Bold and Beautiful, TOVP

Bold and Beautiful, TOVP
An emblem of Srila Prabhupada’s boldness.

Srila Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) when he was 70 years old and spread it throughout the world in the next 12 years. He obviously had numerous attractive qualities, both as a person and as a leader. One that continues to amaze, inspire, and guide his followers was his sensational boldness. Srila Prabhupada's boldness changed the course of world history.

When Prabhupada started his work in the USA in the 1960s, traditional religious institutions no longer held firm sway on the newer generations of the western world. Materialism and even outright hedonism was beginning to capture the hearts of the masses there.  The western world was fast moving towards a completely godless state of existence; the rest of the world would have followed suit shortly. Prabhupada reintroduced the western world to God - a stunningly beautiful blue teenage jolly cowherd boy who plays a flute and constantly engages in delightful pastimes of selfless love and affection with all the inhabitants, including birds and animals, of His simple rural village named Vrindavan. In an increasingly materialistic, self-centered, urbanized, and anti-god western society, this picture of God was a shocking revelation. But Prabhupada's bold conviction in his message made people start believing in it - to engage in pure devotional service to God, Krishna. 

The TOVP is an emblem of Srila Prahbupada’s boldness.

The Bold Lonely Struggle

One can trace back Prabhupada's boldness to his first meeting in 1922 with His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta startled the then 26 year old Gandhian Indian nationalist Abhay Charan De by his bold proclamation: temporary material situations like the British rule over India should not impede the preaching of Lord Chaitanya’s spiritual message; only this message can benefit the world and not any political situation. In an India engulfed by arousing nationalistic fervor, this was a stunning proposition; but Prabhupada was convinced.

Prabhupada later became an initiated disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and imbibed from him this trait of boldness. Prabhupada was bold in multiple ways - personally, as a visionary, and as a strategist. In the 1950s, he made the bold decision of leaving his family to dedicate himself fully to the order of his spiritual master – to preach Lord Chaitanya’s message in English all over the world. This period, the 1950s, was Prabhupada’s toughest in terms of food, clothing, and shelter. Brought up with utmost love and care by his parents and always treated affectionately by his spiritual master, now Prabhupada found that he was all alone. Yet he struggled on, shuttling between Vrindavan and Delhi, to raise funds for, write, and print his “Back To Godhead” fortnightly journal and his commentary on the first canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam. It is impossible to fathom how this unknown aged man continued on without any fixed source of money, contacts, institutional backing, or certainty about the future. We can but bow our heads in the dust of his lotus feet and profusely thank him for his struggles for bringing us to the path of Krishna Consciousness.

This period of struggle ended in an unprecedented event in world history – a voyage that could eventually become as famous as Columbus’s voyage that led to the discovery of the New World. Columbus brought the western world into light; Prabhupada’s voyage brought spiritual light to the western world. Prabhupada’s voyage to USA on the cargo ship Jaladuta and his subsequent success are unparalleled in the history of Vaishnavism. The voyage was a bold move on multiple counts. One, traditional Vedic wisdom prohibits one to leave the shores of the holy land of India. And two, Prabhupada was 69 years old then, with no financial or social support whatsoever.

Taking on the World

Prabhupada’s conviction in his mission gradually earned him his first few followers in the USA. He finally had hands to execute his mission. When all he had was a single storefront, he painted the vision of an international society. He called it a society for Krishna Consciousness when no one in the west knew that Krishna is God. He startled the western world by Hari Nama Sankirtans - street processions having devotees chanting and dancing to the beats of hand cymbals and drums with banners of the Holy Name in hand. The biggest and most eye catching street processions were of course the Lord Jagannath Ratha Yatras which he conducted in major cities of the world. Perhaps his boldest and most socially noticeable move was to have devotees publicly and visibly distribute his books in major public places like airports. His vision was clear – to wake up the people of the world to Krishna by aggressive propaganda via books and sankirtan.

In his books he presented Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead along with his Holy Name, form, qualities, and pastimes. But in many of his conversations with eminent philosophers and scientists he used a distinct strategy - he challenged them. Quoting from authoritative Vedic scriptures and applying simple logic, he questioned and reprimanded those who proclaimed God to be impersonal and denied His eternal form and abode. He gave the Vedic perspective on the various western philosophies he came across. And most notably, he exposed the illogicality and futility of the mechanistic explanation of the cosmos and all that’s in it. This was a direct challenge to the growing atheistic scientific worldview. Despite not having a scientific academic background, he boldly ridiculed atheistic reductionist science based on his simple and firm faith in the word of scripture. To ensure that this challenge didn’t fizzle away, he started the Bhaktivedanta Institute as the scientific wing of ISKCON. While the whole world was glorifying the dazzling advancements in the scientific world, Prabhupada belittled them as being incapable of solving the real problems of life – birth, old age, disease, and death.

Prabhupada's expert application of the principle of yukta vairagya was instrumental in his spectacular success.  Because Srila Prabhupada was a pure devotee, Krishna was the most tangible reality for him; in fact he was in full realization of the fact that Krishna is the only independent reality and that all else depends on Him. Consequently he had the flair of engaging everything in Krishna’s service. He was the quintessential yukta vairagi. Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé characterizes Kåñëa consciousness in this way:

anäsaktasya viñayän
yathärham upayuïjataù
nirbandhaù kåñëa-sambandhe
yuktaà vairägyam ucyate

"When one is not attached to anything, but at the same time accepts everything in relation to Kåñëa, one is rightly situated above possessiveness. [This is the principle of yukta vairagya]" (Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu 1.2.255)

Money, technology, world travel, mass media, public programs - he used them all with assured confidence. What’s more, he engaged the most unkempt drug addicts on one hand and attracted sophisticated scientists and professors on the other. It takes extraordinary ability to engage the most spiritually unqualified and ignorant in the Lord’s service. And it takes courage. The result was a Hare Krishna explosion. Hare Krishna became household names, hundreds of youth became his followers, millions of spiritual books were sold, and a hundred temples were built.  Lord Chaitanya’s movement left the shores of India; Prabhupada fulfilled the order of his spiritual master.

Succession of Boldness

Srila Prabhupada expected his followers to have faith in the Holy Name and continue preaching the message of Lord Chaitanya boldly. Being bold is hard; it takes courage to take significant and potentially life threatening risks. However, the tales of Srila Prabhupada’s personal struggles, his life threatening voyage to the west, and untiring hard work despite advanced old age serve as continuous inspiration for his sincere followers. Riding on this inspiration, his followers continue to operate even in remote corners of the globe, in hostile countries like the Islamic and communist nations, in the hearts of modern cities, and in many other parts of the world. Many of his disciples and grand-disciples lead a hectic life full of inconveniences to carry forward his legacy. This succession of boldness and dedication is one of Srila Prabhupada’s hallmarks of success; a true leader is one who creates more leaders.

Prabhupada has also given a life of dignity and confidence to all his followers. Without a thriving and united community of devotees, it would have been difficult for devotees to practice devotional life in today’s increasingly godless modern world. But thanks to ISKCON, devotees in devotional attire are now an increasingly common site in various parts of the world. This is also due to the strong scriptural and logical foundation that Prabhupada has provided for all aspects of a devotee’s life. Now a devotee does not need to be apologetic about his devotional practices. In fact many times a devotee’s acquaintances look up to him or her for guidance regarding various aspects of their life.

As a token of gratitude, to fulfil one of his ardent desires, and as a stunningly courageous undertaking, Srila Prabhupada’s followers are constructing the magnificent TOVP.

Bold and Beautiful

The three giant domes of the TOVP will be structurally complete by the end of 2015. This will include the concreting layer on top of the steel superstructure of the domes. By then, the entire superstructure of the temple building including the external brickwork will also be done. The domes will be layered with vitrified tiles of a unique shade of blue. Tiles of this color are available nowhere in the world. The NITCO company will specially manufacture these tiles for the TOVP. These tiles will start arriving at the site shortly. The MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) work for both infrastructure and interior needs will start in 2015. For example, lightening arresters (devices used to protect against the damage caused by lightening) have arrived on the site. There will be one special lightening arrester on each of the three domes and 40 others at various places on the site. The waterproofing is complete. Work on other services like fire-fighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning will also start now. The ground floor of the building is now leveled; in one way this milestone signifies that the super structure is now more or less done. On the aesthetic side, the sandstone carving work will now start.

While Prabhupada’s personal boldness is seen in his followers, his visionary and strategic boldness is evident in the TOVP. One of Prabhupada’s preaching strategies was to just encourage people to come to Mayapur so that their spiritual life will start. Additionally, one of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur’s prominent visions was to see people from different parts of the world throng to Mayapur and participate in the congregational chanting of the Holy Name. There are multiple bold elements in the construction of the TOVP which are meant to attract the people of the world to Mayapur.

The most obvious is its scale. The huge central dome will be the biggest dome in the world in terms of diameter and only second in terms of height after the Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Building it was an architectural challenge which the team of architects has now addressed satisfactorily.  While there are other huge temple complexes in the world like the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, India (180,000 sq. mt.) and the Angkor Wat in Cambodia, no other temple boasts as large a temple hall as the TOVP. Under the shelter of the structurally sound central dome, the TOVP temple hall will be 45000 sq. ft. in area and will hold 10000 pilgrims. Extending Srila Prabhupada’s application of the yukta viaragya principle, a lot of modern technology will be employed in this project. For example, the central dome will be acoustically designed for facilitating discourses within it for the 10000 pilgrims inside it. The decorative coffered ceiling of the central dome is also another major execution challenge that the team is currently working on. On top of the central dome, even above the kalash, will be housed a beautiful Sudarshan Chakra whose diameter will be 4m. A gong will be installed inside the temple that will be heard as far as the town of Krishnanagar, a straight line distance of 12km from Mayapur.

Impersonalism and atheistic science are two streams of thought that Prabhupada repeatedly attacked in his books and conversations. The TOVP continues that trend. Building of a grand temple of Lord Krishna focused on elaborate deity worship and devotional lifestyle directly challenges the impersonal conceptions of the Absolute Truth; it establishes the Absolute Truth as Sri Krishna – the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the source of everything. Consequently, the TOVP also rejects the mechanistic atheistic explanations of the cosmos and all that’s in it. What’s more, it also presents the Vedic view of the structure of the universe, most notably in the form of the ambitious chandelier that will hang down from the central dome. This chandelier will be a moving model of the Vedic explanation of the structure of the universe. To amalgamate the function of a chandelier (a decorative device of lighting) with the function of a scientific model of the universe (to explain its different aspects) into one single electro-mechanical structure is quite a design challenge.

Being aware of the large amount of money required for building something so grand, just to attempt it is a statement of utmost faith in Srila Prabhupada’s vision. Centuries ago wealthy kings used to fund the construction of large temples, but not today. Today funds are raised by requesting for them from potential donors. It’s a joint effort by the well-wishers of the project. Even when he did not have the required funds, Prabhupada had promised Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari of the Juhu (Bombay) ISKCON Temple that he would build a palace for them; he did. Similarly, the followers of Srila Prabhupada have promised him the building of the TOVP; with the cooperation of his worldwide followers, this promise will soon become a reality.

The superstructure of the TOVP already looks beautiful from Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur’s house across the Ganga. The striking blue color of its domes is an aesthetically bold choice too. The interior and exterior beauty of the TOVP will capture the hearts of its visitors. But the real beauty of the TOVP lies in its special place in the history of Gaudiya Vaishnavism; it will make Gaudiya Vaishnavism prominent on the world’s spiritual map.

An Emblem of Boldness

Srila Prabhupada was the perfect sadhu.

titikñavaù käruëikäù
suhådaù sarva-dehinäm
ajäta-çatravaù çäntäù
sädhavaù sädhu-bhüñaëäù

The symptoms of a sädhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.

—Çrémad-Bhägavatam 3.25.21

All ornaments of a sadhu decorated Srila Prabhupada. He left Vrindavan to give Krishna to the world because he was not satisfied with just his own liberation – that was his compassion. He faced so many impediments and so much opposition along the way but he tolerated it all for the sake of Lord Chaitanya’s mission. This combination of intense compassion and utmost tolerance was the recipe of his stunning boldness.

The TOVP will serve as an emblem of Srila Prabhupada’s boldness for generations to come.

---

The Mango Reason

This article appeared in the April 2012 issue of Back to Godhead (India Edition)

The Mango Reason

By Abhijit Toley

Yes, it’s the mango season. No, that’s not a typo. While I nibble delicious pieces of mango, let me write about the mango reason.

Having “offended” the Lord, His Divine Grace Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura took a vow. What was his offense? When not yet even four years old, he took a mango before it had been offered to the family Deity. His father, the great Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura, rebuked him: “All food is to be enjoyed by the Lord. Nothing should be taken unless it is first offered to Kåñëa. You have committed a serious offense.” The little boy took this to heart and was greatly pained for committing this offense. So, instead of the mango, he took a vow—to never eat another mango as long as he lived.

I feel I can confidently say that to most who hear this for the first time, Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté’s vow will strike them as extreme, to say the least. But let this initial shock not keep us in ignorance of this great äcärya’s unprecedented glories. If anything, his uncommon reaction to a seemingly insignificant mistake should wake us up from the cozy bed of our concocted notions about right and wrong.

The great äcäryas, empowered spiritual leaders, are eternally liberated souls. That is, they have no attraction for the things of this world, except when those things are used in the service of the Lord. So situated, they exist solely to serve the Lord with their body, mind, and words. Thus, for them to give up the things of this world, for which an ordinary man would sacrifice his life, is of little consequence. On the other hand, by sometimes exhibiting such startling behavior, the great äcäryas set the highest standards of spiritual life. For instance, by setting this example, even at the tender age of four, Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté stressed the importance of first offering everything to Kåñëa before using it for oneself. This loving spiritual principle is not very difficult to appreciate for one whose heart has even a little affection for the Lord. But in the Age of Kali, in which all spiritual values are thoughtlessly dispensed with, establishing even simple principles necessitates drastic measures that will shake the spiritually bankrupt notions of society at large. And to go against the overwhelming flow of social trends, it takes the power and courage of the great äcäryas, who can swim against the current and take many along in their wake.

Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura had instructed his son verbally. But knowing well that most people in this world are too spiritually dull to take heed of verbal instructions, Çréla Sarasvaté Öhäkura gave us the same instruction by following it in its strictest sense. An äcärya is one who preaches by example, and this great äcärya set an example that is to be glorified and worshipped by all sincere seekers of devotional perfection. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté did not later instruct any of his disciples to follow this particular example, perhaps acknowledging that his offense did not in all cases require a life sentence of mango-less-ness. And yet, all throughout his life, whenever he was offered a mango, he would refuse to accept it, saying that he was an offender. Why? What was the reason behind his vow? What was the Mango Reason?

Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura’s vow serves as an example of how the great äcäryas will go to extremes even at the cost of suffering all kinds of inconveniences, including the scathing criticism of a spiritually impoverished and yet bombastic society. The äcäryas do so not for egotistically making a point, but for the spiritual welfare of the general mass of people, who have been knocked out by the blows of Kali’s agents. In that unconscious state they are now being carried away by a powerful current, tossed on ever-increasing waves of godlessness both gross and subtle, with only the ocean of doom as their final destination. The great äcäryas execute unprecedented acts, and set extraordinary examples, all to awaken such unfortunate and misguided children of God to the full consciousness of spiritual existence so that they can swim back to the safety and joy of spiritual life. This is the Mango Reason, the reason why Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté kept his uncommon lifelong vow.

This mango season, let’s offer our heartfelt worship at the lotus feet of His Divine Grace Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura, who not only took that Mango Vow, but lived all his life for just one reason—the Mango Reason.

The Mango Reason

Yes, it’s the mango season. No, it’s not a typo. While I nibble at pieces of delicious mangoes, let me write about the mango reason.

After His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur “offended” the Lord, he took a vow. What was his offense? When he was not more than four years old, he took a mango before it had been offered to the family deity of the Lord. His father, the great Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura rebuked him: “All food is to be enjoyed by the Lord. Nothing should be taken unless first offered to Krishna. You have committed a serious offense.” The not-quite-four year old boy took this to heart and was greatly pained for committing this “offense”. So, instead of the mango, he took a vow – to never eat mangoes again in his life.

I am not a mind reader of any sort, and yet I can confidently say that to most who have come across this vow for the first time, it would seem extreme to say the least. But let this initial shock not keep us unaware of the unprecedented glories of this great acarya. If anything, this uncommon reaction to a seemingly insignificant mistake should wake us up from the cozy bed of our self-created convenient notions about what is right.

The great spiritual leaders – acharyas – are eternally liberated souls. That is, they have no attraction for the things of this world except when those things are used in the service of the Lord. So situated, their whole existence is for the sole purpose of service to the Lord by their body, minds, and words. Thus, for them to give up things of this world, for which the ordinary man would give his life, is no big deal. On the other hand, by sometimes exhibiting such jarring behavior, the great acharyas set the highest standards of perfect spiritual life. By setting this example, even at the tender age of four, Srila Saraswati Thakur brought out the importance offering everything to Krishna first before using it for oneself. This loving spiritual principle is not very difficult to appreciate for those whose heart has even a little affection for the Lord. But in the age of Kali, where all spiritual principles are flushed down the drain, establishing even such simple principles necessitates drastic measures, contrary to the notions of the spiritually blind society. And to go against the flow of the ravaging social trends, it takes the courage and might of the great acharyas who can swim against the current, and take many along in their wake.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur had instructed him verbally; but knowing well that most people in this world are too spiritually dull to give heed to verbal instructions, Srila Saraswati Thakur gave us the same instruction by following it in its strictest sense. An acarya is one who preaches by example, and this great acarya set this example to be glorified and worshipped by all sincere seekers of devotional perfection. Srila Saraswati Thakur did not expect any of his followers to follow his example, thus acknowledging that it was not the kind of offense that required a life-sentence of mangolessnesss. But still, all throughout his life, whenever he was offered mangoes, he would refuse to accept them, saying that he was an offender. Why? What was the reason behind that Mango Vow? What was that Mango Reason?

Here is an example of how the great acharyas go to extremes, willing to suffer all kinds of inconveniences. Not to mention the scathing jibes from the representatives of a spiritually bankrupt and yet bombastic society. The acharyas do so not for egoistically making a point, but for the spiritual welfare of the general mass of people who have been knocked out by the punches of the agents of Kali in the form of all kinds of subtle and gross godlessness. After being knocked out, people are now being carried away by the current, tossed on the ever increasing waves of socially acceptable forms of godlessness, with only the ocean of doom as their final destination. The great acharyas execute unprecedented missions, and set extraordinary examples, all to shake back such misguided unfortunate children of God to the wakefulness of spiritual existence, so that they can swim back to the safety and unlimited joy of spiritual life. This is the reason – the Mango Reason – why he took and lifelong kept his uncommon Mango Vow.

This mango season let’s offer our heartfelt worship at the lotus feet of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, who not only took that Mango Vow, but lived all his life just for one reason – the Mango Reason.

Janmashtami Realizations 2009

As I was finishing my 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra today, I was thinking about 12noon. That was the time I would break my fast. Today is Nandotsav, and also the appearance day of His Divine Grace Srila AC BhaktiVedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder Acharya of ISKCON, and the savior of the whole world. Yesterday was Sri Janmashtami, the appearance day of Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yesterday I fasted till midnight and also chanted 32 rounds of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. Meanwhile, I have been reading the biography by HH BhaktiVikasa Swami Maharaj of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada, the gurudev of Srila AC BhaktiVedanta Swami Prabhupada. All these spiritual activities in the last 48 hours have given me a few realizations. Here they are.

(1)

I chanted 32 rounds yesterday more easily than I chant my 16 rounds every day. Earlier this year on Gour Pournima I managed to chant 64 rounds despite not being fully fit. Again, quite miraculously, I could do so more easily than the daily 16 rounds. For me, this is quite solid proof that mercy plays a most important role in execution of our spiritual practices. And that on Madhava Tithis (special days related to Madhava, Krishna) the Lord is especially merciful on the prayerful devotee. How else can I explain the ease with which I chanted so many rounds on these days? Can anyone explain this mechanistically? Just for those who would start trying to do so, let me state clearly that it was not any special mental adjustment on my part. All I did was a brief prayer to the Lord that “let me chant these many rounds today”. I say this prayer almost daily, but the effect is never as it is on these Madhava Tithis.

(2)

Fasting reveals how much we are sense controlled, or how much we are not sense controlled. Yesterday, on Janmashtami, time and again, my mind went ahead to midnight, after which I would honor Ekadashi Prasadam. But, it was more about what I would honor than just the fact that I would honor some Prasadam item. This shows how my tongue is hankering for palatable dishes. If those dishes are easily available, we don’t consider how much we hanker for them. But when we fast, these things are revealed. So, I have a long way to go in controlling my tongue.

I read in the Sri Bhakti Siddhanta Vaibhav (the biography of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada) that during his vow of chanting one billion names of the Lord, he used to only eat plain rice cooked by his own hands once a day. No spices or anything else. Here was a real-life example of what a perfect transcendentalist is – one who has controlled the urges of his senses.

(3)

I replaced the newspaper from the hands of my grandmother with the Krishna Book. After some time she was very excited about what she had just read. She had already read the Krishna Book once, but she told me, “How beautifully Vasudev is explaining to Kamsa about things… I don’t remember reading all this the first time I read this book!” I told her that this is the way with all transcendental literature, and what to speak of the crest jewel of all of them, Grantha Raj Srimad Bhagavatam. And the Krishna Book is the 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, and its sweetest part. Sri Krishna thus showed special mercy on my grandmother this Janmashtami. And my Mom has started reading the Krishna Book too! Jai!

Srila Prabhupada Ki Jai!
Sri Krishna Janmashtami Ki Jai!