Bhagavatam Rasamalayam: Separation From A Pure Devotee | His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Archives

Separation from a Pure Devotee

When Lord Caitanya asked Rāmānanda Rāya what is the most painful experience in human society, Rāmānanda Rāya replied that separation from a pure devotee is the most painful experience. In other words, when there is no devotee of the Lord present, there is great suffering in society, and association with other people becomes painful. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.30.6–7) it is stated that if one who is bereft of the association of a pure devotee tries to become happy through society, friendship and love devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is to be considered in the most distressed condition. In the Bṛhadbhāgavatāmṛta (1.5.54) it is stated that the association of a pure devotee is more desirable than life itself and that in separation from him one cannot pass even a second happily. Lord Caitanya then inquired, “What is the most profitable thing in the world, the essence of all auspicious events?” Rāmānanda Rāya replied that there is nothing as profitable as the association of pure devotees.

(Chapter 32,TOLC, Conclusion - By Srila Prabhupada)

HH BCS: Undoubtedly His Holiness Tamal Krishna Maharaj was one of the greatest assistants of Srila Prabhupada, one of the greatest devotees of Iskcon. He was very dear to Srila Prabhupada and Prabhupada was very dear to him. I vividly remember the first time when I saw him. I heard about him a lot from the devotees when I joined in Mayapur. One day I saw that Bhavananda Prabhu was walking with another person and I was with one of my godbrothers, Tirthapada Prabhu and that personality was so striking, so brilliant and there was something so extraordinary about him, the way he was carrying himself. So I asked Tirthapada Prabhu – Who is that? And he told me – That is Tamal Krishna Goswami. Tamal Krishna Goswami was already well known to all the devotees of Iskcon for his wonderful achievements for Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada had incredible confidence in him. When Maharaj joined – he joined in San Francisco, soon after he joined, Srila Prabhupada started to give him a lot of responsibility – the Los Angeles temple, they just (acquired) a nice church for a temple and he made him the president of that temple. Then when Prabhupada got the news that George Harrison, one of the Beatles, became favourable to Krishna Consciousness due to the preaching of Mukunda Maharaj, Shyamsundar Prabhu and Gurudas Prabhu and Yamuna Mataji, Malati Mataji and Janaki Mataji. It was a big thing - George Harrison became favourable to Krishna Consciousness! So Prabhupada sent him to London to take care of the opportunity to spread Krishna Consciousness there.

Then from London Tamal Krishna Maharaj went to France and started to help with whatever Hari Vilas Prabhu already started in Paris. Then he went to Germany. So in this way he was a pioneer of the movement in many ways. And then along with his very dear friend - Vishnujana Maharaj, he started the Radha Damodar Book Distribution Travelling Sankirtan Party in America. They started with one Greyhound bus and it grew to such an extent that they had five busses. And when the preaching started in India, Prabhupada sent him to India. He made him the GBC of India. When Prabhupada was struggling to get a piece of land in Mayapur, it was Tamal Krishna Maharaj who actually got that land. There was a lot of opposition to get the land. Some individuals were reluctant to let Srila Prabhupada come and start his (preaching) here, this particular land. And it was Tamal Krishna Maharaj who came and in a very expert way he got some people to sell the land – there used to be a banyan tree, sitting under the banyan tree he wrote the contract of sale of this land. And he arrived at midnight in Calcutta. Prabhupada was still awake and he went and gave the paper(contract) to Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada was so pleased that he got the land. Then Prabhupada went to sleep and told him – Now you go and sleep. So that was the first time I saw that hero of Iskcon walking and chanting with Bhavananda Prabhu here in Mayapur.

I was already engaged in serving Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada. During our first meeting he gave me the service to translate his books into Bengali. And although those days it was very very difficult to come anywhere near Srila Prabhupada, because of that service I had access to Srila Prabhupada anytime I wanted. My excuse was - I have to show what I translated to Srila Prabhupada.

And then of course Prabhupada gave me a stack of Bengali letters to reply. I was there in Prabhupada’s room and Tamal Krishna Maharaj came and when he offered obeisances to Srila Prabhupada, Prabhupada asked him – So, what is the news in New York? So Tamal Krishna Maharaj understood, and he started to describe to Srila Prabhupada about the big court case that was going on in New York on de-programming. It was a very big obstacle to the Krishna Consciousness movement at that time. The affluent parents of the devotees in America – one person actually took advantage of that situation. His name was Ted Patrick. He was actually a gangster.

He actually started this thing called de-programming. That means parents – those who wanted their children to go back to them, leaving Iskcon, he used to deprogram them. That means that the de-programming not only consisted of psychological torture, but it also included physical violence, physical torture. It was a very big thing that was happening at that time. Then Tamal Krishna Maharaj after giving the brief description of the situation there, he told that Adi Kesava Maharaj handling that case so it would be better that he came and gave him those details. So Tamal Krishna Maharaj looked at me and said – Can you go (to such and such room – I forgot the room number) and get Adi Kesava Swami to come here. So I ran upstairs and got Adi Kesava Swami. That was the first time I met Adi Kesava Swami also – another very brilliant devotee who also achieved a lot for Srila Prabhupada. And then I could see how intensely they were discussing about that and Prabhupada was so emphatic. He was just telling them

– Brain washing!? The de-programmers’ program was that they (the devotees) were brainwashed by Iskcon. They are not joining the movement on their own volition. They cannot really think properly, and they have been brain washed. And they have to be deprogrammed. So when they were describing this and Prabhupada was practically shouting – Brain washing!? They don’t have any brains to begin with. And I am giving them the brains. I am giving them the ability to think properly. So this was another remarkable instance that I saw how involved Tamal Krishna Maharaj was and how dependent Srila Prabhupada was on him. Adi Kesava Maharaj was leading the charge and Tamal Krishna Maharaj was actually the main person who was providing for the battle. This is how I met Tamal Krishna Maharaj.

Being with Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaj

I was answering Prabhupada’s letters and I used to go to him quite often and I used to show my translations. And when I finished answering all my letters in Bengali, Prabhupada gave me a stack of Hindi letters and asked me to reply them. He asked me – Can you write in Hindi? I said – Yes Srila Prabhupada. I can write in Hindi, but my handwriting is not so nice. Prabhupada said – Don’t worry, nobody’s Hindi handwriting is nice. So one afternoon Prabhupada told me that he was appointing me as his Secretary for Indian Affairs. And naturally I was very happy to hear that. And then Prabhupada called Tamal Krishna Maharaj and he told him that he was appointing me as his Secretary for Indian Affairs, and he suggested that I move into the room where Maharaj was staying and that was two rooms after Srila Prabhupada’s room. Actually, the room next to Srila Prabhupada was meant for his secretaries but the secretaries were practically typing all the time. And those days the typewriters were manual typewriters and they used to make a lot of noise – “kat-kat-kat-kat-katkat”. So that’s why Prabhupada shifted the secretaries to the next room and Prabhupada’s servant, at that time it was Hari Sauri Prabhu who moved into the room next to Prabhupada and the room after that was Prabhupada’s secretaries’ room.

And when Prabhupada told Tamal Krishna Maharaj, he very affectionately put his arm around my shoulder and said – Come. And he took me to his room. There were two beds and he told me – I am using this bed; you can use that one. And that was another good fortune that I had to have the opportunity to be with Tamal Krishna Maharaj living in the same room with him. He was an extremely disciplined person. Every morning he would wake up at 3am. And he would not switch on the light because he didn’t want to disturb my sleep. He used to go to the bathroom, and he used to play Prabhupada’s tape. That was his regular practise. And he used to listen to them on a tape recorder. So that was the time I used to wake up – hearing, listening to Prabhupada’s tapes. And he was very particular about finishing his rounds and he made it a point and told me emphatically – Make it a point to chant your rounds early in the morning before the day begins because that’s the best time to chant and then you have the whole day to do your work. So that was one nice thing that I learnt from him – finish your rounds in the morning, at least a good number of your rounds early in the morning.

And then he used to tell me how to serve Srila Prabhupada. And Prabhupada always wanted someone to be in his room. So most of the time I used to just be there in the room. And those days Prabhupada’s health condition was deteriorating quite badly. When he used to go to the bathroom – there was no attached bath to Prabhupada’s room here – it was at the end of that block of rooms. So we had to help Srila Prabhupada to walk. We would put our right hand around Srila Prabhupada’s waist, and with the left hand we would hold onto his shoulder, and Srila Prabhupada would have his cane and he used to walk. And this is how Prabhupada needed assistance all the time so one of us had to be with Srila Prabhupada all the time.

A Brilliant Personality

Then Srila Prabhupada decided to go to Bombay. Giriraj Maharaj arranged a big program for Srila Prabhupada at Cross Maidaan, in the centre of Bombay. So we all went to Bombay. When Prabhupada arrived in Bombay, the car took him straight to his old apartment. Prabhupada asked – Why did you bring me here? So Tamal Krishna Maharaj said - Prabhupada, the other apartment is not complete. Actually, the new building, the two towers in front of Bombay temple, at the tower on the right-hand side, on the top floor was Prabhupada’s quarters. So Prabhupada insisted that he wanted to go there. So Prabhupada had to be brought in there. Fortunately, the lift was working, so Prabhupada was taken there. And that place was not complete, the doors were not fixed, plumbing was still going on, wiring for electricity was (underway). So that place looked like a construction site, which was actually a construction site at that time, but Prabhupada insisted. Prabhupada sat there on his asana and he insisted that whether it was complete or not, he was going to stay there. At that time, I saw how intelligent Tamal Krishna Maharaj was. He did not protest, or reason with Srila Prabhupada. He called Giriraj Maharaj and Surabhi Maharaj, who was the project-in-charge of Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari temple in Juhu. He was an architect and he actually designed the temple and he was supervising the work also. So he called Surabhi Swami and Giriraj Maharaj and he asked Surabhi Swami – How long do you think it will take to complete these quarters? So he said 4-5 days. Then Tamal Krishna Maharaj told Giriraj Maharaj – Let us arrange for Prabhupada accommodation somewhere in the city because the Cross Maidaan is in the heart of the city and that is about one and a half hours drive.

So Giriraj Maharaj immediately contacted one very wealthy Indian man where Prabhupada stayed before, in his house, his name was Bhogilal Patel. But Bhogilal was not in India at that time so the next person Giriraj Maharaj contacted was Kartikeya Mahadevya. Kartikeya Mahadevya was very happy to accommodate Srila Prabhupada. So then Tamal Krishna Maharaj walked to Srila Prabhupada and said – Prabhupada, everyday you have to go to Cross Maidaan. It will take at least one and a half hours to go and one and a half hours to come back. So why drive for three hours? It will be better for you to stay in Bombay, near Cross Maidaan and we made the arrangement in Kartikeya Mahadevya’s house at Sea Face.

A very luxurious apartment. Then Prabhupada accepted. Then when Prabhupada moved into Kartikeya Mahadevya’s house – he was a very nice person. He didn’t have a big palace like Bhogilal Patel, but he had a very nice five room apartment, right on the beach. It was one of the most luxurious apartments in Bombay at the time. And Kartikeya Mahadevya moved out of that apartment with his family of wife, two daughters and a son. And with his whole set up, he moved out to another apartment which belonged to his brother or cousin. And the whole apartment was given to Srila Prabhupada and his team. And Prabhupada stayed there for the period that Cross Maidaan program was on. Every evening Prabhupada used to go there and give lecture. Tamal Krishna Maharaj and Bhavananda Prabhu also were staying in the same place. Three of us were staying in that apartment.

Two of them used to leave earlier and Tamal Krishna Maharaj used to give lectures or make arrangements then Prabhupada would go there and give the lecture. Everyday we were getting about 10,000 people to attend the program. It was a packed program. And the program was so successful that it was extended by two more days. So then finally, when Prabhupada arrived in Juhu temple, the apartment now was ready. So Prabhupada went to his apartment. In a meantime, Upendra Prabhu already joined us as Prabhupada’s personal servant. Hari Sauri Prabhu who was Prabhupada’s personal servant was made the GBC of Australia so Hari Sauri Prabhu had to leave and Upendra Prabhu was called in to become Prabhupada’s personal servant.

So the three of us moved into Srila Prabhupada’s apartment. The room in Mayapur was much larger but the secretary’s room was quite small in Bombay. So I thought I would share the room with Upendra Prabhu and I would let Tamal Krishna Maharaj have the room to himself. But Tamal Krishna Maharaj insisted – No, you stay in the same room with me.

So in that way I had the good fortune of being with him, sharing the room with him, wherever we went. And even after Prabhupada’s disappearance, Tamal Krishna Maharaj, when he used to come to Mayapur, he used to share the room with me until he got his apartment in this conch building.

On the way to Rishikesh

Then from Bombay we went to Rishikesh. One of Prabhupada’s admirers, the ex-governor of Madras, and his brother-in-law, Ramkrishna Bajaj, the head of Bajaj Industries. Two of them came to see Srila Prabhupada. And seeing that Srila Prabhupada’s health condition was not so good, they suggested that Prabhupada went to some place for a “change”. And they suggested Rishikesh, at the foothills of the Himalayas. Prabhupada immediately liked the idea. And he said – I’ve never been to Rishikesh. I can drink Ganga water. And he consulted with Tamal Krishna Maharaj. And Tamal Krishna Maharaj also appreciated that idea. So from Bombay we went to Rishikesh. Together we flew to Delhi, and from Delhi we drove to Rishikesh, spending one night in Delhi temple.

Tamal Krishna Maharaj actually left everything, all his responsibilities in other places as a GBC and he came to join Srila Prabhupada, simply to take care of him. He considered that his only service is to take care of Srila Prabhupada. And that’s what he did all along. At least that is how I saw it. And he was training us up, myself and Upendra Prabhu how to take care of Srila Prabhupada.

In a meantime, I got the service to cook for Srila Prabhupada. I used to translate, reply Prabhupada’s letters, but I had a lot of free time, so I used to wish – those days Mother Palika, one of our god-sisters used to cook for Srila Prabhupada and I used to serve Srila Prabhupada. She used to cook, and I used to take the plate and serve Srila Prabhupada.

Cooking for Srila Prabhupada

So one day Palika became sick, so another devotee was asked to cook for Srila Prabhupada. And although Prabhupada told her what to cook, and how to cook, but when I served Srila Prabhupada I could see that Prabhupada couldn’t eat. So I asked Srila Prabhupada – The cooking was not alright today? Then Prabhupada said – No, she doesn’t know how to cook. So I just blurted out – Srila Prabhupada, should I cook for you tomorrow? Prabhupada said – Yes, you can try.

So the next day Prabhupada told me what to cook and how to cook and fortunately Prabhupada liked it. Not only did he like it, he told Upendra Prabhu – when Upendra prabhu came to take him to his bed after lunch, he told Upendra Prabhu – Go and see how he cooked. So Upendra came running to me. I was washing the pots in the kitchen. So he said – What did you cook? Prabhupada wanted me to taste it. So I gave it to him. Then at 3pm Tamal Krishna Maharaj used to go and take dictation from Srila Prabhupada to reply his letters. He used to read out the letters and Prabhupada used to give the points how to reply and accordingly Tamal Krishna Maharaj used to reply the letters. After taking dictation from Srila Prabhupada, Tamal Krishna Maharaj came to me and said – Prabhupada really liked your cooking. I was naturally very delighted. The next day when I cooked, I blew it! Prabhupada told me – You don’t have any standard. One day you cook nicely, and I appreciate your cooking and the next day you are gone.

So the day after I was careful. I was cooking not to make any mistake. Then when I served, I saw Prabhupada was eating properly so I got some confidence. So I asked Srila Prabhupada – Prabhupada, is the cooking alright today? Prabhupada said – Yes, its alright today. Then I told him – Prabhupada, I was in such anxiety while I was cooking, and I was so afraid. Prabhupada said – That’s good. When you are serving your spiritual master, you should be in anxiety and you should be afraid.

So in Bombay, I was cooking for Srila Prabhupada. But when we went to Rishikesh I had to cook for the whole team. There were quite a few of us – Upendra Prabhu, Tamal Krishna Maharaj, Gauridas Pandit (he was Tamal Krishna Maharaj’s assistant) and myself travelled in the same flight. Already, Trivikram Maharaj, Pramana Swami, Viraha Prakash Swami, Pradyumna Prabhu and Yadubara Prabhu – he was filming Srila Prabhupada. So they all were there. I had to cook breakfast, not just breakfast for Srila Prabhupada, breakfast for the whole team. Then after breakfast I had to cook the lunch. So the whole day I was kind of busy. At noon time they used to Ganga to swim and some days only I could have that opportunity to join them after serving Srila Prabhupada. It was very nice to be with Srila Prabhupada, in a small group.

Our Good Fortune

One day, generally in the afternoons sometimes Tamal Krishna Maharaj and I used to go out on a walk. So one day we walked, went up to Laxman Jula, went across the bridge, went across the Ganges and walked uphill, on the other side of the river. And then we came to bank of the Ganges and sat on a boulder. It was late afternoon. And Tamal Krishna Maharaj just started to tell me – You are so fortunate having taken birth in India. So I responded saying – Well, I may have taken birth in India, but I grew up with the idea that west is the best. India has lost its culture; we were looking up to the west as the best.

But he insisted – No, just taking birth in India, you are so fortunate. And you do not know how degraded the west is. At least you haven’t been exposed to that degraded condition. And this way he was telling me, and I got into a discussion with him. I said – That may be, but Prabhupada one day, when one devotee was telling, he was lamenting to Prabhupada how degraded he was but Prabhupada said – That was all superficial. As soon as I called, you came! So I told him - You all are not ordinary souls. You all are very very special souls who came to assist Srila Prabhupada.

So that day I remember very vividly sitting with him on a boulder, on the banks of the Ganges, in Rishikesh, talking with him. Prabhupada stayed in Rishikesh for about 14 days. At night one of us used to be with Srila Prabhupada all the time and stay awake because we had to be awake and alert if Prabhupada needed anything and my shift was from 12am to 2am. One night, at 1am, Srila Prabhupada rang the bell so I when I went to him, lifted the mosquito net.

From Ecstasy to Agony

Then Prabhupada told me – Make arrangements for me to go to Vrindavan immediately because the time has come for me to leave this planet. Those few words came to me just like a – an inconceivable shock. So I immediately ran downstairs, woke up Tamal Krishna Maharaj and told him what Prabhupada said. So Maharaj also ran upstairs and Prabhupada told him the same thing – The time has come for me to leave this planet. Please take me to Vrindavan. I want to leave my body in Vrindavan. So that night only, we packed everything up and the next morning we drive to Delhi. Prabhupada stayed in Delhi for the night. And the next morning, Prabhupada left for Vrindavan.

Tamal Krishna Maharaj was taking care of him in such a wonderful way. Always so concerned about Srila Prabhupada’s needs, Srila Prabhupada’s comforts. And Srila Prabhupada also was so much relying on him. I remember in the mornings when Srila Prabhupada used to wake up, Prabhupada would ask first thing – Where is Tamal? So I would run and get Tamal Krishna Maharaj. And he would come and very intimately they would discuss. And Tamal Krishna Maharaj always had such penetrating, intelligent questions. I used to marvel at that – how intelligent questions he had! That showed how well he knew Srila Prabhupada’s plans and Prabhupada also used to confide in him, used to instruct him – what to do, what not to do. Prabhupada started to make his wills, and he was always consulting with Tamal Krishna Maharaj who would be there in the wills. And this is how wonderfully Tamal Krishna Maharaj served Srila Prabhupada. It is a great loss for our movement that his sudden departure from this planet. Srila Prabhupada took him away – obviously Srila Prabhupada had some very important project for him, to assist him. I very strongly feel that is what happened. He is still serving Srila Prabhupada somewhere where Prabhupada needed him very dearly.

His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaj ki Jai! Jagad Guru Srila Prabhupada ki Jai!

(From a lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami at IskcoMayapur, India, on March 10th, 2016.)

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