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Written by Madhava Smullen. Archival Research by Chaitanya Mangala.<\/i><\/p>\n
New Vrindaban, May 20<\/i>th<\/i><\/sup>, 1969 \u2013 <\/i>A small cluster of devotees waited at the entrance to the rural West Virginia property, hearts beating with anticipation. As the Lincoln town car turned the corner, they hit the gravel driveway in obeisance. <\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada stepped out of the car. \u201cOh, there are many waiting here,\u201d he said, looking around with a smile that lit up his entire face. \u201cJai Sri Krishna!\u201d<\/p>\n The devotees smiled back. They had been waiting for this moment since they first told Prabhupada in March of the previous year that they were negotiating with landowner Richard Rose. <\/p>\n From then on, Srila Prabhupada had been writing streams of enthusiastic letters to them, outlining his ambitious plans: that the land be called New Vrindaban; that \u201ccow protection should be [its] main business;\u201d that it be \u201ca new place of pilgrimage for you Western devotees\u201d and \u201can ideal village where the residents will practice plain living and high thinking.\u201d <\/p>\n Even before Hayagriva told Prabhupada that the 99-year-lease had been signed on August 8th<\/sup>, 1968, he went as far as to say, \u201cI may permanently stay there and try to serve you in constructing a New Vrindaban city in West Virginia,\u201d expressing that it would be the ideal place for him to spend the rest of his life translating spiritual literature. And now he was here.<\/p>\n Excitedly, the devotees loaded Prabhupada\u2019s luggage into the old powerwagon they planned to drive him up the dirt road to the farm in. As Srila Prabhupada took his seat, they started it up. The vehicle lurched, coughed out smoke, and promptly died. They tried it again. And again. Each time, it cut out. The devotees, mortified, looked at their guru. This wasn\u2019t how they had hoped his first visit would go.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy not walk?\u201d he said, matter-of-factly. It was a subtle way of pointing out, right from the get-go, that the simple life was superior to that of so-called modern \u201cconvenience.\u201d And despite the devotees\u2019 protests that it would be too hard on him, he set off at a smart pace up the ominously named \u201cAghasura Road,\u201d a twisting, turning two-mile trail riddled with potholes and ruts.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n As usual, Prabhupada\u2019s much younger disciples were left huffing and puffing as they struggled to keep up with him. Head held high, he casually discussed the trees, flowers and vines along the way, interested in everything and finding ways to relate it all to Krishna consciousness. In just his first few minutes at New Vrindaban, he was already teaching his disciples his key instruction for the project, the glue that held it all together: loving Krishna.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n At last, Prabhupada and the devotees rounded a curve in the road, and could see a clearing on the ridge ahead. There, amidst the lush green of the West Virginia countryside, was a small farmhouse, a barn, and the hand-built one room cabins that devotees resided in.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n After washing and appreciating the devotee\u2019s simple lodgings, Prabhupada sat down on a dais set up for him beneath a willow tree\u2019s leafy cascade. Devotees brought him fruit, local tulip honey and fresh milk from New Vrindaban\u2019s first cow, Kaliya. Then they sat before him in a semi-circle on the grass, looking up at him expectantly as he sipped it. <\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t tasted milk like this in fifty years,\u201d he said in wonder.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n As Ranadhir Das paraded the milk\u2019s maker, Kaliya, before him, he admired her, commenting that the Vedas calculate a man\u2019s wealth in cows and grains. <\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Encouraged, the devotees told him that they hoped to get their own hive next year. \u201cThen you will have the land of milk and honey complete,\u201d Prabhupada said. \u201cThat is nature\u2019s design, that everything is given complete for a happy life. We don\u2019t require artificial amenities. All we need to realize Krishna is here.\u201d<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Prabhupada again made the same point when Lavanga-latika Dasi brought him a silver cup of water, freshly drawn from the well. \u201cOh, it is very sweet water,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is Krishna. That is the way of remembering Krishna. It is so easy here at New Vrindaban.\u201d <\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n He then told the devotees how the morning sun at New Vrindaban could remind them of Krishna\u2019s bodily effulgence; the cow of Krishna\u2019s name Govinda, one who gives pleasure to the cows; and the countryside of His statement in the Gita that He is the sweet fragrance of the earth.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n For Prabhupada, seeing New Vrindaban come to life was like seeing a dream come true. He had been planning a community like this since long before he had even travelled to the United States from India. While alone in Delhi back in 1956, he had written a series of articles in his Back to Godhead magazine, detailing his vision for a community where people would live a simple life based on the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita. And right from the beginning of ISKCON, he often told his disciples he wanted them to start a farm project. And they had done it! Prabhupada looked around at them with a broad grin that was almost childlike in its enthusiasm. <\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Sometime later, as he continued to chat with the devotees and look around the property, Paramananda Das finally succeeded in getting the powerwagon up the hill. Devananda and Prabhupada\u2019s servant Purushottam carried Prabhupada\u2019s luggage, including a big trunk packed with manuscripts, into his room. They then set the room up to his specifications, with a mattress on the floor and his Radha-Krishna Deities in a small cherrywood room attached to the bedroom.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Prabhupada liked his new room, with its two windows that opened out onto a view of the big willow tree. Quickly, he made himself at home, and settled right into his usual routine.<\/p>\n Always revolving around Krishna, Prabhupada\u2019s day would begin in the wee hours as he rose to dictate his books. In his memoir The Hare Krishna Explosion, Hayagriva Das recalls waking up at 2:00am and seeing the light on in his room.<\/p>\n At 4:00am, Prabhupada would attend mangal-arati, watching the Deities intently and striking his trademark steel gong as twenty devotees crammed into the small temple room on the first floor of the farmhouse. He would then perform arati to his own Radha Krishna Deities, and chant his rounds in his room while the devotees did the same downstairs.<\/p>\n After breakfast, Devananda would massage him with mustard seed oil outside in the morning sun. Throughout the day, he would dictate letters, take walks, and hold meetings at his favorite spot beneath a persimmon tree with the devotees gathered around him on the grass. <\/p>\n In the evening, he would lead kirtan in the temple room, encouraging the devotees to dance. Then he\u2019d give a lecture, darshans <\/i>in his room, and finally rest, before beginning it all again. <\/p>\n The days passed, lengthening gradually, bees buzzing lazily against blue skies and brilliant green trees, brief showers falling in the afternoons. Meanwhile, Srila Prabhupada built his fledgeling community, guiding the devotees as they sat with him beneath the persimmon tree.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Sometimes his instructions were practical. He told his disciples that he would show them how to build simple mud houses at practically no cost; that they should buy the adjoining property and build a bridge \u201cso that gentlemen will come;\u201d and that they should call their waterfall Keshi Ghat, their hills Govardhana, and their lakes Radha-Kunda and Shyama-Kunda. <\/p>\n He sketched his own design of a two-wheel cart for workhorses. He talked about protecting cows and bulls as father and mother, and how they could provide all transportation, fuel, and dairy needs. And he laid out plans for establishing the varnashram system and building temples, a guesthouse, and living quarters. He even discussed a gurukula for spiritual education, although there were only three boys in the community so far.<\/p>\n His ambition amazed the devotees, and his strength and vision kept them positive. \u201cSomeday you may see that it\u2019s a great asset,\u201d he told them when they complained about the pothole-ridden Aghasura Road. \u201cSomeday there may be many cottages by the road, and people will be driving up to see. Don\u2019t be discouraged.\u201d <\/p>\n At other times, Srila Prabhupada\u2019s instructions were more philosophical. He stressed the importance of chanting and reading, citing the six Goswamis of Vrindavana as role models. And he pointed out how the hard work of simple country life was perfect for developing Krishna consciousness. <\/p>\n \u201cThey are hypnotized by Krishna,\u201d he commented once, as he watched the young men work in the fields. \u201cThat is samadhi. Samadhi<\/i> doesn\u2019t mean inactivity. It means being completely absorbed in Krishna. Anyone chanting Hare Krishna is in samadhi<\/i>. Anyone cooking for Krishna or writing for Krishna or working in the field for Krishna is in samadhi<\/i> because the consciousness is: \u2018I am doing this for the satisfaction of Krishna.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of all, however, Prabhupada stressed how important it was for New Vrindaban residents to communicate and cooperate with each other, always with “Loving Krishna” as the connecting thread. <\/p>\n \u201cYou must jointly work,\u201d he said during a conversation with Kirtanananda, Hayagriva, Shyama Dasi and other managers on June 9th<\/sup>. \u201cThere may be sometimes disagreement, but you should settle up. Otherwise how you can make progress?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone will cooperate,\u201d he added. \u201cWhy not? It is Krishna\u2019s. Nobody is actually the in-charge. Krishna is in charge. We are simply assisting Krishna. In that spirit we shall work\u2026. Everyone should think that \u2018I am acting to satisfy Krishna.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n By June 14th<\/sup>, now in his fourth week at New Vrindaban, Prabhupada was looking robust and seemed to be greatly enjoying the rest, fresh air, spring water, cow\u2019s milk and of course the devotees\u2019 association. They, too, were full of bliss in his. <\/p>\n But on June 18th<\/sup>, upon receiving a letter from Mukunda about the progress his disciples were making in London, Prabhupada decided he must fly to England immediately. The New Vrindaban devotees, who had been hoping he would spend the entire summer with them, were crestfallen.<\/p>\n On June 22nd<\/sup>, Prabhupada\u2019s last night in New Vrindaban, all the devotees crowded into his room, eager to catch his last words. Amidst some light talk of his upcoming travels, he confided in them that personally, he would like to stay in New Vrindaban and finish translating Srimad-Bhagavatam<\/i>.<\/p>\n As the evening wore on, six-year-old Dwarkadish began to nod off, as did his friend, five-year-old Ekendra. Prabhupada, who had developed a playful rapport with the two during his stay, smiled. <\/p>\n \u201cSo, you are feeling samadhi<\/i>, Mr. D. D. D. ?\u201d he asked. \u201cAll right. Let him take rest. And you are also feeling samadhi<\/i>, Mr. Ekendra? You are very good boys. You can also take rest.\u201c<\/p>\n At this, the devotees sensed that it was time to let Prabhupada himself take rest. But they remained in his room for some time more, hoping to soak up every precious moment they could. At last, they all offered obeisances and left his room. <\/p>\n
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By Madhava Smullen<\/strong><\/p>\n