PRABHUPĀDA HAD POSTPONED the Māyāpur cornerstone-laying ceremony until Gaura-pūrṇimā (the appearance day of Lord Caitanya), February 29, 1972. He had requested a big festival, with a paṇḍāl and free feasting for guests. His disciples from all over the world would attend.

I want very much to hold this function this year with all of my students. … It is a very important day and it will be a great service to Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur and to His son Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. So please arrange for this program.

In December, when the war had broken out between India and Pakistan over Bangladesh, near Māyāpur, the Indian government had forbidden foreigners to stay in the northern area of West Bengal. The devotees had vacated, returning a few weeks later when the war had ended. They had continued arranging for the festival, and a few days before Gaura-pūrṇimā Prabhupāda arrived to stay with them.

When Prabhupāda saw a banner on bamboo poles – “Welcome Śrīla Prabhupāda!” – he remarked, “I don’t know if my Godbrothers will like this.” He had already heard that some of his Godbrothers objected to his taking the same title as their spiritual master, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda. He had not actually taken the name, but his disciples had given him the name a few years ago in America. In May 1968 while in Boston, Prabhupāda had been dictating a letter and had mentioned to his secretary that Swamiji was a third-class title for the spiritual master. “Then why do we call you Swamiji?” his secretary had asked.

“The spiritual master,” Prabhupāda had replied, “is usually addressed by names like Gurudeva, Viṣṇupāda, or Prabhupāda.”

“May we call you Prabhupāda?” his secretary had asked.

Prabhupāda had replied, “Yes,” and his disciples had switched from “Swamiji” to “Prabhupāda.” One of the devotees had inquired further from Prabhupāda about the meaning of the word and had published a statement in Back to Godhead magazine.

Prabhupada

The word Prabhupada is a term of the utmost reverence in Vedic religious circles, and it signifies a great saint even among saints. The word actually has two meanings: first, one at whose feet (pada) there are many Prabhus (a term meaning “master,” which the disciples of a Guru use in addressing each other). The second meaning is one who is always found at the Lotus Feet of Krishna (the Supreme Master).

In the line of disciplic succession through which Krishna Consciousness is conveyed to mankind, there have been a number of figures of such spiritual importance as to be called Prabhupada.

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhupada executed the will of his Master, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and therefore he and his associate Goswamis are called Prabhupada. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur executed the will of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, and therefore he is also addressed as Prabhupada. Our Spiritual Master, Om Vishnupad 108 Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj has, in the same way, executed the will of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada in carrying the message of love of Krishna to the Western world, and therefore we American and European humble servants of His Divine Grace, from all the different centers of the Sankirtan Movement have followed in the footsteps of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhupada, and prefer to address His Grace our Spiritual Master as Prabhupada, and he has kindly said “Yes.”

Everyone concerned had been happy about the title Prabhupāda, and no one had foreseen the envy the name would uncover. How could Prabhupāda compete for the honor due his own spiritual master? He was fixed as the humble servant of his spiritual master.

The members of ISKCON saw no harm in calling their spiritual master Prabhupāda. And there could be no stopping them – he was their Prabhupāda. They had even printed A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda on their invitations for the Gaura-pūrṇimā festival. But Prabhupāda knew it would raise the eyebrows of certain of his more critical Godbrothers.

When inspecting the living accommodations for the devotees, Prabhupāda found spacious white canvas tents – one for the men and one for the women – with fluorescent lighting inside. A large paṇḍāl tent stood in the center of the other tents, and a small tent in the rear served as a kitchen. Immediately surrounding the small compound were rice fields. The ground, therefore, was slightly moist, and the wet fields bred large mosquitoes, which emerged at sunset. Conditions were primitive, but many of these devotees were the same disciples who had traveled with Prabhupāda for a year and a half in India, sometimes living in dirty dharmaśālās with bare rooms and sometimes living in cold tents in Allahabad. The devotees had not come to Māyāpur to be comfortable but to serve Prabhupāda. In future years, by the result of their efforts, many, many devotees would be able to gather comfortably in Māyāpur in the spacious buildings Prabhupāda was planning.

Well aware that Westerners were unaccustomed to the austerities of living in India, Prabhupāda wanted to provide facilities so his disciples could feel comfortable and be able to focus their stay in India on spiritual life, without distracting inconveniences. Therefore he was pushing them to help in various ways to establish a Māyāpur building with running water, electricity, and other conveniences.

Prabhupāda’s dwelling was a simple thatched Bengali hut about twelve feet square, with a dirt floor. A thin partition divided the main room from the servants’ quarters. In front was a small veranda, and in back a garden, where Prabhupāda could sit and take massage. Also in back were a hand pump for bathing and an outhouse. When the devotees apologized for offering Prabhupāda such a humble residence, he replied that he liked the natural simplicity. “Even if you build me the biggest palace,” he said, “still I would prefer to live here.”

While living so simply in Māyāpur, Prabhupāda spoke of his vision of a grand project yet to come. Although the Deities of Rādhā-Mādhava – whom he had worshiped at the 1971 Ardha-kumbha-melā in Allahabad – were installed in a tent, he spoke of a marble palace. He also spoke of first-class accommodations for guests and devotees, although as yet he had little to offer. Living simply and happily in his thatched hut, he gathered his disciples together and told them of his plans. At his request, devotees had built a small model of the proposed first major building, and there were also drawings of the proposed Temple of Human Understanding. He wanted to build a Māyāpur city, he said, with quarters for each of the four social classes of the varṇāśrama institution.

Tatpara: When Prabhupāda would go to the Western countries, he would be interviewed by many great persons, but when he came to Māyāpur, he was talking so friendly, sometimes taking juice or giving instructions, and he lived simple, like a villager. The Western devotees think sometimes of Prabhupāda in one līlā only, like a great king. But when he comes to India, he is like another person. He was laughing and talking like a friend.

Bhavānanda: In his straw house Prabhupāda sat on a bamboo platform. There was a bed and some mats on the floor. That was all. He was happier there than anywhere. We put a fan in there too, and Prabhupāda liked it. He liked it because it was so simple. There was an outhouse, but he didn’t mind it at all. He was relishing everything. At that time he made Jayapatāka and me codirectors of Māyāpur. He made four signers on the checking account for the building construction. In India, just to open up an account is very difficult. We were seeing that part of Prabhupāda, where he was very strict because he knows the difficulties you can run into. If you don’t fill out the proper forms, the bank can even keep your money. Or you may want to close your account and they won’t let you. Our mood was splayed out – we were babies. So Prabhupāda was training us in keeping accounts and management.

Jananivāsa: The first time Prabhupāda came to see the Deities, he said, “Who is dressing the Deities?” Someone said, “Jananivāsa.” The Deities were just standing on a tile platform with no decoration. They were just standing there, but Prabhupāda looked on Them so lovingly. He used to come and take darśana every day. One time he came to the Deity room and I wasn’t there. There were some Indian people taking darśana, and I had gone to get them a Back to Godhead magazine from a room about ten feet away. When I came back, Prabhupāda was there. He was also taking darśana, but he said, “You should always be standing here. People are coming, but no one is here.” I said, “Śrīla Prabhupāda, I just went to get a Back to Godhead. It is only ten feet away.” But he looked at me as if to say, “You are defending yourself again, making excuses.” Then he told Bhavānanda, “This boy, Jananivāsa, should have some help. He can’t do everything. He is an ordinary person.”

The five-day Gaura-pūrṇimā festival featured twenty-four-hour kīrtana, with groups of devotees chanting in two-hour shifts. Each morning the main body of devotees would form a kīrtana procession and go out visiting Navadvīpa’s holy sights: the nīm tree under which Lord Caitanya was born, the house of Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, where Lord Caitanya and His associates had performed nocturnal kīrtana, the spot where the Kazi had tried to stop Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana, the residence of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. (Often Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura had stood in front of this house, Prabhupāda told the devotees, and looked out across the Jalāṅgī toward where Śrīla Prabhupāda now had his land.)

Throughout the day and especially in the evenings, the devotees would gather on the stage of the orange-striped paṇḍāl, while Rādhā-Mādhava stood at stage center within a traditional Bengali siṁhāsana of carved banana stalks covered with colored foil and flower garlands. Prabhupāda would have his disciples do most of the public speaking, with Acyutānanda Swami, lecturing in Bengali, as the main speaker.

Hundreds of people came and went in a steady stream, and the devotees distributed Bengali, English, and Hindi Back to Godhead magazines. In the evenings they would present a slide show or a film. Prabhupāda was especially pleased to watch the prasādam distribution from his window, hundreds of villagers squatting in long rows, eating kicharī from round leaf plates. “Continue this forever,” Prabhupāda told his disciples. “Always distribute prasādam.”

Even without a building, Prabhupāda’s preaching in Māyāpur was significant. While other nearby maṭhas were also observing Gaura-pūrṇimā – mostly by hosting Calcutta widows who paid a fee to live a few days in a temple and visit the holy places of Navadvīpa – Prabhupāda’s paṇḍāl program was the most vigorous celebration and drew the most visitors. The birthplace of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Prabhupāda said, had no meaning without preaching. Except for this time of the year, very few people visited Māyāpur.

“Which is more important,” Prabhupāda asked, “Lord Caitanya’s birthplace or His activities? It is His activities, His karma. His activities are more important than His janma, or place of birth.” The activities of Lord Caitanya were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and distributing love of God to all people, and this should be the activity of devotees in Māyāpur.

On Gaura-pūrṇimā day, ten of Prabhupāda’s sannyāsī Godbrothers visited to participate along with Prabhupāda’s disciples and hundreds of visitors in the dedication and cornerstone-laying ceremony. Prabhupāda was gracious and friendly toward his Godbrothers, and he was gratified that they could all sit together to dedicate the world headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Sitting on a cushion next to the sacrificial arena, chanting on japa beads, Prabhupāda initiated six Bengali devotees and awarded the sannyāsa order to a young American disciple. Then Prabhupāda’s Godbrothers spoke, each expressing appreciation of Prabhupāda’s work in the West.

Finally they all gathered around the pit, five feet square and fifteen feet deep. Certain articles had been collected to be placed inside the pit in accordance with the scriptures: five kinds of flowers, five kinds of grains, five kinds of leaves, five kinds of metal, five kinds of nectar, five kinds of colors, five kinds of fruits, and five kinds of jewels. Prabhupāda’s Godbrother Purī Mahārāja descended a ladder into the pit to put coconuts and banana leaves in a pot and to place this, along with flowers, onto the altar of bricks.

Next Prabhupāda entered the pit, carrying a box with a gold, ruby-eyed mūrti of Ananta Śeṣa. Earlier that morning in his hut Prabhupāda had confidentially shown a few disciples the mūrti. “This is Lord Ananta,” he had said, “the serpent bed on which Lord Viṣṇu rests. He will hold the temple on His head.” Prabhupāda now placed Ananta Śeṣa on the altar of bricks and climbed back up the ladder. Then on Prabhupāda’s blissful invitation, everyone began to toss in offerings of flowers and money, followed by handfuls of earth.

Although Prabhupāda’s Godbrothers had praised his work on Gaura-pūrṇimā day, several of them returned a few days later to complain about his use of the title Prabhupāda. Prabhupāda asked his disciples to leave the room. When they were alone, one of the sannyāsī Godbrothers began challenging Prabhupāda in Bengali: “Why are you using Prabhupāda? You have no right. This is our Prabhupāda’s title. You cannot take it.”

“I did not take it,” Prabhupāda replied. “They are calling me Prabhupāda. What can I do?” Although the sannyāsī Godbrother then began to criticize Prabhupāda for not joining their preaching and for awarding the sacred thread and sannyāsa order to Westerners, mainly the Godbrothers wanted an explanation for his use of the title Prabhupāda.

“Brahmānanda Mahārāja!” Prabhupāda called. “Bring me a copy of my letterhead.” When Brahmānanda Swami returned with the stationery, Prabhupāda showed it to his Godbrothers. The letterhead read, “Tridandi Goswami A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.” No “Prabhupāda.” This proved that he himself did not use the title. This simple demonstration pacified his Godbrothers, and he then invited them to take prasādam with him, while his disciples served.

Later in his hut Prabhupāda talked with his disciples about envy. A devotee could judge his own advancement by how free he was from envy, he said. In the spiritual world envy was conspicuous by its absence. Although all the liberated associates of Kṛṣṇa were trying their best to serve Kṛṣṇa – in a kind of competition – everyone was pleased with one another. If Rādhārāṇī or a favorite gopī pleased Kṛṣṇa, the other gopīs did not think ill of her but thought, “Oh, how nicely she has served Kṛṣṇa. Let me try to offer some nice service to Kṛṣṇa so He will be even more pleased!” To be envious was materialistic.

Prabhupāda wished his Godbrothers had taken a different point of view. He wished they had not minded his being called Prabhupāda by his disciples. He was also sorry that some of his Godbrothers couldn’t sincerely praise his work. If Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī was working successfully through him, why should they be disturbed? Why not accept his work and be happy that the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was being spread effectively? They should see it as Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī’s work, the work of their own spiritual master. It was also their work, their responsibility, and they should recognize that through Bhaktivedanta Swami Mahārāja it was being wonderfully done. At the ceremony they had praised his work. So if they didn’t mind praising him, then why not admit that for hundreds of Westerners whom he had saved from hell, he was Prabhupāda, that singular pure devotee whom they always thought of as seated at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.

In terms of authorized books produced and distributed, numbers of devotees initiated and engaged in devotional service, and numbers of temples opened, no one could compare. Of course, in one sense all of Prabhupāda’s Godbrothers were equally praiseworthy, as long as they followed the basic instructions of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa, and avoided sinful life. But if analysis or criticism was to be made with such scrutiny, then let the preaching records be scrutinized. Who, above all, was extending the mercy of Lord Nityānanda and making such tremendous gains on behalf of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī – gains that had previously seemed impossible? According to Caitanya-caritāmṛta, if a preacher could spread the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, then he must be accepted as empowered by God.

Prabhupāda was certainly empowered, yet he conducted himself very humbly, with no assistance from others. He had repeatedly invited his Godbrothers to join him in the West and take their places beside him as preachers in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Why had they not come forward to assist him in their spiritual master’s mission, instead of complaining about him, the one Godbrother who was carrying out Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī’s mission?

It was not the place of Prabhupāda’s disciples to criticize, however, and he had sternly warned them that they had no position to do so. They should treat his Godbrothers as disciples of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī and therefore as on the level of their own spiritual master. Nevertheless, Prabhupāda’s disciples became sorry to see this lack of respect for their spiritual master. They could be humble and not protest, but how could they be affectionate toward persons who criticized their spiritual master and his Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement?

After the five-day festival, Prabhupāda left Māyāpur for Vṛndāvana, where he planned to hold another ground-breaking ceremony. The Māyāpur land was still completely undeveloped, and Prabhupāda urged his disciples in India to continue collecting the necessary funds.

We are making a very gorgeous plan at Mayapur, and if you all together can give shape to this plan it will be unique in the whole world. It will be a world center for teaching spiritual life. Students from all over the world will come and we shall revolutionize the atheistic and communistic tendencies of rascal philosophers. So we must be responsible for this great task. Not for a single moment shall we be without ISKCON thoughts. That is my request to you all.