Prabhupada On Tour — Bombay

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All of a sudden one day he came to office and he said,

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“I want to go to America.” I said to him, “Are you crazy?

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Why do you want to go there? What will you do?

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Who will look after you? What will you do there?”

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So he said….

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So I said, “All right, I will make this arrangement and then you go.”

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So when the arrangement was made, he was in Bombay,

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I made all the arrangements with the captain and the ship went.

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In 1970 Srila Prabhupada returned to India with some disciples.

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When Srila Prabhupada arrived in Bombay you could say he took Bombay by storm.

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People were astonished that Americans and Europeans and Orientals could

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totally accept Krishna consciousness and Vedic culture.

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I’ll never forget the program at Chowpatty Beach that was organized by the Bharata Sadhu Samaja.

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There were thousands of people.

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I could never imagine so many people could gather in one place to hear spiritual discourses.

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We started the kirtan sitting and gradually all the devotees stood up on the stage

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and began to dance at the front of the stage.

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Pretty soon the whole group of us were chanting and dancing through the audience,

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thousands of people and they were standing up, they were swaying on their feet

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and they got completely captivated by the whole mood.

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And the whole atmosphere was completely transformed.

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One of our close friends and supporters, Sadaji Whitlaw,

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suggested that we should put on our own pandal.

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I mean for us to put on our own pandal then seemed impossible

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but Srila Prabhupada encouraged us.

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By the end of the publicity campaign everyone knew about the program

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and as the final climax to the publicity, Shamasundara arranged a blimp

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that was fixed to the sight at Cross Maidan in down-town Bombay and that

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hovered over the city, “Hare Krishna Festival-Cross Maidan”

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And on the opening night thousands of people streamed into the pandal and every night

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we had about twenty thousand people and on the weekends maybe thirty thousand.

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And it was a tremendous success. Then one evening Srila Prabhupada

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had a ceremony on stage, a marriage. So the marriage featured Vegavan from Sweden and

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Padmavati from Australia and they were married with the proper Vedic fire ceremony

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in front of twenty thousand people. Srila Prabhupada declared:

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“This is the real united nations.”

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And the whole audience began to cheer and clap, thousands of people.

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Juhu was just a simple fishing village. There was one hotel there

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because of the beautiful beach and there were two more under construction

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and it was considered very remote.

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The explanation of expert devotees is that Krsna was actually not absent from Vrndavana;

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He came back with Nanda Maharaja as promised.

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When He was going to Mathura on the chariot driven by Akrura and the gopis were

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practically blocking the way, Krsna assured them that He was coming back

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just after finishing His business in Mathura. He told them not to be overwhelmed,

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and in this way He pacified them.

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We remember Him playing in those places because He was constantly visiting them.

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Therefore Mayavadi takes that this Krsna-lila is maya. They are surprised.

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“How God can be affectionate like this.” He is nivaka,

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He is without any attachment. They cannot understand Krsna philosophy.

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Because he is playing exactly like human being they think,

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“Oh, He is human being, maya,” Mayavada, this is called Mayavada.

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How wonderful it is that Krsna took in one hand the big, heavy bow

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made of three joined palm trees and broke it very quickly!

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How wonderful it is that continually for seven days He held up Govardhana Hill

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in one hand! How wonderful it is that He has killed all the demons.

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After signing the sales agreement and getting possession of the land Srila Prabhupada

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organized a huge pandal right on the Juhu land and even though it was far from the city

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and not so many of our friends from the city came but many of the local people came.

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And as part of the proceedings Srila Prabhupada had the corner stone laying ceremony.

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So we selected this Bombay. Bombay city is the best city, most advanced city, in India.

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And people are also very nice, they are religiously inclined, therefore

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I wanted to start this center, Bombay, for spreading this Krishna consciousness movement.

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Although there have been many impediments in my endeavor,

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still ultimately it is Krsna’s business, it will come successful.

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So today, the foundation and corner-stone establishment was done two years before

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but there were many, many impediments from the ausric jana.

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Now somehow or other we have got little relief from such impediments

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so we are putting this corner stone this auspicious day

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and I am very glad that you have joined us.

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So the mission is very, very authorized therefore my request is that

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the inhabitants of Bombay, especially those who are our members,

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they will kindly take active part in how to make this institution very successful in Bombay.

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This land was called “Nair-wadi,” now it is “Hare Krishna Land.”

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One day Guruji was here. Myself, Valiya and my wife was there, in that room.

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Valiya said to Guruji that Guruji Mr. Nair will not give you this land because he has

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been offered by some hotel owner for 36 lakhs and you are purchasing for 14 lakhs and

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Mr. Nair has to pay so much income tax. So he must have changed his idea

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and he will give the land to that person who has offered 36 lakhs.

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Then Guruji said, There is no matter. If he doesn’t want to give us this land then

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he must return our money but I don’t think he can pay the income tax in this life.

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So Guruji went at the night to Sydney.

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And when we wake up in the morning we heard that Mr Nair’s heart failed and he died.

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At the second Bombay pandal Sri Sri Kisora Kisori that were later sent to Chicago

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and installed there were the Deities at the pandal program.

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And on the last day of the pandal during the last kirtan Srila Prabhupada stood up and

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began to dance and of course the devotees were always dancing

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whenever there was kirtan in Srila Prabhupada’s presence especially

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but when he stood up and danced the devotees went wild.

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And then Prabhhupada began to dance in a circle around the Deities,

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Sri Sri Kisora Kisori, and then the devotees were also dancing in a circle

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following Srila Prabhupada.

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So in the beginning before the creation God is existing and after the creation,

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when the creation is annihilated, He will be existing. This is called transcendental…

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The same cloth but the tailor according to the body makes a covering of this hand

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and this looks like a hand. This covering of the chest looks like a chest.

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Therefore the impersonal means the material covering.

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Otherwise the spirit soul is person. Just like you go to the tailor.

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According to your body the tailor will cut a coat.

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This coat, the ingredients of the coat, the cloth, that is impersonal,

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but it is made like a person. Covering of the person.

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In other words the spirit soul is person as much as God is also person.

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Imperson means the covering. Try to understand.

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The covering is imperson. Not the living being who is covered.

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He is not imperson, he is person. Very simple example.

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The coat / shirt is impersonal.

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But the man who is putting on the coat and shirt, he is not imperson, he is person.

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So how God can be imperson? The material energy is imperson.

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That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita.

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This jagat is avyakta, imperson. That is also energy of Krsna

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therefore we say I am expanded in the impersonal form.

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That impersonal feature is Krsna’s energy. So the material covering is impersonal

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but the spirit soul or the supersoul is person. Any questions on this.

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It is very intricate question, anyone. If there is any difficulty to understand.

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Because I have heard so many of these so-called yogis in English about Gita

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and this and that but they can not explain…

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How can they explain? They can not touch even Bhagavad-gita.

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They have no qualification. Their speaking on Bhagavad-gita is artificial.

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They cannot speak. Because the real qualification, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita,

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bhaktosi, one must be devotee and then he can touch what is Bhagavad-gita.

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Even in Mayapur when we went to visit that time Sridhar Swami’s ashram

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and he spoke something in English, some other man spoke in English.

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They cannot explain like you Srila Prabhupada.

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You are the only one that when you speak this knowledge it becomes

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immediately enters into the ear and into the heart. And then it is realized.

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Maybe.

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Vishaka you think also like that.

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Without a dobut.

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Unfortunately I am thinking this is American pains and pleasures,

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this is Indian pains and pleasures. Pains and pleasures is the same.

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It is neither American nor African. Pains and pleasure is the same.

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So as soon as this consciousness that I am feeling American pains, American

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pleasure. As soon as this is over then we come to the original consciousness.

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Because consciousness cannot be American or African.

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If I pinch you the pain felt by you is the same when I pinch the African.

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Therefore the consciousness is the same.

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Artificially we are thinking that American consciousness, African consciousness,

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actually that is not the position. Simply this misunderstanding has to be cleared out.

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That is called ceto-darpanam-marjanam. Is it not a fact?

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The consciousness of feeling pains and pleasure, can it be American or Indian? No.

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It is the same. Artificially we are thinking that it is American pains or it is Indian pains.

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That is artificial. This artificial covering has to be removed,

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then we come to Krsna consciousness.

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Feelings… The consciousness is not American, African or Indian.

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The consciousness is the same.

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When you feel hungry is that Americans feel a different way hungry,

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the Africans feel in a different way. Hungry, appetite, is the same.

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Now if you say this is American appetite, this is Indian appetite, that is artificial.

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So when you do not go to the artificial platform, that is Krsna consciousness.

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That is explained in Narada Panchartra.

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When we become free from these artificial designations, American consciousness,

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Indian consciousness, African consciousness, there is no such thing,

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this is artificial. Even bird and beast, they also feel consciousness. Pains and pleasures.

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Just like when there is scorching heat you feel some pains.

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Is that American, Indian or African? Scorching heat is everywhere.

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If you say that I am feeling scorching heat American way. Simply these are artificial.

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Everything is depending on consciousness therefore Krsna consciousness

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is the original standard of consciousness.

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In 1977 we organized the last public preaching program for Srila Prabhupada,

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the last pandal program.

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When Gurudasa put on the first Delhi pandal he invited important persons

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from different fields to attend as chief guests every night and to speak

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so we followed the same pattern now for what turned out to be Srila Prabhupada’s

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last public pandal program.

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One evening Srila Prabhupada had Svarupa Damodara dasa [at the time] give a

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presentation to the audience with slides and different scientific arguments in favor of the existence of the soul.

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Srila Prabhupada was so please with the presentation.

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As part of the last pandal program in 1977 the Vaikuntha Players performed Ramayana

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and the people of Bombay were overwhelmed.

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They had never seen such a professional quality performance with beautiful costumes,

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powerful acting, and the mood in the pandal at the time was as if Sita and Laxman and

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Hanuman and Lord Rama Himself were personally present.

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Also during the last Bombay pandal Srila Prabhupada performed initiations.

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Perhaps the last public ceremony with the fire sacrifice and many devotees were initiated

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on Ramanavami day and many of them were given names related to Rama

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so it was a very poinent moment when Srila Prabhupada left Juhu for the last time

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and within our hearts we all felt that he will not return.

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And then the car pulled out of the driveway and left Hare Krishna Land.

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We were thinking how is it that Prabhupada left before the temple opened.

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It’s almost as if his life’s ambition had been to see that the temple opened

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and somehow we came to the conclusion that Prabhupada wanted us to feel

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his presence in his apparent separation and we did.

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We all felt that Srila Prabhupada was present and we think now and we thought then

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of Srila Prabhupada’s own words of dedication to his spiritual master

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that he lives forever by his divine instructions and the follower lives with him.

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