Memories #47: 

"Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 1)

Memories #48:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 2)
Memories #49:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 3)
Memories #50:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 4)
Memories #52:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 5)
Memories #53:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 6)
Memories #54:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 7)
Memories #55:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 8)
Memories #56:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 9)
Memories #57:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 10)
Memories #58:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 11)
Memories #59:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 12)
Memories #60:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 13)
Memories #61:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 14)
Memories #67:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 15)
Memories #68:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 16)
Memories #69:  "Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico" (Part 17)
 THE PRABHUPADA CONNECTION
.
Memories (#47)
_____________
PIONEERING THE WAY
Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico (Part 1)
__________________________________

The Beginning of the Hare Krishna Movement in Latin America

Srila Prabhupada
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja
Founder-Acharya of the International for Krishna Consciousness

by
Rama Govinda das
(R.G. Bhakti Prapanna Parvata Maharaja)
_________________________________

FOREWORD

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupada Sri Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja Prabhupada wrote
the following in a letter to the wife of the former temple president of Mexico City temple of ISKCON,
after his first visit:

"Especially I was happy to see your nice temple in Mexico City, and I am always thinking of that
place and all the nice devotees there." (Letter to Chandravali devi dasi 13.12.72)

Although this is not well known, His Divine Grace was very pleased with the Mexico City temple
because of the way it was established, the people's natural tendency and receptivity in recognizing
saintly persons, and the local public's general piety.

In another letter to the former temple president he expressed this as follows:

"I saw for myself how nice you have created the Mexico City temple of ISKCON, and I was very
much inclined to those devotees. Only I had some difficulty with language difficulty to preach, but
still I could see how pious they were and eager to listen anyway. That is the only qualification, if
someone is eager for spiritual improvement." (Letter to Chitsukananda das 11.12.72)

By Lord Sri Krishna's Grace I was fortunate enough to be one of those devotees, as Srila
Prabhupada kindly called us, although I personally do not feel as such, it was only because of his
causeless mercy that he kindly appeared in our lives, that we were at the right place in the right
time. As it is said in the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita:

brahmanda brahmite kona bhagyavan jiva

guru krsna prasade pay bhakti lata bija

"According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Out of
many millions of wandering living entities, one who is fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with
a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krsna. By the mercy of both Krsna and the spiritual
master, such person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service." (Cc. Madhya 19.51)
We should confess that we have not been able to adequately take advantage of the great
opportunity we have been given. But we hope that some day we will be able to adequately serve
His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. For now we can only relate the events we witnessed twenty-
five years ago. We were fortunate enough to be present during both of Srila
Prabhupada's visits to the Mexico City ISKCON temple and other events that directly involved Srila
Prabhupada in establishing Krishna Consciousness in Mexico.

The following is a humble offering dedicated to His Divine Grace on the centennial celebration of his
appearance, and also to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of his first visit to the ISKCON temple
in Mexico City on the second of June, 1972. This is the year in which I had the great fortune to meet
His Divine Grace for the first time.

INTRODUCTION

Because of Srila Prabhupada's visit, the year 1972 was of special importance for the development
of the Krishna Consciousness Movement in Mexico City and for the rest of Latin America in general.

The second great incident that year was in August, he approved the installation of the first Deities of
Lord Krishna in Latin America: Their Lordships Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Srimati Subhadra.
In this way the Hare Krishna movement was permanently established there.

Srila Prabhupada wanted temples in all main cities around the world. After he founded the Sri Sri
Radha Krishna temple in New York City, which is considered the first genuine Vaishnava temple in
the western world, he received the help of American youngsters who joined him, they became his
disciples, and helped him spread the Hare Krishna movement throughout the entire world.

Mexico was one of the first countries with his early disciples and was the first one in Latin America.
Chitsukananda das, who was from New York City and came from a Puerto-Rican family, and his
wife Chandravali devi dasi, who was an American of Mexican descent initiated the Krishna
Consciousness movement there. To their great fortune the Mexican public was especially receptive.
People from all sectors of society spontaneously offered the devotees their help and the national
university became the most important place to win adepts. Some of them moved into the temple
ashram becoming full time devotees.

The sankirtan group would go out every day to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra throughout the
city, and this was a big success. Large crowds thronged the devotees and soon everyone was
chanting and dancing without reservations, buying books and incense without prejudice, and
happily accepting the prasadam the devotees offered them. So this chanting in the streets and at
the national University became a very good way to attract people to the temple arotikas, the Sunday
feasts, and to the daily Bhagavad-Gita classes.

The Sunday festivals where especially noteworthy because literally hundreds of people would show
up at the temple to chant and dance to the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, ask questions, and finally,
honor prasadam. All of this caused a great impact whole families began to practice Krishna
Consciousness in their homes. Srila Prabhupada took special notice of the
Mexican public's receptiveness:

"I only had some difficulty with the language to preach, but still I could see how pious they were and
eager to listen. That is the only qualification, if someone is eager for spiritual improvement."  (Letter
11.12. 72)
Srila Prabhupada visited the Mexico City ISKCON temple after the devotees had moved into an old
mansion that had previously used as the Ethiopian embassy and was located only three blocks from
the country's official presidential residence. With his visit, Srila Prabhupada firmly established the
Krishna Consciousness movement in Mexico City by consolidating the regular temple programs
like Mangala-aratika, Tulasi worship, japa  chanting, and Srimad-Bhagavatam class for the early
mornings, and the evening
programs with their arotikas, Bhagavad-Gita classes, and prasadam distribution to the guests.

During this first visit he initiated local persons in order to establish these programs. With very few
exceptions, practically all the residents in the temple ashrams were initiated. This greatly inspired
the devotees of the big city who then went out to the streets and distributed the first books produced
in Spanish: Krishna Consciousness the Topmost Yoga System, which was distributed by Srila
Prabhupada himself at the famous "Hotel Casino de la Selva" in Cuernavaca. It was also put out for
public distribution at some of Srila Prabhupada's other preaching events. After this first book,
another classic was published: Easy Journey to other
planets. All of this was done under the enthusiastic guidance of Haihaya das, who together with his
wife, Narmada devi dasi, had come from Argentina to help establish Krishna Consciousness in
Mexico City.

Srila Prabhupada's first visit to Mexico in 1972 definitively established the Krishna consciousness
movement in this country, mainly, by initiating the first Vaishnava devotees of Mexican origin into
the chanting of the holy names, by establishing the spiritual programs in
the temple, and finally by authorizing the installation of Deities for regular worship.

To reinforce the movement in this country Srila Prabhupada asked his more experienced Spanish
speaking disciples from other countries to go and help their Mexican god brothers to develop their
Krishna Consciousness at a personal and collective level. He wrote in a letter to the leader of this
group of pioneers:

"As many Spanish speaking devotees as possible can go there and help you, and you can expand
into South America from there." (Letter 5.03.72)

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura ordered Srila Prabhupada to preach in the English
speaking countries. But by his causeless mercy and by the power of his preaching, Srila
Prabhupada took the movement beyond that. Srila Prabhupada is the characteristic example of the
preacher devotee who travels everywhere helping the conditioned souls to liberate themselves from
the clutches of material nature. The first time His Divine Grace blessed the temple in Mexico City
with his presence, he exhibited the kind and merciful character of the Vaishnava preacher who goes
to great lengths to preach everywhere irrespective of material limitations. So during his visit to
Mexico he did not doubt in leaving the capital for going out to preach in provincial cities, or in the
open air at public squares, or even in lush conference halls in expensive hotels. He visited the
home of a devotee, the university campus, the Mexico valley Masonic lodge located in the city's
downtown area, and he was featured on television in the well known news broadcast "24 horas con
Jacobo Zabludovsky." But
despite his many activities, in and outside the city, he still had time to give classes, initiate disciples,
and preach to the Sunday guests who, with extraordinary enthusiasm where able to get a personal
audience with him, being deeply impressed by the sublime personality of a pure devotee of Lord
Krishna. This was certainly something they had never known or experienced before.

Even though we did not make enough publicity for Srila Prabhupada's visit, many people went to
the temple that Sunday and filed it up to its capacity. They had come to listen to His Divine Grace.
Their souls were able to detect the opportunity to liberate themselves from
material existence simply by listening to the words of a pure devotee. People were very enthusiastic
and respectful in dealing with Srila Prabhupada. From the important director of the famous T.V.
News broadcast (Jacobo Zabludovsky) to the simplest person who had contact with him.

When Srila Prabhupada came to Mexico City (the biggest in the world), he gave us the opportunity
to submerge in the ocean of pleasure that is the Sankirtan movement of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Those of us who were among the first devotees in Mexico were blessed with the opportunity to
personally deal with His Divine Grace. There were only a handful of us in the temple. With great
generosity he spoke to us and freely gave us his company. Allowing us to travel with him, walk with
him, and to offer him small services such as helping him with his footwear or accompanying him to
the house of a female devotee.

Although he has ended his manifest pastimes, those activities come to our minds, and remain
forever in our hearts, giving us the inspiration to act as witnesses to the great soul who walked
among us, Om Vishnupada A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja Srila Prabhupada.

Of course we cannot entirely describe that transcendental personality, for that is certainly beyond
our capacity, nor do we possess the literary talent necessary to deal with the subject as it deserves.
Still, we prefer not to leave to oblivion these activities of His Divine Grace.

Regarding the present book and it's future readers, we allow ourselves to quote the following verse
from the beautiful  Srimad-Bhagavatam. From Sri Narada Muni´s instructions to Srila Vyasadeva:

tad-vag-visargo janatagha-viplavo
  yasmin prati-slodam abaddhavaty api
namany anantasya yaso'nkitani yat
  srvanti gayanti grananti sadhavah

"On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the
name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc. of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of
transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of
this world's misdirected civilization, such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly
composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest." (SB.1.5.11)

This determination and the way to carry out the task are confirmed in the Bhagavatam:

Tathapi kirtayanmy anga

Yatha matir yatha sutra

"In spite of my inability, whatever I have been able to hear (from the spiritual master) and whatever I
could assimilate I am now describing." (SB.3.6.36)

For the same reason we support the testimonies presented in this book with pertinent quotes from
the scriptures and from Srila Prabhupada's letters, lectures and works.

The editors.
 THE PRABHUPADA CONNECTION
.
Memories (#48)
_____________
PIONEERING THE WAY
Srila Prabhupada Impacts Mexico (Part 2)
__________________________________

THE KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS MOVEMENT COMES TO MEXICO CITY

With the help of his disciples Srila Prabhupada opened temples in different parts of the world. But
up until then the great Spanish speaking population of Latin America had remained untouched.
Knowing this, Candravali devi dasi who lived in the San Francisco temple wrote to Srila Prabhupada
a letter expressing her desire to go to Mexico and start a temple there. Srila Prabhupada answered
her in a letter:

"Regarding your opening a center in Mexico, I think that if some other brahmacharinies are
available to go along with you that there will be no objection to this idea. However, where shall
these brahmacharinies come from?"

With a lack of qualified Spanish speaking female devotees to help Chandravali d.d. in such a
mission, Srila Prabhupada considered that the moment was not adequate. It was against practical
Krishna conscious norms that a single female go preaching, unaccompanied, to distant places:

"For the time being, I think you may concentrate upon improving the temple already established in
San Francisco." (Letter 28.11.68)

Later on, Chandravali devi dasi wrote to Srila Prabhupada to tell him about her marriage. His Divine
Grace was very pleased and gave her his blessings so that her desire to preach in Mexico could
come to life:

"I am so glad to learn that you are going to be married with Chitsukananda on Sunday, 11th
January, at the Radha-Krishna temple. I like this marriage ceremony because it has given practical
poof of my ideas that boys and girls of this country better be married and engaged in preaching
work."

"Similarly, when you are married, as it was discussed in Los Angeles, you also go somewhere,
probably in Mexico as you desire, and organize a center there and start an edition of B.T.G. in
Spanish language." (Letter 9.01.70)

Srila Prabhupada's strategy was working. For cultural reasons, western boys and girls were
accustomed to live side by side from an early age, especially in the United States, and he knew that
to try to change these customs would not work. So by uniting them in marriage, Srila Prabhupada
did not break the deeply rooted social custom but sanctified their union in holy Krishna conscious
matrimony, and its effectiveness was already being seen.

"So this is a very good news. I was, since a long time thinking of your marriage. Now Krishna has
given you this opportunity. Utilize it properly and be happy." (Letter 9.01.70)
Chitsukananda das: A friend of Candravali d.d. helped her translate the introduction of Bhagavad-
Gita into Spanish, and she then presented it to Srila Prabhupada who appreciated her endeavor.

"So why not in Spanish language which you know well and I think Chitsukananda also knows well."

The intelligent way in which Srila Prabhupada was conducting his preaching in the west empowered
him to satisfy the desires of the previous acharyas and to fulfill Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's
prophecy: that in every town and village the chanting of the holy names of Krishna would be heard.
And he did this by taking the Hare Krishna maha-mantra to all continents, countries, cities, towns,
and villages, mainly through enthusiastic married couples.

The very next year the new couple decided to please Srila Prabhupada, and made arrangements
for moving to Mexico City. At that same time one of the GBC secretaries wrote to Srila Prabhupada
requesting Chitsukananda's help. Srila Prabhupada answered him with the following:

"So far as Chitsukananda going to replace Brahmananda Maharaja... I have just received a letter
from him dated March, 3rd, 1971 saying that he is in L.A. making final arrangements for opening
Mexico City branch." (Letter 03.24.71)

With this answer Srila Prabhupada eliminated any other possibility of service for Chitsukananda.
And he further encouraged him to continue his plans by answering his letter with the following:

"I am so glad to hear that you are now in L.A. discussing final plans for opening one center in
Mexico City. That is very encouraging news, I am anxious that we establish centers in major cities
all over the globe and Mexico City is certainly an important landmark. Both you and your wife
Candravali can speak Spanish language nicely, so you are certainly qualified for such a mission."
(Letter 3.24.71)

His Divine Grace once mentioned that his Guru Maharaja Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura
had sent a sannyasi to preach in Europe but that he had been unsuccessful in the attempt. But Srila
Prabhupada, acting as the Acharya of the Sampradaya, was sending married couples to preach
with great success. In his time, Guru Maharaja acting as Acharya of the Sampradaya, introduced
the order of sannyasa and awarded to his qualified disciples, who then spread
the sankirtan movement throughout India with great success. He also sponsored several of his
disciples for preaching in Europe. So with complete faith in his spiritual master's words and in the
chanting of the holy names Srila Prabhupada introduced this formula into the western countries:
regardless of sex or ashrama position a devotee can preach all over the world if he or she has firm
faith in the master and in the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna. At the end of this last
letter to Chitsukananda das, Srila Prabhupada stressed the importance of Back to
Godhead magazine, which he himself started publishing many years back during his married life.

"I am also glad to note that you have begun working on BTG Spanish edition. Actually we want that
BTG be printed in every major language and distributed all over the world so there is no language
barrier in taking to our movement."

Chitsukananda das: Before I went to Mexico I was in the Los Angeles temple. There was a Mexican
devotee form Guadalajara, Pipalai, he helped me to translate and print. With his assistance and a
friend's printing shop we printed the first magazine in Spanish: 'Regreso a la Divinidad' which was
the Spanish version of the original Back to Godhead magazine. It was in black ink and yellow paper,
32 pages, and the front cover had Lord Sri Krishna coming back from the forest with the cows. So
once this was ready we set off to Mexico City in our van, loaded with magazines and incense.
Finally in very satisfied mood Srila Prabhupada gives them his blessings for success in the mission
they were embarking on.

"So go there, husband and wife, and make our Mexico City branch a grand success, and Krishna
will certainly bestow upon you all blessings." (Letter 03.25.71)

Inspired by Srila Prabhupada's works Chitsukananda dasa aquired a VW van, books, incense and
other types of paraphernalia. Besides this, two other Spanish speaking devotees joined the mission.
And when everything was ready they left Los Angeles for Mexico in their van. The trip took several
days and when they finally arrived they rented rooms in a hotel. They were soon able to settle in a
nice section of the city, and they then started to preach. Chitsukananda das informed Srila
Prabhupada about their trip
and the beginning of their preaching activities in Mexico City. Srila Prabhupada answered him:

"I am so glad to hear that you have gone to Mexico City with Jan and Bhutahrit Prabhus and have
rented a nice house in the central part of the city."

Srila Prabhupada mentions here the keys for success in Krishna consciousness: sincerity and effort
with determination. These qualities are required in order to obtain the elements necessary for the
execution of devotional service.

"From your description. I can tell that there is great field for spreading this sankirtana movement
there and if you are sincere and determined in your efforts then surely Krishna will give you all
facility. So go on and do things nicely and work very hard to make our newly formed Mexico City
branch a great success."

Srila Prabhupada concluded his letter by giving him further instructions and asking him to work hard
so that things would turn out well.

"Keep in contact with me occasionally by mail and as soon as you have established yourself nicely
there, then as soon as I find an opportunity I shall visit Mexico City." (Letter 7.08.71)

Following Srila Prabhupada's instructions with renewed enthusiasm they vigorously continued to
preach. In this positive mood they published the first edition of Back to Godhead in Mexico. The
magazine consisted of eight pages explaining the basic principles of the Krishna consciousness
movement. They would distribute it when going to chant Hare Krishna through the streets. This
drew the attention of local people who started to offer their help to these pioneer devotees in
pushing the sankirtan movement of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. After a period of intense preaching,
Chitsukananda das was able to rent an old mansion. The house had been used as an embassy
until then, and was located only three blocks away from the country's presidential residence.

Chitsukananda das immediately informed Srila Prabhupada that he had secured this mansion for
lease, and that he had registered the society for Krishna consciousness with the local authorities.
He also let him know about the numerous societies of swamis and yogis that were in fashion
throughout the city.

"I am so much pleased that you got a nice place. I shall try to go to your center at my first
opportunity. I quite follow the situation described by you, and all these yogis are mostly bluffers.
They have not substance to give. You can openly declare this fact. Try to distribute our books very
widely and preach also. These bogus yogis and swamis will vanish."
Here Srila Prabhupada gives us one of the reasons for the distribution of His Divine Grace's books
and the preaching mission, which is to unmask these false yogis and swamis. He instructed his
disciples to openly preach and this way after being exposed these people would lose all influence
and would gradually disappear.

"It is very good that you have registered the society. It is very important, actually we are not
religious institution. We are presenting a cultural program, making men of good character.
Therefore it is cultural institution."

With this Srila Prabhupada pointed out one of the society's activities. And finally he wanted them to
carefully supervise all the translations in order to avoid fatal errors.

"One thing is that all translations should be checked by you and Candravali because those who are
not our students, if they write some wrong conclusion, the whole thing will be murdered." (Letter
12.10.71)

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's prophecy was taking place because of the hard work and sincere
efforts of Srila Prabhupada and his international band of enthusiastic disciples. Up until now no one
in India could imagine what was going on here; what was happening was that people from different
ways of life were taking the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and in this way becoming Krishna Bhaktas
in the full sense of the word. They were accepting taking Bhakti-yoga activities and this was
awakening their religious past, which is natural for the Mexican people:

"I am very much pleased to hear that Mexico City centre is developing very nicely under your expert
supervision and I also note that you say that Latin America is very much ready for Krishna
Consciousness."

Because of this Srila Prabhupada was preparing to visit Mexico for the first time, making it the first
country in Latin America that he went to. Thus, through his guidance and transcendental presence
he would definitively establish the movement for Krishna consciousness in Mexico City for the
Spanish population. No one before him had ever tried to implement such daring missionary work,
but it was surely happening thanks to Srila Prabhupada's great preaching vision.

"So if you like I can come after leaving Hawaii, before coming to Los Angeles, were I shall end my
touring. So we are going to Honolulu from Tokyo on May 6th 1972, and I think we shall remain
about two to three weeks in Hawaii, and then we can come to Mexico City. Is that all right? You may
correspond with my secretary, Syamasundara, in this regard, and make all arrangements with him. I
think we can stay about one week or ten days before that we must return to Los Angeles."

Srila Prabhupada's idea in going to Mexico City was not only to establish the movement there, buy
also to create a solid base for future preaching in South America. He expressed this in the following
letter:

"I am sending one of our new sannyasins Hanuman das Goswami, to South America. He is here
with me now, but he shall leave by ship very soon, so if you have got any Spanish-speaking
devotees there who can assist him in preaching thoughout South America, you can tell them to
write him here at the above address, and they can make arrangements to meet for performing this
great task of pioneer preachers on South American continent." (Letter 15.04.72)

As someone in the Vaishnava community correctly noted:

gurvajnam sirasi-dharyam saktyavesa-sva rupine

hare krsneti mantrena pascatya-pracya-tarine

"Taking the order of his guru on his head, he became empowered by Nityananda Prabhu to act as
a saktyavesa-avatara, he distributed the Hare Krishna mantra all over the eastern and western
worlds, delivering and uplifting all fallen souls."

By his expansive preaching Srila Prabhupada was proving to be a person empowered by Sri
Nityananda Prabhu. With natural evidence he acted as the auto effulgent acharya of the Brahma
Gaudiya Sampradaya in modern times. He satisfied the desires of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by
taking the Hare Krishna maha-mantra to all continents in the globe, and by establishing
the sankirtan movement beyond all imaginable aspirations of the Vaishnava community.

In the following report Chitsukananda das sent to Srila Prabhupada he informed him of the temple's
development and about the possibility of Srila Prabhupada's visit. Srila Prabhupada answered him:

"I do not think I shall require a special visa for going there for one or two weeks, an ordinary tourist
visa will suffice. I shall be reaching Los Angeles on about the 20th of May, 1972 and from there we
shall make further plans and get visas for going to Mexico later."

At the end of the letter Srila Prabhupada advised Chitsukananda das to provide the Mexican public
with as much literature in Spanish as the possibilities would allow him to:

"The Mexican public is very sympathetic, so produce voluminously Spanish language literature. You
can establish correspondence with Karandhara to produce many books and magazines in Spanish."
(Letter 3.05.72)

Srila Prabhupada followed the schedule he had described in his letter and arrived in Los Angeles as
planned. He and his traveling party which consisted of his servant, personal secretary, and a
Sanskrit pandit, remained there for a few days. They had no trouble obtaining visas and a date was
set for their visit. Daniel Partida, a close friend of the movement in Mexico, paid for their airline
tickets. So in this way everything was conveniently arranged for their departure.

Rama Govinda das

(R.G. Bhakti Prapanna Parvata Maharaja)