 On Ratha Yatra day in London on July 7, 1973, although not looking very strong, Srila Prabhupada refused to sit on the vyasasana placed and decorated for him on the ratha cart. He said “No, I am just a devotee. I will go in the procession.” Revatinandana remembered “During the kirtana Prabhupada was right in the middle of the kirtana with his karatalas the whole time. He was dancing back and forth and jumping up and down and dancing.” Alternating between dancing and standing facing the Deities with his arms raised, Prabhupada sometimes looked very ill and sometimes he looked like an eighteen year old boy. It was an amazing sight for passersby to see a man of that age dancing and jumping in the air like a young boy. When the hour marathon finally ended at Trafalgar Square, Prabhupada sat on a little vyasasana and delivered a lecture about the holy name of Krishna.
George Harrison approached Prabhupada in a submissive mood and they took prasadam together. Prabhupada smiled as he talked with George, gratefully acknowledging his donation of the Manor. “Have you seen my room?” Prabhupada asked. “It is actually your house, but my room.”
“No,” George protested, preferring the mood of a humble disciple, “it is Krishna’s house and your room.”
Through George Harrison, another famous pop singer and musician, Donovan, was drawn to come and see the renowned leader of the Hare Krishna movement. With a friend and two girlfriends in miniskirts, Donovan was encouraged by Prabhupada to write songs about Krishna and Prabhupada said that anything, even money, could be used in the service of Krishna.
After a short conversation Donovan’s girlfriend whispered in his ear, whereupon Donovan stood up to leave. The devotees concluded that “she was thinking that if Krishna gets him, then she will lose him”.
Prabhupada then went to Paris to install Radha and Krishna deities on August 9. Laughing he said “Radharani is so beautiful, just like a Paris girl. And Krishna has come here to find out this most beautiful of all the gopis. So He is Paris-isvara.”
Prabhupada remained in London until Janmastam,i then left urgently for Bombay after receiving an urgent request from Giriraja to personally settle the purchase of the Juhu land with Mrs. N.
Mrs. N. had just recovered from illness and said that if Prabhupada paid the full balance of twelve lakhs of rupees for the land in one payment, she would agree to the purchase. Mrs. N. together with Mr. Asnani, Bombay lawyer and ISKCON life member, arrived at a programme of kirtana and Bhagavata discourse, and talked briefly with Prabhupada before the programme. At around midnight, Prabhupada returned to his room and Mrs. N. burst into tears and bowed at his feet,“ I am sorry for everything I’ve done,” she sobbed. “Please forgive me.” Compassionately, Prabhupada said “You are just like my daughter. Don’t worry. I will take care of you. I will see to all of your needs for the rest of your life.”
At six-thirty on the evening of November 1, Prabhupada, met with Mrs. N, lawyers and others together with about eight devotees. The room was full and grew warm and stuffy. The atmosphere was very intense “like a combination of months of struggling…….their dreams and desires and efforts over the past many years were being fulfilled.” When asked by Tamala Krishna Goswami why she was crying, Mrs. N. replied that just that day another buyer for the land had been found for many more lakhs. The devotees were thinking she had remembered the many events that had taken place, the wrongs she had done and the death of her husband.
During the feast that followed, Prabhupada spoke about his vision for the project and how it would be like one of the seven wonders of the world. People would be attracted from all over the world. It would be fantastic!
After the late feast, when everyone had departed, Prabhupada returned to his room. Leaning back at his desk, he exclaimed, “It was a good fight”.
In Vrndavana in March 1974 Hans Kielman (now Surabhi) who had drawn the plans for the Bombay centre was asked by Prabhupada to draw up plans basing the design on Indian Renaissance architecture for the Vrndavana temple. He liked the Govindaji temple near the original temple constructed by Rupa Goswami. Prabhupada wrote: And this Vrndavana project is one of the most important of ours in ISKCON.
Prabhupada became impatient with delays and he had asked that the Deities in Vrindavana be Krishna and Balarama saying “Krishna may be black, and Balarama of white,…” Because most temples in Vrndavana were of Radha and Krishna, Prabhupada wanted this temple to be unique. The temple would be located in Ramana-reti an area of forest and soft sands where Krishna and Balarama enjoyed Their childhood pastimes five thousand years ago. Even today the same atmosphere still prevailed with peacocks sitting in trees or rooftops, the cooing of pigeons and cuckoos and the sweep of the parrots’ green wings. These were eternal sounds and sights of the Vrndavana forest.
One day during his massage, Prabhupada confided to his servant “Most men are retired at my age. I do not want to manage anymore. I just want to do some writing.” He asked where he could go in the world, where he would be all alone with no disturbances and mail. His servant suggested Tehran.
That very day a letter arrived from Bhagavan in Paris inviting Prabhupada to tour his ISKCON centres in Europe. Enlivened by this invitation Prabhupada said he would go. But when his servant commented that just that day he had wanted to go away and be alone, Prabhupada replied, laughing. “That will not be possible for me in this lifetime. Better I keep travelling and die on the battlefield. For a warrior, it is glorious to die on the battlefield. Is it not?”
Source: Your Ever Well-wisher by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami.
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