Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
This is the temple where His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON, stayed for four years, prior to moving to the Radha Damodara Mandira. In the year 1954, Shrila Prabhupada retired from family life and adopted the vana-prastha-ashram, he first preached for a year in Jhansi and then spent a few months at the Gaudiya Math in Mathura. Then in 1955 he was invited to stay at the Gaudiya Math in Old Delhi’s Karol Bagh area, where he was engaged in editing the Harmonist Magazine and helping to manage the temple. However things did not work out favorably and within months he found himself homeless on the streets of Delhi and without funds. Regardless of these circumstances, Shrila Prabhupada continued to preach the message of Lord Chaitanya. He found free accomodation at various temples in Delhi and with whatever funds he could collect, he began printing his ‘Back to Godhead’ magazine on a regular basis and distributed the copies himself amongst the citizens of Delhi. Towards the end of 1956, Shrila Prabhupada paid a short visit to the holy city of Vrindavana and by Lord Krishna’s mercy, the mahanta of the Vamsi Gopala Mandira, whom Shrila Prabhupada had first met on a previous visit to Vrindavana in 1953, offered Shrila Prabhupada a room on first floor the Mandira. The temple was located near Keshi Ghata, just a few minutes’ walk from the Gaudiya Goswami temples of Radha Gokulananda, Radharamana, and Radha Gopinatha. After more than a year of homelessness in Delhi, It was the perfect place for Shrila Prabhupada to find a more permanent refuge.
Shrila Prabhupada had visited Vrindavana on a number of previous occasions, starting in 1925 with his family, and then again in 1932, where he met his spiritual master Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami at Kosi during the Gaudiya Matha’s annual Vraja Mandala parikrama. Then again in 1935, he had met Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati for the very last time at Radha-kunda, just one year before his spiritual master disappeared from the world. During that last meeting, his spiritual master advised him that if he ever got sufficient funds, he should print books rather than build temples, as books had a far greater impact on the population and was the most effective way of spreading the teachings of Lord Krishna.
Although Shrila Prabhupada had now found a permanent residence in Vrindavana, nevertheless, he continued to travel by the early morning train to Delhi where he continued with his preaching work, distributing his ‘Back to Godhead’ magazine and raising funds for printing further editions of the magazine. Shrila Prabhupada would either spend the night in Delhi or return to Vrindavana by the evening train. However, by January 1957, having successfully printed over twelve consecutive editions of his ‘Back to Godhead’ magazine, Shrila Prabhupada had run out of funds and was unable to find another donor and was forced to stop any further printing.
Being unable to continue ‘Back to Godhead’ magazine, Shrila Prabhupada decided to remain in Vrindavana and concentrate on his writing. Thus, in order to sustain his simple existence, Shrila Prabhupada performed the age-old tradition amongst mendicants known as madhukari. The performance of madhukari, which literally means ‘collecting honey like a bee -from flower to flower’, is a spiritual practice undertaken by holy men for maintaining the body and soul. The practice also involves the development of humility, by begging alms from door to door and accepting only a small amount from each house so as not to burden the householder. The householders would usually give chapattis, raw flour, rice, or lentils, which the holy men would either soak in water before eating or otherwise cook the items on a fire. This practice is ordained in the Vedic scriptures for all mendicants including brahmacharis, vanaprastas, and sannyasis. Each morning, Shrila Prabhupada, while carrying his small begging bowl and his umbrella, would first take darshan at the Radha Damodara Mandira, and then after performing madhukari, would go for darshan to the Radharamana Mandira; he would then chant japa while sitting beside the samadhi of Gopala Bhatta Goswami. After some time Shrila Prabhupada would then to Vamsi Gopala Mandira just before noon to honor the prashadam that he had received while performing madhukari.
In July 1959, the mahant of the Radha Damodara Mandira in Vrindavana informed Shrila Prabhupada that he had a number of vacant rooms and invited him to stay there. Shrila Prabhupada considered that the chance to stay at Radha Damodara was most auspicious, because the Radha Damodara Mandira had been established by Shrila Jiva Goswami, and was the place where Shrila Rupa Goswami had written many of his important books including the Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu (Nectar of Devotion). The Radha Damodara Mandira had also been Rupa Goswami’s spiritual headquarters for spreading Lord Chaitanya’s sankirtana movement, and the place where the Six Goswamis of Vrindavana would regularly meet to discuss transcendental topics. Shrila Prabhupada believed it was the ideal place for him to reside and write his English translation of the Shrimad-Bhagavatam. Without hesitation and looking forward to living in the close association of both Rupa and Jiva Goswamis, Shrila Prabhupada immediately accepted the offer to move his residence from the Vamsi-Gopala Mandira to Radha Damodara. At Radha Damodara Shrila Prabhupada at first occupied two rooms on the first floor and after they had been renovated, He moved into two rooms on the ground floor adjacent to the temple courtyard
