They have a motto: 'The wheels must keep turning.'

Today is Lord Vamana's Appearance and we observed a half-day fast. The pleasant idyll Srila Prabhupada enjoyed on his first night in the garden has been short-lived. Now, the temple management, and disputes between the leaders, are once again taxing his brain. He is always frustrated with the management here. Reports of gross over-spending are the cause of his present anxiety. Vrindavana is one of our most important centers and a great deal of money has been spent on the temple, and on a guest house that has not yet proved successful. Prabhupada is anxious that bad management may not end up spoiling everything. This morning he met with Hansaduta and Akshayananda Swamis. Hansaduta seems to generate agitation and controversy wherever he goes. He has been here for only two months and already the devotees have polarized into two camps: those that want him to take over as temple president, and those who don't. There is indeed a general dissatisfaction with the way Akshayananda Maharaja runs things, but although Srila Prabhupada shares this, he made it clear this morning what he wants from each of them. He sat facing the two sannyasis over his desk; Hansaduta to his left and Akshayananda to his right. Prabhupada addressed Hansaduta first. "You are a sannyasi. Why you are spending such a long time here? You have a bus and you must travel. Sannyasi means that now you have to preach all over the world. Why you should be thinking of becoming the president here? Actually a sannyasi should not remain in one place for more than three days at a time. You have your bus and if the wheels stop turning then it means the preaching is also stopped." Prabhupada gave Hansaduta the example of the Indian railways. "They have a motto: 'The wheels must keep turning.' And it is the business of every employee, whether a train driver, a fireman or a clerk in the office, to do their bit so that the wheels never stop. If the wheels stop, business stopped." So he told Hansaduta that his bus should never stop. "Still," he said, "the temple is nirguna, so you may stay more than three days?that is allowed. But only if you have business here." Then Prabhupada turned to Akshayananda Swami. "Now you must stay here in Vrindavana and never leave unless I say so. You must stay and do the management." We all looked at each other and laughed. Prabhupada is so wonderful that he can give two apparently contradictory instructions and still be absolutely correct. Prabhupada went on to explain that without Akshayananda's presence, things in the temple were deteriorating. So he must remain to correct the defects. Gopala Krishna and Harikesa Maharaja joined us, and Srila Prabhupada reiterated his instructions for Gopala Krishna's benefit, first explaining his directions to Hansaduta. "Sannyasi should go on preaching, preaching, preaching, preaching. Practically, I was sitting here in Vrindavana, in Radha-Damodara temple. So at the age of seventy years, nobody goes out, at least from Vrindavana nobody goes at the age of seventy years. But Krishna asked me. I thought that I must go, Guru Maharaja wanted it, Caitanya Mahaprabhu ... Let me try. So if I had not gone, then this institution would not have developed. So this is practical. Mahatah nirvicaranam. Mahatma, they must move. So when there is absolute necessity they may stay. Otherwise, they must move?move on, move on, move on, move on, move on. No staying, that is principle. No staying. I am this old age, I cannot move; still I am traveling all over the world. I am simply interested that whatever I have done, it may not be vanquished in my absence. Let me go and encourage them. Otherwise, I have no capacity to move now. But still I am moving. Only for this purpose. So a sannyasi must move. A sannyasi must not stay anywhere more than three days. That is the principle." Then he indicated Akshayananda and explained why he had to stay. "So he was moving, but his moving is creating disturbances here. Therefore I have stopped. And besides that, a temple is nirguna. A sannyasi is forbidden to stay anywhere else, but in a temple he can stay for more than three days provided there is business. Otherwise, there is no necessity. So this is the exclusion." Gopala Krishna looked relieved at Prabhupada's decision. "That solves all the problems." "No, solves or not solves, we shall see later on," Prabhupada told him. "But this is the principle. This is the principle. Solution, if we do not become very simple servant of Krishna, problems will increase. It will never be solved. If you have got any other desire than to serve Krishna, then the problems will increase; it will never decrease. Therefore bhakti begins, anyabhilashita-sunyam. No other purpose than to serve Krishna. This is only purpose. Anukulyena krishnanu-silanam. So our only business is how to satisfy Krishna. Krishna in His original status as Krishna, and in His other status as Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And in both ways, He's insisting to preach. That is a very important business. Neither Caitanya Mahaprabhu nor Krishna has recommended that you become a great devotee and sit down in a place and talk big, big words and simply eat and sleep. Krishna has never said. That is not Krishna's, neither Caitanya Mahaprabhu's, business. That is not required. Boro boro bandolel boro boro phet, lanka dingake mata kore het. 'Big, big monkey, big, big belly, Ceylon jumping?melancholy.' There are very many big, big bellies in Vrindavana, but if they're asked to preach Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission all over the world?melancholy. Melancholy. Big, big monkey, big, big belly." Addressing himself to Hansaduta he said, "So you have taken a very great mission, that world preaching; that is very, very nice decision. So you have got buses and you have got capacity. You do this. And one in Germany, one in India, come and go, come and go. What do you think?" Hansaduta was enthusiastic to do whatever Prabhupada wanted, but he had a complaint. He had a conflict with Gopala Krishna and temple presidents like Giriraja, because men who wanted tojoin his party and travel were being checked and sent to different centers, even against their will. Prabhupada's initial response was that if a brahmacari wants to travel, there should be no objection. But Gopala Krishna presented another side to the issue. He complained that Hansaduta was enticing men away by preaching to them and paying money to them even if the men were holding key positions in the temple. It sounded like a replay of last year's dispute between the Radha Damodara TSKP and the American temples. Srila Prabhupada affirmed that the temple establishment has to be maintained. "Besides that," Prabhupada told Hansaduta, "if you want to take someone, or if anyone is willing to go with you, the president of the local temple, he should be requested. So if the president thinks that he can be spared, then he can go. But if he thinks that his presence is necessary, why he should go?" Hansaduta said he did understand, and did try to abide by that principle, but in response to an incident cited by Gopala Krishna concerning a man in Bombay, he said that Giriraja had been so unreasonable about the matter that the boy actually ran away. Prabhupada wasn't drawn in by that kind of sentiment though. "No, no, there are so many people ... If you do not satisfy his senses, everyone is free to run away. That you cannot check. You cannot say, accuse somebody. Because here everyone is giving voluntary service. Nobody is servant. So if he doesn't like something, at any moment he can go away. At any moment. Just like yesterday the Sastri came. So he went away. And somebody, they are coming, going. You cannot check them. Because they are not our paid servants. If they are very kind that they have come here, cooperating with us. But still there is some decency, if one is engaged in some work, all of a sudden he should go away, that is not very good. Decently, that I used to go, and now in preaching work, so there will be no difficulty, this is the arrangement. Tamala also, if he did so, that is not good. Because I want some men, I cannot kidnap from any place. That is not good. We must see that the management is going on. The management may not suffer. But the president should allow to go if there is extra men." Prabhupada began to stress that the temples should only have those men who are absolutely necessary. All others should be sent out to preach. Gopala Krishna nodded. "They can all go on the buses, the extra men." But Prabhupada said, "No. They should be distributed. They may go to other centers." Then, addressing the current situation in Vrindavana he said, "Unnecessarily increasing men and increasing expenditure, 20,000, 25,000, 30,000. Why? Unnecessary. Only minimum men should be kept who are actually useful. There is no need of keeping extra men." Harikesa Maharaja raised a doubt. "When you originally were speaking about Vrindavana, you mentioned that Vrindavana would be a place for those people who have become a little disturbed in Krishna consciousness, or burned out, we call it, from so much activity, that he comes here and gets rejuvenated. Is that still ... ?" Prabhupada confirmed that idea. "That is a fact, but provided he is devotee. If he's not a devotee then he will go away, here and there, here and there. That is the habit. And a devotee is satisfied anywhere. A devotee is not that 'I'll go to Vrindavana, then I'll be satisfied.' Narayana-parah sarve na kutascana bibhyati. I did not go to your country taking Vrindavana with me. I had to stay in places where in the refrigerator there is meat. And I was cooking. When opened it I saw, 'Here is meat. All right, what can be done? Hare Krishna.' That's all. So if I would have stuck to Vrindavana, 'No, no, I cannot go anywhere, leaving Vrindavana.' No, we can go to hell if there is Krishna's service." Harikesa Swami pursued his line of inquiry, trying to get an exact under-standing of Srila Prabhupada's desire. "So is there some time that maybe somebody could stay here when he comes in that frame of consciousness?" Prabhupada told him, "It should be now restricted. Not that anyone comes and whimsically goes away. This should be restricted." Gopala Krishna claimed that devotees who just come to visit, but don't want to do service, are a disturbance. Akshayananda added, "A lot of devotees think ... They come here ... Therefore work is not necessary. Simply chanting and being in Vrindavana is nice. That's wrong." Prabhupada only half agreed with him. He said that to come and chant was all right. But he agreed that it increased the temple expenditure. "Who will collect this 25,000? It is increasing. I can maintain them provided they are actually serious about making progress in Krishna consciousness. Not that some lazy fellow will come, and because he has come to Vrindavana, Krishna-candra has become very much obliged to him. Krishna-candra had no other friend. That mentality should be curtailed." "What if he comes with money to pay for himself?" Harikesa asked. "Is there a guest house?" Prabhupada asked. "Stay. There is no harm. There is guest house, he can pay and stay. But here we shall keep only minimum number of men without whom we cannot make, manage it. That's all." Then Prabhupada voiced his discontent with the present state of affairs. "Who will bring 25,000 per month? I'm surprised. So this must be stopped immediately. We cannot pay more than 5,000. You stop. We cannot pay. My Guru Maharaja used to say, 'Joint mess.' This is not possible. That we have to maintain a big bundle of burden. What is this? Where is that temple in Vrnddvana who is spending 25,000, 30,000? Can you say any temple?" Bhagatji strengthened Prabhupada's case. "Not more than 5,000." Prabhupada stepped decisively into the management. He told Akshayananda, "I'm prepared to pay you 5,000 rupees for fifty men. Not more than that. That I can pay. You do not require to collect. You sit down. But work hard here. Not that eating, sleeping, no. That cannot be done. They must be engaged twenty-four hours. That is wanted. It is not a lazy, free hotel. Anyone lives, he must be engaged twenty-four hours. Kirtaniyah sada harih. If he has no work, chant Hare Krishna here. That should be done." Akshayananda told Srila Prabhupada that he requests anyone who comes to Vrindavana to spend at least one hour a day participating in the twenty-four-hour kirtana. Prabhupada said it was not a question of merely asking them. "This is the condition," he said, adding with a bite of sarcasm, "If you agree, then stay here. Otherwise, you go to Radha-kunda. " He told Akshayananda to make it a rule, and not just for one hour: "Four times. Morning, evening, night, morning again. From morning six to nine, another batch from nine to twelve, another batch twelve to three, another batch three to six, again the morning batch six to ... Twice one batch. One batch attending once in the morning, once in the evening." Akshayananda furrowed his brow and nodded to show he understood. "Very nice." "Everything is nice," Prabhupada told him. "Only to be managed, only to be managed. So I am prepared, I'll pay you. Even if you have no money I'll pay you 5,000 rupees. Keep fifty men." Akshayananda said that he didn't think it was necessary for Prabhupada to pay anything. "Then thank you," Prabhupada said. "But fifty men you can keep. And there is collection in the box. There is collection by prasada, so many other things." Bhagatji added, "And the altars." "That should be engaged fully in Deity worship," Prabhupada told him as he sat back in his seat, his determination set to rectify the mismanagement. "Not extravagant. That I shall see. I shall remain here. I shall manage myself. I shall see how things are going on. So anyway, fifty men, 5,000. No more 25,000. Forget. No more twenty-five." Prabhupada was so determined to cut expenses that he even went so far as to say that soap and toothpaste were not required. "Why soap? You are so devotee of Radha-kunda, why you require soap? They are going to Radha-kunda or naraka-kunda? This is nonsense. You take earth from the Radha-kunda or Vrindavana; vrindavana-dhuli. Why you require soap? Nim dantan [neem twigs for brushing teeth]. I was doing nim dantan until the teeth fell down. You will know that I was collecting nim. But now it is impossible. That also I have manufactured my own toothpaste. I purchase only the brush and I made my toothpaste at home. I never used any toothpaste. Even in my young days I never used. You have seen it practically. Not only that now I have become sannyasi. When I was grihastha I never used. So if you cannot use nim dantan, you can use this paste. I will tell you the formula for my toothpaste. Very simple." As far as visiting devotees were concerned, Prabhupada said that they may be allowed three free days and then they must pay for their upkeep. He said that every foreign devotee has money and they must contribute something. "We are welcoming, provided he is reasonable. Simply to exploit, that is not good. What do you think? In our Indian system, if somebody goes to a sadhu's asrama, especially grihastha, immediately he pays fifty rupees, hundred rupees. He'll not stay more than three days, four days. But he knows, 'The sadhu, wherefrom he'll bring money? Take.' They are paying without staying. In your country also it is done. That is up to the man's conscience, that 'I have come here, so I require to stay. Pay something.' So anything can be done very nicely, provided there is good management. I do not see any difficulty. I am present here. If there is any difficulty, ask me. I shall advise." The discussion then moved into how to arrange the kitchens. Akshayananda asked for confirmation that the three they have now?for the Deities, the devotees and the guest house?should be consolidated into one. Prabhupada confirmed that as his desire. "Why three?" Akshayananda . "Yes. So I'll give you a list of the preparations we'll offer for your approval." He said that it will mean there will be offering less to the Deities. Prabhupada didn't see that as a problem. He counted the number of Deities, and after some discussion decided that the ten plates they now offer should be cut to six. Another item discussed was the flowers for the Deity garlands. Prabhupada told them that they do not need to offer roses if they are too expensive. In this way Prabhupada began to delve into every detail of the temple's expenses. Later, in the evening, he worked out various costs with Bhagatji. This morning conference then moved on to other topics. Gopala Krishna mentioned that some of our life members are being harassed by the CID. In Chandigarh, Caityaguru reported that a life member had Prabhupada's books on display in his two stores. The CID went to him and said, "Why are you displaying these books? What's your connection? Why are you helping Hare Krishna?" "So selling books is illegal?" Prabhupada asked. Gopala Krishna said that they were just suspicious, and there were other reports of similar incidents. Prabhupada began to recall his early years of what he called "regular hard struggle," in 1966-67, and his problems to obtain residency in America. He then brought the meeting to a close with an appeal to his leaders to be mindful of their spiritual duties. "So Krishna gave us some facility. Now we have got some framework. Do it very cautiously. Unnecessarily exhausting what we ... sato vritteh sadhu-sange. That is Rupa Gosvami's line. We should be very honest and live with sadhu, those who are devotees. Tandera carana-sebi-bhakta-sane bas. First of all our mission should be how to serve the Gosvamis. Ei chay gosai yar mui taro das tan-sabara pada-renu mora panca-gras. You cannot act independently. Sri-caitanya-mano 'bhishtam sthapitam yena bhu-tale svayam rupah kada mahyam dadati sva-padantikam. That should be our prayer: Rupa Gosvami, who has established the mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, when I shall get shelter of his lotus feet? "Narottama dasa Thakura prays, tandera carana-sebi. Tandera means the six Gosvamis. Ei chay gosai yar mui taro das: I'm servant of that person who is engaged in the service of the six Gosvamis. And we pray to our Guru Maharaja, rupanuga-viruddhapasiddhanta-dhvanta-harine. Anyone who is going against the decision of Rupa Gosvami, reject him. This is our process. Rupa-raghunatha-pade hoibe akuti kabe hama bujhabo se jugala-piriti. Who will understand Radha-Krishna's loving affairs unless one has gone really through the instruction of Rupa Gosvami? Radha-Krishna loving affairs is not so easy. Radha-kunda is not so easy that by force I go to Radha-kunda and become a candidate. Narottama dasa Thakura is hankering, 'When I shall understand about Radha-kunda, Radha-Krishna's prema?' Such liberated, great devotees, acaryas, they are hankering. Rupa-raghunatha-pade hoibe akuti kabe hama bujhabo. When I shall understand? And they have understood immediately everything. Not so easy. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given us the facility. Abodha karuna-sindhu kaciya mahan prahlada brahma durlab prema nitai kore dhana. That is the special verse. It is not very easy thing. Bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate. Don't take things very easily; things are very serious. Therefore we have to go step by step. That is, Narottama dasa Thakura said, tandera sange. Aim should be how to serve Rupa-Raghunatha. And bhakta-sane bas, to stay with pure devotee who has no other intention. Anyabhilashita-sunyam. This is the process. So do it carefully. That's all." Having been given plenty to think about, the managers took their leave. "Jaya Srila Prabhupada!" * * * Several devotees who have been involved in helping with the Vrindavana temple are going elsewhere. Haihaya dasa, who was managing here for a short while, is going to open a center in Spain. Gunarnava is going to the Middle East with Tribuvanatha dasa to preach and collect funds. Jagat Guru Swami, who has been here for some time, has already gone to Malaysia to open a center.