This happened in the month of April 2005 on the day that Radhanath Swami was about to leave for his western preaching tour. Since he was scheduled to be away for at least 6 months , I put together a list of eight points concerning temple management that I needed Radhanath Swami to decide upon before he left. I then called up his secretary and told that I needed to meet Radhanath Swami, any time that was convenient for him, for half an hour. I did this in the morning, feeling pretty sure that at least some time during the entire day Radhanath Swami would give me some time.
The day dragged on. Radhanath Swami throughout the day was meeting devotees who wanted to say good bye to him and was happily spending time with all of them. I called up Radhanath Swami’s secretary in the evening, about an hour before Radhanath Swami’s scheduled departure to the airport, and inquired from him anxiously whether Radhanath Swami was finally free. The secretary told me that there were half a dozen devotees in his room and if I wanted I could come and wait outside the room.
This is what I did…I rushed to Radhanath Swami’s room and from the corner of his eye Radhanath Swami saw me and nodded, indicating I should wait. Finally, all the devotees left and there was just me and Radhanath Swami; and twenty minutes were left for Radhanath Swami to leave to the airport.
After prostrating myself I was about to begin, when Braj Bihari Prabhu from Vrindavan, who heads ISKCON Resolve, entered the room. Radhanath Swami immediately got up, welcomed him with a bear hug like a long lost friend, and both of them sat down and went on chatting—completely oblivious of me. I was frantically looking at the watch with every minute passing by, and was gently sweating. Radhanath Swami continued to talk to Braj Bihari Prabhu as if he had all the time in the world, inquiring about everything concerning Braj Bihari Prabhu’s family, services, etc., until finally Braj Bihari Prabhu seeing my restlessness, remarked, “You both must be having a lot of things to discuss about…sorry for barging in like this.” And then he was gone…Now, just ten minutes to go and eight points to discuss…I started blurting out and Radhanath Swami nonchalantly answered all my points.
Anyways, having got my answers, I paid my obeisance once again and prepared to leave. Just then Radhanath Swami said, “I am seeing Braj Bihari Prabhu after a very long time and he specifically came to say me goodbye. My spending time with him was more important then your managerial questions, which are important but not as important as spending time with him. Anyways, if you get stuck on any issue, send me a mail or call me up.”
I came out from the room thoroughly crushed and humbled. Radhanath Swami gave more time and importance to a devotee who had come from far to meet him than to a ‘big’ manager. I understood that human relationships were far more important for him than management was.
Krishnan Iyer, Finance Officer, Radha Gopinath Temple.
185 replies on “Management vs. Human Relationships”
This is really rare. How Radhanath swami can be so personal & completely down to earth.
this article is an amazing example of HHRNSM being an perfectionist and very accommodating, haribol, bhakti
HHRNSM is at its best with both man management and time management, haribol, rajesh karia
Amazing incident where Radhanath Swami showed the importance of personal relationships
From his each and every action he teaches us so many wonderful things. Radhanath Maharaj is really great.
What a wonderful perosnality Radhanath Swami is. He knows that Management and managing things may or may not result in good results.But maintaining good human relationships always matters very much in the long run.
taking care of people is real management and that is what we learn from HH Radhanath swami
Thank you Radhanath Swami for everything you are giving
we are eternally indebted to you maharaj
Very nice lesson!
We learn from H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj that taking care of persons is real management.
Nice realization. Thanks for sharing.
Radhanath Swami’s compassion for all living entities is clearly seen here.
Thank you so much Radhanath Swami for your wonderful teachings
All Glories To H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj
What an experience Prabhuji. Yes Maharaj values devotees and their presence and issues is what Krishna will take care of.
Hare Krishna
Radhanath Swami Maharaj teaches important lesson to give more importance to the persons than the management.
Radhanath Swami really knows what the crux of human relatioships is-putting persons before projects.
Thank you very much for sharing tis wonderful experience.
Maharaj ki Jai!
very interesting article, thanks for sharing it with all of us, haribol, bhakti
HHRNSM always has given his priorities more to the concerns of devotees then to other managerial aspects, but has always given solutions to all problems very promptly, haribol, rajesh
very rare for any person at such positions to value and manage evrything. only extraordinary people can do this
A big lesson to be learn and imbibe in life!
Thank you Prabhu, for sharing.
And that is exactly why anything which Radhanath Swami does comes out so fine and perfect because he is so intimately connected with the people.
Radhanath Swami has very special ways of giving the message to people to deliver the essence of spirituality. Most important of which is human relationships.
Without humbality we can not serve other souls.
Thank you Maharaj for teaching us.
Radhanath Swami teaches us that management is secondary to personal relationship.
This is a very moving post, quite revealing of Maharaj’s mood.
many many thanks for sharing this with us.
So wonderful to fear about the qualities of a saint like Radhanath swami
jai maharaj ki..
Thank u for sharing such a nice article…Really Relationships are more imp than management
Thank you for this post.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful article of how Radhanath swami gives much importance to people and relationships than the managerial things.
What a wonderful lesson we learn from this story. Human relationships are more important than managerial concerns.
Maharaji gives a lot of importance to human relations .thank you for sharing a wonderful story.