Prabhupada is happy in Boston

Pan Am flight 55 arrives Sunday afternoon at 3:40 PM. Srila Prabhupada is one of the disembarking passengers at Logan Airport. Hundreds of devotees greet him in the arrivals lounge from all over the East Coast and Canada. The kirtan is so uproarious that the Monday papers mention that Logan has never witnessed such a reception as the leader of the Hare Krishna People received. Prabhupada is glad to be back in America. He is satisfied that his Guru Maharaja is pleased with a secure temple in the heart of London and the Hare Krishna mantra popular all over Europe. This was a project that was dear to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, and he wants to ensure that it develops successfully. He now has Tamal Krishna, the organizer, to take responsibility for the sankirtana, easing the burden on Mukunda, Gurudasa, and Syamasundara. His plan of sending out householder couples to preach has been effective. Who in the Gaudiya Math could have envisioned this? Without a doubt this is surely the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Before departing from London, he had expressed these feelings in a letter to Himavati. "So I am very glad that you both, husband and wife, are executing the mission of Lord Caitanya so nicely and faithfully. Please continue to act like that, and certainly Lord Caitanya will bestow all His blessings and power upon you. Personally I am so much engladdened that the pairs of young boys and girls whom I have placed in householder life are doing so nicely in the Western world. When Lord Caitanya delivered Jagai and Madhai, He was also a householder, but when Jagai and Madhai were actually reclaimed, His wife, Visnupriya, was not there. But in this case, and in many other cases also, I find that my disciples combined together, husband and wife, are doing this preaching work so nicely. So I am especially proud how my householder disciples are preaching Lord Caitanya's Mission. This is a new thing in the history of the Sankirtan Movement. In India all the acaryas, and their descendants later on, acted only from the man's side. Their wives were at home because that is the system from old times that women are not required to go out. But in Bhagavad-gita we find that women are also equally competent like the men in the matter of Krishna Consciousness Movement. Please, therefore, carry on these missionary activities, and prove it by practical example that there is no bar for anyone in the matter of preaching work for Krishna consciousness." Letter to Himavati, December 20, 1969

Prabhupada is happy in Boston. The temple room is packed for the morning classes. Speaking engagements have been arranged at various colleges, and he is pleased to see the ISKCON press managed by Advaita. But a week later he catches a flight out to Los Angeles. On the plane, Prabhupada muses about the last three months in Europe. The London temple is off to a tremendous start, and Hamburg is also beginning to make devotees. Umapati and a few devotees have gone to Paris and will soon establish a presence for Lord Caitanya in this important city. Now there are functioning centers in six countries: England, France, Canada, Germany, America, and Japan. For Christmas there are twenty-two branches on the ISKCON tree.