Srila Prabhupada's care for Trees
Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada had to struggle very hard to build the Juhu temple. The first struggle was to get the land, the next struggle was to get permission to build the temple, and the last struggle was to actually build the temple and install the Deities. We had worked hard to get permission to build, which, in India, has many conditions. They give you permission, but you must fulfill certain conditions. One of the conditions was that we had to have an access road of a certain width, and it happened that there were some palm trees where the access road was to go. Once, when Srila Prabhupada came to juhu after being away for some time, he noticed that one or two of the palm trees had been cut down and he was upset. He asked, "Why did you cut down the trees?" We thought we had the best answer, we had to get permission to build the temple. But Srila Prabhupada said, "No. You go to the municipality and tell them it is against our religion to cut down trees." We had no choice. We did it and, of course, they argued. It struck me how concerned Srila Prabhupada was for the trees. The next time Prabhupada went on a world tour, he stopped in Tehran just before he returned to Juhu, and one of the first things he said was, "I was in Tehran and I have seen they have trees in the middle of the streets there. So we can also have trees in the middle of our street, it's not so strange." In the end, on Srila Prabhupada's order, we held our ground and they gave us permission. The tree that Srila Prabhupada protected is still standing there with asphalt all around it. Srila Prabhupada has so much care, concern, and even love for a tree, then what to speak of us. It's just because of Srila Prabhupada's care, mercy and protection that we are able to stand in Krishna consciousness no matter what else is around us.
Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 3 by Siddhanta Dasa
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