It was Ford and Reuther, and the ceremony was covered by Time magazine, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit Free Press!
Udayananda: We had kirtan competitions. Devotees from the Chicago temple would do their thing, the L.A. devotees would do their thing, the Radha-Damodar party would do their thing and the London devotees would do their thing, like that.
Everyone was fired up about chanting. But one of our God-brothers didn’t like it.
He was in Prabhupada’s room with the Radha-Damodar boys and he said, “Prabhupada, it’s getting completely crazy out there, all the dancing like wildmen.”
Prabhupada stopped him and said, “Yes. When you become a lover of Krishna, you dance just like a madman.” All the Radha-Damodar boys went, “Haribol!”
Bhakti-caru Swami came in early 1977 and Prabhupada immediately gave him first and second initiation and said, “He is not a new man in this movement.”
Then a couple weeks later, Prabhupada was walking on the roof of the Lotus Building with Bhakti-caru Swami when Prabhupada said to him,
“You have had billions of births. All of us have had billions of births, and we have always given those lives simply to sense gratification. If you give one birth to Krishna you will not be the loser. Just give one to Krishna. And if you’re not satisfied, you still get more births.”
Prabhupada spoke matter-of-factly, just like saying the sun rises every day. He was considering transmigration, “Don’t worry, you can get billions of more births. But give one to Krishna and see what happens.”
A week later Bhakti-caru Swami took sannyas, and he’s maintained his sannyas vows ever since.
He’s given this one birth to Krishna. At any point in time we can also give our life to Krishna and that’s what I’m hoping to do.
Once, not long before Prabhupada left his body, he called Bhakti-caru Swami over.
Maharaj went to Prabhupada with a humble service mood and Prabhupada talked to him in Bengali.
Bhakti-caru Swami smiled sweetly and laughed and Prabhupada smiled and laughed, enjoying this rasa with him. I was completely envious.
They were sharing an intimate Bengali moment and I thought, “He’s so fortunate, he can talk to Prabhupada in his native tongue. I wonder what that joke was about.”
Finally Prabhupada said, “Look at this body, it’s completely useless. I am practically proving that life does not come from a bag of bones.”
We half chuckled and were half stunned in amazement. Srila Prabhupada transcended the whole situation.
He defied the “logic” of science by saying, “I am practically proving that life does not come from a bag of bones.”
Govardhan das and I arrived in Vrindavan and checked into a room in the Krishna-Balaram guesthouse.
Three minutes later Upendra knocked on the door and said, “Prabhupada wants to see you right away.”
Prabhupada had asked for Govardhan because in Detroit, where he was temple president, they’d just had a magnificent wedding for Lekhasravanti, Walter Reuther’s daughter. Ambarish was the best man.
So it was Ford and Reuther, and the ceremony was covered by Time magazine, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit Free Press— there was tremendous publicity throughout the country and it was a magnificent preaching opportunity.
We were on our way to Prabhupada’s room when Tamal Krishna Maharaj stopped us and said,
“You’ve never seen Srila Prabhupada look the way he does now. He’s not robust and healthy and it might be a shocking and painful sight for you. But don’t cry and don’t say anything negative. Just say encouraging things.”
Maharaj didn’t want Prabhupada to be anxious. He said, “We’re trying to encourage Prabhupada, to uplift his spirits, to make him enthused to go on preaching for at least another 10 years. So don’t look shocked, don’t be sad.”
We thought, “Okay, we’re prepared to do this.”
Prabhupada was lying in his bed and we offered our obeisances. Then we stood at Prabhupada’s feet and saw him. We were shocked.
Govardhan immediately lost it and quietly sobbed, covering his mouth with his chaddar.
Prabhupada smiled and said, “Who has come?” Tamal said, “It’s Govardhan and Udayananda from Detroit, Prabhupada.”
Prabhupada said, “Are your accommodations in the Krishna-Balaram guesthouse okay? Did you get prasadam? Are you comfortable? Is everything all right?”
Govardhan, who was saddened by Srila Prabhupada’s condition, couldn’t talk, so I said, “Yes, Srila Prabhupada, it’s first class. Thank you for taking such good care of us.”
Prabhupada said, “Are the devotees in Detroit happy in Krishna consciousness? And how are Lekhasravanti and Ambarish? How is the temple and how is the Deity worship? Are you preaching in the neighborhood?”
Prabhupada went on talking about everyone else’s well-being.
The kaviraj who was treating Srila Prabhupada had treated thousands of people with the same condition and he had said,
“This disease is so painful that others have writhed in pain—they can barely tolerate the pain—and they become incoherent, delirious.”
But Prabhupada’s consciousness was crystal clear and he was simply concerned about the well-being of others.
Never once did he say, “Look at my condition. Look at how I am suffering.” I was trying to wrap my mind around how a person in such a condition could be so selfless.
My God-brother Praghosa Prabhu went to Washington, D.C. to distribute books at the airport and when he came back from sankirtan one day, Srila Prabhupada saw him and said, “Where have you been?”
Praghosa offered his obeisances and said, “I’ve been distributing books, Srila Prabhupada.”
Prabhupada said, “Come with me,” and together they went into Prabhupada’s room.
Prabhupada said, “Where are you doing your service these days?” Praghosa said, “I’m in New York, Prabhupada, in the 55th Street temple.”
Prabhupada said, “Oh, you’re in New York? I also started in New York” as if every single devotee in the movement did not know everything about Prabhupada, especially where he started.
In his last days, Prabhupada talked about going on parikrama around Govardhan, but he wasn’t focused only on Govardhan.
When news and letters arrived about the preaching and the book distribution that was going on, Prabhupada became inspired and once he said,
“I should give up lying here in Vrindavan and go out and preach. You should take me to the New York temple. And if I die, put my tomb on top of the Radha-Govinda temple on 55th Street. I want to die preaching with my New York preachers.”
—Udayananda
Excerpt from “Memories-Anecdotes of a Modern-Day Saint”
by Siddhanta das