Srila Prabhupada - Remembrances (Siddhanta dasa, ITV)
pragosh
Srila Prabhupada – Remembrances
Chapter 2
Jayapataka Swami,
Jayapataka Swami
Jayapataka Swami: I was on a morning walk with Srila Prabhupada when he stopped near a church. He looked at it and said that in the future our ISKCON temples were going to be something like the churches in that there would be some devotees living in the temples and many devotees living around the temples who would come on the weekends and for festivals. At that time, 1970, there weren't many temples, and the whole mood was making temples, joining the temple, and becoming a temple devotee. But Prabhupada was saying that in the future the temples would be a center with big communities of devotees around them. Now I am coordinating congregation programs, and that instruction has a lot of importance to me, although at the time I really didn't know what to think of it. It was a prediction.
Govinda
Govinda: When we were in New Jersey all of us used to sit and eat together. Prabhupada sat on the sofa and ate on a little table in front of the sofa, while we sat and ate on the floor. We would talk about different things during the meal. Once we were talking about brown rice, white rice, long grain rice, this rice, that rice, and Prabhupada said he once had a servant who didn't like long grain, fine rice. That servant preferred lesser quality rice. Then Prabhupada said that brown rice was for animals. I said, "Wow! I must be an animal because I like brown rice." He laughed and laughed and laughed. I said it in the mood of simplicity, but he thought it was funny.
Badrinarayana
Badrinarayana: Beyond the park there were museums and a quiet, forested area. I had walked in the park many times, but I had never seen this area. When Prabhupada walked there, deer came on both sides of the walkway and walked with us. They'd run twenty yards ahead and then wait. Prabhupada would catch up, and then they'd run ahead and wait again. Twice when Srila Prabhupada was there they followed us all the way down and all the way up. One of the devotees quoted the "atmarama" verse; that even dull animals can appreciate a Krishna conscious person. We were thinking, "What is the status of Srila Prabhupada? Is he like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu?" We weren't sahajiya-like, but we saw that the deer sensed Prabhupada's purity.
Jayapataka Swami
Jayapataka Swami: In Montreal we would walk to McGill University or walk around the block, and Prabhupada would make observations. Once he said that if you see a big, healthy person, you can ask him where he does his grocery shopping because, since he's healthy, he must have a good source. It happened that a taxi drove up and the taxi driver was very big. Prabhupada said, "Yes, ask him where he does his shopping." Prabhupada was spontaneous in that way. A devotee asked the taxi driver where he did his shopping, and the taxi driver was bewildered. Why would someone ask him such a question?
Govinda
Govinda: In New York before he got ill, he had us drawing the story of Prahlad Maharaj and Hiranyakashipu. He was keen on having the story as a slide show for children, which we eventually did. Prabhupada told us about the poses and demonstrated them. He posed for Hiranyakashipu, standing on one leg. He loved to pose for Lord Nrsimhadeva. At least once a day he would come in, do a roar, and describe how Lord Nrsimhadeva came out of the column, "rrrrrrrhhhhhh!" His eyes would get big, and you could see the white up above. "Rrrrrrrhhhhhhh!" This was his delight and he enjoyed it very much.
Once Jadurani had him pose like Krishna. He wrapped up in a white dhoti so that we could see how the pleats fell from a three-fold bending posture. He was right there watching us, seeing what and how we were doing.
Jayapataka Swami
Jayapataka Swami: One day they found a cockroach in the Montreal temple. Prabhupada took the cockroach in his hand, opened the window, and told the cockroach, "Here, I am giving you the whole world. Now enjoy it." Then he threw the cockroach out the window and closed it.
Badrinarayana
Badrinarayana: Every morning in Los Angeles Prabhupada taught us the Sanskrit for Sri Isopanisad, "Om purnam adah purnam idam." He would wait for us to say it, and we would stumble. Only a couple of devotees were learning it. After a week or so Prabhupada said, "These books I am writing are not just for selling, they are also for you. You should learn them." He said we should know his books like a lawyer knows the law books.
Another time Prabhupada was reading from Krishna Book and sometimes adding things that weren't in the text. He described how Narada Muni warned Kamsa that any son could be the eighth son of Devaki. Kamsa was waiting for the eighth son to be born and was letting the other sons go. Narada Muni, however, wanted to speed up Krishna's appearance, so Prabhupada said that Narada Muni showed Kamsa how to count in such a way that Kamsa became bewildered and therefore wanted to kill all of Devaki's children.