20150129 Śrīla Prabhupāda Kathā

So, here in Delhi, tomorrow is Ekadashi. Since, Dwadashi is the MahaVaraha Avirbhava, we will fast till noon and remember MahaVaraha and then Sunday is Nityananda Trayodashi. So, next 3 days are packed, Bhakti packed. This year from June to July is the Purushottama month so will give some more details later. That’s a special month that comes once in 3 years and one can get lot of spiritual sukruti in that month.

 So, today we are continuing with our discussion on Srila Prabhupāda

Guru Mahārāja: Maha Varaha Das, he has any question?

 Mahavaraha prabhuji: Question by Vishambhar Kripa das, the devotee who is involved in the book project, Calcutta, the birth place of Srila Prabhupāda.

Letter read By Maha Varaha Prabhuji: We want to know that how Maidan pandal program management was done. We know that His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja and His Holiness Giriraja Maharaja were called from Mumbai for further helping in Maidan pandal program. You were there and Achyuta Nanda Maharaja was there. We recently came across an advertisement of Maidan pandal program in newspaper during that time, “Statesman” National library in Calcutta. We know you mentioning that you did purchasing vegetables for devotees and take care of devotee’s health. We wish to know as much details as possible for entire management, publicity and services. Also, we want to know the installation of Radha Govinda in pandal program. So first is on this if you can elaborate more on how the whole management of the pandal program was done in Maidan?

Guru Maharaja: Who is asking this?

Letter read By Maha Varaha Prabhuji: Vishambhar Kripa das, is one of the devotee who is involved in the book project, Calcutta, the birth place of Srila Prabhupāda. They have went through all your, they listen to all your recordings that you did here in Delhi. So, from that they have noted down, recorded this question to interview you in detail after listening to the lectures you gave on Prabhupāda.

Guru Maharaja: It will be good to tell me early in the day, I can think the whole day about the details.

 Maha Varaha Prabhuji: [Reads letter] Letter from Srila Prabhupāda, camp Baba Bal Mukund, Gita Bhawan Marg, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, December 13th 1970.

My dear Jayapataka Maharaja.

Mahavaraha prabhuji says,” Actually December 13th is also your Father’s birthday Guru Maharaja, your former Ashram Father’s birthday. I just noticed today while filling up the visa application form.” 

My dear Jayapataka Maharaja, please accept my blessings, I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 9th December 1970. You write to say we noticed that even the communist protestors can’t help smiling and answering back “Haribol” So, there is sufficient hope to reform them by Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s grace of chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra. Kaliyuga is the fallen age undoubtedly and there are different varieties of fallen souls. In Calcutta is so called disturbance makers is also some of them.

I went to America and some of the souls were accepted by Lord Caitanya and today, Bengal being Lord Caitanya’s place, they are in such pitiable condition. So, I wish that some of you among American disciples may try to reclaim these fallen souls to the order of Lord Caitanya’s vaishnavite platform. When I was in Calcutta, many nationalist and communist youths used to see me. They were arguing with me but I defeated them smilingly. They left off me the offering me their respect. I think they can also be reformed, provided we diagnose and administer the proper medicine for them. 

I am not very much hopeless about Calcutta situation or even if there is some risk, we should try to reform them. And if we are successful, the people of India will hail us to great estimation and adoration and that will give us good impetus for pushing on our movement, Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.

Although there are many places in Calcutta, we can have at cheap price. Mahavaraha prabhuji says,”That is again about the Hamilton, things that I will read later. Now this is about the, first thing about the response of the youths of the nationalist and the communist.”

Guru Maharaja:  As of today, some of the youth are being programmed by the terrorists,that they should blow themselves up and do some destruction and this will produce good results. No one can see how killing an innocent people produces a good results. For that matter, they don’t have a very clear agenda except to use violence but what they use it for is not clear how that will benefit anyone. In Calcutta that time there were the naxalites, and still there are naxalites in parts of the Orissa, Chhattisgarh, the western part of Bengal and so on. 

One naxalite youth told me that he killed many people. But when he came across Prabhupāda’s movement he found that 10.45-10.51 people, they had some hope. And they had a positive solution. So he gave up his naxalite terrorism,he gave it up and he became a devotee. HariBol!! HariBol!! HariBol!! He is one of the leaders in ISKCON today. I won’t mention his name.

So, Prabhupada said he planted the seed, Prabhupada planted the seed. He would patiently talk to these youths with a smile on his face and the youths naturally were very angry because of all what they saw as injustice. So,Prabhupāda he would give them Kṛṣṇa Conscious solutions and he would speak to them with real love and compassion, which I don’t think anyone did before. So, how many became devotees is not particularly calculated but certainly Prabhupāda had a tremendous effect on them.

So, Prabhupada would take a situation which was hopeless and then he would inject it with hope. He would speak to those leaders and try to find out one soul who had a little fire of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and then he would fan that fire until it would grow and grow and became a big fire. So, this was Prabhupāda’s way of dealing. He gave out mercy in the West, not that everybody took but some people took and those people Prabhupāda empowered and they went out and they made other devotees. So this is the mercy of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda, carried by Srila Prabhupāda. So, he would distribute it to everyone without discrimination. You are hopeless, you are not. He give out freely the mercy just like Lord Nityananda gave to Jagai Madhai.

Letter read By Maha Varaha Prabhuji: Although there are many places in Calcutta, we can have at cheap price. My advice is that you try to raise this 1 Lakh rupees for advancing to the Hamilton people and keep it ready. I have already sent you a telegram reading like the following “if they accepts 6.2 Lakhs, I will immediately go there to complete the transaction”. So, if the Hamilton people accept the offer of 6 Lakh 20 Thousand, I shall immediately go and finish the transaction. I hope you have received the telegram and I am expecting your reply at any moment. The location of the Hamilton house is very nice and absolutely suitable for our purposes. In the meantime, I am also addressing one letter to the Hamilton home and the copy of which is enclosed herewith. Please do the needful. Keep yourself brave and fit to face the situation with faith in Kṛṣṇa and Spiritual Master. Let us do something tangible in Calcutta. Hope this will meet you in good health. 

Your ever well-wisher, Bhaktivedanta Swami.

Guru Maharaja: Did they give the copy of that letter? There was a question something like this. I think a little older. In any case I was pretty much alone and just receiving guidance from Srila Prabhupāda. As I mentioned this Hamilton house was next to the Grand Hotel, opposite the American Express. It was on the one corner of the Dalhousie Square which is the principal square in the downtown Calcutta and that’s where there is the General Post Office and the Secretariat Writerś building where the Chief Minister would sit along with all the other ministers and the secretaries, principal secretaries, additional secretaries, joint secretaries, deputy secretaries, a system secretaries and more or less. The section officers may have been shifted to another place. So, this was the very prestigious location and very central. Maybe not the Grand Hotel, the Oberoi Grand is on Chowringhee Road or and this is some Great Eastern Hotel or something. It was about 100-150 meters from the Governor’s palace. Anyway it was a very good location. But all the Hamilton house owners wanted to quickly sell on lease because of the naxalites. They were killing businessmen. So it was life and death for them. So, some of the Indian businessmen intended to stay and some left for Delhi and Bombay. So these 2 owners of Hamilton House were British. 

We did the basic check of the title and it seemed ok but the lawyer wanted to further check and re-check. But Prabhupāda wanted to buy the land right away. So I offered them 6 Lakhs 20 Thousand that Prabhupada had said but somehow the life member he found out he got from me what I bid and I didn’t know that he was also in the bidding. So, on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, he outbid me and Prabhupāda rushed and he wanted to get the place. He came from the train station by car. The lawyer was still saying “No No, we should wait we should check.” but Prabhupāda said,”No, we will buy it.” Then we got to the Hamilton House and found out that they have already given it to this other Chamber of Commerce. Now it’s worth Crores and Crores and Crores. So were trying to get it, but by slight slip, we missed. Afterwards, Prabhupada he didn’t lament over it, he just said what’s next.

So, we went to the Ardh Kumbh Mela and afterwards we came to 3 Albert Road,and we stayed there. So, Prabhupāda signed a lease agreement and that lease was changed to a purchase agreement. So now we owned the building.

Letter read By Maha Varaha Prabhuji: Letter written by Srila Prabhupada, A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami ki Jai. Camp Bhagubai jariwala, motor cycle building, Begumpura Surat, December 17th 1970.

My Dear Jayapataka Maharaja, 

Please accept my blessings and offer the same to Madhu Dvisa Maharaja, Sagar Maharaja and Achyutananda Maharaja as well as all the prabhus there. I am in due receipt of your several letters and telegram dated November 28, December 4th, 5th and 9th 1970 and I have gone over the contents. I have just arrived in Surat from Indore and I have received all of your letters here brought from Bombay. We arrived on the morning of this 16th 26.22-26.32 and our reception here is most promising and cordial. You have written that there is some critical remarks about us from some parties, do not care for it. We do not mind for the dogs barking. Let us go on with our business. If the Hamilton Co. agrees to our terms, send us a telegram and we shall arrange for going there. Any suitable place will do, for our staying in Calcutta, while completing the transaction.

You cannot only offer them 1 Lakh but we can give then 2 Lakhs immediately, put down on the Hamilton house if they give us immediate possession of the place. They may continue to realize the rental from the present tenants and we shall occupy the first floor. So we shall offer them one third of the total 6 Lakhs to take possession and the balance two thirds or 4 Lakhs we shall handover when the tenants vacate, the other 2 stories. It is good that we secured the place now. Arrangement should be made like that. You go ahead and arrange the meeting with Birla’s and Bangur’s and there will certainly be no difficulty for raising the required funds for our Calcutta Project. If we have got our place and support of these big men, I am sure that I can cut down this naxalite movement. I know how to do it. We have diagnosed the disease and the medicine is Hari Sankirtan and the diet is Krishna prasadam. With our own place we can dispense these to the young boys and they will be easily cured. They have already shown their willingness to co-operate when I was in Calcutta last and I am sure of this plan to curb their misguided and frustrated activities.

Regarding the account with American Express, you should keep the present deposit with them and if you like them better than the Central Bank, there is no need at present for opening a new account. Later, if required in the future, I shall return the papers to you with my signature as per. If there is no difficulty in withdrawing from the American bank, that should be the criteria for keeping the accounts with them. Wherever the money is kept, it must be ready for being withdrawn without any difficulty in either the Central Bank or the American Express Bank.

Regarding the business of getting outside business contacts for some industrialists etc., it appears to be a nice proposal but you cannot deal with them now. When I come there I shall see the situation and determine what is to be in this connection. You have asked questions of some unnecessary sort. Don’t bother about these things. It is not our business to give them advice about sterilization and contraception. We are planning to remain here for about 10 days and our further program is to go to Gorakhpur via Ratlam. I will keep you informed of my movements so that you can reply me to the right address. Hope this will meet you in your good health. 

Your ever well-wisher, A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami.

So, first Srila Prabhupada explaining how to take possession of the Hamilton house.

Guru Maharaja: Srila Prabhupāda was very practical and he has understanding about the land dealings. So his strategy that we take possession and give them sufficient advance. It would have been a good policy because we would have had the property under our possession but the deal didn’t happen. So this is the detail but probably with more experience I could have succeeded but I was very fresh in India and I was up against sharks in the ocean.

So it was tough and hard to get what Prabhupāda wanted. When I offered 6.20 they wanted little more. Prabhupāda could have closed the deal, there and then by deciding on the spot. But I didn’t feel I had the right at that time to relieve bargain. So I was in a tough situation and although these were two Britishers, they were businessmen, they spent most of their lives in India and they wanted to get a certain income from the property. What Prabhupada was saying was just preaching over a little late because I sent the letter to Bombay and they sent it to Surat then he answered. By that time it’s like a week went by. So then these things had to be decided on the moment. Now India has a very good mobile phone system and you can just phone up and consult by mobile, get immediate guidance. In those days it was by letter. If we would have had Madhava kanta then, things would have been different.[smiles and giggles]

He said that he had the medicine and the diet with these he could cure the disease. He had already diagnosed the disease. He just needed to give them a medicine and the diet. So the medicine was the Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahamantra  (Guru Maharaja singing “Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare”) and the diet was Kṛṣṇa Prasadam. In America, he gave them Gulab Jamuns and in UK. He called them the ISKCON bullets. They eat a Gulab Jamun, it went right to the heart.[Guru Mahārāja enacting and all laugh]

So, Bhakti Purushottama Swami, he is now preaching to the tribals. He said that the tribal are very nice people and many other tribals are initiated devotees. So he is also using this medicine and diet and the medicine they liked very much but Haridas Chaitanya das he said that he took the diet of the tribals which was raw bamboo and he said that it caused him indigestion, because it requires a very good digestion to digest bamboo but certainly this is being highly appreciated by the tribal taking up Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.

Letter read By Maha Varaha Prabhuji: Next is about Prabhupada just explaining about how you should use the keeping an account with American Express and Central Bank. He said that whichever is easier to withdraw the money, that’s what we should go about and regarding the contacts for some industrialists, he said it’s a nice proposal and we will deal with that later.

Guru Maharaja: Srila Prabhupada wanted to understand directly from these businessmen. So he said, “Hold that till I get in to Calcutta”. And he mentioned 2 names in a letter to get donation from, Birla’s and Bangur’s. These are two very pre-eminent families, which are quite noted for their business acumen. So the Birla’s were industrialists. They had made the Ambassador car and different cars. I am not sure exactly what the Bangur’s do, may be the jute mills but they are also a very reputed family. So they had become our first life members.

(What was the 3rd Question? asked Guru Maharaja)

Just like Prabhupāda had said utility is the principal so if the bank is good, you can keep the money,we can get it out. So he was saying that for us, American Bank or Central Bank it’s all more or less the same, whichever works for the process of withdrawing. When we need money, we should be able to get it out. So he was very practical on that.

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