2003 Smṛti-sabhā of Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami Mahārāja

The following is an address by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on the Smṛti-sabhā of His Holiness Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami Mahārāja held in 2003 at Śrī Māyāpur, India.

He didn’t like it when people called him “Tamāla”.

Although informally sometimes we were address each other.

I joined Kṛṣṇa conscious movement in 1968 in San Francisco.

I saw Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami and Viṣṇujana, mainly I was talk to by a… Jayānanda Prabhu.

I saw them dancing in a kīrtana, they all impressed me very much.

I didn’t know that later I would have so much association.

Then I was sent to India in 1970, at that time when Prabhupāda arrived from Japan, then soon after Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja also came to India, may be he was with him (Prabhupāda). I cannot remember, just plenty of them.

I think, he was with him at that time.

And I was there, when Śrīla Prabhupāda sent him to out to purchase the land in Māyāpur.

And we were discussing, he was telling me, how he came and they wrote down the serial number of every note (currency) that they gave for the land.

Just like a proof, like you know, that we paid for it.

And he was telling me how they went out, it was only about 11,000 Rs, it wasn’t a lot of money; but they thought it is a lot of money, and the villagers they had gone out with a truck filled with all the villagers with pitchfork, and sticks to defend themselves in case they were you know, what you call it ambushed on the way back to take their money.

And Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja went with other devotee, it was Bali Mardana at that time; and they went in the… Finally when they came back to give that document to Śrīla Prabhupāda, “Prabhupada it was done!” Prabhupāda was waiting up for him.

It was like such a big thing, big relief for Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Then at that time I was in Calcutta and he was my GBC.

So I had an opportunity to work under him.

At that time he was like śīkṣā-guru, I was a very submissive disciple being a younger.

So he would get… it was hard to train I think, but between him and Śrīla Prabhupāda, whenever, if I have anything at all, I was very spaced out person… if any good qualities at all, in any kind of managerial area, I am sure it was all simply by their training me.

He would get very impatient with me sometimes and I think ten times he removed me as a President and later he did put me back or Prabhupāda would put me back.

Prabhupāda was telling, it suppose to be just advise, don’t try to… He really heard it, “He is not doing right!!!” You know, I wasn’t able to… Then I shifted out to Māyāpur, then we were working together to build the buildings.

He come and oversee, and he would help and… I remember we were riding together sometimes on stone trucks and the steel trucks; you know we were afraid that they steal the stuff from us.

And they did actually.

One time we were a truck out, we were all together.

He was running a different truck, we stopped on the way.

Someone said, come and have a glass of hot milk, in some roadside stand.

We never… we were so hungry, whole day we haven’t eaten, so okay we just take a glass of milk.

Then when we were taking the milk some ran and told us that they are actually stealing your steels and throwing in a ditch.

We ran out, and sure enough they had unloaded some of the steels.

So we were like that working together and that time the relationship became more like a brotherly relationship and… Then Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja left India, and he went to America.

He felt the calling was now to expand the saṅkīrtana movement over there.

And he would come and visit during the festival, sometimes to serve Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Then I was there in Māyāpur, when Prabhupāda told him that he should go to China.

Of course, he was initially quite shock, when Prabhupāda insisted, “No! You have to go!” Then he surrendered to it, you know how many people would surrender?

That was like inconceivable.

There was no idea, it was totally un… even considered area, how to develop China.

But Prabhupāda said, you spoke it, this is a sign from Kṛṣṇa; you should do it.

And when Prabhupāda insisted, he surrendered and did it.

So you can see, how much he was actually surrendered to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

And I remember sometime also he was in Bombay and he went to Śrīla Prabhupāda and he was saying this, “So much to do and you are giving me so much, I have no time!” Then Prabhupāda said, “Well, no time for māyā."

It is good.” Prabhupāda also put him, I mean, put him under lot of pressure, I mean, he knew how to get the best also out of Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami.

And then when he came back to India, when he was serving Śrīla Prabhupāda as Hari Śauri said in the final days.

Then I was in Māyāpur and I have newly been appointed as a GBC, up to that time I just spent as Temple President, Co-director.

But I would spend as much time as I could with Śrīla Prabhupāda, because he was very sick, we don’t know also what is… we are all praying everyday that he would recover his full health.

So, half the time I was with him in….

it was Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja either in Bombay or in Vṛndāvana.

It was very sweet… That I remember how when we had a discussion on when Prabhupāda to going to Govardhana, we were just crying and crying, “Prabhupāda!

How can you go to Govardhana? The doctors says, you won’t come back.” And Prabhupāda tested us so much, you can read the details in the Servant of servant (Book).

And we were so much together, that time was just trying to really caring about Prabhupāda, that was wonderful. 

After Prabhupāda, I don’t want to go through all those things… but it was nice to go and meet him, I would go and meet Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja and then… He always stayed as a GBC for most of time.

Sometime, he was actively here, sometimes… He told me that, I will come back and do the university, in fact the last week when he was here, and we were together bath in the Ganges and he was so loving and so kind and he was saying that I going to come back and do the university, I want to settle down in Māyāpur.

I love it so much now.

And while he kept his promise, he always kept his promises.

We never expected that he will come back and stay in this way.

I remember on the fateful day a year ago, just after maṅgala-ārati, I was saying my Gāyatrī and then Śivarāma Mahārāja came up and told me that there was some accident we got,immediately go, so we got a car and went… We could never imagine that actually Kṛṣṇa would call him away at that time.

And I missed so many opportunities to serve him or associate with him, in the past few years he was doing the educational service.

I can do a little service for his vapu after he left.

He was also kind when I was in the hospital in 1989 in Madrid, he and Śivarāma Mahārāja came and brought the Deities.

I didn’t had a brāhmaṇa-thread, because I lost it in the attack, I wanted to have a brāhmaṇa-thread chanted by a follower of Prabhupāda.

I asked Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja to chant on a brāhmaṇa-thread and give to me.

So he was kind enough to do that.

And so I am still in the paramparā here, that brāhmaṇa-thread is connected through Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja and Prabhupāda.

He didn’t have a brāhmaṇa-thread before we put him in samādhi.

So then I reciprocated by giving back him the brāhmaṇa-thread.

I hope we can always, now we have a very big responsibility to try to carry on the great example, he showed us serving Prabhupāda.

We, all the godbrothers help to do this university.

We were so confident with him.

Taking it out, we have so many PhDs in ISKCON, may be all together we try to do, finish what Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja was going to do and build what Prabhupāda wanted was a university in Māyāpur.

And I am missing his association very much.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!