Memories of Srila Prabhupada in Vrndavana
A Comprehensive Guide to Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma
| Table of contents |
MEMORIES
MEMORIES OF AKUTIDEVI DASI
The opening of the temple was unforgettable. It went on for a couple of days, chanting and whatever, which Prabhupada said wasn’t really important. I remember them bringing the Deities out. They were all covered in white with white things across Their eyes. None of us knew exactly who was being installed. I was just a new devotee. Hundreds of pots of different substances went over the Deities to bathe Them, and then They were unveiled. Prabhupada of course was in ecstasy.
I was pretty close to the bathing area, but then when the arati happened I was against the pillar. I was right in front of Krishna and Balaram, right in front of Srila Prabhupada. I was pinned against the pillar, thinking I was safe. Then all of a sudden I started literally getting crushed to death by the pushing crowd.
Some little ladies had dropped down because they could see that they were going to get stampeded and crushed with all the pressing of all the bodies, and they were crawling out to not get stampeded. Then I was thinking this is the worst place I could be, although I got to watch most of the arati. I had my hands crossed in front of me so that at least I could protect my lungs and breathe.
Then all of a sudden I got a little tap on the shoulder and someone said, “Can you roll puris in the kitchen?” I said “All right,” and somehow I got my way out and went somewhere, I forget where. They were cooking for all the big wigs that were coming, the governor or somebody like that. As we were rolling puris the arati was still going on, and then someone came in and took a portion of the prasadam.
It was a government official. I remember the soldiers coming in with their shoes off. I thought that was really nice. They were coming into the kitchen and testing the prasadam to make sure that we weren’t poisoning any of the dignitaries. I thought that was really offensive, that we were going to offer this to the Deities and poison them. I was really taken back by that, but I guess they had to do their job.
I remember watching Prabhupada turn around during the arati with such a wonderful, satisfied look on his face, just looking around at everybody and looking at his Krishna and Balaram, being satisfied that They were installed. And the devotees who had worked very hard were in ecstasy. Akuti Devi Dasi
MEMORIES OF MAHA-MAYA DEVI DASI
excerpted from “Srila Prabupada is Coming!” by Mahamaya-devi dasi
“The parcel of land was donated to Srila Prabhupada in 1972. It was on the outskirts of the holy city of Vrindavan, where Lord Krishna tended cows five thousand years ago, and nearby there were hardly any ashrams or buildings in any direction. Venturing outside our gate, I saw one or two rickshaw wallas (drivers) looking for passengers. There were no shops, no beggars, few people and little traffic.
“Because our temple was in Raman Reti, where Krishna played in the sands with His friends, Srila Prabhupada decided to install Krishna-Balaram Deities on the central altar. As he wrote in Chaitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 16.281), “We are establishing a Krishna-Balaram temple to broadcast to the world that worship of Gaura-Nitai is the same as worship of Krishna-Balaram.”
“Lord Balaram, Krishna’s older brother, was carved from white marble. His left hand draped over the right shoulder of black-marbled Lord Krishna. Krishna stood jauntily with His left hand on His hip.
“The left altar held medium-size marble murtis of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati sitting cross-legged. Large white-marble Gaura-Nitai (Chaitanya-Nityananda) Deities stood behind the gurus.
“On the right altar were the absolutely stunning divine couple, Sri Sri Radha-Shyamasundar, and Lalita and Visakha, two gopis (cowherd girlfriends), on either side.
“Installing the Deities took several days and included ceremonies of impressive proportions conducted by several Brijbasi brahmanas. We witnessed the blindfolding of the Deities, the opening of Their eyes and a bathing ceremony (abhiseka). Finally, the Deities were dressed in intricately decorated outfits designed for the occasion by Kishori devi dasi. Each piece of the outfit was a different color, and the colors on each altar combined exquisitely.
“I watched Srila Prabhupada perform the first arati for Sri Sri Krishna-Balaram, along with hundreds of devotees and guests packed into the temple. As he finished offering each article to the Deities, Srila Prabhupada turned around to offer it to the devotees. We saw the most beautiful, satisfied smile on his face. As the arati progressed, his smile grew bigger and bigger! Fortunately, Visakha dasi was persistent enough to situate herself in front of the altar with her camera and capture this remarkable arati.
Mahamaya Devi Dasi
MEMORIES OF DAYANANDA DASA
For the pleasure of Sri Sri Krishna-Balaram, Sri Sri Radha-Shyamasundar, Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, Srila Prabhupada and all of the devotees of Vrindavan, please accept these few words of remembrance.
There is no reference to sastra here; however, these words come from my heart and convey images of my relationship with Sri-Sri Krishna-Balaram Mandir. These simple images come joyfully to my mind; I pray they entertain you.
When Srila Prabhupada was in Dallas, he asked my wife and me to attend the opening of the Krishna-Balaram Mandir in 1994. We came to Vrindavan prior to his arrival.The Mandir was still a construction site. I was very happy to stay in a sparse room nearby.Yamuna, Gurudas, Surabha, Gunarnava, and others were working very hard, but everyone knew the construction would not be finished on time.To my delight I found Pradyumna living in one of the grass construction huts at the back of the property. However, when Prabhupada arrived and found the work unfinished, he was not pleased.
Nevertheless, he took control of the situation. Like a master project manager, he determined what the problems were, suggested and orchestrated solutions, and assigned a new opening date. We stayed for a short time, sitting at Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet, hearing classes, relishing morning walks with him, and then returned to our services in the U.S.
Some months earlier I had sent $500 to Vrindavan to Gurudas for deity outfits for Radha-Kalachandji. However, he never got around to sending the outfits. When I arrived in Vrindavan, I mentioned this to him, and he told me he no longer had the money. Considering the pressure he was under, I let it go.To this day I sometimes pray that Krishna-Balaram will give me mercy because of that decision.
Although I was there in Vrindavan during that chaotic time, one of the most important events of my life actually occurred there in 1977. Along with many others I visited Srila Prabhupada when he was lying in his bed, apparently incapacitated. He could not even move his body. After greeting me, he asked his attendants to arrange for him to continue translating Srimad-Bhagavatam. Thus, Pradyumna began reading out the text and Prabhupada commented by whispering into a microphone.
This image of Srila Prabhupada working, preaching, fighting until the last has stayed with me clearly these many years. I replay that scene in my mind from time to time. I pray that Krishna-Balaram will also allow me to continue in that way until my end, at which time I hope to return to Vrindavan. Dayananda Dasa
MEMORIES OF DAIVI SAKTI DEVI DASI
Srila Prabhupada didn’t come directly from Mayapur to Vrindavan. He was scheduled to go to Hyderabad first for a program there. But we were sent directly to Vrindavan to get Srila Prabhupada’s house ready before the festival began. Construction and preparations were still in full swing in the temple and guesthouse, and Prabhupada’s house was being used for everything imaginable since it was the only completed building.
We thought we had a good two weeks to get everything in order before Prabhupada arrived in Vrindavan, but the day after we arrived, just after Mangal Arati, Bhavananda announced that a telegram had just come and that Srila Prabhupada would be arriving at 7:00 p.m. that very evening. This put us all into complete shock. We thought we had many days to prepare everything, and suddenly we had only half a day.
First and foremost, Their Lordships Sri Sri Krishna-Balaram, Gaura-Nitai and Radha-Shyamasundar had to be brought to the temple from Their temporary home in Prabhupada’s house. The men thoroughly washed the altars in the temple, and then one by one, with two devotees carrying each murti very carefully, Their Lordships were brought out of Prabhupada’s house and onto the altars in the temple to remain there until the installation.
Then we closed up Prabhupada’s house and cleaned the whole place, starting from the furthest back corner through to the front door. Just as everything was completed, Prabhupada arrived at the gate and all the devotees welcomed him ecstatically.
This time the temple was positively going to open. In 1974, Srila Prabhupada had been disappointed when he arrived, but this year everything was just about ready for the grand opening. Srila Prabhupada entered his quarters, and from that moment on a whirlwind of activities centered around His Divine Grace. All day and night there was so much going on in Prabhupada’s house, with a never ending stream of guests and devotees coming to see him. Prasadam was required for the guests perpetually, and also Prabhupada’s meals needed to be cooked. For the few days before the installation, Prabupada’s cooking went on in the future Deity kitchen. Then, when the kitchen had to be set up to prepare for Their Lordships’ service, the cooking shifted to the pujari room. Then one day some strangers came to the pujari room and pushed the door open.
These were the brahmanas who had come to prepare for the installation ceremony. Again the cooking was going to have to move, but we had nowhere to go. Prabhupada then gave permission to start cooking in his small, unfinished kitchen below the temple kitchen. With makeshift doors and no windows we set up the kitchen and practically remained in there throughout the entire festival.
The demand for prasadam was endless, as was Prabhupada’s preaching during that week... Around the clock Prabhupada greeted guests, and he was serving halavah and pakoras to everyone who came to his room. When he went out of his house for a walk or to the temple, we’d use the time to clean his house, especially his darshan room, which would be full of prasadam from all the guests. Even during the installation ceremony the cooking was going on, and during the procession Prabhupada wanted his asana covers and curtains changed, so we had to stay back. When the maha photo was taken in front of the temple, Prabhupada’s breakfast needed to be prepared. But just being able to serve Prabhupada was worth missing all the excitement.
Prabhupada hardly rested or ate, there was too much to do, and Lord Krishna was giving him unlimited strength to carry on. Though we were exhausted, Prabhupada kept preaching and meeting all the guests. One day I was ready to quit in the kitchen because I was so tired and hungry. But then I remembered how much Prabhupada was doing, and we were only helping him a very little bit.
When the festival ended and Prabhupada left we had three months to complete whatever hadn’t been ready in time for the opening. My task was to get the garden planted and to finish up everything in Prabhupada’s house. Prabhupada’s upstairs quarters were constructed then. In all departments of the temple, the devotees had to struggle to reach the standard Prabhupada wanted. It was very austere living in Vrindavan in those days. There was a jaundice epidemic amongst the pujaris, which made the Deity worship extremely difficult.
The twenty-four hour kirtan was everyone’s responsibility. We each had to sing at least one hour a day. All of the matajis were expected to make garlands and help roll chapatis in the devotee kitchen. Matajis were allowed to cook for Their Lordships in the Deity kitchen up until 1977.
There are so many devotees to thank for giving their lives to Srila Prabhupada, and specifically for helping to open the Krishna Balaram Mandir in Vrindavan. Prabhupada built a home in Vrindavan for all of us to live. He expanded this home throughout the world, and invited everyone to come back home, back to Godhead here in Sri Vrindavan Dhama, to the Krishna Balaram Mandir.
Download 10 more remembrances... SPMemories.ZIP