Money to bail

Danavir Swami: One Saturday in Portland we organized a Harinam party with fifteen or eighteen devotees. That day there happened to be a big downtown parade, and we chanted through the crowds. It was a very nice atmosphere, but suddenly for no apparent reason the police came, put us into vans and took us to jail. We had never experienced that before. They set the bail at $50 per person and our hearing wasn't until Monday. Unfortunately the temple had no money, so we were stuck.

I was especially sad because I was supposed to organize all the programs for Srila Prabhupada. After a few hours, the warden came to our cell and said, "Are you such and such?" I said, "Yes," and he said, "Okay, you're bailed out." Srila Prabhupada gave the money to bail me out. When I got back to the temple, Prabhupada called for me and I went in to see him. He said, "We had to save at least one." It was very touching for me. Then he asked, "So, what happened?" I said, "We were chanting, and they arrested us." He said, "Yes, the Kazi also gave Lord Chaitanya problems with kirtan. But if they object to mridangas and kartals, you don't have to play the instruments. You can just clap your hands and chant Hare Krishna."