Chapter 27 – “Our Jagat-Guru Swami!”

(Morning walk with Śrīla Prabhupāda. Narasiṅgha Mahārāja on far left)

Narasiṅgha Mahārāja: Previously, I don’t think I was ever invited to go on any morning walks. Once you were a swami, there was no restriction, but generally, if you were anyone else and you wanted to go, you had to beg one of the senior men, or tell them, “I’m with so-and-so Swami!” There was a pecking order. There are a few pictures of me on one or two walks as a brahmacārī, and that was because of Puṣṭa-Kṛṣṇa.

One topic I remember which was discussed on the morning walk was about Śārma Dāsa. He was a big Afro-American devotee who I had been with me in Kenya. He was the pūjārī in the Nairobi temple. He was an ex-marine and very austere. When Cyavana had gone crazy and the temple standards had gone down, Śārma left Nairobi, came to Vṛndāvana and eventually ended up in Māyāpura.
I didn’t catch the first part of the conversation with Prabhupāda, but I know that opinion was divided about what Śārma was doing. I heard the devotees tell Prabhupāda, “Yes Prabhupāda, he’s living in a grass hut in the banana patch near the gośālā and chanting one hundred and fifty rounds a day.” Then they told Prabhupāda, “He’s living on the banks of the Ganges, worshipping tulasī.”
Then the next day, someone said, “He only eats after all other devotees have eaten. He shows up at 9 o’clock at night after prasādam is over, and if there’s anything left over, that’s all he will eat.”
The next day it was, “He’s only sleeping two or three hours a day and he avoids associating with anyone so that he can avoid idle talk.”
When Prabhupāda first heard these reports, his eyes went big, his head tilted back and he just went, “Oh.”
Then one day, one of the devotees said, “Prabhupāda, now he wants to live in a tree.”
Suddenly, Prabhupāda stopped walking, his face became very intense and he closed his eyes. Then he said, “I want, I want, I want – it is ALL māyā!” He said, “I want to chant. I want to worship. I want to sleep, I want to live in the tree.” Then he opened his eyes and we were all just staring at His Divine Grace. Then he said, “Whenever you say ‘I want’, that is māyā. We must do what Kṛṣṇa wants.”
Then he turned and walked on and everybody was initially surprised at Prabhupāda’s response, but then they realised, “Yeah, this is all māyā!”
Śrīla Prabhupāda had started a big project in Māyāpura and wanted all his disciples to help make it happen – and one of his men was living in a banana patch, avoiding the devotees and avoiding service. I heard that later, Śārma asked Prabhupāda if he could go and chant in Rādhā-kuṇḍa, but Prabhupāda told him that he was not qualified. Eventually, he went back to Africa to preach, but he didn’t last long.

(Śrīla Prabhupāda’s with devotees on Lotus Building roof, Māyāpura)

One morning, Śrīla Prabhupāda was walking with some of his disciples on the roof of the Lotus Building answering various questions. Eventually, Viṣṇujana Swami stepped forward and asked, “Śrīla Prabhupāda, how did Choṭa Hari Dāsa achieve perfection by killing himself after apparently pouring water on his devotional creeper by talking to a woman?”
Śrīla Prabhupāda turned to him and said, “His instance was that even an associate of Caitanya Mahāprabhu can fall down. And if one falls down, his punishment is that, suicide. There is no other punishment. He must commit suicide. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s instruction. Otherwise he is Caitanya Mahāprābhu’s personal servant. He cannot fall down. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu showed this instance that ‘Even one is My personal servant, he can fall down.’ And if anyone by any cause he falls down, his punishment is he must commit suicide. This is instruction. This fall-down, there is possibility in any moment because we are very small. We can be captivated by māyā at any moment. Therefore we shall be very, very careful. And if you fall down, then punishment is you make suicide. That’s all. Then next life we shall see.”

Narasiṅgha Mahārāja: You could have heard a pin drop. It was dead silent and you could tell what everyone was thinking. We were so shocked at Prabhupāda’s statement that hardly anyone noticed that Viṣṇujana had disappeared from the group. One minute he was there, the next minute he was gone. Then Prabhupāda continued to speak and put everything in context, but Viṣṇujana wasn’t there to hear any of that.

After Viṣṇujana Swami retreated into the background, the conversation with Śrīla Prabhupāda continued thus:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī: But, Prabhupāda, if you were as strict as…

Śrīla Prabhupāda: “No, I am not Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Why you are comparing me? I am an ordinary man.

Guru-kṛpā Swami: So in Iskcon, if someone falls down, it means that he should commit suicide?

Śrīla Prabhupāda: No.

Guru Dāsa: We wouldn’t have much of a movement, then.

Puṣṭa-Kṛṣṇa Swami: We’re too attached to our bodies anyway, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Śrīla Prabhupāda: No, no, if he falls down, that is automatically suicide. If he falls down, that means it is suicide. He got the chance. If he falls down, that is suicide.

Guru-kṛpā Swami: Spiritual suicide.

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Spiritual suicide. One gets the chance of becoming eligible for going back to home, back to Godhead, and if he commits mistake and it is stopped, is it not suicide?

Obviously, something had occurred that compelled Viṣṇujana Swami to ask about Choṭa Hari Dāsa, and had he remained present for the continuation of Prabhupāda’s discussion, perhaps things would have turned out differently for him. However, after Viṣṇujana retreated to the back of the group surrounding Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was not seen again.

(Śrīla Prabhupāda’s morning walk with Viṣṇujana Swami)

*****

On the afternoon before Gaura Pūrṇimā, Puṣṭa-Kṛṣṇa Swami drove the newly acquired Mercedes to Navadvīpa to bring Śrīla Prabhupāda’s esteemed godbrother, Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Gosvāmī Mahārāja, to Māyāpura. Śrīla Prabhupāda shared a deep and longstanding relationship with Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja, dating back to 1930 when Prabhupāda was still a householder residing in Allahabad, and Śrīdhara Mahārāja was a white-clad brahmacārī. Later, when Prabhupāda returned to Kolkata following the disappearance of their spiritual master, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, Śrīdhara Mahārāja rented rooms above Prabhupāda’s house. The two would often engage in profound discussions on Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava philosophy, deepening their friendship and spiritual bond. At one point, Prabhupāda expressed a desire to accept sannyāsa from Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja. However, Mahārāja suggested he instead approach their godbrother, Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Mahārāja, who had himself taken sannyāsa from Śrīdhara Mahārāja. His reasoning was that his close ties with Prabhupāda’s family could lead them to interfere if the ceremony were conducted in Navadvīpa. Later, after traveling to the West, when Prabhupāda became gravely ill during his mission in America, he wrote to Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja to seek his opinion on what course of action to take.

Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Once, while in America, Swami Mahārāja was very much sick and apprehending that he will have to go away, he wrote a letter to me that, “I feel that I won’t live long. What do you want? Should I go to India back and die there, or here I shall live and go on with my work till my death?” I, of course, told him, though unpleasant, “I consider that the success of your activity that the land has been attached to you by Guru Mahārāja, for your field of action. So as Mahāprabhu told, prabhu-datta-deśa to Rūpa-Sanātana, He has particularly given the field of Vṛndāvana, so I think you were given that land for your propaganda, and you go on there to your last breath!

Naturally, Śrīla Prabhupāda accepted this wise counsel and continued to advance his mission with miraculous success. Whenever he visited Māyāpura, he would either personally go to see Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja or send his car to Śrī Caitanya Sārasvata Maṭha to bring him to ISKCON Māyāpura. On this particular occasion, when the Mercedes returned carrying Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja, Śrīla Prabhupāda was about to take his midday massage and was dressed simply in his gamśa. Nevertheless, as soon as he heard of his godbrother’s arrival, he immediately left his room and descended three flights of stairs to receive his dear old friend. Śrīdhara Mahārāja, aged and frail, was respectfully carried upstairs at Prabhupāda’s request. The deep affection and reverence between them were clearly evident to all present. Prabhupāda’s disciple, Yadubara Dāsa, who witnessed the moment, later recalled the incident:

Yadubara Dāsa: In Prabhupāda’s room, the two of them had an affectionate, close, intimate discussion, Then, out of ecstasy, Śrīdhara Swami started leading a kīrtana, singing “Haribol” wonderfully. He jumped out of his chair, and as he got up, everybody got up and started dancing. In an old Vyāsa Pūjā book there is a black and white picture from that time, showing Śrīla Prabhupāda and the devotees dancing in Prabhupāda’s room. Their meeting was very wonderful.

(Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s room)

A little after, Prabhupāda led Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja outside to the veranda where they took prasādam together along with two other godbrothers – Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja and Bhakti Prapanna Dāmodara Mahārāja. Narasiṅgha Mahārāja happened to observe this incident.

Narasiṅgha Mahārāja: I remember pretty clearly because it was the day before Gaura Pūrṇimā, and I was going to take sannyāsa the next day. I was sitting reading Nectar of Instruction on the other side of a bamboo wall that they’d constructed which separated Prabhupāda’s verandah from the rest of the rooms on the right hand side, but I could see through that. Prabhupāda came out with Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja and a couple of other godbrothers, then they sat down to take prasādam together and Pisimā (Prabhupāda’s sister), who had cooked, sat watching them. Śrīla Prabhupāda used to eat from these nice marble bowls – there were about ten of them, and I noticed on that day that he had given them all to Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja to eat from. Prabhupāda just ate from a couple of small silver bowls. I just sat there, watching them.

(Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja taking prasādam with Śrīla Prabhupāda)

This was the first time Narasiṅgha Mahārāja had the opportunity to take darśana of Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja. At the time, he had no idea that the saintly personality seated and honouring prasādam alongside Śrīla Prabhupāda would later have such a profound and transformative influence on his spiritual journey.

After prasādam, Śrīla Prabhupāda invited Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja to take some rest in the adjoining room next to his own. Later that afternoon, the two godbrothers spent several hours in deep discussion, and as the day came to a close, Puṣṭa-Kṛṣṇa Swami drove Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja back to his maṭha in Navadvīpa.

That evening, Śrīla Prabhupāda summoned Tamāla-Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī, one of his senior men who was then leading the Rādhā-Dāmodara Saṅkīrtana Party in North America. The party had grown to include over a hundred dedicated devotees engaged in full-time book distribution, and Tamāla-Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī had brought a group of about seventy to Māyāpura, hoping they could receive hari-nāma and brāhmaṇa initiation from Śrīla Prabhupāda during the festival. At Prabhupāda’s request, Tamāla-Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī brought the candidates to his room. However, after personally questioning some of them, Śrīla Prabhupāda became disappointed.

(Śrīla Prabhupāda in his room in Māyāpura)

Narasiṅgha Mahārāja: Tamāla brought a big group of devotees from the Rādhā-Dāmodara Party. First, Prabhupāda asked him, “Why so many?” Then when he interviewed them, he could see that a lot of those boys were not ready for initiation. Prabhupāda asked the first boy, “Are you reading my books?” and before he could answer, Tamāla-Kṛṣṇa said, “Yes Prabhupāda”
Prabhupāda said, “I asked him!” Then he asked the boy again, “Are you reading my books?”
Tamāla-Kṛṣṇa interrupted again, “Prabhupāda, they have class every day.”
Again, Prabhupāda told Tamāla, “I asked him!”
Finally the boy said, “Well, Prabhupāda, we attend class every morning, but we don’t have time to read. We just distribute books.”
Then Prabhupāda said, “They’re selling my books, but they’re not reading them.”
So he dropped thirty of them from the list. They’d been on saṅkīrtana for a year, but Prabhupāda wanted them to be learned in the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and not just become good book distributors. He didn’t say they were unqualified, but in his estimation, reading, studying, and understanding the books is one of the important qualifications for second initiation. He wanted them to be learned in the books that they were selling, and he could see that they were not philosophically grounded.

Meanwhile, I was walking around in my own euphoria, but I was already seeing the long corridor of ISKCON politics for the first time. As soon as I got to Māyāpura, Prabhupāda had told me he wanted me to open a temple in Purī, then Gopāla Kṛṣṇa suddenly told me that Prabhupāda wanted me to collect for Vṛndāvana. Then I heard that Brahmānanda wanted me back in Nairobi, and while I was still in Māyāpura, Jayapatākā Swami approached me and requested that I remain there and help with fundraising for the Māyāpura project! So news had gotten around that Jagat-Guru Dāsa Brahmacārī was a good collector and knew how to deal with the Hindus – everybody wanted a piece of me!

At midday on Gaura Pūrṇima, Śrīla Prabhupāda came down from his room for the initiation ceremony, accompanied by a tumultuous kīrtana led by Acyutānanda Swami. The temple room, filled with over five-hundred devotees, was beautifully adorned with colourful flags, fragrant flowers, banana trees, and festoons. At its centre was a yajña–kuṇḍa, and Prabhupāda’s vyāsāsana was lavishly draped with a multitude of marigold garlands. As Prabhupāda took his seat, the initiation candidates assembled on either side of the yajña-kuṇḍa, leaving a clear central aisle stretching from Prabhupāda’s vyāsāsana to the Deities of Gaura-Rādhā-Mādhava. That day, twenty-five devotees were to receive hari-nāma initiation, fifteen were scheduled for second initiation, and seven men were to accept the renounced order of sannyāsa. Besides Narasiṅgha Mahārāja, the other sannyāsa candidates were Haṁsadūta Dāsa, Dhṛṣṭadyumna Dāsa, Ādi-Keśava Dāsa, Pramāṇa Dāsa, Rāmeśvara Dāsa and Śatadhanya Dāsa. Even as Prabhupāda settled onto his vyāsāsana, the managerial manoeuvring persisted, as leaders guided their own candidates to more prominent positions near the front.

Narasiṅgha Mahārāja: Most of them already had some position – Dhṛṣṭadyumna was one of the right-hand men of Tamāla-Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī, and Ādi-Keśava was the New York temple president and also under Tamāla. Rāmeśvara had been in charge of the BBT for some years. Haṁsadūta had previously been Prabhupāda’s secretary and had also been the president of the temple in Berlin. Pramāṇa was Hṛdayānanda’s leading man in South America, and Śatadhanya was Bhāvānanda’s man in Māyāpura. I was no one’s man and in their estimation, the most unlikely to succeed. I was the dark horse.
I figured that there was no particular pecking order, so I just sat down somewhere, but the next thing I know, a devotee comes up to me and says, “You’re sitting in Dhṛṣtadyumna’s seat!” So I got up and swapped seats with Dhṛṣtadyumna. Then I was sixth in line and Śatadhanya was seventh. Prabhupāda was talking to Puṣṭa-Kṛṣṇa, so Puṣṭa-Kṛṣṇa wasn’t paying attention to any of this – but on the other side of the room, Tamāla and Bhāvānanda were having an animated discussion and Tamāla began pointing towards me, so I could see that something was up. Then Bhāvānanda sent a brahmacārī over to tell me, “Bhāvānanda wants Śatadhanya to sit here!” In other words, Bhāvānanda didn’t want his man to be last. It really didn’t bother me, so I was like, “Okay.” So eventually, I ended up at the end. I was the last one.

After everyone had settled down, Śrīla Prabhupāda gave the following lecture:

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So this purificatory process…according to Vedic system, there is purificatory process. Janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ –“By birth everyone is born a śūdra.” A śūdra means without any knowledge and simply full of lamentation – socati. So the Vedic process is that, from the low-grade position, to bring the human society to the highest, topmost position. Generally it is…the first, topmost position is to become a brāhmaṇa in the society.

catur-varṇyaṁ māyā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ

I have created the four social divisions that are determined by the influence of the modes of material nature and their parallel activities. (Bhagavad-gītā 4.13)

Four divisions of the social system are there according to quality and work. That is very natural in this world. Everyone is accepted on quality and work. If you have got a qualification of a good lawyer and if you have done very nicely your activities, then you are selected as the high-court judge. The high-court judge is selected amongst the lawyers in the court. It is not appointed from outside. A lawyer who has done his legal profession very nicely, the government offers him the post, that, “You become a high-court judge.” So this quality and work is estimated every­where and in all circumstances. So Bhagavad-gītā recommends – Kṛṣṇa says personally, the Supreme Personality of Godhead – catur-varṇyaṁ māyā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ. So that pro­cess is applicable at all times. And Nārada Muni, he also gave description to Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja while they were talking about the varṇāśrama. So Nārada Muni gave different symptoms of different varṇa – brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. Then, at the conclusion, he said:

yasya hi yal lakṣaṇaṁ proktaṁ puṁso varṇābhivyañjakam
yady anyatrāpi dṛśyeta tat tenaiva vinirdiśet

If one exhibits the symptoms of a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra, even if one appears in a different class, one should be designated according to those classifications. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.11.35)

He said that, “I have already explained the different symptoms of different varṇas – brāhmaṇa will be like that, kṣatriya will be like that, vaiśyas will be like that, śūdras will be like that.” So, he says, “If these symptoms are found, anyatra…suppose one is not born in the brāhmaṇa family, he might have taken birth in a lower family, but he has acquired…if he has acquired the qualities of a brāhmaṇa, he should be accepted as brāhmaṇa.” This is the process. Or if one is born in a brāhmaṇa family but he has not attained the qualities, neither he is working as a brāhmaṇa, then he should be accepted – either kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra. So this is the system. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu also wanted to introduce this system.

kibā śūdra kibā vipra nyāsī kene naya
yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya

Whether one is a śūdra, a brāhmaṇa or a sannyāsī if he is master in the science of Kṛṣṇa, one who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa can become guru. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 8.128)

He never accepted this, that by birth, no. Either he is a brāh­maṇa or he is a śūdra, by caste or by birth, kibā vipra kibā śūdra nyāsī kene naya, either he’s a gṛhastha or a sannyāsī, it doesn’t matter. He can become a guru. How? Yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā. One who knows the principles of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one who under­stands Kṛṣṇa, he can become a guru. So guru is the post given to the sannyāsīs, to the brāhmaṇas. Without becoming a brāhmaṇa, nobody can become a sannyāsī, and sannyāsī is supposed to be the guru of both all the āśramas and all the varṇas. So the preaching work…we require so many sannyāsīs. People are suffering all over the world for want of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. My Guru Mahārāja used to say that there is no scarcity. This is false propaganda. The only scarcity is that there is no Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the difficulty. Actually that is the fact.

Take some practical example. I have travelled all over the world many times. I have seen America from village to village, Africa, Australia. There is so much land vacant that if we properly utilise that, we can produce so much food grains that we can feed ten times as many population as it is now. That’s a fact. We do not utilise the land properly. And Kṛṣṇa has given us the formula, annād bhavanti bhūtāni: “You produce anna.” Annād bhavanti bhūtāni. Then the animals and the human being will be well-fed and they will be happy. If anyone, either animal or man has his belly filled up with sufficient food, he’ll never be dissatisfied. That is the nature. So unfortunately, we are not following the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā. If we follow the whole social system, political system, economic system of the whole world will be very, very nice, and everyone will live very peacefully and there will be no fight, no ism, no schism. Everything will be alright. That is the purpose of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Don’t think that Kṛṣṇa con­sciousness is a matter of sentiment. No, it is practical.

Just like in America they produce huge amount of grains. Sometimes they throw it in the sea on account of overproduc­tion. Why overproduction should be given on the sea? It should be utilised. There are so many people starving. But this political situation is there that everyone is thinking “This is my coun­try. This is my home. This is my land.” This is called māyā. Ahaṁ mameti. Janasya moho’yam ahaṁ mameti – everyone is under this impression, “I am this body, and anything belonging to this body, that is mine.” or “My nation.” This conception should be given up. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam – everything belongs to the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā also, the same thing is confirmed:

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdam sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

One attains peace by knowing Me to be the original enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Controller of all the planets and the benefactor and friend of all living beings. (Bhagavad-gītā 5.29)

The śānti…everyone is trying to have peace – peace of the mind, peace of the society, peace of the nation. Very good, but you do not know how to get this peace. That is described in every Vedic literatures. Therefore, Vedic knowledge is so important.

nityo nityānāṁ cetanas cetanānām

He is the prime Eternal amongst the eternals, the Supreme Consciousness amongst those that are conscious. (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13)

The Supreme Lord is the leader. He’s also a living being like us. He’s not a dead stone. Just like Kṛṣṇa, when He comes, He lives like us, just like human being. So similarly the…no, not similarly. Kṛṣṇa is a living being like us. He has got also two hands, two legs, one head, as you have got. But what is the difference between you and Him? The difference is that eka, that singular number living being, vidadhāti kāmān bahūnām – He maintains everyone, and we are maintained. That is the difference. We plural number living entities, we are maintained, and He, the Supreme Lord, being Supreme Being.

In the dictionary, English dictionary, God means Supreme Being. So Supreme Being, He’s also living being. He’s not a dead stone. The difference is that He is the maintainer and we are maintained. He is the ruler; we are ruled. This difference we have to understand. And He is the proprietor; we are servants. Cai­tanya Mahāprabhu’s philosophy is this. That is a fact.

jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa

The jīva’s original position is to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.108-109)

So this consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is being spread all over the world for the peace of the world, for the peace of the mind, for the peace of the society. So take it very seriously. It is very authorised. It is not a concocted speculation, it is fact.

And it is happening so. Now these American boys and girls who have come, spending thousands of rupees here…and they have no such distinction that, “He is Indian. He is African. He is brāh­maṇa. He is kṣatriya.” Why? Because they have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So this movement is so important that everyone from every part of the world, they should take part in this movement, and there will be peace in the world. Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mission is this. Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s birthday is today. In this land, in this very spot we are sitting now, He appeared for this mission. And He said that:

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari para-upakāra

One who has taken birth as a human in the land of India (Bhārata-varṣa) should make that birth successful by bene­fiting others. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 9.41)

This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mission.

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma

In every town and village of the world, My Holy Name will be sung. (Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126)

And that is being done. And the people from all parts of the world, they are responding. There is very, very good scope for spreading this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, and learned circle, important men in all parts of the society and world, they are appreciating this mission. Bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya…it was Cai­tanya Mahāprabhu’s desire that especially those who are born in India, and especially in Bengal, because Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in this land of Bengal, so it is the duty to spread this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. But unfortunately they are not coming forward.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter whether he is Bengali or am Hindu or Muslim – anyone who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa, he can spread this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. And there is great necessity, great necessity. And the preaching work is meant for the sannyāsīs. So we have got some sannyāsīs who are doing very nicely, so today we shall make a number of sannyāsīs more to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. And those who are going to take sannyāsa, they should remember how much respon­sibility they have got. So live like a very strict sannyāsī. Caitanya Mahāprabhu took Himself sannyāsa at the age of twenty-four years. So it is not that in old age one has to take sannyāsa. That is not in the śāstra. From brahmacārī-āśrama one can enter into the gṛhastha-āśrama or vānaprastha-āśrama or sannyāsa-āśrama as he thinks fit. There is no such rules and regulation that only the old man without any energy, he’ll take sannyāsa. No. Rather, the young men…

Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu did personally. He was twen­ty-four years old. He had beautiful wife, young wife, sixteen years old, at home, very, very affectionate mother, and His position was very great. Not as a brāhmaṇa, but still, as young man, He could collect hundreds of thousands of men by His order only, to make civil disobedience movement upon the Kazi in this land. So the civil disobedience movement was started by Caitanya Mahā­prabhu for a good cause. So there are so many things. I especially appeal to the native of this land to take part in this movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu for the benefit of the world. And we are trying to construct a very attractive temple here. Let them coop­erate. It doesn’t matter whether he is Hindu, Muslim – Caitanya Mahāprabhu is for everyone. Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted Haridāsa Ṭhākura as His chief disciple. Haridāsa Ṭhākura was born in a Muhammadan family and his mission was to introduce this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra chanting.

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

In the age of Kali the only means of attaining deliverance is through the chanting of the Holy Name of Lord Hari. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way. (Bṛhan-Nāradīya Purāṇa)

And He made Haridāsa Ṭhākura nāmācārya – the ācārya to introduce Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and Haridāsa Ṭhākura was chanting three lakhs, counting daily. That means the whole day and night. So nice movement, everyone should take part in it and dedicate to the mission of Śrī Caitanya Mahā­prabhu. And it is not at all difficult. It is very easy. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said:

āmāra ājñaya guru haña tāra ei deśa
yāre dekha tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa

Whomever you see, tell them about the instructions of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. By My order, become guru and deliver this land. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 7.128)

Anywhere, either you are in this district or that district, it doesn’t matter. Either you are at home or outside home, it doesn’t matter. You become a guru. Everyone. “How shall I become guru? I have no qualification.” Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “You don’t require any qualification. You simply require one qualification, that you repeat the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā. That’s all.” Yāre dekha tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa. That’s all. You become a guru. Don’t adulterate kṛṣṇa-upadeśa like a rascal or nonsense. Pres­ent it as it is, Bhagavad-gītā. Then you become a guru. You can become a guru in your family. You can guru your society, your nation, wherever you are. And if it is possible, you go outside and preach this mission of Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore, our movement’s name is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Whatever Kṛṣṇa says, you accept and preach. You become guru!

Thank you very much.

********

After all the hari-nāma and brāhmaṇa initiations were completed, the first sannyāsa candidate, Haṁsadūta Dāsa, stood up. He walked up to Prabhupāda’s vyāsāsana, paid his obeisance and Prabhupāda began to speak something about his service.

Narasiṅgha Mahārāja: Haṁsadūta was the only householder amongst the seven of us. At first, it was decided that Haṁsadūta wouldn’t take sannyāsa because that year, two women had heard a rumour that their husbands would take sannyāsa and they attempted to commit suicide – one took a whole bunch of pills, and another jumped out of the temple kitchen window which was two storeys up. When Haṁsadūta heard that he wasn’t taking sannyāsa, he got disappointed, till finally Prabhupāda said, “He can if he wishes. Let him decide.” So immediately he came running with his daṇḍa and saffron cloth in his hand for the fire sacrifice. It was a last minute thing, but Prabhupāda was happy with his choice. When Haṁsadūta got his daṇḍa from Prabhupāda, he paid obeisances and laid it down flat on the floor. Now, he must have seen how sannyāsīs offer obeisances with their daṇḍa a thousand times before – but he put it flat on the floor. Then Prabhupāda told him something like, “Not like that! Don’t put your daṇḍa on the floor.”

One by one, each candidate came before Śrīla Prabhupāda and received their sannyāsa daṇḍa. Śrīla Prabhupāda would then announce their designated place of service. It was the first time so many devotees had been awarded sannyāsa in a single ceremony, and he was visibly pleased to see so many young men taking the bold step to help advance Mahāprabhu’s movement. In an interview with Yadubara Dāsa, Narasiṅgha Mahārāja recalled the following:

Narasiṅgha Mahārāja: One by one, Śrīla Prabhupāda would call the devotees. When it finally came to the sannyāsīs, he would call them and he would give them their daṇḍa and he would announce where they would be preaching. So there were seven of us and everyone, one by one, when they received their daṇḍa, Śrīla Prabhupāda had this exceptional smile on his face of satisfaction, and particularly when it came to the sannyāsīs, because the sannyāsīs are the symbol of the preaching endeavour of the saṅkīrtana movement – the dress, their lifestyle, everything symbolises that endeavour to take Kṛṣṇa consciousness throughout the world to every town and village. Although every man, woman and child in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is engaged in that, the sannyāsīs are at the forefront and they are the symbol of that endeavour. They are there on call twenty-four hours a day for that purpose, and Śrīla Prabhupāda expected of them leadership in that role – particularly of preaching and spreading the saṅkīrtana movement. Some years earlier he had expressed a desire that “I would like an army; I want an army of sannyāsīs.” So it was a couple of years before I heard that, and I thought, “Oh, I would like to join that army.” So that was seven new sannyāsīs on that day. That was a big step forward in building that preaching army. So he was very, very happy, very pleased about that.

Finally, after the first six candidates had received their sannyāsa-daṇḍas, the seventh, Narasiṅgha Mahārāja, was asked to come before Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Narasiṅgha Mahārāja: If you watch the film, I was the only one smiling when I came up to Śrīla Prabhupāda. All the other six devotees were very grave – some of them even looked a little miserable. As I was paying full obeisances with my daṇḍa, Prabhupāda asked where I was preaching, and suddenly Tamāla-Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī said, “Africa,” and Prabhupāda asked, “South Africa, no?”
Puṣṭa-Kṛṣṇa immediately seized the opportunity and said, “Yes, he is with me in South Africa, and Nairobi.” Now being Prabhupāda’s personal secretary, he must have known that I was supposed to be in either Purī or Vṛndāvana, but he said nothing to Śrīla Prabhupāda. He could have said, “Actually, he is going to collect for Purī or Vṛndāvana” So then Prabhupāda said, “Our Jagat-guru Swami is going to South Africa to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness!”
Hearing that, I was sort of shocked. I remember Guru-kṛpā saying to me later, “Direct order of the guru at the moment of sannyāsa – auspicious!”
At that point in time, I would never have thought I would be the ‘last man standing’ from that group of seven, because eventually, all the others gave up sannyāsa.

(Narasiṅgha Mahārāja receives sannyāsa from Śrīla Prabhupāda)

Acyutānanda Swami then conducted the fire sacrifice, during which all the initiates offered grains into the sacred fire, and following a rousing kīrtana led by Madhudviṣa Swami, it was announced that there would be a group photo taken on the lawn outside the temple with Śrīla Prabhupāda. Just as Mahārāja was leaving the temple room, he noticed Gopāla Kṛṣṇa glaring at him – clearly feeling betrayed and upset that his scheme to involve him in the Vṛndāvana project had failed.

(Group photo with Śrīla Prabhupāda after initiations. Narasiṅgha Mahārāja second from right)

After the photo was taken, Puṣṭa-Kṛṣṇa Swami pulled Mahārāja aside. “Well Mahārāja, I guess you can pack your bags and move in with the South African devotees,” he said smiling, “They’re staying in a room on the boundary wall near the prasādam hall. We’ll all be leaving for Vṛndāvana at the end of the month, and from there you’ll go to South Africa. I’ll be staying on as Śrīla Prabhupāda’s permanent secretary.”

Mahārāja went to collect his few belongings and prepare to move in with the South African devotees – yet something didn’t sit right. On his very first day in Māyāpura, Śrīla Prabhupāda had personally requested him to remain in India and open a temple in Purī. Then, if Gopāla Kṛṣṇa was to be believed, Prabhupāda had apparently wanted him to help collect funds for the Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Temple in Vṛndāvana. Now, however, he was suddenly being sent back to South Africa. Even though he had now entered the renounced order of life, Mahārāja couldn’t shake the feeling that he was still being used as a pawn by others, rather than moving freely under the personal guidance of his guru.

Tamāla-Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī had announced that all the sannyāsīs who had dākṣiṇā – the traditional monetary gift from disciple to guru – should come to Prabhupāda’s room at four o’clock in the afternoon. Mahārāja noticed that some devotees were carrying bags that clearly held substantial amounts of money. In contrast, he had nothing to offer. Whatever funds he’d had were already spent on his journey from Vṛndāvana to Māyāpura. He voiced his concern to Puṣṭa-Kṛṣṇa, who replied, “What do you mean? You already gave Śrīla Prabhupāda $12,000!”

(Morning walk with Śrīla Prabhupāda after initiations)

The morning after Gaura Pūrṇimā, Śrīla Prabhupāda came down to the temple room and gave a lecture on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.39. Mahārāja remembered the class vividly.

Narasiṅgha Mahārāja: I remember that after Gaura Pūrṇimā, Prabhupāda gave some very nice lectures. The day after the festival, Śrīla Prabhupāda gave a class that many people thought was connected to the sannyāsa initiations the day before – especially in how he ended it. Usually, Prabhupāda would end his talk by saying something like, “So chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and go back home, back to Godhead,” but that day, he ended it in a very different way. He was discussing attachment, the bondage of sex life in the material world, and that if one has taken to the renounced order of life, one must strictly avoid association with women. He said that if thinks of sex life even for a moment, you must spit at it – and he spat three times from the vyāsāsana in three directions and after the third time, he said, “That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness – thank you very much” and ended the lecture!

I took every opportunity to go on all the morning walks with Śrīla Prabhupāda. Being a sannyāsī, I didn’t have to ask permission anymore, but still, I was always a bit hesitant to get too close as I felt too immature to actually be in his personal association. I felt very bashful or uncomfortable. But at the same time, Prabhupāda would always make everyone around him feel comfortable. When I started going on the walks, I soon found out that unless you were walking right next to Prabhupāda, or in front of him, you couldn’t hear what was going on. He would sometimes walk on the roof of the Lotus Building, or he would walk on the road, or around the pukura (pond) three or four times.

One day, a discussion came up about the scientists and at that time, Prabhupāda made the point that we don’t give the scientists any credit and that whatever they say, we will challenge. He was very adamant about that. Then somebody asked him about the structure of the universe, He pointed to a plant whose leaves were point up – it was like a palmetta plant. He said that the plants are fixed here and then he swung his cane in an arch and said that the sun was moving through the universe – his point was that the sun was moving and the planets are fixed, in contrast to the western idea that the sun is fixed and the planets are moving, although possibly all the planets are not fixed. Anyhow, the idea was that the sun is moving.

Śrīla Prabhupāda was soon to travel to Delhi and Vṛndāvana, and many devotees from Māyāpura planned to accompany him. Accordingly, Mahārāja arranged his journey and booked a train ticket from Kolkata to Delhi. A few days later, while standing at Howrah station awaiting his train, he noticed a familiar face on the opposite side of the platform.

Narasiṅgha Mahārāja: I was probably the last devotee to see Viṣṇujana Swami. I remember clearly – I saw my train pulling in and I was bending down fixing the strap on my bag, and when I looked up and I saw Viṣṇujana on the other side of the railway track with a side bag and his daṇḍa. I called out to him and asked him if he was going to Vṛndāvana. Viṣṇujana gave this weak smile and nodded, then my train pulled in, I got on, and that was that.

It was so busy during Gaura-Pūrṇima, that everyone was in their own zone and at the centre of that was Śrīla Prabhupāda, so it wasn’t till I got on the train and sat down that I realised, “Wait! I didn’t see Viṣṇujana for about a week!” The last time I saw him was on the roof when he asked Prabhupāda the question about Choṭa Hari Dāsa. He hadn’t been there for Gaura Pūrṇima, he wasn’t there for the initiations, he hadn’t led any kīrtanas. He just disappeared and a week later, he popped up at Howrah station. I never thought it would be the last time I’d see him.

Nobody knows what really happened. Nobody knows all the details. There were so many rumours flying around, and it took a long time before devotees began to figure things out and piece it together. Some say that Viṣṇujana paid some boatmen or some brāhmaṇas to take him to the middle of the saṅgam in Prayāg and he jumped into the water with stones tied to him. I heard that some devotees actually met the brāhmaṇas who took him out on the boat, but that might just be hearsay. What is for certain is that he had some sort of fall-down and he committed suicide. If he had just slipped away back to the US, somebody would have bumped into him eventually, but that never happened.

There’s so many ‘Prabhupāda saids’ concerning Viṣṇujana’s disappearance – some devotees say that Prabhupāda said, “Yes, he has done right,” which makes no sense if you consider what he said on that morning walk in Māyāpura. Others say that Prabhupāda said, “What to do? He did not want to surrender.” That doesn’t make much sense either considering how much service Viṣṇujana had done. And another is that when Prabhupāda heard the news, he said, “He did not have to do that.” That makes more sense to me.

Whatever the case, Śrīla Prabhupāda pushed on without hesitating. Some people may consider that to be a little harsh, but Prabhupāda was like a freight train – he was pushing the mission and if people fell off as the train sped on, what could be done? I’m sure that Prabhupāda must have felt sad, yet he didn’t show it externally. But that external mood was later misinterpreted by some of the leaders. They tried to imitate it and dealt with the devotees in a very hard-hearted way.

Viṣṇujana’s disappearance was a tragic thing and we all loved him. I think anyone who came in contact with him was touched by his enthusiasm and simplicity. But now, many devotees have immortalised him and turned him into a saint. There’s a thing that the Christians call ‘the crisis of saints.’ It’s not good enough that someone is a just good person, a good devotee – we have to practically deify them and make them into a saint when they die. Then some devotees speculate that Viṣṇujana was actually Choṭa Hari Dāsa! Viṣṇujana was a sincere beginner, but if he had remained where he was at that time, he would not be considered an advanced devotee today.

Stepping onto the train bound for Delhi, Mahārāja felt a surge of elation, knowing he was once again on his way to Vṛndāvana, but this time in the association of Śrīla Prabhupāda. His acceptance of sannyāsa marked a significant turning point in his life. Previously, he had been known simply as Jagat-Guru Dāsa Brahmacārī – one among many dedicated brahmacārī disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Now, as Jagat-Guru Swami, he had become a member of the ‘sannyāsī army’ that Śrīla Prabhupāda had envisioned to spread Mahāprabhu’s message throughout the world.
Some individuals who accepted sannyāsa did so seeking position. Having ‘friends in high places’ within the GBC, they hoped to gain influence and power in the society. But such ambitions were the furthest thing from Mahārāja’s mind. He was undoubtedly a maverick, yet he remained steadfastly dedicated to serving Śrīla Prabhupāda. However, his growing experience of dealing with the managers of ISKCON only deepened his independent spirit.

Narasiṅgha Mahārāja: Over the years, the closer I got to the senior men, the more I began to think that the real devotees in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement were not the leaders and managers, but the humble souls who went about their service to Śrīla Prabhupāda every day without any recognition or praise as big devotees. I desired to be one of them – not to be a so-called ‘big devotee.’ I never really fitted in with the ‘big devotees’ anyway – my heart was always with the common devotee and often with the underdog.