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“I want you to go to China.”
Tamal Krishna Goswami: Our Radha Damodar party was quite energetic. By the time a year was over, forty percent of the total BBT proceeds came from our party. But we were creating quite a bit of disturbance because some brahmacharis were leaving their temples, wanting to be with the sannyasis, and the sannyasis were saying, “It’s better for the brahmacharis to be with us than to be under these grihastha temple presidents.”
So, by the time we went to India, we brought with us ninety brahmacharis. The Radha Damodar party had the whole third floor of the lotus building. We were riding the crest waves of success.
The Christmas marathon had been a heavy competition between Jayatirtha in California and the Radha Damodar party. Ramesvara kept on asking me, “How much are you going to give to the book fund?”
I said, “I’m going to send you a blank check. Put it in your safe and whatever the amount Jayatirtha gives, add ten thousand and deposit it and it will clear at the end of the month.” I was very determined to defeat them.
By the end of the 1975 Christmas marathon, the Radha Damodar Party gave one hundred ninety-five thousand dollars to the book fund. We did a quarter of a million Back to Godhead’s and sixty thousand big books. It was a massive thing.
But people were getting agitated. In Mayapur, all the temple presidents complained to Prabhupada. I was sitting in the room and Prabhupada was looking at me. When everybody left I kept sitting there because I thought, “I’d better talk to Prabhupada alone.”
Prabhupada looked at me and I said, “I don’t know what to do. Maybe I should go to China or something.” To go to China was like going to the moon. It was said like that. Anyway, I walked out.
The next morning, right in the middle of arati, Prabhupada’s servant tapped me and said, “Prabhupada wants to see you.” I said, “I’m not going.” I meant, “I’m not going up to see him, and I’m not going to China.”
Finally I had to go to Prabhupada. Prabhupada said, “I want you to go to China.” I said, “China? The Radha Damodar Party—I have to be there.” He said, “No, I want you to go to China,” and he walked out to go to the bathroom, brush his teeth, and freshen up for his walk.
He came back and put on tilak. He said, “I want you to go to China.” I started to give excuses, that “If I go to China, what’s going to happen to the Party?” Prabhupada said, “Don’t worry about the Party.”
His bottom lip started to quiver. His hand was shaking. He said, “Don’t worry about the Party.” I said, “But this is an important service.” He said,
“Then I take that service away from you. You have no other service to do now. Either you go to China, or you sit in Mayapur and chant Hare Krishna. There’s nothing else for you to do.”
Gurukripa was sitting behind me, and he said, “I’ll go to China.” Prabhupada said, “No, he must go to China.” I was sitting there going, “Oh.” Then I suddenly realized, “Wait a moment, the Radha Damodar Party is meant for Prabhupada’s pleasure, and if by going to China Prabhupada will be pleased, my life is made.”
So I immediately looked at Prabhupada and said, “Okay, I’m ready to go.” Prabhupada beamed. We went upstairs, because Prabhupada would walk around and around on the roof.
He announced, “Tamal Krishna Maharaj is going to China.” Everybody went, “Jai, hari bol!” Prabhupada turned this heavy situation into a glorious act. He was so expert. He never said too much about the whole thing.
He never said to me, “People are complaining about you,” or this or that. He found a way to correct the entire situation and open up something wonderful for Krishna. He found a way to turn what appeared to be a negative situation into a positive event.
—Tamal Krishna Goswami
Excerpt from “Memories-Anecdotes of a Modern-Day Saint”
by Siddhanta das www.prabhupadamemories.com