Trying to Maintain
by Bimbadhara dasa
From July 1978 Issue of the Brijabasi Spirit
The maintenance garage at Bahulaban is the site of practically all the mainÂtenance and repair work done in our zone. From here are supplied tools and materials for Prabhupada’s Palace and elsewhere. Due in part to our unparalÂleled accident record, this has become the largest such operation in ISKCON. ISKCON, in turn, is the largest preaching organization in the world. We are enÂgaged in the service of His Holiness Kirtanananda Swami, a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is the spiritual master of the entire universe and a pure devotee of Lord Sri Krsna, Who, in His expansion as Visnu, maintains the entire universe. It follows that our garage is actually the center of maintenance for the entire universe!
No mechanic here, or even alive, is qualified for such a position. In fact we have personally seen that material qualÂification has nothing to do with it. New Vrindaban has always been a place of hardship for the mechanically inclined. Why? Because each piece of modern paraphernalia has non-interchangeable parts, planned obsolescence and is comÂing from the world of Maya. When it confronts the spiritual energy of the Holy Dhama, it breaks and cries out for all its material energy friends to come and help it. These additional compoÂnents of material energy must be reÂquisitioned, found out, ordered, transÂported and so forth.
For example, the modern door closer with its 17 non-repairable parts will only work for certain duration of time unÂder ordinary conditions. Of course, as everyone knows, there is nothing orÂdinary about the conditions at New Vrindaban.
Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita that He is the intelligence in man. Therefore, in the mind of Amburish the idea for the cream of all door closers has arisen. To wit: A four foot piece of rope is tied to the top of the door with a heavy piece of iron tied to the other end. The rope runs through a pulley at the door frame and the weight at the end of the rope pulls the door shut.
The moment one sets foot in New Vrindaban ones ideas about technical triumph take flight like so many tiny birds. Each abandoned vehicle in the seÂcluded reaches of the farm is witness to some devotee’s realization that Krsna doesn’t need anything material. “This material energy is working under My direction.” (Bg. 9.10) Kirtanananda MaÂharaja has many times told us that the only way one can remain here is to take complete shelter of the lotus feet of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Vrndavana Candra.
Taking shelter means to be always engaged in devotional service. In our serÂvice at the maintenance garage we reÂquire the following implements. (1) A ten-pound sledge hammer. (2) An oxy-acetylene torch. (3) A 300 amp. AC-DC arc welder. (4) Various other tools which, if they could be gathered together, would cover the entire floor of the garage to a depth of two to three feet.
To give you an idea of all the wonderÂful variety in this line of service, here is a list of some of the projects we comÂpleted during the past year. We made the tread supports and welded the iron beams for the staircase on the guest building; made new axles and wheels for a wooden wagon; made 1100 pound, spiked steel wheels for the tractor; made a 500 pound steel belly pan to protect the tractor while brush-hogging; made a steel-mesh cage to protect the tractor driver while brush-hogging; reÂpaired the broken blade on the’ brush-hog; made forks for the Hi-lift to pick up tree trunks; climbed to the top of Prabhupada’s Palace with a 50 pound grinder and ground two feet off the one-and-a-half inch solid stainless steel flag pole; straightened out the bent bed on the dump truck as well as many other smaller jobs which are too numerous to record.
Anyways, our flatbed truck, carrying about ten tons of building blocks, just rolled over on its back. It looks like I’ll be busy enough for the rest of the after noon.
Haribol!
