In this devotional memoir, Śrīla Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī recounts the formative years of ISKCON’s Bombay (Juhu) center, highlighting A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda’s relentless focus on book distribution, international outreach, and temple development. He describes the 1976 Soviet inquiry that led to a major book‑fair participation and a Russian government certificate, the completion of the Caitanya‑caritāmṛta translation in Bombay, and the discovery of a 500‑year‑old plaque during temple construction, which involved Marathi scholars and political clearance. The talk also covers practical matters such as Prabhupāda’s ambassador cars, a 1970s newspaper advertisement inviting anyone to live “like us,” challenges in obtaining tax‑exempt status, and the mixed impact of the 1971 film Hare Rama Hare Krishna. The opening of the Bombay temple in 1978 attracted high‑profile politicians, international media, and celebrated the collective effort of many senior devotees, whose names and contributions are listed. The speaker emphasizes the ongoing phases of the Hare Krishna Land project, the importance of studying Prabhupāda’s books (especially the Vāṇī‑vs‑Vāpu teaching), and urges continued devotion to Prabhupāda’s instructions to realize a spiritual “heaven on earth.”
Chapters
And he was— it was a very reputed company distributing readers like this, Time magazine and so on. So he was one of our life members. And I had met him on many occasions. So we agreed and had a very big display of Prabhupāda's books. We had display in the racks, in the show window, banners, everything. But unfortunately, even after a tremendous display of one month, not many books were sold. So when I came and gave Prabhupāda that report, and Prabhupāda said, "My books are sold due to the enthusiasm of my devotees. And in the bookstore, the people are not enthusiastic." How correct! Enthusiasm is the key to spiritual advancement. Then it was in Bombay, E.V.T. That they received a letter in 1976, March, from a Russian government agency called Medzurna Rodnikovkiya. It means an agency for importing books. And they wanted a catalogue of books printed by the BIBBT Well, they said, "We heard that B.V.T. is printing books on world peace." So I got that inquiry, and I took it to, took it to Māyāpur to show it to Prabhupāda. And at that time, Prabhupāda was trying to penetrate into the Soviet Bloc. So when Prabhupāda saw, "Here is a letter of inquiry from Russian government agency, he was in ecstasy. He said, "Yes, we must send them the report." And then he asked me to go to Soviet Union, which I did in '76 of May. The books were very well received, appreciated, and we got good reviews. And then we took part in a book fair. And subsequently then we got the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Bombay, got a big certificate from the Russian government promoting our books on peace. So this certificate was obtained in 1977, I believe in July or August. In that time Prabhupāda wasn't so well, and he was in Vṛndāvana. So we took this certificate to him in Vṛndāvana, and he was so happy. He was showing it to everyone who came to see him. "See, the Soviet Union has recognized our books." So Prabhupāda gave a lot of emphasis to books, and it was in Bombay, on the occasion Or Rāmāya-kāda-sī, in November, that Prabhupāda completed the translation of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta translation was completed in Bombay, and Prabhupāda said, "Completed on the auspicious day of Rāmāya-kāda-sī at the Bhaktivedānta Book Trust, Hare Kṛṣṇa Man, Juh, Bombay." So that's a very historical event. And Prabhupāda's purport to the— Prabhupāda writes in the conclusion that about the importance of vāpu and vāni, and he goes on to explain how vāni is more important than vāpu. So Prabhupāda's Prabhupāda at one time wanted every building on Hare Kṛṣṇa land to be a BBT residence, BBT books in different languages. Once I was with Prabhupāda in his quarters, and he said he was reading the Bhāgavad-gītā. He said, "I read my Bhāgavad-gītā every day myself. So should everyone." So the many wonderful paasams, Associated with Prabhupāda's books. Then Śrīla Prabhupāda, as you know, gave the Jew Temple, was very keen that a beautiful temple be built for the pleasure of the Lordship. So when we were digging for the construction, we found that plaque. And that plaque was considered to be, estimated to be 500 years old. There were two Marathi scholars. I was doing some research this week because I couldn't exactly remember who were the scholars that he brought to Prabhupada. Yesterday I finally found a document that revealed the two names. One was Mr. Pagi, who was a speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, and the other one was the President of the Maharashtra Congress. These two people were cultivated by Girad Swami and myself, who took us to the Chief Minister, who eventually gave us the NOC of construction. So when you found the plaque We couldn't figure out how old the script was. So when these two scholars came and met Prabhupāda and told him that this means that there was a Ganesh temple at this location 500 years ago, Prabhupāda was very happy. He was happy to know that there was a temple over here. Yāda sīm. An ambassador car standing there in front of the guest house. So in 1976, I believe, Kṛṣṇa Prabhupāda Mahārāja had come to India with a Mercedes car. All right. Red Mercedes car. And Prabhupāda, that Mercedes car was being used by Prabhupāda. At that time the rules were that if you brought a Mercedes car in the country, any foreign car, you could only keep it for 6 months, and then the car would have to— Am I right? And then the car would have to leave. So every 6 months the car had to go to Nepal and then come back. So Prabhupāda found that very troublesome. And I believe the Mercedes was sold. Then Prabhupāda got 3 ambassador cars. One car for Bombay, one car for Vrindavan, and one car for Māyāpur. I believe the Bombay car has survived. I don't know where the other 2 cars are. We recently got the Bombay car completely furnished and now we can It's not there for show. You can even drive in it. So Prabhupāda was very concerned about spiritual, giving spiritual knowledge to everyone. At that time in 1975, '76, '77, India was not that well off as it is now. The economic situation in India is a lot better now than those days. Those days India was still considered a beggar country. So Prabhupāda one day called me at 1 o'clock in the morning and he had written an advertisement on a small piece of paper. And the heading was: Invitation to everyone in India. To come and live with us, like us. The catch was like us. That meant— so Prabhupāda wanted that advertisement to be placed in all the newspapers of India and billboards everywhere. Inviting everyone, anyone who doesn't have a place to stay, come and live with us like us. So I, I told Prabhupāda, how are we going to maintain everyone if they come? Where are the facilities? Prabhupāda said, the catch is in the word "like us." Like us means come in, act like we act. Follow the rules, follow the rules, regulated principles, etc. Of course, when we took the ad to be placed in the magazines and all, the newspapers was not interested. But it just shows Prabhupāda's compassion to save the conditioned souls. And He handwrote in His own handwriting, "He had come in there with us, like us." Prabhupāda at one time wasn't well. There was an Ayurvedic doctor who had advised Prabhupāda complete rest. At that time Prabhupāda was still living in the, uh, we were still in the old buildings, so we put a notice downstairs, Swamiji will not give darshan. And you can see his secretary, and his secretary at that time was, I believe, Jagadish Prabhu. And Prabhupāda's room, where he was almost next to in the staircase. So Prabhupāda was in his room doing japa, and he heard that some people were coming up. They came up, they wanted to have darshan of the Deity of Prabhupāda, and they were, they were being returned. So when Prabhupāda heard that, he said, "No! Let them come in!" And he gave darshan. We said, "Please, you should regress." But Prabhupāda continued, "Let them come in." And then he— Prabhupāda let them come in, and then Prabhupāda told them to come in, and he went on preaching. In India, the law is still the same. If you have a research-oriented trust, then a society that can get income tax exemption, then the donor can get income tax exemption. And since 1965, We have been struggling with the government how to get the tax exemption and not change our bylaws and objectives. So the auditors in Bombay told me, "Why don't you have a Vedic Research Institute? If you have Vedic Research Institute, then you may be entitled to—" full tax exemption. So I thought this was a good idea, and I went to Prabhupāda and said, "We have this problem, and this is a proposed solution: make a Vedic research institute." Prabhupāda said, "Why research? We ask them, 'Has done all the research.' We don't need any research." And Prabhupāda refused to compromise. So at that time, this was in '73, at that time I was in America, but I had come to India in October, and I saw Prabhupāda in Akāśa Ganga. At that time this movie star, Devanand, and made this hit movie called Hare Rama Hare Krishna. On the positive side of the movie, the Hare Kṛṣṇa melody was in the background for the whole movie. But on the negative side, the movie showed that we take drugs and then feel high and then chant. So some people were being influenced positively, Some negative things. So when I saw Prabhupāda, I said, "This movie is going to give us a bad name, Śrīla Prabhupāda. It shows that we take drugs and then chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." Prabhupāda said, "Now nothing will be lost. People will hear the Holy Name and benefit." And that's a fact. I recently met a a devotee in America. And I asked him, "How did you become a devotee?" He was of Indian origin. So he told me when he was a young kid in Maharashtra, he got exposed to the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra through this movie. And he was so attracted to the mantra that since childhood he's been chanting. And now he got initiated in America. So Prabhupāda was right that the Holy Name in all ways is positive. Then in 1978, when we were preparing for the opening, we were discussing who all to invite, and we decided invite the prominent politicians. One was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The other one was a Central Government Minister. This man was very prominent because he had defeated at that time, in that Gandhi, in an election. And he appointed a, invited a Governor. So the opening was very well attended and very well covered., and 2 or 3 international agencies also covered the opening. One was— Muktananda Prabhu and myself had gone at that time to the foreign media in Delhi, and the music magazine, I believe it's dead now, but at that time it was a prominent magazine, They published an article on the Bombay Temple opening, "From Rags to Riches." They described how Prabhupāda went to America with ₹40 and established this worldwide movement. And the New York Times, the leading paper of the world, they also had a full, nice, positive article on the opening. So Prabhupāda's put a lot of effort to develop the Hare Kṛṣṇa land. And the Hare Kṛṣṇa land has developed due to the efforts of several devotees. And I want to take the opportunity to mention some of the names of devotees who played a big role in the development of the Hare Kṛṣṇa land, but have departed from the planet. One of them is our beloved godbrother Śrīdaḍvāmī. He— Bombay was his, Bombay was his head office. He lived over here for a long time. He was known as the Jolly Swāmī. He spoke very pretty good Hindi. Very enthusiastic preacher. He played a big role in obtaining the Bombay land in the struggle. He was a life membership director, inspired others how to preach. So we offer our respects to him. Rāmānanda Prabhu, Rāmānanda, as you know, was one of the first devotees that joined Prabhupāda in ISKCON in New York. Served in Kenya for a long time. And he was, he organized the Bombay pandal. The Deities, Rādhārāṣmījārī, were carried on his lap from Akāśkunda to here in a taxi. Madhvīśa Prabhu, he was the president of the Bombay temple for some time. Very senior American devotee, enthusiastic kīrtanīṇa, was G.B.C. in Australia also. He also played a very big role in the development of the Bombay project. Those were the years when we were struggling. Then Swāmi Prabhu, he was the architect of this wonderful project. He was the architect of the Vrindāvana Temple. He was the architect of the Vṛndāvana Samādhi, the Prabhupāda purva-samādhi in Māyāpur. And he played a big— he was an architect. Prabhupāda was also very gifted at architecture, because in the development of this design, Prabhupāda played a big role in giving Srīla Abhidūrābha the rough sketches. And ideas which Rav using professional language and experience finalized it. Nirmala Maharaj was our BBT manager and the Bombay president for one few occasions. He passed away. Aditi Amma Mataji, she was a secretary of Bombay temple. She was Giriraj Swami's secretary.. And she lived in Vrindavan, where she passed away recently. Then Setiji, we heard, he played a big role in fighting the gundas and helping Prabhupāda in building the rooftops. Dejapātaṇkupta Ji was the chairman of our steering committee. He played a big role in the in buying the tenements and helping build the heaven on earth, which we describe as Phase 2. And many others, many other devotees. So, as I said, ISKCON Bombay has developed due to the efforts of several devotees over the years. Is more a team effort, and I want to take this opportunity to thank all the devotees who have come from every corner of the globe to participate in this celebration. The planning of the celebration started over 2 years ago, and Several efforts devotees took part. The team was headed by Braja Hari Das, our temple president, and our goal was to have a big 40th anniversary. Of course, Golden Jubilee is relatively more important, but we didn't know how many of us would be around at the Golden Jubilee time, so at least we wanted to make sure that the 40th anniversary is nicely celebrated. So we want to thank all the devotees who came from different parts of the world to take part in this celebration. We are very, very grateful that all of you have made big sacrifices to come here. The devotees have tried their best to take care And they would like to be excused if there were any discrepancies. And we would request you to come back again. Prabhupāda said, "Bombay is my office." Bombay is also the home of all the devotees who have served here. So you are welcome to come and spend time in Bombay. And once again, thank you very, very much. For coming and making this celebration so enjoyable. And thanks to Haidas Prabhu and his team for videoing the memoirs, and we'll try to get these memoirs transcribed and later maybe published into a book. And I also want to thank Devakinanda Prabhu and the Radhanādhārādhārī Committee members for their hard work in realizing Phase 2 of the Hare Kṛṣṇa Land. We had Phase 1, Phase 2, and now we should have Phase 3. And you know what Phase 3 should be? Making sure that we fulfill every instruction that Prabhupāda gave regarding the Hare Kṛṣṇa Land. In other words, Prabhupāda wanted this to be a spiritual location, and due to Prabhupāda's mercy, thousands, over 10,000 to 15,000 people come every day, over 100,000 on weekends. But we need to intensify our preaching so that we can make, inspire more people to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. There were several devotees who took part in the management of this festival. I want to request Braja Hari Prabhu, our temple president, to please come on the stage and read the names of all the devotees who took part in executing this, the executing the arrangement for this festival. One last thing I want to mention: Prabhupāda was so attached to the Rāspīharī Deities that he would take the Rādhā-Nārmada-Deity pictures with him wherever he went. The tāntirāya Deities were part of his package, and wherever he would go, he would have the Deity pictures with him. So we are here because of Śrīla Prabhupāda, and as long as we keep Prabhupāda in the center, our spiritual lives will be successful. We need to follow Prabhupāda's instructions strictly. Read his books. Prabhupāda said, "Everything I wanted to say is there in my books." Read his books. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta-purport, which was concluded in the Hare Kṛṣṇa Land translation, Prabhupāda talks about Vāpu and Vāṇī and explains how Vāṇī is more important than Vāpu. So we should— we have Prabhupāda's Vāṇī in his books. Instructions. We should study them, practice them, and thereby preach the message that Prabhupāda gave us. That will please Prabhupāda. That will make this real heaven on earth. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
