others about it only. I was there by Krishna’s mercy.
