20241107 Room Conversation with His Holiness Rādhānātha Swami Mahārāja

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The following is a room conversation between His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja and His Holiness Rādhānātha Swami Mahārāja on 7^th November 2024 in Śrī Māyāpur dhāma, India.

Jayapatākā Swami: How was your yātrā?

Rādhānātha Swami: Everything was wonderful. Devotees in Māyāpur town arranged everything so perfectly. And your coming so many times gave the greatest inspiration to all our devotees. We are very, very grateful to you.

Jayapatākā Swami: Yes, I went for three nights and then the fourth night I wanted to go. I started having fever.

Rādhānātha Swami: We are very deeply grateful to you for each day that you have come. Overwhelmingly grateful. On behalf of all devotees of the Yātrā, we offer our sincerest gratitude to you.

Jayapatākā Swami: They say I have a bacterial infection. They are giving me antibiotics. So the astrologer said, my servants, they checked the astrology chart. They say that I should go to the hospital. I will be sick in this time. So on the third floor I have a room that is staged as a hospital. So I moved there. So I don’t need to go to hospital. I went there one day for one night. They have the dialysis machine.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: They have the filter dialysis machine. Have you ever seen this? We make a whole room like an ICU room with a bed. Dialysis. You know, we have all the equipment. In case of an emergency. We are ready.

Jayapatākā Swami: So your disciples, doctors from Bhaktivedanta Hospital, they came and they did, because, remember I shared with you. We have here from here we do the dialysis. So we change from here. We have some device here or something. So your disciples came and assisted in doing this. Assisted our doctor to do all the dialysis.

Hari Guru Gaura dāsa: Gaurav, one doctor named was Gaurav Gangwani. He’s sheltered under Mahārāja. The other doctor was Ānanda Mādhava Prabhu, Guru Mahārāja disciple. And Śyāmalālā Prabhu also came.

Jayapatākā Swami: He’s my old doctor. Dr. Śyāmalāla also came to visit me.

Rādhānātha Swami: So now how many times did he have dialysis?

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: Now we have yesterday they did. We have only once. And yesterday we did half and half. Just to be sure that.

Jayapatākā Swami: Change the line. We use this.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: This is called IV fistula. Like if you touch here, Mahārāja, you will feel like electricity coming. It’s not a device. It’s just the veins they put in such a way that it’s easy to prick. Instead of using the catheter here that goes directly to the central line. It’s called IV fistula.

Jayapatākā Swami: So when the IV fistula becomes better then I can take out the central line.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: So then he can do more exercise. Go to the pool. Now we need to watch for infection in this area. So treat him very careful. So when this is properly set, then he can take this out.

Jayapatākā Swami: I was hearing you during Prabhupāda disappearance day. How you did puṣpāñjali. Jayādvaita, Candramouli Mahārāja.

When I went down yesterday in the night, I started itching, now I am okay.

Rādhānātha Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disappearance day. We were remembering you with very, very great intimate appreciation.

Jayapatākā Swami: I felt very bad that I couldn’t attend. The doctors told me I have to stay because there were many people. I was watching on the Tv.

Jayapatākā Swami: One disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda Mandākinī Mātājī was speaking at night in the pandal. You were staying in the Senior Brahmacārī’s quarters?

Rādhānātha Swami: Yes. Still I am next door neighbor to Jananivāsa Prabhu.

Jayapatākā Swami: Very auspicious. Dayārāma Prabhu’s wife, she remodeled Jananivāsa Prabhu’s room there in the āśrama.

What do you think about the world situation?

Rādhānātha Swami: The world situation. General. The only hope is Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. In this world, everything is changing. And the only solution is consciousness. Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura’s first instruction to Śrīla Prabhupāda was that in this world everything is changng and the only solution is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So the more years that go by, we realize more and more the truth.

Jayapatākā Swami: The world is so dangerous if we don’t have Kṛṣṇa.

Rādhānātha Swami: So much fighting and so much fear and envy. Guru Mahārāja told the story of Nityānanda Prabhu delivering the dacoits. That is our hope, your kathā was our hope.

Jayapatākā Swami: Jaya Nitāi! If every devotee tries to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then we can deliver all these people from Kali-yuga. And it says that Lord Caitanya come once in a day of Brahmā. And Kṛṣṇa came as a devotee with the purpose of delivering all the fallen souls.

Rādhānātha Swami: A message I received from Mahārāja’s kathā is, everyone in this world is trying to take Lord Nityānanda Prabhu’s ornaments. Everyone is claiming that it is mine. The only hope is for Nityānanda Prabhu’s mercy.

Jayapatākā Swami: They wanted to steal His ornaments. But they didn’t want the mercy. He made it so difficult that they finally saw that they cannot mess with Nityānanda. He is not ordinary! All the associates, they say that He shouldn’t believe the dacoits because they were lying. A thief never says he is a thief. The dacoit leader admitted to Lord Nityānanda that he had come to steal His ornaments, “For this offence I need to drown myself in the Ganges.” So Nitāi said, “If you don’t do these sinful activities again, I will forgive you.”

Rādhānātha Swami: And he made all the other dacoits great devotees. The dacoit saṅkīrtana party!

Jayapatākā Swami: Haridāsa in Bombay came to steal Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Rolex watch and he got converted by Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Rādhānātha Swami: Actually three days ago in Māyāpur, I was listening to recording of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Three days ago in Māyāpur. And in his lecture Śrīla Prabhupāda was talking about this Haridāsa, our godbrother. He said that Haridāsa went to Russia. He said that Haridāsa went to Russia during communism. And the Russian government stepped up to arrest him. And he told them that I am not doing anything religious. He said, because Indian cinema is so popular in Russia, he is singing an Indian cinema song! So then they let him do saṅkīrtana and Prabhupāda told this story in Māyāpur dhāma. He was a Dacoit Saṅkīrtana party!

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: Next year Guru Mahārāja will install in South India again.

Rādhānātha Swami: How many lotus feet?

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: 15 pāda-pīṭhams.

Rādhānātha Swami: Which places?

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: Madurai, Thirunalveli, Tāmraparṇī River, Kāverī River. All these places we are planning to.

Rādhānātha Swami: In Śrīraṅgam?

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: In Śrīraṅgam already Śrīla Bhakti-vilāsa Mahārāja, he established in 60s.

Jayapatākā Swami: Wherever Lord Caitanya went.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: We are also trying to secure Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s birthplace in Bir Nagar.

Rādhānātha Swami: Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s descendants live there now?

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: Now the followers of Lalitā Prasāda Ṭhākura’s are there. They are following the Bābājī line and.

Rādhānātha Swami: They are willing to?

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: They are not ready. We are approaching, Guru Mahārāja trying for last 52 years, but they are not ready to come down. So we decided to buy a land next to Bir Nagar. So Guru Mahārāja’s desire is to make one nice palace for Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda told Lalitā Prasāda Ṭhākura that isn’t it sinful? We have Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s birthplace and we cannot do anything. And when someone wants to do something, you don’t allow them.

Śrīla Prabhupāda told me, he asked a question. So I asked him a question. Is it not an offence? Prabhupāda said it’s not an offence because I asked it as a question.

Rādhānātha Swami: Very subtle. What did Lalitā Prasāda Ṭhākura respond?

Jayapatākā Swami: He did not say anything.

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: In Bombay, Guru Mahārāja in January, Mahārāja everyone did the abhiṣeka of the Pāda-pīṭham. Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja. Girirāja Mahārāja. So one pāda-pīṭham is in Kolhapur, ISKCON and another one Madhavānanda Prabhu said he will establish in Nala Sopara, where Mahāprabhu visited. And another two we sent to Nāsikā.

Rādhānātha Swami: I was in Kolhapur and Nāsikā, both in last month.

Jayapatākā Swami:. We did together the abhiṣeka in Juhu Temple.

Rādhānātha Swami: Ambarīṣa Prabhu was also there, was very nice. Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami Mahārāja, Girirāja Swami also.

Jayapatākā Swami: We had two programs.

Radhāramaṇa Sevaka dāsa: One was in the auditorium, that place where they have marriages. And one was in the temple, that compound. He was there in the auditorium. The other one because the other one was in the evening. It was like late.

Rādhānātha Swami: That was my last contact physically with Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami Mahārāja at that event.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja, he injured. He fall in the bathroom. He injured the head. We took him to the hospital and he said, I want to walk. So he came back walking. We need all your blessings to secure that land. Has been working very hard to all this sacred place.

Rādhānātha Swami: I will pray.

Jayapatākā Swami: He has taken up the development of Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi…

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: under the Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust. So the youngest trustee now is Śyāma Rasika dāsa.

Rādhānātha Swami: So you live in Māyāpur Dhāma? Where are you from?

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: From Tamil Nadu.

Rādhānātha Swami: Which place?

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: Coimbatore.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: He also does the archives of Guru Mahārāja. All the lectures and books, publications.

Rādhānātha Swami: I don’t want to make him so tired. Tomorrow morning I’m leaving for Calcutta. I want to just give my head to your lotus feet.

Jayapatākā Swami: I want to put my head in your lotus feet.

Rādhānātha Swami: I’m very, very grateful.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: Mahārāja! Prepares some presents for you. For your winter. Guru Mahārāja says the oil, this Narasiṁhadeva, it’s pure essential oil. So every year Narasiṁha Caturdaśī Mahārāja arranges special abhiṣeka for Narasiṁhadeva and he brings its pure essential oils.

We have a pavitra.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Narasiṁha oil is pure essential oil. The pūjārīs sometimes they use the cheap oil. I tried some of the fragrances of the oil on before, but it was burning.

Rādhāramaṇa Sevaka dāsa: So we have these various fragrances. He makes two kinds, aṣṭa-gandha and puṣpa-gandha. All are pure, natural. So he mixes all these rose, jasmine. He gave a formula to the office. They bring and then they offer on Mahārāja’s behalf to Narasiṁhadeva. Every Narasiṁha-caturdaśī. This one is Mahārāja.

Yeah, I told Mahārāja puṣpa-gandha and aṣṭa-gandha, two kinds. So this one is puṣpa-gandha. All flowers. So the puṣpa-gandha is only flowers. Others are sandalwood, aguru, Some very rare things. He gets eight kinds.

Rādhānātha Swami: Where is it made? Here?

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: Yes. We buy all the bottles and then before the main abhiṣeka we have our formula and we bathe according to the formula with the different ones mixed with till oil.

Jayapatākā Swami: Which one you like better?

Rādhānātha Swami: It’s like asking, if I like Lord Nityānanda or Lord Caitanya better! Both are very nice! Divine.

Jayapatākā Swami: Aṣṭa-gandha is in the scriptures My voice is down today.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: Make him very weak. Taking some probiotics also.

Jayapatākā Swami: Thank you for your association.

Rādhānātha Swami: I want to thank you, Mahārāja! Thank you so much for your association. Thank you for giving us the pure culture of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s paramparā. For giving us so much faith and enthusiasm to surrender to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mercy. Your words, your example are the foundation for all the devotees in our movement. We are forever grateful to you for that Mahārāja! We are praying and praying with all our hearts for your good health and for your mercy!

Jayapatākā Swami: In Bangladesh, we have many holy places. But the Hindus, some of them, they have left, some to India. So we got Advaita Ācārya’s birthplace. Śrīvāsa, Puṇḍarīka, Kheturi Dhāma.

Rādhānātha Swami: We have Kheturi Dhāma!

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: Guru Mahārāja always said that you have the mood of Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura! He’s always telling us that. Right, I said that you’re always telling us that Rādhānātha Mahārāja has the mood of Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura.

Jayapatākā Swami: When Lord Caitanya left, He left a drop of kṛṣṇa-prema in the Padmā river for Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura. So he bathed there. and changed his color. In India there is a place in the Ganges called Dudh-ghāṭa. By bathing there Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura’s body changes into milk. So that place is called Dudh-ghāṭa. So the disciples collected all the water and the milk in clay pots. They collected in clay pots and they did the samādhi like that. There so many holy places like this India. Hard to get there. We went to the birthplace of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura and we got his śālagrāma-śilā which is now in the altar of Lord Narasiṁhadeva.

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: Because in that village there is no worship. So, the old man, who was worshiping in that line he gave the śālagrāma-śilā to us, to ISKCON to worship. Whenever in Devagrāma we construct a temple, we will install it there. His Grace Jananivāsa Prabhu saw the śālagrāma and said it was a Narasiṁha śālagrāma, so he installed in the Narasiṁha altar. So now we are trying to acquire a land there and construct a temple for Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura.

Jayapatākā Swami: These places are filled with mercy!

Rādhānātha Swami: Śrīla Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja, from the earliest days of our movement, he has been giving faith to all devotees in these holy places.

Jayapatākā Swami: But the actual places in Bangladesh, we got some of them. Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, Vāsudeva Datta, Mukunda Datta, Gadādhara, Śacīmātā.

Rādhānātha Swami: Which part was Gadādhara Paṇḍita from in Bangladesh?

Jayapatākā Swami: Southeast.

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: We are trying to acquire the birthplace of Mādhavendra Purī.

Rādhānātha Swami: Whatever you do.

Jayapatākā Swami: We don’t have that yet.

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: We are trying. It’s all Muslim village.

Jayapatākā Swami: We have one places, Jessore.

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: In Jessore we have Rūpa Sanātana Tīrtha.

Jayapatākā Swami: At that time Rūpa Sanātana’s father was a zamindar in Bangladesh. Till today in this area there are 96 villagers and they are all Hindus. They gave us the land in that area. We have a temple there for Rūpa and Sanātana and Nitāi Gaura and Rādhā Kṛṣṇa.

Rādhānātha Swami: If someone could write list down of all the places we have.

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: We are going to publish a book.

Rādhānātha Swami: That would be very special.

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: Guru Mahārāja wanted to have a traveling guide book. Like a traveler’s guide so that devotees can travel around.

We’re talking about the book that you wanted to have. Like the traveling book.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: And also you make a video. We made a nice video. We saw once all the holy places. All the Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi.

Jayapatākā Swami: śrī gauḍa-maṇḍala-bhūmi,     yebā jāne cintāmaṇi, tā'ra haya vrajabhūme vāsa.

 When will you be ready?

Śyāma Rasika dāsa: We are trying for the next year to launch it Guru Mahārāja. We are verifying all the places.

Jayapatākā Swami: All the stories of the different associates. What happened in each place. All the description, the pictures.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: Śyāma travel all over Bangladesh and Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi to record all these places. That’s where he found the śālagrāma-śilā of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura and some manuscripts.

Rādhāramaṇa Sevaka dāsa: So you are saying Braja-vilāsa Prabhu did not mention it anywhere.

Jayapatākā Swami: Yes.

Rādhāramaṇa Sevaka dāsa: Guru Mahārāja is saying in the morning Braja-vilāsa Prabhu announces, “Oh, we’ll have darśana of the Deities Rādhā Mādhava, etc. But he doesn’t mention about this special salagrāma. So Braja-vilāsa Prabhu should announce this also, we’ll tell him.

Jayapatākā Swami: He used to do it when the Deity was in Rādhā Mādhava’s altar. Then we changed it to Narasiṁhadeva, he stopped announcing.

Rādhāramaṇa Sevaka das: We’ll tell him Guru Mahārāja. From tomorrow you’ll hear that.

Jayapatākā Swami: Ha! Ha! “We have Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s śālagrāma-śilā.” he will announce!

Gopati Kṛṣṇa dāsa: Guru Mahārāja imitating like Braja-vilāsa Prabhu’s announcement.

Jayapatākā Swami: We used to do nice safari in Bangladesh but now it is a little disturbed.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: Have you been to Bangladesh Mahārāja?

Rādhānātha Swami: Yes.

Jayapatākā Swami: Yeah. He went.

Rādhānātha Swami: Yes, I went to Caṭṭagrāma, Kheturi, Jessore and Benapol and Dhaka and Sylhet. Maybe twelve years ago. We did yātrā with our brahmacārīs. Indradyumna Mahārāja also came. We went on yātrā to Benapol for Haridāsa Ṭhākura, then we went to your temple of Rūpa and Sanātana in Jessore. Then we went to Caṭṭagrāma for Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, Vāsudeva Datta and Mukunda Datta. Then we went to Sylhet, I think Śrīhaṭṭa. Then we went to Murāri Gupta’s house and Śacīmātā’s and Jagannātha Miśra, and Śrīvāsa. And we want to go to Advaita Ācārya but they said we have to take motorcycle because the roads were not good. So we went to Kheturi-grāma.

Jayapatākā Swami: One time I went by helicopter. And there was a big storm.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: The guy didn’t know how to drive properly and where to land. So somehow the helicopter landed in the middle of one village. And then all the whole villagers came just to see. Because they never saw a helicopter come. And then a saffron person come out and one lady says, old lady say, “Oh, Jayapatākā Mahārāja, I have a picture! He is my guru.”

Rādhānātha Swami: It was like a UFO coming from the spiritual world coming.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: He used to drive, you know, these tree boats that they just carved and goes like this in the water. So to preach we used to take this boat and go through the water to the village. Then take a rickshaw because it was muddy and go all around. Back in the day. Back in the day used to take the boat made with. Yeah, Bangladesh. Bangladesh. Maybe here also Bangladesh.

Jayapatākā Swami: The people there, the Hindu people all of them said, everybody think that Muhammad Ali, he’s the president of the United States.

Rādhāramaṇa Sevaka dāsa: They would push these Hindus to convert to Islam because they would say, oh, Muhammad Ali is the president of the USA, so you also should convert to Islam.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: And we used to say when we used to preach that we are from Argentina. So we used to tell everybody, “Āmi Maradona Bandu!” We are friend of Maradona because everybody likes in that place soccer and Argentina Maradona. So we used to say like that. Back in the day, we use all these characters.

Jayapatākā Swami: Then they said we see you and realize that Hindu philosophy is spreading all over the world. That was their version.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: Sometime when we used to go to Ratha-yātrās in the village, we used to go with umbrellas because the villagers sometimes would throw stones at us. In Bangladesh, remember some Ratha-yātrās. When we go through the village there some Muslim village people used to throw stones and used to go with umbrella. You know, covering Jagannātha. Not everywhere, but some place. I remember very clear. They used to do like 12 hours Ratha-yātrā.

Jayapatākā Swami: When I went there first there were two centers and now they have 126 centers.

Rādhānātha Swami: 126 centers! How many total devotees we have in Bangladesh?

Jayapatākā Swami: Lakhs and lakhs.

Jayapatākā Swami: There are many Ratha-yātrās also during the year. All at the same time. We follow the Purī calendar.

Rādhānātha Swami: You risked your life thousands of times to give Prabhupāda’s mercy to Bangladesh.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda gave $600 every month for Bangladesh. He said, “Fry a fish in its own oil”.

Rādhānātha Swami: What does that mean?

Jayapatākā Swami: Fry the fish in its own oil. Meaning fish oil. You can cook it in their own oil of the fish. But related to Bangladesh, how it relates to. The Hindus are there. So with their own philosophy, you make the Hindus devotees. So Prabhupāda used to say, fry the fish in their own oil.

Rādhānātha Swami: He gave $600 and he wanted this money not to be spent just like this. That he said the example of the fish, be very careful in spending this money.

Rādhānātha Swami: Amazing!

Jayapatākā Swami: I was staying in the Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai Mira Road. And I remember when you had the Yātrā in Pune.

Rādhānātha Swami: Yes, yes.

Jayapatākā Swami: And I said, “I wanted to go,” but the doctor say, “No, no, no.” Then a senior doctor, who was like a teacher of all the other doctors came. He said, “You are all doctors, you like to stay in the hospital. He is a preacher! He wants to go out and preach!” So I went. So they arranged an ambulance. So they arranged an ambulance for me with the bed inside. Remember that?

Rādhānātha Swami: I have altar in my heart and that memory is installed on the altar.

Jayapatākā Swami: Thank you for your association!

Rādhānātha Swami: There were many thousands of devotees. Everyone was crying. He was speaking!

We must say thank you for the association. Always thank you for your association. Thank you.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: That’s what he says in that trip. We asked him, do you remember something when you were in coma? And Guru Mahārāja said, when I was dead, Kṛṣṇa came and I asked Him what happened. I asked Him if I can stay longer because I wanted to finish the TOVP. So I asked Guru Mahārāja what Kṛṣṇa said. He said, I didn’t demand. I just expressed a wish that if You are kind enough to allow me to stay here. And then I asked what happened? He said, well, I’m here. And then he said, be careful. Kṛṣṇa is watching you. I was telling the story when were in the ambulance and we asked you what happened when you were in coma, if you remember something. And you say that when you were dead, Kṛṣṇa came. And then you requested Kṛṣṇa to stay longer to finish the TOVP. I was telling that story that happened on the way to Pune. That’s why for us, Pune became also part of our heart.

Rādhānātha Swami: Actually I was speaking to Mahārāja on telephone and I invited him to the Pune Yātrā.

Jayapatākā Swami: And he asked, “What is Pune Yātrā?”

Rādhānātha Swami: And I said, there will be about three thousand devotees. But because he was very much in hospital, I was thinking I was inviting, but it was only to show my love. But he will never come. But you know, because you were in hospital, I wanted to invite you to show my love. But you know, I thought you would never come. But then he told doctors, “I want to go to Pune Yātrā!” And doctor said, “You cannot go. You are an emergency situation.” And he chastised the doctors. He said, “Your guru is telling you is inviting me to come and you are telling me not to come! What kind of disciples are you? Telling, your guru is inviting and you are telling me not to go!” So they were in complete anxiety. Because they were thinking, you may not survive. So they called me and asked me to take away the invitation. I said, “I cannot take away the invite. I will become a lizard.” So then they were very confused. So I said, “Why don’t you ask senior doctor, the one who did surgery and the one who did the surgery.” So they went to a senior doctor. And they were thinking, if senior doctor says no, they were 100% sure he would say no, then that would go above guru’s invitation. So they went to the senior doctor. To get his to get his rule that he cannot go. And the doctor said, “I know this man. He is a preacher. And what will be the best for his health is what makes him happy! So he can preach to so many thousands of people, that will be the best medicine for him! So he should definitely go.” And then all doctors surrendered. And I was very, I was praying very deeply that Mahārāja should be safe. Kṛṣṇa! And I remember when you arrived, it was the most historic. That was our last ever final. That was the final Pune Yātrā. I still remember when you arrived. You came in the ambulance and you were brought into the big yard and thousands of people were there and you gave such a beautiful speech, beautiful lecture. It’s all recorded

Rādhānātha Swami: You left in the morning for Pune.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: We left in the morning but your BP was going high. And then when were in the room with Guru Mahārāja we told him you know, if your BP goes high, you cannot give class. So after one hour the BP came down. I remember that.

Rādhāraman Sevaka das: So that was the other side of the story. What Mahārāja shared.

Ekanātha Gaura dāsa: Nobody knew that what Mahārāja shared. Today Mahārāja said, I didn’t know that. Mahārāja was pulling the strings behind.

Rādhānātha Swami: Kṛṣṇa was pulling strings! It was truly unforgettable. Jayapatākā Mahārāja’s preaching spirit!. That was very soon after the stroke happened. And coming in an ambulance, I think it’s like, for four or five hours drive was back and forth. Just to give one lecture. Mahārāja would not take no for answer! And ever since then, I’m very careful to give anyone invitations!

Jayapatākā Swami: Even the doctors, they thought that I was on death bed. But the senior doctor said, you go out and preach.

Rādhānātha Swami: What makes him happy is best for his health. And the only thing that will make him happy is if he can preach about Kṛṣṇa to others. And all doctors who said no were very serious devotees. I think this senior doctor, he was not a devotee at all. But he understood.

Rādhānātha Swami: No, no. I should go. Okay. Alright. Thank you. Can you put your feet here? He says, this is my understanding. Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda! Jaya Śrī Śrī Rādhā Mādhava! Thank you, Mahārāja.

Jayapatākā Swami: Thank you. When you laugh, your whole body shakes.

Rādhānātha Swami: Hare Kṛṣṇa, thank you! I am your servant. I pray I may be your servant forever. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol!