Topic
Srila Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj Memorial Service at Sydney
Author
Vaijayantimala devi dasi
Maharaj, for those who had worked with him, he was very kind and loving but when it came to preaching or building temples he could be quite merciless. He had the same attitude that we read Srila Prabhupada had about building temples. Very strict on time. Very strict on Lakshmi. Not a cent should be spent more and not a cent should be spent less. Every time we presented the budget to Maharaj, and how much we would spend, myself and H.G Vaishnava Seva Prabhu would be sweating for half an hour making sure we had all the figures before him and then from Rajkot, we will call him in Nasik. We would give him 10 or12 breakdowns of amounts and he would listen to all of them and then put down the phone saying, "Very good, very good." We would be relieved. Within the next ten minutes, Maharaj would call back and say, "Devaki, the sixth amount, why is it so much? Something is wrong somewhere". Then we would really sweat. I will say, "Maharaj, please give me 5 minutes" and put the phone down. Then I would ask Vaishnava Seva Prabhu to pick up the phone and talk to Maharaj. Maharaj had such an amazing memory. Being a lawyer, I do not know why I had to deal with Lakshmi. Maharaj would say, "As far as you are so bad with Lakshmi, that is your qualification. If you are any smarter, you would take the money. I know how bad you are with figures". So Maharaj was always trying to keep us in balance. He was very pakka with whatever he did. Very expert.