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Transcriptions of the Sridhar Swami: So I just want to remind all the Prabhupada disciples that today's lunch will be served at Vrindavan in Juhu Beach, in Juhu scheme. Mr. Sethi's house is called Vrindavan. Braja Hari will be arranging transportation over to his house, and we'll have kirtan there and a little Prabhupada-katha. You can't sit with Mr. Sethi without talking about Srila Prabhupada. And then a wonderful feast. He loves to cook for Vaisnavas and especially Prabhupadanugas, and Prabhupada said that…he said it, I heard him…Punjabi khana is the best. Then we'll come back here and have rest. Brahmananda: When Prabhupada was in Nairobi, he said Gujarati khana was the best. Sridhar Swami: Yeah, well, there weren't any Punjabis there. But if you compare actually, Punjabi khana is the richest with milk products and so many things. This was when we were collecting for Vrindavan and we were going to many big Punjabi mill owners, etc. So I would like to finish this morning's session with a wonderful finale. I would like to invite my dear godbrother His Holiness Radhanatha Swami to come up and lead us in kirtan and tell us about how he was plucked from the crowd at Cross Maidan. [inaudible question from audience] Mahaprabhu, you're not invited. [laughs] No, I'm sorry. Evening program is from 7:00 till 9:30. You can come, sorry. So please, Maharaja. There is no other program except for Hare Krishna Land today, so evening program is here. [inaudible comment from audience] Pandal program? 7:00 to 9:30 is at the pandal; oh, good point you have told me, I thought it was here. OK, so transportation will be leaving here at 6:00. Prasadam is served there at the pandal? Everything. Of course, tomorrow is Rathayatra, big Rathayatra. Yesterday was a wonderful harinama sankirtan, ecstatic, and short but ecstatic Rathayatra [break] on our way to Mr. Sethi's place [break] and tomorrow again from 8:30 to 12:30 and also on Saturday. We have a lot of devotees to speak, so we'll be fitting them in chronologically. Radhanatha Swami: [kirtan] Vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca, patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah. I feel very honored and fortunate to have this opportunity to be amongst all of you today. Also, I feel extremely undeserving and disqualified to be on this dais in the midst of my very, very senior godbrothers and godsisters who literally struggled, strived in a spirit of such selfless surrender to assist Srila Prabhupada in this project. I never had the great fortune to have been a part of that transcendental devotional service. We have heard about how devotees came here in a rat- and mosquito-infested jungle filled with snakes, inimical neighbors, disease; and by their love for Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada's love for them, they were empowered to perform this incredible miracle of building Sri Sri Radha-Rasabehari's temple. I feel most insignificant in the presence of these devotees. The only story I can tell is a story of Prabhupada's mercy on a very fallen and lost soul in this city of Bombay, if you'd like to hear. Madhudvisa prabhu was talking about how he plucked this fallen soul. Usually you pluck chickens, so I am something like that. But it was really Srila Prabhupada's causeless and inconceivable mercy that was and is and will always be the only real treasure of my life. I had come to India searching for God realization. I was living in Himalayas for some time as a sadhu and a yogi, living with various sadhus and yogis in jungles and caves, but even yogis living in caves have to have proper visas in the age of Kali. So I had to leave because there was no immigration offices in that area. So I was told the best place to get visa is Bombay. So I came to Bombay especially for visa extension; and while I was here, there was a very nice Buddhist meditation course that I was taking. I was sitting for about 10 to 14 hours a day in one posture, just meditating. Getting up every now and then, but we had to sit for that much time. So when the course was over, I was still waiting for my visa. I decided to take a walk. I really wanted to take a walk so I just started walking and walking and walking, and I saw this incredibly large sign saying "Hare Krishna Festival with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his American and European bhaktas at Cross Maidan." So being interested in anything spiritual, I decided to go. It was very close to the sign. So I entered into this very gigantic pandal, it was during the day, and I was looking…actually I saw a book display as soon as I came in, and one of our dear godbrothers, Tusta Krsna prabhu, he was behind the book table. I asked him if I could look at a book, and he just ignored me and he looked at me like I was some creature. Then I asked him again, "Can I look at the book?" and he said, "You speak English?" I said, "I am from the United States." He said, "Oh, yes, this is an English book. Are you a Shaivite?" And I said, "Well, I've lived with devotees of Shiva in the Himalayas." So he opened… My appearance, Brahmananda prabhu wants me to expose myself. While living in Himalayas I had one set of clothes which were just lungi and chaddar which I would wash in the rivers every day, so they were pure but not fashionably clean. And I hadn't combed my hair and shaved in some years so it was matted hair, it looked like sadhu, and I had a little begging pot. So he gave me this book, Krsna book, and he gave me the chapter of how Krishna delivers Lord Shiva. I was reading about Vrkasura. Vrkasura is cutting off his flesh and offering it to the fire and chanting Shiva's names for his darshan, and more and more and more flesh. And finally he actually was about to cut off his head to offer it to Shiva, so Shiva appeared. He said, "What do you want?" He asked for a benediction, "Whoever's head I touch will crack into thousand places." "So be it." Then he saw Parvati and understood the obstacle of Parvati was Shiva so he went to touch Lord Shiva's head, and Shiva ran away and he was running and she was running and Shiva was running. Then Krishna came in disguise and said, "Do not embarrass yourself by touching his head because everyone will laugh because his benedictions do not work. Everyone will laugh at you. So better you test to make sure his benediction works by touching your own head." Krishna spoke with such charming language, he touched his own head and his head cracked. So I read this chapter and Tusta Krsna prabhu said, "You see? Even Shiva surrenders to Krishna." So I was thinking, "It's a good story, but these devotees are fanatics." Then he said, "Do you want to do service?" and I said, "Yes." So he called Giriraja brahmacari and he took me way to the other side of the pandal where he said, "People are stealing the Back to Godheads. I want you to poke holes in the top corner and tie them to the table." So I was tying Back to Godheads to the table. Then he said, "Do you want something to drink?" and I said, "Whatever you say." So he took me and we went into a little back area and he said, "What books have you been reading?" Now, I didn't know devotees so I didn't know what the right thing to say was so I was honest. I said, "I am reading The Crest Jewel of Discrimination by Sripada Sankaracarya." I thought he'd be very pleased with me. He looked at me so seriously and said, "Do you know what Sankaracarya said?" I said, "What?" "Bhaja govindam bhaja govindam bhaja govindam mudha-mate. Do you know what that means?" I said, "What?" "Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda," and he pointed his finger right at my face and said, "you fools and asses." "He's such a nice person but fanatic." So while we were tying our BTGs, thousands, tens of thousands of people were coming into the pandal for the evening program. Actually during the day while I was doing the seva, I remember Yamuna-devi was singing. She was sitting on the stage and playing harmonium and singing, and Subal Maharaja was giving lectures. Then when the program started, Giriraja Maharaja told me, "Why don't you go sit in the audience to hear the lecture?" So I went way, way, way in the back. I was told there was about 30,000 people crowded into this pandal, and Madhudvisa prabhu was leading the Gaura-arati. He was playing mrdanga and chanting so enthusiastic, so beautiful was his voice, I was just enchanted. And all the devotees were dancing in bright-colored saffron and white dhotis, beautiful-colored saris, and Nanda Kumar was offering arati to the Deities, he was just gazing with such affection at the Deities. I was way, way, way back, just watching. Then one devotee I saw just running around the stage with a camera taking photos. Then Prabhupada called him over and he was talking to Prabhupada, who was sitting on the vyasasana, and then he started looking out in the audience; and in the direction I was, he was going like this. But I was just sitting because I don't know what he was doing. So he came all the way through all the crowds of people, thousands and thousands of people, he was stepping, they had to all make their way because there was no passageways, and he came right up to me and took me by the hand and said, "Srila Prabhupada wants you to sit next to him." And this person was my very beloved senior godbrother Gurudasa prabhu. We are together in Bombay for the first time since then. I asked Gurudasa prabhu, "How does Srila Prabhupada know me?" and he did not say a word. He just pulled my hand and literally pulled me through the crowds, he pulled me right up the stairs; and when we came to the stage, Prabhupada looked at me and he was expecting me. He told me to sit down just close to his vyasasana. So I sat down. Meanwhile all the devotees were singing and dancing to the emperor of sankirtan's beautiful kirtan, Madhudvisa prabhu, and I felt so out of place. They were so clean with shaved heads, and I just had these river-stained matted hair and river-stained clothes. And they were dancing, I was just sitting like this with my eyes closed, every now and then looking. Prabhupada gave lecture after the kirtan and every now and then Prabhupada would look at me, and something that never happened took place in my heart. On that first day as he was speaking, I was listening very carefully. I was thinking, "This is my eternal father and spiritual master." My heart was speaking this, but my mind rejected it because I had already been meeting with Anandamayi Ma and Neem Karoli Baba and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Swami Satchidananda and J. Krishnamurti and Swami Muktananda and Tatwala Baba and Swami Ram Dass and hundreds of different saintly people in the Himalayas. I was going to their ashrams and learning from them and listening to them, and I appreciated all of them. And my mind was saying, "Don't speak like this" to my heart. "You should not accept just one man. You should learn from everyone." And my heart was saying, "No, no, this is your guru. Can't you see? You should surrender." And my mind said, "No," with so many arguments. And right when I was going through this intense inner conflict, right during his lecture, it was actually very…it was almost paralyzing me, this argument between my mind and my heart. Prabhupada looked right at me. He actually stopped speaking for a second and looked right at me, into my eyes, so serious. All of my godbrothers and godsisters know better than me that when Prabhupada glanced intensely, he was looking right into your eternal soul, it was piercing. He just looked at me. And as he was staring at me - it was only for a few seconds - I could actually hear his eyes speaking, and what I heard was, "Give up your nonsense and surrender." So I just sat as if I didn't hear anything. It was a wonderful lecture. Prabhupada's philosophy was so all-encompassing, so convincing, and he spoke with such compassion and such authority. After the lecture finished, Srila Prabhupada was coming off the stage and he walked right in front of me. And living amongst sadhus, I learned a custom that when a superior person stands before you, you should take the dust from his lotus feet and put it on your head. So with great respect, I went to put my hand on Srila Prabhupada's lotus foot and the GBC, Tamal Krsna…he was in white at that time, Tamal Krsna Goswami was then in his grhastha ashram. He was standing right nearby, and he shot a thunderbolt of words right into my heart. He said, "No one touches Prabhupada's feet." So I didn't touch. I was just about an inch away when I just pulled my hand back, and I was feeling so offensive and ashamed that I could have tried to do something I wasn't supposed to do. Then Prabhupada just stood right in front of me for a few seconds and looked right into my eyes, I was on my knees, and he said with a smile on his face, "You could touch my feet." That was the first personal instruction Prabhupada ever gave me. So I looked at Tamal Krsna Goswami, and then he looked at Prabhupada, and Prabhupada looked at him, and then I looked at Prabhupada, and Prabhupada looked at me, and I took the dust from his lotus feet and placed it on top of my head. Then Srila Prabhupada rubbed my head very affectionately and smiled and said, "You come up and sit on the stage with us every night, and every morning too," he said. So I did that. Now, I hadn't eaten in a couple of days. The next day I came in the morning. If I remember right, Prabhupada was speaking Hindi in the morning and English in the evening. So I would sit both. I didn't understand, but I just had faith that I was going to get purified by listening. So sometime later in the morning they were serving halava prasad, and there was a line. Hundreds and hundreds of people. So I was standing in line for about one-and-a-half hours, starving. And when I smelled the halava, my mind was becoming very much eager and my senses even more so. Then I actually got to the front of the line and a devotee gave me a big leaf cup overbrimming with hot fragrant halava, and I was so happy. And just at that moment one devotee grabbed the halava right out of my hand, and that devotee was my dear godbrother Gurudasa prabhu. I was devastated. He said, "You don't want to eat that, do you?" And I said, "Yes, I did want to eat that." He said, "It's like eating motor oil." And then I didn't know what to think. I thought, "Why are you feeding motor oil to thousands of people?" So then he took me again by the hand, and this time Srila Prabhupada was not on the stage so I didn't know where he was going to take me. So he took me behind the stage and sat me down next to Madhudvisa Maharaja, Subal Maharaja and Syamasundara prabhu. They were all sitting down taking prasad, so I sat down next to them; and a few seconds later, her grace Malati-devi came out with a big plate of prasad that was puris, and three subjis, and chutney, and pakoras, and laddus, and halava not made in motor oil. So I was very happy. Then Syamasundara prabhu told me, "You can take prasad back here with us every day if you like." I was shy to do that, but he made that gesture. After Prabhupada was speaking every morning and evening for over 10 days…and the day I came happened to be the first day of the pandal…so toward the end, I was so impressed by Srila Prabhupada's spirituality and his compassion and his kindness upon me as well, I really wanted to get Krsna book and then go back to the Himalayas to find a cave to study it because I wasn't ready to join the movement at that time. I met so many gurus in so many places that I really had to be thoroughly convinced before I could actually give my life. So I had no money. So I went to the book table and asked Tusta Krsna prabhu, I said, "I really, really want to read this Krsna book and bring it to the Himalayas. How would I go about getting one because I have no money?" I was thinking he was going to give it to me, and he told me how many rupees it cost. That was the end. [break] You know in Bombay these people who ask you for baksheesh? When you stop at stoplights and people come and ask you for charity, "Baksheesh, baksheesh"? I became one of those people, only for the purpose of getting Krsna book. I was actually going out for several hours a…Prabhupada would speak in the morning and in the evening, and in between I would just meet with devotees and I would take a few hours off to beg people to give some donation. It took about three, four days and I had enough to buy Krsna book. The devotees told Srila Prabhupada that I went out into the streets as a beggar to get the money to buy his Krsna book, and Prabhupada was so happy that I saw such value in his books that I was willing to be a beggar to receive it. So how he smiled upon me, and again he rubbed my head and looked at me in the face and said, "Thank you very much." And from that day on, every time I pick up one of Srila Prabhupada's books and read, I could remember Prabhupada's face saying, "Thank you very much." Prabhupada, how grateful he was when we distributed his books, and how really genuinely grateful he is for those who see the value of his books, read his books, and try to actually dedicate our lives to what he has spoken. So these are a few memories I had of Srila Prabhupada's great kindness upon this fallen soul in Bombay, and also how his kindness manifested through his illustrious and dedicated servants upon me. Thank you very much. Sridhar Swami: That was nice, eh? Wow, just swimming in the ocean. Gosh. Well, after a lot of bhajan, it's time for bhojan. I was actually right. The evening program is here for Prabhupada-katha, and the time will be from 5:00 until 9:00. We have lots of wonderful speakers. So please try to come. Plus there is also a program for life membership at the pandal. They call it Life Member Reunion, and a lot of our prominent life members will be there. There will be a presentation about the second phase of development by Premnath, who has been with ISKCON since the beginning of the construction of Radha-Rasabehari temple. Although Saurabha prabhu was the architect, but he worked with a local architect obviously, Saurabha was not licensed in India, so that is Premnath and now he has designed the second phase of the project. Where we're sitting right now, when you come again in three years or whatever it'll be a whole different ball park. Not ball game, ball park. So there will be beautiful gardens and wonderful buildings and exhibitions, etc. So there's a program this evening, Life Member Reunion, and there will be bhajans by Purushottam Jalota, who is a very famous, world famous classical bhajan singer. And there will be nice preaching led by senior sannyasis and devotees and life members, etc., and prasadam will be served there in the late evening. And here from 5:00 till 9:00 there will be Prabhupada-katha. So you can attend both programs, two hours there, two hours here, or four here or four there, whatever you like, it's good variety. There's a children's program here at 4:00. There's also Odyssey dance performance on stage and Bharat Natyam by Devakinandan…(laughs). No, Devakinandan doesn't do Bharat Natyam. Kum Yasoda and Kum Devaki. Anyway, bon appétit, have a good lunch prasadam. And remember all Prabhupada disciples, the buses are leaving for Mr. Sethi's house very soon so please go and get yourselves ready. I'm very, very pleased that my godbrothers are taking part, not only in speaking but in hearing and enjoying. It's very encouraging because a lot of times you go to functions and devotees come when it's their turn to speak and they come on time, and as soon as they finish they leave and you feel… But here we're one family and it's very, very nice, and I'm humbled by everyone's participation very much. Thank you. |