Transcriptions of the
Bombay 25th Reunion Festival
Remembrances of Srila Prabhupada
in Bombay

Yadubara & Visakha

Sridhar Swami: So I'd like to invite Yadubara prabhu and his good wife, Visakha, to come up. They were here from around 1972, '73, like that, '74. Of course, as in a good husband-wife team, Visakha will do all the talking and Yadubara will just keep quiet. (laughs)

Yadubara: Nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale, srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine. Namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine, nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine. I want to thank the devotees in Bombay - Sridhar Swami, Bhima prabhu and everyone else - to bring us back to this very memorable place where we were serving from approximately the end of 1971 to the spring of 1973. I can say for myself, I believe my Krishna consciousness was at its height here in Juhu due to the [break] Prabhupada and giving us so much service. The service was practically constant [break] fully engaged. We were doing all different kinds of services. My main service was as secretary. Giriraja, of course, was the president, Mahamsa was the treasurer, I was the secretary and Surabhi was the construction manager. As secretary, Srila Prabhupada asked me to write him at one point every week to give him details about how the progress was going on the Hare Krishna Land. So I had quite a few letters that we exchanged back and forth, and Prabhupada's main concern was, of course, at that time to secure the property. But in getting back to the intensity of the service here, we were all, as I remember, doing different kinds of services. Everybody was pitching in sometimes with cooking, cleaning, I had my secretarial duties, I was also in charge of printing BTG's for the Hindi, Gujarati and Bengali BTG I remember we printed; and Srila Prabhupada was, of course, very concerned about the printing of his books and also very pleased. Personally, I was getting while I was staying here maybe four or five hours sleep a night; and, again, the service was so intense, but it became very, very relishable. But there was no time for anything else but to think of what we could do to help Srila Prabhupada push on this project.

My first encounter in Bombay was actually as a photographer coming to do a master's thesis on the devotees in India. I heard the devotees were in Bombay, so I bought a ticket in December 1970 to Bombay and was given the address of Kailash Seksaria on Marine Drive. So I went to the place, knocked on the door, and they said the devotees had just left, they went to Surat. So I said, "Where is Surat?" And they said, "You get on the train during the day and you'll arrive in the evening." So I got on the train with no address, there was nobody leaving any address in Surat, and I think Surat is a town of 100,000 people. I arrived at the train station and some rickshaw walas approached me and I said, "American Hare Krishna," and one said, "Get in," and he immediately took me there. So Srila Prabhupada's plan was immediately evident in bringing his American devotees, American disciples back to India, that everyone knew about it, nobody didn't know about it. Even then, before the Cross Maidan pandal, we were really the talk of India. Srila Prabhupada was such a great personality. I remember I was sitting in a room at the Acharyas' house with Srila Prabhupada alone, and somehow or other this guest came in all of a sudden and he started praising Prabhupada to the sky, "You are so great, Swamiji, what you have done," and he wouldn't stop. Prabhupada finally said, "You become like me." He became a little agitated that this man was just raising Prabhupada and that's all. There was no exchange. So Prabhupada kept saying, "You become like me, " and that's what Srila Prabhupada wanted of all of us. He didn't want us just to praise him and that's all, and sometimes in events like this we forget that Prabhupada's real happiness is seeing his disciples becoming Krishna conscious. Of course, there are many wonderful stories and we relish hearing them, but Prabhupada's main pleasure actually is seeing all of his disciples becoming advanced in Krishna consciousness. So I'm very grateful for this time that we spent here in Juhu because I definitely had a very, very strong taste in Krishna consciousness; and events like this will bring us back and force us, in a sense, to relive these times, and these memories increase also our Krishna consciousness. So I'm feeling renewed strength and energy to take up the process, and the process is really taken up in the moment-by-moment period. It's not that we reach a certain level and we don't have to be concerned anymore. Surrender is actually a moment-to-moment process.

So I was actually going to allow Visakha to speak first. Prabhupada, in Mayapur when we presented Srila Prabhupada our movie, the first film on the Movement, the room was full of sannyasis and GBC. So we came in the room and there was no place to sit to show our film. I was actually sitting by the projector and Visakha was standing up. So Prabhupada looked at the GBC and disciples and said, "Ladies first," and they parted and she sat down. So, your turn.

Devotee: Yadubara, tell us how Prabhupada threw you out of the society.

Yadubara: Threw me out? You mean in Surat?

Devotee: No, in Allahabad.

Yadubara: I'm not sure of that story.

Devotee: He said you had to leave.

Yadubara: That was in Surat. I'll just very briefly. I had arrived to do my master's thesis of photography in Surat, and it turns out that rickshaw wala took me to where Prabhupada was staying with the devotees. And the first person that opened the door was Rishi Kumar, and he was the first person I met in New York to do the first article on Krishna consciousness. That was my first professional assignment and my last professional assignment on the outside. So he answered the door and took me to Srila Prabhupada, and Prabhupada asked me…he looked at the article and was very appreciative, and then he asked me, "So are you going to become a devotee?" And I said, "I don't think so, Srila Prabhupada." And he said, "Then you cannot stay." Here I'd come 10,000 miles, so it was a little disconcerting. But I never said anything after that and neither did Prabhupada, and I stayed on.

Devotee: Tell about the article that was in the magazine here that you brought to Prabhupada in the middle of that [inaudible).

Yadubara: Of course, this is all Surat pastimes, but it's all connected. I presented Srila Prabhupada the article that I had done. It was actually in Earth magazine. There were two magazines. One was Asia magazine that Visakha and I both worked on. We lived in the temple in New York for a few days, and then I went on to New Vrindavan for a week to do in-depth study of the devotees, ending up joining the Movement from that early exposure. So in Surat Srila Prabhupada went through each page of the Earth magazine, and Earth magazine was a hippie magazine basically put out in the…I think it lasted only a few issues. But they were very risqué pictures, you can say, in the magazine. Prabhupada, it didn't faze him, he just went page by page, and he finally came to the article on the devotees and he said, "Yes, we have to take gold from a dirty place." So he appreciated, of course, the articles very much. I would stay with Srila Prabhupada in his room after that and take pictures of him regularly, and guests would enter and Prabhupada would…he seemed very appreciative. He would tell the guests eventually, because I was in the room filming, taking pictures, he would say, "This is Mr. John. He is from America. He is an expert photographer." He'd say that many times, those three sentences. So Srila Prabhupada appreciated any talent that we had and he would, of course, try to engage us in Krishna consciousness.

Another side story is that Visakha came three months after I had been in India and by that time I was gone, I was very much a devotee in heart, and Srila Prabhupada could see that. So she came and we asked Srila Prabhupada, we wanted to do an article on an Indian village, a photo essay. So Srila Prabhupada's immediate response was that "You should go to Vrindavan and do your article in Vrindavan." And he said, "If you go to Vrindavan, you won't get your cameras stolen," as if any other place we would get our camera stolen. But that was Srila Prabhupada's way of tricking us to go to the holy dhama; and in the holy dhama, Visakha actually became Krishna conscious. So Srila Prabhupada knew how to treat everyone and what it would take for each person to become a devotee. The beauty of serving in Juhu was that Srila Prabhupada, whenever he came to India, he would probably spend more time in Bombay than any other place because it was so important, in those early years at least it was so important to him.

Devotee: Did you ever spend time in the hut?

Yadubara: Yes. We spent time in the hut, we served in the hut, we did our time. The hut was extremely austere. We'd sweep the floor, and you couldn't actually clean in the hut because you'd sweep the floor and the cement was so poor that it would just scrape up. So the more you swept, the more pieces of cement you loosened. I remember Panca-dravida. I'd like to mention Panca-dravida, he's not here, but he was so dedicated to going out and collecting grains for the Food for Life program. He'd go out after breakfast and sometimes even before breakfast and then come back late in the afternoon. And around 4:00 every afternoon we'd get the fruit plate off the altar, and that was so relishable that if we missed one day we were lamenting greatly. So Panca-dravida came back one day, and we'd save his plate and we'd cover it with a leaf plate. So somehow or other the leaf had blown off, something happened to it, and he came back and he saw this mound of brown matter on top of his watermelon. Somehow or other a cow had come in and passed dung on his plate. So he looked at the plate and actually tears came to his eyes. He was so much in distress. So these little pleasures were very important to us in those days.

Another time, sometimes we'd find ourself having to supplement our diet because somehow or other our American bodies just would not get the nourishment we needed. So sometimes we'd actually go out and purchase bread and buy a tin of Amil cheese. And those days, somehow or other the bread, it wasn't cut for you, you'd have to cut the bread. So one day, I forget who it was, but we were all kind of crowded around the bread and the person started cutting and they noticed some brown object in there. And upon looking, at closer inspection it was actually a bidi. So we stopped buying that particular brand of… So just an indication of some of the austerities. So this is just an illustration. The point is, not to become too frivolous here, but the point is the austerities were very, very great. I remember Visakha was sleeping…the hut was too much for most people. So some of us left the hut and went up on the roof, and Visakha was one of those persons. Actually on the roof there is that small retainer wall that runs around the perimeter of the roof, and she had planks of wood leaning off the top of that wall coming down to the roof covered with some palm fronds to keep out the rain. That was her room, and she actually relished that room very much. She took pleasure in residing there. But, again, all these austerities were really nothing compared to the pleasure of seeing Srila Prabhupada very often and serving him.

One time in 1972 in October, pretty much everyone left Bombay to go to Vrindavan for the Nectar of Devotion readings and I was the one to stay back. It was actually quite nice. I was lamenting not being able to attend, very exciting time, Srila Prabhupada discussing Nectar of Devotion in Vrindavan, but I was also taking pleasure in serving in separation. After the devotees returned, I met Srila Prabhupada in Calcutta. I'll never forget. I came up in a taxi at the temple and I got out and I looked up at Srila Prabhupada's room, it was at night, and he was standing there looking down and he motioned for me to come up in his room. I paid obeisances in the street. The first thing he started talking about was Bombay, and one of the things he mentioned was, this was already discussed, his prayer to the Lord that this business be settled quickly. And actually he mentioned that Mr. Nair should be punished. So I was awestruck to hear him speak like this with such confidentiality to me, and I could sense that he was…in fact, I knew that he was very pleased with my service in separation, that I did not attend that festival but I was staying back in Bombay, and he was pleased with all his disciples who underwent that austerity. Practically everywhere in India in those early days he spent a lot of time with us. Srila Prabhupada, his door was open, we could pretty much go in any time. In Bombay in Akash Ganga, we'd sit and chant japa with him in front of the Deities in the morning, go on morning walks, and he was right next door in the next room from where we were living. So those intimate times are very memorable, could never be forgotten, and I just pray that we can follow Srila Prabhupada's instructions, especially in the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. That is our protection. That is actually our protection. So many times he emphasized the chanting, and I'm also preaching to myself that sometimes we may slip from our promises. But Srila Prabhupada was always ready to take us back, he never rejected anyone for any reason. If we sincerely wanted to come back into the fold of Krishna consciousness, into the protection of his society and the association of devotees, he would never reject anyone. So even though we may slip and fall now and then, Srila Prabhupada will always accept us back. We should take his instructions very seriously because they are our life and soul, they are our protection in this material world, and there's so many dangers in material life and it's also full of fear. So thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

Visakha: Nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale, srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine. Namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine, nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine. So I wanted to express first of all my appreciation and feeling of indebtedness to all of you who have maintained this wonderful temple for the past 25 years. When I came here, I was 22 years old and I was ready for adventure. So what has been described as austerities was to me fun. I enjoyed living on the top of this building here beneath the palm trees in the balmy breezes from the ocean, and I enjoyed the excitement of trying to create something for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada, and I enjoyed the atmosphere of India, which was so alien to me having grown up in America. So I felt thrilled actually to be here and to be able to be part of this small army that Prabhupada had gathered, a very motley crew; and I was not particularly qualified to do anything, but somehow he tried to engage me and it was thrilling. But we can learn that to create something, like Lord Brahma creates, that's in the mode of passion, that's a source of excitement. The real challenge is to maintain it. Lord Visnu is in charge of maintenance, and that's in the mode of goodness. So I want to give all credit to each and every one of you who participates in maintaining this temple. It's a glorious feat that you have done so wonderfully for 25 years, keeping the mood that Prabhupada wanted to establish of uninterrupted, unmotivated, unalloyed devotional service to Their Glorious Lordships Sri Sri Radha-Rasabehari. And although it's described that in devotional service there's no loss or diminution, so what we did back in those early days is remembered by Krishna but it certainly would not be brought out as it is being brought out today were it not for those of you who have managed to maintain the temple. So although I don't know all of you individually, please accept my gratitude and respect and indebtedness to you for doing this for Srila Prabhupada's pleasure.

My story begins when I got a letter from my boyfriend, John. I was in New York, and he said I should come to India. So one thing and another, I got that letter I think in December and there were various delays and I arrived in Bombay in March of 1971. We were accommodated in the famous Sea Palace Hotel. From there I would walk around Bombay. I was studying photography in college, so I would walk the streets of Bombay fascinated by such a different culture. And every once in a while I would glance over a road or up on top of a building and see this huge banner, enormous banner, with a picture of Srila Prabhupada 10 times life size or more and the words "Festival with American and European devotees, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami at Cross Maidan" and the dates, I think it was March 25th to April 4th. So this was amazing for me. I had seen the devotees in Brooklyn and they were in my eyes very strange, very out of place, and here I come to India and they're being so prominent. So we attended that first Cross Maidan pandal, and the Indian people…Cross Maidan, of course, is in the heart of Bombay…the Indian people would stream in there, there would be rivers of people flowing in to hear Srila Prabhupada and to take darshan of the Deities and see, of course, the American and European disciples of Srila Prabhupada. I would try to hear him. I didn't understand what was going on at all. I couldn't follow his accent so the philosophy went by me entirely, but there was no way to help being impressed by the devotion both of Prabhupada's disciples and of those who attended the Cross Maidan. That was unavoidable.

Then after that we traveled. John, my boyfriend, and I went to Nepal, and from Nepal we went to Vrindavan as Prabhupada had instructed us to, and then we wound up in Calcutta. Gurudasa actually asked us to come to work on the Vyasa-puja book that was printed in August, 1971, from Calcutta. Then in October, a month later, John became Yadubara at the Calcutta temple. From there we went to Delhi and there was another massive pandal, extraordinary event. Then Prabhupada took us to Vrindavan, and that was the year that he personally took us from place to place and showed us where Krishna had had His pastimes. He also bathed with us in the Jamuna River. Fortunately, there are films of that time so that we can all relish them. There Jean became Visakha, and Yadubara and Visakha were married; And I'm happy to say that on that occasion Radhanatha Maharaja was there at our wedding and we're very fortunate. Our daughter will be married in May, and Radhanatha Maharaja has said he will also attend that wedding 31½ years after the other wedding. So we feel very grateful and blessed by that.

Yadubara: And also Gurudasa prabhu performed the yajna in Vrindavan.

Visakha: So that's November 1971. From there we came here to Bombay, and at first we were in the famous Akash Ganga building on the 7th floor worshipping Sri Sri Radha-Rasabehari. Then the events happened with the land, they unfolded as you've been hearing this past day and two. What I remember distinctly, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but that when the time came that Prabhupada thought we should move onto this property…because once we'd moved on, even though the conveyance had not been executed, our presence here would secure the land. So please correct me if I'm wrong, but Madhudvisa prabhu hired two taxis; and three devotees sat in the back of each of those taxis and Radharani was laid across the lap in the back of one taxi and Rasabehari was laid across the laps of the devotees in the second taxi, and They were taken from Akash Ganga to Hare Krishna Land. When I see the Deities, I think how They came here on the laps of the devotees in a taxi. At first, of course, we could not offer Them any facility worthy of Them at all. At first They were in this shack that was in this spot, and at one point I remember there was a snake under the altar and we couldn't get the snake out from under the altar. Then at another time they were in a shed, I think it was over here, and when the wind blew a little bit the shed would sway in the wind. Then finally They moved onto this what Prabhupada called a permanent pandal which was more towards the property, which later was demolished by the police. At that time, although we were in Delhi at that particular point, we heard of the heroic activities of Maitihili. She was the pujari. When the constables came, they first broke the outside of the temple and they were coming towards the Deities and she closed the doors and she stood in front of the doors and said to these thugs that "You're going to have to kill me before you touch these Deities. You cannot touch these Deities." And they physically grabbed her and dragged her into the paddy wagon, dragged her away screaming and kicking.

Sridhar Swami: It was not so easy to drag her either. But Ambika also was there, she was also fighting with the police, Australian, tall girl.

Visakha: So I think for those residents who were here at the time, Maitihili will always be remembered for her heroism and Ambika as well.

Sridhar Swami: She is also known as Maithili. There is actually no such name as Maitihili. [short discussion about proper pronunciation of name] [someone in audience tells story not picked up on microphone] You're going to have to repeat that, I'm sorry.

Devotee: After Maithili was taken into the paddy wagon, which meant that every single devotee who was on the property at that time were confined and were powerless to do anything. And it appeared to be a lost cause because then all of the workers, and there were something like a hundred workers with hammers and axes and acetylene torches tearing down the property, and an order was given to break down the door, tear down everything, the Deities were right behind that door. And suddenly appeared in the midst of this crowd who were approaching the door these two respectable Hindu matajis from the local area who were coming regularly to the temple, and one was Gandhiva's mother, Yasoda, and the other I can't remember her name but one very nice devotee mataji who was also living in the area and coming regularly. And they virtually said the same thing, and that's when the demolition stopped at that point. And they just remained there at the door until finally a court order was given to cease and desist the demolition.

Devotee #2: The police would attack our women but not the Hindu women.

Devotee: Absolutely, that's why, because they were Hindu Indian ladies and, therefore, the police would not approach them.

Yadubara: I'd just like to mention one other thing. Srila Prabhupada's first guru-puja, I believe, was in 1974, so I have films of Brahmananda prabhu giving silver slippers to Srila Prabhupada at that time and maybe he can confirm that. Was that the first guru-puja?

Brahmananda: Yes.

Yadubara: First at the airport and then when Prabhupada stayed on in 1974, I believe, was the first [break]. Do you have recollection of that?

Brahmananda: The first guru-puja?

Yadubara: Yes, you had given Prabhupada silver slippers.

Brahmananda: I had them made in Calcutta, the sadhu shoes, I had them covered with silver, Prabhupada's name engraved. I wanted to get Prabhupada to touch his feet to them, and then I was going to bring them to Nairobi and we would worship them in the temple. So I brought them here for…guru-puja was going on regularly, it wasn't…

Yadubara: Before that?

Devotee: You didn't hear the story?

Yadubara: I heard guru-puja started at the airport. Wasn't Aditi saying that?

Devotee: [inaudible]

Yadubara: Came back from the morning walk?

Devotee: Came back from the morning walk.

Brahmananda: From the beach.

Yadubara: What year?

Devotee: [inaudible]

Brahmananda: When I offered Prabhupada the silver shoes, I went just to touch them to his feet. But he saw them and he liked them and he said, "Oh, put them down."

Yadubara: He wore them, yes.

Brahmananda: Then he slipped his feet into them and he wore them.

Yadubara: That's right, and there are many photographs of that.

Brahmananda: "Srila Prabhupada, those are not for you."

Yadubara: Detachment, eh?

Brahmananda: And then Visakha was there and she took these photographs.

Yadubara: So was that the first guru-puja?

Brahmananda: No.

Yadubara: OK, it came before. Also there are many…I believe ITV is sending a video with all the films of Srila Prabhupada in Juhu, in Bombay. Also films of the early devotees on harinama, and you'll see that they're all wearing yellow. You remember this, Kausalya. Malati tells the story that some of the Indian matajis wanted to give colorful saris to the devotees. Malati's reply is she said, "No, we only wear yellow." So the men are wearing yellow, the ladies are in yellow, there are early films of that. I think Durlabha was taking those. Srila Prabhupada getting a massage right in the garden here and then walking out to install the cornerstone for the main temple, there's quite a lengthy film of that. So hopefully in a few days we can see these rare films of Srila Prabhupada in Juhu. Another film that I can remember that I took was Srila Prabhupada being offered garlands by nine 10-year-old girls, some of the residents of the property here. And if you look at Srila Prabhupada's face he's, of course, very appreciative, he's smiling slightly; but he's got his hand in his bead bag and he's looking up, he's looking over, he's looking down, he's not really looking at the girls. So this is Prabhupada's example as a sannyasi. Sometimes he would very shortly glance, but it's interesting to see his demeanor in that particular movie. So, again, hopefully we'll be able to see these in a few days. Nrsinghananda prabhu has prepared that video, and hopefully we'll see it. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

Sridhar Swami: Visakha, you were finished?

Visakha: Should we show this stuff that we have?

Yadubara: Actually we have a newspaper article about the project, Srila Prabhupada's project in Juhu with the hotel, drawings of the hotel and the temple. Visakha made a brochure, she produced the brochure, a very high-quality glossy brochure on the project. Do we have that here? And this was actually used for all three projects in India, the only difference being…we talk about the gosala, the garden, the rooms, the Gurukula, the only difference being is that the first page either says Juhu Project or Krishna-Balarama Mandir or the Mayapur Temple.

Visakha: Also for the second annual Cross Maidan, following in the footsteps of Syamasundara prabhu we tried to do some publicity. So somehow I kept some of these. This is dated January 11, 1973. It's very subtle, I don't know if you can read it back there. It says, "Krishna Consciousness is the world's greatest spiritual culture! Second Annual International Hare Krishna Festival, Cross Maidan, January 12th to 21st." And apparently there was also a procession to Chowpatty on January 12th. So we did several of these.

Yadubara: This says, "These young Westerners had everything." It shows devotees on harinama and underneath it says, "Do you think they would give it up for less? The Second Annual International Hare Krishna Festival, Cross Maidan, January 12th to 21st."

Visakha: This is a picture…is it Trafalgar Square?

Yadubara: This is from the London Rathayatra at Trafalgar Square.

Visakha: The picture of the devotees on Trafalgar Square and the text is "Krishna consciousness, the world's greatest spiritual culture, Second Annual International Hare Krishna Festival."

Yadubara: Here's another one, a picture of Srila Prabhupada and it says "Knowledge is bliss."

Visakha: This one is dated December 31st, 1972. It's an article all about Srila Prabhupada. It says, "From big business to Krishna cult, Swami with a world mission." It's a whole page about Srila Prabhupada and his background and his vision, developing the centers in India. Very small type. It's quite thorough and very favorable. The Sunday Standard.

Yadubara: This is from the Show Business Weekly and it gives a diagram of the hotel and the temple, and Srila Prabhupada here, the Deities and Syamasundara prabhu distributing prasadam, I think it's at Kumbha Mela. There's a picture of Visakha and I in the garden up top here. If you actually look at it carefully, it's hard to tell if we're statues in the garden. It's a very strange picture.

Visakha: I used to go with Giriraja and my husband to make life members, but I usually wouldn't say anything. Giriraja and Yadubara would do most of the talking, I would just be present. We kept very long hours. So late at night we were coming back from one of these missions, and Giriraja was familiar that I had printed a book before I was a devotee, a technical book about photography. So he said we should do a monthly magazine for Hare Krishna Land and he would go to favorable businessmen and get advertisements that they would pay for which would pay for the cost not only of the magazine but there would be ample money that would also go towards the project, and in this magazine we could put articles that expressed the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. So these are some of the magazines that we did. We called them the Hare Krishna Monthly. This is the Vyasa-puja issue, there's a picture of Srila Prabhupada on the cover and inside are offerings by devotees. I could read one, you can get a taste of the type of…this particular one…it was organized that we picked the 26 qualities of a devotee and each devotee was requested to write something about one quality. So there's a devotee here, a wonderful, gentle, artistic devotee who used to sew for the Deities named Dinadayadri-devi-dasi, and she wrote about the quality that a pure devotee has no material hankering. Here she says, I'll just read a few sentences, "You yourself are showing by your personal example what it means to be surrounded by material opulence yet remain completely free from attachment and material hankering. Even though you live in palaces in New York and Los Angeles, your devotees are always offering you clothing made of the finest silks, and you travel by airplane all over the world, still you say 'I want to live in that hut in Mayapur.' All glories to Your Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada! By Dinadayadri-devi-dasi." And there are several other issues. While I was up on the top of this building living there under my mosquito net and a little piece of wood, I wrote an article called "Srila Prabhupada, India's National Hero." I sent him this magazine, and he wrote me a letter back. I could read that letter because it has very broad implications. He says here, "I am in due receipt of your letter from Bombay dated May 24th, 1972, along with a very nice article 'Prabhupada, India's National Hero.' I am very grateful to you for your kind words about me, but I do not think that I have done anything but I am only delivering the best message as it is. Actually anyone who is a sincere devotee of Krishna and who is rendering service by preaching his message is to be considered as hero. So you are all heroes of your country and your humanity. Hero means someone who others want to follow as an example of the best type of person. So you all become like that, perfect examples of Krishna consciousness, heroes and heroines, and preach the message exactly as I have taught it to you very seriously and being fully convinced, then others will automatically come forward and join us. We shall all be like one great army of heroes for Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu."

Yadubara: Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.