Bombay-The 'New Kurukshetra'

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami: Prabhupada was soon traveling again, with me in the side seat, to Calcutta, to New Delhi, back to Vrindavana, and then to Bombay. Those who know something of Prabhupada's life from their personal experience or from the Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita know that Bombay was the scene of many struggles for him, as he fought to establish a grand temple and ISKCON hotel at Hare Krishna Land. There was court litigation, threats from the landlord, delays from the municipality, and even an attack and demolition of his first temple. Some of the devotees called Bombay 'New Kurukshetra' because of the obstacles Prabhupada confronted there.

But for the period I am describing, April through May 1974, Srila Prabhupada's time in Bombay was rather uneventful. It was an in between period with no intense conflict. As he wrote in one letter during this time, "In Bombay we are meeting the opposition peacefully and I hope things will come out successfully." But for me personally, as Prabhupada's servant and disciple, this was a soul-searching period. During the more than two months Prabhupada stayed in Bombay, the pace got slow and the weather got hot.