[0:00:00]

Host: Here on this very special ocassion, so thank you so much,

it is my honor and privilege to introduce His Holiness Giriraj
Maharaj. I say this every time I introduce Maharaj, I get very
excited to do so. Maharaj met Srila Prabhupada over 50 years ago,
we're talking about almost 52 years of continued service to Srila
Prabhupada in this mission. In 52 years that Maharaj has been in
ISKCON Maharaj has played so many roles, temple president, he has
led the development of the Bhaktivedanta Ashram in Govardhan,
helped out with the Bhaktivedanta hospice and establishing the
Vrindavan Institute of Palliative Care. All of this while Maharaj
is known for his austerities, his loyalty to Srila Prabhupada,
his wonderful heart-touching sweet classes.

Today we're here to celebrate one of Maharaj's responsibilities

that was personally given to by Srila Prabhupada in 1972, where
Giriraj Maharaj was appointed by Srila Prabhupada to be the
president of ISKCON Bombay. Maharaj is a renowned author and has
written so many wonderful books, but this is the book I think a
lot of devotees around the world have been eagerly waiting for,
which is “I Will Build You A Temple.” This book speaks about the
pastime that happened in Juhu and we're super excited to do a
virtual book launch here in our congregation ISKCON of Round
Rock. We're so grateful that Maharaj has joined us, so we would
love to hear more from Maharaj about the book and about any
behind the scenes exclusive that may or may not be in the book,
and if it's in the book, to tempt us to read this wonderful book.
I started reading a few days back and I've gone through the first
chapter. It is so exciting that I can't wait to go more and more
to see what happens.

One thing I want to share here is one thing that's very special
about Giriraj Maharaj is that if you read this book, you’ll
realize his commitment to Srila Prabhupada's instructions to him.
One of the instructions was to write and Maharaj has written such
wonderful literature, so it's important for us to take the
opportunity to read it. Thank you so much Maharaj for joining us
this Sunday, we are very excited to hear from you. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: I will begin by singing the mangala acharna

prayers and leading a short kirtan. Then we will speak about the
Juhu story.

[Prayers 0:02:25 - 0:19:15]

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Now we will speak about the Juhu
story. In a way the story begins even before Srila Prabhupada
went to America. Srila Prabhupada had a patron who lived in a
Juhu, she had a big bungalow on the ocean, and before going to
America Srila Prabhupada used to visit her at her home and read
to her from his First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. On the way, he
would pass this same land, which later became Hare Krishna Land,
and he would think to himself “This would be a good place to have
a temple.” Then, after going to America in 1965 and then
returning to India in 1970, one of Srila Prabhupada's disciples
who was approaching people to become life members met Mr. A.B
Nair, who was the editor of the Free Press Journal, which was one
of three English daily newspapers in Bombay. Mr. Nair
subsequently wrote a letter to Srila Prabhupada saying that he
had a four acre plot of land near Juhu beach that would be
suitable for a great cause such as Srila Prabhupada's.

Srila Prabhupada and some of his disciples came to see the land,
and the general response of the disciples was negative. They
thought the Juhu was too far from the city and they even arranged
for a delegation of life members to meet Srila Prabhupada and
appeal to him not to go to Juhu, that it was too far and they
wouldn't be able to come. But Srila Prabhupada had a vision of
what could happen on that land and he persisted and uh took it.
Now, Mr. Nair was a crooked person, a cunning person, and before
entering the agreement to sell the land to Srila Prabhupada, he
had entered an agreement with another party, Shagan Lal and sons,
for the same land. He had embedded within the agreement a
condition that he knew he could make sure that Shaganlal would
not be able to fulfill, and in that way he thought he could keep
Shagan Lal’s money and cancel the agreement. And he did the same
thing with Srila Prabhupada, he embedded a clause in the
agreement that he knew he could make sure that Prabhupada could
not fulfill because of his influence in government offices, and
he had the same idea, that he'll take Prabhupada's money and then
on the grounds that Prabhupada didn't fulfill the conditions,
cancel the agreement.

The portion I want to read and discuss now relates to this party
Shagan Lal and sons. Shagan Lal and sons was the name of the
company and the owner was Shanti Lal J, who was a J by religion--
excuse me, Shanti Lal Meta, and his son. I will read how in such
a brilliant way, amazing way, Srila Prabhupada resolved all these
complications and cleared the way for ISKCON getting the land. So
just to set the scene, Srila Prabhupada was staying at Mr.
Sethi’s house, which was still under construction in the Juhu
scheme, it was spacious and well built, just not completely
finished. The marble wasn't polished and the temporary lighting
was dim. Mr. Sethi and his family had not yet moved in.
Prabhupada received visitors there, and at his direction I
arranged a meeting with Mr. Shanti Lal Meta, the shrewd seasoned
businessman with his son Ran S. Shagan Lal and brothers, which
had a claim on the Juhu land.

An elderly jane, the older Mr. Meta came dressed in a traditional

white Indian suit vest and cap. Prabhupada remained seated on his
asana. Srila Prabhupada always had an asana on the floor and then
a low table in front of him. Prabhupada remains seated on his
asana and almost immediately after entering, as if to catch
Prabhupada off guard, Mr. Meta said, “I understand you are in
negotiations with Mrs. Nair, so who will take the land? You or
me?” Praphupada sat up straight, looked him in the eye and said
“I will.” “Well, what about my claim?” Mr. Meta objected, “My
claim is for six lakhs, a hugely inflated figure.” “My claim is
for 12 lakhs” Prabhupada countered. If Mr. Meta wanted the land,
he would have to pay Prabhupada 12 lakhs to withdraw. Mr. Meta
could see that he was up against a smart tough fighter, not just
some simple elderly sadhu. His eyes opened wider and his whole
demeanor seemed to change, to become humbler and more respectful.

Prabhupada began preaching to him, “We will use the land for a
good cause, we will make a temple.” Mr. Meta agreed to a meeting
with Prabhupada and Mrs. Naier to negotiate how much she would
have to pay him to get him to withdraw his claim. According to
the sales agreement, Prabhupada could hold back the majority of
his payments until Shagan Lal withdrew its claim in the high
court. Satisfied with the arrangement, Mr. Meta offered his
respects to Prabhupada and left the room. As I escorted him down
the stairs to his car, he kept shaking his head and saying “Your
guru Maharaj is pakka, he's a real guru Maharaj, he's pakka.”

One morning Srila Prabhupada was sitting in his room, on the

second floor, absorbed in discussion with friends and disciples
about the struggle for the land. Suddenly a muscular stimuli
laborer appeared at the door, paused and with all eyes on him
entered the room without introduction. The man's complexion was
dark and he wore only a small faded cloth around his waist. I was
apprehensive, he walked toward Prabhupada, placed a bunch of
flowers on his desk, bowed down, looked at him and walked out.
Prabhupada was so moved by the man's simple act of devotion that
for several moments he could not speak, he just looked down and
closed his eyes. Finally, with a choked voice he said, “Such a
simple man, yet somehow he understood that a saintly person is
here and he gathered some flowers to offer. In the Bhagavad-gita
Lord Krishna says, ‘If one offers me a leaf or flower with love
and devotion, I will accept it.’ Krishna is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and even His heart is touched by such
devotion, so what to speak of an insignificant living entity like
me? How much more will I feel overwhelmed?”

Prabhupada arranged another meeting with Shagan Lal, which was

again held in his room at Mr. Sethi’s. He sat behind his desk and
was joined by Mrs. Nair and her advocate, and the senior Mr. Meta
and his son. Right away, Mrs. Naier verbally attacked Shagan Lal,
and Shanti Lal Meta counter-attack. They fought bitterly, giving
vent to years of hatred. Mrs. Nair despised Shanti Lal Meta so
much that she was ready to let things drag on for years rather
than give in to him, and he felt the same way. He didn't care if
his 50.000 rupees was tied up with her, he wasn't going to
surrender. Prabhupada let them fight for a while and then said,
“Now let's forget. What's done is done, let us forget about it.”
He pacified them and they started talking civilly, but the
animosity soon erupted again and they resumed fighting.
Prabhupada again had to pacify them and appeal to them to quiet
down, and eventually, when their fighting passions came down to a
smolder, he said, “Now let us discuss.” Just then, Mr. Rauji
Ganatra, the former mayor of Bombay walked in and started
glorifying Srila Prabhupada, offering obeisances and prayers. He
was a well-known and popular figure and Mr. Meta knew him.
“Swamiji” Mr Ganatra said, “I came for your darshana, I had no
idea I would be walking into this.” “Well, maybe you can help”
Prabhupada suggested and explained the situation. “Don't worry”
Mr. Ganatra assured him, “I will take care of it” and he took Mr.
Meta and his son into another room.

While Ganatra was speaking with Shagan Lal in the other room,
Prabhupada spoke with Mrs. Nair, “How much are you willing to
pay?” he asked. “Well, we have to pay the 50.000 he gave us, plus
we will give him another 25.000. That's all, you have to pay the
rest. If he has an extra claim, you have to pay.” “Why should we
pay?” Prabhupada questioned, “I'm already paying you for the
land, this is your problem with Shagan Lal.” When Mr. Ganatra
entered the room, everyone wanted to know how much the Metas were
demanding. “He wants four lakhs” Mr. Ganatra said. “Four lakhs?!
Oh no” Mrs. Nair retorted, “We can't pay that.” “How much are you
willing to pay?” Ganatre asked. “We can pay 75.000.” “He's asking
for four lakhs and you want to pay 75.000? No, no, you have to do
better than that, we have to settle this.”

Prabhupada appealed to Mrs. Nair to offer more and she said, “All
right, one lakh.” Then Mr. Ganatre returned to the Metas,
meanwhile Prabhupada was encouraging Mrs. Nair to pay more if
necessary. The rest of us couldn't wait to hear what Mr. Ganatre
would say when he returned. Finally he came back in and told us,
“I've persuaded him to come down to three lakhs 25.000, but
that's it, I don't think he's going to come down any lower. You
will have to come up with a lot more than one lakh .” I thought,
“Oh no, there's such a golf” but Prabhupada appealed to Mrs. Nair
to offer more. “All right” she said “One lakh 25.000, but that's
all” she was starting to get upset. Mr. Ganatre went back to
Shagan Lal. The situation was tense, I was feeling anxious, I
didn't know what Shagan Lal would demand next, it seemed that the
negotiations could break down at any moment. When Mr. Ganatre
returned, he said that Shagan Lal would settle for two lakhs
25.000, either that or nothing. “Otherwise he says he'll go to
the court and either he'll get six lakhs or he'll get the land,
so he wants two lakhs 75.000 and that's it. Now what are you
going to do?”
It was intense, everyone was sweating and squirming, and Mr.
Ganatre was coaxing. Srila Prabhupada conferred with Mrs. Nair.
Finally she said, “All right, I will pay one lakh 40.000 and
that's it.” Prabhupada told Ganatre to offer two lakhs 20.000
hinting that he would pay the difference. “I don't know what
he'll say” Ganatre told us, and he went back to Shagan Lal. Some
minutes later he returned with a big smile on his face, “They
have agreed.” The two Metas, father and son, followed Ganatre
into the room. Everyone was relieved and elated, so much had
hinged on this issue. Then I realized that Mr. Ganatre must have
been exaggerating their claim and determination with Mrs. Nair,
and exaggerating Mrs. Nier's unwillingness when he met Shagan
Lal. It seemed like there was a huge gulf, but that was to get
them to come down because our offer was so low and to get Mrs.
Nair to come up because their demand was so high. And eventually
we met in the middle. Shagan Lal came down from four lakhs to two
lakhs 25.000, and Mrs. Nair came up from 75.000 to one lakh
40.000. And Prabhupada agreed to pay Shagan Lal the difference of
85.000.

Anyway, we were all relieved, elated and amazed by Prabhupada's

expertise and kindness. It was only out of both Shanti Lal Metas
and Mrs. Nair's deep respect and admiration for Prabhupada that
they were even able to come together and sit in the same room and
talk. With everyone still gathered, Prabhupada spoke about his
mission and the philosophy of Krishna consciousness, and he asked
me to lead the singing of the Narasimha prayers. In the end,
everyone was happy, it was decided that there would be another
meeting, that we and Mrs. Nair would pay Shagan Lal their money
and that Shagan Lal would withdraw the suit, and neither side
would tell the solicitors. I mean, that was another part of the
entry, that the solicitors wanted the case to go on so they could
keep claiming their lawyers fees. As a result of the
negotiations, Meta agreed to withdraw his suit from the high
court for a payment of 140.000 rupees white from Mrs. Nair, and
rupees 85.000 black from us. But the transaction was tricky
because if we paid Meta first, he could keep the money and not
withdraw the case, and if he withdrew the suit first, we could
just keep the money, especially because nothing could be done
legally to enforce a black transaction.
All the principal parties, other than Mrs. Nair met in the office
of our solicitor, Mr. Bassania at Moola and Moola, they're a very
big solicitors firm. We knew we needed the best and so I had
asked Mr. Arci Druva, who was a personal secretary of Ardi Birla
in Bombay, what solicitor had the Birlas used, so he directed us
to Moola and Moola. All the principal parties other than Mr. Nair
met at the office of our solicitor, Mr. Bassania at Moola and
Moola. The basic plan was discussed but there was a major hitch,
who would hold the black money? As Tamal Krishna later described,
it was a gentleman's agreement, but there weren't any gentlemen
anymore so nobody trusted in anyone else. With the whole plan
threatened the atmosphere in the office was tense, no one was
ready to trust anyone else with the money. Then Prabhupada
meekly, almost sheepishly, offered, “I can hold it” and everyone
immediately concurred because they knew they could trust Srila
Prabhupada. The senior Meta stayed with Prabhupada in the
solicitor's chamber and the others went to the court to withdraw
the claim. Then, when Mr. Meta's son and the others returned, he
got his money.

Prabhupada later summarized the settlement: “Shagan Lal advanced

51.000, and when there was a question of settlement, he came. He
said that if you give me three lakhs then I'll compromise. So
that Mr. Ganatra, mayor, ‘I induced him, just make a settlement.’
Then Shagan Lal came down two lakhs 25.000. Then I asked Mrs.
Nair ‘Now you'll pay this.’ ‘Where have I got? If he takes all
the money then what shall I get?’ Then I had to settle with her
how much she would pay. She went from one lakh to one lakh
40.000, so what is the balance? 85. So I said, ‘Yes, I'll pay it,
settle up, the balance I'll pay, 85.000. That Shagan Lal, I paid
him an extra 85.000.’ That is also black, no more white. The
black money was paid in this way: the money was counted, it was
put in a handbag and it was locked by him. The key was with him
and the bag was with me. As soon as the court accepted the
agreement, I handed it over, take this bag.”

That was a very nice incident, and it was really amazing how
Srila Prabhupada in the end got all these parties, who were so
hostile and antagonistic towards each other to the extent that
they couldn't even sit in the same room without attacking each
other verbally, to agree. Then Shagan Lal withdrew the suit, so
the way was clear for Prabhupada to get the land. I think I'll
read one more part because I think we have a little time, and
this is an interesting one.

This is later. One Sunday as I was walking through the streets in

Dhobi Talao, South Bombay, briefcase in hand, on my way to meet
someone. I happened to stop for a moment by the metro cinema to
look at the periodicals on sale along the sidewalk, something I
generally never did. Standing on the busy corner with traffic
rushing from all directions, I glanced at the newspaper
headlines, big black old letters jumped out from one front page
“A.B Nair dead” and directly under the headline was a photo of
Mr. Nair. I couldn't believe it, A.B Nair dead, how could it be?
The paper was The Barajyoti, the Sunday edition of The Free Press
journal where Mr. Nair had been editor. I was jubilant, I felt
like dancing in ecstasy, but then I wondered if that was the
proper way for a Vaishnava to respond. “I'm supposed to be
developing saintly qualities” I reflected. “Maybe I should be
feeling sorry.” Still, I could not contain my exaltation and I
rushed back to our flat in Colaba, where we were staying during
that period, to share the news. Bali Mardan, the most senior
devotee there, suggested that we call Srila Prabhupada and went
out to look for a phone. I decided I should go to Juhu. The
devotees there had already heard the news and had been rejoicing
and celebrating, chanting and distributing sweets, but still I
was uncertain, was this the proper way for Vaishnavas to behave?

When Bali Mardan phoned Auckland to inform Prabhupada of Nair's

death, the phone call came during Prabhupada's morning massage,
just before lunchtime. Shruti Kirti was sitting on the floor
behind him massaging his back with Tirsti Krishna and Siddhi
Svarupa nearby. Tirsti Krishna took the call and then Shruti
Kirti came to the phone. After just a few minutes, Shruti Kirti
ran back into the room, “Srila Prabhupada!” he said, “that was
Bali Mardan on the phone, he wanted to tell you that Mr. Nair is
dead.” Srila Prabhupada joined his hands together above his head
as if in prayer, “Oh, thank you Krishna” he said, “I prayed that
Krishna would kill him. He caused us so much difficulty, he gave
so much trouble to the devotees, I was praying that Krishna would
do something to this demon.” And he quoted a verse from Srimad-
Bhagavatam “Prahlada Maharaj said, ‘Even a saintly person becomes
pleased when a snake or a scorpion is killed.’ Nair was a big
snake, so it is very good.”

“Since Krishna killed him, is he liberated?” Shruti Kirti asked.

“No” Prabhupada replied, “He was not such a great demon, Krishna
didn't come personally to kill him.” As Shruti Kirti continued
his massage, Prabhupada recounted some of the struggle and
revealed more of his inner mood. “The deities were installed on
the property. Mr. Nair had insulted Krishna by trying to remove
him and that I could not tolerate. Some of my disciples didn't
understand, they wondered why their spiritual master was so
attached to that piece of property. In truth, we had money, we
could have bought property anywhere, we didn't need that piece of
property, but Krishna was standing there at Juhu, and therefore,
I was determined to have it. Even some of my disciples were ready
to leave the property, but I promised the deities that I would
build them a beautiful temple there.” And that's where the title
of the book comes, I'll Build You A Temple.

“Even some of my disciples were ready to leave the property, but

I promised the deities that I would build them a beautiful temple
there. When Nair came to visit me last time in Bombay, I noticed
he was limping. Generally, he was very strong and robust”
Prabhupad raised his arms like a muscle man flexing his biceps.
“He was not at all ill but he was limping, and I thought to
myself ‘Krishna is going to kill him, he's going to die’ and now
Krishna has killed him.”

Nair's downfall resembled Ramacandra's khans, as described in Sri

Caitanya Caritamrta. Both had allowed the seed of offense to
germinate. “This seed later became a tree, and when it
fructified, Ramacandra khan ate its fruits. Ramacandra khan was
naturally a non-devotee. Now having offended the lotus feet of
Haridas Thakura, he became just like a demoniac atheist because
of blaspheming the cult of Vaishnavism and insulting the devotees
for a long time. He now received the results of his offensive
activities” which really seemed to describe what happened to Mr.
Nair. That was Caitanya Caritamrita Antya-lila, Chapter Three,
text 144, 146 and 147.

Later that day, Prabhupada wrote to us in Bombay, “This morning

Shruti Kirti received a telephonic message from Bali Mardan. It
is understood that Mr. Nair is dead, so it is good news that
Narasimhadeva has killed a demon like him. It is a matter of
great pleasure for all devotees.” So Srila Prabhupada confirmed
in his letter that it's a matter of great pleasure for all
devotees, and thus our response of feeling jubilant was
justified. Srila Prabhupada ki jai, Sri Sri Radha Ras Bihari ki
jai. If any devotee wishes, if there's time, if our hosts permit,
devotees can make comments or ask questions.

Host: Thank you so much Maharaj. If devotees would like to speak,

you should be able to unmute yourself. I think we have that
disabled.

Giriraj Swami: You raise your hands. Incidentally, if it's

possible, if it's practical, I'd like the devotees on Zoom to put
on their cameras so I can see their moon-like faces and it's more
personal.

Devotee 1: Hare Krishna Maharaj. Thank you very much for

revealing things that happened with Juhu. I have one question
about Mrs. Nair. How come Mr. Nair was not in the negotiation?
Why was she? Was she a lawyer or something? She was taking the
lead part.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. By that time Mr. Nair was dead. He had
already died and therefore she was the one in the negotiations.

Devotee 1: Thank you Maharaj.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee 1: Hare Krishna.

Host: I think Brahmmasamrta Prabhu had his hand raised earlier.

Brahmmasamrta Prabhu, would you like to--?

Devotee 2: Can you hear me?

Host: Yes Prabhu.

Devotee 2: Hare Krishna Maharaj, please accept my humble
obeisances. With regards to, I guess, Krishna killing the demonic
element I have long wondered about. In Caitanya Caritamrita is
the pastime of Lord Nityananda [57:04 inaudible]. In that
instance, although Lord Nityananda had been struck by a pot, he
forgave the offenders and actually kept Lord Caitanya from
killing them. However, I can't remember the exact incident, but
there is another incident where I think a devotee had been
offended and Lord Nityananda did not forgive this person-- hello?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah?

Devotee 2: Oh, I heard someone saying something. Yeah, I can't

remember the exact incident but there was another time when a
devotee had been offended, if I’m not mistaken, it was actually
one of Lord Nityananda’s devotees, and this time Lord Nityananda
did not forgive that person, that person had to suffer an adverse
reaction. So I was wondering that it seems like sometimes the
Lord forgives, sometimes he doesn't, and I was wondering maybe
you could comment on that.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, in the case of Jedai and Madai, they had
offended Lord Nityananda and he forgave them because it was
himself, but in the case of the devotee whom they offended, Lord
Nityananda did not forgive them because it wasn't himself that
they had offended, it was a devotee. That is a general principle
for us, that if someone offends us and regrets, repents and
apologizes, we should forgive them. But if someone offends
someone else, it's really not for us to forgive them, it's for
the offended party to forgive them. And that was vividly
demonstrated in the case of Durvasa Muni. I won't repeat the
whole pastime, but yes, that's the rule as shown in that case.
Even Visnu cannot forgive an offender of a Vaishnava, only the
Vaishnav can forgive the offender. The conclusion is that we
should not offend Vaishnavas at any cost, we should avoid
offending Vaishnavas. Does that answer your question or do you
still have more? You're muted, maybe that means you're satisfied.

Devotee 2: I hope I didn't miss part of the response because my

connection kind of went out, but I think I got it, thank you so
much.
Host: Thank you Maharaj, thank you Prabhu. Ramajai Prabhu, I see
your hand raised, please.

Devotee 3: Maharaj, I have a humble query. Srila Prabhupada made

this request to you to take charge of this project, what was
going on in your mind? What was the thought process? Is this
impossible? Is this doable? What was going on? If you would not
mind sharing.

Giriraj Swami: I don't mind. Well, my reasoning for coming to

Bombay was very different. I had been in Calcutta and I reasoned
that the main program in India then was life membership, and in
fact, Srila Prabhupada had said, “If you get me three life
members a day, I will do everything else.” And I saw that if we
took good care of the life members, they themselves would make
more life members for us. But if we didn't take proper care of
them and they complained, then even if we personally went to make
someone a life member, they might not want to become life members
because they heard bad things about our lack of care for our life
members. So I thought, “Bombay is the head office, so I should
come and be the membership secretary and make sure that the life
members are properly serviced.”

When I got there, Srila Prabhupada called a meeting of the

devotees in his room. I mean, we didn't have the land so he was
staying in one of the tenants' homes, Mr. Achrya-- anyway, he had
a meeting and he said, “Who will take charge?” It was very tense,
and then he looked at me and said, “Giriraj, you will take
charge.” That was not at all my mood, and my mind rebelled
against the idea, but I knew with my intelligence that the secret
of success in spiritual life was to follow the order of the
spiritual master and please the spiritual master. So even though
my mind rebelled against it, with my intelligence I said, “Yes,
if that's what you want, I will.”

Then Prabhupada smiled, leaned back and said “Now the whole
responsibility is on you” and I thought “Why is Srila Prabhupada
saying that? Doesn't he know how much I'm already struggling with
the idea of taking charge and becoming the president and now he's
saying that?” But as it is said, when the spiritual master gives
an instruction, he also gives the potency to execute it. By his
mercy and with his constant support, encouragement and guidance I
was able to play my part.

Devotee 3: Thank you Maharaj, there's just so much excitement and

thrilling, as if it's a script for a movie. I wish someday a
devotee makes a movie on this because I think it has everything
in it, with the real ups and downs, suspense and thrillers.
Everything in this pastime appears.

Host: Thank you Maharaj, thank you Ramajai Prabhu.

Devotee 4: Thank you very much. I had another question about what
we read, was that the temple more or less started and devotees
were there and you all were doing service and then one day lo and
behold came and started breaking the place, that incident
happened later after the negotiation of the land and everything
took place, right? so

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, it happened in May of 1973

Devotee 4: I guess my question is if the negotiation for the land

took place and Mrs. Nair was happy with all the things, then why
did she send these people to go ahead and break the temple?

Giriraj Swami: Oh no, what we read about the negotiation came

later.

Devotee 4: Oh, I see, okay. So you already had a little bit of a

temple built on the land and doing this service and all that,
okay, got it. There is a timeline, thank you so much. Hare
Krishna.

Host: Maharaj, I had one question. One of the things that for me
personally was so inspiring in this is just the unwavering faith
that you all had in Prabhupada's vision. I love how you described
it earlier today that the vision of Prabhupada started even
before what it was. And obviously having visited the Juhu temple
and now you know what Juhu is 50 years ago, I mean, about how it
was just a swamp land. One of the questions I had is how that
faith that yourself and so many Prabhupada’s disciples had in the
instructions of the spiritual master, what are some things we can
do to cultivate that same faith when our spiritual masters give a
vision for our next to continue legacy of Prabhupada, the next
generation, how do we cultivate that same level of faith in the
instructions of a spiritual master?

Giriraj Swami: Well, everything begins with faith, adou-shraddha.

Srila Rupa Goswami enumerates the nine stages of devotional
service, from shraddha to prema and first is shraddha. When we
follow the instructions, we should get the result, and then when
you get the result from following the instruction, you feel
encouraged to follow more. But it's also not even a question of
being externally successful, one can be successful internally
without being successful externally. Srila Prabhupada gave the
example of Jitayu, the bird. He was actually-- anyway, he saw
that Ravana had kidnapped Sita, that he was abducting Sita to
take her to Lanka. Jitayu was actually very powerful, at that
time he was old, but still he challenged Ravana, he fought with
Ravana, and in the end, Jitayu was defeated.

When Lord Ramacandra was searching for Sita in the forest, he

came upon Jitayu, and Jitayu explained what had happened, that
Ravana had abducted Sita and he was going in such and such
direction. Lord Ramacandra performed the funeral rights for
Jitayu, just like a son would do for his father. And Srila
Prabhupada gave that example, that sometimes the external forces
are so powerful that we're not successful externally, but
internally we're successful because we gave our all for the
service of the Lord.

So when we follow the instructions of the spiritual master, I

mean, by and large we will be successful even externally, but
even if we're not, there will be some internal reciprocation that
should encourage us further along the path of devotional service.
But I would be very open to hearing if other devotees have
something to say about this, maybe devotees who are not disciples
of Srila Prabhupada but are disciples of Prabhupada's disciples.
If they want to contribute some thoughts on this topic they are
welcome too. Well, Sandri Matavi.

Host: Yes Maharaj? Thank you for the answer, it definitely

answered our question, giving us a roadmap for how we continue on
with this movement for the next 50, 100, 500 years, subsequently
down the lane. Thank you for that Maharaj. Any other questions or
comments devotees? Again Maharaj, thank you so much from the
bottom of our heart on behalf of ISKCON of Round Rock to grace us
at this very special Sunday program, to read us the two sections
from your book. I was very excited when you read the second bonus
section of Mr. Nair passing away. I was sharing with many
devotees that in Bhakti Charu Maharaj’s Abhay Charan CD, that
visual it is etched in my head as the actor who plays Srila
Prabhupada, so Maharaj’s little hand is just up in the air, it's
such a vivid thing, and I'm sure he only captured one tenth of
how Prabhupada must have reacted, so thank you for sharing that
beautiful pastime.

Also sharing how Prabhupada was expert in everything that he did.

I think very often we see Srila Prabhupada expert as an author,
as a preacher, as someone who created this whole movement. In
Juhu we get to see Prabhupada the expert businessman, the expert
negotiator. And for those of us who work in corporate, if we ever
doubted, “Oh, what we do at work, we can't learn from Srila
Prabhupada this” no, I think we need to read more about how
Prabhupada was expert even in things that we do outside in the
material world, we can learn from Prabhupada how to do that with
grace. Thank you so much Maharaj. As younger devotees and as the
disciples of Srila Prabhupada's disciples, it really emphasizes
how important it is for us to continue with this legacy that you
all took so much of sacrifice to build this temple. When we go to
temples like Juhu, Vrindavan, Delhi, Mayapur, it is a labor of
love, and it was Prabhupada's vision that was manifested into
reality by your sacrifice, by your commitment and dedication.

We sincerely hope that we are able to get a drop of that

inspiration and a drop of that commitment and motivation to
continue to do that wherever we are based, here in Round Rock
where our community is. We are just embarking on this journey to
build our temple here. We're very fortunate to have a land, but
we are embarking on this journey to not just build a temple but a
community of spiritual voices so that we can continue to share
this mood of Srila Prabhupada with everybody. We humbly seek your
blessings Maharaj, and blessings of all the Vaishnavas and
Vaishnavis here, that we are able to just continue this legacy
and honor the sacrifice honor, the commitment, dedication of all
of Prabhupada’s disciples, and continue to give that to the next
generation if possible. Thank you so much Maharaj for inspiring a
whole generation of devotees and hopefully future generations to
come as well with your commitment and sacrifice.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you, I wish you all success in your temple
project.

Host: Thank you so much Maharaj, we wish you a very happy

Father's Day Maharaj, I see someone posted in the chat about
that, so thank you so much. Thank you again to all Vaishnavas and
Vaishnavis for joining. We will switch over to announcements
Maharaj with your permission, we just have a few announcements to
go through for our Sunday program, if that is okay, and then we
will wrap up the program here shortly. I'm just going to go ahead
and share my screen, hopefully everyone is able to see our
announcement. Again, thank you His Holiness Giriraj Maharaj today
for a Sunday first class, for also helping us to visualize Sri
Sri Radha Ras Bihari and taking all the way to Mumbai, we're very
grateful for you sharing these wonderful pastimes with us today.

If you have not received your copy of I'll Build You a Temple:
The Juhu Story, we have copy here, please pre-order today. Today
is our last day for a special pre-order price, and if you have
pre-ordered and have not received your book, we will be available
at the temple on June 26th so you can pick it up during or after
our kirtan program. As we said earlier, it's an exceptionally
amazing book, please get your hands on this, it will change your
life. Today is also Father's Day, so we want to wish each and
every one of you on the call a very happy Father's Day for all
the fathers, the to be fathers, the father figures, our spiritual
masters, everyone who has contributed the role of a father in our
life.

I was listening to a class, I don't remember who, but they were

talking about Prabhupada's love and how Srila Prabhupada was a
combination of a mother and a father. He was saying Prabhupada
was so loving as a mother, where he would just give this
unconditional love for his disciples, but as a father Srila
Prabhupada would challenge us to step outside the comfort zone
and do something bigger and better. So today's an opportunity,
and after hearing Maharaj, we're all more inspired to step
outside our comfort zone and do something big. This is an
inspiration coming from Father’s Day.

We’re almost finished with announcements, I know devotees may

want to get darshana with Maharaj, we'll just do this in two
minutes, we're almost done here. We'd like to thank our sponsors
for our Sunday feast today, it's Krishna Chandler Prabhu and
family, wishing happy birthday to Ishan tomorrow depending on
where you are, if you're based here in Austin Round Rock region
tomorrow is [01:18:13 inaudible], a wonderful day to spend more
time in glorification of Sri Sri Krishna, with fasting and
feasting on the holy name. Next Sunday we're going to have a
really special Sunday program to honor His Holiness Tamal Krishna
Goswami Maharaj with the class given by His Grace Brahmasamrita
Prabhu who asked the first question today.

Brahmasamrita Prabhu has a wonderful story of how he came into

Krishna consciousness, and we're very excited to hear it. And
also about His Holiness Tamal Krishna Maharaj, those of us in
Texas. It'll be wonderful to hear from Brahmasamrita Prabhu. Our
Sunday program is going to be scheduled, our Saturday programs to
resume, we have our next Saturday program next Saturday on the
26th with some kirtan, some socially distant fashion put us
together and share the holy name.

We have a few more announcements, but I'm going to pause our

announcements here in case devotees want to quickly get darshana
from Maharaj's then and start getting into more specific
announcements to do with our program because I'm seeing some
hands are getting raised and I think devotees want to share
something. Ramaji Prabhu, is that all right? I'm just going to
stop our announcements here for a few minutes and then we will
just give an opportunity, if devotees would like to turn on your
cameras, say Hare Krishna to Maharaj and then we will resume with
the rest of our announcement. I see Malati Mataji has her hands
raised, Malati do you want to share something?

Devotee 5: Hare Krishna. It's a very exciting news actually I

wanted to share with guru Maharaj. I got a message from [01:19:53
inaudible] Mataji that usually in Juhu temple on Ekadashi they
read Prabhupada’s lila-mrita, but tomorrow they are going to read
the Juhu story, so it's a very exciting news I just wanted to
share guru Maharaj, thank you very much.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you.

Host: Thank you Mataji. I think
wanted to unmute to share with
it's okay, we're just going to
can say quick Hare Krishna to
Maharaj?
there were some other devotees I
Maharaj. I don't know Maharaj if
go into gallery view so devotees
you, is that all right with you

Giriraj Swami: Yeah.

Host: Devotees you'd like to turn on your cameras, you'd like to

say Hare Krishna to Maharaj. We'll do this for just about a
minute or so, and then we will resume our announcements. Hare
Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna. Happy Father’s Day.

Host: Thank you everyone. We can go back to finishing our

announcements, thank you Maharaj. This is the closest thing we
could do to have you here at the temple and have devotees get
blessings from you is to do this virtually. We're just going to
go ahead and finish the rest of the announcements here. As we
indicated last Sunday, we began our classes every other Saturday
on the Bhagavad-gita called “Discover Yourself” series. Yesterday
was the first session so if you're interested in joining these
classes, please speak with Ramajai Prabhu.

We have a lot of kids books that arrived just a few weeks back.
These books have various very stories of Krishna, these are
wonderful summer readings. If anybody is interested in purchasing
these kids books, please message me. If you would like to, put
your names in the chat, we can message you after this. These
smaller books here are three dollars each, bigger books are four
dollars each and ten dollars each. They have amazing stories. If
you'd like a whole set, we can discuss what the price for that
would be, and we ship anywhere within the U.S, so please if you'd
like any of these children's books reach out to us via chat or
WhatsApp us and we're happy to send these books over.

Every day we've started-- it's been six months since the start of
the year. We've been doing daily japa from 5:30 A.M to 7:00 A.M.
We encourage devotees to join us in these japa sessions to help
us to come and connect with Krishna and pray together. Our
prayers are requested, we're continuing doing prosperous prayers
for our family members of our community impacted by COVID in
India. Also prayers for our worldwide community and prayers for
everyone around the world that have been impacted by COVID. Even
though it seems like things are-- of course things are getting
better here in the U.S, temples are opening up, we're finally
getting to see each other, but there is a lot of suffering still
happening because of this disease around the world, and an impact
from earlier on as well. We want to continue to pray for everyone
who has been impacted.

We're also requesting prayers for the mothers of Manosh Prabhu

and Omkar Prabhu here with our family, and the mother of Haridas
Prabhu as well. With that, we will conclude our program today and
we will do Narasimha prayers here shortly. Again, thank you so
much to devotees for joining from around the world. Maharaj,
thank you so much for joining us today as well.

Devotee 6: Hare Krishna Mataji, can you hear me?

Host: Yes.

Devotee 6: Okay. Can I start?

Host: Please.

[Prayers 01:24:47 - 1:28:59]

Host: Hare Krishna. Would you like to stop the recording, please?
Oh, sorry, somebody else is recording. Thank you so much again
devotees, and thank you again Maharaj so much. We hope that
someday, hopefully in the near future, we will get to serve you
at our temple here in Round Rock, that will be wonderful. Thank
you so much.

Giriraj Swami: We're going to end now, I would suggest we

conclude with Vaishnava Pranam: Let us offer our respectful
obeisances unto all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord, who are
just like desired trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone
and are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.

vancha-kalpatarubhyash cha
kripa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaishnavebhyo namo namaha

Host: Hare Krishna, thank you so much Maharaj. We will end the
Zoom here. Hare Krishna.

[1:30:38]