SpiritualIn February 1976, in Māyāpur, Śrīla Prabhupāda had awarded Harikeśa Dāsa sannyāsa and sent him to America. On his way, Harikeśa Swami had stopped in London, where he met Hansadutta, still the GBC for Northern and Eastern Europe. Hansadutta told him about a preaching program in Hungary—one he had no time to be at because he had to fly to India and attend the GBC meetings. So Harikeśa Mahārāja took his place and teamed up with Alanātha to go to Budapest.
HARIKEŚA DĀSA (Swami from 1976 to 1998): We mainly chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa and distributed prasādam, because in a Communist country lecturing was problematic. To begin with, I needed a translator, and it was hard for the translator to find the right words for many of our unfamiliar philosophical terms. Besides that, it was risky to speak about God in an officially atheistic country. But chanting and feasting had a tremendous impact. Prabhupāda’s reply to my report enlivened and enlightened me: I have marked how they are attracted to our kirtana and prasadam there in Hungary. If they consider our philosophy too revolutionary, there is no necessity to print books immediately. First, the heart must be cleansed by chanting Hare Krishna and taking Krishna prasadam. To take birth in such place is due to impious past, so it is not easy for them to immediately accept our philosophy. Just give them chanting and prasadam. You must be very tactful to preach in such places. If you like you can print one record there as you have suggested.
If the young people become very serious, if you find it is detrimental to have them wear dhoti and shave head, that is not necessary. Simply introduce the chanting and prasadam distribution and gradually they will be elevated to being Vaisnava. A Vaisnava is aloof from all material conditions of life, so even under such circumstances, a Vaisnava will not feel inconvenienced.
Prabhupāda’s letter indicated that he wanted me to continue these programs, and thus I decided to go to Germany to have a base for preaching in the East.
When I arrived at Schloss Rettershof in April, I found out that the GBC had just changed. Previously, I had dealt with Hansadutta; now, Jayatīrtha was in charge. I wasn’t sure who to ask to get what I needed. First, I needed a van. So I went to the treasurer’s office, and there was Sucandra, who wasn’t at all enthusiastic to spend money on a newly arrived sannyāsī’s preaching program.
But after an hour’s discussion, I convinced him that the van would eventually be an asset for the temple, and I assured him that I would take care of it. I got a Mercedes, which I customized with a sink, a sleeping place, and everything else needed to travel and preach.
In the meantime, I helped the temple by giving classes and preaching to the devotees individually. There was a lot of tension in the air, the temple was in bad shape, and the devotees were depressed. Sucandra was sitting in his office with his head in his hands, wondering how to handle the situation, and he asked me what to do. I said, “It seems to me that this temple is in māyā. Best that you and I just go out preaching.” So a couple of times we went to Hungary, East Germany, and Poland.
BHAKTI-BHŪṢAṆA SWAMI: We devised a scheme to smuggle books into East Germany: two identical vans would enter the German Democratic Republic—one on a transit visa for West Berlin, and the other on a regular entry visa for the country. The van heading for West Berlin would be allowed only on the transit highway, so it would not be inspected. But the other van going into the GDR would be searched. We’d fill the transiting van with books and leave the other van empty. On the highway, the vans would meet at a rest stop and we’d transfer all the books to the empty van. The only problem was that the rest stops were tightly patrolled by the East German police, so whenever we saw a police car approaching, one of us got himself ready to urinate in that direction. As good-mannered men, the police naturally turned their heads as they drove by. We transferred the books as quickly as possible. It always worked.
KṚṢṆA-KṢETRA SWAMI: Once, I drove a van full of books from West Berlin to East Berlin—not through one of the checkpoints but by leaving West Berlin on transit to West Germany and then going back to East Berlin by a roundabout way.
I took the transit highway to Hannover for a few kilometers and then I took a turnoff and got on the road to Poland—completely forbidden. From there I knew of an off-ramp leading to East Berlin. But just as I took the exit, a police car appeared and stopped me.
I pulled out my American passport and put on an innocent face. I said, “I think I’m lost. I want to go to Hannover, but I guess this is the wrong way?” Seeing that I was a foreigner, the police officer became helpful and told me how to get back to the main road. I thanked him and took the road to West Germany.
Five kilometers later, I saw a service road, and Kṛṣṇa inspired me to take it. There were no police on that road, and I soon arrived in East Berlin. I went straight to a devotee’s house on the outskirts of town and unloaded the books. The books were in Polish, and the devotees from Poland eventually came by train, filled up suitcases with books, and returned to their country.
HARIKEŚA DĀSA: In Leipzig, East Germany, lived a nice boy initiated by Śrīla Prabhupāda—Haladhara Dāsa Adhikārī—and we wanted to supply him with books. Taponidhi and Gaura-kiśora drove the van with the books, and I drove the empty one. At the border, the officer became suspicious because there was nothing in my van. I just had a little personal bag. But after I explained that I was staying just one night, he let me through.
As I entered the parking lot where the other van was waiting, a police car drove in behind me. We decided we had better get out of the vans and eat some apples. We sat down at a picnic table and acted like tourists, but the police continued to observe us and probably suspected that something was going on. Finally, they left, and we jumped up and transferred the books. Then I drove off with all the books.
About two minutes later I saw the police on the roadside waving me down! I thought, “Oh, no, I’m going to get caught with all these books, and I am an entry!” So I just kept my face forward and pretended not to see them. I jammed my foot on the gas pedal and tore down the road as fast as the van would go.
They immediately ran to their car to pursue me, but at that moment Kṛṣṇa sent the heaviest rain I have ever seen in my life—it was like buckets of water pouring from the sky. It was mid-July, and the road was so hot that the rain became steam, and you practically couldn’t see anything anymore. I was driving in this blinding mist as fast as I could, and the police somehow got lost. I took the next exit and then the back roads all the way to Leipzig.
It was dark by the time I arrived at Haladhara’s house, around ten o’clock. But I was so revved up that I picked up a box of books, which normally it took two people to carry, ran to Haladhara’s window, and threw it in. Haladhara wasn’t aware how heavy the box was, and when it hit him in the chest, he fell backward—boom!—and the books fell out all over the place. But I kept bringing the boxes as fast as I could because the van was parked under a streetlight and anybody could see what I was doing. After I dumped all the books, I told him, “See you tomorrow.”
Then I drove to a campground. I was completely wiped out. I finally went to sleep around midnight. At five-thirty the next morning, I heard a bang! bang! bang!’ on my window. I thought, “Now they have me.”
Someone was shouting, “Herr Campagnola!” And I thought, “Oh, no, they even know my name!” But it was only the manager. He said, “Telephone call.” I staggered out of the van, went to the phone, and it was Sucandra on the line, who informed me that he’d received a call from America saying I should immediately go to London and become Śrīla Prabhupāda’s secretary again.
* * * HARI-ŚAURI DĀSA: After visiting England and France in the summer of 1976, Prabhupāda returned to India. Soon it became more and more apparent that Jayatīrtha wasn’t as committed to Germany as he had appeared. He spent most of his time at Bhaktivedanta Manor, and his visits to Schloss Rettershof were sporadic and brief. Prabhupāda was concerned. He therefore thought that maybe Hansadutta should return to Germany and take care of the situation for which, after all, he was responsible in the first place».
BHAKTI GAURAVANI GOSWAMI: Word about Hansadutta’s possible return reached us at the beginning of September. The prospect of his coming back made everyone shudder. Jayatīrtha called a meeting, and the devotees decided he should write a letter to Śrīla Prabhupāda, signed by all, saying that Hansadutta’s return would be disastrous. The matter was taken so seriously that Pṛthu and I were asked to take the next flight to India and hand the letter to Śrīla Prabhupāda personally, so that if clarification was needed, we’d be right there to answer any questions. PṚTHU DĀSA: We reached Vṛndāvana around noon. After quickly showering and putting on clean clothes, we went to Prabhupāda’s house. Harikeśa Swami opened the door. He couldn’t believe we had come all the way to India just to deliver a letter. He informed us that Prabhupāda was taking his massage and shouldn’t be disturbed. So we left the letter with him.
HARIKEŚA DĀSA: I read the letter to Śrīla Prabhupāda after lunch. Jayatīrtha described the chaos that Hansadutta and his men had caused, and he went so far as to compare Hansadutta to the plague. Prabhupāda raised his eyebrows. “The plague?” he asked. Shocked, he repeated the words over and over— “Like the plague” —and agreed that under the circumstances, Hansadutta should not return to Germany.
BHAKTI GAURAVANI GOSWAMI: The next morning we accompanied Śrīla Prabhupāda on his walk. It was the first time I’d come to India right after the rainy season, and Vṛndāvana appeared much different from what it had looked like in late spring. A light veil of mist shrouded the fields, and the air was humid and fragrant. The wind blew massive white clouds across the deep-blue sky.
Wrapped in a gray woolen chadar, Prabhupāda chanted softly on his beads as we left the Krishna-Balaram Mandir. To be with him in this setting gave me a faint glimpse of what it meant to be in Vaikuṇṭha, an atmosphere free of anxiety. As we strolled through the fresh morning air, all problems and fears vanished.
PṚTHU DĀSA: We made our way down the dirt road near the goshala, and I walked right behind Śrīla Prabhupāda. Suddenly he turned around and put his cane on my chest. “So, you are satisfied?” he asked. Taken by surprise, I smiled and said, “Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda, very satisfied.” Then he asked, “When are you going back to Germany?” I told him we planned to return in a couple of days. “Oh, no!” he said, and his eyes opened wide. “Just enjoy the spiritual atmosphere. Stay at least three weeks.” We gladly complied. After all, it was a direct order from our spiritual master». *** While Harikeśa Swami was serving Prabhupāda as his secretary in Vṛndāvana, he received letters from Sucandra, Dvārakeśa, and Prabhujaka that described the latest preaching developments in Eastern Europe. In the early summer, they had accompanied him on his tours to East Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Hungary and had promised to keep him informed. On reading of his godbrothers’ wonderful exploits, Harikeśa Swami felt sure that Prabhupāda would enjoy hearing how the preaching in the East was going. When Prabhupāda learned how enthusiastically people behind the Iron Curtain were responding to kīrtana and prasādam, he wrote the preachers letters to encourage them: I have noted your letter of August 23, 1976, addressed to Harikesa Swami and have noted the contents with pleasure. Please continue your program of preaching in Eastern Europe, for this program is very pleasing to me. You should be supplied all funds for this program by the local GBC men there in Europe. This program is very important.
Since 1971, devotees had been visiting the East Bloc only sporadically. Nobody had dedicated all his energy to implanting Kṛṣṇa consciousness there. But in only three months, Harikeśa Swami had probably done more than anyone else had accomplished in five years. Now he was Prabhupāda’s secretary, typing his letters, and Prabhupāda was satisfied with his service— that’s why he had agreed to have him come back in July—but to Prabhupāda’s mind, Harikeśa was rotting behind the typewriter. He was an energetic, enthusiastic preacher, who could be much better engaged spearheading the preaching in East Europe. Anybody could type.
Another consideration was the precarious situation in Germany.
Jayatīrtha was reluctant to take on the work, and Hansadutta was unwelcome. The situation called for decisive action. If Harikeśa Mahārāja preached in the East, the natural choice for his base was Schloss Rettershof, and his presence would be helpful. Śrīla Prabhupāda suggested that he go to Poland, where the response had been especially positive. He was so eager to develop the East program he gave Harikeśa Swami a loan of $1,000 for his immediate expenses.
But on arriving in Delhi Harikeśa Mahārāja caught malaria and could not fly to Europe. His mind began to waver, and he wrote Prabhupāda a letter expressing doubts about his new assignment. The language barrier in the East European countries was a major obstacle; maybe he should preach in America after all. Prabhupāda’s reply was unequivocal: I sent you especially for preaching in that quarter; therefore I gave you money; otherwise in U.S.A. what is need of money. You have experience in that area, therefore I gave money. So I request you not to go to U.S.A., even if it is a little difficult to preach in that quarter. I have written to Guru Dāsa and Sucandra to join you—combine together and preach. In U.S.A. there are many preachers, but here no preachers. Otherwise, if you must preach in English, then you may preach in England.
Prabhupāda made it clear what he wanted, and Harikeśa Swami resigned himself without further hesitation to his will. He teamed up with Sucandra, and in October they went to Yugoslavia. The people’s response was tremendous; they went wild over kīrtana and prasādam.
Prabhupāda became very enlivened when he received Harikeśa Swami’s report. He replied: I am very pleased to learn of our success in Yugoslavia. When there is a little hope of success in these countries, it encourages me 100 times more than in other places. If they take up this Krishna Consciousness, they’ll take it very seriously. This is the perfection of Communist ideology. Everything belongs to God. No private proprietorship.
They have gone on the radio, that means they have purified the whole atmosphere. That is the way to introduce; the transcendental sound vibration will act. Utilize this approach. Gradually try to convince them that this movement is the perfection of Communism.
Go on singing Krishna kirtana. That is our program. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to go out chanting. He never spoke philosophy in public, only among higher circles. The chanting is very effective. Along with tampura and mrdanga played very rhythmically, let them chant. Perform this musical demonstration and sell books as far as possible, and feasting. Then everything will be successful. It is good that they do not like these bogus yogis and they like Hare Krishna mantra. Give them the chance to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra somehow or other, then very soon good results will be visible.
Jayatīrtha was glad to have a sannyāsī at the Schloss, and he encouraged Harikeśa Swami to help manage. Unsure whether to commit himself and maybe neglect to preach, Harikeśa Swami consulted Śrīla Prabhupāda, who simply said: “Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 24/11/76. Yes, I approve of your helping to rectify the situation in Germany. Hoping this will meet you in good health.” Harikeśa Mahārāja applied himself to the task without delay. The legal situation needed immediate attention. Two weeks later, he was on his way to the Hyderabad farm, where Hansadutta Swami was meeting Śrīla Prabhupāda. He needed Hansadutta’s signatures on legal documents for the court case.
HARI-ŚAURI DĀSA: In the early morning of December 10, Prabhupāda called in Mahāṁsa Swami, along with Hansadutta Swami and Harikeśa Mahārāja, who had arrived the night before from Germany. The evening before, the devotees had arranged a pāṇḍal program and prasādam distribution, but the program was lethargic and the food substandard. Prabhupāda was visibly displeased and stressed to his leaders the importance of proper organization, without which everything was doomed to failure.
“Tomorrow I want to see at least five hundred men,” he told them. “I came here to see that, not to sit down in a room peacefully. Give them nice palatable foodstuff. Make very, very nice prasādam. Whatever money is required, I shall pay. Simply theory will not help. Make such prasādam that people will be mad after it. I made this movement successful simply by the Sunday love feast. They did not come to hear Hare Kṛṣṇa. They came for the love feast. From the very beginning, when I was at 26 Second Avenue, every Sunday I was giving nice foodstuff, at least for two hundred men. Daily more than fifteen, twenty came. I was cooking myself. That is the beginning of my movement.”
When Mahāṁsa Swami, feeling responsible for last night’s disaster, admitted that the prasādam had not been nice, Prabhupāda interrupted him: “Not nice? It is not eatable even by the dogs! But you are less than the dogs if you prepare such a thing. I was surprised. You allowed a sweeper to cook. I was surprised. We have distribution of prasādam, not dog’s food! Palatable foodstuff means, even if someone has no appetite, he’ll eat. That is food. Not that even if someone has got appetite, he’ll forget. That is not food. Rādhikāra pakka anna vividha byanjana/ parama ānande kṛṣṇa koreṇa bhojana. Rādhikā, with Her friends, they are cooking, and they cook so nicely that—parama ānande kṛṣṇa koreṇa bhajana—with great pleasure Kṛṣṇa is eating. And that we have to distribute. Not dog’s food. Changing the subject, Prabhupāda began to speak to Harikeśa Swami about Germany. Harikeśa Swami explained that, according to the German judicial system, the court case required some fourteen lawyers, one for each defendant, and he presented his plan for defeating the prosecution and recovering the impounded money. Although public opinion was still decidedly unfavorable, he was confident that we would come out all right in the end.
Harikeśa Swami’s idea was to stop all the bad press by sending men to distribute leaflets in any country where there is a German embassy. The leaflet would make comparisons between the persecution of the Jews and ourselves, and people would be asked to protest to the German ambassador of their country. In this way, he hoped to raise some political reaction as well. When the Allies gave back the country to the Germans, they had a clause written into the German constitution that guarantees freedom from religious persecution, so Harikeśa Mahārāja intended to call on that as well. Prabhupāda was visibly pleased with his enthusiasm.
After the morning walk, we returned to the temple room to celebrate Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī’s disappearance day. Śrīla Prabhupāda gave a wonderful talk about the first four verses of his Vyāsa-pūjā offering from 1936: “Adore, adore ye all...” As he spoke, he explained that the whole process of spiritual life and being saved from a material life of repeated birth and death depended on pleasing the guru.
To illustrate his point, he told us how he had sent Harikeśa Swami away from him to preach in Eastern Europe. He wanted that preaching to be done, and he saw that Harikeśa was the right man. And his disciple immediately went, although at the time he thought he was being punished. “However, it was not punishment,” Prabhupāda said. “I wanted that program, and now we can see a glimmer of success. So this is required, to give up our self-interest for the pleasure of the spiritual master.” The night before, Hansadutta had come to see Śrīla Prabhupāda, and he’d suggested that Harikeśa Mahārāja be made GBC for Germany. He really didn’t care to go back there anymore, and at the same time, he was actually impressed with Harikeśa Swami. A year before, we had spent one month together on Prabhupāda’s personal party, and during that period Hansadutta had gained great respect for Harikeśa’s intelligence and his dedication to serving Prabhupāda. So he made a strong recommendation, and Prabhupāda immediately accepted it».
HARIKEŚA DĀSA: During the morning walk Prabhupāda asked questions about Germany. All of a sudden he said, “Now you should be GBC for Eastern Europe.” I was completely flabbergasted. Then Hansadutta added, “And for Germany.” Śrīla Prabhupāda nodded and said, “Yes, and Germany also. And BBT trustee.” I was stunned. I couldn’t believe all this was happening.
After the lecture, I went to Prabhupāda’s room and said, “I can’t understand all of this, but by your mercy, something is happening. So I will try my best to do the service as you like.” Then I added, “And I promise not to spend any money.” But Prabhupāda corrected me: “No, spend. But do not waste.”
When I returned to Germany, I went to see Jayatīrtha. I told him, “I’m really sorry. I had nothing to do with this. It just happened to me. But here is a letter from Śrīla Prabhupāda to you and Bhagavān.”
I am very satisfied with the work Harikesa Swami is doing there in Germany and Eastern Europe, therefore in order to encourage him and give him facility to rectify the situation in Germany, I have appointed him as acting GBC/BBT until the Mayapur meeting. You GBC men should please help him in his efforts to win the case there as this case will decide the future of our movement there in Europe.
After reading the letter, Jayatīrtha stammered, “But ... but ... this is fantastic! I don’t want to be GBC for Germany. This is very nice.” So the next day he left for London.”
I was mainly concerned with two things: the court case and saṅkīrtana. I was overwhelmed by the case. We had a copy of the official accusation, and I spent a lot of time with lawyers, coming up with a strategy. But it turned out that we didn’t have to appear in court until a year later. Book distribution had been increasing and increasing—mainly by the inspiration of Maṇidhara and Rohinī-sūta. A few weeks earlier, Jayatīrtha had informed Prabhupāda about their feats in book distribution, and Prabhupāda had sent them an encouraging letter: I have received a letter from Jayatirtha saying that you have distributed in one week 522 and 521 big books, respectively. This is very wonderful. I thank you so much. Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham. Krishna becomes more and more pleased by seeing the increment of book distribution. Devotional service is absolute, but Krishna is especially pleased to see someone preaching His glories.
In the following months, book distribution increased dramatically. By the time of the Māyāpur festival in 1977, Germany was number one in the world. We were at the top for BBT remittances and at the top for books distributed. Naturally, Prabhupāda was very pleased, and he said, “Everybody was thinking that Germany is finished, but Kṛṣṇa said, ‘No! Let it increase!’”
After the Māyāpur festival, book distribution just went through the roof. Pṛthu became one of the best saṅkīrtana leaders we had ever had. He inspired everyone. The devotees went berserk under his leadership. We wiped out the entire world. There was nobody even coming close.