HH Kadamba Kanan Swami's talk at the 30th installation anniversary of Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari, Johannesburg, South Africa, 18/04/2009

HH Kadamba Kanan Swami: When Govinda Maharaj took us back to Vrindavan I also started thinking about Vrindavan and what came to mind was that one very senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada who was very much involved in the Vrindavan project from the very beginning was Dhananjaya Prabhu. He was a householder. So one day Srila Prabhupada called him and said that you could start a business and as a business you could produce Deities of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and then the book distributors they can take those Deities and as they meet nice people in their book distribution they can just give them a set of theses Deities and They can just be kept as souvenir dolls. Just like from different countries they collect some dolls. So he wanted us to tell people that these were Hare Krishna dolls and they can keep them in their house and we were to tell them that if everyday the would put a little water before those dolls that would bring them luck. So what an amazing vision that Srila Prabhupada had. One may say from which scripture, where is it mentioned that the Deity can be worshipped in such a way but Srila Prabhupada had such a profound vision, such a profound understanding of the mercy of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai that he saw it like that. He understood it like that and only to leave us in amazement because it takes a devotee of the caliber of Srila Prabhupada so intimate to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai who is so much in direct connection with Them that he can understand Their moods. Thus he understands that it was the desire of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, Themselves who in Their very merciful mood somehow or the other were ready to reach out to those who were not following any regulative principles at all but somehow prepared to go to their houses.

With this meditation I like to approach Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari. How inconceivably great Their mercy is we can not even imagine. We thought we came to Krishna consciousness because of our own interest in spiritual life but actually simply because Gaura Nitai smiled upon the world suddenly people took interest in spiritual life Suddenly because just Their presence was there in the material world the entire population of the world began to open up to the Absolute Truth thus we cannot imagine how potent the influence is and how much the influence of Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari is present in our lives. We have no idea. We don’t know how much the fate of Krishna consciousness here in South Africa has been steered by Them. We don’t know what invisible strings They pulled, invisible to our eyes, how many arrangements They have made, how many people They have sent for various purposes, we have no idea! But we can understand that They did, we can very much understand that They did and thus we can all understand that somehow or the other Krishna consciousness reach us through Them.

I first came only fourteen years ago for the first time to South Africa. Time goes fast. It is already fourteen years. At that time the Deities were in Hillbrow which was an amazing temple in so many ways but destiny had it that They had another plan. They had another plan! The plan of the Lord is only known to His devotees. Krishna reveals His plans through His devotees. Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari, Their plan maybe obscure in the way that we don’t know what arrangements They will make but Their desires are not obscure. Their desires are not at all obscure. We know very well that They have a great desire to reach out to all and everyone without consideration of their qualification or their conditioning.

Somehow or the other that means that they have come for us. We should not think that Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari as the deliverer of the most fallen have come for others who are very fallen and that we are so exalted that we have come as the eternal assistants of the Lord. No one should think that we have somehow or the other received that mercy. That is our good fortune and that is why we are here. Certainly without Their presence, the presence of Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari there will be not question of Krishna consciousness really having taken the proportions that it took in South Africa. What more is to unfold we don’t know, we really don’t know. Yes maybe They will move at Their own will again and again. That could be or maybe They will just stay were They are. These things are inconceivable. We are dependent on Their mercy.

The occasion of Their appearance is especially blessed. It is not an ordinary festival. It is a potent time. It is a time when blessings are more present than any other time. So this is a good opportunity to pray for inspiration and strength. That is my meditation as I am here today and I pray that we may be able to do something, that we may be able to take Krishna consciousness to anyone and everyone, not just looking at those who are coming forward and already following but that we may somehow or the other find the inspiration to take Krishna consciousness to all kinds of people who are not following any standards that we may also bring Krishna consciousness to them. Because the more we try to fulfill the desires of Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari, the more They will reciprocate and the more They will make miracles happen. Lord Caitanya performs many miracles in His pastimes. Very famous pastime is of course Jarikanda, the forest where He made tigers and deer’s embrace. Considering that, there are no limits, no limits in what is possible but I wish to witness some of these miracles in South Africa.

Personally I am of a very impatient nature. I can’t wait! So after fourteen years I have seen something but still my desires are not fulfilled. I wish to see something very, very extraordinary if possible in this lifetime and to see that in South Africa deer’s and tigers or opposites amongst people that were totally at odds with each other will all come together and embrace in ecstasy. It is already happening to some extent and I can’t wait for the rest of the miracles of Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari to unfold. The more the devotees try to carry the message of the Lord anywhere and everywhere the more it will happen. Thus when I think of Lenasia I always see it as a preaching base. I am always thinking that this is the place where there is support. Just like the military has a base, safe place, and then we go out on missions. Partha Sarathi has told me a lot about his missions and I Think that this place is a perfect place for missions in may areas and I hope that in that way Lord Caitanya’s desires will be fulfilled. He must have a purpose why He came here.
Thank you very much. Srila Prabhupada Ki Jai! (Applause.)

HH BB Govinda Maharaj at the 30th anniversary celebration of the installation of Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari in Johannesburg, South Africa - 18/04/2009

His Holiness Bhakti Brnga Govinda Swami Maharaj an His Holiness Indradyumna Swami Maharaj concluded the program of two days with the most ecstatic kirtan ever. About 300 devotees danced to their potent chanting for about three hours. Below is a pic of Maharaj with kurta soaked from dancing. The devotees were so inspired that no one wanted to leave. It truly felt that the mercy of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda were being manifest and distributed to everyone through these two empowered representatives. We pray for a repeat performance in the near future.

HH BB Govinda Maharaj: Hare Krishna. Well at least Indradyumna Swami was temple president and started ratha yatra. I have done nothing here in South Africa except I keep coming periodically and relishing the association of the wonderful devotees of the South African yatra. This is the thirtieth anniversary of the installation of the Deities. In 1977 few years before the installation I was serving in Vrindavan and I would finish my cooking service around two in the afternoon and then I would go have a good scrub and then I would go in to Srila Prabhupada’s room and I would sit there in the afternoon. That was during the final period of Srila Prabhupada’s pastimes in this world. And they would read Srila Prabhupada reports of preaching from around the world because these reports were would really enliven Srila Prabhupada. When he would hear the reports of temples being opened, when he would hear reports of book distribution, when he would hear reports of devotees being made he would become very, very inspired. He would even say, “By hearing reports like this I will live for one hundred years.”

Once when I was sitting there and Tamal Krishna Maharaj was just by Srila Prabhupada’s bed next to Srila Prabhupada and he started reading the news reports or the letters to Srila Prabhupada and there was the report from South Africa about the opening of the Cato Ridge Temple and Srila Prabhupada heard the report of the temple opening and Srila Prabhupada was very enlivened. So Tamal Krishna Maharaj began reporting or started reading and there was one point in the letter, in the report that said that the Krishna Consciousness Movement has been established to defeat bogus yogis. When Srila Prabhupada heard the word bogus yogis he smiled and he said, “Stop. Read it again.” So they read that line again how the Krishna Consciousness Movement was meant to defeat and thrash bogus yogis then Srila Prabhupada started speaking. He started speaking about there are so many bogus teachers from India. In particular he started speaking about two individuals from Bengal and how they done nothing but destroy the spiritual culture of Bengal and then Prabhupada said, “Continue.”

In the next point the article said that the Krishna Consciousness Movement is meant to make people happy, healthy and holy. When Prabhupada heard that he smiled and said, “Stop. Read it again.” So Tamal Krishna Maharaj read it again and Srila Prabhupada said, “This is the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. All of you prior to prior to receiving the mercy of Lord Caitanya your lives were empty, you were not healthy, you were not happy and also you were not holy but Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has changed all of that.” And Srila Prabhupada continued speaking about the great mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So we were all just listening and we had to get real close to Srila Prabhupada. His voice was strong. We all surrounded his bed and were listening and finally Srila Prabhupada stopped speaking and Tamal Krishna Maharaj said, “Srila Prabhupada this Krishna Consciousness Movement is an ocean of bliss.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Mmm what did you say?” And Tamal Krishna Maharaj said, “This Krishna Consciousness Movement is an ocean of bliss.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Mmmm what did you say?” Tamal Krishna Maharah repeated, “Srila Prabhupada this Krishna Consciousness Movement is an ocean of bliss - anandambudhi-vardanam.” When Srila Prabhupada heard anandambudhi-vardanam he was laying flat in his bed and with great effort he brushed his hand into the air and he pointed his finger, his finger was shaking like this, and then Prabhupada said, “Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam.” And his hand went down and we all said, “Jai Srila Prabhupada.”

So that was Cato Ridge opening, the Deities came. Now thirty years later we are seeing the fruit of devotion in Caitanya Mahaprabhu. I travel all over the world. The South African Yatra has really produced jewels of Vaisnavas. We have our Srila Bhakti Caitanya Swami Maharaj, we have Srila Partha Sarathi Goswami Maharaj, our Syamlall Prabhu has been here for so many years, so many devotees. This is the fruit of sincerely worshipping and following the instructions of Lord Caitanya. In the Srimad Bhagavatam it is said,

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah (SB 11.5.32)

That in Kali-yuga people who have some intelligence left will understand that the method of worshipping the Lord in this age is the performance of sankirtan yajna, which was taught by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And we should rest assured that if we continue the performance of the sankirtan yajna and continue the worship of the Deities here and continue bringing people to their lotus feet then They will bless us and we will attain the goal of life which is love of Krishna. It is an honor for me to be here with all of you here today who contributed to the worship and the expansion of the Krishna consciousness movement in South Africa and I hope that your success will grow as the years pass by Thank you very much. Hare Krishna! (Loud Applause.)

Talk by HH Indradyumna Maharaj at the 30th installation anniversary of Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari - Johannesburg, South Africa - 18/04/2009

His Holiness Indradyumna Maharaj: Before I begin I would just like to point out that Bhakti Caitanya Maharaj for many of you is your diksa guru or siksa guru. Above all the official terms he is one of the pioneers of the Krishna consciousness movement here. He has touched briefly on some of the services that he has done. I can see why you are looking at him like he is your Maharaj, he is your GBC he is your leader here but he preaches in other parts of the world as well. I don’t want to make you jealous or anything but when he is there in far eastern Siberia and he is addressing the devotees he is also speaking as their leader and they look to him in the same way as you look to him and he is their Maharaj and also Lithuania and that part of the world as well. I just wanted you to know that you are very fortunate. We have to share him. I hope you appreciate how fortunate you are to have such leadership here which amongst other leaders as well. The jewels that we have in this wonderful yatra, so much success! One time Prabhupada said any program is only as good as the person that is heading it up but you must be good followers as well because that also has to be there.

I don’t feel that I have any claim to be sitting here this evening with all these great devotees. As I look around I must admit that I don’t know most of you and probably most of you don’t know me. I think I just got here by chance or something. I can’t claim that I have done anything. I did have a stint as a temple president in Durban in 1987. I don’t know if I am famous or infamous for that. If it was infamous please bear with me. Being the temple president is most probably the most difficult service in this movement and I learnt the hard way. Bhakti Caitanya Maharaj was actually the president in 1986 or thereabouts. I just came down for a visit to rest and eat and I remember the temple was running very nicely. Maharaj was doing well and then I don’t know what happened. I got this idea that I wanted to be the temple president. Probably pratista or something like this. Maharaj was chanting I don’t know if he remembers. He was chanting his rounds around the moat one morning and I just walked up and said, “Maharaj what do you think if I became the temple president here?” And his immediate reaction, he was so merciful he said, “Oh that would be very nice.” He handed me the hot potato. It only lasted about nine months or so. We went into debt. We had a great time. We had a lot of kirtan, putting on ratha-yatra, a lot of great feasts and in the end there was no money left in the treasury.

Anyway I am happy to be in this august assembly. Actually I was reading the other day about the life of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. When he was a young man actually he was still a teenager. He was going to school but in his spare time he would go to the park near the university that he was studying in and unlike many teenagers today they engage in so many frivolous sports and such activities, we won’t go into detail. In those days India was very much different than it is now and such and illustrious personality he would sit in the park and he would speak philosophy to the students and he would encourage others to debate with him. This was their pastimes during the school breaks and as a result many of the young men became very attracted to him and he started a men’s group called ‘august assembly’ and this was their free times and in the evenings and vacations. They would just sit and discuss philosophy and come to the conclusion of bhakti, Krishna consciousness. The criteria for joining that group was that you had to come before the Deity and take a lifetime vow of celibacy. It was a serious group – a lifetime vow of celibacy.

So we have many scholars here in this august assembly who did much to spread the Krishna conscious movement here, all part of Lord Caitanya’s master plan because He is the yuga avatar He delivers the yuga dharma which as you know is the chanting of the Hare Krishna mahamantra - Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur once said that you can judge the value of an article by how many times Krishna’s name is mentioned. Just the chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. As part of that yuga dharma that very simple and sublime process of chanting Hare Krishna He had a whole master plan how that chanting would be spread throughout the world and how those individuals who came in contact with that chanting would benefit from it. Along with the chanting is there a life style, a culture.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He appeared, He began this master plan by sending His most intimate disciples the six goswamis of Vrindavan to Vrindavan and He gave then specific instructions. He said that they should write books on the science of Krishna consciousness. They should establish temples there and that they should install Deities in the temples and really that is the master plan of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It evolved down to the present day and we see that, that plan has come to this wonderful country, South Africa. No we have very beautiful temples. So in these temples the Deities that are worshipped are an intricate part of Vedic culture since time immemorial. Prabhupada when he came to the west around 21971 his health was not so good so he was going back to India to recuperate and recover. He wasn’t even sure that he would come back but at that time he said that when he was going on the way to Japan to arrange for his books to be published and then he was going to India to establish a temple for the International Society for Krishna consciousness.

At that time he said what is the need for a temple because in India there are thousands of temples. Perhaps if you take into consideration the home temples there are millions of temples. He said, “What is the need for another temple? But still because we are the International Society for Krishna consciousness we want our own special place of worship.” History has shown how Prabhupada went back to India and practically alone although many disciples were helping him and he was pushing us in the west to distribute his books and give the money to build the temple. It was his desire by his desire that today we the members of the society and the members of India that we have our Juhu beach temple in Mumbai, we have our Vrindavan temple – Krishna Balaram Mandir, we have our Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir. These are the main centers, which serve and will continue to serve the devotees in this movement for the next ten thousand years. So temples are very integral part of our society. Mahaprabhu had his devotees establish the famous seven temples in Vrindavan and went on to five to seven thousand – I forget the actual figure.

Prabhupada came to the west and practically from the moment he landed in New York City he was walking around, we hear from Satsvarup Goswami in his Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta, Prabhupada was looking for a place to establish a temple He wanted a place where new devotees would come to worship Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. He even had a few buildings that he had noticed that would be good. Of course these buildings were worth millions and millions of dollars but as we know Srila Prabhupada always thought very big and I don’t know whether it was he who said it or one of his devotees but he said that this word impossible is a word in the fools dictionary. And again history has shown that Prabhupada went on to establish temples not only New York City. There are several temples there now but not only all over America but all over the world.

Very often we stress the distribution of books because we know how dear it was to Srila Prabhupada. He wanted that and he still wants that we distribute his books all over the world but the temples are equally important and the worship of the Deity are equally important because the result of distributing those books which is the success of every yatra in this world is that people want to come and see what it is all about. So if we just have a little hut somewhere in the middle of the field people would not come and make a request. Therefore we have to build these big beautiful opulent centers so that people would come and visit us. I was told that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur he would have his disciples build these temples as part of the expansion of the Gaudiya Math all over India particularly in Bengal and Orissa and all over India and soon as the brahmacaris would be accomplished in building a center or temple, they would be exhausted then immediately he would begin another temple some place else. It is very much our culture. You could say it is balanced – the preaching and the Deity worship that goes on in the temple. As our movement is evolving we see that they are both equally important although Prabhupada stressed book distribution he also personally saw to that many beautiful temples were established. We can personally experience the result. We get a book or we come to a ratha yatra, or we come to a congregational meeting, we see the devotees chanting then what is the next step? It is to come to the temple and were is all the temple activity centered around? The Deities!

As Maharaj was so nicely describing the beauty of the Deity even from the external point of view these Deities look beautiful but Maharaj with his deep spiritual purity he was appreciating also Their spiritual beauty and this is the effect. Even if a person is materially or mundanely covered when he comes to the temple he experiences something different in the Deities association. The same is true when you go to the holy dham. There is something special about the dham, the Yogapith, place of the Lord’s place of pastimes. Even a mundaner when he comes can experience a change of heart. So when they come to your temple and they see these very beautiful Deities of Gaura Nitai there is a change of heart. To coin the phrase that Srila Prabhupada used for our paintings – it is like a window to the spiritual world. Arca-vigraha is the mercy incarnation of the Lord because Krishna comes for a short time by cosmic time. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was here for forty-eight years. Krishna was here for hundred and twenty five years. It is just a spark in cosmic time but the arca-vigrahas considered the mercy incarnation of the Lord because It comes on the request of the pure devotee and stays and there is no difference between the Deity of the Lord and the Lord Himself.

As we know the young brahmana when he came back to ask Saksi Gopal to bear witness for him in Orissa he asked the Deity if the Deity would come. He said, “My dear Lord You are not a statue, You are directly the son of Maharaj Nanda.” So when people come they are having darsan of the Lord and that is purifying. Actually we think of darsan as coming before the Lord and seeing Him, awakening our transcendental senses by meditating on the Lord and the Lord is looking at you. What is the value of the Lord looking upon you? Our eyes are covered so how much are we able to see? Gradually, gradually, gradually we begin to see more so much so that and advanced devotee he can stand in front of the Deity for hours on end and never get restless and go away. Because of our neophyte condition we believe in the Deity. We only stand for a few minutes and we become restless and we go away but if you are actually convinced that here is the Lord you would want to stay all day in front of the Deities. What is the benefit? The benefit is that His transcendental eyes are looking into your heart and what is the effect of the Lord on the heart? ceto-darpana-marjanam – He is purifying the heart. So we should give as many people as possible to come before these wonderful Dieties and have these Deities look into their hearts and purify the lust, anger and greed - obstacles to pure devotion. This gives the Deity great pleasure.

We must worship the Deity according to all the rules and regulations. Prabhupada said detail is a sign of love. We must follow all the details of Deity worship particularly very clean and always on time. Prabhupada said these are the golden rules of Deity worship – punctuality and cleanliness and make nice offerings and on Their birthday, appearance day and other events that are special. We should know that it really pleases Gaura Nitai to bring many people through these doors, conditioned souls for darsan of the Lord. That pleases the Lord more than anything. So as Maharaj was saying we should arrange for as many people as is possible to come and take darsan of the Lord. That means moving Them to another site. Generally in India once a Deity is established It is never moved, that is Vedic tradition. That is why sometimes when you are driving in India you would come to a road and there would be a temple in the middle of the road, a small like chapel kind of temple and you wonder why in the world there is a road that goes around the temple and you have drive around it. Because in India once the Deity is established, He is there, you don’t inconvenience the Lord or request Him to please come here, you don’t inconvenience Him by asking Him to move but this Lord,

namo maha-vadanyaya
krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-
namne gaura-tvise namah (CC Madhya 19.53)

He is so merciful; He is willing to be moved everyday if necessary to claim all conditioned souls. How do we know that? Because as God Himself He traveled the length and breadth of India to deliver conditioned souls! Generally the Lord comes and has His lilas like in Ayodhya Dham, Vrindavan, Mathura, Dwaraka but Caitanya Mahaprabhu He is so eager to reclaim fallen conditioned souls He went from village to village, town to town, city to city – you can trace His route historically if you read Caitanya Bhagavat, Caitanya Caritamrta you can trace where He went exactly and who He met. The immovable Lord was moving by His will to claim conditioned souls. In that sense we can understand if it is required for the purpose of preaching to a bigger congregation to introduce more conditioned souls to His lotus feet we can move – I heard a rumor that we want to have another temple some place else closer to the action so that I am sure will be a great success. It is not an easy thing to do. We were discussing it at dinner. Some of the pastimes of these great stalwart pioneers, Medhavi Prabhu and Bhakti Caitanya Maharaj, Symalal, Ramanuja Acarya – the older devotees, how hard they had to work to collect the funds to establish that temple in Durban, Chatsworth. Someone can stay that it was not honest upfront means, they were wearing wigs and they were selling Hong Kong paintings. We say utility is the principle. If anything it was a white lie it wasn’t a black lie. (Laughter) We judge by the result. By giving to that unknowingly people get ajnata sukriti, unknown spiritual advancement. There are examples of centers in India that have been built under questionable means.

The temple at Sri Rangam, actually there was one sadhu who was lamenting, “Why can’t we have one big beautiful temple in this holy place?” He would always go to all the businessmen, the merchants and the wealthy people and the politicians and ask, “You give some donation for building some nice temple.” For some reason they were adverse, some material consciousness there! So he came up with a very peculiar way to establish the temple. He went out into the forest and he contacted the dacoits. He said to the dacoits, “Why don’t we all work together. I will help you, I will protect you, I have a lot of connections in town.” The famous robbing theory, they steal from the rich to give to the poor. Krishna is not poor but anyway he employed his devotee in this way and the dacoits under the direction of this sadhu they would rob these wealthy merchants when they were going to deposit their money or going here or there. They came up with a vast amount of money. Of course he promised that he would give them a certain percentage in the end after the temple was built. It was built and they came and said, “We want our money now.” He said, “This is all Krishna’s money. Why should I give it back to these rogues? They are going to use it for all kinds of illicit activities.” So he said, “The money is there on the island. I put I under a tree. We will go to the island and then I will give you your reward.” He rowed there. Of course none of them knew how to swim because in India most Indians don’t know how to swim. He just managed to turn that boat over and they all drowned and he swam out to shore. He must have had some swimming lessons and in this way this is history. This is how the Sri Rangam Temple was originally constructed. I am not recommending (laughter) times have moved on and we have become pure brahmanas and honest so it is really a question of the desire. Nowadays you have a larger congregation. You have many experienced devotees, many good ideas and a wonderful national council working so cooperatively together I am sure if you want you can do it. That dream can actually come true. Sometimes you think do dreams actually come true. They can come true.
There was one gentleman in Bengal around the time of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur who was in his late twenties and he decided that he would leave his education and go find a spiritual master in Navadwip. So as he left home he wasn’t married he was studying. He walked away from everything, promising career, beautiful women they wanted to engage him to. He just decided that he wanted to pursue spiritual life so he went to Navadwip. Unfortunately he fell into bad association the apasampradaya. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur was preaching very strongly against them. He was living in the ashram of one of their gurus. It just so happened that he heard about Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur so he left the ashram of this bogus guru and he went to hear from Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. He was so impressed, so astounded by the philosophy that he heard that after the lecture Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur called him and gave him some instructions. He went back to the ashram that night and he was so excited that he could hardly sleep. He didn’t eat. Finally he fell asleep and that night he dreamt that the bogus guru and some of his female associates were attacking him in the forms of tigers. That was a terrible nightmare he had. Subtly Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur in his dream appeared and chased the bogus guru and the tigers away and invited him to his ashram. He woke up at about 4.30am or 5am and immediately went to the ashram of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, fell at his feet and asked him to accept him as his disciple and Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur did accept him. That was his very first disciple. This is the story of how he got his very first disciple. So it is a dream but it came true. In the same way if you have this dream because if not manifest in the dream if you want to establish a bigger place of worship were you can offer more service to your beautiful Deities as a means to bring more people of this part of South Africa to Their lotus feet I am sure that under the great leadership that you have certainly it would be possible. Hare Krishna. (Applause.)

30th Anniversary of the installation of Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari in South Africa

Talks on the occasion of the 30th anniversary celebration of the installation of Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari - Johannesburg, South Africa spoken on 18 and 19th April 2009

His Holiness Bhakti Caitanya Swami: (first few minutes not recorded)….and I immediately felt that that mercy is particularly there and Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari the gentle ways in which They are dancing and leaning to the right and left. It is very beautiful and there is a deep sense of harmony and gentleness. This what struck me. In those days in Cato Ridge things were different in those days. Mangal arati was at 4am not 4.30am as is more typically the time. So we were there every day at 4am. There was nice morning program. There were twenty five to thirty devotees living there in Cato Ridge and it really seemed to me and I think it is really true that Gaura Nitai in general, Nitai Gaura-Hari in particular Their mood is one of giving Krishna consciousness and They like to be served by our giving Krishna consciousness to people on Their behalf.

So in those days – 1980 or 1981 of course things changed at around Gaura Purnima in 1982. Jaya Tirtha left and Bhagavan came in and things changed and then we started to build the Radhanath temple very seriously. But all those two years that I was there in Cato Ridge as the Temple President it really seemed to me the Nitai Gaura-Hari, They were relishing the sankirtan activities of the devotees. As I mentioned, there were quite a number of devotees at that time in the temple and there was a lot of sankirtan going on. Nanda Kumara Prabhu was one of the leaders of the sankirtan. Tribhanga Sundar Prabhu, was the brahmacaris sankirtan leader in Chatsworth Unit 10. We had a house there and the devotees would come. The devotees would go out and do book distribution, do collections and so on like that and then the devotees would come back on Sunday night because Sunday was a good day for sankirtan and then Monday morning we had a very nice program and we would have a Monday morning feast. That was our program.

We had thirty or so cows there and some bulls on our farms. The cows would give lots of milk and Bindhu Madhava, he was the cow boy, he would milk the cows and we got a machine for separating the cream from the milk. So every Monday morning we had this big feast complete with ice cream. When I say ice cream I mean it was just frozen cream with sugar. It was high power stuff. That is just by the way. The thing was that it really seemed to me that Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari when the devotees would come back and then on Monday morning we would have like special program for the ashram devotees and the sankirtan devotees, it seemed to me that Nitai Gaura-Hari were very, very pleased. They really liked that. They liked to see Their sankirtan devotees – Their men and Their ladies who were going out and spreading Their glories because after all this is the sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda so even here now we are going into the thirty first year. I think within our minds we should really make an effort to again worship Nitai Gaura-Hari by very concerted efforts in sankirtan. Of course when you look at Nitai Gaura-Hari, They are so beautiful, Their altar now is very nice. In those days they had very simple altar but still everything was nice. Now They have got magnificent altar and Their clothes, everything is just very appropriate, very opulent and rich. So they love to be worshipped by sankirtan. That was the mood in Cato Ridge. Nitai Gaura-Hari were the center and the sankirtan parties would go out and distribute books etc. and often times the nama-hattas would come out in buses and again the nama-hattas would come out often on Sundays in buses and for the Sunday feasts for the guests we would serve them breyani with big pieces of fried potato, oil dhal, a salad which was grated carrots with lemon juice on it and some halava sometimes and an orange drink called Lubly which was not very lovely. It was the cheapest. This was every Sunday. I tried this breyani dhal combo and I thought why do these people like this breyani but every Sunday and I mean every Sunday in Cato Ridge it was breyani and dhal and salad which was grated carrots with lemon and Lubly and chilies in the salad and so I thought maybe Nitai gaura-Hari like this breyani and dhal and I should be careful not to say anything against it. Just like aloo beanie. You know how many things I have said about aloo beanie over the years but then Govinda Maharaj and I had the cooking sort of competition or whatever during the Ratha-yatra and suddenly it struck me that I have offended aloo beanie so I should cook it just as a service to aloo beanie because it is being used so much in the service of Krishna, Nitai Gaura-Hari and Radha-Radhanath so there must be something to it.

When the Nama-hatta devotees would come out then on Sundays which was quite often then we would have a Sunday program with them and again it seemed to me that even though Nitai Gaura-Hari were in a slightly remote place. Cato Ridge was off the track but Their interest was sankirtan and spreading Their glories and spreading the chanting of Hare Krishna. So again when we would go in there and give class on the Sundays to the nama-hatta devotees I would also look at Nitai Gaura-Hari and it would seem to me that They were really smiling and They appreciated that.

Then it was 1982 Bhagavan came and everything got focused on collecting for the Radha-Radhanath Temple and Cato Ridge became like a skeleton staff and anybody who could carry, would you believe Hong Kong paintings was all going out raising funds for Radha-Radhanath but then again we would come back. Medhavi Prabhu and I traveled together for two and a half years I think and a lot of the time Ramanuja Acarya Prabhu was with us and from time to time other devotees. We would go out raising funds for Radha-Radhanath and then again every few weeks we would come back to Cato Ridge because Cato Ridge was still there. We would come back to Cato Ridge for a weekend or for the major festivals and again when we would come into the temple room in front of Nitai Gaura-Hari and have Their holy darsan it seemed to me that again They were pleased that we were making this effort even though on a certain level it was indirect in terms of presenting Krishna consciousness but still it was all part of that mission of spreading Krishna consciousness and developing the movement so that more people could be reached by Krishna consciousness. So again when we would come back and have darsan of Nitai Gaura-Hari every few weeks and see Them it seemed They were smiling and They were happy that we were making this effort or eventually it would at least come to that point were Their glories and the chanting of Hare Krishna would be spread more.

We opened Radha Radhanath Temple in 1985, October and then in later in 1986 in spring or thereabouts we got our temple at Muldersdrift really for Them. That in itself is an interesting story. I won’t go into all the details but we got Muldersdrift if I remember correctly in 1984 or 83, something like that and then we realized the Nitai Gaura-Hari is going to come up and we have to build something for Them, a temple room because there wasn’t anything suitable that was there but the local government authorities, they were not very happy with us. It was the days of apartheid and Muldersdrift was a white area, quite white, not cream or at all beige or even little grey, it was pakka white. So they were keeping their eyes on us, what we were doing. They knew we had people from other parts of the South African spectrum there and eventually they took us to task. I’ll speak tomorrow about what they tried to do to us but anyway the thing was that we knew this. They were watching us. This time I was the temple president in Muldersdrift so we knew that we had to bring the Deities up, Nitai Gaura-Hari to Muldersdrift so we got to do something. So what we did was that our construction chief His Grace Prana Valabha Prabhu maybe some of you who had been around for many years would remember him from Denver, Colorado so he made this plan that we would build a temple for Nitai Gaura-Hari starting Friday at 5.30 in the afternoon. That is the end of the week for the government people and we would finish by 6am Monday morning. There was nothing there but by Monday morning there was the Deity house. Those of you who remember Muldersdrift it was that back part on the right where the Deities were. That was built by Prana Valabha and a few others working 24hrs a day through the night-Friday night through Saturday through Saturday night, through Sunday, through Sunday night and it was finished. Peri Urban, that was the name of the government agency they didn’t catch us. They caught us later but they didn’t catch us then. So Nitai Gaura-Hari came up to Johannesburg and at that time we had been very much focused on Cato Ridge Durban. As far as preaching was concerned there was little bit going on in this area but not so much. Then we really started to make an effort to preach here in what is now Gauteng and we all felt that Nitai Gaura-Hari. Radha Radhanath had now become installed in Durban and They are presiding over everything and are being worshipped nicely. Now Nitai Gaura-Hari, They are more adventurous. They are sankirtan people, sankirtan Deity so even though They are coming up to a slightly austere situation. Everything is a little not so first class but we felt that it was Their desire that They wanted to be were the preaching is going on and were like the front line work is going on, They want to be there.

Here in Lenasia there is not so much preaching going on. There is some which is good but still I feel that Nitai Gaura-Hari being here They want that and I feel They are hoping that all you Leansia-ites and Gauteng-ites I think that They want that. I don’t think They are sort of resting on Their laurels and thinking now we got a center in Pretoria, we got a center in Soweto and there is a center now in Rosebank so it is okay but I really do feel that when we mobilize ourselves more to get out and approach the people and give them Krishna consciousness, I think They are waiting for it. I think They are confident that it is going to happen that is why They keep smiling. So let us go now into the thirty first year and then on and on eternally serving Nitai Gaura-Hari through spreading Their glories, spreading the glories of chanting Hare Krishna, spreading the chanting and bringing people to surrender at Their lotus feet. This is the part that They are playing and that They want to play in Iskcon South African Yatra. This is why They are here, this is what They are looking for and if we try like that They give Their mercy and when They give Their mercy, my gosh I have seen Them give so much mercy to the preachers and those that try to spread Krishna consciousness. It is really wonderful. Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari Ki Jai! Sri Sri Nitai Saci Suta Ki Jai!