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Transcriptions of the Giriraja Swami: ...enthusiastic about the project. He just took me with him on a little tour of the property and he was pointing out the palm trees and saying what a beautiful property it was and how it was worth a crore of rupees, and he just really had very big plans for Juhu. Later Srila Prabhupada left for his travels, as usual, and the new devotees that he had there to help him had to struggle with his mission in his absence. But Srila Prabhupada named the project Hare Krishna Land… [break] …after some time. And he heard Hare Krishna coming from the direction of the temple and he commented, "This is Hare Krishna Land. Always the sound of Hare Krishna should be heard." Another time Srila Prabhupada was on a morning walk and some young children passed him and said, "Hare Krishna," and Srila Prabhupada replied to them, "Hare Krishna." And then after a few steps, Prabhupada turned to us and said, "Our mission is a success. They're chanting Hare Krishna." So Srila Prabhupada really just wanted that people should come and chant Hare Krishna, and he had full faith that just by chanting Hare Krishna they could achieve everything. In Srila Prabhupada's last days, there was one group of householders and Mr. Sethi, Srila Prabhupada's dear friend and ardent devotee, Mr. Sethi, had been associated with the group from before he met Srila Prabhupada. The group would meet every Sunday at different members' homes and they would chant Hare Krishna continuously for 12 hours, from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and then from 6:00 to 8:00 they would sing different songs from Vrindavan. So in 1977 when Srila Prabhupada was living upstairs in his new quarters at Hare Krishna Land, Mr. Sethi brought the group of householder devotees to Hare Krishna Land to perform continuous Hare Krishna kirtan in the temple and they chanted and chanted, hour after hour. Srila Prabhupada was up in his quarters, and the devotees in the temple really wanted to reciprocate with Srila Prabhupada and he also wanted to reciprocate with them. But the lift wasn't working, Prabhupada couldn't come down, he was quite ill, and they also couldn't go up and they also had to continue the kirtan. So they came out of the temple and stood under Prabhupada's window and chanted Hare Krishna; and then Srila Prabhupada, to reciprocate with them, came out onto the balcony and glanced upon them and smiled, and everyone's ecstasy just reached a crescendo. Then Srila Prabhupada went back into his quarters, and the devotees went back into the temple. The next day Srila Prabhupada called me into his room to discuss the kirtan and he said that he wanted us to offer all the householder devotees that had performed the continuous kirtan that they could stay on Hare Krishna Land, we would maintain them in all respects, and all they would have to do would be to chant Hare Krishna in the temple from morning to night. So Srila Prabhupada had so much faith in the Holy Name. He knew that the Holy Name was Krishna Himself and that if we chanted the Holy Name, we would be in the association of Krishna and we would get everything from Krishna. Srila Prabhupada's other main purpose in Hare Krishna Land was that people should come and study Bhagavad-gita As It Is and other Vedic literatures. When Srila Prabhupada laid the cornerstone for the temple, he invited the people of Bombay to come, spend the weekend and study Bhagavad-gita As It Is; and after they understood the Bhagavad-gita and began to practice the Bhagavad-gita, he wanted them to preach the message of Bhagavad-gita all over the world. Srila Prabhupada often gave the example of the blind man and the lame man in India. The blind man may be very strong and healthy but because he's blind he can't see, he doesn't know where to go, he can't make any progress; and the lame man, he may have very perfect vision but because he is lame, he is crippled, he also can't go anywhere. So if the blind man takes the lame man on his shoulders, then together they can go forward. So Srila Prabhupada compared India to the lame man, that India had spiritual vision, it knew where to go, but because of years of foreign domination and exploitation it was somewhat lame or crippled in a material sense or physical sense; and America was very powerful materially, very advanced technologically, but it lacked the vision of what the goal is and how to get there. So Srila Prabhupada said that if Indian culture and American technology combined, the combination could do wonders for the benefit of the whole world and the whole world could go forward. So Srila Prabhupada invited the people of Bombay to come, spend the weekend, study Bhagavad-gita As It Is, make their lives successful in Krishna consciousness, and then work for the benefit of others by spreading Krishna consciousness. He often quoted the verse from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, bharata-bhumite haila manusya-janma yara, janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara, that one should make one's life successful by Krishna consciousness and then render the best service to the human society by spreading Krishna consciousness. So I'm very honored to be with you today on the auspicious celebration of the 25th anniversary of the grand opening of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabehariji's temple complex. I had hoped I could be with you in person, but the circumstances have not allowed me to come physically but still I am with you spiritually. I think of many of you who I know who have come forward to help Srila Prabhupada in the early days of the project, and I think of others of you who came later after the project was established and joined in the activities then, and I think of so many others of you who I may never have met and I may never meet in person. But still somehow you've come in touch with Krishna consciousness, you've come in touch with Srila Prabhupada's mercy, you've come in touch with the devotees at Hare Krishna Land and the Deities of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabehari, and therefore we're associated, we're part of a great spiritual family, and I actually feel close to all of you. The history of Hare Krishna Land is the history of Srila Prabhupada's struggle to serve his beloved Lords Sri Sri Radha-Rasabehari. The history goes back to late in 1971 when two of Srila Prabhupada's disciples met the owner of the land then, and the owner wrote a letter to Srila Prabhupada offering the land to him for some great cause; and from then until the temple opened on January 14, 1978, Srila Prabhupada was engaged in a great struggle. First he had to struggle to actually get the land from the owner, there were so many complications. Then he had to struggle to get the permission from the municipality and one certificate from the police also. He had to struggle to get the permission to build. And then after he got the permission to build, he had to struggle to bring forth the resources to actually construct the project. So the history of Hare Krishna Land in one sense is the history of Srila Prabhupada's struggle to serve Radha-Rasabehari and of Srila Prabhupada's love for Sri Sri Radha-Rasabehari. Srila Prabhupada was so humble, he tolerated so many difficulties for the sake of the Deities and the project; and because of his humility and his tolerance and his perseverance, we were also inspired to do the same, to try to do the same for him and for Radha-Rasabehari. Years later in 1977 when Srila Prabhupada was very ill, some of the devotees came into Srila Prabhupada's room in his new quarters, and he was bedridden at the time and pretty much he was bedridden from then onwards, and they were just reciting all that Srila Prabhupada had to go through to establish Hare Krishna Land and build the temple for Sri Sri Radha-Rasabehari. Prabhupada was so sick, he was just lying on the bed listening, and every once in a while he would make a sound to indicate that he was listening and agreeing. Then at the end he said, "That dog," and none of us knew what he meant, "That dog." We thought, "Was he referring to some of the inimical people that had put so many obstacles in his way over the years?" But no, it turned out that he was talking about the dog that belonged to one of the life members where Srila Prabhupada had stayed in the Juhu scheme before we had a place for Srila Prabhupada to stay on Hare Krishna Land. Every morning the gentleman would drive Srila Prabhupada to Juhu Beach to walk, and the gentleman would also bring his big dog with them in the car and Srila Prabhupada had to sit with the dog in the car. Now, for us it might not seem like such a big thing; but for Srila Prabhupada, who we understand has descended from the spiritual world, to have to sit with the dog in the car on the way to the beach was an austerity. So not only did Prabhupada endure austerities that we can appreciate, he even endured other austerities that we might not even know about, but he did it all for Radha-Rasabehari. In the beginning, Srila Prabhupada invited the Deities to come to Hare Krishna Land. He said, "My dear Sirs, You come and stand here and I will build a beautiful temple for You." And in spite of all the difficulties along the way, Srila Prabhupada remained faithful to his promise to his Lords. At the end, when Prabhupada was successful at least in getting the land, he commented that "Actually I was not so interested in this land. But because I invited Krishna to come here, then to drive Krishna away would have been a great insult and I could not tolerate that." So for Prabhupada, the Deities are Krishna, Radha and Krishna, and actually They are. When we come before the Deities, we should not just see marble statues but we should see, "Yes, we are standing in front of Radha and Krishna," and we should act in such a way that They will be pleased with us. So everything about Krishna consciousness is meant to bring us in touch with Krishna. The Holy Name of Krishna is Krishna, the words of Krishna in Bhagavad-gita are Krishna, the words about Krishna in Srimad-Bhagavatam are Krishna. So Prabhupada's whole mission was just to bring us in touch with Krishna, to revive our eternal relationship with Krishna; and he knew that if people became Krishna conscious, then all their problems would be solved individually and collectively all of the problems of the world would be solved. Srila Prabhupada had personal realization and he had a very deep conviction, and thus he inspired all of us. So today is a great occasion, 25 years since the opening of the temple. We can't even count how many millions of people have come to the temple, how many have had audience of the Deities, how many have chanted the Holy Names, how many have heard the discussions of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, and how many have taken Krishna prasadam, but they have all been blessed. Again, Srila Prabhupada was not content just for the individuals who came to be benefited, but he wanted them to bring further benefit to others and by doing so they would accrue further benefit for themselves. So I thank all of you for participating in different ways. I know that Sri Sri Radha-Rasabehari and Srila Prabhupada are pleased with all of you. The more you serve Them, the more you come, the more you associate with the devotees, the more you hear the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, the more you chant the Holy Name, the more you take Krishna prasad, the more They will be pleased with you and the reciprocation of love between the devotees and the Lord will increase. So we feel grateful that we had the chance to serve Srila Prabhupada at Hare Krishna Land in his great mission. We're grateful that we had the opportunity to meet so many of you personally and work with you to serve Srila Prabhupada in his great mission. My only request on this auspicious occasion is that Sri Sri Radha-Rasabehari and Srila Prabhupada will continue to engage me in Their service and in the service of all of you who are there, devotees, and together we can be very happy in Krishna consciousness and we can do great good for the whole world that others will also be happy. It was actually from Bombay that Srila Prabhupada left India to come to America. He had approached Mrs. Sumati Morarji, who was the chairman of Scindia Steam Navigation Company and who lived just two blocks from Hare Krishna Land. In fact, later Srila Prabhupada informed us that before he even came to America and he would visit Sumati Morarji at her bungalow, he would pass a vacant field and he would think, "What a nice place for a temple." And years later after going to America and beginning the mission there, he returned to India and in the end the very same land came to him to build a beautiful temple. But before he left India to come to America, some officer from the Scindia Steam Navigation Company named Mr. Choksi sort of joked with Srila Prabhupada that "You want to go to America to enjoy. You want to see the sights and meet the people and enjoy." And Srila Prabhupada replied, "What is left in my life to enjoy? I am an old man. But I know the people there are confused, they are unhappy. I want to do something for them, I want to make them happy." So that was Prabhupada's mood. He just wanted people to be happy. He wanted them to become Krishna conscious so they could become happy. So we are blessed we have the chance to be happy by Prabhupada's grace, so let us take full advantage, become Krishna conscious, become happy, and help others to become happy as well. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. |