SPD05-03 Śrīla Prabhupāda in Bombay, 1970–1977
SPD05-03
Srila Prabhupada in
Bombay, 1970-1977
Srila Prabhupada in
Bombay, 1970-1977
[00:01] [Sumati Morarjee:] All of a sudden, one day he came to office and he said,
[00:05] "I want to go to America." I said to him, "Are you crazy?
[00:09] Why do you want to go there? What will you do?
[00:12] Who will look after you? What will you do there?"
[00:15] So he said [Hindi].
[00:17] I said, "All right, I will make this arrangement, then you go."
[00:21] So when the arrangement was made, he was in Bombay.
[00:26] I made all these arrangement with the captain, and the ship went.
[00:43] [Giriraja:] In 1970, Srila Prabhupada returned to India with some disciples.
[00:51] When Srila Prabhupada arrived in Bombay you could say he took Bombay by storm.
[00:58] People were astonished that Americans and Europeans and Orientals could
[01:07] totally accept Krsna consciousness and Vedic culture.
[01:13] I'll never forget the program at Chowpatty Beach that was organized by the Bharata Sadhu Samaj.
[01:23] There were thousands of people.
[01:25] I could never imagine that so many people could gather in one place to hear spiritual discourses.
[01:33] And we started the kirtana sitting, and gradually all the devotees stood up on the stage
[01:40] and began to dance at the front of the stage.
[01:45] Pretty soon, the whole group of us were chanting and dancing through the audience,
[01:51] thousands of people, and they were standing up, they were swaying on their feet,
[01:58] and they got completely captivated by the whole mood,
[02:04] and the whole atmosphere was completely transformed.
[02:52] One of our close friends and supporters, Sada Jiwat Lal,
[02:58] suggested that we should put on our own panḍal.
[03:04] I mean, for us to put on our own panḍal then seemed impossible,
[03:11] but Srila Prabhupada encouraged us.
[03:14] By the end of the publicity campaign, everyone knew about the program,
[03:20] and as the final climax to the publicity, Syamasundara arranged a blimp
[03:31] that was fixed to the site at Cross Maidan in downtown Bombay and that
[03:39] hovered above the city, you know, "Hare Krishna Festival Cross Maidan."
[03:48] And on the opening night, thousands of people streamed into the panḍal, and every night
[03:55] we had about twenty thousand people, and on the weekends maybe thirty thousand.
[04:04] And it was a tremendous success. Then one evening Srila Prabhupada
[04:13] had a ceremony onstage, a marriage. So the marriage featured Vegavan from Sweden and
[04:24] Padmavati from Australia, and they were married with the proper Vedic fire ceremony
[04:32] in front of twenty thousand people. Srila Prabhupada declared,
[04:38] "This is the real United Nations."
[04:41] And the whole audience began to cheer and clap, thousands of people.
[04:45] Juhu was just a simple fishing village. There was one hotel there,
[04:53] because of the beautiful beach, and there were two more under construction,
[04:58] and it was considered very remote.
Morning Walk, Juhu Beach
[05:02] [Devotee reading from Krsna book:] "The explanation of expert devotees is that Krsna was actually not absent from Vrndavana;
[05:08] He came back with Nanda Maharaja as promised.
[05:12] When He was going to Mathura on the chariot driven by Akrūra, and the gopis were
[05:17] practically blocking the way, Krsna assured them that He was coming back
[05:22] just after finishing His business in Mathura. He told them not to be overwhelmed,
[05:29] and in this way He pacified them.
[05:31] 'We remember Him playing in those places because He was constantly visiting them.' "
[05:37] [Prabhupada:] Therefore Mayavadi takes that this krsna-lila is maya. They are surprised,
[05:45] "How God can be affectionate like this? He is nirvikara,
[05:52] He is without any attachment." They cannot understand Krsna philosophy.
[06:07] Because He is playing exactly like human being they think,
[06:11] "Oh, He is human being, maya." Mayavada. This is called Mayavada.
[06:19] [Devotee reading from Krsna book:] " 'How wonderful it is that Krsna took in one hand the big, heavy bow
[06:22] made of three joined palm trees and broke it very quickly!
[06:26] How wonderful it is that continually for seven days He held up Govardhana Hill
[06:31] in one hand! How wonderful it is that He has killed all the demons.' "
[08:54] [Giriraja:] [narrating] After signing the sales agreement and getting possession of the land, Srila Prabhupada
[09:01] organized a huge panḍal right on the Juhu land, and even though it was far from the city
[09:09] and not so many of our friends from the city came, but many of the local people came.
[09:15] And as part of the proceedings, Srila Prabhupada had the cornerstone-laying ceremony.
Cornerstone-Laying Ceremony, January 25, 1975
[09:23] [Prabhupada:] So, we selected this Bombay. Bombay is the city..., is the best city, most advanced city, in India.
[09:40] And people are also very nice; they are religiously inclined. Therefore
[09:46] I wanted to start this center, Bombay, for spreading this Krsna consciousness movement.
[09:55] Although there have been many impediments in my endeavor,
[10:01] still, ultimately it is Krsna's business; it will come successful.
[10:07] So today, the foundation and cornerstone establishment was done two years before,
[10:19] but there were many, many impediments from the asuric jana.
[10:26] Now some way or other we have got little relief from such impediments,
[10:35] so we are putting this cornerstone this auspicious day,
[10:41] and I am very glad that you have joined us.
[10:46] So the mission is very, very authorized; therefore my request is that
[10:56] the inhabitants of Bombay, especially those who are our members,
[11:03] they will kindly take active part how to make this institution very successful in Bombay.
[remembering 1971 and 1972]
[11:13] [Sri P. L. Sethi:] This land was called "Nair-wadi"; now it is "Hare Krishna Land."
[11:23] One day, Guruji was here. Myself, Valiya and my wife was there, in that room.
[11:32] Valiya said to Guruji that "Guruji, Mr. Nair will not give you this land, because he had
[11:40] been offered by some hotel owner for 36 lakhs, and you are purchasing for 14 lakhs, and
[11:56] Mr. Nair has to pay so much income tax. So he must be change his idea,
[12:04] and he will give the land to that person who has offered for 36 lakhs."
[12:13] Then Guruji said, "There is no matter. If he don't want to give this land to us, that
[12:22] he must return our money. But I don't think that he can pay the income tax in this life."
[12:33] So Guruji went at the night to Sydney,
[12:42] and when we wake up in the morning we heard that Mr Nair's heart failed and he died.
[12:55] [Giriraja:] At the second Bombay panḍal, Sri Sri Kisora-Kisori, that were later sent to Chicago
[13:04] and installed there, were the Deities at the panḍal program.
[13:11] And on the last day of the panḍal, during the last kirtana, Srila Prabhupada stood up and
[13:16] began to dance. And of course, the devotees were always dancing
[13:23] whenever there was kirtana in Srila Prabhupada's presence especially,
[13:26] but when he stood up and danced, the devotees went wild.
[13:31] And then Prabhupada began to dance in a circle around the Deities,
[13:35] Sri Sri Kisora-Kisori, and then the devotees were also dancing in a circle,
[13:40] following Srila Prabhupada.
Roof Conversation, March 27, 1974
[16:51] [Prabhupada:] So in the beginning, before the creation, God is existing, and after the creation,
[17:06] when the creation is annihilated, He will be existing. This is called transcendental. [break]
[17:17] The same cloth, but the tailor, according to the body, makes a covering of this hand
[17:30] and this looks like a hand; this covering of the chest looks like a chest.
[17:38] Therefore the impersonal means the material covering.
[17:46] Otherwise, the spirit soul is person. Just like you go to the tailor.
[17:54] According to your body, the tailor will cut a coat.
[17:59] This coat, the ingredients of the coat, the cloth, that is imperson,
[18:07] but it is made like a person, covering of the person.
[18:15] In other words, the spirit soul is person as much as God is also person.
[18:25] Imperson means the covering. Try to understand.
[18:33] The covering is imperson, not the living being who is covered.
[18:43] He is not imperson; he is person. Very simple example.
[18:51] The coat-shirt is imperson,
[18:54] but the man who is putting on coat and..., he is not imperson; he is person.
[19:04] So how God can be imperson? The material energy is imperson.
[19:14] That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita, maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-mūrtina [Bg. 9.4].
[19:32] This jagat is avyakta, imperson. And that is also energy of Krsna.
[19:42] Therefore it is said, "I am expanded in the impersonal form."
[19:50] That impersonal feature is Krsna's energy. So the material covering is impersonal,
[20:04] but the spirit soul, or the Supersoul, is person. Any question on this?
[20:13] It is very intricate question. Anyone? If there is any difficulty to understand.
[20:25] [Bhava-bhūti:] Because I have heard so many of these so-called yogis in English about Gita,
[20:30] and this and that, but they cannot explain, not even an inkling.
[20:35] [Prabhupada:] How can they explain? They cannot touch even Bhagavad-gita.
[20:41] They have no qualification. Their speaking on Bhagavad-gita is artificial.
[20:48] They cannot speak. Because the real qualification, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita,
[20:54] bhakto'si, one must be devotee, then he can touch what is Bhagavad-gita.
[21:00] [Bhava-bhūti:] Even in Mayapur, when we went to visit that time Sridhara Svami's asrama,
[21:06] and he spoke something in English, some other man spoke in English...
[21:10] They cannot explain like you, Srila Prabhupada.
[21:12] You are the only one that when you speak this knowledge, it becomes
[21:18] immediately enters into the ear and into the heart. And then it is realized.
[21:23] [Prabhupada:] Maybe. [laughs]
[21:28] Visakha, you think also like that?
[21:30] [Visakha:] Without a doubt.
[21:32] [Prabhupada:] Hare Krsna. [break] Unfortunately, I am thinking, "This is American pains and pleasures,"
[21:45] "This is Indian pains and pleasures." Pains and pleasure is the same.
[21:51] It is neither American nor African. Pains and pleasure is the same.
[21:58] So as soon as this consciousness, that "I am feeling American pains, American
[22:07] pleasure," as soon as this is over, then we come to the original consciousness.
[22:15] Because consciousness cannot be American or African.
[22:20] If I pinch you, the pain felt by you is the same when I pinch the African.
[22:30] So therefore the consciousness is the same.
[22:33] Artificially we are thinking that "American consciousness," "African consciousness."
[22:40] Actually that is not the position. Simply this misunderstanding has to be cleared out.
[22:49] That is called ceto-darpana-marjanam . Is it not a fact?
[22.55] [Bhava-bhūti:] Oh, yes, Srila Prabhupada. It's a fact.
[22:58] [Prabhupada:] The consciousness of feeling pains and pleasure, can it be American or Indian?
[23:04] [Bhava-bhūti:] No.
[23:05] [Prabhupada:] It is the same. Artificially we are thinking it is American pain or it is Indian pain.
[23:13] That is artificial. This artificial covering has to be removed.
[23:19] Then we come to Krsna consciousness.
[23:29] Feelings... The consciousness is not American, African or Indian.
[23:32] Consciousness is the same.
[23:36] When you feel hungry, is that Americans feel a different way hungry,
[23:43] and the African feels in a different way? So hungry, appetite, is the same.
[23:54] Now if you say, "This is American appetite" and "This is Indian appetite," that is artificial.
[24:04] So when you do not go to the artificial platform, that is Krsna consciousness.
[24:16] That is explained in Narada Pancaratra,
[24:21] sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam, hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate [Brs. 1.1.12].
[24:32] When we become free from these artificial designations, "American consciousness,"
[24:40] "Indian consciousness," "African consciousness..." There is no such thing.
[24:44] This is artificial. Even bird and beast, they also feel consciousness, pains and pleasures.
[24:57] Just like when there is scorching heat you feel some pain.
[25:02] Is that American, Indian or African? Scorching heat is everywhere.
[25:11] If you say that "I am feeling scorching heat American way,"
[25:17] [Hindi exchange with Indian lady]
[25:22] simply these are artificial.
[25:26] Everything is depending on consciousness. Everything is depending on consciousness; therefore Krsna consciousness
[25:35] is the original standard of consciousness.
[remembering]
[25:44] [Giriraja:] In 1977 we organized the last public preaching program for Srila Prabhupada,
[25:56] the last panḍal program.
[25:58] When Gurudasa Prabhu put on the first Delhi panḍal, he invited important persons
[26:06] from different fields to attend as chief guests every night and to speak,
[26:14] so we followed the same pattern now for Srila Prabhupada's last..., what turned out to be his
[26:20] last public panḍal program.
[26:23] One evening Srila Prabhupada had Svarūpa Damodara dasa (at the time) give a
[26:31] presentation to the audience with slides and different scientific arguments in favor of the existence of the soul.
[26:43] Srila Prabhupada was so pleased with the presentation.
[26:47] As part of the last panḍal program in 1977 the Vaikuntha Players performed Ramayana,
[26:55] and the people of Bombay were overwhelmed.
[27:01] They had never seen such a professional quality performance, with beautiful costumes,
[27:11] powerful acting, and the mood in the panḍal at the time was as if Sita and Laksmana and
[27:23] Hanuman and Lord Rama Himself were personally present.
[27:27] Also during the last Bombay panḍal Srila Prabhupada performed initiations,
[27:36] perhaps the last public ceremony with the fire sacrifice, and many devotees were initiated
[27:46] on Ramanavami day, and many of them were given names related to Rama.
[27:52] So it was a very poignant moment when Srila Prabhupada left Juhu for the last time,
[28:02] and within our hearts we all felt that he will not return.
[28:09] And then the car pulled out of the driveway and left Hare Krishna Land.
[28:16] We were thinking, you know, "How is it that Prabhupada left before the temple opened?"
[28:22] It's almost as if his life's ambition had been to see that the temple opened then.
[28:30] And somehow we came to the conclusion that Prabhupada wanted us to feel
[28:36] his presence even in his apparent separation. And we did.
[28:42] We all felt that Srila Prabhupada was present. And we think now, and we thought then,
[28:50] of Srila Prabhupada's own words of dedication to his spiritual master,
[28:58] that "He lives forever by his divine instructions, and the follower lives with him."
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