The Arrival of the First Devotees

CHAPTER THREE

On the ISKCON Land in Bhubaneswar

Chapter Three

On the ISKCON Land In Bhubaneswar

Devotee: When you reached Bhubaneswar were you still translating Çréla Prabhupäda’s books into Hindi? Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: No. Devotee: Had you been translating them into Oriya? Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: Yes. When I left Hyderabad, I stopped working on the Hindi translations. I had told Çréla Prabhupäda that my mother tongue was Oriya, but Çréla Prabhupäda was appreciative of my Hindi translation so I was doing it. But then Gopäl Kåñëa [Delhi] and Yaçomaténandana däsa [Gujarat] said that my Hindi was not good. Then I stopped and came to Orissa and started the Oriya translations. Devotee: What was the first book you began to translate? Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: Perfection of Yoga.*

Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: Then Srila Prabhupäda told me, “Now you go to Bhubaneswar and open a centre.” I said, “Alright, I will go. Will you kindly give me some money, some books and some devotees?” Prabhupäda said, “No.” Then he narrated his own story to me, how his Guru Mahäräja had told him to go to the Western countries, how he had gone to the West with no money**, no men, no friend, no acquaintance,

* From a darçana with Çréla Gour Govinda Swami. **Author’s note: Çréla Prabhupäda went to the USA in 1965 with 40 rupees, which then was worth approximately $8.00 (US). Moreover, since it is not possible to use rupees in America, it was as good as nothing.

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nothing. “I went there and started the whole movement.” So, to go to Bhubaneswar in Orissa, which was my home, was not such a great problem for me. Thus, I went alone. Anyway, it is all the causeless mercy of Çréla Prabhupäda. He said to me, “Orissa is your place of birth, your original place, go to that place. What need do you have of men and money? A Vaiñëava is not alone, Kåñëa is with you.” And he gave me nothing.

As always Çréla Gour Govinda Swami was equipoised; he was not flustered. He was not worried, whether good or bad conditions of life came. He was Kåñëa’s man, an emissary from the transcendental world. Çréla Prabhupäda had told him to go and live in that jungle, where there were wild animals and dacoits, and he was prepared to do it, no matter what:

samaù çatrau ca mitre ca tathä mänäpamänayoù çétoñëa-sukha-duùkheñu samaù saìga-vivarjitaù

tulya-nindä-stutir mauné santuñöo yena kenacit aniketaù sthira-matir bhaktimän me priyo naraù

“One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honour and dishonour, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contaminating association, always silent and satisfied with anything, who does not care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and who is engaged in devotional service—such a person is very dear to Me.” 1

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Fool’s Paradise

Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, difficulties, dangers and problems help one to be more attached to Kåñëa, completely attached. Unless there are difficulties, problems, dangers, one does not turn his face towards Kåñëa, thereby one is in a fool’s paradise. One thinks, “I am okay”. But he is in danger. He cannot understand it. He lives in a fool’s paradise. You understand? So, the difficulties, the problems, the destructions, the dangers, they are mercy in disguise – kåpä. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Prabhupäda Mahäräja said, “Accept all the sufferings in this material world as the mercy of the Supreme Lord”.

Devotee: Trying to avoid these sufferings, these difficulties that come, is that like the tendency for liberation, the desire for liberation, freedom from difficulties? Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: Why are you afraid of difficulties? Let there be difficulties!

Devotee: Some people just do not like difficulties. They like everything very easy. Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: (very forcefully) Do not choose such a path, the easy-going path! Otherwise you cannot get the mercy of the Lord. Face difficulties. Face problems and pray to Kåñëa from the core of your heart.* 2

* Queen Kunté prays: vipadaù santu täù çaçvat tatra tatra jagad-guro bhavato darçanaà yat syäd apunar bhava-darçanam

“I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.”

Cont. on page 30

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There was Nothing Here

Çréla Gurudeva recalls the earliest days on the BhubaneswarNayapalli land:

Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: Now we have made so many arrangements; nice apartments, there is electricity, there are fans, and there is running water, showers and flushing toilets. There are nice comfortable arrangements, and such nice prasäda is there. If you want to go out, vehicles are there: a jeep is there, a bus is there, two-wheelers are there. So now many are coming, “Oh! very nice enjoyment is there, let us go there!* 3

No One Would Come Here

Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: So many are coming now, but when my guru sent me here there was nothing. Nothing, nothing! This was a quite out-of-the-way place, a jungle. There was no electricity at the time. Even during the daytime no riksha-walla would come here; they were afraid to be killed by the dacoits. It was such a dangerous place. My Gurudeva said, “Go there, stay there and do this service.” It was my guru’s order. He did not give me any money, any men. I said, “Dear Çréla Prabhupäda, won’t you give me one man? Won’t you give me some money?” He answered, “Why? Why do you want man and money? No, I will give you nothing; go there!” All right, yes, my guru has said, I will go. 4

janmaiçvarya-çruta-çrébhir edhamäna-madaù pumän naivärhaty abhidhätuà vai tväm akiïcana-gocaram

“My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.” (Çrémad-Bhägavatam 1.8.25-26) *Author’s note: This is referring to Bhubaneswar temple 1995.

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A Vaiṣṇava Is Not Alone

Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: At that time, he told me, “A Vaiñëava is not alone, Kåñëa is with him!” I thought, “I am not a Vaiñëava!” I did not say it but I thought it, “My guru is a Vaiñëava, he is always with Kåñëa. Does he think I am like that? No, I am not like that. I am not a Vaiñëava. I have come here and accepted him as a guru to become a Vaiñëava. But he says that – alright I put faith in his words.” My guru said, “You are not alone, Kåñëa is there.” So, I prayed, “O Kåñëa, be pleased with me, my guru has said. You may not obey my order but You must obey my guru’s order because he is Your dear devotee.” Kåñëa obeys the order of His dear devotee. So, I offered my prayer to the Lord in that way that He must obey my guru’s order and be with me. So anyhow, I came alone. 5

Do not Eat Outside Cook Your Own Food

Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: My guru told me, “Go there, occupy that donated piece of land, build a mud hut, a very humble cottage, and stay there. Do bhajana. You have a patch of land, try to produce something, some vegetables. Do not eat outside, cook your own food with your own hands, translate my books into Oriya, go out and preach.” He gave me so many instructions. And he also said, “Then you will take me; I will go to Orissa.” 6

An ISKCON Centre Under Your Leadership

Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: So, I carried out the order of my Gurudeva. I did that. I was eating one meal a day. He had said, “Cook your own food, produce something, do not eat outside; whatever you get, you may cook; translate my

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books, and develop the land. I want that a nice temple, a nice ISKCON centre, will develop there under your leadership.” So, I came and stayed here. First, I lived hither and thither and tried to build a cottage here. Some money was required for that, so I had to collect money. Every day I was going out. I was walking, walking, I had no bicycle, nothing. Even if someone had given me a bicycle, I did not know how to ride it! I am such a rascal, such an unfit person, completely unfit. So, I was walking, walking, with one umbrella, putting a turban on my head. I carried one bag, I went out, preaching, preaching, thereby collecting some money: 1 rupee, 2 rupees, someone gave 5 paisas, 10 paisas, like that, and sometimes a nice day would come. Some gentleman could see “Sädhuji, you are hungry? I will give you something to eat.” That Mandir, that big temple is there, in old Bhubaneswar; and there is also the Ananta Väsudeva temple, and prasäda is available there, just like in Puré. So, some days, some gentleman gave me some food there. In this way I maintained myself. If no one gave, I would come back here at noontime. I would go out early in the morning to collect something. I would purchase some rice, däl, sabjé from the bazaar, come back and cook myself as my Gurudeva had said, “You cook yourself; do not eat outside.” What was I cooking? Kichuri: rice, däl and sabjé together. Kichuri is very nice. Sometimes, 2 or 3 guests were coming, so I shared my meal with them. Sometimes I prepared some capätés and some dälmä. It was either capäté and dälmä, or kichuri. I was eating only one meal a day. I was leading such a life and stayed here for many years. No one was here, only this National Highway. At night time, many trucks were passing, with their bright lights. I thought, “Oh that’s alright, light is there, and some sound is there.” I was always chanting Hare Kåñëa, so I thought, “Kåñëa is there and my Gurudeva is there.” So, I stayed here and constructed this mud hut. All these inconveniences were there: no facilities, no communication, no electricity, no water supply. I did not