Room Conversation with Gaura-Govinda and Girirāja

Bhakti-caru: [Bengali] Gaura-Govinda Mahārāja.

Prabhupāda: [Bengali]

Gaura-Govinda: It's okay. Bhāgavata has arrived. Bhāgavata has arrived, so I came here to have darśana.

Prabhupāda: [Bengali]

Gaura-Govinda: We have been to Jagannātha Purī, and some jagannātha-prasāda we have brought for you. Will you take some?

Prabhupāda: [Bengali] What work he gives? [Bengali]

Gaura-Govinda: Now we'll begin construction. Our architect-engineer, Saṁjāta, was there. He was planning, and he was making plans, but unfortunately he passed away the last 23rd. So...

Prabhupāda: What happened?

Gaura-Govinda: He suffered from fever. He had some fever, high fever. So he fell unconscious. The doctor came and gave some medicine. The fever was checked, but he gave some high-power medicines that affected his brain, and so he couldn't speak. He just collapsed and stayed still. We came to the hospital that night. Doctor tried his best. He gave saline and oxygen. He stayed the whole night, but at the daybreak he passed away, when the morning came, just on the morning, 23rd morning. It was ekādaśī day. That day he passed away. And on the day Bhāgavata reached. The very moment Bhāgavata reached there, he passed away.

Prabhupāda: Even doctor gives treatment, not reliable. They make experiment.

Gaura-Govinda: Yes.

Bhakti-caru: [Bengali about Jagannātha prasāda]

Prabhupāda: No... Kono... Give me some taste. I lost taste.

Bhakti-caru: [offers miśri-jala]

Gaura-Govinda: With me it is Bhaktivikāśa Mahāyogī Mahārāja at Bhadrak who has donated that maṭha at Bhadrak. We have started new center? He has come with me to see you.

Prabhupāda: Oh. Where is he?

Gaura-Govinda: Here.

Prabhupāda: Bhaktivikāśa Mahārāja, daṅḍavat. [Bengali]

Bhaktivikāśa: [Bengali]

Prabhupāda: [Bengali, asks about Parvat Mahārāja] What is the position of Bhadrak?

Gaura-Govinda: Bhadrak, there are three devotees now—Ātma-tattva, Kṛṣṅadāsa and Rohiṅī-nandana—and they were preaching and making some members. Bhadrak is a good place for preaching. And I also come there. Just on the 1st November, there was a festival that on that day Caitanya Mahāprabhu arrived there when He was going from Jagannātha Purī to Vṛndāvana. They observe that festival. So they had invited us to speak in that meeting on that day. Bhāgavata and I came. There was a great festival, and we do nagara-saṅkīrtana in the evening. In the meeting Bhāgavata spoke and then I spoke. This was very nice.

Prabhupāda: People are coming?

Gaura-Govinda: Yes, people are coming. People are coming. It is nice. In Bhadrak they have eight acres of land there. It's cultivated land. If we can manage ourselves, then that will be nice. Now this Mahārāja has given it to other agents. They'll take half and give the half. Nobody was there to look after it. So if we look after it now personally, and take it up ourselves, then it will be managed nicely. And there are two cows also, it has got.

Prabhupāda: The arrangement is nice.

Gaura-Govinda: It requires a little modification. We made some constructions there for brahmacārīs. There is one Deity room, that is pakka house, and one more... [break] [whispering] ...Anantadeva and Dr. Śyāmasundara.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes, I've been writing them.

Gaura-Govinda: Yes, they have written letters to Prabhupāda. [whispering]

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: You can talk out loud. You can talk now. You said Anantadeva and Śyāmasundara dāsa Brahmacārī, they were dealing with the pāṅḍās.

Gaura-Govinda: Pāṅḍās. So recently Śyāmasundara Brahmacārī wrote me a letter to come to make Bhāgavata if I went there. He made proposal that we'll start nirjok sevā[?] there at the Jagannātha temple, Anantadeva's proposal.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Nirjok sevā? What is that?

Gaura-Govinda: Nirjok sevā means we'll purchase a fireplace, chimney, and also a little cooking. And we'll give him rice, dāl, sabjī, cooking prasādam, and that would be offered to Jagannātha, Lord Jagannātha. Then they would use that prasādam. They would distribute it or... That is nirjok sevā. That maṭha has appealed like that, "Do this thing." Then they will recognize us, and in that way we will get permission to enter.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Who will get permission?

Gaura-Govinda: There is one committee there. It is pāṅḍās' committee and the temple management committee.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: But who will be allowed to enter?

Gaura-Govinda: That will be passed in that committee.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: No, but they will allow Western people to enter Jagannātha temple?

Gaura-Govinda: Yes, yes. They have talked with that Anantadeva and Śyāmasundara Prabhu, they have talked, but they want money.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: They want nirjok sevā or they also want money?

Gaura-Govinda: By giving us permission, nirjok sevā means indirectly they want money. They'll take money, then they'll give us permission to do nirjok sevā and also, that way, entrance into the Jagannātha temple.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Oh. So how much money?

Gaura-Govinda: I talked with that Śyāmasundara and Anantadeva. He said thirty-six groups are there, nirjoks, pāṅḍā groups. And administrator is there. They want something, and all groups want something. [whispering] One lakh of rupees.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: One lakh of rupees to see Jagannātha. But we can see Jagannātha in any temple in the world. Why do we have to pay one lakh of rupees? Śrīla Prabhupāda? I was saying that we don't have to pay one lakh of rupees to see Lord Jagannātha in Los Angeles.

Prabhupāda: Let them pray to Jagannātha for my cure immediately, or as soon as possible, I shall do that.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: If they pray to Lord Jagannātha for your cure...

Bhavānanda: Immediately or as soon as possible, then he'll...

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Oh. First they should do the praying.

Prabhupāda: Let me be in health. Then I'll do that.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Do you understand? Prabhupāda says that the answer is that first of all they should pray to Kṛṣṅa for Prabhupāda's cure, pray to Jagannātha for Prabhupāda's cure immediately, for his health. And then, when he is physically fit, then he will do the needful. But first of all, by their prayers to Jagannātha, they should make him physically fit. Is that right, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Hmm.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Who did you have talk with? Anantadeva or Śyāmasundara?

Gaura-Govinda: Anantadeva.

Prabhupāda: Who is Anantadeva?

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Prabhupāda said, "Who is Anantadeva?"

Gaura-Govinda: Anantadeva... They have written letters to you, from that Śyāmasundara Brahmacārī and Anantadeva.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: But Anantadeva is connected with which group?

Gaura-Govinda: He is a disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: He's disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta or Bhaktisiddhānta's disciple's disciple?

Gaura-Govinda: No, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Directly.

Gaura-Govinda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Gaura-Govinda Mahārāja says he is your Godbrother, Śrīla Prabhupāda. There's thirty-six pāṅḍās?

Gaura-Govinda: Thirty-six groups nirjoks.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Nirjoka?

Gaura-Govinda: Yes. [break]

Prabhupāda: ...moment I am sick. When I am well enough, I shall do something. Hmm? Tamāla Kṛṣṅa?

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes, that's a very proper answer. So in order for you to be able to do something, they should pray to Jagannātha. [pause] Śrīla Prabhupāda? Girirāja is here.

Prabhupāda: Oh. Girirāja?

Girirāja: Yes.

Prabhupāda: How is your health?

Girirāja: Oh, I'm better. Improved.

Prabhupāda: What is the news of Nepal?

Girirāja: Oh, well, they have a very nice program there. They have a nice house with many rooms, and the Nepalese people...

Prabhupāda: How many rooms?

Girirāja: About nine big rooms. And they do street saṅkīrtana every day in the main street, and they distribute literature. And the Society is not yet registered there, but I went with Prabhaviṣṅu to a lawyer, and we've set up the formalities for getting registered, but the government is presently reviewing the registration law, so it might take a few weeks before they accept our case.

Prabhupāda: On the whole, it is favorable. Hmm?

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: On the whole, it is favorable?

Girirāja: Oh, yes. There is a tremendous scope.

Prabhupāda: Hmm!

Girirāja: And the royal family is very powerful. They run the whole country, and, of course, they're Hindus. So I also went with Prabhaviṣṅu to meet one relation of the Queen Mother, and this lady was very enthusiastic about our activities. So I discussed with Prabhaviṣṅu the strategy how to approach the royal family, and... It's a Hindu state. They don't claim to be secular, like in India, so...

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Hopeful.

Girirāja: Yes, it is hopeful. Then he has one local boy who has joined, Nepali, and he's a very nice boy. I mean, there's just so much field for preaching. There's the royal family, then there's membership for the business community, and then there's saṅkīrtana and book distribution for the general people, and then also there are many hippies there. So we could recruit devotees from amongst them.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: The hippies seem to be still our best customers, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: The hippies seem to be still very good customers. [Prabhupāda laughs]

Girirāja: That's because Prabhupāda is patita-pāvana. And the temple atmosphere is nice. It's mainly saṅkīrtana. There are no women there, so very good atmosphere. They have a nice program. They have a Love Feast program, and many people are coming. I think they can have two or three hundred people coming very soon. And the people are very simple and good natured. Everywhere we went, people would chant Hare Kṛṣṅa.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: They recognized the devotees?

Girirāja: Yes. And they're not envious. It seems that in India many of the people are a little envious of us, but everywhere we went in Nepal, it seemed that the people were very happy to see us.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Have you ever been there, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: No.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: You'd like to go sometime?

Prabhupāda: Why not?

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Okay. We'll include that on our world parikramā.

Girirāja: Actually, the relation of the Queen's mother whom we met, she was also asking about people coming who could give good lectures and enthuse everyone. So I said that you yourself would probably like to come when you're feeling better. So she was really wild about that idea. [laughter] I'm sure that they would give you a real royal welcome.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Very good field it sounds like, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Trivikrama: What about the language? Is there problem with language?

Girirāja: No. The educated people speak English. In all the schools they teach English, so all the youngsters speak English in Kathmandu. And then most people in Kathmandu, even if they don't speak English, they speak Hindi. And there are just a few who only speak Nepali. But Prabhaviṣṅu has arranged for The Perfection of Yoga to be translated into Nepali. So he's just...

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: He sounds like he's doing very good, Prabhaviṣṅu.

Girirāja: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Good man.

Girirāja: He's very good. So he's eager to get that in print. Then they'll be able to distribute literature to everyone without exception.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Śrīla Prabhupāda? Do you remember when Prabhaviṣṅu was here you told him to go with "the courage of an Englishman and the heart of a Bengali mother"? He remembers those words.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: "Courage of an Englishman and the heart of a Bengali mother."

Prabhupāda: This is the word of a great poet.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Girirāja's parents took him there, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and they made another offer to him.

Prabhupāda: What is that? [Tamāla Kṛṣṅa laughs]

Girirāja: Well, no, they... My father has increased the fortune, so he was trying to tempt me again, but I wasn't interested. But I think in the end he may give in to Kṛṣṅa, because we were in... We were helping Prabhaviṣṅu by giving him dollars, and he would give us rupees. So we were in a shop, and my mother was making a check, which we were going to give..., which she was giving to me to give to Prabhaviṣṅu. So the owner of the shop thought that the check was for him, and he started making some objections. So my father said, "No. In our system the husband gives to the wife, and the wife gives to the son, and the son gives to Kṛṣṅa." [laughter] So everyone laughed.

Prabhupāda: Just try to manage. [pause]

Girirāja: I had a very nice dream last night in which Your Divine Grace appeared. And you were walking around the premises of the Vṛndāvana temple, and there were some doll exhibits. So you were saying that they should improve the quality of the exhibits, because this is their sādhana. So I felt that you were, actually, you were telling me that I should improve the quality of my service and that this was my sādhana, but to be, you know, polite, instead of saying it directly, you were pointing out to their service. And then you started to speak very directly and very boldly, and you were saying... You quoted the verse,

āmāra ājñāya guru hañā 'kṛṣṅa' [sic] ei deśa yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]

[Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.]

And you were saying, "This is my order, so you do it for me." And I mean, I felt that you were saying that since it was your order and we were doing it for you, even though it's very difficult, but it would be successful.

Prabhupāda: Anyway, there is a beginning in Nepal. Try to implement. [pause; Prabhupāda being massaged]

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Śrīla Prabhupāda? When you took prasādam today did you find a little taste? Not yet. Did you have any avocado?

Prabhupāda: That was little tasteful.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Hmm. You've been thinking about having that for a long time. You talked about it on and off before. Avocado is said to be very good, nutritious.

Prabhupāda: What is the rent of the house?

Girirāja: The rent? It's about twelve hundred rupees, but that's less than one thousand Indian rupees, and it's right on the way to the Paśu-pati-nātha temple, which is the biggest temple in Nepal.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Very famous temple.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: You've heard of it, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Hmm. People go there to see.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: How is it on the way? Directly on the way?

Girirāja: Well, there's a crossroads which all the traffic passes to go to that temple, and our temple is about just a few hundred yards from that crossroads.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: We could put a sign on the road. We have a whole building?

Girirāja: Yes. It's a bungalow.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Hmm. In a compound?

Girirāja: Yes. In the compound they're growing flowers and vegetables.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Wow. How many acres?

Girirāja: Well, it's about half an acre, but whatever land they have, they're using.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: They have a lease?

Girirāja: I don't know if they have a lease, but the owner of the house is a Vaiṣṅava, and he's very... Actually, his house is next door, and his house is called Viṣṅu-nivāsa.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Girirāja: And when he built the second house, he wanted it to be used as a temple, and he called it Bhagavān-nivāsa.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: So he's very pleased with the use of the house.

Girirāja: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: How many members they've made there?

Girirāja: Well, he's only made two members. I think he's going to get into it a little more. He doesn't have to be registered to make members...

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Tax exempt?

Girirāja: ...because the two members he made... Tax exemption has to be... Each case is considered individually. There's no system. But the lawyer and other people I spoke to felt that since it was a Hindu state, and since they wanted to encourage such activities, that they would give us tax exemption. There's even a community of Marwari businessmen. So Prabhaviṣṅu had made one or two members... He had made one or two members by giving receipts from Calcutta, since we're not registered. So I suggested that he should concentrate on the Marwaris for the time being, and he can give receipts from Calcutta, and that would be good practice, because they are the most willing to become members. And then, by the time he got registered, he could start approaching the Nepali businessmen.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: How will the Calcutta receipt help them?

Girirāja: Well, I don't think...

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: ...they care much.

Girirāja: No. Just to give them something official. He has seven boys there now, and a few of them...

Prabhupāda: They are taking their prasādam and living there?

Girirāja: Yes. They have nice meal in the morning and evening, and then in the day the main activity is they have the chanting party, and around the chanting party they distribute literature.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Very nice beginning, all-auspicious.

Trivikrama: Is the weather very cold?

Girirāja: It's not very cold. The climate is very healthful. In fact, two devotees were there who were in India for some time, and they felt a little weary, and they both said that they felt that their health and strength had increased.

Bhakti-caru: It's a beautiful city also.

Girirāja: Yes. It's very peaceful and clean.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Sounds like a good place to take you sometime, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Girirāja: The air is very, very pure. They hardly have any industry there, and very few motorcars. It's very unspoiled. So the air is clean and the people are also nice. Until a few years ago, there was no system of compulsory education, so the new ideas, Western ideas, have not come very much there.

Bhakti-caru: Śrīla Prabhupāda? [Bengali, asks about eating]

Prabhupāda: Hmm.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, would you like a little soft chanting?

Prabhupāda: Hmm.

Bhavānanda: Śrīla Prabhupāda, you haven't passed urine in some time. Would you like to try?

Prabhupāda: There is no...

Bhavānanda: I'm sorry?

Prabhupāda: There is no...

Bhavānanda: No need. [end]