20160726 Kolkata Pastimes

At first he stayed in the Caitanya Gauriya Math. I think that was what it was called. That’s when Madhav Maharaj was the Acharya, Bhakti Daitya Madhava Maharaj. Prabhupada did not want that we stay in the Gauriya math. But somehow Achyutananda had told Prabhupada that we got a new place, when we were still in the Gauria Math.

So… I think it was called Hindusthan Park, it was a clinic which was not yet opened, it was just an empty house and it would take about six months to open it. So they said that we could stay there in the meantime.

They are having sanyasis and brahmacharis in their house, would be auspicious. This is one of the streets of the Rasbihari avenues, no… one and a half. It was parallel to Rasbihari Avenue, one block in, …2.05-2.12… the house must still be there.

That’s where Achutananda and myself took Sanyas. He sort of enquired Achutananda and he said, “Oh, he is going to get sanyas.”

I had no idea what sanyas was. We heard that nine devotees in Los Angeles got sanyas but then I heard that Prabhupada was raising his voice to him, “I don’t think he is getting sanyas.” (laughter)  ha ha ha, he is getting the sauce.

And then he called me in and he started to ask me question, I didn’t know anything about it. So he turned to his secretary and he said he didn’t know anything. So they sent back.

So it turned out that Brahmanada, I think that it was Brahmananda… Brahmananda and Gargamuni, they got some letter from Prabhuapada’s Godbrother where they said that actually Prbhupada was just like via-media to Bhaktisiddhntha Swami Prabhupada and that Om Visnupada Bhaktivendanta Saraswati Thakur was referring to him and so they were saying that actually Prabhupada was a kind of ritwik of  Bhaktisiddhantha, but Garga Muni and there were four sanyasis.

They thought that, “well, if Prabhupada is representing Bhaktisiddhantha  Sarasawati Thakur, then he could also represent Bhaktivinod Thakur and like this they started to use their fertile imaginations and saying that he was representative of the six goswamis, and that he was actually representing Lord Caitanya so that actually they started to say  that Prabhupada was God. So then Prabhupada was very upset. This is like Mayavad philosophy. So he was afraid that at the end they would want to kill him, I don’t know how but why.

That’s why he went to Japan, he got the books from … 07.10-07.15… and he got it send to India and they told me that that was his Vyasa Puja but they didn’t offer him a puspanjali. So he said that they Vyasa Puja didn’t count because the punpanjali was …07.43-07.45… They had to do a fasting, a whole new vyasa puja next day and then offered the puspanjali.

So when Prabhupada had arrived in the airport, Achutanda, he was a very good singer. He put Prabhupada in the V.I.P lounge  and they sang, “Ohe Vaisnava Thakur.”

Prabhupada looked around, he didn’t see any of his god-brothers. He had asked Bhakti Pramod Puri Maharaj to come and he said, “oh! Yes we will be very happy too.”

But some grihastha pandit started questioning him. “How can you go? He is a junior sanyasi to you, you are a senior. He is preaching all over the western world.”

“No, No but you are senior sanyasi, you should not go to meet him, he should come to meet you. So ..browbeat… He was a gentle person but he was a browbeat.

So Prabhupada noticed that all the people who came were juniors. So they brought one vehicle and said we want to take you to the Gauria Math. Prabhupada got into the car who as driving to our house, but don’t go to the Gauria Math. But where do we explain, if I go to the Gauria Math they will claim that they sent me although they didn’t do anything for me. They will claim that I went as their ambassador and take all the credit.

So they really wanted that they should come to airport. So then we drove to the Hindusthan Park Road. So we traced back that this letter sent by some of his godbrothers through the sanyasis had entered this poison where the people thought that he was God and after that was settled, in Rashasthami he decided to give us sanyas.

He asked me if I wanted sanyas. I was only 21. I didn’t know but it seems that it was a glorious thing, so I said O.K. Only by his mercy I survived.

Hari bol.

Devotee: Great, Haribol, 11^th sanyasi of ISKCON, 45 years…. 46 years…. Four years, golden jublee.

JPS: So we took on Radhasthami, and Achyutananda as 10^th and I was 11^th, and …13.09-13.11… (laughter)

So somehow Hansaduta and his better half Himavati, they came to Kolkata at the same time. They started feeding the street urchins, hundreds of dirty kids wearing gamchas, they were begging for food, all the neighbours complained, this kids are stealing, this and that. So he didn’t know how to actually deal in India. In the west feeding the homeless is an auspicious thing but in India people do not appreciate, if they are coming in the high class neighbourhood. Stayed for some time and then we had to vacate and at one point we were staying in what is now known as Vivekananda Road, that’s also knows as Ganesh Thaki near… next to the Vaikuntha Nath in the Roma Dharmasala. So we were there for some time and we go every morning in hari-nam, jiv jago jiv jago…

…15.57-16.00… would open the window and say, “who is that?”, and they will say, “oh it is sadhu, it’s all right.” … go to sleep

There was a sweet shop called Nepal Chandra. Prabhupada said that they serve pure ghee sweets. He said that because they serve pure sweets, people line up to buy them. If you give a pure thing people will line up to buy. We shouldn’t compromise. Then we were staying in Jatindra Mohan Avenue, that was… I remember 14… could be wrong. It was a few blocks north of the Vivekanand Road, and there we were staying in the house of Mattamal Goenka.

So half of the first floor he was on, he and his family and children, it was like a joint family, we were on the other half. He would provide us the ghee and the grains and we would cook there. Down on the streets there would be gang wars. One side of street was one political party and on the other side of street was another party. They would see them throw bombs at each other and when they would get hit they would be dragging off the injured person and there were those police sand bags, rifles, they had to occupy with their hands in the air. Those were called the united front. That was a very bad time. So then we got present place. First we had it for 11 months and then we brought it on a permanent basis.

The nursing home was supposed to be a hotel and then didn’t get permission to make a hospital or hotel or whatever it was. Hotel because it didn’t have enough parking space.

So we are going to make a bridge in the veranda over to that building, but later they didn’t get permission so….

The owner was some Oriya… Moha… something Mohapatra maybe, then so we had made an arrangement to get the Great Eastern Hotel, that was jewellery shop or something and two British guys were the owners. They were killing all businessman, all foreigners. So we wanted sell it off, so they agreed to sell if to us for 6 Lakhs but at that time there was some delay and it passed the due date.

So then we took tenders and somehow I trusted a life-member and told what we offered, eight lakhs something and then he gave 25,000 more for the Bharat Chamber Commerse.

Prabhupada came by train. In the morning people will get it, he had to money to get it, went straight to the place, he said that it is a very good place, Dalhousie Square just opposite the American Express Office but if Bharat Chamber Commerce offer 25,000 then…

So Prabhupada was frustrated but what could we do.

There is a lot more but

Devotee: we can come again.

Question : Gurumaharaj when are you planning to come to Calcutta?

JPS: you want?

Devotee: Devotees would be very enlightened.

JPS: in the next couple of weeks.

Transcribed by :Sadananda Krishnaprem Das

Mayapur.