srila prabhupada said...!!!
chitralekha devi dasi (bcs)
One time in India, while Srila Prabhupada was staying in Mayapur, two of Srila Prabhupada's Western-born sannyasis visited a temple and heard an odd comment from a pujari. While Srila Prabhupada's men were taking darsana of the Deities, the pujari seemed to appreciate their reverence and demeanor.
"Continue to render devotional service," the pujari brahmana advised them, "and maybe in your next life you will be born as a brahmana."
The disciples later went to Srila Prabhupada and told him of the incident. Prabhupada smiled and told a story.
Once there was an old lady who lived in a remote village. One day the British district magistrate visited her town. This old lady had been entangled in a quarrel regarding possession of land, which some of her relatives were trying to take from her. Friends advised that she see the magistrate and present the matter to him for a settlement. When she did so, the magistrate immediately ruled in her favor and made sure the land was put in her name. Delighted, the old lady attempted to bless the magistrate.
"I bless you," she said, "that in your next life you will become a police constable."
In the old lady's mind, Srila Prabhupada explained, the office of police constable was the highest thing she could imagine. "Similarly," Srila Prabhupada said, "these caste brahmanas do not know that pure devotional service is much higher than being born as a brahmana."
Bhakti-caru Swami, interview. Although the Hindu pujari naively blessed the devotees to become Hindu brahmanas in their next life, he at least appreciated their reverence and devotion in the temple. Because he appreciated their behavior in his own way, he wanted to bless them and wish them well. Proper behavior by Prabhupada's followers is a credit to Prabhupada, to the Krsna consciousness movement, and to the devotees. The credit to the devotees, however, has to be earned; it is not automatic. Prabhupada writes in The Nectar of Instruction, "Indeed, whether the devotees come from a family of previous acaryas or from an ordinary family, they should be treated equally. One should not think, ‘Oh, here is an American gosvami,' and discriminate against him. Nor should one think, ‘Here is a nityananda-vamsa-gosvami.' ... According to the statements of Srila Rupa Gosvami in this verse, an American gosvami and a gosvami in a family of acaryas are nondifferent." If we go at all to a temple or place of pilgrimage, it should be for our devotional service, and we should do it with humility and purity to properly represent Prabhupada. Prabhupada also said that wherever we go in the world, if we follow the rules and behave properly, people will worship the devotees. Even if the brahmana in the temple does not bless us, however, Prabhupada and Krsna will be pleased with our proper public behavior.
Biographies and Glorifications of Srila Prabhupada Gita-nagari Press-Srila Prabhupada Nectar-Srila Prabhupada Tells a Story-Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
chitralekha devi dasi (bcs)
Some devotees have analyzed that during Srila Prabhupada's years with ISKCON (1966–1977), he passed through three stages. A first phase was when Srila Prabhupada was the only responsible preacher or devotee and everyone turned to him as the sole spiritual guide with no intermediary. This was the way Srila Prabhupada appeared to the devotees in the first New York temple and in the temple in San Francisco. As "Swamiji" he was lenient, he always seemed to have plenty of time to talk with anyone, and he only gradually requested his disciples to follow the rules and regulations. He was trying to get a movement started after a year in America, during which time no one had come forward; so if disciples left him alone to clean his own apartment or shared his bathroom, he tolerated it. During this time his dress was also distinct in certain ways from later. He did not wear kurtas, but a cadar over his bare chest, or he wore an inexpensive turtleneck jersey that had been supplied by his followers. He rode with them on the buses and subways and trains, and he didn't travel very widely, but stayed in each center for months at a time.
This changed during the period when the movement grew quickly. From 1969 all the way to 1975, Srila Prabhupada, by his own empowered endeavors, became a world leader of a major religion. It was a time of tremendous exertion for him. He revitalized India with Krsna conscious preaching, personally traveling widely there and managing the construction of major temples. He also regularly made worldwide tours. As he initiated hundreds and thousands of disciples, he was not quite so accessible to the individual disciples as he had been in the early days. Now, by his arrangement, his leaders, especially the temple presidents, sannyasis, and his GBC, handled more of the affairs, although the final decisions and the burden for everything always rested with him.
The third phase was his gradual withdrawal from the more intense participation in the management. In one sense, the second phase of his full participation in the expansion of ISKCON always continued, but it is true that Srila Prabhupada began to allow his GBC representatives to take over more and more. At least that was his desire. He expressed that he wanted to spend more time writing. He began to stay longer in India, where he seemed to feel more at home, and when he did make yearly tours to America and the West, he didn't become much involved in the management of the temple, but lectured. Gradually his public lectures were also something he assigned as the responsibility of older disciples, while Prabhupada preached more to the devotees, giving them training as he went quickly from temple to temple. Now he no longer had to be the pioneer of every new opening in Krsna consciousness; his disciples ranged far and wide over the globe to open new places, based on Srila Prabhupada's credibility and armed with his books.
Then in the last year he clearly changed his mood of activity and stayed almost entirely in India as his bodily activities diminished. More and more he moved into his very last, departure pastime. He gathered a few disciples near him for intimate, personal service and made arrangements for the continuation of the movement after his disappearance.
While some of these changes in Prabhupada's behavior over the years are undeniable, Prabhupada had many unchangeable qualities. As Srila Prabhupada said, "There was never a time when I forgot Krsna." Prabhupada also said that he was always the same, even from the first days of his arrival in America. The only difference was that Krsna sent men and money, and with these, Prabhupada transformed the Krsna conscious preaching, although he personally stayed the same. Srila Prabhupada said, "ISKCON may be big, but I am small." He was always the pure person, the empowered preacher, and the kind well-wisher manifested in different roles as Krsna required. He did not become in any way affected or spoiled by his success.
Over the years, Srila Prabhupada began to wear nicer sannyasi clothes, to ride in nicer cars, travel on jets, he accepted millions of dollars on behalf of Krsna; but he remained the same, pure servant and used everything for the Lord without any enjoying tendency. Whatever was appropriate and useful for His service, he accepted. He always wanted the whole world to become Krsna conscious, and he was ready to work for it constantly. He was always very sweet and considerate, and he was always in direct touch with Krsna. He always carried his japa beads in a bag and chanted on them, and he always wore kanthi-mala around his neck and tilaka on his forehead. He always worked on translating transcendental literatures such as Srimad-Bhagavatam, rising in the early morning and dictating his Bhaktivedanta purports.
He never changed his philosophy the way speculating scientists or Western philosophers or stylish culture heroes and businessmen adjust theirs with time in order to stay popular. He always gave out the same precious product, the philosophy of Lord Caitanya and Lord Krsna, exactly as he received it from his spiritual master. George Harrison noted and appreciated this quality in Prabhupada when he stated, "He was always just speaking about Krsna and it was coincidental who happened to be there. Whenever you saw him, he would always be the same. It wasn't that one time he would tell you to chant the Hare Krsna mantra then the next time say, ‘Oh, no, I made a mistake.' He was always the same."
We followers of Prabhupada may also carefully learn this art from his Lila -- how to keep up with the times and adjust according to time, person, and place, and yet how to keep our original Krsna conscious personality intact. Prabhupada's deep, unchanging convictions are miraculous when one considers how he didn't change in coming to America. He never changed his basic dress or eating or regulated living, despite advice from "swamis" who told him to do so. Also miraculous was his ability to make dynamic adjustments, such as giving his disciples a japa quota they could actually perform and his allowing equal rights of initiation to women.
All glories to the steady course of Srila Prabhupada's pastimes in this world! All glories to his fixed position, more dependable than the steady orbit of the sun in the sky! And all glories to his transcendental intelligence in preaching by which he changed his ways according to the indications of Krsna for the best results in presenting Krsna consciousness to the unwilling conditioned souls! May his Krsna conscious movement continue to reflect these two strengths of change and endurance.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami.
Biographies and Glorifications of Srila Prabhupada Gita-nagari Press-Srila Prabhupada Nectar- Personal: His Changing His Ways and His Staying the Same-Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
chitralekha devi dasi (bcs)
Soon after the grand opening of the Krishna-Balaram temple, Srila Prabhupada allowed the Punjab National Bank to open a branch within a large room of the Krishna-Balaram guesthouse, near Prabhupada's residence building. The bank managers and their friends gathered, as well as many devotees, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was observed. The devotees also distributed prasadam sweets. On this occasion, Prabhupada gave a public speech, comparing the bank manager to Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods.
Prabhupada told the story of how Dhruva Maharaja had been killing the Yaksas "like anything." Svayambhuva Manu had advised Dhruva to stop the killing, and Dhruva had complied. Then Kuvera personally came and offered Dhruva a benediction. Although the treasurer of the demigods was offering any boon that Dhruva might desire, however, Dhruva Maharaja said, "Please give me your blessings that I can always be engaged in the service of Krsna." Prabhupada then said humbly that this was the same benediction he would like to ask of the local Kuvera, the manager of the bank.
On this same occasion, Srila Prabhupada told a story of a man who had heard that "money attracts money." This man went to the bank to a place where a clerk was engaged in counting money. The man took his own money and threw it on top of the pile of cash. He then stood there motionless, watching the money for a long time. Finally the clerk asked him, "Sir, what are you doing?"
"I have heard that money attracts money, so I have thrown my money on the pile. Now I am waiting for the whole cash to come to me."
"Yes, it is a fact," said the clerk, "that money attracts money. Now my money has attracted your money!"
Jayadvaita Swami, letter to Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. The story of Srila Prabhupada at a bank-opening in Vrndavana shows his wonderful ability to preach according to time and place. Prabhupada once preached to an assembly of lawyers. He made the point that the chanting of Hare Krsna would alleviate the suffering of all sinful people, but for such a claim, Srila Prabhupada said, there must be evidence, as in a court of law. And his evidence was in Narottama dasa Thakura's song of Jagai and Madhai, two great sinners who had been saved by the Hare Krsna movement five hundred years ago. Today, however, one could see practically how drunkards and illicit sex hunters had been made saintly by the Hare Krsna movement.
Biographies and Glorifications of Srila Prabhupada Gita-nagari Press-Srila Prabhupada Nectar- Money Attracts Money-Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
chitralekha devi dasi (bcs)
In his lectures, Prabhupada often derided the "horseless carriage" civilization where cars go whoosh-whoosh back and forth on the highways and often end in fatal accidents. He also personally experienced the dangers of riding in cars.
One time on the way to Mayapur, with Gargamuni driving, the car hit a man who was repairing the road. The man was not much hurt, but as Prabhupada's car slowed down, the villagers barricaded the road and surrounded the car. Soon a crowd of Bengalis were shouting angrily around the car. Srila Prabhupada rolled down his window and spoke out loudly in Bengali. After a while, Prabhupada turned to Gargamuni and Srila Prabhupada said, "Give them ten rupees." The ten rupees only produced more yelling and threatening.
"Give them ten more rupees," Srila Prabhupada said. After Gargamuni did that, Srila Prabhupada instructed, "Now we can go." The car inched forward, the crowd parted, and Prabhupada's party continued on after the horrifying experience. Srila Prabhupada then began reprimanding Gargamuni for driving too fast.
Another time, in America, while on a morning walk, Prabhupada gave the same instruction. Radha-vallabha dasa was reminiscing about a time when he had been speeding ninety-five miles an hour in order to greet Srila Prabhupada at the airport in New York. An angry state trooper had stopped him, Radha-vallabha said, but when the trooper saw that Radha-vallabha was a Hare Krsna devotee and heard that he was on the way to see Prabhupada, he let him go.
Srila Prabhupada did not seem impressed or interested in his story. "Don't speed," he replied. "Don't take advantage."
"Well, we were going to pick you up at the airport," said Radha-vallabha, smiling.
"That's all right," Srila Prabhupada said, "don't speed."
A few years earlier, when a devotee was killed in a car crash because of negligence during an all-night drive, Srila Prabhupada lamented at the loss of a Vaisnava, a disciple named Jaya Gopala. In a letter he wrote after that tragedy, Srila Prabhupada said whatever gains had been made by speeding all night were lost beyond measure by the loss of a devotee.
Srutakirti dasa, interview; Radha-vallabha dasa, interview; Satsvarupa dasa Goswami; Hrdayananda Goswami, interview; Purnacandra-devi dasi, interview.
Devotees have noted on various occasions how Prabhupada displayed an extrasensory perception of events. Prabhupada was in Florida with Hrdayananda Goswami, and they were driving behind a fruit truck. Prabhupada pointed to it and Srila Prabhupada said, "Oh, watermelons?" Hrdayananda Goswami explains, "We looked, but all we could see were Florida oranges. We said, ‘No, Prabhupada. Those are oranges.' A few minutes later, as we were passing that truck, behind the oranges we saw watermelons. They were hidden. Prabhupada just laughed and Srila Prabhupada said, ‘yes, there are the watermelons.'"
In Bhaktivedanta Manor one time Srila Prabhupada complained of a dripping water faucet that disturbed him. The devotees searched and searched, but found nothing. Finally, they found the offending faucet. It was outside his room, down the hall, down a small block of stairs, down another small hall, and inside a closet in a place from which water was hardly ever taken. No one knew how he could possibly have heard it drip.
Biographies and Glorifications of Srila Prabhupada Gita-nagari Press-Srila Prabhupada Nectar-Horseless Carriage Civilization-Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
chitralekha devi dasi (bcs)
In Vrndavana there are hot winds called loo that come from the Rajputan desert and can be deadly when breathed or when they enter a person's ear. When a strong loo comes, most Vrndavana residents stay indoors and shut their windows. One evening while Srila Prabhupada was sitting outside on the roof of his Vrndavana residence, a loo began. First the atmosphere became very calm, as before a thunderstorm. Then came the hot winds. Prabhupada's servant, Upendra, ran out, covering his own head and securing the papers on Srila Prabhupada's little desk. Srila Prabhupada was in the process of dictating Srimad Bhagavatam and he didn't want to leave, although Upendra pleaded with him about the winds. Prabhupada accepted a cadar, but remained while his servant periodically ran back and forth from the roof to the building to see if Srila Prabhupada was all right or if he wanted anything. This was during a time when Srila Prabhupada was feeling ill, yet he sat silently and attempted to continue his work with great determination, despite the deathly winds.
"What is that?" asked Srila Prabhupada. He had just come onto the roof of the Mayapur building when he noticed a brass lota. It was sitting next to a line of tulasi plants in pots. Srila Prabhupada seemed disturbed by the sight, although to the group of devotees walking with him, the lota and the tulasi plant seemed perfectly normal.
"Is something wrong?" a devotee asked.
"Look in the stool room," Prabhupada replied, "and see if there is a lota there." Someone ran into the stool room, came out, and said, "No, Srila Prabhupada."
"Just see," Srila Prabhupada said. "This is a great aparadha (offense)."
Devotees were amazed at Srila Prabhupada's immediate detective work in surmising that someone had taken the stool room lota and used it to water the tulasi plants.
Sometimes Prabhupada circumambulated the Krishna-Balaram temple chanting japa as part of his morning walk. On one such occasion he turned to the devotees accompanying him and Srila Prabhupada said, "You are blind, but I am seeing."
No one knew exactly what he meant. Was it a philosophical statement?
After another circumambulation, Srila Prabhupada repeated, "You are blind, but I am seeing." This time he pointed to light bulbs that were burning outside the temple, although the sun was fully risen.
Sarvamangala-devi dasi, interview; Radha-vallabha dasa, interview; Rupa-vilasa dasa and Candrika-devi dasi, interview.
Biographies and Glorifications of Srila Prabhupada Gita-nagari Press-Srila Prabhupada Nectar-Little Drops of Nectar-Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
chitralekha devi dasi (bcs)
Radhanatha Swami recalls a 1976 visit Srila Prabhupada made to the old farm quarters in New Vrindaban. Prabhupada had lived in that primitive woodland setting for a month in 1968 when it was the entire New Vrindaban. Although he had frequently visited the growing New Vrindaban project, Prabhupada had never gone back to the old farmhouse.
"If you can clean this place up, I will bring him up," said Kirtanananda Swami, but later he changed his mind. "We are not going to bring Prabhupada up here. He'll say it looks like a jungle. It is not proper." Radhanatha was disheartened to hear it, because he was the pujari of the Deity Radha-Vrndavananatha, who resided in the little temple farmhouse. He had been feeling it would be the perfection of his devotional service to Radha-Vrndavananatha if the pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada, would come to associate with Him. He decided to at least bring a picture of Radha-Vrndavananatha for Srila Prabhupada to see.
One day during Srila Prabhupada's visit, Kirtanananda Swami introduced Radhanatha to Srila Prabhupada and told him he had been making Srila Prabhupada's sandesa.
"Very nice," Srila Prabhupada replied. Radhanatha then showed Prabhupada an eight-by-ten picture of Radha-Vrndavananatha. Srila Prabhupada looked at Them silently and meditatively for about a minute. Then he began glorifying Lord Krsna. Srila Prabhupada said Krsna in Vrndavana is the sweetest. When Krsna stays in Mathura, Dvaraka, that is city beauty, but when He is in the village of Vrndavana, His beauty is the sweetest. While saying this, Srila Prabhupada continued to glance at the picture of Radha-Vrndavananatha. He then spoke of how Krsna goes out to the pasturing ground with His buffalo horn and flute to herd the cows and play with His friends. Krsna and His friends would get so absorbed in their play that mother Yasoda would have to go out and get Krsna to bring Him home.
"Where are these Deities?" Srila Prabhupada asked Kirtanananda Swami.
"They are at the original farm," said Kirtanananda Swami, "the place you stayed many years ago."
"You can take me there to see Them?" asked Srila Prabhupada.
"It is very difficult to go there," Kirtanananda Swami replied. "The road is very bad. It would be uncomfortable for you."
"You have a jeep?" Srila Prabhupada suggested.
Seeing Srila Prabhupada's persistence, Kirtanananda Swami said that they would make all arrangements for his going there.
When the brahmacaris from the old farm heard the news, they were ecstatic. They tried their best to clean and make ready their backwoods temple and planned how to greet Srila Prabhupada. Radhanatha emphasized that Kirtanananda Swami said it was important that the recording of the "Govindam" prayers begin as soon as Prabhupada walked through the doorway to the temple. Therefore, the tape recorder should be cued and placed strategically. A guard should stand down the road and another near the house to signal Prabhupada's advance toward the temple. Radhanatha, the pujari, would stay poised by the recorder, ready to press the button at the right instant.
Meanwhile, Srila Prabhupada traveled three-quarters of the way to the farm by pickup truck but then decided to walk the last part as his daily morning walk. As he walked, all the "guards" went to join him. Passing a black cow, one of the devotees said, "That's the first cow of New Vrindaban, Srila Prabhupada."
"Yes, I know Kaliya," Srila Prabhupada replied. Finally he walked up to the temple and entered. Somehow, the other devotees were all detained outside and Srila Prabhupada entered the temple room alone. He stood with palms folded, looking at the surprised Radhanatha. A bit belatedly, Radhanatha pushed the button, and "Govindam" began. They then opened the curtains, and Srila Prabhupada stood to one side, looking at Radha-Vrndavananatha. He nodded his head approvingly to the Deities and then to the pujari. After a few moments, Prabhupada went to the rear of the room and sat on the rustic-looking vyasasana. Sublimely and naturally, he began to give the morning Srimad-Bhagavatam class.
Radhanatha Swami, interview. Prabhupada showed more than once how he immediately felt quite at home in New Vrindaban, and the Prabhupada-lilamrta describes this in telling of Prabhupada's first visit there. Although he was accustomed to big cities, as soon as he came to a place like New Vrindaban or to the farm in Hyderabad, he was at ease and quite happy with such primitive living conditions. In India, Prabhupada had also spent most of his early years in the cities: he grew up in Calcutta had his business in Allahabad, and he traveled as a businessman. But his attraction to such simple forest settings is transcendental. He also told us that Krsna is attracted to such a setting in the original Vrndavana. Prabhupada always became enlivened at the prospects of varnasrama-dharma, village life and cow protection when he came into these settings. It enlivened him to see the Krsna conscious farm developed in a simple setting.
Radhanatha Swami tells that on one occasion in New Vrindaban, Srila Prabhupada said the devotees should stay in New Vrindaban and be satisfied. It was the same thing Kirtanananda had been repeatedly telling the devotees. Now that Srila Prabhupada said it, it became a great confirmation for the devotees there. Prabhupada was satisfied to stay at their farm community and they should follow that example.
Biographies and Glorifications of Srila Prabhupada Gita-nagari Press-Srila Prabhupada Nectar-"That's the First Cow of New Vrindaban, Srila Prabhupada."-Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
chitralekha devi dasi (bcs)
The other day His Divine Grace revealed in detail his plans for Hare Krsna restaurants, which can be opened anywhere in the world. After his talk most recently, he told me to see that this information is disseminated to all the devotees. He described it as "the next phase of our movement." Please therefore make a newsletter of the information that follows for all-ISKCON distribution.
Our Krsna conscious farms, like New Vrindaban, are producing much ghee. This ghee should be distributed at a fee to the different centers, and once restaurants begin opening, the ghee will be one of their prime materials. Other supplies such as vegetables, grains, etc., can be obtained locally.
The restaurants could be cafeteria-style. The food is kept out on counters and people approach in a line with a tray and take what they want. Prabhupada proposed that there should be one charge and that if a person takes more than another person, he is not charged more -- as much as you like for a certain fee. But there should be no waste. A person should take what he can eat. One devotee, hearing this, said, "Prabhupada, I think people will be carrying samosas home in their pockets." "No," Srila Prabhupada said, "it is a business. Only what they can eat. But they don't get charged more for eating more, like in a hotel, where immediately there is a bill if you eat more."
We can also make home deliveries. Food is cooked fresh, and as it is taken, more fresh batches are put on the counter. Always fresh. There will be about twenty sweet preparations, and twenty salty preparations like samosas (made with potatoes, peas, cauliflower, white flour, and ghee) and kacauris, etc. The vegetable preps must be served hot. Everything should be so clean that not even a single fly should be seen. After the first batch of prasadam is made, it will be offered to Lord Caitanya with arati, and then the prasadam for the rest of the day will be considered offered. Smoking, of course, is prohibited in the restaurant. Tapes can play of our kirtanas. The idea is that people who will not come to our temples will come and eat at our restaurants and will be eating prasadam and hearing. Also it will engage men, our devotees in varieties of pursuits -- not that without engagement men should eat in our temples in the name of devotional service. Hare Krsna Restaurant! The name, Srila Prabhupada said, should also be fully registered so that others may not imitate.
Foods cooked in ghee, foods cooked in water, all the standard varieties will be there. Foods cooked in ghee are especially wonderful and healthful. People should come and be relaxed, eat, and talk relaxed. See how nice Krsna consciousness is. There will be a small book and record store in the restaurant.
Devotees will do all the work in the restaurant. We can even import an expert Indian cook if necessary. At the end of the day everything must be thoroughly washed down and no leftovers. No prasadam will be given away free. At a certain hour, at the end of the day, the leftovers can be sold half price or some even given away. But the venture has to be an economically profitable business.
Start out the business small and train up men on one restaurant. Then you can expand gradually. You can give them nice drinks. Masala milk, made with small quantities of ginger, saffron, pepper, and cinnamon can be served hot and cold juices. No tea is served. Yogurt can be made from hot milk and, when drunk as whey, it is very good for digestion.
"It is very good idea for people to come to our vegetarian restaurant and take so many nice things, especially the panir, fried cheese, and sandesa, kacauri, rasagulla, samosa, and in this way forget their meat-eating. If you make a soup like fried panir with asafetida and ginger, this will replace lobster soup nonsense. Of course, we are not interested in giving them vegetarian food; we are wanting to give them prasadam. Then gradually they will become devotees."
-- Letter of November 9th 1975
"I want that all householders be engaged in managing these restaurants."
-- Letter of July 20th 1975
"Regarding the restaurant, you should not name it as you have suggested but ‘Hare Krsna Restaurant.' That should be the name. In each restaurant there should be the picture of Lord Caitanya, and the food should be offered and distributed to the respected customers. There should also be a tape recorder playing the sankirtana in mild voice."
-- Letter of August 16th 1974
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, letter, while serving as secretary to Srila Prabhupada, June 18th 1974; letter to Tusta Krsna dasa, November 9th 1975; letter to Batu Gopala dasa, August 16th 1974.
Biographies and Glorifications of Srila Prabhupada Gita-nagari Press-Srila Prabhupada Nectar -Srila Prabhupada Said: on Restaurants-Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
chitralekha devi dasi (bcs)
"I am just trying to explain that the purpose of a book must be known to the author, and he knows it better than others. There is an instructive story to show this. It is not only a story, it is a fact. In Calcutta a great dramatist, Mr. Rath, who was also a very well known government official, wrote a book, Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan means the emperor Shah Jahan. The title on the book is the name of the book's hero. So one of the friends of Mr. Rath inquired, ‘In your book, Shah Jahan, the actual hero is Aurangzeb. Why have you given the book the title Shah Jahan?' He could not understand it.
"The author replied, ‘My dear friend, the actual hero is Shah Jahan, not Aurangzeb.' Yet the Shah Jahan book is full of activities of Aurangzeb. But the fact is that Shah Jahan was the emperor. He had four or five sons, and when his wife died at an early age, he built her a memorial. Those who have gone to India, who have seen the Taj Mahal building, that was constructed in the memory of Shah Jahan's wife, Mumtaz, by Shah Jahan. He spent all his money constructing that building. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Shah Jahan was a very affectionate father also. He did not chastise his sons much. He spent all of his money constructing for the memory of his wife. But when the sons grew up, the third son, Aurangzeb, came out very crooked and he made a plan how to usurp the empire. He killed his brothers, and he arrested his father, Shah Jahan. So this is the plot of the book Shah Jahan. But the author says that Aurangzeb is not the hero. The hero is Shah Jahan. Then he explained.
"Why? Because Shah Jahan was living, sitting in the Agra fort as a prisoner, and all the reactions of Aurangzeb's activities -- the killing of his other sons, the usurping of the empire -- all these things were beating on the heart of Shah Jahan. Therefore he was suffering and he is the hero.
"This is an example that the author of a book knows very well what is the purpose of that book. That is my statement. Similarly, these Vedanta-sutras were compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, or Krsna's incarnation, or Krsna Himself. So He knows what the Vedanta-sutra is. Therefore, if you want to understand the Vedanta-sutra, you must understand Krsna Srila Prabhupada said. And Srila Vyasadeva explains the Vedanta-sutra in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Many rascals will comment in different ways, but the author of Vedanta personally wrote a commentary, Srimad-Bhagavatam."
Lecture, May 21st 1972, Los Angeles.
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chitralekha devi dasi (bcs)
Srila Prabhupada had a way of speaking so gravely that even when Srila Prabhupada said something simple, his words had significance beyond their immediate, apparent meaning. I experienced this several times that I can remember.
For example, the second time I met him in Surat, India, I was following the devotees on a photographic assignment from Asia Magazine, so I entered his room to take more pictures. As I sat by his side, Prabhupada suddenly turned to me and Srila Prabhupada said, "So, are you going to become a devotee?" At that time, I still had a mustache and wore long hair. Although I was very attracted to him and Krsna consciousness, I said, "I don't think so."
Srila Prabhupada said, "Then you have to leave."
I had gone to much trouble and expense to go to India from New York City, so I was completely flabbergasted by Prabhupada's comment that I had to leave. I didn't leave, and he never said anything else about my having to leave. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that Prabhupada was making comments that transcend time and were not necessarily meant for that particular moment. I took his comment to mean that if one is not a devotee, then he cannot stay in the association of devotees in the long run.
Another time a similar incident happened with Prabhupada and myself, where Srila Prabhupada said something that seemed to be connected with the present, but also the future. It was at the installation of the Radha-Krsna Deities in Paris in 1973. I was photographing the occasion, and a big kirtana was going on. Just after the actual installation, I put down my camera and went to join the kirtana. I was dancing for a few minutes and when I turned to dance in front of Prabhupada, he motioned that I should come and speak to him. This was unusual because it was right in the midst of a loud kirtana with many people. I went beside Prabhupada and put my head very close. I heard him say, "You should never put down your camera." I immediately went to get my camera and start taking pictures. Naturally, I took his words as immediate instructions for the present, but as I thought about it, I realized that he meant it also for the future, that I shouldn't give up this work. I should never put down my camera.
-- Yadubara dasa Adhikari
Yadubara dasa, interview.
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chitralekha devi dasi (bcs)
One of the first times I was in Srila Prabhupada's presence I saw him drink water from a lota. It was amazing because I had never seen anything done with such precision. It was a small thing, a tiny gesture, but there was something unique about it. I realized that anyone who could drink a glass of water like that was not an ordinary person. Later on, as I would have more association with Srila Prabhupada, I would see that happening more and more. He would do something and just do it very carefully. Most people do ordinary things carelessly without thinking about them, yet somehow or other he always acted with full deliberation. It was, I guess, just a side effect of being Krsna conscious.
Once when he was in Philadelphia I remember he called me into his room. He had a gamcha tied around his waist and he had just been given a massage. When I entered the room there were several things going on at the same time. Several GBC men were there and there was a whole discussion going on that was way over the realm of responsibility I had. I came into the room and offered my obeisances, and he turned to me and Srila Prabhupada said he had received a certain amount of money. He wanted me to take the money, bring it to the bank, and send it in a wire transfer to a bank account of his in Los Angeles. It was an ordinary thing, but what really astounded me was how he stopped everyt hing else, told me what he wanted me to do, and explained it to me very clearly. It was the clearest explanation of any activity I have ever received. He told me exactly how he wanted it to be done and made sure I understood what he wanted. He called his servant over to make sure it was properly entered into the books and in the course of making sure of the proper entry in the books he found an error. With great precision and deliberation, not hurried, yet in a short amount of time, he accomplished a whole lot, sent me off, and then resumed his conversation, all with the same kind of precision he exhibited in drinking water. This is one quality of Srila Prabhupada's association. It becomes very difficult to describe because his Krsna consciousness would become manifest in these very small, insignificant things, and yet while you were there, they were so expressive of the whole nature of the pure devotee.
-- Ravindra-svarupa dasa Adhikari
Ravindra-svarupa dasa, interview. Yadubara relates a similar incident. One time, on the roof in Bombay, Prabhupada agreed to watch a dance troupe of little girls, as arranged by a life member. During the performance, Yadubara began filming. He noticed that Srila Prabhupada almost continuously avoided looking at the dancers. By looking this way and that way, sometimes up and down, Prabhupada displayed an uncanny ability to sit before the show and yet avoid watching it.
As with most instructions and rules, there are also exceptions to the injunction that one should not hear singing by women. In 1975 a devotee in the Los Angeles temple became disturbed about having to hear "a woman" singing the "Govindam" prayers at greeting of the Deities. He wrote to Srila Prabhupada, quoting Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's commentary on the thirteenth chapter of Antya-lila of Caitanya-caritamrta regarding Lord Caitanya's hearing the devi-dasis singing in the temple. He also referred to Srila Prabhupada's purport in the eighteenth chapter of the Sixth Canto, where it is stated that a sannyasi or brahmacari who sees the face or hears the voice of a woman and becomes attracted is committing a subtle falldown. "In light of this," wrote the devotee from Los Angeles, "many of the brahmacaris, including myself, approached the temple president here in New Dvaraka to see if it would be possible that when the Deities are greeted in the morning, instead of listening to Gurudasa Maharaja's former wife singing the Brahma-samhita prayers, we could listen to Your Divine Grace sing the "Govindam" prayers, rather than hear a woman sing. I am sure all the devotees would be enlivened to hear you instead of electric guitars, London symphonic orchestra, etc., etc."
Srila Prabhupada replied in a letter of December 12th 1975, from Vrndavana ISKCON:
"No! You have made some discovery. All along you have been hearing the recording of Yamuna-devi and now you want to change. It is not ordinary singing. It is concert. Many people are singing, so it is not bad. Just like sankirtana. I approve of it. Here in Krishna-Balaram temple we are hearing the same recording every morning, so if it is good here, why not there?"
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