Should I go to India?
Dayananda : At the end of 1970, Srila Prabhupada was considering going back to India. Rupanuga, Karandhar, some others, and I were sitting with Prabhupada in his garden in Los Angeles when he said, "Shall I go to India? I'm thinking to go to India and to take a group of devotees with me." It turned out that he took quite a few devotees. Our Los Angeles temple was practically cut in half. We also gave him several thousand dollars to take with him. But we managed somehow. Karandhar and I were amazed. It was like a cell splitting in half and then growing again. It was incredible to experience that kind of growth. In the garden that day, we were all feeling a lot of pressure and changes. These things affected me particularly. On the other hand, Rupanuga always had a mature presence with Prabhupada and seemed able to communicate easily with him. When Prabhupada asked Rupanuga, "Should I go to India?" Rupanuga said that he was not much in favor of the idea. Another devotee, maybe Karandhar, supported Rupanuga. Then Prabhupada asked me, "Dayananda, what do you think I should do?" I had never given advice on such a monumental thing. This was completely beyond my realm, so I said something diplomatic. I said, "Prabhupada, I think you should do whatever is your desire." Prabhupada shot back at me, "My desire is to spread this sankirtan movement all over the world." His words entered my heart. How could I not be grounded in that idea? For me it was the right time and the right place to be influenced by Prabhupada in that way. It's something that I think about regularly.
Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 1 by Siddhanta Dasa
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