B V Puri Maharaj left his body couple of weeks ago….
An interview with Srila Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Maharaj talking about Srila Prabhupada
Copied from, Our Srila Prabhupada, a Friend to All: Early Contemporaries Remember Him, Srila Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Maharaj is describing a some of his memories of Srila Prabhupada:
“I first met Srila Swami Maharaja in Calcutta. He was living in his family home at Sita-Kanta Banarjee Lane. This was in the early 1940’s, around 1943, when he was maintaining his medicine shop distributing formulas he had discovered. I was sometimes going there to that address with Sridhara Maharaja and Kesava Maharaja and our Asrama Maharaja. We went there collecting for Navadvipa and for other business. That is when I was introduced to him.
“Even in those early days he told me about his future program for visiting America. He showed us the books he wrote on the Bhagavata and his magazine, Back to Godhead. We talked about many topics and associated together in those years until 1946 or so.
“He often asked me if I would go with him to America. He wanted me to leave the institution and become the sub-editor of his paper. I told him that I was part of the institution and also so young, I did not want to go to the foreign countries. In 1948 I was sent by Srila Tirtha Maharaja (Kunja Babu) to the Ramananda Gaudiya Matha on the Godavari River to be the temple president there. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada had installed the footprints of Mahaprabhu there in 1932. Some years after this Srila Swami Maharaja took the sannyasa order from Kesava Maharaja in Mathura. He left India from the Damodara Temple in 1965 and I did not meet him again until he returned from the Western countries.
“In 1971 he came to our Rajamundry Temple. I had wanted him to come to open the temple, so I had written to him, asking him to come. He wrote me back a letter that I still have here, agreeing to come. He also wrote that of almost all of his godbrothers, I was appreciating his preaching. Then he came to our celebration with some students, some sannyasis and brahmacaris. He stayed for one week. They also came to Vishakapatnam and he inaugurated our temple. For twenty days he stayed here with many of his senior students, but I don’t remember all their names.
“After this, Srila Swami Maharaja asked us to come back to Mayapura with him to attend the foundation-laying ceremony, which I helped to perform. He was inviting all of his godbrothers in Mayapura and I helped him at that time. Many came and saw the festival and attended the big feast. He received them. But then, some of them complained because he had accepted Prabhupada’s title. He told them how somehow he had allowed the students to call him that name, but it was an old issue and what to do now? We discussed this afterwards, and I told some of the godbrothers they should accept his name in light of all the service he has done to the world. Others in our lineage had taken that name, so what is the difference? When they all departed, prasada was distributed along with one book, cloth and five rupees. Krsna dasa Babaji was also present. I stayed there for seven days.
“Swami Maharaja requested our Ananda Prabhu to help in Mayapura with the cooking. Ananda Prabhu spent two years there with Maharaja as I had asked him. He was very strict, but could not deal successfully with the Western disciples and he left.
“Srila Swami Maharaja once asked me to speak to Visvanatha dasa, our old friend, who was at our village for seven days. He was Chief Minister from the brahmana community. Swami Maharaja wanted his disciples to be allowed to enter the Jagannatha Temple in Puri. He gave me one Krsna book, which I gave to Visvanatha. I asked him to please see if some change could be adopted there. However he was not a strong Chief Minister. He said he would try, but it was not done and he died. I saw Swami Maharaja another time when we all came to Calcutta for some big meetings.
“In 1977 we traveled with many pilgrims to Madhava Maharaja’s temple in Badrinarayana. Srila Swami Maharaja was staying for some time near Rishikesh. I went there along with Asrama Maharaja and some others. He was lying on the bed and was very glad to see us. One disciple, Hamsaduta dasa had written an article condemning a doctor scientist in Lanka who was an atheist. Even though Srila Swami Maharaja was lying down in weak health, we were all laughing. We took prasada and returned back.
“Once I said to him, ‘Maharaja, you should survive for ten more years.’ He answered, ‘How can I survive? You see my pulse.’ I saw that his pulse was not moving. I said, ‘Unless you stay, these Western disciples will not unite. They are strong-headed and they will fight. You must put them in line with our tradition. Previously I said, ‘Maharaja, you have established some gurus but Guru must be one.’ He said, ‘I have not selected. Only rtviks to act in my place now.’ I said, After your demise they will be gurus. Unless you bless a guru to sit on the Vyasaasana, they must go down.’ He said, ‘What to do? Everything is Krsna’s will.’ Then after some time in Vrndavana he passed away.
“He gave so much time and life-breath to serve his institution. No one else has done so much to improve our institution throughout the world. He received Sri Guru and Gauranga’s blessings. Once he said, ‘It is all my Prabhupada’s blessings. I have done my duty. Now the rest of it depends on the Lord.’ He labored hard. No other could do as he did in the foreign countries. He taught everything: how to cook, how to clean, how to prepare everything, how to decorate, and how to print books and include photos, book distribution. So much importance he placed on books , as our Prabhupada said. Big volumes with cover page he has invented. He possessed all devotional qualities. By his preaching in less than ten years — there is no other example of anyone doing like this — by introducing hari-nama in every town and village, he has fulfilled the prediction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”
Jiva Himsa 