I have already described the attack upon our house in Boston. We were also sometimes attacked when we went out on kirtana in public. One day, while we were chanting on the Boston Commons, on the grass, I saw in the distance a group of about ten Hells Angels. I dreaded that they would come over to us, and they did. They broke up our kirtana. One of them took the karatalas out of my hands and wrapped them around my neck, choking me. One of them got down and knelt behind Pradyumna, and then another Hells Angel pushed Pradyumna and he fell to the ground. Jadurani did nothing. But she wrote a letter to Prabhupada asking if she could also fight the demons when they attacked. Prabhupada wrote her back that she should leave the fighting to her Godbrothers and not be engaged in it herself. When they heard about the attack by the Hells Angels, the devotees in New York were disturbed and disappointed by our behavior, and Brahmananda wrote me a letter. He told me how they had fought aggressively just outside 26 Second Avenue with some Puerto Ricans. He said the few devotees were so much into the spirit of fighting that they were beating the outsiders. One of the outsiders said to his companion, “Hey, these guys are religious. We better leave them alone.” So Brahmananda chastised me for being defeated and stopped in our kirtana. He said we were no better than the T.M. meditators who the Hells Angels also stopped from meditating on the Commons. The next Sunday when we went out to the Commons, I brought two long pieces of metal and used them to keep time in the kirtana. But I had in mind that I would use these metal pieces as weapons if we were attacked. I was psyched up and actually ready to fight and use the weapons. That week no one disturbed us, but there were always occasional disruptions.
***
Krsna-dasi changed the outfits of Radha-Govinda yesterday. Radharani is wearing reddish-brown and Govinda wears predominantly white. They are dressed the way I like Them. Radharani’s blouse reveals Her shape with a small single-looped necklace and a tight waistband, and a flaring skirt. Govinda’s lotus feet and shins are exposed. He wears a turban of red which is not too big, just the way I like it for a cowherd boy. I have been picking out the pavitra silk garlands for Srila Prabhupada. Today I asked Baladeva to use the same pavitra that we used yesterday. It’s orange and white and is a perfect combination to go with Radha-Govinda’s outfit. We don’t have to change Prabhupada’s garland every day; when we get an especially good match, we can keep the same garland for several days.
The weather outside is freezing, but the tulasis in our ashram are healthy. They are under grow lights and in a temperature-controlled house. Baladeva has a green thumb and he regularly waters them (but not too much) and clears them of bugs that attack them. He also has the crucial ingredient of devotion for Tulasi-devi. Bala and Krsna-dasi are also caretakers of Tulasi-devi. Krsna-dasi is taking over the care of half of the tulasis.
When we traveled in vans with brahmacaris, either in the Library Party or holding programs in various cities, we managed to pick up some devotees. The outstanding success was when we went to the hills of Santa Cruz, rented a house and held programs for several weeks. Two hippie couples attended our classes and gradually became so interested in Krsna consciousness that when we left Santa Cruz I convinced them to go down with us to Los Angeles and join the Los Angeles temple community. They went with us, joined, eventually became initiated by Prabhupada and are faithful devotees today. Another success was our associating with a young man in a Midwestern university. He smoked a pipe and was reading the book The Education of Henry Adams. He had intellectual inclinations, but by our association he became interested in Krsna consciousness. Later he became initiated by Srila Prabhupada and was given the name Tattva-vit dasa. Later I gave him second initiation. In another Midwest city, our group was doing harinama in a college town, and a young man became interested in our activities. He let us stay at his house. While we were there, some of his friends came and threatened, saying that he should leave our company or else. Mahabuddhi and Ghanashyam stood up to them and told them to go away. But the next morning, while we were in the washroom, Ghanashyam said to me he thought we should leave the city right away because the interested boy’s friends might come and attack us. So I did as he suggested, and we took the boy in our van and drove to Los Angeles, where he joined the temple. He eventually became initiated by Srila Prabhupada and was given the name Pundarika Vidyanidhi. He later went to Vrndavana and became like a Vrajavasi and published books of translations of the acaryas. He is a very staunch devotee living in India, and our Library Party is proud that we helped rescue him out of the clutches of the demons.
In his preface to A Lifetime in Preparation, Harvard professor Harvey Cox appreciated the use of oral biographies. These were verbatim testimonies by people who knew Prabhupada, and some by Prabhupada himself. One of my favorites was by the printer of Back to Godhead magazine. He saw Prabhupada as a very impoverished sadhu who fell behind on paying his bills to the printer. The printer suggested that Prabhupada not go on printing Back to Godhead, since he couldn’t pay for it. But Prabhupada insisted on producing the magazine. The man said he remembered Prabhupada coming to his printing shop early in the morning, wearing a worn chadar and not having eaten breakfast. The man would share a breakfast with Prabhupada, and they would go over the galleys of the latest Back to Godhead. It was a long walk for Prabhupada to get to the printer’s, but he did it because he couldn’t afford to take public transportation. And it was cold in the early mornings, and Prabhupada was not warmly dressed. The printer protested that he couldn’t go on printing the magazine because he wasn’t getting paid for it, but Prabhupada heavied him out and said he would get his money eventually, but he should go on printing. Prabhupada’s own contribution to his oral biography included fresh memories from his childhood. He told how he used to visit the Radha-Krsna Deities of the Mullik family, to whom his family was connected. Prabhupada said he used to look at the Deity for hours, appreciating His slanty eyes and watching the movements of the pujari.
Rev. John Endler wants to select some of my poems from the 1990s and send them to poetry journals in hope they’ll print them. At first I thought my poems would be too much “Hare Krsna” to be acceptable to the outside world. But John was so enthusiastic when he presented them to me. He told me my poems were twenty years ahead of their time. They were like the “slam” poetry sessions that go on now to big audiences, accompanied by rap music. He’s going to show me some of that. I decided to give him power of attorney to be my editor. He can select the poems and send them to the journals. Here’s one he picked from July 24, 1997, twenty-two years ago:
Hid wild
the poor cat, the
poor helpless chicks
of the hen, our dog
ate ’em, or he would
at least kill as sport
in his instinctive romp.
“That’s the material world.”
Feelin’ better that you can
express yourself in an
Italian espresso cappuccino
monks and long-haired girls
sixteen years old in tight Levis
sing with guitar
poems of their 1960s
eternal youth and
death the old hippie poet
is dying dead now from
misuse of the body,
all that drug-high waste–
lament you old fool
play a last jazz record
it’s too late.
I took safe eternal
path, I’m seeking ever
my Swami you can
laugh at me, America.
Line up and have a laugh
have a good look at
the thin animal in the zoo,
he’s wearing a top-knot
and wear-ever
wristwatch, he’s got a
funny look and tortured headache,
line up and have a laugh,
throw your popsicle sticks
at him—it’s his
feeding time.
No, precious,
protect me
from that
I am a holy monk in
the bathroom listening to
my master’s words.
Get down,
be submissive
fire-safe your bullets
in private
Prose hose suck
Soren
word pose ain’t
solvin’ the dilemma. Krsna Art Pose Christ Have Sale
I don’t have to work for a
living see, but I paid off the karma in headaches.
This day I’ll read the
songs sung by Lord Siva and maybe the Kumaras’
speech to Prthu—I
don’t mean Prthu Prabhu
of Germany, Ireland and San Francisco
I mean the original
shut my seal my
mouth I’m speakin’
free
the speaker of the House
Yeah, I’m Speaker of
this House and senator
too Be wit,
be revit
it’s the same old Jazz
silence of prayer
Haley
Harry
Rama.
I finished reading Natalie Goldberg’s book, Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home. It’s a memoir of her experience with cancer. She had a bad case and took multiple drip-infusions. She lost her strength and had to use a wheelchair. While she was battling with the disease, her life-partner, a Chinese woman, also was diagnosed with cancer. She had to have her breast removed and undergo chemotherapy. It was traumatic for Natalie to have her partner seized with cancer at the same time she had the disease. Natalie is finally advised to take a new drug, Ibrutinib. She has to take it once a day for three months. Natalie took the drug faithfully for three months. When she began, she addressed the Ibrutinib, “Please help me. Do the work you were created for.” After three months of taking the medicine, Natalie is informed that all signs of cancer have left her body. It is incredible good news, and when she hears it, she shouts, “Yippee!” like a cowgirl. The book reminded me of Dr. Sruti Singh, who is an oncologist serving in the Midwest. She is the daughter of my disciple Nitai-Gaurasundara who is himself an M.D., a psychiatrist. I am close to the whole Singh family, and I correspond with Sruti Singh. She writes me that she is frustrated with her patients (who have cancer) because they deny their mortality. They say, “I don’t want to die.” She asked me for advice. I wrote her back that she could speak to them from her “Hindu” scriptures. Tell about Maharaja Pariksit, who was cursed to die in seven days. He did not react with denial or lamentation. He renounced his kingdom and sat down on the bank of a sacred river. Fortunately he met the outstanding saint of his day, Sukadeva Gosvami. Maharaja Pariksit asked him, “What is the duty of a human being? Especially one who is about to die?” Sukadeva Gosvami first replied, “He should hear and chant about God.” In Goldberg’s book there is much mention of oncologists who she consults. I grew in my admiration for Sruti Singh and got a better understanding of her capability, and what she goes through as a doctor of cancer patients. It increased my respect for her.
Bombay
21st January, 1971
My Dear Satsvarupa,
Please accept my blessings and offer the same to your good wife Jadurani. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 7th January 1971, along with the enclosed articles, as well as the ISKCON Press newsletter dated January 5th, 1971.
I beg to thank you very much for the magazine interview. You have so rightly said, “It’s a hellish life without Krsna.” These words of yours have pleased me so much. Actually it is a fact, and one who has become so disgusted with material life is actually advanced in Krsna consciousness. This is first class propaganda, and it will be a hammer blow to the proponents of materialism and atheism. I am so glad that you are feeling and speaking like this, and I thank you very much. The article appears to be in a nice magazine, so if you can get further articles and interviews published in the magazines, that will be a great boon to our Movement.
It is nice to hear that the sannyasi staying there is sacrificing his Mayavadi philosophy and willing to accept the regulative principles of devotional service. I have received his letter and will reply it separately.
So far as ISKCON Press moving to NY is concerned, if Advaita feels it will benefit the Press, then why not? From your description it appears that Advaita has found a better place, and if he is taking on the responsibility of expanding the Press, then he should definitely go there. For technical matters, let Advaita go on workingnindependently. He is certainly competent. So far as decisionmaking regarding contents of publications, etc., that can be done separately.
It appears from the Press report that progress is going on with Bhagavatam Second Canto, but slowly. It will be nice if you please accelerate it.
In answer to the artist’s questions:
- Simply paint the Maha-Visnu in the heart. You can make the individual soul a very small spark or spark-like.
- Visnu has more than thousands of arms but for this picture of the Tortoise Avatar, where Visnu is sitting on top of the hill, He should be shown with four hands only. We should only paint fourhanded Visnus and not consult Kalyana-kalpataru, which is not always authorized.
- Yes, if you would like to send the painting of my Guru Maharaja here to India, why not.
- Yes, Krsna can be shown seated next to Arjuna on the chariot when Universal Form is displayed.
[PAGE MISSING]
This is a letter to me as the Temple President of Boston. ISKCON Press and its approximately 40 or 50 workers were planning to leave Boston and move to Brooklyn. This would be a great decrease in the population of the Boston temple. Actually, they didn’t find a much better location in Brooklyn. In Boston there had been a conflict with Advaita not wanting to attend the morning program and the temple devotees expecting him to attend. So he wanted to get free of that pressure. I don’t know if in Brooklyn the Temple President didn’t put pressure on him to attend the morning program. I think there was some continued pressure on him about that, and Prabhupada once wrote a letter to Brooklyn that if Advaita couldn’t attend the morning program then the Press could be shut down.
I was very happy that Prabhupada was so pleased by the magazine article. He loved my statement, “It’s a hellish life without Krsna.” He considered it great propaganda. We occasionally got coverage by magazines and newspapers, but it wasn’t always favorable. In one article that was published while Prabhupada was visiting us, the interviewer said something about us being hippies. Prabhupada was disturbed by this. It may have had an effect on the real estate agent who was trying to get us a new building. For that particular reason, Prabhupada was unhappy with the author of the article.
I think this sannyasi mentioned in the letter didn’t develop into a Krsna devotee. His Mayavadi philosophy stayed with him, and when Prabhupada heard this he said we should not allow the sannyasi to stay in the temple.
It was not unusual for the artists to ask details about what to paint. They didn’t know how many arms Visnu should have and various other details, and how to present them visually. So Prabhupada supplied the authorized information, and the painters carried it out in parampara. He said their paintings were like windows on the spiritual world. The access they had to Prabhupada in asking him questions was a great advantage and assured that their paintings would be authorized. Once a devotee painted a picture of Krsna lamenting and holding His hand on His head. Prabhupada didn’t like it and said that Krsna doesn’t lament. The artist said, “Could we title it `Krsna Has a Headache’ [referring to the pastime story of the time Krsna had a headache and asked for the dust of His devotees’ feet as a cure]? Prabhupada accepted this title of “Krsna Has a Headache.”
Sankirtana has written us that he has found more pictures of Radha-Kalachandji in the early days. He hasn’t sent them to us yet, but as a teaser he sent a picture of Prabhupada performing the first arati and devotees in attendance. I am also included, wearing a sannyasa top piece but no kurta. Prabhupada had tall ghee wicks in the lamps, and the flames reached high. It had been a tumultuous day and a half before the installation. Kalachandji arrived with some painting on His body and Jahnavi, the pujari, phoned Bharadvaja in New York and consulted with him about his removing the paint on Radha-Govinda when They first arrived in New York. But when Prabhupada heard that we removed the paint on Radha-Kalachandji, he became furious. It was on a morning walk that he said to his secretary Syamasundara that he wanted to leave Dallas immediately and that he wanted his airplane tickets changed. He was so disgusted with us. But the pujaris worked nonstop to put the paint back on the Deity, and now it was just a matter of drying Him so that He would be ready for the installation. We put fans on the Lord, and gradually He became dry enough. We brought Prabhupada in to see Him, and he was humming a sastric sloka as he walked into the room. He was calm and not angry, and he accepted that the Deity was ready for installation. That was a great relief! Kalachandji was a heavy Deity, and it took several men to carry Him safely onto the improvised wooden altar that Vamanadeva had constructed. Everything was very simple and bare. They had only a few sets of clothing. But They looked gorgeous. Kalachandji’s chest and arms were bare, and Radharani looked graceful and full of benediction beside Him. Now we are awaiting more pictures from those old days. But even if we don’t receive any better ones, the one that Sankirtana has already sent is good enough. It just has to be touched up to remove the faded portions. I saw the picture projected on the computer, and it looked much improved from the email photo he previously sent me. The computer reproduction shows some color—the red flower in Radharani’s hand and the green tulasi. Kalachandji’s chest is shiny black and attractive. So I think we will be able to carry out our plans to blow up a picture of Radha-Kalachandji and replace the picture of Radha-Madhava with it.
We have another photo of Prabhupada from this visit to Dallas. He is on his early morning walk beside a big lake. Because the sun was not up yet fully, the picture shows silhouettes. Prabhupada’s head is held up high in the regal way he carried himself. Directly behind him am I, carrying my danda and bead bag. It is a fascinating picture because of the silhouette effects.
We are approaching Gaura-Purnima. I will not be in Mayapura, where many thousands of pilgrims will visit the ISKCON Chandrodaya Mandira. That is the place to be at Gaura-Purnima. But if you can’t be in Navadvipa, then you can think of it. We are going to attend a festival here in Stuyvesant Falls March 23. Keli-lalita has said we can use the yoga studio in her house to hold a festival. She has invited us there. She will invite her yoga friends. We hope Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu will be there, and I will also speak. I will speak from “The Advent of Lord Caitanya” in the Caitanya-caritamrta. There will be kirtana, speaking and honoring prasadam. More to come as we get nearer the festival date and the preparations become completed.
Today is Ekadasi. We will follow the minimum requirements, avoiding beans and grains. In former days, after an Ekadasi book, Ekadasi Mahatmya—The Glories of Ekadasi, was published, we did more austerities. We would stay up all night and fast, and many devotees also fasted from water (nirjala Ekadasi). I remember my assistant, Madhumangala, passing out over the harmonium during the overnight bhajanas. He simply froze over the keys and stopped singing. Madhu was hypoglycemic and found it very difficult to completely fast without taking sugar or carbohydrates. Those particular practices of Ekadasi, staying up all night and fasting, produced a reaction on the next day, when the participants were wiped out from their austerities. We no longer stay up all night. The enthusiasm for the extra austerities was inspired by the Ekadasi book, which told of extra things to avoid in eating, extra austerities, and the many specific benedictions that one could gain by doing this. But a Krsna conscious brahmana could reply that all those benedictions could be attained simply by one offenseless chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra. The overnight bhajanas created a bonding among the devotees.
Radha-Govinda’s present outfits are yellow with floral trim. They remind you of spring. In India, all the Deities wear yellow on Vasant Panchami (the first day of spring). The talk at the local post office is anticipating spring. They are getting out of the grips of the long winter, even though the meteorologists predict single-digit temperature nights for the next week. The locals are so tired of winter that they’re turning to spring hopefully and making plans for gardening. Many people like to go out for walks. Often they walk their dogs, but it’s the dog-owners who are also getting exercise. People complain of gaining weight and becoming sluggish in the winter, trapped in the house. This year we had more than a usual amount of snowfall. From my point of view, I don’t see any signs of spring yet. Anytime in March we could have a heavy snowfall. The trees are still completely bare-branched, and no flowers have dared to peek up above the ground. No bird migration back to upstate New York has happened yet. In Bhagavad-gita Krsna tells Arjuna, “O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” (Bg. 2.14)
This is the book we are hearing in our meal out-loud gatherings.
As Abhay Charanaravinda De’s efforts at business diminished and failed, his spiritual life increased. In the city of Jhansi, he was asked to speak on Bhagavad-gita. He received a good reception from the medical students and eventually decided to make it his base. The owner of a memorial building verbally agreed that he could use it for his ashram, “The League of Devotees.” Prabhupada inaugurated an opening of the League, and hundreds of people attended. He printed a prospectus of the purposes of the League and invited members to join and live at the ashram. He was enthusiastic at the initial success of the venture:
“Now he was returning to the people of Jhansi with a Deity of Lord Caitanya and a determination to establish Lord Caitanya’s temple in Jhansi. Abhay met with a warm welcome from Acarya Prabhakar and others. But he also met with competition for possession of the Radha Memorial.
“It began with a Sanskrit conference, the Bandelk and Sanskrit Sammelan, which brought to Jhansi the governor of the province, K. M. Munshi, and his wife, Lilavati. An active social organizer, Lilavati Munshi had opened several branches of the Mahila Samity Sangha, a society that aimed at socially uplifting women by teaching them secretarial skills and English. Two educated Jhansi ladies, Candramukhi and Suryamukhi, wanted such a women’s social program for Jhansi, and they took the opportunity to approach Lilavati Munshi during her visit. She inspired them, and they began to talk about where in Jhansi they could open one of her social centers. Perhaps, suggested one of the ladies, the Bharati Bhavan (Radha Memorial) could be used. Although Suryamukhi Sharma had been one of the sympathizers who had first approached Mr. Bhayal on behalf of Abhay Charan De and had asked that he be given the Bharati Bhavan for his League of Devotees, she felt that the ladies’ cause was more important—and she knew that Abhay’s ownership of the buildings was not settled. The women agreed that the buildings would be an excellent facility for a Mahila Samity Sangha branch and that their cause was more urgent than Abhay Charan’s.
“Suryamukhi, assured of support by the governor’s wife, called on A.C. Bhaktivedanta. She explained that his league of worldwide Vaisnavas would never take shape. He was a nice person, and she liked him, but she didn’t think he could realize his extraordinary expectations. She suggested he vacate the Bharati Bhavan so that the governor’s wife could organize a women’s social center. “You can go here and there for the sake of building a temple,” she told him. “You are free to travel anywhere. But these poor women in Jhansi have nothing, so they must be given these buildings for their use.” She found him adamantly opposed.
“No,” Abhay said, “find another building.” Abhay argued that his work was not just for a section of people, but for all living beings. Suryamukhi left frustrated. Abhay was surprised that a member of the League of Devotees was now working against him. And the maneuver was being backed by the governor’s wife!”
(From Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta, Volume 1, A Lifetime in Preparation, “Jhansi: The League of Devotees,” pp. 164-165 of the first edition, published in Los Angeles, California)
In doing interviews for the biography, I went to Jhansi and interviewed all the people I could find. I met Prabhupada’s first disciple and assistant Acarya Prabhakar and had long talks with him. I also had a meeting with Lilavati Munshi and a couple of the other women who were connected with the Mihila Mahity Sangha and put pressure on Abhay Charan to vacate the buildings. It had been decades since they forced him out, but in my interview they were still uncomfortable and tense to talk about it. I bluntly asked them, “Did you think your Women’s Society was more important than Abhay’s religious use of the buildings?” She became uncomfortable and intimidated after so many years. There was tension in the interview. But she asserted her same position, that her cause was more urgent than Abhay Charan’s. I felt that I had discovered the “rat” in the conspiracy and felt sorry that Abhay had been driven out in this way.