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”
yes, for maharaj human relations are more important
Radhanath Swami is extremely careful not to hurt any one and sets high standards on how to take care of guests and maintain relationships based on vedic principles. At the same time Radhanath Swami is very careful not to hurt our own people and so is the explanation which also gives all of us a strong message.
There is so much to learn from Radhanath Maharaj…
Thank u for sharing..
Each and every actvities of Maharaj gives us some lesson to learn
HHRNSM is very humble and gentle at heart and is very merciful and loving with all his devotees, haribol, bhakti
HHRNSM at one of his best examples on management of bhakti yoga, very compassionate about his devotees, thank you Maharaj, haribol, rajesh karia
Radhanath Swami always emphasizes on the relationships with devotees
this reflects mahraj’s personal touch
All Glories To H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj
Maharaj’s way of handling issues is completely different, but he still ensures nothing is left unattended.
Hare Krishna
Radhanath Swami has always stressed on people management rather than project management. Radhagopinath temple is the proof of how true this statement is.
This quality of placing human relations above everything else is so enduring and hope giving. All glories. Thankyou for posting this.
i also had an experience with maharaja in Los Angeles,. He was getting ready to go to lunch at a devotees home when my husband and i who had been waiting for a while to see him came into his room. Instead of telling us that he had to rush off, he spent nearly 40 minutes with us asking us how we were, what our seva was and if we were happy. Then he told us some finer points of preaching. But what astonished us the most was that he told us that he really loved us and to write that down on a peice of paper and look at once a week and consider that an e-mail from him.
thank you for being such a wonderful example
Nice experience with Radhanath Swmai. He always gives more weightage to Humili
Nice experience with Radhanath Swmai. He always gives more weightage to Humility.
HH Radhanath Swami teaches by example…..He is an Acharya in the true sense..one who teaches by his own example, that relationship with devotees is the most important project and is pleasing to the Lord.
Because Radhanath Swami has spent so much time in human reltionship we could see now that Radha Gopinath Temple’s community has progressed so nicely. Because of this training we can see that the devotees from this temple are called all around the world to give the training what they have received from Radhanath Swami.
Wonderful..Its an important teaching for everyone
Radhanath Swami’s personal care & love for all devotees has brought about tremendous respect & love for him in the devotee community…….
H.H.Radhanath Swami Maharaj ki jai
Ditto. such a nice realization, human relationships more important than managerial things
I am learning reciproaction and personal touch thru this experience.
These events give us so many different insights into Maharaj, and his dealings with different classes of people. Very amazing.
Radhanath Swami is a true management Guru, as they call now-a-days, who knows what exactly needs to be managed.
Radhanath Swami always seems to have everything in control though he has hundreds of things to do.
Radhanath Swami Maharaj can manage any situation or any number of people because his management is based on human relationships. Thank you for sharing this.
Very inspiring .Than you very much
Nice one. Thank you !!
Valuing human relationships is very important in every phase of life, even in management…….thanks Swamiji for this wonderful lesson to all of us……
This sets an important lesson for us to follow in our life – Human relationships are more imp than management….We many times while doing management hurt others but we should take care of their feelings also.
thanks for sharing
Radhanth swami is a relationship expert at the same time he is a manager….So he does management driven by love.
important lesson for us to learn
Caring for others and distributing love of God are the foremost principles preached by HH Radhanath Swami. Radhanath Swami says else where that our relationships will be more meaningful and more loving by keeping God at the center.
Here Radhanath swami is teaching by his example how to take relationship with devotees as the most important thing/matter in our life.
Very true, Radhanath Swami gives so much importance on personal service & relationship with others caring their emotions.
Very true, Maharaj gives more importance to relationship than management. He is teaching all of us by his own example.
Very true.Maharaj is teaching all of us by his own example the value of relationship.
Pure devotee knows the priorities for pleasing Krsna most.
Radhanath Swami always emphasizes loving relationships.
true relationship can be only in KC relations
Learning to manage human relations with Radhanath Maharaj
This quality of Radhanth Swami of considering human relations above all other things is so adorable and inspiring for us to follow.
Radhanath Swami is expert in managing human relationships precisely because he sees every person as unique and important, not as a resource who can prove useful at times.
Yes. We should understand the importance of association. Maharajji always lead by example so that it would be easier for us to follow.
Maharajah shows by his personal example that devotee relationships are more important and it is inspiring us to follow his foot steps.
Maharaj is very Practical & expert in how to deal with devotee according to time, place & circumstances.
Radhanath Swami teaches us the importance of relationship.Thank you very much for sharing.
So nice