Stories from Radhagopinath Community of Love

This happened while installing the air conditioners in the temple. The air-conditioning ducting needed that the ceiling of Gopalji hall (a hall adjacent to the main temple hall) be lowered significantly. Radhanath Swami was in US at the time and somehow the Supersoul in my heart kept telling me that Radhanath Swami wouldn’t like the lowering; once he had told me, “A room is considered opulent when it has a high ceiling.” However, the engineers were convinced that to lower the ceiling was the only option. I wrote to Radhanath Swami for his opinion and his reply came unusually fast: under no circumstance should the ceiling be lowered.How I thanked the Supersoul in my heart that day! We decided to wait for Radhanath Swami before proceeding with the work.

When Radhanath Swami returned, he came out with a practical option that didn’t require the lowering of the ceiling; the engineers were agape. However, there was still a small problem. The doors opening into the Gopalji hall had to be reduced by two inches which meant that the paintings on each of the doors had to come down by two inches. I dared not take this decision myself knowing by now Radhanath Swami’s eye for perfection. I walked into Radhanath Swami’s room, explained to him the problem, and requested his presence on the site. Radhanath Swami immediately obliged.

For the next two hours Radhanath Swami was figuring out the aesthetic impact of shifting the paintings down by two inches. He had called for Haridas Thakur Prabhu, an expert artist, and made him move the painting several times on the door—up and down—while Radhanath Swami himself went about the hall to watch the painting from different angles. All along I was thinking, “All this for two inches?!”Then I remembered the Damodar lila and consoled myself that two inches can indeed make a big difference. At the end of two hours Radhanath Swami remained undecided. He concluded, “I will let you know by the evening.” I was perspiring; all the work was held up because of two inches.

Before evening, Radhanath Swami briefly visited the hall half a dozen times, inspecting the doors closely and from afar. At last, in the evening, Radhanath Swami said, “It is ok. You can bring down the paintings by two inches.” I jumped up in happiness—by two inches.

Radhanath Swami then became extremely grave and looking straight into my eyes said, “Nothing in this temple hall has happened whimsically. Everything has been put together painstakingly after a great deal of thought, effort and expense. If we have to change anything, we have to think a hundred times before we do it.” Radhanath Swami sees Radhagopinath temple factually as the home of Gopinath, Lord Krishna. Then, wouldn’t paying attention to the details of the temple’s beauty mean showing love for the Lord?

–Krishnan Iyer, Chief Finance Co-ordinator, Radhagopinath Temple