036 Srila Prabhupada in Bombay, 1970 - 1977

All of a sudden one day he came to office and he said, “I want to go to America.” I said to him, “Are you crazy? Why do you want to go there? What will you do? Who will look after you? What will you do there?” So he said…. So I said, “All right, I will make this arrangement and then you go.” So when the arrangement was made, he was in Bombay, I made all the arrangements with the captain and the ship went. In 1970 Śrīla Prabhupāda returned to India with some disciples. When Śrīla Prabhupāda arrived in Bombay you could say he took Bombay by storm. People were astonished that Americans and Europeans and Orientals could totally accept Kṛṣṇa consciousness and Vedic culture. I’ll never forget the program at Chowpatty Beach that was organized by the Bhārata Sādhu Samāja. There were thousands of people. I could never imagine so many people could gather in one place to hear spiritual discourses. We started the kīrtan sitting and gradually all the devotees stood up on the stage and began to dance at the front of the stage. Pretty soon the whole group of us were chanting and dancing through the audience, thousands of people and they were standing up, they were swaying on their feet and they got completely captivated by the whole mood. And the whole atmosphere was completely transformed. One of our close friends and supporters, Sadaji Whitlaw, suggested that we should put on our own pandal. I mean for us to put on our own pandal then seemed impossible but Śrīla Prabhupāda encouraged us. By the end of the publicity campaign everyone knew about the program and as the final climax to the publicity, Śyāmasundara arranged a blimp that was fixed to the sight at Cross Maidan in down-town Bombay and that hovered over the city, “Hare Kṛṣṇa Festival - Cross Maidan” And on the opening night thousands of people streamed into the pandal and every night we had about twenty thousand people and on the weekends maybe thirty thousand. And it was a tremendous success. Then one evening Śrīla Prabhupāda had a ceremony on stage, a marriage. So the marriage featured Vegavān from Sweden and Padmāvatī from Australia and they were married with the proper Vedic fire ceremony in front of twenty thousand people. Śrīla Prabhupāda declared: “This is the real united nations.” And the whole audience began to cheer and clap, thousands of people. Juhu was just a simple fishing village. There was one hotel there because of the beautiful beach and there were two more under construction and it was considered very remote. The explanation of expert devotees is that Kṛṣṇa was actually not absent from Vṛndāvana; He came back with Nanda Mahārāja as promised. When He was going to Mathurā on the chariot driven by Akrūra and the gopīs were practically blocking the way, Kṛṣṇa assured them that He was coming back just after finishing His business in Mathurā. He told them not to be overwhelmed, and in this way He pacified them. We remember Him playing in those places because He was constantly visiting them. Therefore Māyāvādī takes that this Kṛṣṇa-līlā is māyā. They are surprised. “How God can be affectionate like this.” He is nivaka[?], He is without any attachment. They cannot understand Kṛṣṇa philosophy. Because he is playing exactly like human being they think, “Oh, He is human being, māyā,” Māyāvāda, this is called Māyāvāda. How wonderful it is that Kṛṣṇa took in one hand the big, heavy bow made of three joined palm trees and broke it very quickly! How wonderful it is that continually for seven days He held up Govardhana Hill in one hand! How wonderful it is that He has killed all the demons. After signing the sales agreement and getting possession of the land Śrīla Prabhupāda organized a huge pandal right on the Juhu land and even though it was far from the city and not so many of our friends from the city came but many of the local people came. And as part of the proceedings Śrīla Prabhupāda had the corner stone laying ceremony. So we selected this Bombay. Bombay city is the best city, most advanced city, in India. And people are also very nice, they are religiously inclined, therefore I wanted to start this center, Bombay, for spreading this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Although there have been many impediments in my endeavor, still ultimately it is Kṛṣṇa’s business, it will come successful. So today, the foundation and corner-stone establishment was done two years before but there were many, many impediments from the asuric jana. Now somehow or other we have got little relief from such impediments so we are putting this corner stone this auspicious day and I am very glad that you have joined us. So the mission is very, very authorized therefore my request is that the inhabitants of Bombay, especially those who are our members, they will kindly take active part in how to make this institution very successful in Bombay. This land was called “Nair-wadi,” now it is “Hare Kṛṣṇa Land.” One day Guruji was here. Myself, Valiya and my wife was there, in that room. Valiya said to Guruji that “Guruji Mr. Nair will not give you this land because he has been offered by some hotel owner for 36 lakhs and you are purchasing for 14 lakhs and Mr. Nair has to pay so much income tax. So he must have changed his idea and he will give the land to that person who has offered 36 lakhs.” Then Guruji said, “There is no matter. If he doesn’t want to give us this land then he must return our money but I don’t think he can pay the income tax in this life.” So Guruji went at the night to Sydney. And when we wake up in the morning we heard that Mr. Nair’s heart failed and he died. At the second Bombay pandal Śrī Śrī Kiśora Kiśorī that were later sent to Chicago and installed there were the Deities at the pandal program. And on the last day of the pandal during the last kīrtan Śrīla Prabhupāda stood up and began to dance and of course the devotees were always dancing whenever there was kīrtan in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s presence especially but when he stood up and danced the devotees went wild. And then Prabhupāda began to dance in a circle around the Deities, Śrī Śrī Kiśora Kiśorī, and then the devotees were also dancing in a circle following Śrīla Prabhupāda. So in the beginning before the creation God is existing and after the creation, when the creation is annihilated, He will be existing. This is called transcendental… The same cloth but the tailor according to the body makes a covering of this hand and this looks like a hand. This covering of the chest looks like a chest. Therefore the impersonal means the material covering. Otherwise the spirit soul is personal. Just like you go to the tailor. According to your body the tailor will cut a coat. This coat, the ingredients of the coat, the cloth, that is impersonal, but it is made like a person. Covering of the person. In other words the spirit soul is personal as much as God is also personal. impersonal means the covering. Try to understand. The covering is impersonal. Not the living being who is covered. He is not impersonal, he is personal. Very simple example. The coat / shirt is impersonal. But the man who is putting on the coat and shirt, he is not impersonal, he is personal. So how God can be impersonal? The material energy is impersonal. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. This jagat is avyakta, impersonal. That is also energy of Kṛṣṇa therefore we say I am expanded in the impersonal form. That impersonal feature is Kṛṣṇa’s energy. So the material covering is impersonal but the spirit soul or the Supersoul is personal. Any questions on this? It is very intricate question, anyone? If there is any difficulty to understand. Because I have heard so many of these so-called yogis in English about Gītā and this and that but they can not explain… How can they explain? They can not touch even Bhagavad-gītā. They have no qualification. Their speaking on Bhagavad-gītā is artificial. They cannot speak. Because the real qualification, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktosi[?], one must be devotee and then he can touch what is Bhagavad-gītā. Even in Māyāpur when we went to visit that time Śrīdhar Swami’s ashram and he spoke something in English, some other man spoke in English. They cannot explain like you Śrīla Prabhupāda. You are the only one that when you speak this knowledge it becomes immediately enters into the ear and into the heart. And then it is realized. Maybe. Viśākhā you think also like that. Without a doubt. Unfortunately I am thinking this is American pains and pleasures, this is Indian pains and pleasures. Pains and pleasures is the same. It is neither American nor African. Pains and pleasure is the same. So as soon as this consciousness that I am feeling American pains, American pleasure. As soon as this is over then we come to the original consciousness. Because consciousness cannot be American or African. If I pinch you the pain felt by you is the same when I pinch the African. Therefore the consciousness is the same. Artificially we are thinking that American consciousness, African consciousness, actually that is not the position. Simply this misunderstanding has to be cleared out. That is called ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. Is it not a fact? The consciousness of feeling pains and pleasure, can it be American or Indian? No. It is the same. Artificially we are thinking that it is American pains or it is Indian pains. That is artificial. This artificial covering has to be removed, then we come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Feelings… The consciousness is not American, African or Indian. The consciousness is the same. When you feel hungry is that Americans feel a different way hungry, the Africans feel in a different way. Hungry, appetite, is the same. Now if you say this is American appetite, this is Indian appetite, that is artificial. So when you do not go to the artificial platform, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is explained in Nārada-pañcarātra. When we become free from these artificial designations, American consciousness, Indian consciousness, African consciousness, there is no such thing, this is artificial. Even bird and beast, they also feel consciousness. Pains and pleasures. Just like when there is scorching heat you feel some pains. Is that American, Indian or African? Scorching heat is everywhere. If you say that I am feeling scorching heat American way. Simply these are artificial. Everything is depending on consciousness therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the original standard of consciousness. In 1977 we organized the last public preaching program for Śrīla Prabhupāda, the last pandal program. When Gurudāsa put on the first Delhi pandal he invited important persons from different fields to attend as chief guests every night and to speak so we followed the same pattern now for what turned out to be Śrīla Prabhupāda’s last public pandal program. One evening Śrīla Prabhupāda had Svarūpa Dāmodara dāsa [at the time] give a presentation to the audience with slides and different scientific arguments in favor of the existence of the soul. Śrīla Prabhupāda was so please with the presentation. As part of the last pandal program in 1977 the Vaikuṇṭha Players performed Rāmāyaṇa and the people of Bombay were overwhelmed. They had never seen such a professional quality performance with beautiful costumes, powerful acting, and the mood in the pandal at the time was as if Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa and Hanumān and Lord Rāma Himself were personally present. Also during the last Bombay pandal Śrīla Prabhupāda performed initiations. Perhaps the last public ceremony with the fire sacrifice and many devotees were initiated on Rāmanavamī day and many of them were given names related to Rāma so it was a very poignant moment when Śrīla Prabhupāda left Juhu for the last time and within our hearts we all felt that he will not return. And then the car pulled out of the driveway and left Hare Kṛṣṇa Land. We were thinking how is it that Prabhupāda left before the temple opened. It’s almost as if his life’s ambition had been to see that the temple opened and somehow we came to the conclusion that Prabhupāda wanted us to feel his presence in his apparent separation and we did. We all felt that Śrīla Prabhupāda was present and we think now and we thought then of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s own words of dedication to his spiritual master that he lives forever by his divine instructions and the follower lives with him.