August 28, 1977 : Bhaktivedanta Manor

Satsvarupa: Customs and immigrations officials and the British Airways ground crew allowed Srila Prabhupada, in a wheelchair, to quickly pass through all the formalities. And soon he was amid a throng of enthusiastic disciples and then sitting in a white Rolls Royce en route to Bhaktivedanta Manor. But there was a shock for his disciples in London, who had never imagined that he would be so thin or that anyone could travel in such condition. For the devotees who had been at the airport to meet him, it had been a heart-rending experience. Even those who had heard the reports of Prabhupada in Vrndavana were not emotionally prepared for such a change.

At Bhaktivedanta Manor, Srila Prabhupada went from the car to a palanquin and entered the temple room, where about three hundred disciples and well-wishers were waiting to be with him. They had been praying for him for months. The prayer, "My dear Lord Krishna, if You desire, please cure Srila Prabhupada," had been printed on a banner and hung over Prabhupada's vyasasana. A devotee placed a large silver plate full of prasadam on the table before Srila Prabhupada. He picked up a milk sweet and tasted it, then a piece of mango.

Then Srila Prabhupada looked up, smiling. "So," he said, "is everyone all right?" "Jaya, Srila Prabhupada!" was the warm reply. The tension of seeing Srila Prabhupada's different appearance suddenly melted, and everyone simply wanted to make him feel comfortable and to please him with their service.

For the rest of the day, Srila Prabhupada remained alone, resting. Tamala Krishna lectured to the devotees in the temple room, explaining how Srila Prabhupada had decided it was better to travel, even at such a great risk, than to be invalid. Tamala Krishna told how someone had suggested Srila Prabhupada go to Tehran or Italy or France, because of the airport strike in London, but how he had said, "'I want to go to London.' Srila Prabhupada has come to take shelter of you," said Tamala Krishna. He said that, according to shastra, a devotee should stay in Vrndavana, especially at the end of his life, but because Srila Prabhupada's spiritual master had ordered him to go to the West and preach, he had returned, determined to fulfill that mission until the last.