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Soon after this, in 1978, he was in India. At that time in history, not a single foreign devotee of ISKCON had ever been inside Jagannath’s temple in Puri. In one exchange between Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaj andPrabhupada, Prabhupada was so pleased with his service that he toldhim, “You will see Krishna in this lifetime.” So, Bhakti Tirtha SwamiMaharaj thought, “may be I will see Krishna as Jagannatha in thislifetime”. He calculated, “I have a black complexion, perhaps they willthink I am from South India and they will allow me in”. He however knewin those days they banned even Indian devotees from ISKCON, becausethey considered that Indian devotees were associating with westerners,so they had no right to enter the Jagannatha temple. He then decided toput on regular civilian dress. He didn’t have any and borrowed clothesthat didn’t even fit him. Then he tied a gamcha around his head because his head was shaved with a shikha.There were big crowds, and he walked right by the gatekeeper. He wentdeeper and there was a massive crowd, thousands of people near the Garuda sthamba. People were having a difficult time coming close to Jagannatha. He took darshanof Jagannatha from a distance, but meanwhile, he was just praying toJagannatha, “If they catch me now they are going to really beat me, Idon’t know what will happen”. All of a sudden, the pandasstopped the crowed and began choosing people that they thought hadmoney and called them forward. One of them called Bhakti Tirtha SwamiMaharaj forward, “You come.” He spoke in Oriya language, and Bhakti Tirtha Swami was afraid because if the pandaspoke to him, he would be caught because Maharaj only spoke English.Immediately he thought, “If interrogated, I will tell him that I am anIndian, I was bought up in America and I only know English”. The personstarted asking questions. Maharaj couldn’t understand a word. He justremained silent and was praying to Lord Jagannatha. The person broughthim right up to the altar and pushed his head right on the altar, nearJagannatha, Baladev and Subhadra’s lotus feet and let him stand thereto offer his prayers of love. He then took him to circumambulateJagannatha, Baladev and Subhadra and meanwhile so many other pandas tried to get money from him but this one panda was saying, “He is mine, he is mine.”

After he had this amazing darshan of Jagannatha, Maharaj offered prayers to Lord Jagannath to protect devotees in ISKCON, to give them pure bhakti and to empower them to please Srila Prabhupada by spreading his mission all over the world.His only prayer was to be an instrument of mercy and compassion. Thenthis panda who was actually the chief pujari called himout and spoke to him in English, “I know who you are. I don’t agreethat you people shouldn’t be allowed in the temple, so I have given youthis darshan.”