Bhavananda : It was so unbelievably hot in Vrindavan that I had a heat stroke and decided to go back to Mayapur. Prabhupada said, “All right, if that’s what you want to do. But who will do your service here?” I said, “Oh, Satadhanya can do it.” Prabhupada said, “That’s fine.“
When I was on the plane going back to Mayapur I thought, “What is wrong with me? Why did I leave? The perfection of life is to serve the lotus feet of Prabhupada in Vrindavan. It was so intimate. Why did I leave?” I got to Calcutta and drove out to Mayapur. It was the seventh or eighth of July, and I was sitting in the garden, when suddenly there was a huge brouhaha. Huge numbers of Muslims attacked, and I shot them.
We were arrested, and I was in jail for three weeks. I thought, “Oh God, I’ve destroyed Prabhupada’s entire preaching mission in India. What a nightmare.” I had one of my many nervous breakdowns. When Jayapataka saw me, he told me, “Prabhupada said you did the right thing. You were protecting the ashram and protecting the Deity. You absolutely did the right thing.” What a relief. Jayapataka also said, “Prabhupada said that, ‘They were coming to find the old man, and they arrested Bhavananda instead. He was in my place.’” Because when the police came, they ran right by us and went through the whole guesthouse looking for Prabhupada. Of course, he wasn’t there. It was nice that Prabhupada appreciated what I had done.
Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint – Volume 2 by Siddhanta Dasa
