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REMEMBRANCES OF JAYANANDA by Svavas Das |
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REMEMBRANCES OF JAYANANDA Svavas Das In
1974, I recall I was a new devotee in Denver at the time, and I remember
the temple president, his name was Kuru-srestha, he was always talking
about this devotee in San Francisco who was actually very dear to
Prabhupada and who was known to single-handedly manifest this Ratha-yatra.
And it was always the talk of the movement, you might say, how Jayananda
Prabhu used to go out and get donations for carrying out this Ratha-yatra
festival. And we always heard about it. We also heard about Nara-narayana,
who was actually working with Jayananda also in San Francisco to manifest
this Ratha-yatra festival. And before we went, I remember, I was speaking
with Kuru-srestha, and he was saying that we were going to get to meet a
real great personality, a guy that just works day and night for Krishna
and for Prabhupada. So we were very anxious to see him. We just kind of
thought like, “Well, who is this person? He must be like a superhuman
personality!” You always think of a particular individual as being some
far-out personality, very handsome, strong, compassionate, loving, all of
these kind of things. We were trying to conceive of what Jayananda Prabhu
looked like, what he was actually like, some superhuman personality. I was
just a new devotee and we were very anxious to see this guy. So
anyway, we went to Ratha-yatra and we couldn't find Jayananda anywhere.
Myself and a couple other devotees, we were looking for him just to see
what this personality appeared to be like. So we were looking all over for
him and we couldn't find him, and we started asking devotees were he was.
At that time they had a lot, a parking lot away from the temple, I don't
recall where it was, but it was just somewhere away from the temple where
they were still building the carts. They were actually still in the
process of building them. And that's where Jayananda was day and night. He
slept there, he ate there, and he worked there, day and night, to build
these carts. So we were very enthusiastic and I went there. You know when
you are a new devotee, you don't realize many things. You know, sometimes,
when you go somewhere, they tell you, “Okay, go do this service over
there,” and you find yourself stuck there for two or three days with no
sleeping bag, no toothbrush. You don't have anything, you just have the dhoti
and kurta you had on. So
we were sent there to the parking lot because we were very enthusiastic to
meet Jayananda. We were sent there to help him on this project. Jayananda
Prabhu is the kind of personality that once you show some enthusiasm,
he'll definitely work you to the bone. So I was still a bhakta
and then I went there, all of a sudden I met Jayananda Prabhu in about
a five-minute encounter and I somehow opened my mouth and said that I used
to do a little construction. Somehow that just came out, due to the
puffed-up nature of a new bhakta, you
can imagine how a new bhakta is
very puffed-up, and he thinks he knows how to do everything. So due to my
enthusiasm and puffed-up nature, I said, “Yeah, I am pretty good at
construction.” So somehow or other, he put me in charge of Subhadra's
cart, and he said that I had to be extra aware of how this cart appeared
because Prabhupada was going to ride on this cart. And then at that time,
I really freaked out! Because you know, you're just a bhakta,
and Srila Prabhupada, the spiritual master, and the whole world, the
universe was going to be riding on this cart! I thought it was like God
Himself. So
there I spent at least three days and nights with no toothbrush, no other dhoti
or kurta, and Jayananda wouldn't even let us leave the parking lot to
go get prasadam or go to the
temple or do anything. You couldn't do anything else, you just had to be
there. And he just brought us some sleeping gear, like that. So that's
where I stayed, painting and decorating Srila Prabhupada's cart that he
was going to ride on, Subhadra's cart. So
that was my brief encounter with Jayananda Prabhu. I know that he was very
hard working. We watched him, we were there with him. Of course, we had
alot of fun. It wasn't like it was completely all austerity, but it was
actually alot of ecstasy. That was the first time I think I was introduced
to drinking 7-Up. See, I didn't think the devotees drank any pop or soda
or anything like that, I thought we just drank nectar. So at that
particular time, Jayananda would go and get a six pack of 7-Up and we'd
all be freaking out, thinking, “Wow! This is really ecstatic! He's
really a nice devotee!” because we got to drink 7-Up and things like
that. But
we worked very, very hard, and I always remember Jayananda in that way
because he actually gave me an opportunity to serve Srila Prabhupada
directly, because I was decorating the cart, I decorated his chair that he
was going to sit on, I got to do so many things. And then not only that,
but I got to steer the cart. Of course, this may not be a very big thing
right now because Ratha-yatra has been going on for so many years, but
just imagine what it's like when you're a new bhakta
and you're put in charge of a particular cart and you have to make
sure it's decorated and all of these kind of things – it's exhilarating!
It's just beyond belief of what your mind and your senses and your whole
existence feels like. It's beyond calculation right now, actually. And you
know, steering the cart in the middle of the night to go to the place
where they were going to begin the festival, all of these things were
unbelievable. So
personally, I always feel like I remember this first Ratha-yatra, and I am
always very grateful to Jayananda Prabhu for allowing me to have this
opportunity. And that might be the only reason why I am still in this
movement. We don't know. That may be a big reason because I always
remember these kind of things. And actually, it's very, very encouraging
to me. It actually brings alot of ecstasy, alot of pleasure in my thoughts
of Krishna Consciousness. Then
one other encounter I had with him was, I just remember this one. It was
in New York, I met him in New York in probably '76. In 1976, he was sankirtan
leader there, something like that, he was in charge of a party,
parties of women or something, I'm not sure. But anyway, we had this brief
encounter. It was very, very nice because I was eating prasadam
with him and then we talked about this whole incident in San Francisco
from about 1974, and he remembered everything, and he really congratulated
me that I was still a devotee, that I was still going on in Krishna
Consciousness. So it was a very nice meeting. We talked about old times
like that, and it was actually very enlivening. So
I just wanted to say that's how I remember Jayananda.
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