Srila Prabhupada Uvaca

[pragosh]

Srila Prabhupada Uvaca 81

Two Hours in the Daily Life of Srila Prabhupada's Personal Servant

At Any ISKCON Temple

The process for preparing Srila Prabhupada's lunch was usually the same. About a half-hour before I was to massage Srila Prabhupada I made a small chapati dough, chopped various types of vegetables and placed them in the middle tier of Srila Prabhupada's famous three-tiered cooker. I put cauliflower and potatoes or some other vegetable combination in the bottom tier with some water to become a wet vegetable. In the top tier I put a small two-part tiffan. I put split dahl in the bottom with water and rice with water in the top. More vegetables were placed around the tiffan in the top tier of the cooker. I then placed Srila Prabhupada's famous three-tiered cooker on the stove with the heat set at a medium-low flame. Then I left the kitchen to massage Srila Prabhupada.

Usually, his massage lasted one to two hours. The trick in using the cooker during the massage was not to let the water dry out in the bottom. Srila Prabhupada showed me how to use the cooker with dahl on the bottom. A few times the dahl started to burn during the massage. That was a great source of anxiety for me. I never wanted to leave Srila Prabhupada in the middle of his massage, but sometimes we smelled the dahl burning.

"What is that smell?" Srila Prabhupada would ask me.

He knew it was his lunch.

After rendering this service for about eight months and burning a few lunches, I came up with the idea of cooking a wet subji on the bottom and steaming the dahl and rice in the top tier. That eliminated my anxiety because the wet vegetable didn't thicken and burn like dahl.

When completing Srila Prabhupada's massage I always poured a small amount of mustard oil into the palm of his hand to oil the gates of his body. Then he walked to the bathroom to bathe. This gave me about 20 minutes to complete the rest of my service.

First, I neatly laid out his dhoti, kurta and copin (underwear) on his bed. I buttoned the bottom two buttons of his kurta, so Srila Prabhupada would have only two more to close. I then raced to his sitting room and prepared his desk for applying tilak which meant opening his mirror. It was round like that of a powder compact, with a piece of carved ivory on the lid. I always made sure that his small silver lota (about the size of a golf ball) had water in it. A small silver spoon was placed next to the lota. Finally, I placed the ball of tilak at the center of his desk.

After that, I ran to the servant's quarters to finish preparing lunch. I removed the cooker from the stove and put a wok on the fire in order to make a large chaunce. If needed, the lid of the cooker was used for this purpose. Some of the chaunce was poured into the wet vegetable in the bottom tier and a little was put into the dahl in the top tier. Then, I poured the assorted vegetables into the remainder of the chaunce in the wok. If a bitter melon was available, I sautid it in ghee and turmeric. I prepared another chaunce to cook the remaining vegetables. I placed all of the preparations on Srila Prabhupada's plates along with a katori of plain yogurt and another with milk sweets. With Srila Prabhupada's plate almost ready, it was time to roll and cook a chapati.

Hopefully, all of this was done at about the same time His Divine Grace finished chanting Gayatri mantra. He didn't mind waiting a few minutes, but I got scared if he had to wait longer than that. I put the plates down on his choki, offered my obeisances, and ran back to my room to cook another chapati. After he finished eating chapatis he opened the small tiffan filled with rice. Srila Prabhupada usually ate three to six chapatis with his meal. More often than not, he ate three or four chapatis. He enjoyed the remainder of his meal with steaming hot rice.

It was wonderful to cook for you, Srila Prabhupada. I pray to become an expert cook, like my godsister Yamuna devi, so I can offer you sumptuous foodstuff life after life.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SPU 81: Two Hours in the Life of a Servant; Massage & Cooking

 

 

 

 

 

[pragosh]

Srila Prabhupada Uvaca 82

 

Changing Lunch Menu

 

May 1973, ISKCON Los Angeles

 

Late one morning Srila Prabhupada rang his bell. I entered his sitting room and offered my obeisances.

 

" I am not feeling well today," Srila Prabhupada said softly. "So, for my lunch please make me some khichari and cuddy sauce. You can make the khichari with two parts rice, one part dahl and use a little salt, turmeric and ghee. That will be light and easy to digest."

 

"All right, Srila Prabhupada," I said.

 

Srila Prabhupada usually didn't give much information about his health, so a dietary adjustment was the only way I knew Srila Prabhupada was ill. Occasionally, he asked for khichari when he had a cold.

 

I went back to my quarters to prepare his cooker. I put khichari on the top level and water on the bottom. This meal was much simpler than usual. I felt relieved knowing there was no chance of anything burning during his massage, but sad that Srila Prabhupada wasn't feeling well. Normally, I was "cooker conscious" while massaging Srila Prabhupada due to my searing memory of burning Srila Prabhupada's lunch twice in two years. Twice was two times too many.

 

After setting up the cooker I returned to his room. Srila Prabhupada sat down on the mat for his massage. Normally, I massaged his head with sandalwood oil because of its cooling affect. When he had a cold, though, he sometimes instructed me to use mustard oil over his entire body. On this day, he told me to use only mustard oil. About 15 minutes into the massage he said, "So, I've decided. I don't think I'll take any lunch."

 

"All right, Srila Prabhupada," I said, lamenting that he must have felt quite ill.

 

I continued to massage his beautiful form for another half-hour.

 

"Actually," Srila Prabhupada then said, "I think I'll have a regular lunch."

 

"All right, Srila Prabhupada," I said, momentarily relieved that his health was improving.

 

He remained silent. Suddenly, I became overwhelmed with great anxiety remembering that I didn't have anything prepared except for khichari. It would take a long time to prepare a full lunch. I was so frightened to say anything about my predicament.

 

"Prabhupada, I don't have anything ready," I finally said. "It may take a little time."

 

"Whatever it takes, it takes," he said. "Just do it."

 

When Srila Prabhupada went to bathe, I darted into my quarters and put his lunch together as quickly and nicely as I could. I was probably in more anxiety than necessary, but that is how my feeble mind worked. I prided myself in keeping ahead of my regulated service to eliminate potential problems. Srila Prabhupada graciously waited for me to complete his lunch without any complaints. He sometimes put me through changes like this to teach me to be more flexible. My service was to do whatever he wanted, not what I wanted.

 

Srila Prabhupada, thank you for giving me the chance to focus on your contentment while performing my duties as your servant. Due to my fallen nature I often forget that devotional service means to personally please you and in this way Krsna is pleased. Please continue to guide me daily in your personal service, teaching me unconditional love.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SPU 82: Changing Lunch Menu