I N T R O D U C T I ON
O n the eve of construction of the Temple of the Vedic Plane tarium, and as the Mäyäpur community develops, so the need for purity and accountability in following Çréla Prabhupäda’s instructions becomes stronger. We’ve all heard the tattva, the gospel, the urban legends, exag- gerations, and the half-truths on what “Çréla Prabhupäda said” on Mäyäpur. Yet reading what he really said on Mäyäpur is something like delving into the heart and mind of Çréla Prabhupäda—his vision, tenacity, determination, consistency, and purity of heart are unfathom able as they unfold word after word in these pages. Starting with his humble admission of trying to do his “little bit” in taking up the mission of Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura, right through to the grand statements of “inundation of love of Godhead spreading all over the world,” Çréla Prabhupäda’s goal never wavered: he wanted us to get the message, understand his desires, and envision this spiritual city; he wanted to attract the attention of the entire world, from tourists to scientists, In- dians to Europeans, atheists to devotees; he wanted them all to know about, hear about, and visit Mäyäpur. And he wanted us to understand that that was what he came for. And then he wanted us to build it… One of the most famous sayings in ISKCON is “Prabhupäda said.” Even while he was present, Çréla Prabhupäda made mention several times of this phrase so quickly coined in ISKCON. He referred to this tendency in a lecture in Perth, Australia, in 1975: “So, when you change, then the authority is lost. Just like in our Society, sometimes they do something nonsense and they say, “Prab- hupäda said.” (laughter) They are doing that. We know that. It is de- teriorated like that.” Inevitably, change will accompany progress. Times change, cir- cumstances change, places change as they grow from fields to vil- lages, to towns, and eventually to cities, as was Çréla Prabhupäda’s plan for Mäyäpur. The eternality of Çréla Prabhupäda’s instructions
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