“Who was the G.B.C. then?”
When I got back to Delhi, flew back to Delhi, Gopal Krishna was again the G.B.C. of Vrindavana, and Hamsadutta Maharaja was Prabhupada’s secretary. Hamsadutta related the story of what had happened.
One day when Prabhupada woke up from his afternoon rest, I went in and gave him the report about the Middle East program. He was happy that we had gone out and collected funding and did some preaching. He was pleased. Now we must begin the construction of the gurukula.
Surabhi had made the plans, and he was coming once a month for a couple of days to checkup on the construction. But he was so absorbed in Bombay. He had no time really. Bhagaji was like the man in Vrindavana for Prabhupada. He was up front. He was saying to Prabhupada that he could do this and that, and he would build this and that. I was very inexperienced, and was heading up my own project, and I was used to working under Surabhi. Anyways, it came to a point where I had to do it, but it was not like when we built the temple.
Prabhupada was not coming so much like he did, when we were building the temple. So every morning when Prabhupada was in Vrindavana, I would show him around and point out different things, answer questions. At that time, simultaneously, as I started the gurukula building, I got married and I started the goshala also. So now we were going to go into a whole new sequence.
“Is there some story about you getting married, Prabhupada getting directly involved?”
Yeah. Prabhupada was in Vrindavana. Jagadisha, I think, was the secretary. Harikesa and Prabhupada-krpa were also there. Over the years I had developed a desire to get married. I felt I should get married, but I was always afraid to express it because I felt that this was not good in Vrindavana. At the same time, there was this problem. I had a problem, right? It was affecting my service a little. So Gopal Krishna approached Prabhupada. No, first of all Harikesa asked Prabhupada, what should I do. So Harikesa came back and told me that Prabhupada said,
“You should not get married, you should go and travel with Sridhara Swami. He had just taken sannyasa. With the idea of factually preparing for sannyasa.”
So I left Vrindavana and I was with Sridhara. I was one day in Bombay. I just did not like it. So Prabhupada came to Bombay. We met Prabhupada at the airport and came back to the temple. I was sitting in his room. I was with Nitai. Prabhupada said,
“So, I have been thinking. You should go back to Vrindavana. Bhagaji is mad after you. He cannot do without you there.”
Prabhupada was encouraging Bhagaji, because he wanted Bhagaji to become the G.B.C., to take sannyasa – the whole thing. So he felt if I was with Bhagaji that would help him. He said,
“You should go back to Vrindavana. Bhagaji is mad after you.”
I said,
“All right,”
So I went back to Vrindavana, and together Bhagaji and I started the gurukula. I was still agitated, you know. I thought what I should do about this marriage business. This went on and on, months and months.
My wife had come to Vrindavana. This was just after I came from the Middle East with Tribhuvanatha. We were encouraged by Hamsadutta to go throughout his zone on his program. He gave us a little Volkswagen bus, and he said,
“You preach.”
Hamsadutta was giving me an order that I should do book distribution all over India, and he had these big buses and smaller buses. So Tribhuvanatha and I were part of the advance party that would set up programs, make members, like that. So I went on that program; but I was still dissatisfied. I met my wife. She was a brahmacarinie at that time. She came from Australia. She was a big book distributor, the biggest in Australia, during Madhuvisa’s time. So I had no intention then, and I did not think twice about her. It was not like preconceived or anything.