ISKCON Arcana Journal -1- Srila Prabhupada in Berkley

The ISKCON Deity Worship Journal

Recollections

®r…la Prabhup€da in Berkeley

by Kta-karma d€sa

It was in August 1975 when we had just moved to the new Berkeley temple on Stuart Street, from the old funeral home building on Valencia Street in San Francisco. ®r…la Prabhup€da visited us for the last time.

In the local library, I had acquired a published dissertation titled: ‘The Cult of Jagann€tha’ and had learned that there was a fourth Deity of Sudarana cakra standing next to Lord Jagann€taha. I enthusiastically asked Hanumat-praek Sv€m… to carve ®r… Sudarana out of wood so that we could show it to ®r…la Prabhup€da during his visit and request permission to install Him in the altar next to Lord Jagann€tha. The morning ®r…la Prabhup€da arrived I had dressed Lord Jagann€tha, and Makan-taskara D€sa, the head p™j€r… had dressed R€dh€ Gokulananda. Those days the Deities in Berkeley did not have a very opulent wardrobe. Sometimes R€dh€r€n…’s skirt was just a silk scarf rolled into a skirt shape. Srila Prabhupada

®r…la Prabhup€da arrived in the temple and sat on his new vy€s€sana. It had been carved of mahogany, designed by Naran€r€yana D€sa, and gilded in Tijuana, Mexico. He showed his approval by putting flower garlands on both lion heads of the vy€s€sana. Bhakta D€sa had brought ®r…la Prabhup€da a gong from India; the kind that is solid, not hollow. I had bought from a music store a stick with a rubber ball so that he could play the gong. I had painted it with gold metallic paint. When ®r…la Prabhup€da began to play the gong with the stick, it was not ‘solid’ enough to make a substantial sound, and it was obvious by watching ®r…la Prabhup€da that he wanted something more effective.

I saw N€gar€ja D€sa run to the kitchen where he quickly grabbed the first thing that seemed solid enough to work. It happened to be an ice cream scooper, the kind that shapes the ice cream like a ball and swivels it onto the plate. He quickly brought it to ®r…la Prabhup€da, who looked at the gadget inquisitively and tried on the gong. It worked! So he led the chanting by playing the gong with the ice cream scooper. Later on, I saw that N€gar€ja had tied a red ribbon on the handle. But I went to the hardware store and bought a small sized hammer that worked just fine also.

®r…la Prabhup€da had asked Brahm€nanda Sv€m… to bring the head p™j€r… to his room. But, apparently Makana-taskara was too shy to go. So it was arranged that I would see ®r…la Prabhup€da. He had a small notepad on his desk and his pen. He made a drawing of KŠa’s face with a crown on. Next to the face was a magnified drawing of the crown. Pointing at the front of the crown he told me that it was called a ba‰ki, and that it should point towards R€dh€r€n… . Makana-taskara had put a R€dh€r€n… ‘s crown on KŠa that morning with the ba‰ki pointing away from ®r… R€dh€. After explaining this, he added that: "R€dh€r€n… should wear a helmet"

I was so happy to be with ®r…la Prabhup€da receiving direct instructions from him that I could hardly speak and make myself clear as to my purpose. But I went ahead and showed him the half carved wooden form of ®r… Sudarana wrapped in a silk scarf (which looked more like a long ivali‰gam). ®r…la Prabhup€da looked at it and said: "what is that?" I then showed him the publication that I had found at the library and asked if we could install him on the altar. He read for a few seconds and answered: "This is not necessary." I then asked him if I could put a lot of jewelry on Lord Jagann€tha and he said: "As much as possible". After that I paid my obeisances and left his quarters.

Drawing by bhakta Pieri Maximilian