Mukunda Goswami on
Jayananda
I was there when he moved into the temple and he would work up 15, 16 hours
a day during the time he was temple president and still maintain the temple
and see that all of the programs were going on, take care of the brahmacaris
and field everybodies personal problems, personal hassles. It was amazing.
When he was on these incense runs, even in the very dead of winter in the
Mideast where temperatures got below zero, he would refuse to spend money
on hotel rooms. He said he always hated to waste Prabhupadas money.
So he would just roll up in his sleeping bag and sleep on park bench while
he was on an incense run.
We had a surprise birthday party for him here in New York before he passed
away , about a week before and he was in the wheelchair. So after he saw
these big beautiful cakes that we had prepared for him, exact replicas of
the Ratha Yatra Chariots, he insisted on giving some speech and he was so
sick that we were telling him, " No, youll run out of breath. You
cant speak to all of these people, youre exhausted.", but he
insisted. Even though he was very very ill , he gave a very beautiful speech
about the Ratha Yatra. He was imploring all of the devotees to dedicate their
service and their lives at this time to making this festival a big success.
His voice was so weak that he could barely use it and he was very unsteady
and he would often stop his talk because he ran out of breath.
Actually I was talking with Chandanacarya recently and he felt that one of
the reasons Jayananda became so sick was that he worked so hard, not ever
caring for his body. This is his personal theory of course but he used to
be with him alot. He told me that he never slept only three or four hours
a night. He just worked his body until it completely collapsed day after
day after day. He had no concern whatever for what was happening to his body.
He just worked it and worked it and worked it and only slept and ate in order
to just keep it going.
I remember a letter Prabhupada sent to Jayananda Prabhu at the time. Jayananda
Prabhu had just written Prabhupada a letter saying that he had now found
his eternal dharma. That after all of these years as a devotee, he had now
found his actual constitutional position, that was going out everyday preaching
with Back to Godhead magazine. He was telling Prabhupada how satisfied he
was feeling now that he had found his final occupation. Then I saw the letter
Srila Prabhupada wrote and he said, "Yes, what you have said is very good.
I am very, very pleased. Just continue this process."
Actually, I had an experience like that just a few months ago. We were coming
back from the San? ) preaching center, (? ) house We stopped at a little
store and I saw this hippie boy who was kind of tall, had a headband and
long hair, who was very...kind of drunk looking and he had been drinking.
I passed by thinking this is a sad example of Americas capitalist system.
He said, " Hare Krsna" so I immediately was chastising myself for having
thought that way and then I just said, " Hare Krsna". I was thinking about
that. I was thinking what should I do? Maybe I should go talk to him, preach
to him.
He came up to me and said, " Hey you ever meet a guy named Jayananda.
I said , "Yea I know Jayananda really well"
So then he told me the story. He had been panhandling on Fishermans
Wharf in San Francisco when he was about 18 or 19 and he was drunk and he
approached Jayananda.
So Jayananda said, " So well, I cant give you anything but if you want
I can give you something to eat and I can give you a place to stay if you
want.
So he said, " I really didnt want to do it. I didnt really want
to have anything to do with this Hare Krsna stuff. This guy Jayananda, he
just attracted me so much I thought, well, what the heck, Ill try it.
So I guess in his usual nature, he went with Jayananda. As they were driving
back to the temple, Jayananda Prabhu asked, "What do you do?
He said, "Well, I do a little carpentry."
He said, "Oh I can give you some work to do. Now that you have a place to
stay, and room and board, well Ill give you some nice work."
"Well what is that work? "
"We are building some carts. You can help us build some carts."
So the next day, after they had prasadam and went to work, this boy was telling
me thought they would be building some little carts. Then he looked up and
saw these two story monstrosities. He was overwhelmed. He couldnt believe
he had to work on these carts. He said, "He was very attracted and he worked
and lived in the temple for six weeks right up to the Ratha Yatra festival
and he said "Jayananda was the most wonderful person I d ever met.
When I heard he passed away I just broke down and cried like a baby and he
was the most wonderful person that I ever met.
So I invited him to talk at the ? House Preaching center he said, It would
be improper because he had been drinking.
Anytime you want to express comments like you did here or rap about Jayananda
that would make everyone very happy.
At first he was reluctant to tell me where he lived or give me his phone
but when I told him he could do that he was very eager to give me his number
which he did. Just an example of someone who never became a devotee, hed
been a panhandler all of his life but still Jayananda was a wonderful person
in his life.
Prabhupada had written Jayananda a letter at that time, saying that this
festival was filling my hearts desire. My most cherished desire.
He was in a New York hospital with tubes in his arms and legs. He became
very disgusted with the fact that they were giving him so many drugs. So
one night, he just pulled all of the tubes out of his arms and legs, got
out of his hospital frock, walked downstairs, walked out into the street,
hailed a taxicab, had himself driven to the temple and never returned to
the hospital again. He felt it was better to not have that demoniac association
and just simply let Krsna take care of him.
Also theres one pastime, when he was in the hospital. There was a period
at that time when he didnt eat for almost a week. One day a devotee
was visiting him and he said he was having a craving for pakoras. Please
bring him some pakoras, see if he could wrangle some from the temple kitchen.
So this devotee came back with one of these tubs, filled with pakoras, brimming.
It was like a mountain inside. So Jayananda ate the whole tub, every single
one and didnt get sick at all. He really livened up.
I just wanted to add one other brief point. That is when this Ratha Yatra
took place in San Francisco, the first year Jayananda was just joining the
temple and we were very disappointed that the city authorities wouldnt
let us take our Ratha Yatra cart through the Golden Gate Park which is what
Prabhupada really wanted us to do. Somehow, we were completely amazed that
Jayananda did this. He became friends with the Police Chief Cahill and got
on a first name basis with him and to our amazement, he was able to get
permission. Although he said he told us but never did give permission to
anyone else to go though this (?) giant ride in Golden Gate Park
Jayananda Prabhu was always dealing with city officials in San Francisco
and there was one lady who always harassed the devotees every year. It was
her custom. Its like we have some people here that do that. After he
passed away, the devotees from San Francisco were meeting with city officials.
And the lady asked them about Jayananda.When the devotees told her that Jayananda
had passed away, she became overcome with grief. To their surprise, tears
just shot out of her eyes. She became unable to talk in the meeting. She
immediately got up and left the room.
"Jayananda has died?" Completely overwhelmed with grief.
So you can see how such a pure devotee is friend to everyone even
non-devotees.
All glories to Jayananda Prabhu! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
***
Jivadhara das remembers Jayananda
My association with Jayananda was in New York City just as the building of the first New York Ratha Yatra carts was getting under way.
I wasnt initiated yet but I was giving alot of service at the temple. Actually by Jayanandas engagement on the carts Srila Prabhupada told me directly that I should be initiated, so I was initiated the day after Ratha Yatra. I remember the first day Jayananda came I was building temple doors. He said, " Are you John B.?" I said, " Yes." He said, "I heard about you" He turned and walked away. That was the first time I met him. I was so busy but it was just spontaneous how he got me to work so hard on the carts. He somehow got me to be the person in charge of the construction site. He said, he could go back and forth and get all of the materials. Jayananda drove this old bread van., He had a wire tied to the carburetor throttle and he would pull it and accelerate that way. I said, "Jayananda you better get that fixed right" , and he said, "Krsna will protect me." He would discuss everything about the carts with me. He wanted me to help with the carts. He got word that I did alot of construction. He watched me working. I would speak to him off and on. I dropped by the carts one evening and saw a guy struggling, trying to cut some pipe and said let me help. After that he asked me to come work on the carts.
At the the railroad yard, at the cart building sites Jayananda would conduct mangal arotik. He would pick little flowers from the railroad tracks and offer them. He would offer them to the carts. He said the carts were non-different than Jagannatha. I thought maybe he sees Jagannatha on the cart. Every morning he would offer flowers to the carts. He also gave Bhagavatam class there in the morning. His main concern was, "I gotta finish this before I die. I have to serve my spiritual master."
Jayananda was a very unusual person. He was very patient. If something broke or didnt go right he was always consistent and patient in a very sweet way. He wouldnt yell.
I remember how I was there working with Jayananda on the Ratha carts, being close to him, he said I was his right hand man and 2nd man in command. He used to run out to get stuff and tell me I was in charge. He made you feel special. After work, I used to work for the city till 10 or 11 at night, he used to get me to eat at 11 at night . He made me stuff down halavah. He loved halavah. You couldnt resist him.
I would take the evening off from work and go to the cart site. One time when I was working on the carts and it was raining. Jayananda was holding a light and handing me nails. He was a little tired and asked me if he could go take rest. He was asking my permission. He was humble like that.
One day as we were working on the carts I said to one of the guys, "I am not in the position to say this but I think he is a pure devotee. The guys said," You cant say this." But in my observations and working with him and by what the scriptures say, I was suspecting it. I couldnt really tell but I knew he was special.
He was always telling me he was feeling these lumps on his thighs and all over his body. He would tell me, "Whatever it is, I pray to Krsna let it take my life after Ratha Yatra because this Ratha Yatra will be the perfection of my life." Prabhupada was more concerned with this Ratha Yatra festival in NY than any other Ratha Yatra. Jayananda said, "if I am able to pull this off whatever this lump is, this Ratha Yatra will be my perfection."
One day it was hot and we we were tired. I was drawing out the lines of the angles of the carts on the docks . I was working the angle of the side deck over the wheel. Jayananda was standing at the work bench and so was Ragannatha das. Ragannatha was saying he was tired and hot and that he wished he could have Jagannatha prasadam. Jayananda took up the can of Quaker State bearing grease and said, Here you are." Jayananda said, "It is on the Lords cart. It is non different than the Lord. " Ragannatha said to Jayananda," Why dont you eat it then?" So Jayananda held it up to the cart to offer it making circles with the can and then he he took a lump out of the can and ate it. He gave the can to Raganntha das and he took a little lump out and ate it. Jayananda offered some to me and I said, "You are out of your mind. I am not going to eat that."
One day a little black boy about 7 years old came and Jayananda spoke to him, mentioning something about Krsna. We chanted and danced in a circle having alot of fun.. Jayananda said to the little boy, "Now I am going to initiate you." And jokingly or not jokingly because he was always Krsna conscious he said, " So now your name is Paramisvara. Now lets have a kirtan." The boy was so ecstatic. The boy looked up at Jayananda and asked, "Now I am the boss?" Jayananda said, "Yes, you are now the boss and we have something for you." He gave him a can of paint and a brush because Jayananda always wanted to engage others in service. The boy painted a wheel on the Lords cart. He had more on himself actually than on the wheel. When he looked as if he was finished Jayananda said, "Oh, its a great job." The boy said, "I have to go home to see my mother." Jayananda was laughing and saying, "When he goes home he is going to be big trouble with his mother."
Day by day, getting close to the time for the parade, alot of people came. Jayananda was a very patient man. People would come down to the docks because they could see the tops of the carts and were curious. Police used to come down to that place and Jayananda would give them rasagullas. Cops would come up and ask for one so he would always keep some there for them. The cops liked to talk to him. They always approached Jayananda with great respect. The police who used to come to the cart site and talk to Jayananda, arranged to take the day off for the festival. They all showed up. I saw one of them with a camera and another guy brought his wife and kids.
One time Jayananda told me he was picking a rose from someones front yard and a lady came out screaming at him. Jayananda said, " Lady I have nothing. It is my daughter's birthday.I want to give her something." The lady said, " There are nicer roses on the side of the house. Take some of those."
Another time Jayananda went to a tool rental business in NYC and the guy just gave what ever it was Jayananda wanted to him. We used it for the carts. Jayananda brought it back a few days later and he said he was sorry it was run down. The fellow said, "Dont worry well fix it." Somehow Jayananda could engage people in service like this and they would do things they wouldnt ordinarily do.
Sometimes we would talk alot when we were working and he would laugh and kid with me that I would be 2nd hand man on traveling Ratha Yatra. Jayananda was always talking to me about making a traveling Ratha Yatra and how I would be his 2nd hand man. I said, "I cant. How would that be possible? "And hed say he would talk to Jagannatha. He would say, "Jagannatha will trap you." He would laugh and say, "Besides I dont have anybody else I can think of." He kidded me alot like that. When he was in NYC at the end, he would always talk about Ratha yatra and traveling Ratha Yatra, how would next year's cart be. He would discuss how to extend this or that on the cart.
Also after he found out what those lumps were, he was taking care of other people who were sick. He was amazing.
One day I came up on the 2nd floor at the New York Temple. Half a dozen sannayasis were there. Jayananda walked up and all of the sannayasis bowed down and paid obeisances to him. He was shy in a situation like that. I never saw anything like it. He always wanted to be the average Joe. He didnt like to be a big shot. He would say about taking sannayas, "Building the Ratha Yatra carts is my dedication to Jagannatha and I would have to give up my service to Jagannatha if I ever had to take sannayasa." He didnt think it was practical. Dravinaksa Prabhu told me one time Jayananda was in a meeting with some sannayasis. While the meeting was going on he just sat and read the Krsna book.
After Jayananda left his body, for the next years NY Ratha Yatra I extended the length of the cart just as Jayananda and I had discussed. I thought he would like that.
All glories to Jayananda!!!
***
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