VOL. 5 NO 2 INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA ...Our Krishna consciousness movement has therefore established two very large centers, one in Vrindavana and another in Mayapur, Navadvipa

MK: Now morethan a month hasgone by since the largePancha-tattva Deitieswere installed. Whatis your experience,as head pujari, ofTheir service beenso far?Jananivasa Prabhu:Major thing is cleaningThem. We have to keepPancha-tattva clean and so farthis is proving to be the biggestdifficulty. At the moment we areusing the Ganga mud to polish.We take it off with a wet sponge andthen we polish again with a dry cloth. Atthe moment we are doing it once a week, but proba-bly we will have to increase it to twice a week, so theDeities bodily brilliance can be maintained. Even if you touch the Deities with your finger it leaves a mark, it isquite difficult not to touch the Deities while dressing Them. Garlandsalso make a mark on Them. MK: At what time the polishing gets done?J: After mangala-arotik. We are usually doing one Deity a day. It requires 5 pujaris at a time to do one Deity. Also two matajisare coming in to assist with sorting the jewelries and clothes.MK: What matajis are coming?J: Nirgata and Sradha Mataji’s are coming every day to help after mangala-arotik. They are sorting everything outand giving to the pujaris. MK: Are these matajis doing this service inside the altar?J: Yes. They come strait after mangala-arotik. It is still not very organized yet, we are making some cabinets to keep every-thing tidy. MK: So, after mangala-arotik there is a lot of activities inside the Pancha-tattva altar. How is all this organized ?

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A NEWSLETTER FOR THE RESIDENTS OF ISKCON MAYAPUR

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESSFOUNDER-ACHARYA HIS DIVINE GRACE A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA

VO L. 5 NO 2

Service to Pancha-tattva

Interviewwi th

Jananivasa Prabhu

Gauranga Mahaprabhu

Hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna/hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

2

Mayapur Kathais a facility for you to share your ideas, articles, suggestions, comments, realiza-

tions, concerns, etc. with the community of Vaisnavas. You are welcome. EDITOR: ........................................Padmalochan DasDESIGN//LAYOUT: .......................Vrindavan Lila Devi DasiTYPING:........................................ Bhn. IrinePRINTING: ....................................Purananda Nitai Das

ph: 245-279 e-mail: padmalochan.ACBSP@ pamho.net

From these verses it is apparent that the chanting of the maha-mantraor the Vedic mantras must be accompanied by severe austerities. In Kali-yuga, people cannot undergo severe austerities like those mentionedherein - drinking only water and eating only air for many months. Onecannot imitate such a process. But at least one must undergo some aus-terity by giving up four unwanted principles, namely illicit sex, meat-eat-ing, intoxication and gambling. Anyone can easily practice this tapasya,and then the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra will be effective with-out delay. One should not give up the process of austerity. If possible,one should bathe in the waters of the Ganges or Yamuna, or in theabsence of the Ganges and Yamuna one may bathe in the water of thesea. This is an item of austerity. Our Krishna consciousness movementhas therefore established two very large centers, one in Vrindavana andanother in Mayapur, Navadvipa. There one may bathe in the Gangesor Yamuna, chant the Hare Krishna mantra and thus become perfectand return home, back to Godhead. [SB 6.5.27-28 Purport]

It is the desire of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhuthat the benevolent activities of the sankirtanamovement, which was inaugurated five hun-dred years ago in Navadvipa, be spread allover the world for the benefit of all humanbeings. Unfortunately, there are many so-calledfollowers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who aresatisfied simply to construct a temple, make ashow of the Deities, collect some funds andutilize them for eating and sleeping. There isno question of their preaching the cult of SriChaitanya Mahaprabhu all over the world. Buteven though they are unable to do so, if any-one else does it they become envious. This isthe condition of the modern followers ofChaitanya Mahaprabhu. The Age of Kali is sostrong that it affects even the so-called fol-lowers of Lord Chaitanya. At least the follow-ers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu must come outof India to preach His cult all over the world,for this is the mission of Lord Chaitanya. Thefollowers of Lord Chaitanya must execute Hiswill with heart and soul, being more tolerantthan the trees and humbler than the straw inthe street.

[CC Adi 9.47 Purport]

A first-class brahmana does not accept any rewardsfrom his disciples or yajamanas. Practicing austeritiesand penances, he instead goes to the agricultural fieldand collects food grains left by the agriculturaliststo be collected by brahmanas. Similarly, such brahmanasgo to marketplaces where grains are purchased and soldwholesale, and there they collect grains left by the mer-chants. In this way, such exalted brahmanas maintaintheir bodies and families. Such priests never demandanything from their disciples to live in opulence, imitat-ing kshatriyas or vaishyas. In other words, a pure brah-mana voluntarily accepts a life of poverty and livesin complete dependence on the mercy of the Lord.Not very many years ago, a brahmana in Krishnanagara,near Navadvipa, was offered some help from the localZamindar, Vraja Krishnacandra. The brahmana refusedto accept the help. He said that since he was veryhappy in his householder life, taking rice given byhis disciples and cooking vegetables of tamarindleaves, there was no question of taking help from theZamindar. The conclusion is that although a brahmanamay receive much opulence from his disciples, heshould not utilize the rewards of his priesthood forhis personal benefit; he must use them for the service ofthe Supreme Personality of Godhead.

[S B 6.7.36 Purport]

Prabhupada van i

mailto:[email protected]

Jaya sri krishna chaitanya prabhu nityananda sri advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura bhakta vrinda

3

J: Polishing is done after mangala-arotik, five pujaris are doing one Deity.MK: Are they doing one at a time, oreach Deity has five pujaris polishingsimultaneously?J: No, we are only doing one Deity aday. Five pujaris are polishing one Dietyand next morning they polish anotherone. Raghunath Prabhu is coming tohelp with polishing and also other devo-tees come to assist. MK: So, one Deity a day gets polishedand two days brake. It means that eachDeity is getting polished once a week.J: Yes, but we may do it twice a week,because They don't maintain the bril-liance we want, unless we find someother polishing method. We may trysoap berries, which you can get inNavadvip market. I am still hesitantbecause they make a lot of bubblesand we will have to use a lot ofwater to wash it off. I am afraid itwould be too messy - while pujaris tryto dress other Deities, water splashingeverywhere… But people say that theseberries are leaving a thin film-like coat-ing on the surface, so the shine may staylonger. We will try that.MK: But you are washing Them nowanyway.J: Yes, but it is all done with wet tow-els. Other Deities are getting dressed atthe same time; we don't want to spoilTheir clothes. We will have to experi-ment until we find something suitable.MK: While one Deity is getting pol-ished, do the other Deities get any kindof bath?J: They all get wiped with towelsevery day.MK: Wet towels?J: No, it's kind of dry. Even if youwipe Them with a wet towel and if it isnot dried immediately it will make amark. We have to be really careful. MK: So, the biggest task is to keepThem gleaming?J: Yes. Also dresses have to still catchup. At the moment Pancha-tattva hasonly a few dresses. Also turbans andmukuts - we still have to work on that.We will have to spend some time tobring out the mood of the Deities, tosee what suits Them the best. It takessome time. Like at the moment Theyhave quite big mukuts, I think they aretoo big. It may not be. Like at the

moment the main piece - the mangoshaped chandrika - is very big and thepujari's stick that first, so to balance itthey make everything else big too. Wewill have to try and see different thingsto bring out Their personalities.MK: Who is making the mukuts?J: The biggest ones were made by devo-tees during the festival, a lot of devoteeswere helping. Now we will make somemore in our dress making department.It's the same method as making jaridresses, embroidery on the cloth, butthen we cut it out and mount on thethick card. Ramadevi and her mataji’sare also making some fans and differentthings for the mukuts. MK: How many matajis are involved inDeities seva now?J: I am not really sure. KrishnaMadhuri is heading one group, they aremaking jewelries, most of them aremaking at their houses, like TitikshaRadha Devi Dasi and her daughter aremaking a lot of earrings and mukutpieces also. There are quite a lot ofmatajis doing jewelry. Ramadevi also has her team. Sheengages different mataji’s at differenttimes. Keshavi Mataji is doing mostof the designing work, her daughtersare helping her. Bhakta Gana Matajihas her flower team. I don't really know how many mataji’sare involved in all these different serv-ices.MK: Hrimati Mataji managed to puttogether a dress for Pancha-tattva !J: Yes. She just came and said 'Iwould like to make a dress'. And shedid it by herself actually. It was verytuff. Luckily it was during the festival.Russian mataji’s were here. I wentdown in Radha-Madhava's basementone time, in that room where they pre-pare Gopi's hair usually, and it wascompletely full up, about thirty mataji’swere sitting down and they were allhelping with sewing on the little mir-rors. She is lucky to have all that assis-tance. It was a great boon. She relievedthe sewing room, where Ramadevi wascompletely overloaded with work. MK: How many dresses Pancha-tattvahave now?J: I think it's eight day-dresses andfour or five night-dresses. We droppedthat Harinam-chadar one, because a lot

of devotees thought it was too sim-ple.MK: How many pujaris are involvedin Pancha-tattva's seva?J: Fourteen pujaris in the morning.MK: And through the day?J: Well it's just aratik, same pujaris aredoing offerings and aratik. MK: How many pujaris are servingon Radha-Madhava's altar?J: About ten. MK: How many offerings do Pancha-tattva get?J: Same amount as before, eight.MK: Is bhoga offered to them on fiveplates?J: No, one - very big plate - I cannot liftit. There are eighteen to twenty preps. MK: How is it carried to the altar?J: A young strong pujari carries it. MK: Does Pancha-tattva get the samemenu as Radha-Madhava?J: Yes, same preparations, but biggerquantity.MK: Is it same quantity as before thebig the Pancha-tattva came?J: Yes, I don't think we can increase thatplate, it's huge.MK: How do the Deities take rest? Dothey have beds?J: They have a big mattress with bedsheets. I want to install a Salagramthere; I already have bed and every-thing. It would be more convenient. Iam waiting when we get everythingdown little better, get cabinets, puteverything in order, and get little moreuse to the Deities. Otherwise I amfrightened if we put little Salagramthere, he may get lost in all the mess ofthe morning dressing process - some-one may walk or drag huge clotheshere and there and not notice a littleSalagram. I want pujaris to get use tothe Deities and used to moving around,used to where things are and put dress-es and jewelries in particular order.Then we can install Salagram. Thenwe will put Salagram to bed. Becauseeven the small Deities are too heavy toput to bed, They are really heavy, actu-ally. To put five of Them in bed andone pujari comes to wake Them up inthe morning - he will have to be aheavy weight lifter. MK: So, They are just invited toTheir mattress?J: Yes, we invite Them to take rest.

continued on page 12

continuing from page 1:


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MK: We see you coming every year toMayapur.KKS: Yes, this is my great fortune.Mayapur is of course the spiritualworld. But how much I am able to see?When I first came here, in 1978, therewere a few buildings, the Lotus build-

ing, Long building and the hut in thefront, the Bhajan Kutir the kitchen andthe prasadam hall and the Goshala.Now there are so many buildings. Wecould have never imagined that thingswould develop so quickly. It is explainedin the Chaitanya Caritamrta that by themercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu dif-ficult things become easy and withoutHis mercy even easy thing become diffi-cult. There is no doubt that only by thespecial mercy of Sri ChaitanyaMahaprabhu Mayapur has developed somuch. I hope Lord Chaitanya will allowme to continue coming, because timespend in the Dhama really surcharges uswith transcendental energy.MK: When did you spend time inMayapur in the past?KKS: I came to Mayapur in 1985, prior

to that I had been six years in Vrndavana.Just before Mayapur I had been for abreak in Australia, a good place for get-ting strong and healthy and BhavanandaPrabhu, who was my spiritual master atthe time, had requested me to go toMayapur. Initially I got involved in mak-ing arrangements for the festival. Theyasked me to oversee the construction ofsome temporary buildings. One dayBhavananda suddenly stood behind meand said; "Do you like construction? Ireplied; "Not particularly." Then he said;"Good, you can be in charge of the con-struction of Srila Prabhupada's Samadhi."I was shocked!At that time the Samadhi had been stand-ing in a half finished condition for a num-ber of years because there were no fundsto complete it. The basic concrete shell,

Little piece ofMayapur History

on the 19-th

of April

2004 we

celebrated

Gadadhara

Pandita’s

Appiarance

Day

interviewwithH.H.

KadambaKananaSwami

Gadadhara’slotus face


5

in other words the superstructure of themain columns and the dome, was there,but otherwise the building was far fromfinished.MK: When was it started?KKS: In 1979. Pancaratna Prabhu wasinvolved in those days, he would beable to tell more. They worked on thefoundation. They told me in Mayapurthat in relation to the big temple,Prabhupada had said that it would beconstructed on some sort floating foun-dation, he is even supposed to havemade some sketch of it, because theGanga is also flowing underground.Anyway the Samadhi does also havesuch a floating raft foundation.At that time Tamala Krishna Maharajaapproached Ambarisha Prabhu, whodonated one million dollars. It tooksome time to make the necessarypreparations and in '86 the work start-ed again. This building originally wasconceived by Surabhi Maharaja, who isfrom Holland, as I am, and therefore asit turned out he had requestedBhavananda to get me involved in theproject. Once Surabhi showed me fromsome architectural book, how he hadtaken inspiration for the MayapurSamadhi from the Dome in Florence.

In 1986 we were desperately lookingfor a designer and just then MatsyaAvatara Prabhu, a disciple of SrilaPrabhupada, came for a personal visitof Mayapur. Matsya Avatara Prabhu isalso a very, successful professionaldesigner from Florence, Italy. Hisfather was already involved withItalian architecture, so it appeared thatKrsna had made an arrangement tosend the right person and Matsyakindly agreed to this service.

The GBC body liked his designs verymuch and allocated an additional mil-lion dollars from BBT fund. Then therewas enough to complete the building.MK: Was Matsa Avatara Prabhu livinghere then?KKS: He was not living here, he hasa professional studio in Italy. He wouldcome for regular visits to Mayapur andthen we would discuss many, manydetails. We would prepare the meetingswell and have all necessary drawingsand engineers ready for consultation.Then we would place a big meetingtable and chairs right on the construc-

tion site itself. Then JayapatakaMaharaja and Satadhanya Prabhu, whowas regional secretary at the time andsometimes other leaders would join themeeting to give their input. MatsyaAvatara was expert, not only as adesigner, but also in dealing withpeople.Everyone in the meeting would pres-

ent his own ideas of what should bedone and Matsya said;" Oh that's avery nice idea" and then just like a col-lege professor he would begin toexplain that because of various rules ofdesign, the idea although very goodwas not suitable and then he wouldmake a design and everyone wouldsay, "Oh, very good!".I was project coordinator, and had to

make sure we kept within a time sched-ule and budget, there were twenty fivedevotees, some 35 hired staff membersand some 500 labors.MK: Where were they all living?KKS: The labors were coming on theirbicycles from the surrounding villages.The engineers were living on the sitealong with some special craftsmenfrom Rajastana.MK: Did you live in Mayapur beforeyou were invited to take up thistask?KKS: I had been in Vrindavan from '78to '84 and I actually wanted to staythere, but then they send me toMayapur.MK: Why you were chosen for thiswork? Do you have some skills inthis connection?KKS: First of all I had a connectionwith Surabhi Prabhu, the architect,because we were both from Holland.And although I had no experience withconstruction, I had learned inVrndavana about managing big proj-ects in India.MK: Since when were you in India?KKS: Since 1978. But before I joined Ihad also came to India many times.MK: Why were you coming to Indiabefore ?KKS: Well, because India is obvious-ly the country which has spiritual life.

If you had spiritual interest thenIndia was the obvious place. Therewas a magic bus, which I took fromAmsterdam, Holland, all the way toIndia. Three weeks over land, it was

very cheap. I stayed in India andtried to live a simple life in a spir-itual atmosphere. The first temple Iever visited was a Ram temple andsoon I began to regularly chant, ‘SriRama Jai Rama Jai Jai Rama’.MK: Did you join ISKCON in India?KKS: The first time I ever stayed in atemple was in Vrndavana, but then Ileft and joined in Amsterdam.MK: Did you meet Srila Prabhupadaon your earlier trips to India?KKS: No, no. I never met SrilaPrabhupada in person. That is why itwas really nice to become involved infinishing His Samadhi and to do somepersonal service to Him in that way.MK: Who are you initiated by?KKS: By H.H. Jayadvaita Swami.MK: Did you have a family when youcame to Mayapur?KKS: Yes, I was married and livinghere with my wife, we had no chil-dren. We were doing service hereuntil 1990, when I became templepresident of ISKCON Vrindavan. Thenwe went back to Vrindavan, it feltlike going home because that's whereI really started in spiritual life.MK: When did you become asanyasi?KKS: I received sanyasa in 1997 inthe Bhaktivedanta Manor in England.MK: Was the Samadhi finished bythe time you left from Mayapur?KKS: It was not completely finished,but the Vrindavan situation was veryproblematic, they really needed some-one there and the GBC decided that Ishould go back to Vrindavan.MK: When you went who took over thefinishing of the Samadhi?KKS: Sadbhuja Prabhu took over. In1993 the work was supposed to be fin-ished, but the opening was in 1995.MK: Were you involved in other thingsalso while you were in Mayapur?KKS: In '85, the construction of thenew temple for Radha Madhava wasgoing on, up to that time the Deities hadbeen installed on the ground floor of theLotus building and the temple forNrsimhadeva was also being build Ialso helped a bit with that.Along with Satadhanya Prabhu we alsowent to Jaipur at times for the carvingof the gopis. Sometimes I was there allalone, and the carver's were asking me


things like shall we chip off a little bitof the face here? And I did not knowwhat to say, because you can't put itback on if it is wrong! It was notclay. I felt really unqualified for thistask and was afraid to make a mis-take…MK: At the time of construction ofthe Samadhi was there any talk aboutVastu?KKS: Not so much. See, Prabupada'sSamadhi was constructed at thisplace because Prabhupada wantedHis house there. And it was squeezedinto a space, which is much too small.Normally, you should have groundsaround a building, where in one glanceyou can see the whole building frombottom to top. So, when you stand onthe edge of the land you should see thefull building. So, the Samadhi groundsare much too small for the size of thebuilding. Surabhi was the architect andhe knew that. But the reason why heput it there was because Prabhupadawanted his house there, next to thepukur (the pond), a natural pukur wasalready there. Therefore they had toconstruct something with the pukur, soSurabhi included that in the design. He really is a very brilliant and inno-

vative architect. So the direction of thebuilding became kind of controlled bythe size of the plot and by the pukur.So, it was not based on Vastu. AndPrabhupada was not concern withVastu either. When He made the firstbuilding in Mayapur there was no con-sideration of Vastu. Talks of Vastucame up with town planning, about thebig temple and the lay out of theMayapur city. At that time some tradi-tional ideas developed like around thetemple should be brahminical build-ings and gradually it should go out, sothe most spiritual varna should be theclosest to the temple and slowly goout. So, principals like that were dis-cussed.

I think that Vastu is not so impor-tant. Actually Vastu is a part of thekarma kandha section of the Vedas.Through Vastu one can counteractinauspicious influences in places.

However, the chanting of HareKrishna makes everything auspicious.The Dham is so auspicious. ThereforeVastu is so secondary actually.Everything is surcharged with Lord

Chaitanya's energy, mercy is in alldirections here is overflowing withmercy, Lord Chaitanya just pouring itout. Therefore just being anywhere inthe Dham is auspicious. But thatdoesn't mean we can not use Vastu insome design, when it's practical.MK: You saw the plans for town inthe beginning. How the present daysplans compare to that, are they in linewith original idea?KKS: No, things have changed manytimes. I think it's all going on by LordChaitanya's transcendental arrange-ments. Many different temple designshave been made over the years. Somewere beautiful, some almost impossibleto build, because of technical orfinancial restraints. At present thereis a design, which is realistic accord-ing to our budget, so they say that thework will start very soon. That willbe a tremendous boost to this move-ment, when the whole world's attentionwill be drawn to Mayapur because ofthe amazing temple city which isappearing there. It will be an extraor-dinary opportunity to spread lordChaitanya's mercy all over the world.

Mood in Mayapur is distinctly differ-ent then in Vrindavan, where mood isvery much 'Krishna', wherever you goyou feel like Krishna just left, justgone around the corner - 'did anybodysee Him?', like He was just here fiveminutes ago. Mayapur is not at alllike that.

But in Mayapur Lord Chaitanya isdoing something right now to makethis Dham happen out of nothing andthings are just mushrooming out of theground. And this is what you see.Anybody who has not been here forsometime is going to say: 'O, god!Where all these buildings are comefrom? Where is everything come from?Where all this prasadam come from?Look at these flowers!’ Anything growshere, anything develops here, anythingis almost effortlessly becomes big.Nothing is small in Mayapur, evenJayapataka Maharaja is big and hethinks big, he wanted the biggestSamadhi, bigger then Rama-Krishna'sSamadhi - and that's what we got forSrila Prabhupada. That's the moodhere, just the big mercy. I think inMayapur we have seen how thisDham is developing by Lord

6

Chaitanya's arrangement, so we don'tknow what is going to happen next.We are all waiting for this big temple,we are all waiting for many-manydevotees to come. Now we installedthe Pancha-tattva Deities. WhenPrabhupada was in different cities, likein London, in Paris he named theDeities London-Ishvara, Paris-Ishvara,in other words designating the Deitiesas the controllers of these cities. But,here in Mayapur we see thatPrabhupada is designating the Pancha-tattva.

Pancha-tattva are the Deities for thewhole world. Therefore with coming ofPancha-tattva something is going tohappen, it is going to have effect onthe spreading of KrishnaConsciousness all over the world, it isgoing to have effect here in Mayapur,things are definitely going to accel-erate, there is no doubt.MK: You are traveling around theworld. Do you see devotees talkingabout big Pancha-tattva coming inMayapur?KKS: Of course, everyone is excitedabout it. How many devotees came forthe installation!

When the Vaisnavas are gathering forthe glorification of the Lord then thespiritual world becomes manifest.MK: We already had Pancha-Tattavinstalled here, the small ones.KKS: Now we have big Pancha-tattvaDeities, something will take off now.Big mercy, something extraordinary,we are waiting for that.MK: What do you expect to happen?KKS: The Panca Tattva are opening thefloodgates of the storehouse of Love ofGod. That's for sure. But how they willexactly do it, nobody can say, that is thespecial unknown adventure of LordChaitanya's Sankirtana movement.From Mayapur so much mercy willcome out and then all that will returnto Mayapur in the form of so muchdevelopment.MK: What do you mean?KKS: In every town and villagethere will be devotees and they will allcome to Mayapur and they will do serv-ice in the Holy Dhama and the spir-itual nature of the Dhama will becomemore and more revealed. So, I think wewill see miracles happen in our life-time. u


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MK: Please tell us your story,Prabhu.Dayaram Prabhu: I came toMayapur in 1982 for the first time, whenI was studying in IIT in Bombay. It's aninstitution that gives independent edu-cation to the Indians. I was studyingthere and many devotees that were atthe same hostel were interested inKrishna consciousness. Madhu Panditdas, Mahasundra das were in the samehostel for about three or four years, theywere senior to me. We were doing com-puter science but in a different branch.

They had some spiritual desires, so Iused to make fun of them. I thought thatthey are funny people, as nowadayseveryone is into technology and scienceand not into spirituality or religion.Although I was quite a moral personbecause of family upbringing, I did nothave interest in spiritualism as such.Well, there was a little interest inKrishna and the Gita, though I neverstudied it. I got the Gayatri mantra whenI was eight years old and continued tochant it for a year or two, but conse-quently I stopped it. My family is castBrahmanas, so upayana-samskaras weredone - that kind of interest, but therewasn't a deep spiritual interest or under-standing.

Some of the boys and Mahasundar usedto chant the Mahamantra, and we wouldmake fun of them, we would tease theHare Krishna's from our side on the

opposite balcony. Mahasundar was themain man, he was my classmate whowas studying in IIT also and he wasvery much interested in KrishnaConsciousness. He used to chant andhe was a top student. In exams he wasalways on the top marks but he wasdoing all this and we would make funof him. He is in Bangalore now. Heactually got married so he left and isworking outside now.

So, I and some of the boys made funa lot and we would call MadhupanditBaba Krishna and Mahasundar BabyKrishna, like that. They were studying,but also practicing KrishnaConsciousness seriously - getting upearly, chanting, reading and sometimesputting tilak. So we used to make jokeon them. Anyway, Mahasundar wasserious enough and he came to us andsaid: 'why are you making jokes? Whyyou don't read some of the books andtry to understand?' So, I went to theIIT library, they have a huge library,and one section is dedicated to philos-ophy and there were a lot of booksof different Indian philosophers,mostly Shankaracharya's works andalso works of different Englishauthors. So, I got Prabhupada's books- the whole Bagavatam was there. So, Igot some books and started to readthem and somehow that slowly-slowly changed my understanding.

Then they took me to the temple oneday. Then they wanted me to come toMayapur. Somehow I liked LordChaitanya very much and I wanted togo to His place. Nobody was there to check on us,because we were staying in a hosteland parents were in their house, theydidn't know what we were doing. So,without anyone's knowledge we justtook a train and came to Mayapur in1982 or maybe it was 1983. We ranaway from the hostel, nobody knew.IIT supposed to be a very top insti-tute in India, but they give a lot offreedom. If you attend the class ornot nobody bothers, as long as you dowell in the exams, and as long asyou are not breaking hostel's rules -in other words using drugs or gettingdrunk - a lot of freedom is there. So,we used that to come to Mayapur

for a few days. Gaura Purnima 1982 or83. Mahasundar, myself and Kapila,who also came with us, he was at thattime working in one company inBombay. He used to come to the hos-tel sometimes to discuss philosophy sohe was also with us, we went togeth-er. Virachandra was another person.We all were not initiated at that time.We liked Mayapur very much, webecame interested and I wanted moreand more to come to Mayapur.

Murari Gupta was in-charge ofaccommodation then. We would talkto him with sweet words and praisehim and somehow or other convincehim to let us stay. He would let ussleep on the veranda of the Long build-ing free of charge, no rooms, and nofestival fees, only charge us forprasadam. We would have to use a lotof mosquito repellent on our bodiesthere were so many mosquitoes. Weused to carry our own bed sheets -sleep on it, pack it up in the morning,spend the day, and at night time goto bed at ten o'clock. We didn't havemoney for rooms, but Prasad we didhave to pay for. I had scholarship fromthe government and that took care ofmy ticket money. It was about 200rupees a month,. which was quite alot of money those days. Somehow orother we were managing to come forthe festival.

I got initiated when I was still studyingin IIT. I was initiated in Mayapur in1983 or 1984 I am not sure. Once Icame I wanted to come every timefor the festivals, so every year I camepractically.

Back in Bombay I was going to thetemple. That time DevakinandanaPrabhu was New Bhakta Program in-charge. That was 'zonal acharyas' time.He is a disciple of Jayapataka Swami, Iam too, so he used to give us specialtreatment, a nice place to stay. Thenthere was Ramsada Prabhu fromGermany, Prabhupada disciple, he usedto like us - me and my friends, heused to take us around, come to ourhostel sometimes, cook special feastfor us sometimes. Bhima Prabhu, whowas Sankirtan in-charge then, used tosend us to distribute books. DuringChristmas and summer vacations I

Hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare/ hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

8

Germany was go-down man. We weretogether for some years. Then I left that, at that time there

was some problem in the Big Kitchen.Shyamasundara was in-charge then.There was a lot of discussion aboutit and brahmachari's started to pushme to be in-charge of the kitchen.Mahashringa Maharaj was general man-ager then, Nitai Chand Maharaj waspresident. They had a meeting andasked: 'who can run the kitchen?'Nobody wanted to say anything, they allgot scared. I asked brahmachari's: 'howcomes you were going on complainingand now you are going back?' Thenthey turn on me and said: 'you run thekitchen'. I said: ' I don't know Bengali. Inever cooked in my life. I don't knowwhat to buy.' They said: 'No, no, we alllike you, you run. We will help you.' So,I became a kitchen in-charge. Therewere a lot of difficulties, I did not knowanything about kitchens, but brah-machari's helped me a lot. I was afront man to take responsibility. I dis-covered some cheating was going onwith purchasing and managed to stopit. One supply man was asking me:'why are you not buying from me asbefore?' I said: 'because your prices aretoo high and goods aren't good quality'.Then he threatened me, he said that assoon as I go out of gate he and hisfriends will teach me a lesson (bit up).There was a big crisis at one point,kitchen did not have any money left,but somehow with devotee's help Iwas managing, they were very enthu-siastic to see that kitchen run successful-ly. Then I was put in the treasury, becausethere was some problem withaccounting and I had to sort that outtoo.

batch went to the West. Somehow Icould not put myself through aninterview for a job or write exam togo to the West. I just send a note tomy father, saying that my bicycle andluggage are here, please come to pickit up, and I was gone. No one knewwhere I was gone to. If I went tosee them first, mother would startcrying and whole thing, I did not wantto face my family, because attachmentwas there. They took care of me, theyare very loving parents. They did notknow where I went to, they thought Iwent to the West somewhere, joinedthe temple. There was a rumor that Iwould go to Sweden to do some com-puter programming for HarikeshaMaharaj. So, I let that rumor be there,because my parents will not be ableto go to Sweden to get me out. MK: When did you come to Mayapur tostay?D: I came to Mayapur in 1985, May. MK: What were you doing after youcame here?D: I joined New Bhakta Program forsometime. I was put in the boundarywall. I was already initiated, but didnot know Bengali and could not jointheir classes, I thought I should clean.They wanted me to do some program(on computer) for Nama Hatta. Butthen they could not use the data basebecause most of Nama Hatta membersdo not know English, so they could notfeel out forms. I also did few things oncomputer for Jayapataka Maharaj andbecame his secretary for a shortwhile. Then there was a problem atthe construction of Samadhi and Ibecame a site in-charge. KadambaKanana was in-charge of the con-struction and I was site in-charge, onthe spot, and Laghu Hari from

was distributing books in Nasik andother parts of Maharashtra. Those dayswe did not have enough books to dis-tribute, so at night time we used to go tothe press and still books from the pressbefore BBT got them, because if wewould go to BBT go-down they wouldgive us less books. We needed few thou-sands to carry with us, so we could goon for two-tree days. Bhagavad-Gitabecame very famous.

Sadhana Sidhi Prabhu was ourSankirtana leader, also Amiya VilasSwami, brahmachari then, was travel-ing with us. He used to go to sleepat 6 PM and Sadhana Sidhi used to getangry with him for not distributingbooks until late at night.He was very austere himself. He used tosend us all distribute books and hewould cook rice, but he would not takeout the stones, so every time you bitethere was a stone. I said: 'what is this,prabhu?...' He said: 'you don't know?You should put a lot of dhal, then stonessink to the bottom and you eat from thetop.' Anyway, it was fun, we were veryyoung. Ones we were distributing books inthe train station when suddenly policecame, everyone started to close down.We also started to close down becausepolice did not want anyone to sellthings on the railway bridge. Suddenlyone man started to shout at police: 'Hey,you are not stopping prostitution and somuch nonsense. They are distributingGod's books and you coming to showyour power on them!' Police caught him and caught me also,and Sadhana Sidhi run away. He tookthe books, folded up table, put it inwagon and was gone. So, there was me,one devotee and that poor man - policetook us to the station. Eventually theymade us sign something and let go. Wegot to the temple at 4-5 o'clock in themorning... When I finished my study I could notcontinue any longer with post gradua-tion and all that, go to the West likemost of my friends. I just wanted tocome to Mayapur. So, when I finishedwith exams, same evening I came toMayapur. I did not wait for getting adegree, I just gave my exams. To get adegree you need a project, recommenda-tions by professors. I just have bachelorof technology. Most students from my

the article will continue in the next issue

Interview with Prema Manjari Devi Dasi,wife of Dayaram Prabhu

MK: Hare Krishna! Tell us something about this little boy.Prema Manjari Devi Dasi: Our son's name is Kanjan netra Das, he was namedby Jananivasa Prabhu, it's the name of Maha Prabhu. It means one who has 'kanja'meaning lotus and 'netra' means eyes. Devarishi Prabhu did the chart for him andanother outside astrologer also did his chart.MK: Did they agree?PM: Yes, pretty much, but the other astrologer gave lot more details. He said thathe would be as intelligent as his father (thank God not his mother) and he will


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Kanjan netra

have a lot of creative intelligence andwill probably create something for theworld. This sounds like a proud motherspeaking (laughs). He will definitely be adevotee, religious minded. Very stronglyreligious and and he will travel and bea teacher in the religious field, apreacher. MK: What is he doing now, in thebeginning of his life?PM: He is a good boy really, he justlaughs and talks the whole day. He does-n't want to drink milk or go to sleep dur-ing the day and at night he sleeps from6.30 to 5 or 6 in the morning, he just getsup twice for his feed and he's fast asleepagain. So I don't mind if he's up thewhole day if he's sleeping at night, buthe doesn't like to eat and he doesn'tlike to sleep during the day. He just likesto talk, talk, talk and laugh and play. I amjust running behind him the wholeday.MK: How was it for you to have yourfirst child quite late?PM: I had difficult, very difficult deliv-ery and after that I was very sick, Ihad malaria and jaundice together. Ihad a very high fever and my stitchesgot infected. It was really difficultbecause my water bag had burst for 36hours and I had no contractions, theytried to induce, but I didn't get any. Idon't even know what the pain ofchildbirth is, as I had no contractions. Igot a fever so then they thought maybehe was getting an infection, then hepassed a little bit of stuff inside, so theyhad to cut me up and get him out. He wasin intensive care for one week and I wasin the nursing home, when I came home

he was with me. I was so exhausted from the whole thing, mystitches getting infected and havingMalaria and Jaundice together.I was feeding only once or twice as I wasso weak I couldn't hold him and thattime the doctors didn't know what Ihad so they were telling me not to feedhim, because they didn't know what itwas. He was having some trouble…. MK: Was your husband with you?PM: No. We were in Bangalore when Irealized I was pregnant and even thoughKanja was conceived in Mayapur, wewent back to Bangalore. We did garbho-dana samskara here, but I didn't know Iwas pregnant until I got to Bangaloreand then I was in bed for three months,because I had some problem and then myhusband brought me here. He came toMayapur to drop me here when I was inmy fourth month and then I stayed inMayapur alone, Nirgata mataji was stay-ing with me. My husband couldn't staywith me because he had his service inBangalore. He used to come once ortwice for a week and go back toBangalore again. Then he came for the delivery, I wentto Calcutta for the delivery and hecame and then he only stayed for thedelivery and the next day he was goneback to his service. It was such a difficult time after deliv-ery women usually go through a milddepression because the hormones areall changing. It's so heavy on the body andyou need your husband, but he was gone.Then I felt really sick and he had tocome and spend so much time with mebecause of that. I was also with my

parents.Then my Father left his body, he was aheart patient. He was sick but he wasonly 64 years old, it's not very old.But of course, the Kali Yuga is pro-gressing and I don't know if I willmake it to 64. I am in Mayapur now. If my husband istraveling around then I will stay here,but if he's in Bangalore then I will go toBangalore, because it would be verydifficult to travel around with Kanjannetra. MK: Thank you, we hope to hear moreabout your son in the future. Now let'shear something about you, tell us yourstory.PM: I started coming to Mayapur as alittle girl. My Father used to makesome deity outfits. Actually,Adridharana Prabhu's wife, NirgunaMataji, first came to my father's shopand ordered some dresses for thedeities in Calcutta temple, RadhaGovinda. My father had a shop withsaris and dresses, you know, the bridalwear that they use for the deities.Special saris, special wedding dresses,Indian ladies wear them to their wed-dings. So they used to make it andNirguna Mataji first came to myfather's shop and she made him a lifemember and he used to make outfits.It used to be in New Market, well justoutside of New Market. So we startedcoming to Mayapur like that. I remem-ber coming and Bhavananda Maharajwas here and then Sri Srimati startedcoming, at that time she was ShashiShekhar, she was initiated byBhavananda Maharaj.


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I remember coming to Mayapur as alittle girl and my Father showing thedresses to Bavananda Maharaj. SrimatiMataji (Shashi Shekhar then) used tocome to our house. My room had aseparate entrance to the outside, so sheused to come and stay there. My Fatherreally started liking her, whenever shewould come to Calcutta she used to stayin our house. I was studying in Englandat that time. When I was young, first I was studyingin Calcutta, then I went to a boardingschool in Darjeeling. It's in theHimalayas, in North Bengal, a girlsboarding school - very nice Christianschool, very-very beautiful. The nunswere so nice, so straight and it waswonderful. MK: How comes your parents put youin a Christian school?PM: My parents put me there becausethey were the best schools in India andmy parents wanted me to have the besteducation.MK: How many brothers and sistersdo you have?PM: I have an elder sister and ayounger brother, and my sister andmyself were in the girls school andmy brother is five years younger, somy parents thought when we came backthen they'd send my brother. But he neverwent, because mothers are more fond ofsons and she never let him go. Anyway,so then I came back from Darjeeling andI was in Calcutta for one year and Iwent to London to study at university.When I was there I was working sohard and studying very hard and at thattime I was thinking that there has tobe something more in life, I can't justwaste my life. MK: How old were you when you cameback from school?PM: I was 15 when I came back, 16when I was in Calcutta and 17 when Iwent to England and at 18 years I becamea Hare Krishna in England. Then I cameback after studying in England and Iused to come to Mayapur for my holi-days and I wanted to join at that timebut then Bhavananda Maharaja had justleft, so Shasi Shekhar Mataji was takingshiksha from my Guru Maharaja,Bhakti Caru Swami. She was askinghim weather I should join full time orshould I carry on studying? He told meI should study, I should not give up

my studies, which was a very unusualanswer at that time. At that time everonewas saying ‘join full time, everythingelse is 'maya'’, so he told me to continuestudying and I was studying in Londonand I got my first initiation and then mysecond initiation. First initiation - in Mayapur, and sec-

ond in London. Then, after that I joinedin 1990 full time in Mayapur. Before thatI was just coming, spending all my hol-idays here and most of my time in SohoStreet temple in London, and I used to goto the Manor also, but more to SohoStreet. When I came back to Mayapur in1990, I was staying with Srimati Mataji,that time she had taken re-initiationfrom Harikesha Maharaja, so I used tostay with her, and I used to do service inthe park - the Harinama Parikrama, I wasdoing that with her, and I used to travelup and down to Calcutta. I used to stay inthe ashram - I was the only one stayingin the ashram, I was living on her bal-cony. I used to do the full park projectand at that time we had some localboys coming from Mayapur and theyused to help. Sometimes there was anoth-er mataji, a disciple of JayapatakaMaharaja, she used to help in theevenings sometimes and sometimesVinoda Vani Mataji used to help, wifeof Bhakta Rupa Prabhu. But I was fulltime and I was often go to Calcutta,and I would preach there. I used to gocollect in Calcutta for the project. Itwas such hard work. I did that for afew years and in 1993 I was so tiredand my guru Maharaj sent me to SouthAfrica, I went to Capetown, there I wasdoing book distribution and I becameSankirtan leader for the matajis there. I came back to India and Guru Maharajwanted me to do book distribution inCalcutta, because we were getting closeto Prabhupada's centennial year and hereally wanted us to do book distributionin Calcutta, which is Prabhupada's birthplace. At that time he had finished translatingChaitanya Caritamrita into Bengali and ithad just been published, so we used togo to offices and distribute BengaliChaitanya Caritamrita in Calcutta. Thatwas under Adridharana Prabhu. Weused to go to Boro Bazaar, all theoffices, the main commercial areas. Weused to go and distribute sets there.

It was a very-very successful program,we were distributing like six seven setsevery day. MK: How many books that was?PM: There were three of us, and in a setthere were about eight or nine books. Atthat time a set was selling for eight ornine hundred rupees. It was a lot ofmoney. It was a lot of money for aBengali office going person. But some-how with Krishna's help it went verynice, very reciprocal.Then I went back to South Africa, Iwent to Durban - book distributionagain. Sometimes I did a little pujari work.And then I came back to Mayapur.Then I became my Guru Maharaja'ssecretary - that was really nice.Actually, he brought me to India, thatwas in 96 or 97, he got me to Bombayand he was starting the shooting forthe Abhai Charan serial. I was the onlydevotee on the set. There was anothercongregational devotee, two of us, andeverybody else was like normal crew. Iwas there for sometime, then I left forso many reasons. I was Guru Maharaja's secretary and Iused to travel with a group of otherdevotees, we used to travel with GuruMaharaja around India and we werespending a lot of time in India at thattime. We used to travel as a group ofsecretaries. I did that and then I got mar-ried and once I got married the wholeworld changed.MK: How did you get married?PM: My Guru Maharaja was trying toget me married for a long, long timebecause it is very unusual for Indiangirls to join fulltime, it's not the donething and also I read sometime thatPrabupada also didn't want this. So, Iwanted to join and my parents wereflipping out, they were just freakingout that I wanted to join all thesewesterners, all hippies, drugs, CIA - wehad such a bad reputation in India atthat time, you know. MK: Was not your father alreadyinvolved?PM: He was just a Life-member, butfulltime is different. And also I was anunmarried girl, only seventeen or eight-een. But, then my Guru Maharaja isvery kind - my mother told him that'there is no good Indian boys in yourmovement, who is she going to get


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married to?' He told her, 'anyway, Iwill take personal responsibility forher', he said, ‘even if ISKCON doesn'ttake care of her, I will take care ofher’. He said "I'll make sure she getsmarried to a good boy" - and that's avery heavy responsibility to take,because you just don't know what ayoung girl will do at that time thesenses are so wild.He was trying for many years to getme married and he would always pro-pose somebody and then he would say,‘what do you think?’ And I wouldalways tell him what I thought, youknow... Oh, dear! And he would say, 'yeah, yeah ok… for-get it, this is not nice'. So, he never used to just tell me,

'ok you marry him' and that was it.He was not like that, and there wereso many proposals and I wouldalways tell him this and that. MK: You were not getting nervousthat you are getting older and still notmarried? PM: I was, but there was nobodythat I really thought I could get mar-ried to, and finally my Guru Maharajasaid, 'I can't find anyone good enoughfor you, if you like someone let meknow'. MK: O-ho-oo ! PM: …well…, actually, my god-broth-er and my god-sister Balaram andSubhadra, I was staying in their housethen, they were renting AdhikartaPrabhu's house, anyway, they werealways thinking would she get mar-ried - to this one or that one... Whatabout him?... Of course, he was such a nice bra-machari, I thought it would be nice,so then Balaram told my GuruMaharaja. And then Guru Maharajatold Balaram how to ask him - tofirst ask him if he is interested ingetting married, don't tell him myname and this and that. At that same time he was writing tohis Guru Maharaja telling him that hewanted to change his ashram, healready separately came to that deci-sion. I didn't know what what he wasthinking. I came to know only becauseI was my guru Maharaja's secretary - inthat position you get to find outthings.MK: O! So, you got to find out what

was on his mind?PM: No, he was just thinking of chang-ing ashram, he didn't know it was me.Even Balaram just asked him if hewanted to change his ashram, and even-tually, my Guru Maharaja spoke toJayapataka Maharaja, then HarikeshaMaharaja spoke to my Prabhu andtold him that 'it's ok, if you want toget married, the bramachari's will for-give you if you get married'. (it wassuch a scene (!)).

Anyway, eventually, JayapatakaMaharaja also told him that he shouldchange his ashram, at that point heknew it was me. I think his GuruMaharaja wanted him to consider mebecause he knew I was a Mayapur girland that I wouldn't take him away,because he always wanted him to bein Mayapur. So, like that, it just happened, andthen… Hare Krishna... - he was takingso long to make up his mind. I thinkfor a bramachari it is very difficult tochange ashram. He was taking sometime - he took a long time - like oneyear or something, long-long time… MK: So, he kept you waiting long. Wereyou in anxiety - what if he changed hismind? PM: I was in a lot of anxiety. ThenHarikesha Maharaja left…MK: Did that push him over the edge?PM: After that happened, I think herealized that it was time to change andhe changed into white, and then thewhole temple was looking at me,when he changed into white - every-body knew by then. You know,Mayapur, you can't keep a secret,everybody seems to know. MK: Then what happened?PM: Anyway, then we got married. And then… we got involved - we weremarried only for three months whenthe whole Calcutta problem started.My God (!) - it just took the life outof us, and after that, when the prob-lem was finished my husband and Iwere so fed up that we just wanted toleave and go for a break, you know,just go. But we didn't have anymoney. MK: You were not supported for yourservice?PM: From the temple we get only a lit-tle maintenance, from Mayapur temple,and that's not enough for anything - as

we have so many guests and senior lead-ers coming to our house all the time,you know. It's wonderful also becausethey come for meetings and it's all todo with Krishna Consciousness and youcan't be rude to them, so Prabhu invitesthem for prasad. Our maintenance doesn'tcover it, as everything is so expensive,phone calls… We live in a rented flat -the temple gives us - so, this rented flatand little maintenance, everything elsewe pay for. All the electricity we pay for,phone calls, everything. Prabhu wantedto go to America to get money together.Then we started a little business here. MK: You were the clever one to do that!How did you get it together?PM: I was desperate, desperate… - I did-n't want to go from Mayapur. Everyonethought that I was the one who wantedhim to go to America. It's always thewomen they blame, always the woman…- and, Oh! I just didn't want to go. I justwanted everyone to realize it was notme (!) I mean, I'm a very stubborn personand once I get something in my mind,so… And Krishna is so kind, becausesomehow it just worked. I'm really happy that Krishna is so kindto us. Now I just need to be a mother. I'mtired ………MK: How comes your husband gotinvolved again in the same type of thingin Bangalore?PM: We wanted to do this incense busi-ness, so we went to Bangalore, becausethat's the place to go to start anincense business. We didn't want anyoneto know we were there, because weknew - as soon as they found out, theywould pull us in, so we didn't tell any-body we were there. But, then the newsbroke out, of course, and everyone want-ed my husband to take up theBangalore responsibility. So, we called Jananivasa Prabhu - myhusband has a lot of respect forJananivasa Prabhu. I think he is one ofthe devotees he respects the most inour movement, so he called him and heasked him to pray to Radha-Madava andto let us know weather Radha-Madavawanted him to do this or not, becausewe were so tired. Since we got marriedthat's the only thing we did, we neverhad a break, we were exhausted,exhausted, exhausted… So, he called Jananivasa Prabhu afterthree days and he said 'you can chant for

millions of lifetimes in the Holy Dham and you may not get Krishna's mercy, but if you serve the Vaisnavas, then you will cer-tainly get Krishna's mercy'. If the Vaisnavas want you to do this then you must do it.So, we ended up in Bangalore. Then we came to Calcutta, for Ambarisha Prabhu's program, he had come last year in December and that really helped changethe whole media impression about ISKCON Calcutta, we had all these years of negative and horrible publicity and he cameand the whole thing was positive, and since then we haven't had bad publicity in Calcutta. At that time, just for two days we came to Mayapur and that's when Kanjan netra came. [ed: Go to the top of the article]MK: Hare Krishna. Thank you. Anything else you want to add? PM: We would like to beg all the Vaisnavas to please bless all of us that we may serve Srila Prabupada and all theVaisnava's always and Kanjan netra will grow up to serve Srila Prabupada and the Vaisnava's. u


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MK: Are you planning to do anyimprovements on the lighting in thealtar?J: Now I think we have sufficientlighting, but we don't turn it all onin the day time or at mangala-arotik. MK: The small Pancha-tattva isnot lit up very well.J: Yea, They are kind of down andforward now and all the lights are point-ing at the big ones. Otherwise, wehave nine halogen lights, one thousandwatts each! - Plus all the spot lights. Ithink we have sufficient lights; it is justthe angle the small Pancha-tattva isstanding. MK: There is a lot of cloth in the altarnow, all the canopies, curtains, etc. Howdo you clean all this cloth?J: We have a vacuum cleaner. Thecanopy on the ceiling will stay, but backdrop we can change regularly. We arethinking to paint the back of the altarwith some scenery. MK: Glass also looks very good, spe-cial effects glass.J: Hmm…MK: Do you have any more plans forthe grand abhishek of big Pancha-tatt-va Deities? Like every year on GauraPurnima?J: People are asking. We could make aBrahma-mahotsava festival. In greatSouth Indian temples they have this fes-tival, celebrating the day when Deitieswere installed. It goes on for days andweeks sometimes, like in Tirupati. Theyhave different functions. Here it is moreor less coincides with Gaura Purnimafestival. We could have it at that time.MK: It was so spectacular to see all

these colors and honey and ghee pour-ing over Them! And if it is every year -imagine how many more devotees willcome here to see it [and hopefully par-ticipate too]. J: Yes. Now everyone knows what toexpect. At the time of installation noone knew what to expect, even I didnot know what to expect. It was over-whelming and spectacular. MK: It can be even more spectacularnext time! Imagine - all the assembleddevotees streaming onto the altar fromone side, pouring all these wonderfulsubstances over the deities and go downfrom another side… What more spectac-ular can we see?!J: Yes.MK: So, has this idea had been dis-cussed to do it next year? Do we have ahope to see it again? Are you into it?J: Yea, yea.MK: What kind of hair does Pancha-tattva have?J: Puri Maharaja and his group fromScotland sent the wigs. SivaramaSwami arranged it. We gave themmeasurements a little late, so they sentanother set for the time being, whichthey put together quickly. The properones should be here any time now.They are still coming, so we will have

two sets actually, so we will be able toarrange Their hair nicely, while other setis in use.MK: So, you have tricked them todonate two sets instead of one?J: …(chuckle)…MK: Is it synthetic hair?J: Yes.MK: Who is looking after Their hair,combing them?J: Same mataji’s, headed by NirgataDevi Dasi will take care, but they did nothave time yet, because the other sethave not come, and Pancha-tattva is stillwearing these wigs all the time. Nirgataand Shradha Matajis are coming to thealtar in the morning before darshan toarrange the hair quickly, but later onthey will do it in the same place wherethey arrange Radha-Madhava's andGopi's hair. MK: How often do they do that?J: On Radha-Madhava's altar hairs getchanged every week. I don't know howlong it takes mataji’s to arrange them,but once a week we are changingDeity's hair. MK: Pancha-tattva have quite bigshoes, what are they made of?J: They are wooden shoes, made of teakwood. Tulsi Vallabh Prabhu (he used tobe Bh.Thomas) made them. Now he is

Interview with Jana nivasa Prabhu

continued from page 3:

Pancha-tatva instalation abhishek with Sridhar Swami standing behind Nityananda


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making different designs, beautifulshaped shoes, different design for eachone. He will make these and we willhave them silver-plated. MK: How many pujaris it takes to dressone Deity?J: One or two. Now they are gettingexperienced, so even one can do. MK: How do they fit the turbans?J: We have a table there and they puta stool on top of it. MK: Are all five Deities dressed simul-taneously?J: Yes.MK: Do devotees come to you with sug-gestions how to serve Pancha-tattvabetter?J: Yes. One suggestion was how to makeeven light and cut down reflections. Itwill take some experimentation. MK: Can you cut down the sharpreflections on Their faces? That wouldbe great! - It distracts the attentionfrom the actual face features. J: Some devotees say we can. KrishnaPrema knows about light. I told him:'you come and experiment'. I triedbefore to do it in Radha-Madhava'saltar, I didn't find it very successful.We were shining light backwards on thewhite umbrella, putting white sheet infront, etc. MK: Are you going to try that inPancha-tattva's altar?J: Yes, I invited Krishna Prema tocome and experiment with it. MK: Did he come?J: Not yet.MK: Do you see any increase in howmany people are daily visiting Pancha-tattva's temple? (Before you were sayingthat not so many people came there, theyall wanted to be in Radha-Madhava'stemple and some Vastu corrections to thebuilding were going on.)J: Yea, yea. MK: Are there more donations nowthan before?J: Yes, it's much more.MK: What do you connect it to - thenew Vastu corner or the big Pancha-tattva being there?J: No, if you want to start somethingnew than you may take advantage ofVastu, but in a Vishnu temple Vastu isnot that important. MK: In Radha-Madhava's templethere are a lot of things to take notice off,but Pancha-tattva's temple is still quite

plain. May be if there would be somemore active engagement for people theywill be more interested there?J: Yes, we want that the visitors beencouraged to make their bhoga andgarland offerings to Pancha-tattva.Usually it all goes to Nrisimha Deva. Itis more convenient there. I would like that people come andmake all these offerings to Pancha-tatt-va. It would be nice if people whocome to Mayapur be encouraged toworship Pancha-tattva - the Deities forthis age. They should worship LordChaitanya here.MK: May be Pancha-tattva's maha-prasad should be sold in Their temple,so people have more reasons to gothere?J: Yea. MK: What is going on with templeextension? Why the windows on thetop flow got filled in?J: We were planning to have an exhi-bition, dioramas there, but the mainthing is a video show continuouslygoing on. People will come, pay some-thing; sit down - a group at a time. Itmay be an animated thing. We werediscussing during festival with devo-tees from 'Avatara' studio of America. Itwill be about how Lord Chaitanya is,how He descends in Navadvipa andpropagating chanting the Holy Name,and what is the Yuga-dharma. Just tolet people know who is LordChaitanya and what they should bedoing in Kali Yuga. Make it veryauthoritative. MK: Do you mean it would be similarto exhibition in Radha-Madhava's tem-ple? J: No, this should be more of a visualthing. We were thinking of puttingdolls, but multimedia show makes moreeffect, people like to see somethingmade with modern technology, reallyworld-class, it makes a big impression.Most people don't even know that LordChaitanya is God, they think He is asaint. So, we need to present all theauthoritative statements from theVedas, how He is predicted to come,about His mother and father, etc. So,they will go away, knowing that LordChaitanya is Krishna Himself, whoappears in Kali-yuga to give Yuga-Dharma. MK: Who will do the multimedia

presentation?J: We spoke with Krishna Prema Prabhu,also with Bharat Prabhu. This type ofpresentation speaks more than ordinarydiorama exhibition.MK: So, then after watching the showthey can come down and offer bhoga andgarlands to Pancha-tattva.J: Yes. It could be connected to eachother, when they come down we will tellthem 'now you should offer somethingto Pancha-tattva'. MK: Anything else?J: Well, another thing I would actuallyreally like is that after this experience ofGaura Purnima, when we had 72-hour kir-tan in Pancha-tattva's temple - that wasbeautiful, it was building up, building up- that's what really made the whole festi-val happen, it really brought everythingto life. Of course we have got 24-hourkirtan ticking along in Bhajan Kutir, butwhen it is like that, so many devotees andso enthusiastic - the whole atmosphere isso surcharged - people come and just getoverwhelmed by it, they don't bother tosee things that are out of place or somefaults any more. Srila Prabhupada said that the managersshould see that nothing else should beheard in Mayapur except for the HolyNames - Hare Krishna maha-mantra,Pancha-tattva maha-mantra and Gopala-Govinda-Ram-Sri-Madhusudana. This will make our center spiritually

perfect. So, that would be really nice if we couldestablish this in Pancha-tattva temple. MK: May be you should do some spe-cial puja to Pancha-tattva to attractAhindra Prabhu to come here and estab-lish this program. His kirtan really madethis festival happen.J: Yes, he doesn't do bhajan or anythinglike that. He strictly follows the maha-mantra kirtan.The two highlights for the next year'sGaura Purnima Festival will be reunionwith continuous Prabhupada-katha andkirtan.MK: This year the usual pizza indul-gement during festival had noticeablygone down, especially during thosethree days of continuous kirtan. Itseemed like almost everyone was inkirtan.J: Good. MK: Thank you, Prabhu.

Hare Krishna.


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cratic Indian gentlemen we were mainlyapproaching at that time. But he was so sin-cere in his desire to preach that he becameone of the best preachers in India, and one ofthe best preachers in the world. I have toldthis story to illustrate Maharaja's sinceredesire to preach, and his strong determina-tion to serve Srila Prabhupada and themission even in ways that may not havebeen easy for him.In India, Srila Prabhupada had introducedthe life membership program. And heactually based the society's progress thereon the membership program. He said thatmaking someone a life-member wasalmost as good as making them into adevotee. He also said that he introducedthe life-membership program as a way todistribute his books, because if someonebecame a life member by paying a certainsubscription, they would get a set of SrilaPrabhupada's books and a subscription to‘Back to Godhead’ magazine.

Eventually, Sridhar Swami led one of thelife membership teams in Bombay. I wasthe membership director, and the otherleaders of teams were Sridhar Swami,Lokanath Swami, Jagat Purusa Prabhu andHaridas Prabhu (who since then has becomea producer of Krsna conscious televisionprograms). Those were our main teams. Inthe early 1980s, Sridhar Maharaja becamethe Juhu temple president, and so heincreasingly joined me in cultivating themost important people in Bombay. Andbetween 1984 and 1990, when I wasunable to return to India because of visaproblems, Sridhar Maharaja deepened hisrelationship with many of our mostimportant members, and they really came

by Giriraja Swami:

We now have a special opportunity andresponsibility to honor and glorify HisHoliness Sridhar Swami Maharaja.My own association with His HolinessSridhar Swami goes back to Bombay, overthirty years ago. Srila Prabhupada hadrequested disciples from America to cometo India to help him there, and in particularwith his three main projects - Bombay,Mayapur, and Vrndavana. From 1972, HisHoliness Sridhar Swami Maharaja servedSrila Prabhupada in India, mainly inBombay.

When we got permission from the munici-pality to build on Hare Krishna Land inJuhu, Bombay, Srila Prabhupada wantedSridhar Maharaja to take charge of theconstruction materials. Sridhar Maharajahad a hefty build, like a football player,so Srila Prabhupada thought he would beappropriate to keep track of the construc-tion material and make sure none of itwas stolen. But Sridhar Maharaja (hewasn't a sanyasi then, so Sridhar dasBrahmachari) said he didn't want to lookafter the construction material; he wantedto preach. I was the temple president inBombay, so I was going back and forthbetween Srila Prabhupada and SridharMaharaja. Srila Prabhupada again said heshould look after the construction mate-rials, so I went back to deliver the mes-sage to him, but Sridhar Maharaja insisted,"I want to preach!"

Maharaja had never really preached muchin India before then, and we didn't knowhow well he could preach to the aristo-

by Radhanath Swami,Radha Gopinath Mandir,

ISKCON Chowpatty

Today (14/03/2004), SridharSwami Maharaja departed thismortal world to enter into theeternal pastimes of SrilaPrabhupada. Actually he is alwaysinvolved in those eternal pas-times, but we can know that SrilaPrabhupada has called him toassist on another level. SridharMaharaja is noted by all as one ofthe most faithful, dedicated associ-ates of Prabhupada. He came to ourmovement in the 1960s and fromthat time without break or hesita-tion he was immersed in service ofGuru and Krishna.

In our last meeting, with tears inhis eyes, he said to me, "There is noone in this entire planet that I lovemore than Giriraj Swami Maharajabecause, when I first came toIndia, I saw his complete surren-der to Prabhupada. I wanted to belike him; I wanted to learn fromhim how to be a disciple." At thattime, the phone rang and when hepicked up, it was GirirajMaharaja from California. Theyspoke for some time, and SridharMaharaja gave the phone to me. Itold Giriraj what SridharMaharaj had said. There was com-plete silence. I could hear GirirajMaharaja's voice choking. Thatwas the love the two of themshared.

Memories of His Holiness

Sridhar Swami Maharaja

Based on talks in Laguna Beachand Los Angeles given by

H.H. Giriraja Swami

( 14-th and 15-th March 2004 )


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to love him deeply.Later, about 1991, Sridhar Maharaja beganthe fund-raising-by-mail program in Juhu.Many devotees criticized the proposed pro-gram, saying it would never work. To pre-pare the letters and post them would costmore than two lakhs rupees (Rs 2,00,000),and where was the guarantee that wewould ever get the money back? Yet inspite of all the negativity, Maharaja took therisk. (Srila Prabhupada had said, "To preachmeans to take risks.") So, Sridhar Maharajatook the risk, and the experiment provedto be successful.The first effort itself made money, and sub-sequent mailings proved even more prof-itable. Soon, Maharaja received invitationsfrom centers in India and abroad to helpthem organize fund-raising-by-mail cam-paigns, and the campaigns proved to besuccessful everywhere. They became one ofthe most reliable sources of income manytemples had. Even today, the BHISMAoffice, started by Sridhar Maharaja, raisesfunds for the Juhu temple by mail.

More recently, Sridhar Maharaja started theVAST program (Vedic Applied SpiritualTechnology). This pioneering program usesthe latest multi-media methods to teach thecorporate sector stress management and timemanagement - all in relation to Krsna con-sciousness. Maharaja always tried to findinnovative ways to present Krsna conscious-ness. He studied experts in various fieldsand applied what he learned to Krsna con-sciousness.

Eventually, Sr idhar Maharaja was given theresponsibility to initiate disciples, and hetook his duty very seriously. He was verysincere. Mahara ja initiated one of his ear-liest disciples, a devotee from Croatia, in hisfirst initiation ceremony at Juhu. Maharajanamed him "Mayapur das" and instructedhim to be a servant of Mayapur. Even up tothe end, Maharaja was very sincere in hisduties to his disciples and in his care andaffection for them. He really cared forthem, and he loved them very much. At thesame time, he cared for devotees and peo-ple in general, and I think this is one ofhis most remarkable traits: his almost uni-versal care for others. He really was like anocean of love.

In Kartika of 1999, Sridhar Maharaja andI met in Vrndavana. One morning we wentto the Bhaktivedanta Ashram at Govardhana,where I was to meet His HolinessIndradyumna Swami and choose aGovardhana-sila to worship. IndradyumnaSwami gave me his deity of Gopesvara

Mahadeva , and he gave Sridhar Maharajasilas of Lord Nrsimhadeva andVarahadeva. Earlier, Indradyumna Swamihad told Sridhar Maharaja, "I will havesomething for you when you come toGovardhana." Sridhar Swami was a greatdevotee of Lord Nrsimhadeva.

During the same stay in Vrndavana,Sridhar Maharaja and I did Govardhana-parikrama together, followed by a groupof devotees. We had wonderful krsna-katha all around Govardhana Hill.Although we both were ill, we d id thefull parikrama barefoot in the hot sun,and only afterward did we take prasadaat the Bhaktivedanta Ashram.

Within a month, we both were in the hos-pital - he in a coma, with encephalopa-thy from hepatitis C, and me on theverge of a heart attack, about to havecardiac bypass surgery. Later, Maharajapraised the power of that parikrama -that it put us both in the hospital soquickly. He told me, "The only reason Iwent all the way around was to keep upwith you." I replied, "But, Maharaja, theonly reason I went all the way aroundwas to keep up with you!" Such was ourrelationship, and such is the mercy ofGiri-Govardhana.

Anyway, two years earlier, SridharMaharaja had been diagnosed with hep-atitis C and cirrhosis of the liver, asevere condition that, in thecourse of time, proves to be fatal. AfterKartika, Maharaja's condition deteriorat-ed, and some liquid, called ascites, accu-mulated in his abdominal cavity. He hadnearly twenty or twenty-five liters offluid, which caused massive swelling inhis legs as well. So he returned toBombay for tests and treatment.

In Bombay, Maharaja was admitted inthe Bhaktivedanta Hospital at Mira Road,which is run and staffed mainly bydevotees. There, Maharaja had a furtherreversal; he went into a coma. Soon, HisHoliness Tamal Krishna Goswami andsome of Goswami Mahara ja's closefriends - Giridhari Swami and KesavaBharati Maharaja - came from Vrndavanato Bombay to meet Sridhar Maharaja inthe hospital. Maharaja was so grateful tothem for coming all the way fromVrndavana to be with him, and their visithad a very deep effect on him.From then on, one of the main themesin his life was how much he appreciat-ed his Godbrothers, how much he wanted

their association. He would say, "MyGodbrothers are my life," and he felt, as ahumble Va isnava , dependent on them.Even at the end, when he was in Canada, justbefore he left for Mayapur, he was askingdifferent Godbrothers, "Please help me. Helpme to chant the holy name." He was very,very humble.

Eventually, Sridhar Maharaja was dis-charged from the hospital, but his condi-tion remained delicate. Many devotees sug-gested that he return to Vrndavana andspend his last days there, hearing andchanting about Krsna.Again, he was so sincere that he acceptedthe advice of his Godbrothers and well-wishers. But soon he felt, "This is not me,just to sit and chant and hear inVrndavana." Again he came to the samepoint: "I want to preach." So, Maharajastayed in Haridas Prabhu's vacant flat atMira Road, and he would meet devoteesand friends - and preach.

In April of 2000, Maharaja was againadmitted into the Bhaktivedanta Hospitalin an early stage of hepatic coma. Later,he had difficulty breathing and actuallyfelt he might leave his body then. But herecovered from the crisis, and soon he gotthe idea that he would like to travelagain. And he was adamant.

To travel then, from the medical point ofview, was a doubtful decision, butMaharaja was determined. His first stopwas to be Santa Barbara, where I have asmall ashram. He wanted to visit, to spendsome time with me and to rest and recu-perate. Thus, in May of 2000, he and hisvery faithful and wonderful servant,Mayapur das, somehow got on a plane andreached Los Angeles. From the Los Angelesairport they came straight by car to SantaBarbara, but by the time he reached theashram, he was in a terrible condition. Wewere shocked. Already he was alreadyterribly sick, but he had caught the flu inBombay before he left - although thesymptoms didn't manifest until he reachedHong Kong. Some devotees said that heshouldn't have traveled at all, that he wastoo sick to travel, and that the diseasewas affecting his discrimination. But inretrospect , I see it as his love and hisdesire to serve and preach. In fact, some-times I think that he risked his life justto come and visit me.

So, he came, and we spent some timetogether. He was on a very strict diet thathe didn't much like, and he would cheat a


16

life, if I have learned even one little les-son, it is dasa-dasanudasa. Cultivate serviceto the Vaisnavas and you will get every-thing. We need a family in which we canlove and trust each other and not fear. Wehave to preach to so many materialisticpeople. Their very aura is permeated withlust and greed and anger, and there is apossibility of getting infected. But if wecan come to a community of friends, ofbrothers and sisters, where we love eachother, care...I am not talking of superficially sayingsomething , but where we really care deepdown inside that this person is sufferingand care, even materially. Prabhupada criedwhen he saw people suffering materially inthe material world. So, what to speak ofexalted Vaisnava devotees : we should carefor them and love them. This is our fam-ily."

January 14th, 2003, marked the twenty fifthanniversary of the grand opening of theJuhu temple, and Sridhar Maharaja took thelead in arranging the silver jubilee cele-brations. He wanted every devotee, whohad ever served in Juhu, especially in thetime leading up to the grand opening -which was basically when SrilaPrabhupada was personally present - hewanted every one of them to come. TheJuhu temple had a modest budget to helpdevotees with their airfares, but eventual-ly another very nice devotee in Bombay,Krsnacandra Prabhu (Hrishikesh Mafatlal),gave severa l lakhs of rupees to pay fordevotees' tickets. Any Prabhupada disciple,who had served in Bombay, SridharSwami tracked down. He phoned and per-sonally requested him or her to come andthen offered free tickets, as required.

So many came, and the reports of thatevent were extraordinary. People couldn'tbelieve it. Everyone there felt that SrilaPrabhupada had manifested himself again.Even His Holiness Sacinandana Swami,who hadn't served in Bombay earlier, buthappened to be there for the celebrations,said that he felt Srila Prabhupada's pres-ence descend in a very tangible way. Andeveryone gave the credit to SridharSwami. He deserved the credit becausehe got so many devotees to come, and hemade wonderful arrangements for them -with help, of course, from devotees fromChowpatty and Juhu. And when it wastime for the devotees to give their remem-brances of the early days of servingSrila Prabhupada in Bombay, he wouldn'tallow the gurus and sanyasi's to speak.He said, "We hear them all the time; we

is gradual. In a way, you could say that atfirst Maharaja was sort of delirious. Butthe beauty of his delirium was that hisgoodness came out freely: He just waned everyone to chant. He wanted every-one to become Krsna conscious - the doc-tors, the nurses, the nurses' assistants,the room cleaners. He really just wantedeveryone to become Krsna conscious.

And then, too, he would think of hisbrothers in Canada. He really wantedthem, Malcolm and Stuart, to becomedevotees. He would talk to us aboutthem, not completely coherently, but withgreat love and care. And he would talkwith them, as well as with his motherand sister (who were also in Canada), onthe phone. He saw some spark in themthat he wanted to fan. He really wantedthem to become devotees.

When the crisis began, we informed hisfamily. His sister, Fiona, was just won-derful - so helpful and responsible. Andeventua lly, his brother Malcolm camedown to Santa Barbara and stayed withMaharaja and us for a while.Also, Hridayananda Maharaja visitedMaharaja in the hospital. And again,Sridhar Maharaja was so appreciative.The two of them joked a lot, and soonSridhar Maharaja was discharged andcame back to our ashram. Despite histrying medical condition, he really was"the jolly swami," so friendly to the nurs-es and staff and everyone.

(After some days, the bill from the hospitalcame - for almost $30,000. Maharajastudied it carefully. Finally, he concluded:" I want my money. Te ll them they cantake back my consciousness!")

From then on, despite his hepatitis, hewould travel a lot, sort of like Prabhupada- more or less six months in India, basedin Bombay, and six months traveling. Hewould visit London and Croatia andSlovenia, and he would always attend theNew York Ratha-yatra. He made a pointalways to go to the New York Ratha-yatra.And he would regularly visit Alachua,Los Angeles, Vancouver, and even Brazil.He had many disciples in Croatia andSlovenia. Many of the young peoplethere became initiated by him.

In September of 2001, His HolinessSridha r Swami, accompanied byNrsimhananda Prabhu of ITV, came spe-cially to Carpinteria for our Vyasa-puja.There he said: "For me, in my stage of

little now and then. One night I went outto a preaching program. Although he was-n't well enough to come, he encouraged mto go. So, we left him in the care ofMayapur das and one lady devotee, namedKunti, who could cook in case he neededanything.After I left, he decided that he wanted toindulge himself a little; he asked for veg-gie burgers and French-fries, which were notat all on his diet. Kunti dutifully preparedthe veggie burgers and chips, and Mayapurreluctantly served them. Maharaja ate them,and he was in very jolly spirits.

In Bombay we had two highly aristocraticlife members, very affluent, yet very devot-ed - Mr. Brijratan Mohatta and Mr. M. P.Maheshwari. Every Sunday, they and theirwives would come to Juhu. Out of their deepaffection for Maharaja, these two gentlemenbegan to call him "the jolly swami" becausehe was always so jolly. The name stuck, anda few years ago, Maharaja's brother Stuartactually wrote an article about him called‘TheJolly Swami’. It was a nice article and waspublished in a magazine in Canada.Recently, this nickname became even morepopular - and deservedly so - becauseMaharaja remained so jolly, even up to thetime of death.

So, happily enjoying Kuntidevi's tasty burg-ers and chips, "the jolly swami" was in avery jolly mood indeed. The next morning,however, he wasn't quite so jolly - or hedidn't manifest his mood. In fact, hewouldn't get up. We thought, "He must beexhausted." Time passed, and still hewouldn't get up. We waited, tried again,waited, and tried again. Finally, we realizedhe was in a coma, so we rushed him to thehospital, to the emergency room. He waseventually put in the intensive care unit.(Later, Maharaja would phone and say, "Iwant to come to Santa Barbara and havesome more of Kunti's 'coma burgers.'")

Physiologically, there was a certain courseto be run, and the doctors were confidentthat he would come out of the coma. It justhad to be treated in the proper way and thecondition would reverse itself.Again, in the hospital, Sridhar Maharaja'sgreat affection and care came out. Becauseof the liver's malfunction, it wasn't able totake out the toxins - that was the basic prob-lem. And eventually the toxins go to thebrain and cause encephalopathy. If the toxinsin the brain reach a certain point, thepatient goes into a coma. Then the process ofcoming out of the coma and toxic influence


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phone, and we would meet whenever hecame to Los Angeles. Then, last November,he phoned from Bombay and told me hewas planning to go to Vancouver in Apriland spend four to six months there. Ii I replied, "I will definitely come andspend time with you there." Soon there-after, however, I got an e-mail from himsaying that he had been diagnosed inBombay with liver cancer, and that hewas going to Vancouver immediately tosee if he could get a liver transplant ,which was his "only hope."

He flew to Vancouver. The first day hewent for tests, they found three placeswhere cancer had affected his liver,which pr ima facie made him eligible forthe transplant. But they still had to domore tests. When they did the next tests,however, they found more cancer - andbecause the cancer had spread beyondthe limit allowed for transplants, his"only hope" was dashed. He was ineligi-ble for the transplant because the cancerhad spread so much. So it seemed like hewas soon to leave his body.

I was very distressed. I phoned him, buthe wasn't answering on his landline. Ithen got him on his cell phone. I asked,"Where are you?" He answered, "I'mshopping." He seemed so jolly - likealways. But then he confirmed myworst fears: "The doctor says that Icould go at any time. Phone me backlater. We have to talk."

After that, we would speak every day,usually twice a day. And we had won-derful talks. The question arose whetherhe should go to Mayapur - and when.He decided he would go to Mayapur, andeventually, in consultation with hisGodbrothers , he concluded he should goas soon as possible.

He had three desires, as he told me :"I just want to survive until I reachMayapur. Then, if possible, I want to liveto see the Panca-tattva installed. Andthen, if possible, I want to live untilGaura-Purnima. And then - whatever."(He meant, of course, "And then - what-ever Krsna wants.")

With these three desires in his heart,although no one knew how much trav-el his weakened body could bear,Sridhar Maharaja flew to London. There,Indradyumna Swami joined him.(Maharaja's sister, Fiona, had informedIndradyumna Swami of the doctor's pro-

want to hear others." Of course, that they alsospoke, too, but mainly he wanted to give oth-ers the chance to speak. He really was pandi-ta sama-darsinah : he really saw everyoneequally. He truly saw the soul, and heappreciated everyone. He appreciated every-one's good, and he wanted to encourageeveryone.

Anyway, it was a wonderful event. Once, Iphoned, just to be part of the celebrations,and the receptionist in the guesthouse inJuhu picked up the phone. I asked forMaharaja, but he didn't happen to be rightthere, and it was going to take time to findhim. They were going to look for him. Inthe meantime I asked, "Who else is there?"Just then, Jagat Purusa Prabhu was walkingby. I said, "Okay, I'll speak to him." JagatPurusa was in high ecstasy. He wasn'tspeaking; the ecstasy within him was mov-ing him to speak. And he said that he hadnot experienced such bliss in Krsna con-sciousness since the time he was actually inBombay serving Srila Prabhupada. He wasjust went on and on, emphasizing that itwas the most memorable occasion of hislife, and I think everyone pretty much feltthe same way, because they felt SrilaPrabhupada's presence. What more do anyof us want? For us, the highest perfectionis to be with Srila Prabhupada, andSridhar Swami, I feel, was instrumental increating that situation in which SrilaPrabhupada was pleased to manifest him-self in such a vivid and personal way.

After a few days of recuperating from thatmajor effort, Maharaja wanted to travelagain, so he came to Los Angeles. That timehis schedule didn't allow him to come toSanta Barbara. Also, I think he was a littleupset because I hadn't come for the cele-brations in Juhu, so he didn't want to cometo me. I went to him, and he was wonder-ful - as usual. After Los Angeles he wentto Vancouver. While he was there, I beganto consider that I had offended himbecause I didn't go for the celebrations inJuhu. I don't think I could have gone, butat the same time I was concerned that Ihad offended him. So I phoned him inVancouver to apologize and explain why Icouldn't come, even though he had somuch wanted me to come (and so manyothers a lso had wanted me to come). Iasked him to forgive me. He was verygracious. He was sorry I hadn't come, andhe did want to understand why I hadn't.But he said I didn't commit any offenseor anything.

So, we would frequently talk on the

nouncement: If Sridhar undertook the jour-ney, he probably wouldn't make it. And sheadded, "If that happens, I want someone tobe there with him.") So Indradyumna Swamiflew to England toaccompany Maharaja onward towardsMayapur, and he was very apprehensive.

In London, devotees had rented a room forMaharaja in a hotel near the airport. Hewas so sick and weak that he could hard-ly walk. The devotees just had to get himfrom the airport to the nearest place pos-sible - as soon as possible.

Because the news had spread thatMaharaja was going to Mayapur to leavehis body, many of his disciples from Europe- mainly from Croatia and Slovenia - cameto London to meet him. They were cryingbecause they knew they would never seehim again. He told them, "You can crywhen I go. You can cry for a few days, butthen you have to get back into your serv-ice, and then you have to be happy." I wasused to phoning, so I called Maharaja atthe hotel and spoke a little withIndradyumna Swami there too.

Sridhar Maharaja wanted to reciprocatewith the disciple,s who had come to bewith him. He said, "The king is good forthe people, and the people are good forthe king. I never had my own family, butwhen I had disciples, I was able to ben-efit tremendously. I felt emotions I thoughtI never would. I just don't think it willstop. When we love one another, we aretogether".Then he told his disciples, "When I leave,we can be together in more significantways." He said that love in separation isactually stronger. And we do experiencethat when we are with people we love, wemay take them for granted. But when theyare gone, we realize how valuable theirassociation was and how much we lovethem. And the feelings become moreintense than when we were with them.

There were some disciples who didn'thave second initiation, so Maharaja decidedhe would initiate them. But because of hisdisease, his brain didn't always functionproperly. Toxins went to his brain, andthen, too, he had to take a der iva tive ofopium to kill the pain, as prescribed by thedoctor.Anyway, he decided, "Okay, I'll give secondinitiation - but a ll together, a ll five atonce." He began reciting the gaya trimantra for them, "Om bhur..." - but thenhe couldn't remember the next word. He


18

asked Indradyumna Swami, "What comesnext?" Indradyumna Swami pronounced theword , and Mahara ja repeated it to hisdisciples. When Maharaja couldn't remem-ber the next word either, he toldIndradyumna Swami, "Look, why don'tyou just say each word, and then I'll repeatit, and the disciples will hear it fromme."So, they got through the first two lines. ThenIndradyumna Swami, who himself wasexhausted from his long flight from SouthAfrica , couldn't remember the next word.So Sridhar Maharaja asked, "Are there anybrahmanas in the house who know thenext word?" Then one brahmana told theword to Indradyumna Swami, IndradyumnaSwami repeated it to Sridhar Swami, andSridhar Swami repeated it to the disciples.

Sridhar Maharaja remarked, "Harer namaharer nama harer namaiva kevalam”. Wedon't need this Gayatri mantra. Hari-namais enough."Then he started quoting:

harer nama harer nama, harer namaiva kevalam, kalau nasty eva nasty eva, nasty eva gatir anyatha

["In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy theonly means of deliverance is the chanti-ng of the Holy Names of the Lord. Thereis no other way. There is no other way.There is no other way." (Cc. Adi 17.21)]

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam, sangopangastra-parsadam, yajnaih sankirtana-prayair, yajanti hi su-medhasah

["In the Age of Kali, intelligent personsperform congregational chanting to wor-ship the incarnation of Godhead, who con-stantly sings the name of Krsna.Although His complexion is not blackish,He is Krsna Himself. He is accompaniedby His associates, servants, weapons andconfidential companions." (SB 11.5.32)]

kaler dosa-nidhe ra jan, asti hy eko mahan gunah, kirtanad eva krsnasya, mukta-sangah param vrajet

["My dear King, although Kali-yuga is anocean of faults, there is still one goodquality about this age : Simply by chantingthe Hare Krsna maha-mantra, one canbecome free from material bondage and bepromoted to the transcendental kingdom."(SB 12.3.51)]

He quoted all these verses in glorifica-tion of the Holy Name. IndradyumnaSwami exclaimed, "Maharaja, you are per-fectly quoting all these verses about theHoly Name, but you can't remember theGayatri mantra?!" Sridha r Swamiexplained, "The Gayatri mantra is justmeant to assist us in chanting the HolyName. The real thing is chanting the HolyName. The Gayatri mantra just supportsit - helps us to become purified - so wecan chant the Holy Name."

You may have heard how Maharajaarrived in Calcutta. Jayapataka Maharajahad sent his van to pick him up, andSridhar Swami lay unmoving inJayapataka Maharaja's bed in the van allthe way from the airport to Mayapur. InMayapur, thousands of devotees cameout to receive him with kirtana - some-times roaring and sometimes sweet.

Now, another result of Maharaja's disease,because his liver wasn't processing dif-ferent materials in the body, was that hisbody would fill with liquid (as before).It would become bloated. In Canada, aswell as in India, doctors would removefive to seven liters of liquid from himat a time. That was part of his discom-fort. Anyway, after the installation of thePanca-tattva, he had a physical setback,maybe because of the exertion andexcitement in the ceremony. The situa-tion looked grave, and in the evening heasked for devotees to come and do kir-tana in his room. He didn't know whatwould happen, and it looked like he wasgoing to leave. Maharaja's servant,Mayapur das, informed the devotees. Sodevotees came. Senior devotees and dis-ciples alike gathered in Maharaja's room,ready for the worst. As Maharaja laysilently on his bed, they performed kir-tana, most of them crying, seeing thatthe end was near. Somehow a devoteemanaged to call a doctor, who enteredthe room and came to Maharaja's bed-side. The doctor was serious and grave,and he began to feel around Maharaja'sbody as Maharaja lay motionless on hisbed, his eyes closed. Maharaja's abdomenwas completely bloated from the accu-mulated liquid. The doctor put his handson Maharaja's abdomen, squeezing it gen-tly to assess the situation. ThenMaharaja slowly opened his eyes,looked in the direction of the doctor,and said, "It's a boy".Everybody cracked up. Maharaja was sofunny, even in the most dire of circum-stances. The devotees were going mad.

They didn't know whether tolaugh or cry. The situation was so criti-ca l, yet Maharaja was so funny.Anyway, Maharaja told me that story onthe phone - I think he rather liked it.

So, jivo va maro va: a devotee can live ordie. Both are the same. Certainly that wastrue of Sridhar Swami: He could live ordie, because if he lived he would serveKrsna here, and if he died he would serveKrsna in the next life. For Sridhar Swami,life and death were the same (jivo va marova).Thus, he was truly fearless and jolly. Hereally had no fear of death.Although he wanted to stay so he couldpreach, he wasn't afraid of death. Heknew he would continue to serve SrilaPrabhupada in the next life.

A few days before Gaura Purnima,Indradyumna Swami came to say farewellto Maharaja. At Maharaja's room he metMayapur das, Maharaja's servant , who toldhim, "Maharaja is in the shower." Frominside, Sridhar Swami overheard the talkand shouted out, "India! Is that you, India?"He used to call Indradyumna Swami"India" - short for Indiana Jones, becauseIndradyumna Maharaja is such an adven-turous preacher. (Sridhar Maharaja wouldshow off Indradyumna Swami to people,who came to his room. He would say,"This is our Indiana Jones, but he is thereal thing! This one is the real thing!")

So, Sridhar Maharaja called out, "India! Isthat you out there?""Yes, Maharaja.""Come on in!""But, Maharaja, you are in the shower.""So what? Come on in."He went in, and there was Maharaja withnothing to cover him but the air (andwater from the shower). Sridhar Maharajasaid, "Don't worry about it. We are notthese bodies!"

Indradyumna Swami was choked up,because he was feeling he would neversee Maharaja again. This was it - sayinggood-bye. So, he said, "Maharaja, I havecome to say good-bye." Maharaja said,"Don't say good-bye." India replied, "I may never see you again inthis life." Sridhar Swami responded, "Don'tyou know that old song?" And he sang:"Happy trails to you, until we meetagain." And that was it. Tha t was it.

So, I think that is a good conclusion,


19

of his house in Godruma-dvipa, helooked across the Jalangi River toMayapur, and he had a vision of a tran-scendental city with a magnificent templerising like a mountain in its midst.)Maharaja's whole life was dedicated toSrila Prabhupada, and I think he felt thiswas one of Srila Prabhupada's maindesires that was left to be fulfilled. Andhe felt that we had to do it; we had todo it. He felt it would benefit the wholesociety, and the whole world. He wouldquote Ambarisa Prabhu, who said, "Thiswill be the tide that will make all theboats rise." So, although SridharMaharaja left so many wonderful lega-cies for us in terms of his personalqualities and activities,I think one legacy that may serve tounite the movement and fulfill one ofSrila Prabhupada's main desires is hisinspiration to push on the constructionof the adbhuta mandira in Mayapur.

When I was a new devotee, maybe lessthan two years in the movement , Iapproached Srila Prabhupada one daywhile he was getting his massage onthe veranda of the Calcutta temple:"Srila Prabhupada , I have been thinkingabout what pleases you most." SrilaPrabhupada was so pure he took everyword into his hea rt. He replied, "Yes."I said, "The two things that seem toplease you the most are distributingyour books and building the big templein Mayapur." Srila Prabhupada smiledwith great appreciation: "Thank youvery much."

So, those were Srila Prabhupada's twomain strategies for spreading Krsna con-sciousness, and Sridhar Swami helpedhim in both. In his early days, SridharSwami was instrumental in developingbook distribution in North America. Andin his later years, he was very involvedwith the Mayapur project, planning andraising funds for the "wonderful temple."And by Maharaja's mercy, on GauraPurnima , standing in front of the Panca-tattva Deities in Laguna Beach, I got theinspiration: "Now it's time for Mayapur .Sridhar Swami understood that long ago.Now it's time for you [me] to join theeffort, too." And that was important forme in other ways as well - to let goof the past: "Forgive and forget. Nowlet's all work together for Mayapur, forSridhar Swami, for Srila Prabhupada, tobuild the wonderful temple."Sridhar Swami asked me to speak aboutmy experiences of Srila Prabhupada

especially for India: "happy trails" -because his trails take him all over theworld . Yet all of us, in our own ways,have our own trails and paths in devo-tional service, and Sridhar Swami wishesthat they be happy - until we meet again.

I wanted to phone Maharaja every day,but the way it worked out with the timedifference and all the difficulties in justgetting through to Mayapur, it averagedabout every third day that I would speakto him. The last time I spoke to him, twodays before he left, he was having a verygood day. The previous day was a badday, but the night before, they had givenhim some medication to help him. WhenI spoke to him that last time, he washaving a very good day, and we had oneof the best talks I have ever had withanyone in my entire life. We spoke main-ly about the Mayapur project and SrilaPrabhupada's mission. It's really somethingthat I'll cherish for my whole life - theexperience of it and the lessons in it.

That was Thursday, March 11th. The nextday, Friday, we installed beautiful brassdeities of Gaura-Nitai in our Santa Barbaraashram. They had come from Vrndavana,originally commissioned by MotherKirtida for Tamal Krsna Goswami. I feltTheir coming was also part of SridharSwami's mercy, because he so fer ventlydesired that the glories of the Panca-tatt-va be spread and that we build the "won-derful temple" for Them in Mayapur. So,two representatives of the Panca-tattva hadcome, and I felt that was his desire.

Then I told Maharaja, "I don't know if Iwill be able to phone you again beforethen, but the Deities have come and wewill install them Friday evening, and byyour mercy we'll try to serve Them andTheir dhama." Now, whenever I look atTheir beautiful forms and their appealingfaces, I feel we have to do something forThem - we have to build Their wonderfultemple - as Sridhar Swami always remind-ed me.

So, I think this may be Maharaja's maincontribution in recent years, at least tome, in my service: He impressed upon me--and upon our entire movement - theimportance of the Mayapur project, of the"wonderful temple" (adbhuta mandira) thatNityananda Prabhu had desired for theservice of Cha itanya Mahaprabhu, andthat Bhaktivinoda Thakura had envisioned.(One day, when Srila BhaktivinodaThakura was chanting japa on the balcony

related to Mayapur. For one, in 1973, SrilaPrabhupada came to Calcutta fromEngland - so enthusiastic and excited aboutMayapur. Tamal Krishna Goswami had got-ten the first land in Mayapur, we hadobserved the first Gaura Purnima festivalthere, and now Srila Prabhupada had comewith the plans for the first building. Therewas a detailed discussion, but at the endSrila Prabhupada said, "If you build thistemple, then Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakurawill personally come and take you all backto Godhead."

Now I think, "That might be my onlyhope, so I'd better get to work. We'd bet-ter build the Mayapur project, because Idon't know how else I will ever getback to Godhead."

His Holiness Sridhar Swami has givenme a lifetime of work in service to SrilaPrabhupada. Although jivo va maro va, tolive or die is the same for a devotee -and certainly that was true of Maharaja -my own feelings are mixed.I think, "Now he has left so much servicefor me, given me so many instructions."(I think the same about Tamal KrishnaGoswami.) "So I must stay and executehis mission." Even though part of memisses them terribly and wants to bewith them, mainly I think, "They left meso many instructions. I have so muchservice to do for them here."

* * *

EPILOGUE

Three days after Sridhar Maharaja left,while on my daily walk in SantaBarbara , I suddenly began to feel blissful,and I felt Maharaja's presence.Then, I imagined that he gave me twoinstructions . The first was, "I am stillhere. Be happy." And the second was,"Just be yourself. Each one of us hashis own contribution to make, so just beyourself and make your contribution."And then he left.

After he lef t, I considered what had hap-pened. Clearly, his two instructions weremeant not only for me. They were meantfor everyone. And his instructions cov-ered all points. Especially his last state-ment had said it all: "Just be yourselfand make your contribution."

Thank you, Maharaja. We love you.Hare Krishna.


20

MK: Please introduce yourself.Rangi Gaur Das: My name isRangigaur Das. Before Initiation myname was Raju Khan. I am 26 years old.My Date of Birth is October 31, 1977. MK: What background you have comefrom?RG: My father is Panchanan Khan. Heis working in a medicine shop. He isalso a devotee chanting 16 roundseveryday, but not an initiated devotee.My mother is Gita Gopi Devi Dasi.She is an initiated devotee. She tookinitiation from H.H JayapatakaSwami Guru Maharaja in 2002. Sheis a house-wife. My childhood wasvery simple. As a child I used to joinHarinama with my grandfather. Mygrandfather was a great devotee. I finished my primary education at our

Bankura primary Goenka School. Mybirth place is Bankura town. I finishedmy higher Education at BankuraGoenka High school. I passed myMadhyamik examination in 1995. When I passed Madhyamik examina-tion, then I became a private tutor(or teacher), I got involved with acoaching center and there I taughtmany students.MK: So, you were teacher before.How did you join ISKCON?RG: Yes. Everyday I was going toteach in a house that was a devo-tee's house. The devotee's told me tojoin the Namahatta Sanga and tohear their Gita class. One Sunday Icame to the Gita class and started togo to Gita class every Sunday. Then Istarted to come for evening aratievery day. Then a few days after, Istarted to go to every mangala-aratiand began to chant the Holy Name,four rounds every day, then eightrounds, then sixteen rounds.One mataji gave me the first infor-mation about ISKCON. She is a disci-ple of H.H Jayapataka Swami, hername is Madhavi Mandira Devi Dasi.In 1997 at our Bankura town therewas a pandal program - fiftyISKCON Devotees from MayapurNamahatta joined this program. Theydid Nagar Sankirtana, drama andgave Gita class. I was inspired byseeing this program. Then I decidedthat when I finish my education Iwill join ISKCON temple. I came to

Mayapur for Gaura Purnima festival,had a darshan. And, then I came againon March 19, 1999, that was the yearof Jayapataka Swami's 50th VyasaPuja celebration. I passed my H.S Examination in1998 and on the 19th of March 1999I joined and for four months took atraining course in the New DevoteeProgram. After finishing my trainingI joined Sankirtan Department andwent with Travelling Sankirtana busto North Bengal to distribute SrilaPrabhupada's books. I took my firstinitiation in 2001 from H.HJayapataka Swami Maharaja. I am now very happy.MK: What is most inspiring in yourdevotional service?RG: Two Prabhupada lectures inspiredme to distribute books - "If you wantto please me, then distribute mybooks" , and "one book sold is onestep ahead in our Krishna conscious-ness." I have gone on book distributionwith TSKP-6 bus group for 5 years. Now I am staying in Mayapur, Ipreach and distribute books on thebook table No 3, which is oppositethe front gate. I am happy here and my spirituallife is very peaceful. I want to be distributing SrilaPrabhupada's books forever. I pray toall vaishnavas to bless me. Hare Krishna. u

Interview with

Rangi Gaur Prabhu,a sankirtana devotee

MK: How long you have been living in our Mayapur commu-nity?Shyammurty Prabhu: Since May 2002. MK: How did you decide to come here?SM: My son, Ram, was here in Gurukula from 1996. Soevery year we would come here and were attracted tolive in this place and decided to permanently shift here. MK: How did you decide to put your son in MayapurGurukula?SM: We came with a yatra one year and since then my sonwas very persistent that he wants to be in Mayapur, finally he came here in 1996 and joined Gurukula. Fromthen we used to come often and slowly were introducedto Mayapur. MK: Were you visiting once a year?SM: No, I would come, then my wife and daughter would

come separately, so two-threetimes a year we were visiting. MK: How did you decide tomove your whole family toMayapur? SM: We saw that it's a nice vil-lage like place, more like a health resort, and of course it isthe Dham. MK: Where are you from originally?SM: We are from Madras.MK: When were you initiated?SM: In 1997 at Madras Rathayatra. My wife and daughtergot initiated at the same time. We all got initiation fromH.H.Jayapataka Swami. And my son has some kind of‘nyaya’ from Bhaktividyapurna Maharaj.MK: Is he initiated by him?

Grihastha enterpriseinterview with Shayammurty Prabhu


21

SM: No, he is not initiated really, he just got a sacred threadfrom him for chanting mantras and doing jagya.MK: Did you come into some service here or did youjust come with hope for the best?SM: Actually, Naru Gopal Prabhu encouraged us to come toMayapur and gave us the service of looking after thedrinking water plant. So, we started our service in Mayapurby looking after the water plant. There was not so muchengagement for me, and I wanted to do something, whichcould support us and be a good service for the com-munity here. Janmastami Prabhu originally created this facility for theDay School, they needed a computer facility to train thekids. Now it's a good place for devotees to come anduse the computers and go on the Internet. We have sixcomputers in service.MK: Who bought them?SM: Janmastami Prabhu, from his personal funds. We arepaying him back slowly. MK: So is this run as a business now?SM: Yes. Janmastami Prabhu gave it a boost by investingin the computers and the Day School is providing thisaccommodation, paying the rent for it. We provide a serv-ice for the school for kid's education - they come to learncomputers here. MK: So you are making money from the other people whocome here to use the Internet?SM: Yes. We use this money to pay telephone bills, payingback the loan and for our family survival. MK: Does it bring enough?SM: Yes, we are able to survive and we are also tryingto improve. We having training courses for those who wish to learn howto use computers. We are having both devotees and outsidepeople coming here to learn. MK: How much are you charging for the course?SM: It is two thousand Rupees per month. MK: What do they learn?SM: Internet and Office work is thetwo most common demands. MK: How long is the course?SM: From three to six months,depending on what they want. Lots ofdevotees took courses here last yearand they are very happy, also a lot ofvisiting devotees from other places.MK: How many hours a week doesit take?SM: Three days in a week, twohours study. MK: How much time does theschool service take?SM: The school gets free educationfor the children, it takes about twohours in the afternoon. They come fourdays a week. MK: Did you move to this servicefrom the Water plant? SM: Yes. There was not much serv-ice for me there. I am a profession-

al engineer, so I did not see much point of being stuckthere. Here I am able to make a living, as well as to givefree education to the school children and I do not dependon the management in my business. I make money and doseva and I think other grihasthas should also start their enter-prises, through which they can support themselves and alsodo some free service to the community. MK: Yes, you are a very good example of that. How manydays a week is the Institute is open?SM: We are open seven day a week from 8 AM to 8 PM,so every day it is open.MK: What kind of line do you have?SM: We have wireless connection, plus the land line. We areusing the servers like VSNL, BSNL, and Reliance. If wedon't get one, we connect to another one. We also provide the Internet telephone service. You cantelephone and speak with US, Europe, Australia, SouthAmerica, etc, for 10 Rupees per minute (except for Russia andSouth Africa, the land lines there are little more costly).We have some special hardware to phone, connectingthrough the Internet. MK: How many devotees are using this facility?SM: A lot of devotees come here, they are really appreciat-ing that such service is here, in Mayapur. We are trying tomake them feel comfortable to come and work here. We arealso doing short crash courses for the visiting devotees - howto use internet, how to work on computer. MK: How much you charge for the crash course?SM: Last year we charged thousand Rupees for a three dayfull time course, eight hours of instruction. It is also bene-ficial for visiting devotees - they can come to India andlearn computers very cheap. MK: What services are your family members doing?SM: My wife, Titiksha Radha Devi Dasi, is engaged in theDeity Department, my daughter, Vaikuntha Laxmi Devi Dasi,for three years was serving with GBC secretary, helpingDivyambara Mataji, she was also serving in the JPS office.Now she is helping me in the Computer Institute, she also

serves the Deities. My son is serving inMIHE, he is a webmaster for MIHEwebsite, www.mayapur.info/mihe, heis also doing all kinds of computerwork for Janmastami Prabhu. MK: What were you doing beforeyou came here?SM: Personally I was running a lotof manufacturing industries and com-puter training. We had a big institu-tion in the heart of Madras with fiftycomputers and hundreds of students.I was the owner of that institutionand also used to teach a little bit, wehad a lot of teachers there. Basically Iwas always doing my own thing, Iwas not employed in the past. MK: So you are basically doing thesame thing now, but there it was on abigger scale.SM: Yes. Still that institution is run-ning, we sold it to someone. I like to

http://www.mayapur.info/mihe


22

make my own income and be self-sufficient. MK: You also have these 24-hour Mahamantra players, tell us about it.SM: This is something, which my future son-in-law, Rama-Giridhari Das, is making in Bombay. He is a computer engi-neer and as part time he is manufacturing these Mantra-players. I am just marketing it here in Mayapur. He is alsoselling them in Bombay. It has two tunes recorded on a chip - Srila Prabhupada singing Maha-mantra and Srila Prabhupadachanting japa. This player has no moving parts and lasts for a very long time, there is no wear and tear. MK: Does this take a battery?SM: This model is running on direct current. We are going to introduce a portable model with batteries. MK: What controls does it have?SM: You can adjust the sound and there is a switch for changing tune. MK: Anything else you want to say?SM: More small and medium size enterprises should be set up here in Mayapur. In this way grihasthas can survive hereand also offer some seva to the community without depending on the temple. We should develop this kind of co-existence. MK: Do you have some suggestions for more enterprises to open?SM: So many opportunities. Someone can set up a cottage industry, locally so many small products could be made.Another thing is a bank, so devotees could get loans easily and securely. Sankirtan Department need so many items, var-ious stores here require so many items like brass bells, karatals, etc. All these things could be manufactured here asa cottage industry. In this way devotees could be self- employed - if ISKCON provides first aide support, some facil-ity to set up.MK: Do you mean like - you got this place from the Day School and initial investment from Janmastami Prabhu?SM: Yes, like this. We can make co-existing arrangements. MK: You are very clever. Thank you. Hare Krishna. u

bad, bad, bad...plastic bag...

MK: We heard that you had faced somedifficulties recently, something to dowith giving out plastic carry bags toyour customers. Could you tell us whatwas that about?Satsevak Prabhu: I was not at theshop at that time, when some men cameand asked for a carry bag as a customer.My labor was there and he gave them aplastic carry bag. Then they asked togive them all the sizes and types ofcarry bags we have. My labor refused,saying that we are not selling plasticbags. Then they revealed themselves asgovernment officers and demanded toget every type of plastic bag we have.So, he gave. They made him sign oneach bag and they took that with them.In their office they examined the bagsand most of them weren't permitted.The shop-keepers are giving carry bagsbecause customer demanding. But ifthese people from government ban thefactory, which makes them, that wouldbe better. I don't know what they aredoing, I think they are not going right

way about it.MK: What office did they represent?S: West Bengal Government, PariveshBhavan, means Pollution Board. Theyare protecting the environment.MK: What kind of plastic did they ban?S: Anything under 20 microns thick-ness. MK: Are the thick plastic bags stillallowed?S: Yes. Better not to use, that's the best,if really need then the costly one isthere. MK: So, did you switch off to paperbags?S: Yea-yea. Newspaper bags.MK: What about brown paper bags?S: Yes, brown paper bags are better, butthey are costly for these types of goods.It would cost me at least ten times morethan newspaper bags.MK: How much are those?S: Thirteen Rupees per kg for newspa-per bags. But brown ones are sold perpiece. One bandle is two hundredRupees, like that. This means that onebrown bag will cost two Rupees. So, ifyou buy potatoes for four Rupees yourpaper bag will cost you two Rupees ontop. MK: Why don't you put a sign 'Bring

your shoppingbag with you'or somethinglike that?S: I have notdone this yet,but I started tosell shopping bags and tomost of my customers I advise to buyone and reuse each time they go shop-ping - bring the bag along.MK: When this ban on plastic carry bagswas passed?S: They are telling one year. But we arenot reading newspapers. They said thatit was announced in all newspapers. MK: What is the punishment?S: They make shopkeepers to pay money.MK: How much?S: Five to ten thousand Rupees.MK: How much did you have to pay?S: …three thousandMK: Anyone else being punished here?S: They turned electricity off in Nimai'sshop because he didn’t pay.MK: What if they find you using plas-tic carry bags again?S: There will be more money to pay andthey can even close the shop down.MK: Thank you. Hare Krishna. u

Plastic bagis very bad

Makes the future very sad

When you shop remember that

Cloth and paper use instead

interview with Satsevak Prabhu,

owner of the Supply Store


My father, H.G. KrishnaDas was born inCalcutta at TollyagangeRoad in 1920.

From his childhood he used to like Jagannatha. He was Srila Prabhupada's nephew. Srila

Prabupada had a childhood Rathaytra cart in hisTollyaguange house with Jagannatha, Balaram andSubhadra. When Krishna Chandra was young heused to play Jagannatha Ratha with his friends.Krishna Chandra was initiated by the age of 14 byKrishna Nanda Goswami when he was just 28years old. In his karmi life he was a professionalcamera man in movies. He did many Bengali pic-tures just like ‘Sati Behula’, ‘Heymahamanav’,‘Mira Bai’ etc. Afterwards he joined in a newspa-per called Basumai Newspaper. When Srila Prabupada went first to America he camehimself to this newspaper to put an advertisement. Theday he came there Krishna Chandra met him.When Srila Prabupada was in householder life he was inAllahabad, Krishna Chandra used to go with his brother to

Allahabad to stay in Srila Prabhupada's house. SrilaPrabupada had a bicycle, so Krishna Chandra Dasused to ride it.As Srila Prabupada was a business man, he usedto bring some toothpaste to Krishna Chandra andhis brother and distribute to them in theTollyagange house. Srila Prabupada had come tohis brother Purna Chandra's house many times.Purna Chandra was the father of Krishna Chandra,they had a big orchard in Tollyagange, so SrilaPrabupada used to come and enjoy.At the age 74 Krishna Chandra came to MayapurDham to stay. He used to go to the temple every-day. All the devotees used to like him and healso was very friendly to all the devotees. At the age of 84 he had a fall one morning ashe got out of bed and broke his leg. He was sick

for a few months, but never forgot Krishna. He used to prayto Radha-Madhava to go again to the temple. He had thedesire to leave his body in Sridham Mayapur. On January9th 3.30am he passed away. Krishna is so kind that hefulfills everyone's desire. Hare Krishna. u

MK: Congratulations with the birth of your first son.When was he born?Srimati: He was born on 13th of December, it was SrilaBhaktisidhanta Saraswati's Disappearance Day.MK: What is his name?Srimati: Bhavya Giridhari. Bhavya is the name of LordBalaram, it means auspicious, attractive, handsome andbeautiful and Giridhari is Krishna's name.MK: All your family members from both sides arestaying in Mayapur. Do they help you?Srimati: Yes, everybody helps. MK: Who chose the name?Srimati: We chose the name. We chose Giridharibefore and after he was born Prahlad Nrisimha Prabhumade a chart, and according to that, the first soundshould be 'Ba', so we named him Bavya Giridhari.MK: Were you scared to have your first experience

In memory of H.G. Krishna Chandra Das, father of Jalatala Mataji

(Bhima Prabhu’s father-in-law), who past away in Mayapur

23

of having a baby?Srimati: I was not scared, but it was very painful.MK: Where was he born?Srimati: In the hospital inKolkata. MK: Did you have to go to thehospital?Srimati: Well, everyone waswarning me and saying that thisis the first baby, you don't knowwhat might happen, so I thoughtit's better not to take anychances the first time. And alsomy baby was late.MK: He didn't want to comeout?Srimati: No.MK: Did he get out by himself eventually or with medical help?Srimati: No, he was born naturally. Ramadevi delivered him,they were so kind at the hospi tal to let her do it .MK: Are you going to have any more babies?Srimati: Not any time soon!MK: You want to forget this experience first?Srimati: Yes.MK: He is very fortunate to begin his life in Mayapur. Hare Krishna. u

Nrisimha Pali Dasand Srimatiholding theirfirst son, BhavyaGiridhari.He is also thefirst grandson ofBharat Prabhuand Bhakta GanaMataji.

by Jalatala Devi Dasi

WELCOME Bhavya Giridhari to our community


Bhakta Sanjay Terang, age 22yrs wasborn in 1982 in a village called Terang(Howraghat) in the district KarbiAnglong, which is located withinAssam (northeastern part of India).From his young age he was veryincline to devotional service. From theage of 5 he started worshipping variousdemigods such as Durga, Saraswatietc. However, he came from a non-veg-etarian background, but still he aban-doned meat from his tender age. Hehad one elder brother and one youngersister.

In spite of them being non-vegetarian(before joining ISKCON), however,his parents would never interfere intheir son's spiritual pursuits, ratherthey would encourage him to proceedahead. He would go to school, but atthe same time would participate andget involved in different spiritual activ-ities. After realizing and getting muchawareness of the support, encourage-ment and suggestion from his parentshe became more exited and over-whelmed so much so that he wasn'tvery much satisfied with his presentservice. Later on at age of about 14 to15 he accepted Lord Shiva as his wor-shipable lord.

Often he would join with a group ofpeople who were also spiritual practi-tioners, but would hardly follow theprinciples of the scripture. Gradually,with the passage of time, his spirit andhis eagerness and willingness to per-form devotional service greatly inten-sified. Never was there a time when hewas neglecting his devotional service. Many times he would have to separatefrom family members, relatives andfriends and would join with preaching

programs(demigodw o r s h i p -pers) for about one or two months. Hewas so attached to reading scripturesthat he finished reading many Vedasand Puranas including Ramayana andBhagavad-Gita (though not BhagavadGita as it is). Having more faith on theLord and himself he sometimes couldn'tresist to share with his parents, brotherand sister the realization and ecstasy hewas experiencing.

Surprisingly, by his good fortune oneday he happened to come across one ofhis own man who was an ISKCONdevotee, who later on introduced him tothis movement. From that pointonwards he started worshippingKrishna and was one hundred percentconvinced that he is the supreme Lord,and all the demigods whom he had wor-shiped before were all created by him.One day he asked of his father, request-ing him to build a small temple wherehe can peacefully execute service to theLord. The father seeing his son overlyinterested in spiritual life instantly builtone small temple for him.

Because of his traveling in differentplaces and living in a very unregulatedway he would fall sick from time totime. But he was so determined andbeing so resolute that regardless of hisbodily condition he persistently carriedon with his sadhana and Bhajana. Hebecame so attracted and impressed bySrila Prabhupada and his movementthat he finally decided to go and stay inMayapur Chandrodaya Mandir(ISKCON.) He came to Mayapur for hisBhakta training with one of the devo-tees from the same place.

Bhakta Sanjay having a friendlyand loving nature would amusethe other devotees and enliventhem, keeping everyone in acheerful mood. Bhakta Sanjaywould do his service very whole-heartedly every time. He was soattentive to his service that when-ever he was asked to do anythinghe would readily do it.Everybody liked him. He wouldtell and reveal his heart to hisfriends, the strong attachment hehad for the Dham. He wouldn't

even think of going back to hisnative land, however he was asked togo back and preach in his native landafter having stayed for a few years. Heusually would tell his friends that hewould like to live in the Dham for therest of his life.

After completing his Bhakta trainingfor 5 months (3 months in Mayapurand 2 months in Calcutta) he cameback to Mayapur from Calcutta andjoined the Sankirtan department forbook distribution, which was his pre-ferred service. "Life in Sankirtan is sowonderful and enjoyable that I wish tocarry on with it through out my life" hewould tell occasionally to his friend.

Having so much bodily problem begin-ning with headache, backache (becauseof extra books he would normallycarry), dizziness, etc, he would some-how or other bear it silently withoutmaking any complaint to others. Atother times he would be chastised byhis in-charge because of taking morerest on account of his weak body.Bhakta Sanjay had to undergo so muchphysical pain, but remained so steadyand never thought of deviating himselffrom his service. One of the uniquethings one can find in him is his appre-ciation of other devotees.

Initially he was very much satisfiedand happy in doing his service, but ashis body gradually started becomingweaker and weaker with the passing ofdays, he became more and more inca-pable of doing it. After having gonethrough so many difficulties, whicharose from his body, he finally decided

Story of

Bhakta Sanjai'sdepartureBy Bh. Karan,

a friend of Bh. Sanjai from thesame village in Asam

24


25

to change his department under theadvice and suggestion from a few ofthe devotees.

At first he was not easily convinced toleave the Sankirtan department, whichhe had such a strong liking for. But thesituation had forced him somehow.One day he was asked to approach thegeneral manager for the purpose offinding him some service which wouldsuit him. But every time he would gohe would receive an unsatisfyingresponse. He was so much concerned and afraidof offending somebody that he, there-fore, gladly accepted the same servicewithout hesitation from the generalmanager. At last, the final advice of theGeneral manager was given to him tojoin the Calcutta Sankirtan bus ratherthan join Assam Sankirtan bus. As amatter of fact, in Calcutta one does notneed to change from place to place.One can settle permanently in onebuilding and therefore one can getevery good facility. Also it was achance to recover from illness, where-as in the Assam party there was nosuch thing. Keeping himself full offaith in Prabhupada, Nrisimhadev andRadha-madhava, he took up the riskand marched forward in order to pleasethem.

Walking down the busy streets ofCalcutta with people rushing in differ-ent directions, he sometimes had toconfront himself with the kind of peo-ple, whose business it was to just wastehis time. The unbearable scorchingheat of the sun would sometimes causedeep pain in his head, the noisy trafficjam and the polluted air which he hadto breathe and got suffocated some-times, the extreme anxiety and worriesof the unexpected arrival of the coldheavy winter rains. This could leadhim to high fever.

Bhakta Sanjay lost his bodily strengthin his attempt to please Prabhupada.But Prabhupada mercifully had givenhim enough strength and blessing thathe didn't give it up but rather proceed-ed more ahead. He was so obedient andrespectful to his in-charge that hewould not keep a single paisa withhim. He would handover everything to

him, which pleased his in charge somuch. He would even do a certain job,which no other devotees would evendare to do. In order to relieve himself from theinconveniences he was experiencing,he would take medicine hour after hourrepeatedly. He would lie down on thefloor watching his friends holding aratiwhich he would also love to do somuch, but unfortunately his bodywould not allow him to. Out of fear from being scolded fromhis in-charge, which, in fact, his in-charge wouldn't normally do, he wasafraid even to ask for money for hismedicine.

One day it so happened that after com-ing back from his whole day book dis-tribution he found himself very weakand sick. He started shivering, thedevotees thought it not to be so seri-ous. He asked them to cover manyblankets on him to get rid of the cold.The disease became more serious. Hisfever went up dramatically high and hestopped speaking. He was unable tostand himself up.

Realizing the situation to be quiteunusual and not so normal the in-charge immediately rang up to GangaNarayan Prabhu explaining the situa-tion. Under such condition GangaNarayan Prabhu suggested them toimmediately take him to hospital andconsult the doctor. He was admitted inthe Shishu Mangal Hospital. It's saidthat the treatment done by the doctorsin this hospital is very perfect.

After doing a serious analysis the doc-tor came to the conclusion that he hadblood cancer. Every one was greatlyshaken after hearing the news. Animmediate call was given to SachiKumar Das (Sankirtan director). Anemergency call was given to his familymembers on that very same night. Thenext morning, just after Tulsi-puja themessage was being announced to allthe devotees they were requested topray for him. Every one was in shock.

On the first day, he could sense, per-ceive, react and respond slightly. Thedevotees realizing this to be a fatal dis-ease started chanting, reciting

Bhagavad Gita verses, put the head-phone on his ears of Srila Prabhupada'slectures, placing Nrisimahadev andSrila Prabhupada's picture above hispillow. The second day, the diseasebecome worse then ever and he wasunable to speak and see. The doctorsdid their work at best, but failed. Onthe 3rd day morning 3.30 AM, bhaktaSanjay left his body.

His body was brought to Mayapur bythe Sankirtan bus. On the way toMayapur just near to the Namhattabuilding, devotees welcomed him withkirtan. He was placed next to the Tulasigarden in front of the brahmachariashram, where many devotees offeredtheir respectful obeisances and gar-landed him. Thereafter he was taken toGaur Nitai (Prabhupada Bhajan Kutir),where he was allowed to have darshanby them (Gaur Nitai). After that he wastaken on parikrama around SrilaPrabhupada's Samadhi. After all thesehad been done, he was finally taken toGanga, where he was bathed nicely andwas cremated.

All the devotees felt so grateful uponhim for all the service he had renderedand sacrificed his life for Prabhupada'spleasure. Devotees around the worldgetting the news from the website wereall astounded and surprised. Two dayslater a feast was held on his behalf forall the brahmachari's in the brah-machari kitchen. Glorification of himwas done on the same day

A couple of weeks later, during anannouncement after mangal-aratik, apersonal letter, which was sent toBhakta Sanjay by His holiness BhaktiCaru Maharaj was read out in the tem-ple hall.

H.G Nitai Prasad Prabhu (GeneralManager):He was a hard working devotee, verycool, silent and sober. Guru Maharajaonce told me not to make too muchrestriction to devotees coming fromthat area. I once asked him how he wasdoing and whether he likes SriMayapur or not? He happily replied:"yes, I like it very much". His depar-ture was very glorious. u


26

Experience of teaching Bhagavad-Gitaby Atul Krishna Das

I never really imagined that I'd be in Mayapur teachingBhagavad-Gita. I was preaching in Bangladesh for 4 years then Idecided to settle down and get married. Mayapur seemed like agood idea because there were flats available. I came, having got-ten blessings from the vaisnavas, and set up an ashram in thegrhastha housing area. Shortly thereafter I heard from my oldfriend and godbrother Prana Dasa about what Janmastami Prabhuwas setting up at the MIHE. He suggested that I should getinvolved.

One day, out of the blue, Janmastami Prabhu stopped me outside the Samadhi and asked me if I'd like toteach Sri Ishopanishad during the up coming Bhakti-shastri course. I didn't really know Janmastami at the time, so Iwas a little surprised by his straight forwardness….I accepted the invitation, that was in May 2001, and I've beenteaching Bhakti-shastri ever since.

Teaching Bhagavad-Gita is a very wonderful service. Bhagavad-Gita is a glorious scripture. Prabhupadaquoted from Bhagavad-Gita more than any other scripture. On the basis of Bhagavad-Gita, Prabhupada establishedKrishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead all over the world. In his Gita purports, Prabhupada is writing asthe world acarya and his audience is all humanity. I feel that I have received incredible mercy from Prabhupadaand Krsna having gotten an opportunity to teach Bhagavad-Gita.

We incorporate Vaisnava Training and Education interactive teaching techniques in our classes. The style ismore facilitation rather than lecture. For each lesson we identify particular aims and select learning techniques mostsuitable to achieve those aims. Sometimes we may divide the class into groups and request students to make briefpresentations on some of the points we're covering. Sometimes we may request students to draw pictures of themain concepts. Sometimes we may even divide the class into half and have a mock basket ball game tossing aroundquestions and answers for revision. As a facilitator, one can be very imaginative. These types of interactive learningexperiences very effectively impress the imports of the sastra on the students mind. It also is a great way to keepeveryone awake!

I can regularly spend up to 3 hours preparing a class. With five classes a week, one and a half hours each,along with the preparation, I find myself very absorbed. The course runs for three and a half months. Basically Ihave no time for any other interest throughout the whole course. I find it a very purifying and ecstatic engage-ment. I still spend a few months of the year preaching in Bangladesh and I find the study I do whilst teachingBhagavad-Gita very supportive. We get very little opportunity for study whilst traveling in Bangladesh but I findthat the teachings of the Gita always remain in my mind and predominate in my preaching. u

Dear devotees,

Nityananda Das (also known as Nikhilanath Goswami), disciple of H.H. BhaktiCaru Swami, left his body on 16th April 2004 at 7.15am in Kalyani Hospital, WestBengal, India. He was 77 year old (D.o.B: 26th Dec. 1926). He joined ISKCON Kolkata in the year 1986. He served there for about 12 years.Then he was serving in H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja's Food for LifeProgram in Kolkata. Then in the year 2001 he joined ISKCON Mayapur. He wasengaged as a cook in the Brahmachari Kitchen. He was a really hard working andsincere brahmachari through out his devotional life in ISKCON. In spite of his oldage, he was really working hard in the brahmachari kitchen. All the devotees of ISKCON Mayapur will be missing his association. OnGadadhara’s appearance day we held a program to remember him and a largefeast.

Your servant,Sankarsan Nitai Das


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Name Service How did you decide to take MIHE VTEBhakti-sastri course?

Would you recommend this course toothers?

AkhilatmaPriya Das

GeneralManager,ISKCONKolkata

I had a keen desire to do Bhakti-sas-tri course. Due to my seva I didn't dothat. H.G. Janmastami Prabhu repeat-edly told me to do the course so Itold him let us do it now.

In our Kolkata temple one devotee ismuch interested to do the Bhakti-sastri course by seeing me do thiscourse. Maybe next year.

HemaLavanya Dasa

I heard from several devotees,who took this course last year.

I would recommend this course toever devotee who is serious aboutspiritual life. One gets a very deepunderstanding about the bookswhich are studied. Personally I wasunable to get so deep, by studyingon my own. It is just like in thecase of professional sports. Withoutan excellent trainer there is no ques-tion of advancement.

Krisnagatidas

PR MangerISKCONBBSR-IS(Orissa)

One of my spiritual friends toldme about it. Also BhaktiSwarup Darmodar Swamiinformed me that such a courseis very good in enhancing myunderstanding of sastra and per-sonal application

It is very beneficial for every seriousstudent, I am benefiting enormously.I shall definitely recommend to mygod brothers/sisters to take up thiscourse, especially in MIHE.

SivaChaitanyadasa

BookDistribution(TSKP)

I have been encouraged by myspiritual master, H.H.Jayapataka Swami, to attendthis course. I feel this is greatpleasure for me to follow hisinstruction. I have also beensupported by my authority HG.Simhesvara Prabhu, generalsecretary of ISKCON Malaysia

Personally I feel so much change inmy habit of thinking after attendingthe B. Gita course. H.G Atul KrsnaPranhu is expert in presentingBhagavad-Gita in a way, which isvery much enlightening. Studyingin the Dham, chanting the whollyname and hearing Krsna Ktaha isvery purifying. I feel like some ofthe lessons spoken in the Gita aredirected to me.

BhaktaPieterBoudewitn

TempleCommanderBhaktivedantaManor

I was told by associate devotee atthe Manor who took course last year.Also Janmastami Prabhu asked me ifI would like to do the course. I askedmy temple president for permission,which he granted - mainly because ofservice - my study of Prabhupada’sbooks was not enough and I felt theneed to study them in the associationof devotees.

I would recommend the course toothers, though I would stress tothem the need to be committed interms of time to study and applyoneself.


SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 10.1.28

TRANSLATION:Since that time, the city of Mathura had been the capital of all the kingsof the Yadu dynasty. The city and district of Mathura are very intimate-ly connected with Krishna, for Lord Krishna lives there eternally.

PURPORT:It is understood that Mathura City is the transcendental abode of LordKrishna ; it is not an ordinary material city, for it is eternally connectedwith the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vrindavana is within the juris-diction of Mathura, and it still continues to exist. Because Mathura andVrindavana are intimately connected with Krishna eternally, it is saidthat Lord Krishna never leaves Vrindavana (vrindavanam paritya jyapadam ekam na gacchati). At present, the place known as Vrindavana, inthe district of Mathura, continues its position as a transcendental place,and certainly anyone who goes there becomes transcendentally purified.Navadvipa-dhama is also intimately connected with Vrajabhumi. SrilaNarottama dasa Thakura therefore says:

sri gauda-mandala-bhumi,yeba jane cintamani,

ta'ra haya vrajabhume vasa

"Vrajabhumi" refers to Mathura-Vrindavana, and Gaura-mandala-bhumiincludes Navadvipa. These two places are non different. Therefore, any-one living in Navadvipa-dhama, knowing Krishna and Sri ChaitanyaMahaprabhu to be the same personality, lives in Vrajabhumi, Mathura-Vrindavana. The Lord has made it convenient for the conditioned soul tolive in Mathura, Vrindavana and Navadvipa and thus be directly con-nected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Simply by living inthese places, one can immediately come in contact with the Lord. Thereare many devotees who vow never to leave Vrindavana and Mathura.This is undoubtedly a good vow, but if one leaves Vrindavana, Mathuraor Navadvipa-dhama for the service of the Lord, he is not disconnect-ed from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At any rate, we mustunderstand the transcendental importance of Mathura-Vrindavana andNavadvipa-dhama. Anyone who executes devotional service in theseplaces certainly goes back home, back to Godhead, after giving up hisbody. Thus the words mathura bhagavan yatra nityam sannihito harihare particularly important. A devotee should fully utilize this instructionto the best of his ability. Whenever the Supreme Lord personallyappears, He appears in Mathura because of His intimate connectionwith this place. Therefore although Mathura and Vrindavana are situatedon this planet earth, they are transcendental abodes of the Lord.u

GoshalaReport,

as of March2004

Milk cows - 63Heifer - 19Retired cows - 8Bulls (working) - 2Bulls (trainee) - 23Bullocks (working) - 2Calves: mail - 26

female - 38

Total: 181 heads

Milk yielded - 5,900 litters.

One cow died and 12 newcalves were born.

We are constructing a bound-ary wall and also a new paddockbeen made.

At the Goshala shop cow'sby-products are available, such as:

- go-ark (distilled cow urine),which is curing 81 human diseases/ Rupees 50 for a big bottle andRs 30 for smaller size /;

- cow-dung tooth powder / Rs 10 /;

- Pancha-amrita / Rs 25 /;

- Ghee.

During last Goura Purnima FestivalH.H. Jayapataka Swami distributed50 bottles of Go-ark among GBCmembers as a new gift. u

By Nanda Krishna Das

Documents

VOL. 5 NO 2 INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA ...Our Krishna consciousness movement has therefore established two very large centers, one in Vrindavana and another in Mayapur, Navadvipa