20141028 Śrīla Prabhupāda Kathā Day 3

Śrīla Prabhupāda Kathā Day 3 

Date:

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Collection:

Inspiration series - 2014

Audio player:

20141028_Srila_Prabhupada_Katha_Day_003_@New_Delhi Continuing on the Srila Prabhupada’s lila we are in Montreol, Canada. And ah... the temple is on the third floor. It was previously a bowling alley with eight lanes that has been divided five lanes for the temple room and three lanes for the ashram, and at night some of the devotees would stay out in the front of the ashram. There was one devotee, he was studying Sanskrit. He taught me Devanagari. So Devaganagari is used in Hindi an Sanskrit both. He also practiced some yoga, his name was Pradyumna Das. He would sometimes do his sirasana, standing on the head, so it was not unusual to walk by the ashram and to see him standing on his head (laugh) Ah... one time some parents they came to talk to the boy. I don’t remember which boy but one of the boy and ah... they were talking to him very affectionately. Just come home for little bit, like that they were talking in a very friendly way, but when they got to the door, they grabbed him and wanted to take him by force and then he grabbed on the door handle and ah... they were pulling on his leg and he holding on to the door handle with his arms. Later they asked Srila Prabhupada about this. He said, “Well that shows attachment.(laugh) He is attached to Krishna, so he didn’t want to go.” And everyday Prabhupada would go on his morning walk. As I said this apartment was half way between the Macgillian university and the temple. Usually I would go walking with Srila Prabhupada. On some occasion I also clean the room. His room was on the ground floor and ah... he ah... he had his small panel windows like this doorways and ah... and there was a bookshelve behind him and a low table on which he used to sit with his folded legs and ah... I think there was also a bed in the room but it was a very clean and well organized room. Now in our standards in the temple are very high. To live in the temple one has to live... follow all the rules and regulations and do sadhana bhakti but in those days there was some leniency. Srila Prabhupada... one new devotee, he was addicted to smoking. Prabhupada told him, “You have to give up smoking. I will give you a week. You can go to the back fire escape, you smoke seven, six, five, four, three, two, one and you stop it. If our devotees if they hear this now they can’t believe this.” (laugh) One person was so strict, he was Gopal Krishna Kanna (laugh). He used to chant before each picture in the temple room. He will bow down, chant before the picture and then go to the next picture, bow down and chant, so in this way Devotees: His Holiness Kavi Chandra Maharaj Ki Jay JPS: At that time he was dressed in suit and tie. He worked for some company either Carol or Pepsi I forget. He worked for both but one was the New York one but this one is from Cannada. So Carol and Pepsi. So he would come every morning before work, dressed in his working work and chant before each picture. So I had this opportunity to be present and today he is known as His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami. I read a book, because at that time we didn’t have many books. We only had Mcmillan Bhagavat Gita and Prabhupada said that a person can read the book of Lord Caitanya. So I read that book about Lord Caitnaya and ah... so there was life of Haridas Thakur. So Haridas Thakur, it’s said that whenever something comes to his mind, he would chant loudly and drive out of his mind. So I would take all this instructions literally. So being a new devotee, just nineteen years old, I had many thoughts within my mind. So I would chant louder and that would fix the mind, and then some other thoughts would come, and then I would chant louder and then my mind becomes focussed. But some other thoughts came and then I would chant louder and my mind focussed, and then some other thoughts came and then I would chant louder Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare. Meanwhile all the devotees went and complained to Srila Prabhupada, I don’t know whether Gopal Krishna Maharaj went, but they complained that this Bhakta Jay, he chants as loud as he can and it disturbs everbody, we can’t chant in the morning sounding Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, and then Prabhupada called me to his room and ah... I bowed down and ah... I waited. Prabhupada was so patient, so kind. He said, “some devotees are complaining that you are chanting too loud. Why do you chant so loud?” So I explained to him how I read about Haridas Thakur, and how he controls his mind when other thoughts comes in and since I had many thoughts I end up chanting very loud. Then Prabhupda thought, “this is not a bad reason, but you are disturbing the other devotees.” And he thought, he said “there is a park next to the temple. You can go and... I will give you special permission, you can go and chant in the park in the morning. So I would go in the morning and chant in the park. Montreol is named after the montreol park, royal mountain. So I would be chanting of the ah... pass of the hill, that was before the joggers, there were squirrels and birds and I was thinking how to liberate the squirrels by chanting loudly Hare Krishna and I was feeling very blissful. One day ....usually Prabhupada comes in the evening to give class on Bhagavat Gita, and I remember that class because he was stressing that in Bhakti Yoga you have to be cent percent Krishna conscious. So all the devotees ah... were very introspective. Cent percent !, Cent Percent! Cebt Percent! How will we achieve that? Then they were shocked and then Prabhupada was giving class on a high seat. I remember how he turned the stairway down the street, and then he turned to the devotees, and he said, “even if you are ninety percent Krishna will still take you” Ninety percent ph..... still hard So then Prabhupada was just at the bottom of the stairs, then he turned to the devotees, “even 80%, Krishna will take you. Now there was a lot of relief, still 80% very tough. So I remember that Prabhupada was walking away from his seat and he had one arm which was dragging his chaddar, swing it over his shoulder and then he stopped and turned, “even if you do 70% Krishna will take you.”, then he held his head high and then he walked out. Srila Prabhupada Ki Devotee: Jay JPS: So having come to Krishna consciousness I thought that my parents would be very happy and I phoned up and I told them, “I became a trainee priest in the Hare Krishna movement and I will be following very strict rules and regulations”, but my father he reacted very angry, he said “You come back immediately, otherwise I will turn your name over to the American Army and you will die in Vietnam. So I asked for how long, but my mother she didn’t know what to say. Later she came up to see me. Meanwhile I asked Prabhupada, “What should I do?” He said, “Better you fight in Krishna’s army rather than being in American Army be in Krishna’s army” Then ah... to stay for a long time in Canada I had to change my...my immigration status. So I had to become a landed immigrant. So I did some enquiry and ah... it was apparently easy for American youths to become landed immigrant in Canada, but they needed to show some money. So I talked to Hamsaduta, my president and ah....so he gave me $900, then I went up to the border, crossed over and came back in and in the meantime Hamsaduta Prabhu, he went to talk to Srila Prabhupada. “I gave this bhakta $900. Now I am worried. I never gave new devotees such money.” , Prabhupada said, “don’t worry, he will be back” (laughter) So I came back and I was the landed immigrant in Canada. That is equivalent to a green card in Canada. Devoteee: Which year was that? JPS: ........in 68 and Hemavati, wife of the President, she talked to me and ah... she said that if you want to go back to Godhead you have to be married. Without being married you can’t go back to Godhead. So I was very worried. What to do? I was not thinking at the 19 age to get married. And ah... what she said if you go and get married then you can go back to Godhead. When I went to Srila Prabhupada and asked him what should I do, Hemavati Devi she had I have to get married to go back to Godhead. So Prabhupada said, “you wait till you are 25, and then you can discuss with the guru to which way you are inclined, and then you can decide whether to get married or to take sanyas.” \So that was a big relief. Six years of postponement. I got if from Srila Prabhupada directly. Every day I would learn how to cook and how to chop things up, how to clean. Then one we were told that, Srila Prabhupada was invited for the World Fair, Man and his world, Terradahome So, we were also invited along. So I had my shaved head at that time and I was wearing saffron. So the ah...the World fair had given us some tour guide to take us around, but here we were, Srila Prabhuapada and all the Indian Indians, come along with people from different countries So those who are shaved, and ah... so she didn’t know what to say and we didn’t know what to say, so... everyone was sitting uptight. Then Prbhuasa he just broke the ice, he said, “ oh yea, You have very nice hair “ And she became very happy. Those days people used to spend $20-$ 30 on fancy hair do. And then Prabhupada started talking. So Prabhupada knew what to speak at every moment and ah... he was ill till, other than that everything became very ah.. smooth. Devotee: That is till 1968 I have one question. Prabhupada apartment, are they still there or... no more? JPS: Now they have brought a church So they have big Radha Mohan deities, I think that Gopala Krishna Maharaj is still the G.B.C of that area and ah....

Transcribed by: Sadananda Krishnaprem Das