20150130 Śrīla Prabhupāda Kathā

♪♪♪ mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram♪♪♪

 Jayapatāka Swami: So today we continue on the discussion about ŚrĪla Prabhupada.

Mahāvarāha Prabhuji: So this is the question from Vishwambar Kripa das for the book “Calcutta: Birth place of Śrīla Prabhupada” 

“We want to know that, how Maidan pandal program management was done? We know that HH Tamal Krishna Goswami and Giriraj Mahārāja were called from Mumbai for further helping in Maidan pandal programme. You were there and Achyuthananda  Mahārāja was there. We recently came across advertisement of Maidan pandal programme in newspaper during that time Statesman from National library in Calcutta.  We know you mentioning that, you did purchasing vegetables for devotees and taking care of devotees health. We wish to know entire detail for entire management, publicity and services?

 I don’t know if it is possible to state all the of the management arrangements. I can tell some highlights. This programme was very highly advertised, by the Bengali press, the English press and the Indian press. It was in the Maidan opposite the Indian museum. Next to the Indian museum was the YMCA, so it was in a very prominent place. Just North of the Park street junction and as we were making arrangements, in Bengal the decorators are used to building big pandals and we simply had to find out a decorator who gave a competitive price, who was well renowned and could do what we wanted. We wanted the capacity of 30,000 people and we had deities on the stage. Sometimes the devotees were chanting and dancing on the stage and sometimes it was the guest speakers. As we were making the arrangements, we got a letter. It was a postal letter. In India, they had postal letters, inland letters, card letters. So this was an inland letter and they were cut out from some magazine. Some letters, some words that spelled out to read “Fly or Die”. So they were threatening to disrupt the function. So Prabhupāda called the police chief and asked them, “What should we do?”  He said, “We will give you extra protection. There is nothing to worry about.” So we had a high presence of police force during the function, parallel with the road and the other side of the pandal was the kitchen and they have a large facility to make prasādam for distribution. It was quite common to have khichdi. But here Prabhupadā wanted to give a little special prasadam. So he gave us about 3 or 4 preparation. He said there should be khichidi, there should be chutney, there should be some puris and some sweet. Everybody should get all these 4 preparations. And it should be served on some leaf plate and given out to each of the guests. So it was a major operation, to cook for 30,000 people. But by the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda, everything was possible. So sometimes the devotees would lead the kirtan, walk into the crowd, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and asking the people to raise their hands and chant with the devotees. So there was a large amount of enthusiasm and everyone like to participate. And they are chanting and dancing along with the holy name. I think one of the guest speakers was a diplomat. He was a prevalent Consulate General from a Commonwealth country, a High Commissioner or Commissioner is from Non- Commonwealth country. A consul or a consulate is from a Commonwealth country and a Non- Commonwealth country is called a Commissioner or High Commissioneṛ [11.24-12.24]  So we had some guest speakers that Prabhupāda and we had some other guest chanters, who were devotees from different countries of the world and the big publicity of 30,000 participants. So for a dozen years people were saying “Oh! I attended your programme in the Maidan” Even after 10 years they still remembered it,”Oh! I attended your programme at the Maidan”.

Mahāvarāha Prabhuji: Letter from Srila Prabhupada-----[13.48] 

Camp:Kailash Siksaria

74, Marine Drive, Mumbai

December 20th 1970

My dear Jayapatākā Mahārāja, 

Please accept my blessings,

I ------[13.57-14.02] to acknowledge the receipt of your letters dated  16th------[14.02-14-07] addressed to me and Tamal Kṛṣṇa along with a Bengali letter from Sagar Mahārāja. This morning I have also received your telegram and I have replied as follows, 

reduce the period as they like, payment in full on vacant possession

 Letter followṣ

A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami

The idea is that we can arrange to pay them immediately 6.2 lakhs, if we get full vacant possessioṇ. But I think it is not possible because the tenant cannot vacate within less than 6 months. We are not interested in realising the rent from the house. We need the place for our own accommodation. Therefore vacant possession is essentiaḷ. The best thing will be that, let them give us possession of the ground floor and we are prepared to pay them proportionately, immediately upto 2 lakh of rupees or more. A balance will be paid as early as possible, when we get the other two storeys vacant it is upto theṃ. Some arrangements should be made like that.

 In Kolkata, the tenants have got tremendous rights and it’s almost impossible to get a tenant out. You have to pay a tenant to go somewhere else. So Prabhupāda understood all this and then said we could pay the proportionate amount however we get possession of it and the part with the tenant. So the full payment will be made when we get full possession. [Interpreter questions,Which payment will be made? So Guru Mahārāja repeats again, full payment] So Prabhupāda was very expert in all his land dealings. And any deviation from what he was suggesting , [Repeats again] could end up in havoc later on. Somehow the Hamilton house owners were not able to give the pre clear possession. So this was the stalemate. In the end some Chamber of Commerce got the building.

Mahāvarāha Prabhuji: You have suggested in your letter dated December 16th that a gentle lawyer is prepared to give us free service in the above transaction, it is welcome. As you have suggested, you can immediately form a committee with 5 or 6 members comprising, Mr. Mohta, Mrs. Birla, Mṛ.Podar, Mṛ. Goenka and any two of you, preferably yourself and Madhuvisa Mahārāja. You can immediately form this fund-raising committee and do the needfuḷ. So far Sagar Mahārāja is concerned, I have already written a letter, C/O Mṛ.Pradhan, as he gave the address. So if his presence is necessary, he can remain otherwise he can come back with the type-writer and my bookṣ. Just now I have received telephonic message from Tamal, the book affair is settled up and he is returning on Tuesday.

Hope this meets you in good healtḥ

Your ever well-wisher

A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami

Guru Mahārāja asks what book?

Mahāvarāha prabhuji replies, book affair, not book fair, and he is returning on Tuesday.

 There are three things here:- forming a committee, a fund raising committee, then Sagar Mahārāja and book affaiṛ

 Guru Mahārāja: The names mentioned on the fund raising committee, are business elites in Calcutta. What were their names? Podar Birla,Mota, Goenka. Translate who who in Rajasthan. I think that one mentioned Mrs.Mohta, she is the daughter of the Birla family and she married to Mohta.[ Guru Mahārāja spells M—O—H—T-Ā, Mohta] And there are many Podars. But this is one of the esteemed Podars. So Prabhupāda was mobilising them to get the Hamilton house or some other suitable house. So as Prabhupadā mentioned, we made a fund raising committee.

 For some reason, Sagar Mahārāja , he had a great desire for the typewriter of Śrīla Prabhupāda at the Ardha Kumbha mela at Allahabad, he also took off with the  portable typewriter and we had a small team of devotees in Calcutta. And if I have the names right, Sagar Mahārāja was a professional con artist and his specialty was Gaudiya  matts, he knew all the Gaudiya songs. We arrived at one Sealdah station and he ducked down, behind some cars, he said,” See them Gaudiya matt. Don’t let them see me. Don’t tell them I am here because they want me to come back to their ashram.” We were slow, so we said okay. And he went in and hid in some place and he wasn’t seen by the Gaudiya matt. Later the Gaudiya matt told us,”That guy, he stole from us. He stole from this matt, that matt. He is a professional Gaudiya matt thief. He knows all the mantras, all the pranams and you all think he is very great sannyasi but he is a thief.” So that’s why he didn’t want to be seen because they would have grabbed him and given him to the police. That’s why I was trying to see, since he is saying, he already has the typewriter. Somehow in my mind, I had that, Prabhupāda lost the typewriter in the Kumba mela. I don’t know if he had lost it twice or in my mind I just got confuseḍ. Anyway we kept their money in the bank and he was good that he showed us he knew the routes,he knew how to get around. So if Prabhupāda was taking him back, taking him back [Guru Mahārāja  repeats. Interpreter not able to understand hence Guru Mahārāja repeats again.] TAKING HIM back, maybe he had not stolen the typewriter at that time. Or he gave it back and said, “Oh!” and just said something.[27.21-28] He was a good talker.---[not audible 28.05] Could be on several things, but it was settled. 

Not audible 28.25-28.30

Are we on the internet today? How many are watching? 

Interpreter replies 20

So tomorrow we go to the hospital for weekly check- up. And since this is the first check up after the procedure, we don’t know how long they will keep us and how much medicine I will have to take. So there may not be a class on Saturday night and probably should there be on Sunday night. Otherwise we are having a JSSS meeting on Nityananda Trayodashi at the temple, abhishek at noon and afternoon the JSSS meeting. So you can stay tuned in, if not in Jayapatākā Swami Channel, then maybe on the Parthasarathy temple channel or we could be back here on time and give a class in the evening.

We have been translating some of the Caitanya lila book. I am saving one Caitanya lila for the JSSS meeting. But there are many lilas. Like Lord Caitanya taking the sacred thread or the upanayanam where his father and mother discussed that it was time he take the sacred thread. So they picked out an auspicious day and they called all the relatives and neighbors, senior brahmanas. So they shaved up Lord Caitanya when he was 9 years old and they gave him. Who has that hair by the way, I like to get a bit of that hair. Anyone has it? They don’t say this hair was kept at the Samadhi. And the Samadhi hair is when he was taking sanyaas, that’s in Katwa. But where is the upanayanam hair? They all gave me a smile. We will ask this in the Caitanya quiz? Whoever gives me the piece of hair of Lord Caitanya, will give that person a high score. By the way I just pulled out some questions for the Caitanya quiz. So after shaving, Lord Caitanya, Vishvambhar , he took his bath in the Ganges and then they gave him a saffron cloth . So then he picked up the rod and a begging bowl, kamandalu. So this is like his Vamana Dev lila. When he was showing himself as a young dwarf brāhmaṇa. At that time he suddenly recalls, that in this lila he will deliver the fallen souls and give them Kṛṣṇa bhakti which has never been given before. –[-35.25-35.30] give prem bhakti to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. So he picked up the rod and looked around and personified sin, saw his glance and ran. AND RAN [Guru Mahārāja says loudly] He was so afraid. And then Lord Caitanya ROARED ROAA-ĀARR [Guru Mahārāja makes roaring sound]. I can’t roar like Lord Caitanya. But all the brāhmaṇas present there were very inspired and while Lord Caitanya was taking his thread, his father spoke the veda mantra in his ear and taking his begging bag, went to neighbouring houses and asked for bhikṣā,”BHIKṢĀ DEHO, BHIKṢĀ DEHO” And so the ladies in the neighbouring houses started laughing ad giggling. They were filling the begging bag of Lord Vishvambhar with fruits and vegetables, rice and grains. And they were smiling while giving the Lord his bhikṣā. Like this he went from house to house, begging. All the householders gave him some bhikṣā. So like this different pastimes of Lord Caitanya which the devotees don’t usually get to hear. They are all being translated in the Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book. Haribol!!

Guru Mahārāja: Are there any questions on the internet?

Shyam Madhusudan prabhuji: This question is from Lalitangi Radha Devi Dasi, it says”Please accept my humble obeisanaces unto your feeṭ. Please can you tell of the first Nityānanda Trayodasi you observed? Where and when was it?

Guru Mahārāja: Montreal, Canada. 1971….1969

Tags: Śrīla Prabhpāda, Maidan programme, prasādam,khichidi, letter, possession, tenant, committee, Sagar Mahārāja, Gaudiya Matt, typewriter, Caitanya lila, upanayanam, hair, Vamana Dev lila, Bhikṣā