anewsletter forthe residentsof iskconmayapur april 2005.pdf · [srimad bhagavatam 1. 16. 4 purport]...

hare krisna hare krisna krisna krisna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

A NEWS LETTER FOR THE RES IDENTS OF IS KCO N MAYAPUR

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUS NESS

FOUNDER-ACHARYA HIS DIVINE GRACE A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRAB HUPADA

VOL . 8 NO 1

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sri krisna caitanya prabhu nityananda sri advaita gadadhara sri vassadi gaura bhakta vrinda

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Mayapur Kathais a facility for you to share your ideas, articles, suggestions, comments, realizations, con-cerns, etc, with the community of Vaisnavas. You are welcome to contact us.

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PROO F READING ..................................... bh. DavidPRINTING: ..............................................P ur ananda Nitai Das

our phone: 245-279 ; e-mail: [email protected]

We have to keep some cows. Never mind we are totake payment from others. That is not cow protection.Cow protection means just like Bhagavan, the SupremePersonality of Godhead, He is tending the cows. He isgoing, taking the cows personally from His royal palacegoing to the forest whole day, working there. Is it not,cowherds boy? And taken some little fruit, whatevermother has given. They are playing that. So this is cowprotection, not that "Somebody will give money andwe shall keep some third class cows and feed there andbecome cow protector." We must tend the cows verynicely, so that they give us sufficient milk. And withthat milk we shall live. "No, because we are gi-vingprotection to cow, you send money for the cows andthe cow protectors - earn money there and give usmoney. We shall eat nicely and sleep." As soon asthis practice is going on, then next will be: "Giveme some LSD, give me something else." This willgo on. We don't want that.

[Srimad Bhagavatam 2. 9. 2 Lecture, Melbourne, 5.4.1972]

Prabhupäda: Yes, yes. We make. We actually make. Atleast ten, twenty kinds of sweet preparation we makefrom the cheese. Therefore our, as recommended in theBhagavad-gétä, kåñi-go-rakñya-väëijyam [Bg. 18.44].Kåñi-go-rakñya. People... A class of men should betrained up for agriculture, producing food grain, and cowprotection. Cow protection means you get the milk,sufficient quantity, and from milk you get so many nutri-tious, full of vitamin food.

[Conversation, Melbourne, 2.7.1974]

Human civilization means to advance the cause ofbrahminical culture, and to maintain it, cow protection isessential. There is a miracle in milk, for it contains all thenecessary vitamins to sustain human physiologicalconditions for higher achievements. Brahminical culturecan advance only when man is educated to develop thequality of goodness, and for this there is a prime necessi-ty of food prepared with milk, fruits and grains. .

[Srimad Bhagavatam 1. 16. 4 purport]

Cow protection means increasing the milk produc-tions, namely curd and butter.

[srimad bhagavatam 1. 9. 26 purport]

Progressive human civilization is based on brah-minical culture, God consciousness and protectionof cows. All economic development of the state bytrade, commerce, agriculture and industries must befully utilized in relation to the above principles, oth-erwise all so-called economic development becomesa source of degradation. Cow protection meansfeeding the brahminical culture, which leadstowards God consciousness, and thus perfection ofhuman civilization is achieved.

[Srimad Bhagavatam 1. 19. 3 purport]

Prabhupada vani


mailto:[email protected]



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MK: What was yourexperience of

Mayapur on yourlast visit?Ambarisa Prabhu: I wasvery happy to bein SridhamMayapur during

my visit to Indiaduring Kartik. One

of the first things younotice coming into Mayapur is howlush and green it is after spendingtime in the city. The Samadhi is animposing structure, and it is alwaysimpressive to see so many devoteesmoving here and there.

Of course, the deities are awe inspir-ing in Mayapur. If you have notbathed in the loving gaze of Sri Pancha-tattva or Sri Sri Radha- Madhava, youare missing the sweetest treat. Thetemple seems always packed withdevotees and visitors. This makes forenthusiastic kirtans, especially duringspecial festival times. When I wasthere, Srila Prabhupada’s d isappear-ance festival was going on. We had avery special program in the morning,during which many of SrilaPrabhupada’s senior disciples sharedtheir pastimes w ith His Div ineGrace.

The climax of the festival took placein the Samadhi during the eveningprogram. Sri Prahlad led beautifulkirtan, while the devotees offeredlamps and garlands to SrilaPrabhupada. At the end of the kir-tan, thousands of flower petalsrained down from the majestic dome,which depicts many of the famouspastimes of Srila Prabhupada. It was

a phenomenal experience.Whenever I come to Mayapur,

there is always a lot of activity.Th is time, they were improving theroads, so there was some machin-ery, noise, and fumes. Of course, thisis the price of progress, and it isgood to see things improving allthe time. I have heard that there areplans to build a new restaurant,which I think is a good idea. Notthat there is ever any scarcity ofprasadam, but a restaurant is agood place to see old friends andmeet new ones. I w ill look forwardto that.MK: What is your impression ofthe community of devotees here?A: There are many divergent typesof devotees in Mayapur. Being aninternat ional ISKCON center, theycome from all areas of the globe.The local Bengalis are very friend-ly, and you see a good many ofthem. I did not get a chance to seemany of the householders, buthope to in the future.

Seeing such a divergent commu-nity is wonderful. I see a greatsense of Srila Prabhupada’s mis-sion in Sridham Mayapur. I heardsome devotees, who said that thiswas missing to some degree, but Iam seeing the great importance ofour mission in Mayapur.

Srila Prabhupada wanted to attractpeople of the whole world toMayapur. This is, of course, a verytall order. Mayapur is not the easi-est place to get to. It is going totake the combined efforts of alldevotees, both w ithin and w ithout

Mayapur, to make this dream ofSrila Prabhupada and the previousacharyas become a reality.MK: What would be your advice tothe devotees who are living here allthe time in terms of development oftheir community?A: Someone may ask, “What can Ido, I am just a small devotee?” It isgoing to take all of us cooperatingtogether to make this happen. Manyof us can be directly involved inplanning and executing the ambi-tious construction proposals, whileothers can work on a more personallevel to make Mayapur the kind ofplace which w ill attract the mercyof Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and SrilaPrabhupada. Everyday, we can putour personal ambitions and doubtsaside to participate in the grandscheme.MK: You said it is going to takethe combined ef forts of all devo-tees, both within and withoutMayapur to make this projectbecome a reality. How do you seeit? What input do you expect f romboth within and without Mayapur?A: First, it is necessary to create ashared vision, based on the desiresof Srila Prabhupada for SriMayapur Project. Then a sense ofmission has to be adopted for theproject as the front line of preach-ing in Kali Yuga. This is the birth-place of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,the yuga-avatar. All ISKCON devo-tees have to come to this realiza-tion, and support the project. Therehas to be a united front, and thatw ill only come when there is a

Interview with

Ambarisa PrabhuManaging Director of the SMPDC

by Vrindavan Lila Dasi

(SMPDC reads as Sri MayapurPr oject Development Commitee)




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sense of urgency in the preachingspirit. Otherwise, it w ill simplybecome another asset to squabbleover.MK: You said Mayapur is not theeasiest place to get to. What isSMP (Sri Mayapur Project) doingabout it?A: We are examining options toimprove access. Of course, for thegovernment to improve the roadswould be the best for the entireregion. But we are also looking atwater transport.MK: Have you also consideredballoons, as some devotes were sug-gesting?A: No, we have not thought of bal-loons - a bit risky.MK: Would it not be somethingvery exciting for people to comeout to Mayapur (on a balloon...)?A: Yes, it could be exciting for afew v isitors. Ultimately, we w illhave to have a number of options.Srila Prabhupada had ambitiousplans for Sridham Mayapur. He notonly wanted to build the interna-tional head quarters for ISKCON,but to create a place, which wouldattract visitors f rom around theworld, and challenge modern athe-istic thinking. The centerpiece ofthis plan would be the Temple ofVedic Planetarium.MK: Is SMPDC actually ready tobuild something? When is it goingto start?A: We are nearing the point ofexecution, depending on funding.We hope to start next year.MK: What is the first thing thatwill be built? Can building of thecity start now without waiting forthe big temple?A: I have always believed that thetemple will attract other develop-ment, so I see this as a primarystarting point, along w ith theavenues.MK: How and when did you hearabout Mayapur for the first time?A: I first heard about this plan inDetroit in 1976. Srila Prabhupadahad come to stay at the FisherMansion, which we had recentlypurchased as the new temple. Wewere sitting in Srila Prabhupada’ssplendid quarters at the mansion,as he explained about his plans for

a Vedic Planetarium. He turned tome and asked how I liked theidea. I said it sounded very nice, soSrila Prabhupada asked me to helpfinance it.

At the time, we all had a goodlaugh, but I realized many yearslater, that Srila Prabhupada had atthat moment, planted the seed ofwhat has become my main engage-ment in devotional service. I hadnever been to Mayapur, so itseemed like a far off dream. TodayI see that Srila Prabhupada had theperfect service in mind for me andmany others.MK: When was the first time youcame to Mayapur?A: I first came to Mayapur brieflyin the early eighties.MK: Were you at all involved inMayapur development before 1998?A: Of course, ever since 1976 whenSrila Prabhupada asked me tofinance the Temple of VedicPlanetarium, it has been in the backof my mind to become involved.

My participation was of a gradualnature. In the early nineties, I wasfounding director of the ISKCONFoundation, which was focused ontrying to upgrade the fiscal,fundraising, and congregationalact ivit ies of ISKCON NorthAmerica. The problems were deepand systemic. I think we were ableto help in a small way, but therewas a lot of resistance. Always inmy mind was the thought that wewill not be able to build theMayapur Project unless we upgradethe standards of ISKCON manage-ment. I think the corner has beenturned, due mostly to sincereattempts to address mistakes of thepast.MK: What is your persona linvolvement (position) in theMayapur Project a t present ?A: I have been fortunate of lateto be asked to become ManagingDirector of the SMPDC. Over theyears, the SMPDC has carried thevision of Srila Prabhupada throughthe planning stage. A project of thismagnitude encompasses many hoursof planning, strategizing, andimprovising to make it happen.Many devotees have given much oftheir lives to bring these plans to

fruition. Thanks to them, and themercy of Sri Pancha-tatva, thingshave evolved to a point of exe-cution.MK: What impresses you the mostabout Mayapur?A: Myself, and many others whoare associated with this project, seethe Mayapur Project as a beaconof light in this age of Kali. FromMayapur, the message of ChaitanyaMahaprabhu w ill be broadcast tothe rest of the world for genera-tions. What we are able to accom-plish in the next several years isjust a beginning, but it is crucial.Some may doubt that we will everaccomplish our goal, others willcriticize our efforts. We have tohave faith in the vision of SrilaPrabhupada, and move forward,against whatever obstacles, know-ing we have his blessings.MK: When you took up this posi-tion of managing director, were youfully aware of everything aboutthis project, or there were surprisesto discover?A: I would not say that there wereany surprises. I knew it was goingto be a challenge, especially tryingto create some order via email. Ihave always thought that the proj-ect has a life of its own, and isprogressing according to our abili-ty to handle the responsibility. Noone is indispensable, we are simplyservants.MK: How do you deal with sur-prises if any comes?A: I tend to like to work inteams, which irritates some people,but I find w isdom in consensusbuilding.MK: Is everything going the wayyou want in running this Project?A: Things are not going fastenough for me. Being somewhatpassionate, I want to see progressin a hurry. Dealing with setbacksand red tape is frustrating. Thingstend to move slowly in WestBengal.MK: How do you deal with chal-lenges?A: I try to be patient, realizing thatthere are some things that are wellbeyond my control. At the sametime, I have to be vigilant andpersistent.




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MK: How do you deal with peo-ple if they turn out to be not howyou expected them to be?A: My philosophy is to let peoplebe themselves. Everyone has abili-ties, which can flourish if not sti-fled. At the same time, if someonedisgraces the movement or project,this is a big disappointment.MK: What other devotees havebeen involved and are involved inthis Temple project?A: Devotees involved in templedevelopment, Pada Sevana Prabhu,Abhirama Prabhu, Harikesa Prabhu,Jayapataka Maharaj, Sridhar Swami,Naresvara Prabhu, PancaratnaPrabhu, Sadbhuja Prabhu, andmany others.MK: Do you believe tha t ONEperson would build the AdbhutMandir and Bhaktivinoda Thakurawill take him by his hand to thespiritual world?A: This temple will be built bymany, many devotees always aspir-ing for the mercy of Bhaktivinodaand Srila Prabhupada.MK: What keeps you informed onwhat’s happening in Mayapur whileyou are not present here yoursel f?A: Mostly through email and anoccasional phone call.MK: What kind of news aboutMayapur is most important to you?A: I like to hear about the preachingactivities, and about cooperationbetween devotees to push the proj-ect forward.MK: Do you tell people aboutMayapur in karmi business circles?A: I find that in India, manyimportant leaders are very excitedabout the Mayapur Project. Even inthe US, people are intrigued bythe concept of a Vedic Planetariumand ideal spiritual community.MK: How much awareness aboutMayapur do you perceive out there,in the world in general, and inAmerica in particular?A: Unfortunately, the level ofawareness about Sri Mayapur isvery limited. America tends to bemyopic in its news reporting, andwhen they do focus outside the bor-ders, it is usually war or disaster.MK: What do you feel will be thebest advertisement for Mayapurthat will appeal to most if not all

people?A: I believe that Srila Prabhupadawanted to emphasize the non-sec-tarian spiritual nature of Krishnaconsciousness. In this age wherethere is quarrel between so manyparties due to religious affiliation,God is being blamed. People donot understand the transcendentalloving nature of the SupremePersonality. This understanding caneasily be attained by chanting HareKrishna. This simple process hasbeen given to us through the mercyof Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and theAcharyas. The Mayapur Project isthe broadcast tower of the HolyName and Mahaprabhu’s mercy.This is the only antidote for themayhem of modern times.MK: Does your family share yourinterest in Mayapur?A: Lately, I have been spendingmore and more time in India, get-ting ready to help fully launch thisprogr am. Sometimes my wife,Svaha devi dasi, comes with me. Sheis a Bengali, so she is very familiarwith the culture, and is also veryded icated to the Mayapur Project.When she is not with me, s he isat home with our child ren inFlorida, where we live.MK: When did you get married?Tell us about your wife, please.A: We were married in 1984 inAustralia, and live near a largedevotee community in Alachua,USA. My w ife, Svaha Devi Dasi,was initiated by BhavanandaPrabhu. We met in Australia in1984. She is a Bengali, who grewup in Jaipur and Australia. Shereceived a PhD in Biochemistry theyear after we were married.MK: How many children do youhave?A: We have two daughters, Amritaand Anisha, who are both in schoolin the US .MK: Are your parents still alive?How did they react to you becom-ing a devotee? Are they favorableto it now?A: My mother is still alive. Theywere very upset when I f irstbecame a devotee, and actuallythrew me out of the house. Overtime they came to appreciate theculture, and later, they both came

to the Detroit temple for the grandopening of the BhaktivedantaCultural Center.MK: When did you join ISKCON?A: I was initiated by SrilaPrabhupada in 1975.MK: Please tell us the story ofyour initia tion.A: I was initiated in Hawaii,where I had gone to spend timewith Srila Prabhupada. I was theonly candidate at that time, so itwas very personal. Hawaii is avery sweet place, and my memo-ries of Srila Prabhupada in Hawaiiare very sweet. He was veryrelaxed and at home in Hawaii.MK: What did you do in lifebefore meeting the devotees?A: I had been reading and chant-ing for about two years. Beforethat I was a student at a collegein America. I was searching forsomething outside of what I wasbeing offered. I found that some-thing in Krishn Consciousness.MK: Does it mean that you camein contact with the devotees in1973?A: I did not join until 1975. I didnot go through a normal templetraining like many devotees. I wasliving in seclusion in the moun-tains, and began chanting and read-ing. Later, I began to correspondwith Srila Prabhupada, and pur-chased the temple in Hawaii. Wewould meet there whenever SrilaPrabhupada was traveling.MK: Who did you meet first, whoconvinced you first, who helped onthe way with advice and whateverother help? What are the names ofall helpful devotees in your life?A: I then moved to Detroit, afterinitiation in Hawaii, where I moreor less moved into the temple,where Govardhan, the temple presi-dent looked after me. My situationwas a bit unique as many devoteeswanted to have influence on me,but Srila Prabhupada made itclear that I was only to deal withhim directly.MK: Where did you get the ideain the f irst place to go to themountains and read and chant?A: It was my idea to go to themountains. After the turbulence ofthe sixt ies, I was looking for some




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peace and quiet.MK: What mountains were they?A:The Rocky Mountains in the US.MK: How did you know about SrilaPrabhupada, where did you get Hisaddress to correspond with Him?A: A friend Atulananda Das intro-duced me to chanting and reading,while I was in the mountains.MK: Did you accept this philoso-phy easy, or had doubts?A: I accepted the ph ilosophy veryeasily. It made sense to me, and ful-filled my expectations about spiritu-al life.MK: What did you do when youjoined the temple (some service)?A: In Detroit, I helped work on thenew temple restoring the old FisherMansion.MK: Would you like to tell as a storyor two from your experiences inKrishna Consciousness?A: After initiation, when I movedback to Detroit, the temple was stillin a small building. The deitieswere on the third floor. SrilaPrabhupada was coming to visit inthe summer of 1975, and we werebusy trying to get the building readyas well as look for a new temple.The devotees had built a palanquin tocar ry Prabhupada up the 3 flights ofstairs. He arrived at the temple,took a look at the palanquin, anddecided to walk. We all laughed,af ter all the work the devotees haddone.

I had picked Srila Prabhupada upat the airport in a white LincolnContinental from Ford MotorCompany, which we had completelydecorated inside with marigolds.Every morning I would take SrilaPrabhupada on a drive to the park, andin the evening take him to a preachingprogram. I would drive through mudand bushes to make things comfortableto drop him off. When I returned thecar, it was a mess, covered w ith mudand scratches and full of flowers.

When we would arrive at the tem-ple for greeting of the deities, wewould be standing in front of thecurtain waiting for the opening, andyou could hear Govardhan, the TP,who was a complete perfectionist,scre aming behind the curtain “hurryup, hurry up!”. Srila Prabhupada

would jus t stand patiently. It wasvery sweet.MK: What other services did you per-form for Srila Prabhupada?A: I had purchased the temple inHawaii for Srila Prabhupada, andwhenever he would visit, I would meethim there.

After initiation, I continued to serveSrila Prabhupada by helping todevelop the infrastructure of ISKCON,wherever I was living. The two mainservices Srila Prabhupada asked meto help with were the VedicPlanetarium and dioramas. Althoughwe installed a wonderful doll exhib-it in Detroit, I still feel that I want tohelp develop the diorama pre ach-ing. It is on my ‘to do’ list forSrila Prabhupada.MK: How does being rich ref lectin trying to practice devotional life?A: I have been fortunate to have beengiven many services to do by SrilaPrabhupada. I have seen that manytimes when people have a lot ofopulence, they become frustratedtrying to buy happiness. SrilaPrabhupada taught me how to prop-erly engage Laxmi. Without thistraining, I would have been lost likeso many of the people I grew upwith. Wealth can be a ter rible hin-drance or boon in the practice ofdevotional service. That is why it issuch a blessing to have the associ-ation of a bonafide spiritual master.He can clear away the fog of illu-sion, and make one’s path unam-biguous.MK: How does it feels to be famousbecause of being rich?A: When you have wealth, you havesome protection from the nastieraspects of Kali-yuga. This is anillusion. You may be a first classprisoner, but you are still in prison,and your days are numbered. I cansee that since the time I was born,there has been so much advance-ment of the degrading results of theage. Practically, there is no effectiveantidote to this fever. The only wayis the soothing relief of the HolyName.MK: What was the singlething / event tha t made the mostchange in Your life?A: I would say the most signifi-

cant event in my life was meetingSrila Prabhupada. It completelychanged the course of my life, andis still the major force in my lifetoday.

Srila Prabhupada, out of Hiscauseless mercy, came to Americaat an advanced age, to give thismedicine to the suffering fallensouls of the western countries. Hewanted to give all conditionedsouls a chance to achieve salvationthrough the chanting of Hare Krishna.What he accomplished in a littleover ten years is miraculous. What heleft for us to do is his love for us.MK: Is there anything else youwant to say to our readers?A: Srila Prabhupada has requested allof us to cooperate with each other inhis absence. It is going to take atremendous amount of cooperationto build and operate the MayapurProject. In order to cooperate, wehave to act according to our highernatures. I am seeing the influenceof Kali waiting to derail theprogress of carrying out the desiresof Srila Prabhupada in SridhamMayapur. These efforts in Mayapurare a direct assault on Kali’s king-dom, and w ill be attacked vigor-ously. We all need to look withinour own hearts to see if we areacting according to our best nature,putting aside personal desires andaspirations to support the mission. Iam sure we have the capacity andmeans to carry out this assignment,and united, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.

Over the last several years, wehave seen ISKCON attacked frommany sides. For myself personally,I see this Mayapur Project as anaff irmation that the movementstarted forty years ago by SrilaPrabhupada is alive and well, and con-tinuing to expand in a big way. Ipray that all of us can put asidepetty differences and misgivings tocome together w ith love andrespect under the umbrella of thisgrand v ision. We can build the houseSrila Prabhupada is inviting the wholeworld to live in, in the beautiful landof Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,Sridham Mayapur. u




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The Bhajan Kutir was built in 1971.In the early days there were no housesand buildings as we see here todaywithin ISKCON property, except thisbamboo hut that stood alone in themids t of the fields. To this very day this hut is known allover the world as Srila Prabhupada'sBha jan Kutir.

As one enters inside the large gate ofISKCON, naturally one's whole atten-tion will be drawn towards SrilaPrabhupada's Bhajan Kutir because ofthe simple looking hut and their mer-ciful Lords Guar-Nitai, who are stand-ing there smilingly, giving Theirmercy openly. The sweet transcendentalmellow of the maha-mantra, emergingfrom the hut, makes one feel tran-scendentally welcomed.

Adi Guru Prabhu (Prabhupad dis-ciple) hadbeen takingresponsibilityas in-chargefor the las tdecade.

There arearound 15devotees, whoare servinghere. Thesedevotees havebeen consis-

tently singing Hare Krishna maha-mantra day in day out. These 15 devo-tees are divided into groups. And inevery group there are three devotees.Every 3 hours the kirtan party cha nges.These devotees have to struggle hardto remain awake and do kirtan all nightlong. Some live within ISKCON andhave their respective room for staying

on the boundary wall. Others live out-s ide. These devotee's only servicet hrough, which they can show theirlove and offer to Prabhupad is to keepthe 24-hour kirtan going, and they do itwonderfully. Their sponta neous cry oft he Lord's name is the source of inspi-ration and happiness to the lis tenerand onlooker. These happy devotee-kirtaniers are expert in the art ofs inging and playing karatals and mri-danga in different tunes and theybecome even happier to see the visi-tors join them and doing nice kirtan.Karna: How the 24-hours kirtans tarted and from which point of timehas it begun?H.G. Adi Guru Prabhu: In 1977Srila Prabhupada was sick inVrindavan. Three of His sanyasi deci-ples asked Srila Prabhupada if hewould allow them to look for a gooddoctor for him from any part of theworld. But Prabhupada denied it bysaying: "no, my doctor is Krishna,prasad is charinamrita, medicine isHa rinam - and if possible you all canarrange Harinam kirtan in allISKCON centers, especially inMayapur, Vrindavan, Delhi andBombay. Arrange for 24-hours kir-tan".

Under His desire every body tried.24-hour was not possible in Vrindavan,Delhi and Bombay. It frequentlys topped during arati time, even inMayapur also. Bhakti Caru Maharajaand Jayapataka Maharaja tried so much,but were unsuccessful. Anyway, aftermany attempts fifteen devotees arenow doing this 24-hour Harinam kir-tan with no difficulties. By the mercyof Srila Prabhupada the 24-hours has

become effective and devotees fromdifferent part of the world listen tothe kirtan.

When Srila Prabhupada was inMayapur He would sit here and performkirtan. He told His disciples not todestroy this house. He said: "this houseis my very life and soul. If it becomesold repair it again". So, that peoplecan know and understand thatPrabhupada had lived here doing hisbhajan in such aus tere situation.

We have a few words from thepresent in-charge of Bhajan Kutir,

Sundar Nitai Prabhu: We hold kir-

tan here, inBhajan Kutir,every day.Three of uswould do thekirtan. Whenthe temple isclosed a lot ofguests come toBhajan Kutir.They take rest and take part in thekirtan. After kirtan they become happyand it makes us happy as well. Byfollowing the kirtan schedule ourwhole life has been engaged in per-forming kirtan. Kirtan groups changeevery 3 hours, devotees have their indi-vidual s tyle of singing. In this waywe manage to keep kirtan runningcontinually. Those, who are findingsome problem or difficulty in doingtheir service, they inform their in-charge and we look for anotherengagemen t for them. Thus, byPrabhupad's mercy we are carryingon this service.

by bhakta Karna

Srila Prabhupada’s Bhajan Kutir

continue on page 22




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When you get sickin Mayapur,

what do you do ?

A:

Amrita Devi Dasi said:I am going to Navadwip to the Dr. Oladev itala, whileI am staying at ho me I am waiting to recov er andpraying, that's what I am doing nor mally.

Atul Krsna Das said:Usually when I get sic k I take more rest, andthen take some drugs from the dispensary -whatever they give me usually, I try to getsome antibiotics. I go to dispensary on themain gate.Usually I always get the same thing, the flu.And if bad then I just have to take antibioticsto get rid of it.

Bhaktajanapriya Das said:I c all some medical help, if I am sick I have totake help from the medical. It depends onwhat type of sickness, if its little fever I don'tgo to the doctor I just take some medic ine bymyself.And if it's a little more serious then I will go tothe ayurvedic doctor trying to avoid the allo-pathic, I go for homeopathy or ayurvedic - inNavadwip, at Oladevitala.And pray to Krsna, like if you wish then Iknow I c an be cured, or that I can have nicehealth so that I c an serve God better, thatway - because without His sanction the medi-cine will not work.

Maha Laksmi Devi Dasi said:If my children get sick I go to Homeopathic doctor,Devnath, Vikas Sanga or Adi dev Prabhu, Namahatta.And myself I just take maha-tulasi and pray.

Phani Sevaka Devi Dasi said:It's depends if it's little or if it's heavy. If it is heavyI have to find a good doctor. And, sorry, I can notfind a good doctor here, in Mayapur. I must go toCalcutta, if it's simple disease I just have to take restand sleep nicely more hours, but it's not good, Ihave to go to Mangala-aratik everyday, but its OKjust to sleep for more hours to take care of this body,then it's OK, but my own experience when I am verysick, have a very big headache, nobody can do any-thing in Mayapur, so I have to go to Calcutta tofind some specialist.

Padmini Radha Devi Dasi said:As long as its not an obstacle to our regular sadhana it's OK,otherwise when it becomes difficult to get up for mangala-arotik, then you really feel 'OK, Krsna, help me, because I needthis body to serve You”. Usually we try to go to the homeopathic doctor fromMayapur Vikas Sanaga, Kavita, she is in the lab and she is apart of the Mayapur Vikas Sanga. We try to avoid the allo-pathic medicine as much as possible.Kavita is from Mayapur she stays there at the land depart-ment and goes to the villages. Since she knows us, she isvery close to my prahbu, so sometimes we just call her upand tell her. Like for a few days I was completely down all thetime feeling completely tired and very sleepy, I have to justlie down. I had to go to her, blood pressure was low andshe gave some medicine and I feel better. She is our medicalhelp, until now we have nothing e lse has been required.She can be found, usually in the morning, I think, before8:30, she has a mobile and you can call her up and fix anappointment, or she comes to the Mayapur Vikas Sangaoffice, but usually her business she has to go the village anddo some visits, so it's not very regular so its better to callher on mobile and fix an appointment: ph # 9434056807

Pitambara Das said:I say, those people who call themselves doctors, whichcan only know two names for the medicines - antibiot-ic and penicillin - that's himsa. Last festival, 2004Radanath Swami sent five doctors and one of thosedoc tors saved my life, because these people that c allthemselves doctors at the dispensary here, they are a joke.I have no idea of their names, they are death person-ified! No, its really true they know two antibiotics, I hadone friend from Sweden, he had a little bacha (child) withhim - they gave the kid same antibiotic as to adult -they only know two things. It's a joke. And fortunately,OK, its good to die in Mayapur, but, it's so interesting thatyou took up this question, I have been meditating on that, Idid full pranams to Radanath Maharaj's disc iple - hesaved my life during festival. Thank God! - there wassomeone educated, but you know these two guys, who sitin the two small chambers on boundary wall… than it'seven the bramacharis they know more than these two ,'doctor' Narayan is one, with very bad teeth. I mean that'smy experience I only live here nine years, so what do Iknow? Hmmm…

Sevika Radha Devi Dasi said:I take maha-tulasi and charinamrita. Whenever I tryto take medicines doctor gives, I have side-affects.When I take charinamrita, and maha-tulasi I getbetter.

?:Ramaniya Devi Dasi said:Chanting Hare Krsna, I depend onKrsna. I don't go to doc tors, unless it'svery-very-very urgent or important. ByKrsna's mercy I have good health.

re ad more on page 15




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Interview with Dayaram PrabhuContinued from the Summer issue

interview by Vrindavan Lila Devi Das i

MK: Prabhu, in the last interview we left you in theKitchen. What happened with you next, after that?Dayaram Prabhu: So, kitchen was in 1987, I think,or 1988 and then, the temple authorities wanted me toget involved with accounts department next, so they putme in accounts and I was told to go through the dif-ferent deposits and expenses and make a statement andsee where the funds are gone. I went through it andmade a report and it was liked by Satyadhanya andKadamba Kanana Maharaj who was Kadamba KananaPrabhu then. Then there was a problem with NitaichandMaharaj having taken sannyas and not interested incontinuing with land purchase. Naresvara and HarikesaMaharaj wanted somebody to do purchase of land, sothey put me in-charge of land acquisition after treasury.MK: How long were you in the treasury?D: I was in the treasury for maybe 6 months to a year.GBC did not want Nitaichand Maharaj to continue tobe involved with purchasing land. So they had nobodyelse to buy land and I was told to buy land. But nobodytaught me how to buy and what was the situation. Inever bought land in my life. They gave me a lot ofmoney and gave me the office. I remember buying thefirst piece of property - one property somewhere nearthe road.MK: What land was it?D: Probably Maharaj's school might be built on that

land, Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaj,I think.I didn't buy it, it came forsale. I didn't buy it, I didn't know what to buy. They came and toldme the price and showed me a map. I didn't understand anything.So I told two more devotees who were there , should I buy or not buy.They told me , no, no this is expensive and we decided not to buy thatland. But the same land I bought after 3 months for double theprice. So that was my first lesson, by making a mistake.I learnt that itwas a mistake. Then I had to learn everything properly. There wasnobody to teach me. I went to Navadvip, there was a deed writer. Iforgot his name, I begged him to please teach me how to purchaseland and what is land. And he taught me in half an hour and gave methe philosophy of land. Govinda Babur was his name, I think. So oncehe taught me then I started to know. Looking at maps and reading landbooks in Bengali. My Bengali wasn't very good so I could not read.Then I decided I must know what I am doing, so I started reading landbooks. So, I became very good at it and I could easely buy the land.MK: So, you studied the law?D: I found that many people did not know what is the land law inBengal, so their papers were not correct. I had to learn myself. Then a lot of litigation started. People who sold the land they wantedit back, or they tried to put their boundary into our land. So, litiga-tions became a necessity to protect the property of ISKCON. Afew trusts were formed with different devotees.Then (it may not be in exact order) came a 'picnic party' problem.Picnic parties started to come to Mayapur. It was around 1989-90.Especially during December, January, February - huge number ofpeople would come on their buses, trolleys, flat back riksaws and vanswith huge speakers and blaring out the Hindi music. They used tocome with liquor, goats, chickens and make a picnic. They would putup fires and slaughter chickens, goats - right on the road, then theyplay music, dance, get drunk and start fights. Sometimes some drunk-ards would come to our temple and attack devotees, also theywould go to the nearby Maths. In one Math they entered the templeroom and beat up a pujari. It was becoming more and more dif-ficult, especially in the three months - December, January and firstpart of February. This is month of Pousha in Bengal, whenBengalis do picnics. Somehow they chose Mayapur to be a picnicplace - here is Ganga, they can go on a boat.MK: Were they coming from far away, not just locals?D: They would come from Kolkata, Borampur, Krishnanagar, fromdifferent parts of Bengal. They drive out here in the morning, by10-11 they would arrive, go on the bank of the Ganga, or up by theroad, rent a place from the villagers. Then they start 'enjoying' theirsenses, and often there would be a clash between different picnicgroups. Someone would s tart to tease girls from another party, soother party would attack them and they would end up fighting,sometimes with blood-shed. Sometimes we would be attacked, alsomany western devotees. Girls would sometimes get chased bythese dunk boys - it was a big mess. So, it became a big problem and we had no control of what washappening on the road side. So, we decided to do something about

Dayaram Prabhu, co-director of ISKCONMayapur has a lot to think about... his lifeis very much a part of Mayapur History.




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it and we got all Gaudiya Mathstogether and we made petitions, went tothe Panchaet and got them to writesome letter. Then I got some localfriends and devotees and we made up agate right up by the culvert - on theroad when you go to Yoga Pitha there isa place where water is running underthe road. So we set up there and stoppedall the parties and sent them back force-fully. One government officer, the in-charge of police station was supportingus, but then Communist party got upsetand they wanted to throw us out. So,they put pressure on higher-ups andthey said that ISKCON is stopping peo-ple from entering Mayapur in thisgunda-like way. And there was big fightand problem, physical fight. So, we didnot know what to do. We were trying tostop them and they would say that it isnot our business, this is governmentproperty, anyone can go on the road.Then they put pressure on the localPanchaet, who gave us the letter, towithdraw their letter and the personwho gave us that letter was humiliatedand abused by the Communist party. Itwas a big problem, almost became achallenging situation. So, we did not know what to do. TatpurMaharaj, one of Gaudiya Math Swami,he was more experienced, actually hisGuru was more experienced (BharatiMaharaj), he has an asram near HulorGhat. He was very much for protectingthe Dham and he was very much upsetabout all these picnic parties. He want-ed to stop it and he was pushing all ofus, he was very happy that I went andtook lead in stopping them. I told himthat it will not be possible to physicallystop them, because Communist Party isthe ruling party, they don't want us to doit - no matter how much I try, thePolice will come from Krishnanagarand throw us away, and nothing we cando, just end up in jail. So, we decided tofile a petition in the High Court. I didnot know so much about courts, butTatpur Maharaj was very committed -every day in the morning he would offerarotik to the Deities, cook Prasad forhis Guru. His Guru was very old thenand only two of them were staying inthe Math. Then He would catch a 6 AMbus and go to Kolkata. All day he wouldgo from court to court and late atnight he would come back on the last

train. He did it so many times. He met alawyer, Debvrata Benerjee, who was avery pious Bengali gentlemen, who feltpity and wanted to help. I was alsointroduced to him and we met together.He said, 'don't worry, I will do my best'.Then he went to the senior consular,Shaktinath Mukherjee, who becamevery friendly and led us to one famouslawyer, they all promised they will helpand get court to give an order. So, it wasone year of hard struggle. TatpurMaharaj put most energy into it, morethan me. He and Debvrata Benerjeeworked very hard on it and they got thecourt order to stop the picnics. It was in1991-92, it was big, one of happiestmoments in my life - that we got anorder against the government. We gotthe order and we showed the copy tosuperintendent of Police and ChiveSecretary and told them 'now you haveto come and stop the picnics, if youdon't come you will be disobeying thecourt'. Police were still reluctant, so wecontinued with our program at culvert(where the small bridge is), but then wefound that it was also creating problems- all the busses would come in, but theycould not go back and had to park hereand there, there were a lot of jams andchances for an accident, and the Maths,who were beyond the bridge wereaffected and they were complaining. So,we decided that we should shift it to therailway crossing, about twelve kilome-tres from here. There is a little villagecalled Chauvacha, so we requested thelocal people there to help us and we setup a check post. So there we stopped thepicnic parties and on the big days, likeDecember 25, January 25, 23, GauraPurnima, we got some Police to standthere, by pressuring them, it was a seri-ous court order we had, so they had toobey. So, picnic parties became lessproblem and for the last 12 years wedon't have this problem.MK: How come picnic parties were aproblem at that particular time? Beforethat there was not such a problem?D: Picnics were coming since 1988,but then they increased in numberfrom 1988 to 1990. Huge number ofpeople, 500-600 busses, huge jams -Saturdays, Sundays, holidays - hugeparties were coming. That was the first time I saw thepower of the Court, which could stop

even Goverment from doing wrongthings. Then next problem was - the peoplewere buying the property and putting upshops in front of their property. Fromthe road certain amount of land is gov-ernment land and they were puttingtheir shops there. Nothing we could doto stop them. MK: Do you mean outside the gate?D: Yes. The shops were there from1987 and we did not take any action inthose days. Now no more shops cancome because we got a court order.So, again there was a big problembetween the Communist Party and us. To stop more shops coming we got per-mission to plant trees, but again theCommunist Party came into picture andforced the order to be withdrawn, theysent their cows to eat all the youngtrees. Then we planted trees again andwe put a fence, then they got govern-ment to remove the fence and destroythe trees. There was a lot of businessinterest - the Communist Party, theRiksaw-walla Union would sell thisland, not actually really sell, but takemoney and put people there to sit. Theland is owned by the government, butthe government is sleeping, no onegoing to do anything. So, local peoplemake money out of it, they sell it. So, tostop that we had to take shelter of theCourt again. Again we put the trees andthe fence, and got the Cour order 'StatusQuo', that nobody should be allowed topluck these trees. Thus trees were ableto grow, and once trees are grown, noone can chop them, because it is veryserious offence - to cut a tree withoutpermission from the government andone can go to jail for chopping a tree. Sowe planted the trees and put theguards. Now these trees are grown andwe are quite satis fied that there willnot be any more encroachments infront of our land. MK: Where are those trees?D: In front and along the back road. Weplanted them in 1992-93, just two orthree lines of trees. That stopsencroachments from coming. So, someParties did not want that. There were alot of complicated stories, I just toldyou in brief, many people wereinvolved, lots of vested interest wasinvolved. This problem went into 1993-94. It was




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very tense. The local MLA (Member ofLegislative Assembly), local represen-tative of State Assembly, he is on theblock - Navadvip town and Mayapurin one block. He is elected from there.So, he been told that either youremove this fence or you won't getelected any more. So, he could notremove the fence because we got theCourt order. He promised to commu-nists to remove the fence and put theshops in that place, but he could not dothat. So, he got very angry and he madepromise to kill me, to make sure I wasdead. He told his people 'lets see howlong this guy lives, he will be finished inno time'. I got a lot of threats on thephone 'get out of Mayapur, if you stayhere you will be finished', and therewere attempts to kill me, but I was nothit any time. Harikesa Maharaja told meto get a revolver and I got personalrevolver and I was carrying it with me, Istill got it. I got lisence from the govern-ment to carry a revolver, so if any time Ifeel fear or apprehension I can use it toprotect myself. So, Harikesa Maharajatold me 'don't worry about money, justgo ahead and get a revolver and licence',so I got it, police were also informed ofit. These life-threats were going on forabout two years - phone calls, letters,'your head will be chopped off if youwalk out', etc… But after two years itbecame lighter. That was going onthrough to 1996.Then Harikesa Maharaja was fired up tofinish the construction of the Temple, sohe wanted me to buy land, developdifferent businesses. So, he encour-aged me to s tart business. Russiandevotees wanted spices, so I wassupplying them.MK: Who you were dealing with?D: Sanyasa, Kamala-mala, laterBrahmananda (Armenian one) a lsocame into picture. They were buyingspices from me, I sold them 7 contain-ers of spices, huge containers, made alot of profit there. Also I sold rice, thou-sand tons of rice to Poland and Russiaalso. Harikesa Maharaja, NaresvaraPrabhu were supporting this, we madea lot of profit. The profit was used forbuilding the brahmachari asram forSankirtan boys. But I also had some losses and the busi-ness did not go well after that. At that time we were meeting in

London for Mayapur Development, Ihad to go there twice or trice a year.Harikesa Maharaja was pushing me toget the land situation together. But in 1998 Harikesa Maharaja changedashram and also because of these busi-ness activities I thought that it wasnot proper for me to remain as abrahmachari, so I thought to get mar-ried. So, in 1998 I got married toPrema Manjari. She was a Mayapurdevotee for many years. Just after our marriage Adridharan andMadhu Pandit started to fight withGBC, pushing the ritvik philosophy. In1999 GBC expelled them from ISCK-ON, and Adridharan declared thatKolkata temple is independent fromGBC. So, GBC were looking who couldtake care of the legal fights, because wehad to file lawsuits in Kolkata HighCourt. Satyadhanya, who was engagedbefore in legal work, was not so enthu-siastic because he had a family tomaintain, he wanted to earn money,so, thus, it fell on my head, although hewas more experienced and more com-petent than me (at that time at least).Initially he was helping me withadvice, but then he had to move out,he said he could not go on like this, heis old and has to make money for hisfamily. I could sympathize with him…So, he left and the whole thing fell onmy head. And from 1999 till 2002 it wasmore or less one-pointed fight inKolkata. In 2002 we got a court orderin our favour that we can run Kolkatatemple without any interference fromAdridharan Das. Somehow, by themercy of vaishnavas and Mahaprabhuwe got the temple, also Guru Sada Roadproperty back under ISKCON control.Adridharan was kind of defeated, nowthere is arrest warrant against him. He ishiding from police either in Bombay orBangalore. Anyway, we don't know hiswhere-abouts. So, after this I thought maybe it istime for me to make some money formy family. I was thinking to go toAmerica because I had no personalmoney left to have an apartment orhave sufficient security for myfuture, as family men we need tohave funds. My friend, with whom wewere s tudying in Bombay, he startedhis own Software company in America.He offered me a job for five thousand

Dollars a month to join his company. Itisn't a lot in America, he offered it tome jus t to begin with, and go up fromthat. He was very gracious, although Iwas out of the feel, he thought I couldpick up in two-three months. He is afriend, he is a devotee also, he wantedto help me. So, I decided to go there,but my wife was not interested, shewanted to stay in Mayapur, or in India.I told her that we don't have money andwe can't just continue like this. So, shestarted the business, selling Krishna fig-ures. She bought figures from Radha-Krishna Prabhu from Chowpati and wastrying to sell them. I thought she isgoing to loose money and we will endup in a bigger debt, but somehow orother, some mercy of the Lord - thisbusiness worked very well, and wemade good amount of money. Shestarted rolling that money and sellingmore and more. In one year's time Ifound that she made very good amountof money. Then I saw that she was right- not just telling me not to go toAmerica, but she was doing somethingpractical.MK: Is it still going on?D: Yes, still going on, but much lessnow. I thought she has her desires andshe had contributed financially to thefamily, I shall honour her desire and dosomething in India. So, after Kolkatacase finally closed up we went toBangalore to start some other business,because we thought that this figurebusiness will not last long, so westarted incense business. In Bangalorewe were searching for different incenseand going to different courses on fra-grances, etc. Both of us also did coursecalled Kanuj on finding natural fra-grances. We went to visit devotees there andfound them in a very distressful condi-tion, they were not allowed to go to thetemple, for which they contributed forto build. Madhu Pandit instructed guardnot to let them enter the temple. Somedevotees shifted their homes closer tothe temple, so they can go to mangala-arotik, but they are not allowed to enterthe temple and just go on their balconyto offer obeisancies to the Cakra on topof the dome, like Haridasa Thakur usedto do in Jagannatha Puri. Many devoteesstarted to push me to 'do it, but I wastired after three years fighting with




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Adridharan in Kolkata courts. One daywe had forty proceedings in differentcourts - from Low Court to SupremeCourt. I had hardly any help, my healthwas going bad, so I did not want to doit, but Bhanu Swami, JayapatakaMaharaj, Gopal Krishna Maharaj,Bhima Prabhu, Bangalore devotees,congregation - everybody were pushingme. So, I did not know what to do -should I do it or not. I did not want to doit. But all vaishnavas were asking and Icould see that this man was walkingoff with temple - it is no good, andthis will destroy this movement in thelong run, because everyone will startto make their temple independent. Noone was ready to take on the fight, sowe thought maybe it's my ego that Idon't want to fight. I was thinking Idid one, I don't want to do another one. I did not understand what was the rightthing to do. I called Jananivasa Prabhuand asked him what I shall do. I askedhim to pray to Radha-Madhava and ifhe feels They say I should do - I willdo, if They say 'no', I won't do.Jananivasa Prabhu was saying that Ishould take res t for some time. I said,'Ok, res t, but after that should I do ornot ? ' Jananivasa Prabhu then prayedto Radha -Madhava, I also askedPankajangry Prabhu to pray. Jananivasa called me after three daysfrom this talk and told me - I shoulddo it! I said: "Prabhu, but I am really tired,exhausted , this, that… look, duringKolkata fight I could not chant myround properly, my reading of scrip-tures has gone down'. He said: "Don't ever think that by yourown endeavours you can chantKrishna's name, you can only chantKrishna's name by the mercy andblessings of vaisnavas. So, if all thevaisnavas want you to do it, then youshould do it. If they bless you, thenyou can chant Krishna's name nicely". I said: "So, OK, do you think this willplease Prabhupad ?"

He said: "Yes, this will pleasePrabhupad". So, eccepting his authority, which Irespect very much, I decided to take upthe Bangalore fight and from then onthis is my service at present. Thefight is s till continuing.MK: Is there any progress?

D: Well, progress is there, but it isnot there… as long as we don't getproperty in our control, jus t the paperprogress has no value. So far it's allpaper progress. Actually recently welost in the Supreme Court, so alreadyit will take a lot of work to get it backon the right track again. Otherwise theonly option to wait for the main suiteto be heard, which will take manymany years, and try to win. ButMadhu Pandit trying to delay thematter, trying to make the hearing nottake place. We found some way ofreopening the issues. How Krishna…MK: How long it can go on the way itis now?D: Six months or six years, ten years - Idon't know. Right now we have twooptions, if they work out, then it couldgo on six months. Otherwise we shallwait for the main trial, which can takesix to ten years, litigations are veryslow, procrastinating and Madhu Pandithas the court injunction in his favour -he is enjoying sitting in the temple,he doesn't want any hearing to takeplace. High Court and Surpeme Courtrefused to interfere, so he is sittingthere very strong right now. So, that'sthe situation in brief, I guess.MK: Quite a story… D: You see, you asking of my experi-ences in Mayapur - I can't rememberevery detail, from 1988, a lot hap-pened.MK: Maybe you can tell the mostmemorable stories, especially in rela-tionship with devotees who helped you alot, who you appreciate.D: Many devotees helped. One person,who helped the most in all these fightsis Kasinath, he is teaching in theGurukula. He is a very wonderful per-son. He may not be an ISKCON devo-tee, but he is very truthful and honestperson, and he always stood byISKCON. One memorable experience I have -when government tried to take overour land, they sent 20 policemen withguns and all the local communist partypeople came, maybe four hundred. So,Kasinath got almost another four hun-dred people from the villages to sup-port us. And they s top police fromentering our land. Many devotees alsowent. This was the year Gour GovindaMaharaja left this world , 1996.

MK: Why police was trying to enter ourproperty?D: They were saying that some govern-ment land involved - just wanted to takeover our land and give to some peo-ple to s it on it.MK: Where is that property?D: Near t he Jalangi. Huge piece ofproperty, right near the river s ide -from Gurukula up to Jalangi. Thatland. We had to protect that land. Wegot a court order. There was a lot offight. We actually found out that thegovernment was trying to take overour land without our knowledge.Suddenly we found that about thirtypolicemen moving in with gun-machines…MK: What is the position on thatland now?D: We are cultivating that land, it'sunder our control now. So, Kasinath isthe person who helped the most and inthe Land department we had NimaiPrabhu that time, then Pada PankajPrabhu, who was with me. ThenPranavallabha, Bhadracharu. There wasone devotee, Pitavas Prabhu, then GourNam Prabhu, Shyamasundara. For thefight it were mostly Nimai andPitavas Prabhus, they were always inthe front, fighting.MK: Who is Shyamasundara?D: Shyamasundara Prabhu was anaccountant. Now he is pujari in ourDiety Department. Then Vedasara cameforward, he was looking after differentproblems.One of the happiest moments waswhen we got a court order banning thepicnics, second time - when we got acourt order stopping government toremove the trees. We had many manygood happy moments, when we foundthat we succeeded in protectingISKCON property, few happy momentswe had.MK: Do you want to say somethingabout your personal life?D: Personal life was not much. One per-son, who really cared for me beforemy marriage was Isan Prabhu, Nepalidevotee, who is serving in the Lotusbuilding. He was like my youngerbrother, he used to love me so much.Some devotees really loved me as Iremember. From 1992 to 1996 there wassuch a fight - I used to go early in themorning, after japa and come back late




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afternoon, because I had to go to meetwith this politician, that politician…this government officer, that police offi-cer… I would come back late and missPrasad, so Isan was keeping Prasad forme. I used to have cold Prasad, so hefelt bad about it and started to make hotrice for me, hot subjee. And I was notvery good, little lazy, I could not washmy clothes properly - brahmachari issupposed to wash, and I was washing,but sometimes it would be too manyunwashed close, so at night time beforegoing to s leep I would wash and nextmorning I would be able to were thesame clothes, it became very dirty. So,Isan started to wash my close. Another devotee from South America, Idon't know why he used to like me somuch, his name Laksmikantha. He didnot speak English properly and I couldnot speak his language, but somehowor other he stuck with me. First thing hewould do when he came to Mayapur wascome and clean my room completely. Hewould throw me out of the room,throw my things out, clean everythingand make sure not one paper was mis -placed. He would make whole roomvery clean. Every time when there wassome problem he would come andstand next to me. I was worried thathe will beat somebody and end up ina fight, I was telling him not to come,but he would not listen, jus t comeand stand next to me like my bodyguard. Somehow I got a lot of affec-tion from different devotees.MK: Where is Laksmikantha now?D: He is in America, I have no ideawhy he is not coming any more.When I left from here I think he feltit, he said " no one is there for me, youare gone". He can't write English. Butsometimes he write something to meand I reply. He is very nice, good heart-ed person. I did not do anyt hing forhim, I don't know what I did for himthat he loved me so much. He used tocome and stay with me, we used to walktogether, chant our rounds, sometimesbuy some fruits and eat them together.He used to bring me gifts when hewould come to Mayapur, like coat forthe winter, bags, always was asking mewhat I want. That was even before I gotinvolved in the leadership positionsfrom 1986 he showered his affectionon me. He was a very very coura-

geous person. He was trying to marrysome Japanese girl, those girls came,I tried to talk to them and it did notwork out. Also many senior devotees are verynice and merciful and supportive ofme. Apart from local devotees,Harikesa Maharaj was very loving.MK: Are you still in touch?D: Not recently. But he always likedme and I also liked him. I still have alot of appreciation for him, for allthe service he has done.Naresvara Prabhu also was very verysupportive and helpful during thosetrouble times, especially withinISKCON, with Nitaichand Maharaj -Naresvara is a very s trong manstanding next to me. And when hewanted to do something he stood by hiswords. Also local devotees - Bhadracharu,Pranavallabha , Bhakti PurusottamaMaharaj, they also were very helpfuland supportive. It was a team, alsoRadha Charan Prabhu. He usually didnot come out, but he took care of allthe government contacts initially -withtop police officer, Dis trict Magistrate,etc.MK: Where is he now?D: He is president of Saint-Luistemple in America. He is there for thelas t two-three years, we are in touch.And initially when I got involved inkitchen, the person who supported methe most was H.H. JayapatakaMaharaja. He knew that was a diffi-cult job and there could be a lot ofdifficulties either created by some-body or just coming my way. Heused to come regularly to make sureeverything is running nicely in thekitchen, he was the one who stoodbehind me so strongly. It was his sup-port and encouragement that made merun the kitchen, I could not do it other-wise. At that time Harikesa Maharajawas there, but he did not understandthe kitchen issue so well. Other devo-tees were afraid of Shyamasundara, butsomehow or other I was able to face thisguy. Jayapataka Maharaja went out ofhis way to make sure I could runkitchen well.MK: You are his fighting man.D: (laughs) Also Jananivasa,Pankajanghri Prabhus are always help-ful, they always praying to Radha-

Madhava, Nrisimha Deva, and nowPancha-tattva, for success. We actuallygot Guru Sada Road property onNrisismha Caturdasi. And in 2000 I wasstanding on the roof of my in-law'shouse looking at Ratha-yatra -Adridharan and his men was draggingRaths through the streets - I was prayingto Jagannath: 'Next year when you comeout if You please let us serve You, I willmake sure that Jananivasa Prabhu willcome and serve You. So, next year wegot a court order to get JagannathDeities for Ratha-yatra Day. Jagannathtricked me - I was promising HimJananivasa Prabhu coming to worshipHim and that we will offer you tenthousand coconut laddus - so He cameout to get that, and then went backagain. I was thinking that if Jagannathcomes to us then we will get the templealso, no need to pray for temple sepa-rately, but it did not happen then -Jagannath came out, but temple did notcome. Jananivasa Prabhu came to wor-ship Jagannath and Radha Duti Prabhuarranged for ten thousand coconut lad-dus. I told Jagannath: "now You aregoing back after seven days, if You wantus to worship You we will have to havethe temple, otherwise we can not evenenter there". So, He eat the laddus, gotHis puja and went back. MK: I remember He left one shoebehind.D: O, really, I don't remember that.After Ratha-yatra in one and halfmonths we got the temple, on the 9th ofAugust 2001, Janmastami Day. Andafter less then a year we got Guru SadaRoad also.MK: Was it the biggest fight in yourlife?D: Yeah, my heart was paining, becauseI was fighting with own men. I was justdoing it as a duty. MK: Which case is more importantto you Kolkata or Bangalore?D: Both are important. But Kolkatawas more important, because Mayapurcan not survive without Kolkata.Bangalore is more dis tant to me, butit is much bigger temple, much morevalue in the property.MK: Do you think this situation canrepeat in some other place?D: Well, if this temple comes back Idon't think anyone would dare to dosuch a thing in the future. So, this is a




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good lesson to be taught, we need to getthis temple back and keep Prabhupad'smovement united, and make sure that infuture no other temples, in India at least,think like this - just to separate them-selves from ISKCON. They have to workhow Prabhupad wanted under the author-ity of GBC of ISKCON. MK: What is the situation here, inMaypur?D: Mayapur is under control ofISKCON, registered in Bombay. We aresending all accounts to Bombay. Andwhatever court orders we have managersof the institution are signing.Prabhupada registered ISKCON inBombay and every temple in India isaccounting to Bombay. MK: Is there anything to stop the samesituation happening here?D: Right now we have got an order fromthe court saying that this is a branch ofBombay office and if anybody doesn'tdo here properly the Bombay GoverningBody can suspend or remove that per-son. This happened recently in Delhi,the president of Delhi temple tried to gothe same way as Adridharan das, but hehad to resign, he been suspended by theboard. He did not go to Court becausehe knew that the Court will not supporthim, as this type of situation has beenalready established in Kolkata case,very clearly. Madhu Pandit's case(Bangalore) started before the Kolkatacase came through, so if we win therealso, then in the future no one else willdare to do the same. It's important toestablish that everyone belongs to thesame institution. As for Bangalore, Ihope that Krishna fulfil the desire andprayers of His dear devotee, JananivasaPrabhu. Ultimately we are instruments,Krishna's desire is final, we can only try,results are not in our hand. MK: Thanks for this explanation.Would you like to say few words aboutyour family?D: Our marriage is a very difficultmarriage. First of all I was a brah-machari for many years and it wasdifficult for me to adjust to the idea ofgetting married. MK: How did you decide to go for it?D: I think around 1997 I started to feelthat I should get married. By that timeI was not able to maintain brahmacharilife properly, was more and more diffi-cult to control the mind. I was doingbusiness and my mind was becoming

less and less strict, thinking of oppo-site sex sometimes. So, I was think-ing that it was not proper to wearbrahmachari dress with such mindset, I thought that it would be betterto put on white clothes. But when Iexpressed that desire, everybody wassaying: “no-no-no, you are a goodbrahmachari, you should s tay brah-machari”. It was whole big sceneabout it. Jayapataka Maharaja andHarikesa Maharaja wrote to me, “youshould just stay brahmachari, don'twas te your life, you are meant forbeing brahmachari, nothing wrongwith you”. Then I said to them “atleas t if not get married, let me puton white, I am feeling very uncom-fortable wearing saffron, because oneshould not entertain thoughts of theoppos ite sex if they wear saffron”.Though may come, but then oneshould reject it. If one keep onentertaining such thoughts - it's atrouble for brahmachari. We can'tcontrol thoughts , they will comebecause it's the nature of humanbody, but if one wears saffron theyshould not entertain such thoughts. Inthe pas t I could reject it, but Inoticed that slowly I started to actu-ally entertain such thoughts, so it wasnot very nice. Then I thought that Ishould wear white, but they wouldnot let me wear white. They said:“no, if you wear white then you willget married”. So, it went on withboth of them, not allowing me to puton white clothes. Then HarikesaMaharaja said: “alright, if you insistthen you can put on white, no prob-lem”. Then I had a problem - I did notknow how to change from saffron towhite (laughs), so I s tarted to fade myclothes slowly-slowly to lighter andlighter colour. I wanted to put onwhite, but somehow had a mentalproblem about it, to be truthful, evenI already told to everybody - this iswhat happening, I should put onwhite, but somehow still had thistrouble. Then Bhakti Charu Maharajand two other persons approachedabout marriage to Prema Manjari. Idid not say 'yes' or 'no', because Iwas not sure what I was doing andwas confused. Some people said toher 'then forget it', but she kept onwaiting, thanks to her. It was myfault - I was not saying 'yes' or 'no',

was telling that I need to check my horo-scope, etc, different things was coming tomind. Then I asked my mother to find agirl from our community (in Maharastra),but she said: “you have already spoiledyour life, why should you spoil someoneelse's life, you go and find some girllike you. Who will stay with you?”.So, that poss ibility has gone. Then inJune-July 1998 I went to a meeting inBombay, about ritviks, many GBCscame, and the news about HarikesaMaharaja's trouble came at the same time.So, after that I came back and put onplain white - so, it took me one year todo this. Then our horoscopes matchedwell, out of all the girls Prema's wasthe best match.MK: What 'all girls' ?D: Two or three proposals were there-from Kolkata and from South India. Myfriends tried to arrange for me. ButPrema's matching was the best, and alsoshe is a full time devotee, those werecongregation members. So, sure, she hassacrificed more than them. At that timeI was not understanding all the aspectsof grihastha s ituation. I was thinkingthat I just get married and continue withmy service. I put my conditions also, Iwrote down my expectations and askedher to write down her expectations. So,we exchanged our lists of expectationsand came to an agreement. MK: What is that!???D: (laughs) I don't remember what Iwrote, just something that I can do,and things that she can't expect me todo. I gave it to her. (laughs) Her mothergot upset with me when I turn up inthere house with this huge list of con-ditions. (laughs) But, I told her that it'sbetter to be clear before marriage, writedown everything we agree and don'tagree. MK: What were your conditions, tell atleast one, for example?D: I don't remember.MK: We will ask Prema Manjari…Prema, do you remember?Prema Manjari Devi Das i:

I remember ! Dayaram Prabhu: Well, one thing Iremember was that I can't be expect-ed to change baby's nappies, that willbe your job. (Now, just recently, I didchange it one time.) (laughs) So, I toldthem that 'in future you can not complain,

I wrote it down beforehand'. So, sheagreed to all that and we got married.




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MK: microphone to Prema Manjari…PM: He said that I have to be respon-sible for the children, he would neverchange children's diapers , and that Ishould be responsible for the house, andI should not be running behind variousGurus and doing service and neglectingmy family, he said that he is the boss ofthe house. And I said 'yes, but you cannot be a dictator, you have to under-stand that I am a person, I have feelingsand that I love my Guru Maharaj andother vaishnavas and I would like to servethem sometimes. And if I am to beresponsible for the house then I don't wantto go and make money, you should makeall the money…' - on and on…Everything is oppos ite now - he ischanging t he diapers and I makemoney… and he listens to me when hethinks it's right…MK: So, what conditions did you putdown?PM: my conditions were: *that he hadto provide, not jus t sit around and expectme to do everything. *I said I would lis-ten to him, but he could also give mea hearing and after considering every-thing decide finally. *We should befriends and respect each other.MK: How is it now?PM: It's like that, it's nice. He turnedout to be much better then I thoughthe would be. MK: microphone to Dayaram Prabhu…- how is it for you?D: She is definitely better then I thought.I did not know her at all then. We werescared of each other. I just wanted to puteverything into writing that I don't getblamed later on. But now our marriage isgoing on OK, we don't think of divorce. MK: Good. And then…Dayaram Prabhu: Then right after ourmarriage the case started in Kolkata. Itwas very difficult life. We could not liveas a husband and wife anywhere. Wehad no place to s tay in Kolkata duringfight. We had place in the LakeAvenue, where Life-member collectorswere living, collecting for Mayapur. So,I could not live there with my wife, sowe s taid in her father's house, which isquite shameful in India. But we had nochoice. And my mother used to makefun of me, saying that 'O, you left home,saying that you want to stay inISKCON, but you are s taying in in-law'shouse ins tead'. And my uncle was say-ing: 'O, Dinesh (my karmi name), I

thought that you left home in searchfor Krishna, but you found a gopi foryourself. What is this? What's wrongwit h you?'. They all made a lot offun at me. Because for them I was asanyasi (wearing saffron), so how youcan get married then?.. MK: So, they did not like that you gotmarried?D: No, they were happy about it. Mymother saying that the bes t thing Idid in my life is that I got married.But, at that time they were jokingabout it a lot. And then I stayed inin-law's house, it gave them even morethings to poke me about. Then wegot this property on Mot ilal NeruRoad, in 2000, so we shifted. We hada separate room there - me and VidvanGauranga Prabhu, we were two gri-hastha couples sharing one flat. Allday we were out, busy from 7AM till8 PM - we did not have time to asso-ciate with each other. So, we decidednot to have children, because ourminds were so disturbed with allthese court cases…dreaming of courtsand law books. She said we can't con-ceive a baby like this, consciousnesswould not be so good. So, we decidedto maintain brahmachari, till we gotKolkata back. This fight involved heralso, because when police came shehad to face them also, they arrestedher and put her in jail. MK: Why did they arrest her?D: When Adri sent police to arrestme, they arrested her also because shewas next to me. Adridharan got acourt order to be able to enter thetemple, but he tried to come in with hismen to take over again. I told them thatonly he can enter, not the others, but heset police on me. Then they came to theoffice and Prema was there. She toldthem 'this is my house, I can't let yougo in', but they jus t arrested her aswell and put in jail. Her brother, whocame to visit, also got arrested becausehe was standing next to her. So, herfamily also suffered a lot because of allthese fights. Her sacrifice may not be obvious andseen, but for long time she was cook-ing for me, doing my secretarial job,keeping the room clean, washing myclothes. She started business. If shedid not s tart that business I wouldhave been in America now, on a job.I already told everyone t hat my last

respons ibility was to get Guru SadaRoad back and after that I can not beresponsible for anything else in the future.I told them a year in advance, everybodyaccepted that 'OK, go where you have togo', but because of her I am continuing.About Bangalore her and JananivasaPrabhu pushed me that I have to start. AndI had some problem with GBC, so Iresigned, I said that I will not do this anymore. But she said that I should finishBangalore case, because there is not any-one to look after that, Prabhupada won'tbe pleased if you walk off. So, she is alsopushing me to do the service. A lot ofcredit goes to her for these Kolkata andBangalore fights. MK: You are a co-director of Mayapurtoo. How active is your role in that?D: I don't do anything active, actually Iwanted to resign, but somehow they toldme to continue - MAC and other co-direc-tors. I told them that I will deal only withthings that no one else can do - land prob-lems and litigations. Only in those situa-tions I will get involved, unless Bhakt iPurusottama Swami ask me to getinvolved in some other issue. OtherwiseI want to keep out, because I don't wantto take on too many things and not doone thing properly. So, my focus isBangalore and Kolkta left-over litiga-tions to make sure that ISKCON is pro-tected, and to look after Mayapur landproperties. Sankarsan Nitai was ass istingme in that, but he has no experience withcourts and law, so I take care of that. Asfar as day-to-day management - I gener-ally support Bhakti Purusottam Maharaj,he is the man on the spot. I believe that theperson on the spot, who takes responsi-bility and headaches should make deci-sions, not someone sitting thousandkilometres away. So, I can give advice,but don't make decisions except for land,litigations, government problems. Sometime some devotees come to me forsome help and guidance, those whoworked with me in the past and I dohelp them, I also help people, who stoodby ISKCON or fought, who sacrificed,who took risks. I would like to see thatthey are taken care of, not just left drybecause I am not here. Apart from thatI don't get involved, I don't read MACresolutions, or get involved in sewageproblems. It's very time consuming.There is three directors, eight MAC-members, they can take care of it.MK: Thank you. Hare Krishna. u




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Bhakta Priya Devi Dasi said:First of all I try to diagnose myself - what diseaseit is I got now? If it's something I already hadbefore, I don't bother for doc tor - go and get medi-cines myself. If it is something new I go to seeGour-baba in Caitanya Mission and also do a searchon the Internet - what traditional and non tradi-tional medic ine offers for that c ondition, I am try-ing to find the course for this disease. Some sim plediseases can be taken care of by simple herbs andspices. I have a book on herbal healing from Russia. Ihave experience that when all kinds of doctors andmedicines did not help, the herbal answers that Ifound in that book did help me. Regarding doctorsthat available here, I prefer Gour-baba. I tried thedoctors in the boundary wall, one doctor c omes fromKrishnanagar - he is good doctor, but prescribes lotsof expensive medicines, to make money, and I endup not using even half of them, and I am trying toavoid allopathic medicine in general.

Ratnavali Devi Dasi said:It would be nice to have 24-hours medical shop here,sometimes I get really sick I need some particular med-icine, I can not expect when I will get sick, I keep a stockof it, but sometimes it happens that it finishes and Ireally need it, it would be nice to have twenty four hourmedical shop. It is nice that they have brought fromKrsna Nagar some good doctor, weekly once he is com-ing here, that's an improvement. Previously he wascoming once on Sunday, now he is com ing on Monday1-3 PM, it's written on the board over there.Only once I showed to him recently I didn't have tomuch need to see the doc tor, but at least I know thatif I need I c an make an appointment to see thatdoc tor at the time, but I can not wait for a week everysingle time, sometimes you need to go to the doctor, Ican't say "OK, sickness you please prolong after oneweek when the doc tor comes you come back!" I cannot say that, but he is a good doctor, fortunately atthat day doctor came and I was sick, on Sunday,and so it worked out for me, otherwise it would bevery difficult.Otherwise, without him I don't feel really comfort-able to go to any doctor over there (boundary wallMedical c enter), I don't know what they are goingto give, and is it really worth while going.This doctor from Krisnanagar helped me very much,he had good knowledge and it worked immediate-ly, he c ould understand. Otherwise every time Ihave to go to Navadwip that's what I was doingwhen I got some serious complications, a generalfever and cold or whatever I c ould go here, but ifsome extra care is required then I go to Navadwipdoc tor that's the only option that I have right now, itwould be nice if we have some more facility.

Lila Vrindavana Devi Dasi said:First of all I go to the Main Gate medical center. Ifthat doesn't help then I go to the local MayapurHospital, near Yoga Pitha. They usually help. Why Idon't go there in the first place - because they usuallyhave two hundred people lining up to see a doctor forfree. They are very expert and have ample experi-ence - if you get to the doctor, they know what they aredoing. You can get doctor's darsan for thirty Rupeesif you don't want to wait in line. These doctors savedmy baby twice and m e one time. When glorifiedKrishnanagar child specialists did not find what waswrong with my baby, these doctors immediatelyidentified pneumonia and gave instant help. So, I dorespect them. You can see them for 30 Rupees in anytime of day or night, 24-hours, doctor is living rightthere. If you want for free - go in the morning, there ishuge crowd of people, doctor have no time to evenlook at people, simply ask what's their problem, writesprescription on a piece of paper and they go and getit, they have free medicines and injections, they haveall kinds of medicines, in ISKCON we did not findsuch medicines.

Ali Krsna Devi Dasi said:Iam going to the Dr. in Uladevitala and Iam seeinghim you know,and she has some fever or somethingthen I have my allopathic medicines from my Dr.in Bombay I keep those in case of emergencies, forfever, otherwise the ayuevedic doctor in Oladevitalabec ause I trust him the most, he has good medicineit he lps her. It would be nice if they had a nicedoctor here.

Lila Madhuri Devi Dasi said:Ayurvedic system, means adopting the nutrition to the need of the moment.I kind of have some knowledge of it myself and also I take help from the doctor in Navadwip, Idon't know his name, in Oladevitala.I do nothing else and sleep a little bit more.

When you get sickin Mayapur,

what do you do ?

A:?:

continued from page 7




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MK: Tell us your story, Prabhu.Vidvan Gauranga Das: My father was a Life-memberin Chennai (Madras) and he got the Srimad Bhagavatamset. At that time there was only one type of life membership.Now you can either get Bhagavatam set or not. So, he gotSrimad Bhagavatam set. I was 13 or 14 years old, so Iwas very attracted to the Bhagavatam and I liked thepaintings very much. I read all the way up to t he eighthcanto. And then I saw something in the newspaper that time:

in America, West Virginia, Kirtananda Swami did notpay the taxes or something like that. I did not know thatKirtananda Swami was already expelled from ISKCON(the newspapers didn't report that also), they simplyreferred to him as a Hare Krsna. So I thought the HareKrsnas don't pay their taxes? They should be paying theirtaxes, this is the law of the land. So, I misunderstood theHare Krsna move ment as people who don't even follow thelaws of the land, so I s topped reading the books.

After one and a half years or so, I again came in touchwith their Ratha-yatra festival in Chennai as there wasRatha-yatra every year. I came in touch with the devoteesagain and I started chanting. I s tarted taking guidance fromGanga Prabhu, who was temple president there, BhanuMararaja was there, other devotees were there and theywere preaching and I tried to follow. Then I moved toDavangere in Karnataka , where I was admitted into amedical college.

After one year, I joined ISKCON's Bangalore center.I did not finish my medical education as it goes on for4½ years , but I only did the firs t year and I joinedISKCON. I had written my exams after one year ofstudies (I was first in the college for one of the subjectsin that year, I was told.), and then I went on holiday tomy home. From home, I directly joined in the Bangaloretemple. But then my parents didn't like it. It was a bigissue, so then I came to Mayapur. I was here for twomonths . I liked Mayapur very much, especially theGurukula. Then I had to return to Bangalore. Somehow Ihad to be back with my parents and they readmittedme in the sa me medical college to continue my studies.But, again, I left the college and came back to Mayapur.That was in 1989-90. MK: What were you doing the next time you came toMayapur?V: I was in HH Bhaktividya Purna Maharaja's Gurukula.I was studying and teaching - at that time in Gurukulathat's how it was - you s tud ied somet hing, then youtaught the younger ones something else. I was s tudyingBhakti-sas tri, from Chandrasekhar Prabhu, who is nowpreaching in the Orient. He was the Vice-Principal of theGurukula. A brilliant, competent person, he was 15years old. MK: How old were you?

V: I was 18.MK: You did not mind that your teacher was youngerthan you?V: No! He was a very pure-hearted devotee (now also) and soI was one of his students. MK: What happened after the studies finished?V: While I was in the Gurukula, I had taken initiationfrom Srila Jayapataka Swami Maharaja. After a few years,I joined a College Preaching Department, which was con-ducted by one Gauranga Das. He was a nice Italiandevotee. He was assisted by Sacidulal Prabhu and GopalRaj Prabhu, all disciples of HH Tamal Krsna Maharaja.Sama Veda Prabhu was also there in the team. Gopal RajPrabhu is now in Vrindavan and Sacidulal Prabhu is nowin Bangalore. We were preaching in West Bengal, even inKolkata. This was for two years or more. Then I joinedmy Guru Maharaja's secretariat in 1995-96 and was serv-ing my Guru Maharaja and his assis tants. That went ontill 1999-2000.

When a legal case was going on in Kolkata, my GuruMaharaja reques ted that I help Dayaram Prabhu, who wasselflessly struggling on behalf of ISKCON and ISKCON'sGBC in the courts. So, I was helping in Kolkata for morethan a year. Then I was back in Mayapur for a fewmonths, and then again I was involved in assis tingDayaram Prabhu for a legal case in Ba ngalore, again onbehalf of ISKCON. When I was in Bangalore my wifebecame pregnant. We came to Mayapur to see the bigPanca-tattva installation and then we decided to jus t behere in Mayapur and serve.

As of now, I am serving in MIHE as one of the teachers.I had taught in MIHE before also, but as of now I amone of the res ident teachers. I taught the Bhagavad-gitaportion of Bhakti-sastri for one group of students thisyear. MK: When did you get married?V: In 1999.MK: How did that happen?V: In 1998, I reques ted my Guru Maharaja for permis-sion to prepare and enter householder as ram. As a part ofmy services to my Guru Mahara ja, in 1998, I was withhim in Bangalore. At that time, the ISKCON Bangalore

Family mattersInterview with Vidvan Gauranga

Prabhu by Vrindavan Lila Dasi




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center under the leadership of Madhu Pa nditDas had officially accepted ritvikism andprotesting against the GBC Body. Manythings were happening at that time. So I wasins tructed by my Guru Mahara ja to helpthe local congregational devotees who wereloyal to the GBC Body. So, I was there for 4-5 months, maybe a little bit more. It was atthat time that some of the senior congrega-tional devotees, an integrated group, workedout a marriage arrangement between myselfand Bhaktin Swarna (now Suvarna KrsnaLila devi dasi). She had wanted to marry apracticing devotee from Mayapur, so that shecould res ide in Mayapur, I also wanted adevotee wife who would agree to reside inMayapur. So it clicked. When I got married,my Guru Maharaja was there in Bangaloreand he gave his blessing. Then we came hereand within a few months time I joinedthe legal service in Kolkata, that I hadalready mentioned before.MK: So, now you are father. How do youfeel? V: It is a learning experience for me. Now Ihave to become more responsible. I have tobecome a serious devotee, I have to becomean example. It forces me to become humbleand tolerant. Children learn more by theactions of their seniors then what they aretold to do. MK: What is your son's name?V: We call him Mukund. His full name isMukunda Hari. My mother-in-law calls himCaitanya. I am told that his horoscope indi-cates an auspicious future. He is supposedto become serious in spiritual life. We wantall the devotees to bless him, so that hebecomes a proper Vaisnava and an asset toPrabhupada's movement. Even when he wasin his mother's womb, his mother read outa translation of the entire SrimadBhagavatam. She was putting on differentlectures by senior devotees for his spiritu-al benefit. MK: Where was he born?V: Krsnanagar.MK: In which hospital?V: At Sunview Nursing Home, it is a pri-vate nursing home, not a government, orChristian one. She was admitted for a fewdays. MK: So, are you planning to live inMayapur now?V: Yes, we would like to. Hopefully LordCaitanya Mahaprabhu permits us to live andobey His instructions properly here. u

MK: How does it feel to be a moth-er?S: It's like my Prabhu says, a learn-ing experience. The mother has to bevery tolerant. Previous ly I was nevertolerant, but now my baby is teach-ing me tolerance. MK: How old are you?S: I am 24.MK: Do you have anything to sayabout how he was born or somethingspecial?S: Nothing so special - he was bornlike any other baby. But I had to suf-fer pain both - before and after hisbirth. Because he had the umbilicalcord wrapped around his neck tightlythrice, I could not deliver him normal-ly. So, we had to go for a caesarianoperation. Then the doctor told me,"Here, look there are three tightrings around his neck!" Anyway,the baby was safe because the doc-tor did it at the right time. Justbefore going to the operating theatre,I pleaded to the doctor, "I don't wanta caesarian, please. She said, "If youwant your baby alive, then you mustcooperate with me." Then I said,"OK, if you want me to go to the oper-ating theatre, then I want myPrabhupada autoreverse maha-mantra japa-box to play the HareKrsna mantra along with my Deit ypictures in the operating t heater. Onlythen I will come." Then the doctorinstructed t he nurse to get "whatevershe wants." Then they put on themaha-mantra japa-box all throughthe operation and the deity pictureswere there. I was constantly hearing.The amazing thing was when allthis was going on in the operatingtheater, one male doctor was talkingabout Krsna. He was asking me,"Who was the chariot driver ofArjuna?"MK: Right during the operation?S: Yes. Because I was conscious,only the lower part of my body wasmade numb. I could see and I wasconscious. And then he asked me,

"Do you know who wroteCaitanyaCaritamrita?" I told him, "Itwas Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami

who wrote it". He sa id he is alife-member, "since 1980 I have beengoing to Mayapur." I said, "Now youshould come to Mayapur as we havenew Panca-tattva deities, They are sobeautiful. The temple and the deitiesare so beautiful."

Then, after a few minutes my sonwas born, then I requested the doc-tor, "Please put the maha-mantrajapa-box to his ears. I want him tohear Prabhupada chanting HareKrsna. They were very cooperative.They kept the maha-mantra japa-boxnear his ears, and he was hea ring.Outs ide Padma Radhika Mataji waswaiting. (She had kindly come totake care of me during this difficulttime.) I had reques ted her to havethe Vrindavana Shyama-kund andRadha-kund water and dust fromMayapur, all the auspicious items. Ihad asked her to put those on thebaby as soon as he is born. MK: Was she allowed to comein?S: No, she was outside the operatingtheatre. I requested the doctor, "Nowthat he is born, can you please takehim outs ide to show him my s ister?"So they put him in a chair and tookhim and she sprinkled all that.MK: They didn't complain?S: No, that was amazing. They werevery cooperative. Lila VrindavanaMataji had given me Nrisimhadevabracelet to wear, because I was veryscared of hospital and operation. Soafter the baby got the sacred dust,etc. I gave the bracelet to the assis-tant to put on him. And this guywas wearing it so nicely. When wecame back to the room he waswearing it. He was not cryingbecause of wearing it. For two daysI kept this item on.

Whoever came in to the roomthey where saying Hare Krsna, HareKrsna. And there was one maid, shewould always say Caitanya,Caitanya, Na ndalal, Gopal and hear-ing Prabhupada's chanting HareKrsna maha-mantra. All of thoseladies and nurses took Prasad fromus every day. And everyone who

Interview with Suvarna Krishna Lila Devi Dasi





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came into the room said that allthese years they have never heardthe Holy Names being played loudday and night. Even the child special-ist. He came on Independence Day(my son was born on 13th Augustand 15th Augus t is Ind ia'sIndependence Day). That day theywere putting on cinema songs inthe roads and it was really loud.But I had made this Prabhupada'sHare Krsna mantra player muchlouder, so that we could hear theHoly Names. So, when the child spe-cialist came in, he looked at thebaby and he said, "I am not going tosay 'good morning’ to you today, I 'mgoing to say Hare Krsna!" Then hetold the baby, "Hare Krsna! Wakeup!" That was amazing for me -because Prabhupada's chanting washad powerful effect. MK: Were you able to take Prasadwhile there?S: My mother was making prasad,and I asked Vamsi Priya Mataji tomake some bread for me in case ifmother comes late, I could take that.MK: How many days did you spendin hospital?S: Sixteen days, because I was tooweak to get up and then they had toremove the bandages. Otherwise Iwould have spent four days in hos-pital.MK: So after that you came here?S: Yes.MK: You went to Vrindavan forsome time?S: We went because the water wasalmos t at the road level and every-body around said that it was aboutto flood. And I didn't know how tokeep the baby here in case of aflood. He is so small. My husbandsuggested, "It's better to just go toVrindavan, because we have to keephim in some dha ma." MK: Was he OK on the train?S: Yes. I was in the upper berth.There are three berths - lower, middleand upper. I was s leeping in theupper because it is so spacious andit was not jerking much. So, he wasOK, and we could handle the jour-ney. MK: What's his name again?S: Mukunda Hari.

MK: Why do you call him Caitanya?S: When I had just conceived inBangalore, I had gone to my father'shouse for his blessings. And heblessed, "May you get a son likeCaitanya Mahaprabhu!" A few monthslater he passed away. That was whenI was in the seventh month ofpregnancy.

So, then my brother and motherwanted to call him Caitanya becausemy father wanted to call himCaitanya.

When I had come in contact withKrsna consciousness, my father hadinitially opposed my taking to Krsnaconsciousness. He used to say, "Whyshould you express your devotionalsentiments by chanting? You shouldkeep your sentiments inside yourselfand not show outside." I said "No,being devotional means that I shouldchant Harinama loudly." But hewouldn't, he never chanted the HareKrsna Maha-mantra.

But after I got married, he hadcome to Mayapur once. He tookbath in Ganga, and was in SrilaPrabhupada's Samadhi hearing hisjapa. Then he became convinced thatliving in Mayapur is safe and thatKrsna consciousness is so wonderful.

W hen I had conceived, I wentwith my husband to seek my father'sblessings (as per custom). My fatherstarted to talk to my husband andbegan to remember his stay inMayapur. He even requested my hus-band to be with me in Mayapur andnot come back to Bangalore, "such abad place." He told my Prabhu thatMayapur is the birth place of SriCaitanya Mahaprabhu, etc. and thatall of us should jus t settle onceagain in Mayapur. Later my Prabhutold me, "Your father was preachingto me to go back to Mayapur on apermanent basis." My father wassaying, "When I heard Prabhupada'schanting the Hare Krsna Maha-mantra, my legs were jumping todance." He didn't like us to leaveMayapur and come back toBangalore.

So, my father had changed his atti-tude towards Krsna consciousness.Even a day or so before leaving hisbody he was calling me up and say-

ing that he wanted to stay in Mayapuruntil I delivered the baby. For somereason he could not come toMayapur. And so, we call our sonCaitanya as a nickname.MK: Will your mother stay here allthe time?S: She will stay here until GauraPurnima. My brother is there inBangalore, he is also practicingKrsna consciousness along with otherdevotees. My mother wants to be inBangalore to look after him. MK: What's your mother's name?S: Mahalakshmi. MK: Who did the chart for your son?S: Devars i Prabhu.MK: Do you want to say anythingabout his chart?S: One week after he was born wegave the timings. He said that thet ime he was born was the most aus-picious among the days before andafter he was born, 13 Friday,Trayodasi. Devarsi Prabhu said thatthat was the best time of the day.Jupiter and Mercury are in the firs thouse in the horoscope.MK: What does that mean?S: Devars i Prabhu says it means hiswhole chart is auspicious, spirituallystrong. The future is left to Krsna,you know.MK: Yes, sure. Mercury is good forcommunications.S: Yes, intelligence. MK: May be he will be the nexteditor of Mayapur Katha?S: (laughter) He should also reportKrsna Conscious messages all overthe world.MK: Are you going to have morebabies?S: Let's see what Krsna wants.

I beg all the devotees to bless thisbaby to become a simple and as taunch Vaisnava, a very s trongVaisnava and a fearless preacher.My husband wants him to followthe four regulative principles, chantat leas t 16 rounds a day and prac-tice Krsna Consciousness in theassociation of the devotees with faithfor his whole life. We beg the devo-tees to bless the child , so that hecan be like that. MK: Hare Krsna!




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MK: Hare Krishna! Please introduce yourselves. Howis Mayapur? Kanchanbala Mataji: Hare Krishna. My name isKanchanbala Dasi and I have not been here inMayapur since 1975. Madhusudhan Prabhu and Ihave arrived here and it is so beautiful here, it issuch a spiritual transcendental transformation.MK: Do you recognize any thing here?Madhusudhan Prabhu: Only the temple.K: But it took us a while to recognize whereMadhsudhan s lept.M: yeah… not the temple but the lotus building,where the temple previously was that's the onlybuilding that was here when we came and other thanthat we saw the rooms on the front wall, front wallby the gate where I had a room and the rooms thenwhere jus t an empty concrete room.MK: You were living in those rooms before?M: Yeah, when we came to Mayapur tha t's theroom I had shared with a few other men and it wasjust an empty room nothing in it just a room no bath-room nothing no furniture just a concrete cell.K: I remember I think the women's ashram was likea few hundred yards away, and I remember we slepton the roof, I don't reme mber the building though ,just the location.MK: Oh! next to kitchen next to big kitchenK: Oh maybe, yeah, yeah, there was a big kitchen Iremember it was in the centre, but I remember beingon the roof out in the openMK: It's a building which looks like thisK: Yeah, right, and just having a mosquito net andI slept on the roof it was like two or three s toriesup a lot of devotees would s leep in those daysbecause you didn't have good water, and I rememberjus t running down the stairs be tween the communalbathrooms.M: There was a makeshift bathroom with one sidefor women and one side for men and it was just uhnothing much there except maybe a hole in the floor anddevotees were using that a lot. That I know they wereeither there or just in the room trying to recuperate fromthe dysentery.MK: But you remember in 1975 right?M: Yes. MK: Was it festival time?M: It was a Gaura Purnima fes tival, we came herefirst although we went to Vrndavan that trip, but wecame right away first to Mayapur.K: I remember the temple room that we all circum-ambulate the altar, the deities.M: Prabhupada would circumambulate with us all ,then every time he walked pas t the big huge bell hewould ring it a few times, so that was nice.K: That was so nice we were chanting and dancingwildly. I remember that, very sweet.

MK: So how is it compared to today?K: Oh, it's like a whole transcendental city now.M: Yeah, it is very beautiful. There's is no comparison in everyway,because many devotees got s ick right away, which made it very diffi-cult. It's hot season, first time in India for many and many people gotsick and that made everything difficult. Of course Prabhupada wasthere, so tha t was nice and so many devotees were there, so therewas a sweetness, but it was difficult because it tended to be very aus-tere, and now the austerity might be trying to get up in the morning buteven that I wouldn't say there is very much austerity at all, in vis itingat leas t.MK: What about sweetness?M: Sweetness, it is fantas ticK: Fantas tic, Oh! And Srila Prabhupada's Samadhi is beautiful it's justso nice to see all tiled pastimes of Srila Prabhupada on the dome andjust everywhere it's just, so relishable to see him.M: I think part of the sweetness that's the best is just the devotees.Very humble devotees and friendly, blissful and I think that makeseverything really.MK: How many more days will you spend this time?M: This time 6 days we are here.MK: And you went around for how many days?M: Well, we did some parikrama's for 2 or 3 days I think, that's about it.K: We went to Jagannath das Babaji's Samadhi.M: Visnu Priya, Visnu Priya's Lord Caitanya Deity that she worshipedand we saw Lord Caitanya's wooden shoes contained in s ilver, we gotit on our head , yeah, and we took pictures.K: We went to Mangachi.M: Yeah, Mangachi and we met a very sweet devotee Jagat Banduand we were taken around a ll these places by a very nice devoteeKarna Prabhu, who was telling us all the pas times in each place, butsome of the places I can't remember now.MK: Was it difficult to get used to going somewhere, to get around, getto know where to go?M: Uh, it's so big here that a few times it was confusing where togo to find places.

Coming to Mayapur after 30 years

Interview with Madhusudan Das andKancha nbala Devi Dasi





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K: I noticed the signs, but because we are new here it'shard.M: Yeah, well it's so big here that if you accidentally gothe wrong way you have a long way back, but it wasn'ttoo bad jus t the occasional.MK: Where do you eat?K: Breakfast time we always ate in the Govinda's snackbar because it just had the suitable things that we couldhave that we like to have, a light breakfas tMK: Like what?M: We had yogurt every day with just some sort of grainlike a paratha, alu-paratha and samosa and before hand wewould buy some fruit, some oranges and bananas, and have alight breakfast. And then we got invited to lunch by a verynice couple who live here, and they served us so muchprasadam it was up to our neck! Which is good , becausethat's what Lord Caitanya wanted, the devotees to eatprasadam up to their neck! And all the other times we ate atthree different prasadam halls. We ate at the life memberprasadam hall, we eat at the vis iting gues ts prasadam hall.MK: Gada building.M: And we ate at the lower tier prasadam hall which wasexcellent.MK: Big kitchen.M: Big kitchen. I didn't see very much difference in theprasadam.K: And tomorrow we are scheduled to have SrilaPrabhupada's maha-prasadam at Samadhi, we are so happy.MK: How did you get it?M: Karna Prabhu arranged it.MK: Amongst the prasadam hall which one was the best?M: I think they were all nice, the only thing… the big kitchenwas a little hard to judge because all we did was go with our tif-fin and we were not able to get the sweet rice we didn't haveenough containers to get the sweet rice, but the prasadam therewas really good, I don't know if there was a big huge dif-ference one or two preps less, but it's hard to say becausewe only got the main preparations, so I don't know what otherthings they come around with, because we didn't s it there butI wouldn't hesitate to eat in any of those prasadam hallsand feel like I was missing anything. Yeah, the one otherlunch prasadam we had was at Mangachi that Jaga Bhanducooked and that was very nice too. We bought somesweets on the way, and we bought vegetables and he cookedit all - vegetables, rice and dhal and we bought somesweets from the sweet shop and that was nice also.MK: Are you tak ing some Maha prasadam with you whenyou go?K: We want to get some Srila Prabhupada Maha prasadam,something dry to distribute to everybody.MK: Where do you live?M: Yeah, we live 10 to 12 mins from the temple by car, soit's not very difficult to get to mangal-arotikMK: Do many devotees from your temple come toMayapur?K: Not that many have come.M: Well, there's not that many devotees there, as far as Iknow, there are many Bengali devotees who are there, I don'tknow all their names, but I know Ramapati, he was at theGurukula here, he is a young man. There are others, but I

don't know them all. There are other devotees - Nimai and herfamily came here last year, and Rajendrananda and his wife, offcourse, Bhadranarayan comes, he lives in Santiago.MK: How many devotees are there?M: In Santiago, in the temple there is probably 25 and aroundthe community probably another 25, and there are many Indianfamilies, who come and give good support to the temple too,they come regularly.MK: Do you have a nice temple there?M: The temple itself is a building, I think it used to be a smallmovie theatre, so there is a large room for the temple room.The building, it was bought, but the inside is beautifully de-corated, elite sculptures and paintings a ll around, very verybeautiful temple actually. MK: Do you visit Mayapur info sometimes?M: Oh yeah, there is a Mayapur website, and it has all theinfo there.MK: Are you planning to come back to Mayapur in future?M: We are certainly planning to come back, I don't knowwhen, within the next few years at leas tMK: Any suggestions?M: I have to say that seeing Radha-Madhava and the eightSakhis is very wonderful and it's very nice to see Pancha-tattva , but the Pancha-tattva altar looks empty, there is justno decorationMK: Do you mean outs ide or ins ide?M: Ins ide there is just no decoration, it looks empty. Itwas shocking, I don't know if it was the difference betweenthe two, you just look at the Radha-Madhava altar and it'slush with people and decorations, it looks full, and you goand look at Pancha-tattva and They are sta nding there, Theyare beautiful, but that's all, there should be something there- pictures, painting of Navadweep behind Them, something...MK: More flowers? Radha Madhava has more flowers?M: I wasn't really thinking of what should be there, but it'sobvious... I don't know what it was, but everything that wass tanding there looked like, I mean I felt sorry for Them.Where is all the stuff ? Where are all the goodies?! So, it would be nice to see Them with all the proper treat-ment, with all Their paraphernalia.MK: Did you get to know some devotees, make some newf riends?K: There is this couple we went on parikrama with.M: Yeah, we haven't had enough time to really makefriends, I mean we met people here and there, which wasvery nice. Karna, we spent a lot of time with Ka rna, wespent more time with him than anybody, we met manypeople, who were very sweet.MK: When you go back to Santiago would you advisesomeone to come to Mayapur?M: We already did. We already told someone, one closefriend of ours in Santiago, we told her. Kripa Mayi DeviDasi is the ex-wife of Indradyumna Swami, very nice devo-tee. MK: You told her by e-mail?M: Oh yeah, we already told her, that she has to plan oncoming here. I think she was planning on spending mos tof her time in Vrndavan, We said: "No-o, before you get tooattached to your plans in Vrndavana, you really have to putsome time aside and come to Mayapur". u




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Karna: Please tell us about yourself,Prabhu.Sundar Nitai Das: When I was athome I used to go for school. Afterfinishing my schooling I used to do somefarming, cultivation of different cropsand vegetables. After sometime I wentto Vrindavan. In Vrindavan there is oneAsharm, called Bhakti Ashram, I used todo akhanda Harinam there. They used tog ive me 300 Rs. While living there Icontracted some sort of disease. Theyadmitted me in one of the big hospitals. Istayed in hospital a few days. After get-ting full recovery I came back home.After staying home for few days Iwould go and visit Govinda Prabhu'shouse in Durlapur. Once Govinda Prabhucame to me and said: "you come to myhouse and bring the kirtan party also". Wewent to Govinda's house at 7 PM. Whenwe reached there we saw a devotee fromMayapur sitting there. Seeing him we feltso nice and happy. Kirtan and classeswere held that night. After the kirtan andclasses were finished Gauranga PremaPrabhu (now Maharaja) started to speakto us. He said: "If you all can open oneNamhatta that will be very good". Wereplied him: "Yes, certainly we shall haveone Namhatta here, you please come toour village". Gauranga Prema immediate-ly agreed. After that we went to BhatimGhram. There we managed to open oneNamhatta center. From that Namhattaonly I came to know about this movement(ISKCON). Then I came to Mayapur. Istayed for four days in Mayapur, then Iwent to Kolkatta Ratha Yatra. When Ireturned back from Kolkatta GaurangaPrema Prabhu admitted me in NewBhakta Program. In about 1988-89 I tookinitiation from H.H. Jayapataka Swami.And from 1991 again I stayed inNamhatta, where I did preaching forsometime. And again I left Namhatta andwent to Haridaspur. After 5 years again Icame back to Mayapur, in 2001. Iapproached Nitai Prasad Prabhu tellinghim: "Prabhu, I have come back fromHaridaspur. Please could you provide meany service here?" Then Nitai PrasadPrabhu and Purananda Prabhu gave me aresponsible service as a Bhajan Kutir in-charge. And here I am today as an in-charge of this Bhajan Kutir maintainingand looking after 14 devotees.

Karna: There are other devotees, serv-ing in Bhajan Kutir:

Adi Guru Prabhu: My name is Adi Guru Das. My

father's name is Bhaktivedanta SwamiPrabhupad. My home address isISKCON Sridham Mayapur. I have 10people in my family. I am serving inISKCON for the las t 32 years and forthe las t 16 years I am serving akhan-da Harinam in Bhajan Kutir.I accepted this service by direct

order of Srila Prabhupada.Smaran Mangal Das Adhikari:My name is Smaran Mangal DasAdhikari. My father’s name is SantanuRoy. My village name is Buianhara,the dis trict name is Dinajpur in NorthBengal. I have 5 family members.Earlier I had a friend , who was themember of Namhatta. He preached tome and I also joined Namhatta andthen become a full time devotee inMayapur, and I am serving in thisBhajan Kutir over the past 10 years. Ilearned harmonium and bhajan underthe guidance of Namhatta preachers. Ilike this service this meets the realgoal of life. Before joining ISKCONI was a professional farmer. I feel veryhappy to serve here because I know bychanting of the Holy Name one cango back to Godhead.

Jagadish Debnath: My name is Jagadish Debnath. I am

the son of Ram Chandra Debnath.There is 5 members in our familyincluding myself. My village name isKhejur Bagan. As a professional I hada handloom. Somehow or other I hadmanaged to provide for my family.My life was full of frus tra tion andgrief. Now I am rendering service herein Bhajan Kutir for the las t 8 years.My father was a kirtanier. He taughtme how to play harmonium. Then Idecided to learn more and started tolearn music from one teacher. I reallyprefer to chant the Holy Name then anyother services, so I like this service. Myuncle Ganapati Das was a disciple ofA.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupadaand he introduced me to ISKCON. Iam very happy to perform this service.My life is completely changed. TodayI am honoring Maha-prasadam. No more

I am a slave of gambling, meat-eating,intoxication and ill icit sex. This is themercy of Harinam Prabhu.

Visva Mangal Hari Nam Das:My name is Visva Mangal Harinam

Das, I come from a large family, 13 mem-bers. I learned music by the mercy ofTheir Lordships. I have been here doingthe service for almost one decade. Icame to Sridham Mayapur in GaurPurnima as a visitor. That night Idecided to stay here. I asked one devo-tee in Bhajan Kutir 'may I stay withyou?' and he sa id 'yes you can'. Since thenI have been serving in Bhajan Kutir.Since childhood I was attached to theHoly Name. I really-really like to chant.So, because of this attraction I acceptedthis service. The bliss that I experienceI could not express in words.

Govinda Gop Das Adhikari:My name previously was Govinda

Mandal. Father's name is lateDhuryodhan Mandal. I had 8 membersin my family. My family lives inDurgapur. I am happy to do this serv-ice. I notice remarkable change in mylife. By the mercy of the vaisnava's Icould be able to learn mus ic.Scriptures states that the chanting ofHare Krishna mantra is the only wayto go back home, back to Godhead inthis Kaliyuga. So, to make my humanlife successful I choose this service.Ea rlier I was working as a painter inPanagarh Air Base of IAF India airforce. I came in connection withISKCON through Namhatta preachingand book dist ribution.

Nami Gopal Das:My name is Nami Gopal Das. My

father name is Bhutatma Das. My vil-lage Bhatin Ghram in dis trict NorthDinajpur. We are 6 in our family. MyGuru Maharaja ins tructed me to dothis service. I feel very happy to servehere and feel myself fully protected. Ilearnt mus ic in the Bhajan Kutir itself.I have a lready been serving here for 8years. H.H. Gauranga Prema Swamionce arrived in our village. I was influ-enced by hearing Harikatha from him.Then I purchased one cassette, Gita-ganand kept hearing that cassette again andagain. Thus, I developed attachment

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towards Lord's devotional service. Andthat impelled me to join ISKCON.Before joining ISKCON I was a pro-fessional farmer.

Bhakta Rupa Das Adhikari:My name was Ravindra Kumar

Haldar. I am from Bangladesh, dis trictof Khulma. I am serving in BhajanKutir s ince 1999. I feel chanting of theHoly Name is the best service to TheirLordships. And earlier I was pujari ofLord Jagannath in Big Kitchen. So,after brahmachari kitchen was built andJagannath deities went there, where onlybrahmacharis are allowed to serve, Iaccepted this service. When I chant theHoly Name I remember transcendentalmelody evoked from Sankirtan ofSriman Mahaprabhu. And I considermyself one of the insignificant partsand parcel of that Maha Sankirtan andI try to follow them with all my limitedsenses. This is the bliss I get when Ichant the Holy Name in Bhajan Kutir.I find my life is proceeding in oppo-site direction than earlier. I feel bycha nting of the Holy Name the mercyof Nitananda Prabhu coming down tome through disciplic succession andmake my life more and more peacefuland satisfied. I used to come often toISKCON temple as a visitor, then I firstsaw this deity of Ga ur-Nitai. Firstthing made me happy was thisHarinam Sankirtan and I donated oneHarmonium to the temple. Then I s tartedto read the books of Srila Prabhupada.That is the cause of complete changein my life and I decided to joinISKCON. My karmi life was just the opposite tothe life in devotional service. I wascompletely beyond any rules and reg-ulations. I would do whatever I wouldlike to do. The conception of God wasan utopia. The violation of four regu-lative principles was regular feature ofmy every day's life. And this was thecause of frus tration in my life.Now I am happy and I could learnmusic due to the influence of theKrishna bhaktas.

Sudhir Gour Das:My name was Sudhir Chandra Roy, son

of late Amantu Roy. I lived in a villagecalled Bhatim Ghram in the district ofDinajpur. We have 4 members in our fam-ily. Professionally I was a farmer, but Iwas active in CPI(M) (Communist Party)and secretary of a social welfare organiza-tion. I learned music in Namhatta. I am

serving in the Bhajan Kutir for the lastcouple of years. At first I read onemagazine na med Bhagavad Darshanand I joined Namhatta as a congrega-tional devotee. Later on I join ISKCON.Mahaprabhu instructed us to chant theHoly Name and I receive that orderthrough disiplic succession, so I decid-ed to accept this service. Mahaprabhueven said that one should chant theHoly Name in association of devotee'sand attain bliss. I feel my life has beenchanged completely.

Karna: Some Bhajan Kutir devoteesshared with us their experiences during2000 flood:

H.G. Govinda Gop Das Adhikari:When the

flood began thewater started toenter inside theroom. That timeAdi Guru wasthe in-charge.He instructed usto go to GadaBhavan. Thereone room had

been kept vacant for us. We used to s tay14-15 of us in that room. For doing kir-tan they had provided us a room on the2nd floor. After doing kirtan for 5-6days to our great surprise we foundthat the room, where we were doingkirtan, even that room, was also fillingwith water. If the room was filled withwater, then where shall we go? Thenour in-charge said: "wherever we maybe, but we shouldn't stop our kirtan".Then we all decided to do kirtan onthe veranda of the 3rd floor. WhenPrabhupada was been taken fromthere in evening 5 or 6.30 PM, wewent to BBT gate, carryingPrabhupada. There we found thatBBT gate was locked. So, I was car-rying Prabhupada, sheltering himwith an umbrella and waited therefor half an hour. The informationwas then given to open the gate. Atlast the gateman came and opened itup. I told him: "let me suffer in therain, I don't mined, bu t whyPrabhupada has to suffer because ofyou? This is not fair". And he said:"Sorry, Prabhu, I do not know any-thing".Radhaduti Prabhu (Big Kitchen in-charge) was greatly helping us. At thebeginning of flood there was anarrangement for prasadam in the

Lotus Building. We went there for somefew days and later on we were unable togo. It was such a huge mass of waterthat it was difficult to swim. We didn'tstop singing maha-mantra. Even when wewere taking Prabhupada from here wewent singing the maha-mantra all alongthe way. Usually we sing a group-vise.So, that day was our group's turn.The entire Kutir complex was submergedby flood. And as the water level beganto drop down in due course of time, thanwe saw that the condition of the hut wasawful. Everything was des troyed anddevastated. Heaps of mud combined withstraw, bamboo and various was tes hasstored in our room and everywhere abun-dantly. So, a big ma ha-cleaning bega n.After cleaning, complete repairing andrebuilding Bhajan Kutir perfectly whenwe came back from Gada building.

H.G. Nami Gopal Das Brahmacari: During flood time we began to move

our stuff and belongings, which took ustill sunset. Without was ting our time wehurriedly took all our things and puteverything in Gada building. Aftertransporting all of our belongings, ofwhich, of course, few were s till lyingin a room, we at las t began to movePrabhupada. And at that time we weresurrounded everywhere with water. Wehad no way to move. By the Longbuilding there was full of water. Thenwe decided to move by the road. Andwhile we were moving on the road wewere carrying books, tables, chairs andso many other things, with little wateron the road, only 4 inches I believe. Soas we started to proceed more aheadthe level of water also started toincrease. By the time we reached theBBT gate t he water came up to ourknees. We began to shout at the gate-man like anything to open the gate.The gate was locked. And Prabhupadwas drenched completely.Few of our belongings were s till in ourroom on the top shelves. We thought tonot remove it that day since it wasgetting dark and we rather thought weshall move them out tomorrow. And inthe next morning when we went toour room for moving out our things, toour great amazement, we found that thedoor was blocked with water. The chairand everything disappeared. One chairwas found by one devotee nearby theSamadhi temple. Gaur Nitai went up onthe roof of Conch building. RadhadutiPrabhu was being so kind enough for ushe was somehow arranging our




24

prasadam. And once we got set tleeverything in Gada building, then wewere been taken by boat for prasadam.

Karna: We ask ed some of SrilaPrabhupada disciples to share theirmemories about Bhajan Kutir:

H.G. Murari Hari Prabhu: Actually, the 24-hours kirtan s tarted

from 1975 most probably, I can'tremember. I joined in 1974. So, thattime there was no 24-hours kirtan. In1976 the temple was being attack bythe robbers and Radharani had beenstolen. So much fighting was going on.That time Prabhupada ordered thedevotees to do Nrisingha kirtan and24-hours kirtan also began in the tem-ple. The team was - Adi Guru Prabhu,Mayaman, Sarvagam Das, Satya GarahaDas, myself and of course Syamsundar,also some other people were doing 24-hours kirtan. We were doing kirtan onenight and I was feeling sleepy and ourkirtan stopped. At that time H.H.Jayapataka Swami was doing nightduty all over the temple compound.He saw we were jus t sleeping in thetemple. He came in and took away ourinstruments. He was ca lling us andsaid: "Why you people are s leepinghere. It is not a place for sleeping. You

are all supposed to do kirtan, go andstart doing kirtan! Prabhupada’sinstruction was to do 24-hours kirtanand if you jus t s leep that means youare making a little gap".Actually, Sacidananda Prabhu andPrabhas Prabhu were the residents ofBhajan Kutir at that time and TatvaPrabhu as well. That wa s the startingpoint. I heard from Saciananda andPrabhas Prabhus how they actuallywere doing so much for this 24-hourskirtan, not being particular in-chargeof it. Later on they gave in-charge toAdi Guru Prabhu. Before Adi GuruPrabhu, Saciananda Prabhu, PrabhasPrabhu and Tatva Prabhu - they weremaintaining the Bhajan Kutir.

I was not here during flood. But Isaw in the computer screen thatBhajan Kutir was completely flo-oded. Half of the roof was flooded.

H.G. Jananivas Prabhu shared afew words about Bhajan Kutir withus: I think it is in Vaishnava song-book that Acutananda Maharaja wroteto Srila Prabhupada in 1972 that"Bhaktisidhanta road has savedISKCON property from being flooded.And Prabhupad wrote back saying"Bhaktisidhanta road has saved mil-lions of people". The first flood that we had was in

1971 and the water rose up and therewere only 2-3 devotees.

Later during a big floods in 1999and 2000 devotees all went to the

Long building. They we re doing kir-tan there. The water rose up to the roofof Bhajan Kutir, only the top part ofthe roof was still vis ible. Adi GuruPrabhu was in-charge of Bhajan Kutirat that time. The hut was not complete-ly destroyed , but after the water wentdown everything was covered withmud. The s traw was finished. The doorcame out.The big Gaur Nitai deities, whom we seehere today, were on the travelingsankirtan bus when they had aPadyatra from Dwaraka to Mayapur.They arrived for 500 birth anniversaryof Lord Caitanya. And small Gaur-Nitai next to them are historicaldeities. We have a boat called NitaiPada Kamala and we were preachingvillage to village. Prabhupad startedthat program and he installed thesedeities (small Gaur-Nitai) at that time. The bed behind Srila Prabhupada'smurty is His original bed, but theasan is not original. More or less ourDiety Department was the in-chargebefore Adi Guru Prabhu became in-charge. The big murty of SrilaPrabhupada belongs to Namhatta andgoes out for preaching every now andthen.I will tell you how this 24-hours kirtanstarted. There is devotee of the nameGanapati and he had a son namedShankar. He had something I can'tremember, it was cancer or somethingand they took X-Ray. He was to have anoperation. It was a kind of delicateoperation to have. So we started 24-hourskirtan for that devotee. It was a suc-cess ful operation. They cut open hisbelly. When they opened the belly theyfound there was nothing. Anyway,Krishna was manifesting His mercythrough the inauguration of 24-hourskirtan. It kept on going s ince thattime.It's nice for people, when they comein the main gate the first thing theyhear is the Holy Name. And whenthey are in the Dham and hear the HolyName they get more purification.Practically everyone experiences that.Prabhupada wrote in one of His booksthat the Holy Name should go on.Nothing should be heard except theHoly Name. It is also significant because in thebeginning of the project Prabhupadasat in this Bhajan Kutir, He lived inthis s traw house. Now He has beautifulSamadhi and in future there will ahuge temple. Prabhupada was s tayinghere for some months, actually,preaching. u

Sri la Prabhupada in Bhajan Kutir

above:devotees s inging 24-hour kirtan

right:Bhajan Kutir, view from the

Front Gate




25

Honey cost a lot of money, and especially i f it's not at all

honey…

There are men going around with buckets stuffed with bee-wax

soaked in some liquid, which they c lam to be honey. And, of

course, they want a lot of money for this 'honey'.

We experienced that this 'honey' goes bad very quickly. Real

honey you can keep and keep, and the longer it sits the more

medicinal it becomes. So, this liquid is obviously not honey at all.

It c ould be anything. It is well known in this area that these men

mix c rystallized sugar into a mixture, which resembles honey,

and then add bee-wax for good e ffect.

Anuradha Mataji told us of a simple test to see if it's real honey.

Take a clear glass/bottle with some c lear water and drop a drop

of honey into it. If it's real honey the drop should sink to the

bottom in one solid piece.

With the 'honey' we were offered recently the drop disintegrat-

ed as soon as it hit the water… So, even though it looks impressive

to see all these blocks of bee-wax floating in the bucket, do not

take honey from a stranger without doing this simple test.

Hare Krishna. Editor

ATTENTION!Be careful of the thieve s!

On the first day of the New Year , my friend and Iwere buying vegetables at the shop along the bound-ary wall. Suddenly, someone threw a kind of powderon my neck. It was so itchy and painful, so I tookoff my outer garment and went for some water tohave a wash. Then my friend notic ed that there wassome money on the ground. She thought that may befrom my garment, so she bent down to pick it up. Assoon as she stood up again, she found that all ourgarments, bags, etc, disappeared.

It was certainly not pleasant to lose garments,money, camera, etc. in a few seconds. So, we humblyremind you: be careful of thieves! They may adoptany trick to attract your attention and then takeeverything away from you! And because they carrybig bags, which hold everything they steal from you,you could hardly identify them even if they are near-by . P lease don't repeat our tragedy!Hare Krishna!Your humble servants, (who did not sign their names)

2.01.05

Nimai, the shop-keeper has confirmed this story. He said that

these two Chinese girls were changing money to Indian Rupees

in a money exchange place outside of the main gate and had been

followed by some people, who spotted them there.

Kalpa Vriksa:

Hearing this Srila Gaurakisora

became very disturbed and wouldno longer carry on a conversaton

with him. After the estate holder

left Gaurakisora dasa Babaji said,

"The trees in Navadwipa Dhamaare all kalpa vrksa trees and this

hypocrite rascal has very cruely cut

them. Now, he has come and

told me this. Shame! Shame! Justsee, Just see. I f one just cuts one

limb from the trees in Navadwipa

Dhama I feel great distress. These

different trees and vines in Sri

Navadwipa Dhama are my eternalfriends and associates. They are

part of the pas times of Lord

Gouranga. After one's friends and

associates have been killed, is itpossible for someone to come and

cut their dead bodies to pieces?

This very cruel person will never

be able to perform devotional serv-ice. He will simply enact the role

of a Vaisnava, which will result

in only his own inauspiciousness

and the inauspiciousness of oth-

ers."

Let’s NOT polute ourspiritual city with

junk

Plastic bagis very bad,

Makes the future very sad.

Wh en you shop rem embe r that,

C loth and paper use inste ad.




Letter to Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura (1910)

Saraswati!

"People of this world, who are proud of their own aristocratic bi rth, cannot attain real aristoc racy. Therefore

they attack the pure Vaishnavas, saying, 'They have taken birth in low-class families because of their sins.'

Thus they commit offenses. The solution to the problem is to establish the order of daiva-varnasrama-dharma -

something you have started doing; you should know that to be the real service to the Vaishnavas. Because puredevotional conclusions are not being preached, all kinds of superstitions and bad concepts are being called devo-

tion by such pseudo-sampradayas as sahajiya and atibari. Please always crush these anti-devotional concepts by

preaching pure devotional conclusions and by setting an example through your personal conduct.

"Please make great effort so you can start parikram of Sridham Navadwip as soon as possible. It is by those actionsthat everyone in this world will receive Krishna-bhakti. Please try very hard to make sure that the service to Sri

Mayapur will become a permanent thing and will become brighter and brighter every day. The real service to Sri

Mayapur can be done by acquiring printing presses, distributing devotional books, and sankirtan - preaching.

Please do not neglect to serve Sri Mayapur or to preach for the sake of your own reclusive bhajan.

"When I am not present any more, please take care to serve Sri Mayapur Dham which is so dear to you. This is myspecial instruction to you. People who are like animals can never attain devotion; therefore never take their sug-

gestions. But do not let them know this directly or indirectly.

"I had a special desire to preach the significance of such books as Srimad Bhagavatam, Sat Sandarbha, and

Vedanta Darshan. You have to accept that responsibility. Sri Mayapur will prosper if you establish an educa-tional institution there. Never make any effort to collect knowledge or money for your own enjoyment. Only

to serve the Lord will you collect these things. Never engage in bad association, either for money or for some

self-interest."

signed..... ... Kedarnatha Datta Bhaktivinode

SRI NAVADVIPA AND SRI VRNDAVANA ARE NON-DIFFERENT

The ear th is the foremost planet in the entire universe and Gauda, Bengal, is the most elevated country on this earth. In Bengal, Navadvipa is the most incalculably auspicious tract of land in the entire cosmos.

The holy Ganga flows through this land, and the sacred waters of the rivers Yamuna and Sarasvati converge

here into the Ganga. On Ganga's eastern bank is Mayapura, the direct manifestation and exact replica of Goloka Vrndavana

in the spiritual sky. In the house of Sr i Saci-devi in Mayapura, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Gauranga,appeared for the plea sure of His parents.

Towards the end of Dvapara -yuga, the Supreme Personality as Krsna had performed super-excellent and transcenden-

tal pastimes such as the rasa dance, with Srimati Radhika and all the young damsels of Vraja. As Lord Krsna, the sonof Mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja, He descended to this material world with His associates, paraphernalia, the spir-

itual abode Vraja, etc. He brought with Him the highest precious treasure of Goloka Vrndavana, namely the parakiya-

bhava, or the loving conjugal exchanges in the mood of a paramour lover. He had exhibited this mood in the

rasa dance with the young damsels of Vrndavana.

That same Supreme Personality ha s now descended again to the material world in His own transcendental

abode of Mayapura in Bengal and brought with Him that same spiritual, loving mood. But this time it is carefully

camouflaged. [Prema vivarta]



anewsletter forthe residentsof iskconmayapur april 2005.pdf · [srimad bhagavatam 1. 16. 4 purport]...

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