The Purī Paṇḍās

A lwAys E mbr A c E d by K åñë A

It is Taped in My Heart You Should Accept Disciples

Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: Çréla Prabhupäda sent them out of the room, everyone, because his every word was being taped. He told everyone to vacate the room. Then he called me in only. “Gour Govind”, he whispered, “they are objecting to opening a temple here in Bhubaneswar. They want it in Puré. But I said, “No; I will build it here [Bhubaneswar] and see this project done, and this will be one of the greatest ISKCON temples in the world.” He whispered so many things in my ear. Indicating the westerners, he said, “These people [my disciples] have problems, they cannot stay here. They will come and go, but they will help you. Keep friendship with them. You have to stay here and see this through; they cannot!” He said, “You should have your own men, you should accept disciples, train them; otherwise, how can you manage?” He told me like this in that room over there; there was only he and I, no one else; he sent everyone out; that was in 1977. “Your own men, train them, otherwise how can you manage?”. His every word was taped, but no tape was on then. It is taped in my heart. So, he said everything will be there; deities will be there, made in Orissa, and made of brass. Everything he said only to me, no one else was there. This, that, that, that, so many things he told me; we spoke confidential things. I’m not saying everything, only as is required I am saying. At last, he said, “Tolerate and cooperate.” Bas [That’s all].*

*Author’s comment: It seems that sädhus record information in the heart, not by mechanical device. After all the path of bhakti is about the path of transcendental emotion. It does not stem from brainwork, false ego, the mundane mind or the polluted intellect. The great Vaiñëava Äcärya Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura wrote his famous poem, “He reasons ill” in 1871, with the great Vaiñëava äcärya Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura in mind:

“He reasons ill who tells that Vaiñëavas die,