Mahendra dasa in Pittsburgh

by Brahma Das (ACBSP)

Mahendra dasa was vice president of the Pittsburgh temple when I joined there in 1972. I was an inexperienced 19 year old and he was a worldly grownup of 27 so he naturally became my mentor. When Srila Prabhupada came to Pittsburgh that year Mahendra took the lead in preparing for that visit, which included renovating the temple which he mostly did himself. He also helped to organize Visnujana Swami’s Transcendental Rock Opera performance, wherein Prabhupada spoke, at a prestigious concert hall nearby.

Later, when winter snows arrived Mahendra saved us dhoti clad book distributers from the cold by building a sleeping platform in the temple van and taking us to Florida on traveling sankirtana. He was a great van leader who was always attentive to our needs. Who knew that in a few years Mahendra would be distributing books as manager of Prabhupada’s BBT.

Unfortunately, zoning laws forced the closure of the impressive stone Pittsburgh temple that I had joined. In those circumstances Mahendra was made the new president of a Pittsburgh ISKCON without a temple. Undeterred he rented a small residential flat for the few devotees that remained and sans temple we preached and distributed books.

Months later Mahendra started a new temple in a fabulous location on the main street between Pittsburgh’s two largest universities. He built a beautiful temple room and refurbished the two story building himself. Then he and I borrowed an extension ladder from my father and painted the building purple with yellow trim so that the thousands of students walking by would take notice—and they did.

The temple was a success, devotees joined, and as leader Mahendra was always competent, caring and personal with everyone, particularly my mother who called often to ask about my welfare. Forty years later before her death at age 97, my mother asked,”How’s Mahendra doing? I really liked him. He was always nice to talk to.”

Once I complained to Mahendra saying, “I joined the Krishna movement to find peace of mind, but so far I have found little of that in ashram life.”

In his wisdom Mahendra replied to me citing Bhagavad-gita 7:16-17.

He said, “Peace of mind is material so if you joined to find peace of mind you joined for the wrong reason. The right reason, or the best reason, is to gain spiritual knowledge that inspires us to serve Krishna regardless of material circumstances. Peace of mind is subordinate to devotion to Krishna.”

I served under Mahendra in Pittsburgh until we were transferred to Philadelphia three years later. For some reason the temple he started was eventually closed but afterwards when I walked by that old building I saw that some of the purple color we had painted on decades before remained. So it is with our lives. Mahendra Prabhu has now passed on, but I feel that much of the experience and wisdom I gained from him in my formative years at the Pittsburgh temple is still with me. All I can say, with a tear in my eye, is that I am forever grateful to have once come under Mahendra’s auspicious care.

Sincerely, Brahma Das

Srila Prabhupada’s Arrival at ISKCON Pittsburgh, 1972