20200707 Smaran Utsav Glorification of HHBCSM by Senior GBC And Vaiṣṇavas Via Zoom

20200707 His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharaj, Smaran Utsav, Glorification of His Holiness Bhakti Cāru Swami by Senior GBC And Vaiṣṇavas Via Zoom.

 A humble offering: With the mercy of guru maharaj, Śrīla Jayapatākā Swami, have tried my best to keep it exactly as delivered by these elevated souls, but if there are any errors or omissions, please forgive me. Your insignificant servant, Jayaraseshwari dāsī.

 HG Yasomatidasi: Audio started abruptly.  See him as the most caring uncle they have ever met. They remember that at that time we told maharaj, he could have our four children. It wasn’t in a joking mood, it was really because we knew really how much he cared and what he could do for them, spiritually. Our eldest took formal initiation from maharaj. The 13-year-old boy, he took travelling with him as a personal servant. And while he was with maharaj, all of maharaj’s qualities would bleed on him, would run on him. He heard maharaj say in a lecture, the disciple doesn’t eat until the guru has told him to eat. So, imagine a 13-year-old, with a 13-year old’s appetite, being told such a thing! But he wouldn’t eat.

But maharaj was very kind, every day when he finished eating, he would say, Kṛṣṇa das, have you eaten? Go eat! Both of my daughters travelled with him as part of the AbhayCaran crew, for many months. So now what to do with the separation which we will feel?

So, we may think we have some love for maharaj, and undoubtedly, we have some love for maharaj. So, we can look at the embodiment of love and see how She deals with Her separation, the Supreme separation from Kṛṣṇa. At this time, many days she is away from Kṛṣṇa. She becomes almost comatose with high fever. Fever of separation. No amount of camphor, no amount of sandalwood paste, no amount of beds made of fresh damp lotus petals, nothing would cure Her fever. We are feeling separation but that is not on that level, quite. But even that level of separation can be cured, and how is it cured. It is cured when a messenger comes from Nandagram and says Mother Yaśodā wants Rādhā to cook some sweets for Kṛṣṇa.

So, in an extremely weak state, Shesays, oh, oh, Kṛṣṇa needs something? And then the sakhīs help her and light fires. Many Bengalis here, you have cooked over fire, four or five fires around Her and She is to cook sweets. And when she sits by these fires and starts stirring and cooking, then Her fever goes, then Her separation goes. So how do we cure this separation from Bhakti Cāru maharaj? By living his instructions, by fulfilling his mission. By serving the mission of the acaraya’s that we can live on.

 One memory that jumps  to mind about his caring, I did speak about his caring to my children but at one point I had just returned to Māyāpur after one year absence, and meanwhile in Canada, relationship escalated between my daughter and another  devotee and maharaj gave them the blessings to marry. It was not easy for my husband to provide for travel back and forth so he said, no problem we will have the wedding and you can be in Māyāpur. When maharaj heard that, he was devastated, this cannot be! And it was by maharaj’s mercy, he actually flew me to Canada to attend my daughter’s wedding. In more recent years, the first year we organized kīrtana mela, I had some instructions from Sacinandanamaharaj regarding the type of decoration that should be there, it should be tasteful. And he also was saying that the sound should be very good. The sound in PañcaTattva temple hall by nature is not very good. So, all of a sudden which could have been a very easy program where you schedule different people and they sing and you have a kīrtana mela, but Śacīnandana maharaj wanted the sound to be excellent and the specific mood to be created. So that meant expenses. So, then I was thinking, maybe the temple will give me overdraft, and thenwhen the devotees attend the kīrtana mela, they will give donations and everything will be fine. There was only one problem with this scenario is that such an advance cannot be given without someone who will sign for it. So, I contacted my dear brother and it was due to maharaj’s (Bhakti Carumaharaj) mercy that we could have the first kirtanamela. So, I don’t want to speak any longer as already Nareswarprabhu is giving me the eye a bit. So please heal your separation by serving the mission. All glories to Śrīla Bhakti Cāru swami!

His Grace Pañcaratna das: Hare Kṛṣṇa! Śrīla Prabhupāda ki jaya!

Śrīla Bhakti Cāru maharaj ki jaya!

I will speak just a few words. First, I have to carry forward what my god sister spoke of our mission. When I think of Bhakti Cāru Swami maharaj’s mission, in ISKCON, two things have come forward repeatedly. The first is his total focus on perpetuating and instilling and building a foundation in our society that puts our relationship with Śrīla Prabhupāda as the foremost pillar, the cornerstone, the basis for our service in ISKCON and our progress in spiritual life. It is rare to find any of our family, that could be said to have any deeper love, extraordinary love for Śrīla Prabhupāda, was demonstrated time and again by Bhakti Cāru Swami maharaj. The second component of his mission that we are hearing again and again is his mission of care, his mission of caring for the devotees. I began my own relationship with Bhakti Cāru Swami maharaj, that is when he first came to Māyāpur. I was in need of some help in the construction service, and he was kindly brought forward to help me. But we really got to serve together when we were serving with the Bengali BBT.

Now unlike Bhakti Cāru Swami maharaj, I am not an expert in caring for the devotees. And in fact, I think I worked him a bit too much. We had to stay up till late, late nights at the printers, but he never complained. So, I pray that I will also attain some of that spirit, that spirit of unbreakable love, immutable love for SrilaPrabhupada. And that I may also develop just a fraction of that depth of care, and I pray that you also can imbibe that. Now I don’t want to have to say this, but I feel compelled. I am serving right now with a group of devotees trying to help the devotees deal with this pandemic. This pandemic which by some arrangement of the Supreme Lord has brought us together here today on this occasion, because we have lost our dear friend, from this virus.

So, I am begging you all, in the spirit of care, let us do what we can to protect each other. I am wearing this mask to protect you, and your mask may protect me. I am over here, not over there. It is a little thing. But it may mean a difference. So, let us pray to feel to care and behave with care. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda! Jaya Bhakti Cāru Swami maharaj!

 His Grace Jananivas das: Śrīla Bhakti Cāru Swami maharaj ki jaya!

His Grace Pankajangri prabhu wanted to express something, but he cannot come because he cannot walk very well. So, he asked me to convey. And he is pointing some of the qualities of maharaj, how much he has established in ISKCON, in such varied ways like opening temples, making movies, book distribution, book printing, etc. And he was always very positive and always very jolly. And when he was giving classes, you could see how he was relishing, he was relishing inside and smiling and always very happy.

So, he was such a good example especially for his disciples and Pankajangri prabhu said he was an “ISKCON Man” personified. He did not leave because of some virus,  buthe left to be with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa called him. So, it was Kṛṣṇa’s desire between Bhakti Carumaharaj and Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa’s desire is always supreme. TamalKṛṣṇa maharaj told me the day before he left, actually we were right here. And he stopped and he said, Śrīla Prabhupāda said, we may have our programs, but Kṛṣṇa, He has His programs. So, when Bhakti Cāru maharaj first came he was not like the general devotee portrayed. At that time they were all young men, sannyāsīs, there was that macho feel, and you had to be like real tough, the sannyāsīs were showing like this! But with Bhakti Cāru maharaj, he just gently came in like a gentleman, but he was not aggressive, I should not say that, but he did not put that mood on, he was very peaceful, he was very gentle, he was like aa new example for ISKCON sannyāsīs. And very quickly he was initiated and second initiated at the same time. Then he got brāhmaṇa initiation, sannyāsa and at that time also, Prabhupāda said you can become GBC. So, it was something very natural for him that he just fitted into the system. So, we can understand from that seeing his behavior that was just simply a continuation of his previous life.

So, Bhakti Cāru maharaj has already gone back home, he is with Kṛṣṇa, there is no lamentation. Actually, he is with Kṛṣṇa now, his beloved there is no doubt. Bhakti Cāru maharaj told me a story, this was during Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disappearance, the doctor, he told Bhakti Cāru maharaj that Śrīla Prabhupāda is not taking water, he is not taking food now, looks like he is closing the gates of his body and probably  he will leave today about 7.30 pm. Nobody understood because they didn’t speak Bengali but Bhakti Carumaharaj, he went into the next room and he discussed with Bhavānanda and TamalKṛṣṇa maharaj that Kavirāj said that Śrīla Prabhupāda was going to leave his body about 7.30 in the evening. So they were discussing what are we going to do now? We haven’t made arrangements, because the thought of Prabhupāda leaving, that was impossible! So we had to decide, what to do next, we never imagined, Prabhupāda is going to leave. While they were discussing all of a sudden, they heard a sound, they rushed back into where Prabhupāda was laying, and Prabhupāda had just left! And about a week later, one of Prabhupāda’s disciples, Visalakshi mātājī, she had a dream, in which she saw Śrīla Prabhupāda. And she said, oh, Śrīla Prabhupāda, where are you staying? He said, oh I am in Goloka!

And she said, why did you leave like that?

And Śrīla Prabhupāda said because Bhakti Cāru maharaj, TamalKṛṣṇa maharaj and Bhavānanda maharaj, they are gentlemen, I did not like to leave in their presence!

Śrīla Bhakti Cāru mahara jki jaya!

Śrīla Prabhupāda ki jaya!

Nitāi Gaura Premānande!

Thank you! Hare Kṛṣṇa!

 HG Krishnarupa devī dāsī: Can everyone hear me through my mask? I think you can hear me. I would like to just reiterate what Pancaratnaprabhu just said. Although it is very uncomfortable, the mask also needs to cover the nose because we breathe through our nose. I see many people, their nose is not covered. Hare Kṛṣṇa everyone! Thank you for the opportunity to speak, Nareswarprabhu.

As Nareswar prabhu mentioned, I was here in the early days in Māyāpur. And Bhakti Cāru maharaj arrived in Māyāpur and then he was Bhakta Kishore. And as you have heard many of my god brothers and Yaśomatī mātājī explaining how Bhakti Cāru maharaj’s rapid advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness was so stunning for everybody. But I was not actually shocked. And mostly when we first come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness we go through a very rapid, but extended purification process. But with Bhakti Cāru maharaj, I did not even see very much difference between the first day I saw him here in Māyāpur, and then when I last saw him in Māyāpur, earlier this year. He was very pure then, and pure in his last days. And his constellation or his spiritual path was on this massive trajectory. And Bhakti Cāru maharaj was always very kind to me and kind to my sons. And he was so kind to me that one day he said, Kṛṣṇa rūpa mātājī, whenever I see you, I am reminded of Māyāpur pioneer days. He always made time for me. A few years ago I was at the temple in Ujjain, attending the ayurvedic clinic, and I was very happy that Bhakti Cāru maharaj had arrived.

So, I went to see him, to see if I could get a few minutes of his time as a dear friend and god brother. When I walked into his quarters in Ujjain, the first thing he did as I offered my obeisance’s, was to offer his obeisance’s back to me! This is a very elevated sannyāsī, guru of many disciples, but his humility and love was so deep and so simple. And the first thing that he said to me, smiling his lovely smile, oh, Kṛṣṇa rūpa, how can I serve you? Such a wonderful example he is giving for us all, his disciples, his god brothers, his god sisters, and all the other devotees of ISKCON. It wasn’t just to his god brothers that he showed love and concern, but he always had time for his god sisters. And I have to say that it is very rare. Earlier this year, Bhakti Cāru maharaj had asked me to edit one book for him.

So, when I was here in Māyāpur earlier this year, he arranged a meeting with me. And he spoke maybe for one hour with me. We talked a little bit of Māyāpur in the early days as we love to do. But then he started to talk about this book and what his goal was with this book. The book was going to be based on a series of lectures he gave on Śrīla Prabhupāda. And one of his main impetuses was that Śrīla Prabhupāda remained fixed as the center of all activities. So as his affectionate god brothers and god sisters, and as his sincere disciples, it is very important that we follow his legacies. And what are those legacies? That we make it our duty and sign of our great love and devotion to SrilaPrabhupada that we cement SrilaPrabhupada firmly in the center of this movement, his movement.

So, I request that if the opportunity arises, I don’t know what has happened with this book, but if you can assist somehow for those devotees who know what has happened with it to help this book get published? I think he would be very pleased with this service. And I just want to read out to you the last email that I received from Bhakti Cāru maharaj. This was stated 21st of April this year. Dear mother Kṛṣṇarupa, please accept my humble obeisance’s! All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! Thank you very much for your email. I am sorry that I did not reply earlier. You have done the editing very nicely. I am actually thinking of making it a pictorial book. Like there will be some writing and many illustrations. Now a days people do not read much. But if the write up is associated with relevant illustrations, they can digest the subject more easily. So, we may have to wait until the paintings are complete. I hope this finds you well. I will treasure that email for the rest of my life! And his other legacy as well all know – his gentlemanly qualities, his deep, deep, sincere care for the devotees. And by way of consolation to his disciples, we, as Prabhupāda’s disciples, understand what you are going through, but please remember, Prabhupāda said that there is an ISKCON in the spiritual sky. And eventually, we will all be packed up tight there, in ISKCON in the spiritual world. And there Śrīla Prabhupāda will be waiting for us and your guru maharaj will be waiting for us also! Hare Kṛṣṇa! All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! All glories to Śrīla Bhakti Carumaharaj!

 His Holiness Bhakti Purushottam maharaj: Hare Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇarupa mātājī said that SrilaPrabhupada said that in the spiritual world, there is an ISKCON also. So, I asked Jananivasprabhu, whether GBC will also be there? Ha! Prabhu said, GBC is not required there because Yogamāyā and Purnamasi will make all the arrangements. Śrīla Bhakti Carumaharaj has left the entire world of ISKCON devotees in an ocean of grief and he has left to the spiritual world. So, the world of devotees are in pain – what is that pain? It is the remembrance of maharaj.

So, for the last three days I have been hearing the speech of different devotees from around the world, everybody speaks of the same topic, the same theme. How Maharaj loved everybody, how humble he was, how he was the personification of loving and caring. The devotees as they hear of maharaj’s transcendental qualities, they are becoming more and more immersed in lamentation and grief because they understand that this association of maharaj will not be available anymore. Maharaj was in Ujjain and was well protected there. It is said that maharaj did not even allow the vegetables to come into the temple immediately. They would leave the vegetables outside the temple, sanitize for a few hours and then he would allow the vegetables to enter the temple. Someone who was so diligent, so careful about this corona virus, how could somebody in this situation travel to the USA? Maharaj before going to America, had made three efforts to go but three times, his travel was canceled. When I asked maharaj, why are you going to America, maharaj replied, no, no, I have various projects and there is also prasādam distribution going on in one of them, and I have to go there. I don’t think even a single devotee was in agreement that maharaj, yes, you can go to America. Maharaj travelled by car from Ujjain to Mumbai and then from there by an evacuation flight to New York.

Śrīla Jayapatākā Swami guru maharaj was explaining that maharaj’s travel in this manner to America, showed that Kṛṣṇa had a special plan for him. Maharaj said that I have my soldiers in the field and they are serving in the field   and I am sitting here in a room, and I am their leader, I am their general and am sitting in a room. So maharaj like a general he went into the main arena of the battlefield and in this manner, he departed from this world. So, he will be remembered as a great martyr in the spiritual realm and spiritual world. If we consider all the sides, then we can actually come to the conclusion that maharaj’s departure like this from this material world like this was preplanned by Prabhupāda, by maharaj and by Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. We have heard how maharaj in his Vyāsa pūjā offering has written to Śrīla Prabhupāda that, Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you have taken back your other sons and you have engaged them in your service in the spiritual world. Please allow me to serve you also in that way. Maharaj entered the spiritual world on the particularday of guru Pūrṇimā. That was the disappearance day of Śrīla Sanātana Goswami. So, the moment maharaj was entering into the spiritual world, that was the exact moment when in Jagannath Purī, Lord Jagannath was also from His chariot was entering His temple.

Just like Bhismadev he was waiting I will depart on the first day of uttarāyaṇa, similarly on the last day of uttarāyaṇa maharaj departed for the spiritual world. Many devotees or some may think that maharaj was not conscious, Harinām was not around him. Someone questioned why did maharaj leave his body in this manner? He could have left in Vṛndāvana or in Sridham Māyāpur. Pure devotee like maharaj, wherever they give up their body, that place becomes a place of pilgrimage, dham.

Lord Kṛṣṇa says, in Bhagavad-gītā, that anybody at the time of death, whatever they think, they will get that kind of result, or that kind of destination. But anybody who thinks of Me at the time of death, they will come to my abode. I was reading the VarahaPurana and there was a śloka there in which the Lord is saying that at the time of death, if for some reason or other, my devotee is not able to remember Me, I will remember My devotee and bring him back to My abode. This is an astonishing statement from the supreme Lord that I have heard made by the Lord, for the first time. Many devotees are extolling maharaj’s wonderful qualities. I will tell you about two or three very important interactions I had with him. This will portray maharaj’s greatness and his super excellent qualities. I have been hearing for the past three days from guru maharaj’s god brothers that maharaj has one nature, that he actually gives relevance to others, he makes the other person feel very important. Tamal Kṛṣṇa maharaj had said that even though Bhakti Cāru maharaj was elder to him by age, despite that, Bhakti Cāru maharaj would always consider TamalKṛṣṇamaharaj to be elder because of his boyish nature.

Therefore, Bhakti Cāru maharaj would also do everything in a way that he would be always be respectful to others as if they are seniors. About 20-30 years ago, I was in maharaj’s room and we were discussing something and somehow it got late. At that time, he did not have anyone cooking for him, as he used to have now. Maharaj immediately said  you must be hungry and he went into his kitchen and cooked such a wonderful chow mein, the taste of which is still lingering in my mouth, till this day!

One day maharaj was sitting in the temple and we were watching a movie or something. I went and sat down next to him, and maharaj was sitting on a cushion. The cushion was big enough for one person to sit, but maharaj dragged me and made me sit and share the cushion. It was a small cushion and lest I fall down, maharaj held me around. We can understand that maharaj had an inbuilt nature for caring for others. Nobody taught him or he did not undergo any training for this, it was just his nature to do like this.  Some years ago, I had gone to London to the Manor and had gone from India, and was wearing an ordinary sweater. Maharaj saw me and said, it is so cold, you have worn such a thin sweater, it is very cold here. He was wearing a nice sweater; he took it off him and put it on me. Today, people from all over the world, they are crying for maharaj, because they are remembering this loving nature of maharaj and because of that they are crying. What I have just told you, is not that this is just maharaj’s relation with me alone, this is maharaj’s nature and he has dealt this way with everyone. In the GBC meeting Bureau meetings, when the meeting started, when some members would come, maharaj would get up from his char, and embrace every one of them. Anyway, maharaj’s wonderful, unlimited qualities, we will hear a little from everyone. Maharaj has left us physically, but in spirit he is very much present with us. I beg forgiveness from maharaj in case I have made any offences, knowingly or unknowingly, may he please forgive me. Saying these words, I end my talk here.

Śrīla Bhakti Cāru Swami maharaj ki jaya!

 His Holiness Bhakti Vijay Bhagavat Swami maharaj: I express my gratitude for being allowed to say a few words. I have received a lot of association since I joined ISKCON and spent a lot of time with Bhakti Cāru Swami (guru maharaj). As I was involved right from the beginning in saṅkīrtana service, in book distribution service, so I used to discuss many aspects of book distribution and saṅkīrtana with guru maharaj. Because of all the services, the toughest of them all is the book distribution and saṅkīrtana, and the toughest thing is to engage devotees in this book distribution service. Devotees would not like to preach, would not like to go out for book distribution. I would call guru maharaj over to encourage the devotees, to enthuse the devotees to go out to distribute books. He would come and he would enthuse and preach to the devotees. He would say, that SrilaPrabhupada had asked me to translate his books into Bengali.

But I didn’t know how to translate books but Śrīla Prabhupāda guided me and made me do the translations. Sometimes, when he liked the translations, he would praise me, sometimes when he did not like the translations, he would actually chastise me. We used to tell him, guru maharaj, people of the higher ranks of society, they extremely appreciate your translation work, your language. And we would tell him that guru maharaj, our preaching is getting an extra mileage due to the language of your translation. In Bengali there are two types of the language – one is the literary language and one is colloquial or local language. All the literatures previously were written in the literary language. But many of the people from the Gauḍīya society did not appreciate the language that was used in our books. Because they said that Śrīla Prabhupāda did not keep the legacy of this linguistic art. That is true to some extent but there is another point that we, the common masses in general, we are also not following the literary tradition anymore. So, I used to tell guru maharaj that because of this for us common people to understand, you have given a language in your translation that can be understood by the common masses. I feel that this was a special contribution by guru maharaj for us the Bengali community. I used to tell guru maharaj, that Śrīla Prabhupāda said that his movement would go for the next ten thousand years and for the next ten thousand years, these books will shine with these golden words, that your name will shine wonderfully. Guru maharaj would then reply, if you feel that, if you can realize that Śrīla Prabhupāda actually instructed me to translate these books and I accomplished this with great difficulty, then it is now your duty that you distribute these books profusely. Another thing all of you remember, who is reading, who is not reading, that is not a matter for you to see. If Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books will reach every home, Prabhupāda will be very, very pleased and the people in general if they will touch Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, they will be purified. He would say that your duty is to go on distributing these books, and somebody will purchase the book and if they do not read, somebody in his future generations, second, third, fourth any person, who will read that book, and become a devotee and in this way, they will repay the debt that they have incurred by purchasing the book from you, all the difficulties that you have gone through, that debt they will repay.

So, in this way, through SMS, through meetings, through personal interactions, he would constantly enthuse and he would encourage the saṅkīrtana devotees. We are severely affected that a great warrior, a great weapon of inspiration for us, unfortunately will not be present with us anymore. Anyway, I pray to all of you devotees for mercy and blessings to carry on the preaching and book distribution work that guru maharaj very much wanted that it should go on. And that we are disciples of many gurus together, unitedly we can carry forward this instructions of guru maharaj.

 Then from saṅkīrtana, I got the responsibility of Gītā Course and I was preaching in Kolkata. Every Sunday we would have class and if guru maharaj was present in Kolkata we would invite him to give class. Whenever I would call him, he would not refuse, he would come. He used to give lectures and I had in my group there were so many devotees who wanted to be initiated by him. I would tell guru maharaj that our initiation system is so long, how will I hold the devotees for such a long time?

He would say in front of everyone, Venudhari, the way he is running this program, I am happy with him, please obey him, work under him and cooperate with him. When he would come to Māyāpur, I would give him the report how the book distribution was going on, how the Gītā Course preaching was going on. Then he would say, now you become a spiritual master, you should take sannyāsa, why are you not taking sannyāsa? So, the topic of my acceptance of sannyāsa was first raised by him. And after that, every time we met, he used to ask, what is happening with your sannyāsa and what is the progress, he used to ask those questions. I was sick while I was in the Gītā Course program in 2005. I had a brain hemorrhage and a major operation then. I don’t know where guru maharaj was there at that time, but he had instructed the devotees of Ujjain to have 24-hour kīrtan for Venudhari. This was the extension of care and affection for me. And he would always inquire how my health was and if there is any difficulty he would say, come to Ujjain and you can get treated there.

 Last three years because of some managerial issues he was little upset with me. He received a few complaints about me. Even though I was not party to the complaints that had reached his ears. I tried to go to him many times and beg forgiveness from him. And he said, I don’t want to talk to him, he was so upset with me. Wherever he would give seminars, wherever he would give lectures in Bengal, I would try to be there and try to reach him. Last year in the seminar that he gave in the Namahatta, I was listening to guru maharaj and I was sitting next to him. And there was call came and I was talking very softly. He stopped the lecture and in front of 2 to 2500 devotees, he chastised me heavily. I was very sad and I even begged for forgiveness from him. So, because I was so broken hearted, guru maharaj felt a little compassion for me. And he sent me an SMS message, I am very sorry, please do not mind. Then immediately I went to his room and fell at his feet and begged forgiveness from him. He embraced me and he freed me from all offences. He said, that if I don’t chastise you, how will the others learn?

I told him that guru maharaj, some of your disciples had come for your seminar and right at that moment, they had just arrived and were contacting me and asking me where they should go and stay. So, guru maharaj said, that yes, I understand that you are involved in so many administrative activities, but it was my duty to chastise you in front of everybody, that is why I had chastised you.

So, in this way I could become very close to him and very much feel that. The last Midnapore program, we were with guru maharaj for five days. One day, it was Baninathprabhu’s birthday, so I told guru maharaj, it is Baninath’s birthday. Immediately guru maharaj started glorifying Baninathprabhu. Then he started glorifying me and asking me when is your birthday?

When is your Vyāsa pūjā?

Baninath said, guru maharaj, Venudhari doesn’t celebrate his birthday but celebrates the birthdays of all of us. He said, Venudhari, you will listen to my instruction. From the next birthday of yours, your birthday  should be celebrated. Then I asked him, guru maharaj, we would like to celebrate your next Vyāsa pūjā in Māyāpur, please you approve of this. He said, no this year, I will have Vyāsa pūjā in Surat and the next time I will adhere to your request. So, I had two strong shelters – His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami guru maharaj and His Holiness Bhakti Cāru Swami guru maharaj. I am completely bereft of one of my main shelters. I beg for everybody’s assistance and help those of who are with me. He wanted me to take care of the brahmacārīs, he made me a brahmacaricounsellor also. So, all the brahmacārīs here in Māyāpur, especially the disciples of Bhakti Cāru guru maharaj, may I be able to serve them all and may I be able to carry forward the instructions that he left with us. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

 His Holiness Shubhag Swami maharaj’s message: He wanted to come here but Jayapatākā Swami maharaj told him,no  you are an old man, you don’t like to wear mask, you cannot go! You send a message. Therefore, we will hear that message. And you can take prasādam as you go out. And hopefully we will see you tomorrow.

 Message: His Holiness Bhakti Cāru Swami is not present with us. Please accept my humble obeisances. Whatever I know, and had interacting with him whatever comes to my mind I will tell you. Please excuse my English, sometimes I don’t feel confident.  And I may use words which may not convey the actual meaning. Please try to understand what I say. Bhakti Carumaharaj, maybe one year or so before Prabhupāda left, he joined in Māyāpur. And soon I saw he was specially with Bhavanandamaharaj would take him being an intelligent and educated boy, he took him to Prabhupāda in Kumbhamela, maybe in 1976 as far as I could remember. There he had association with Prabhupāda. And there Prabhupāda told him to translate all his books into Bengali. And he did it in a very short time. Took responsibility of BBT and he became editor of Bhagavat Darshan and he had intimate association, closely I saw him Tamal Kṛṣṇa told me, he was going with Prabhupāda from Bombay to Haridwar as his health was going down and he went there to recuperate. And he helped in cooking and he is a good cook, everybody knows. And maharaj imbibed all of Prabhupāda’s teachings, he is like an embodiment of his teachings and Prabhupāda’sinstructions. And he served Prabhupāda doing various services. I heard he used to reply letters for Prabhupāda, was his secretary and cooking for him. Taking care of him and with him till Prabhupāda left his body. Maharaj, he learnt that ISKCON means devotional service, other than your bhajan what guru gave to do, he did it nicely, completed Prabhupāda’sBhagavad-gita translation, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, CaitanyaCaritamrta, some parts of Kṛṣṇa book and some other books nicely. Also, he in the course of his service we understand one thing did very wonderful, other than seeing his potential in him, Prabhupāda soon gave him first and second initiations, and before Prabhupāda left, he gave him sannyāsa also, in a very short time. And when he was with the GBC top men like Tamal Kṛṣṇa maharaj, he became the first chairman or president of the GBC in the very beginning. He did many responsible services. One thing I saw, whatever he does, very nicely, specially put Prabhupāda’s deity and put Prabhupāda in the center as Founder Ācārya for all the time to come in the future.

Put the other ācāryas on the āsanas and made their mūrtis, many temple altars are decorated with all the fiveacaryas, Prabhupāda, BhaktisiddantaSaraswati, Bhakti Vinoda, Gaura Kishore das bābājī and Jagannath das babajimaharaj. Prabhupāda’s deity looked almost exactly like what Prabhupāda looked like. Every detail of it. Next thing many people have wrong ideas of ISKCON because of misgivings from others. Those who have some other interests in India, everybody knows what people used to think about ISKCON, they are all gone now. One of the major reasons for this is maharaj’s books, they understand guru pūjā, there is a verse eibejasghusuktribhuvana – let your glories spread around the world. That is the disciples’ duty to spread and give all the credit for all he does and spread his glories everywhere and anywhere around the world. At least in India people had got their own idea. Maybe the film AbhayCaran in different languages removed this doubt.

In India from Assam to Gujarat, from Kashmir to Kerala, any interior village, everybody can understand now ISKCON, all misgivings have been cleared by seeing this movie, seeing Prabhupāda Founder Ācārya who started this movement going to America. He appeared in India, to bring the desire of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, empowered by his guru His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad. In such a short time he got the spiritual strength, lava mātra sādhu sangha, sarva siddhi hoi. And Bhakti Cāru Swami also did not have that much association with Prabhupāda maybe ten months or so, but intimate and imbibed his teachings and brought out wonderful temple like in a short time, no other ISKCON temple was built within a year, beautiful marble temple in Ujjain, the marble used was of the samebest quality as the TajMahal, one of the seven wonders of the world. It was very nicely made and I was present there. Beautiful deities, all devotees all ISKCON leaders came there and attended. A wonderful service to Prabhupāda.

And establishing Prabhupāda everywhere, known throughout the world by this film, Abhay Caran. But at present we can go on saying how he saved Prabhupāda’s big temple Māyāpur, New Māyāpur, by collecting from England from the Indian community, from ISKCON patrons and lovers, collected huge amount of money to save that going out of the hand of ISKCON, saved it collecting almost 800,000 pounds and win in the court. Last I remember, I was asking maharaj. The New York temple Scamaran street, one of Prabhupāda’s disciples wanted to sell it and he had many other supporters. But still maharaj tried to get them together in a meeting to consolidate and unify all the ISKCON leaders and protect it against that devotee, and ultimately, I asked maharaj, he remained silent first, it was not successful. And his attempt was frustrated by creating problems, cutting up all wires in the meeting, I heard. But later on, it was successful and maharaj has got a very important role in that, saving scamaran New York temple for Isckon, prabhupāda’s man Hansko, what is his name...?

Hamsko?

I think Hamsoraj I think prabhupaddispicle. He is wonderful……. Over and above its almost time is over, I was asked to speak for 15 minutes, I will conclude it.  everybody knows the way he acts with others, very very hospitable, he is very good cook, and he would invite his god brothers and others cook and serve them and make them feel at home and near n dear. I remember, how he treated me when I was in Ujjain in the some accident, in the dead of night my train or plane was. It was dead of night. Once I was going away and he came to know I was there and I did not like staying in a hotel. He provided me a room, instead of the hotel and I don’t feel comfortable in a hotel. I would rather stay with brahmacārīs or simple neat and clean room, as a Prabhupad’s disciple. He said I could come and stay in his house in Ujjain. He stayed with few of his disciples. Just to take care, an extra room he asked to stay. Not only that he took care of every detail that I have a bed and amusing the bed.  He forced me to do. Not doing too much austerity and living simple. And when I was going away, he provided me his car to go to the railway station most probably not by... Audio ended abruptly.

The audio for His Holiness Shubhag Swami’s talk was not clear so please excuse me for any errors or omissions.

Transcribed by Jayaraseshwaridevidasi,

09 July 2020

Proof reading Level 1 by Bhavatariniradhikadevidasi

12 July 2020