Devotional service at Radha-Damodara Temple

Mahanidhi Dasa: Nectar of Devotion was one of the first books that Prabhupada presented for the benefit of his Western disciples. It is considered as one of the foundational works for his ISKCON Society. Now, Srila Prabhupada had returned to Radha-Damodara temple, the place of Sri Rupa Goswami and the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara, the source of the nectar of devotion. The time was Kartik and the audience was filled with fledgling disciples eager for nourishment. So it was the natural choice, according to time, place and circumstance, for Srila Prabhupada to deliver the Nectar of Devotion.

Ganga Mayi dasi: "Every morning the devotees from Keshi Ghat would assemble outside Prabhupada's room in the Radha-Damodara courtyard and have these real far-out, rip-roaring kirtans, with about thirty devotees. About a half-a-dozen sannyasis (Subal, Parivrajakacarya, Paramahamsa, Tusta Krishna) used to jump up and down with their dandas whirling about. And they would leap into the air, polevaulting with their dandas. Those kirtans were pretty amazing, come to think about it. They were very ecstatic. "I remember thinking to tape one, but it was so wild I couldn't figure out where to put the tape recorder. Because they were leaping around the courtyard like anything in ecstasy."

Gopal Ghosh: "Prabhupada would come out of his room with his stick, and his chaddar wrapped over his shoulder. Two devotees would accompany him, waving camara and peacock fans. First he would do pranams to Radha-Damodaraji, then Jiva Goswami, Rupa Goswami and then sit down to lecture. During his lectures, he often paused and asked Hari Charan Goswami, famous pandit who would attend, if he had any questions. Prabhupada invited him many times to come to New York or London and preach the glories of his Deity, Radha-Raman and the aims of Gopal Bhatta Goswami."

Ganga Mayi: "Prabhupada spoke from a small asana facing north, between Rupa Goswami's bhajan kutir and samadhi. It was a tight cluster of fifty disciples sitting in the courtyard, which was just dirt and clumps of grass. The public didn't pay attention, they just walked around us. During the talks, the monkeys would be jumping about in the trees, dangling on loose wires, or occasionally bounding amongst the devotees." Because Lord Krishna had an old pet monkey named, "Dadhilobha", and because the Lord is very fond of feeding stolen yoghurt and butter to his private friends, and because Lord Damodara rules Seva Kunj, it appears that the monkeys are an eternal feature of Radha-Damodara temple.

But the devotees may share the opinion of one Christian Father Tieffenthaler, who visited Vrindavan in 1754, and described Vrindavan's monkeys as 'a most intolerable nuisance'.

Prabhupada's Nectar of Devotion lectures concentrated on three main topics: Association with devotees, the spiritual world and living in Vrindavan, and the position of the spiritual master. The following pages contain transcribed excerpts from his lectures concerning these topics. By reading them one can appreciate the special flavor of Srila Prabhupada's intimate preaching to his disciples, within the sanctified setting of Seva Kunj.