Generally everyone knows about Prabhupada but I have noticed that when devotees describe about their personal experiences with Srila Prabupada that seemed to have a different kind of appeal

Srila Prabhupada Pastimes

by Bhakticaru Swami

Generally everyone knows about Prabhupada but I have noticed that when devotees describe about their personal experiences with Srila Prabupada that seemed to have a different kind of appeal.Althaugh i joined the movement very late (I joined in 76 and met Prabhupada in 77 ) I was very fortunate to have the association of Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada was present on this planet only for about another ten months and I was forunate to be with him for all that period.To come to that point how I met Prabhupada I wold briefly describe about what I was doing. I came in contact with ISCKON in 1976 and also visited the temple in Germany but Krsna would not accept me at that time. I had to wait for another six years and get little more disgusted with material life. decided to take to spiritual life but I would not really think of joining ISCKON. I thought that I would go back to India and as soon as I am there I will find a guru and then my guru will lead me to spiritual life. At that time my understanding of spiritual life was going up to Himalayas and practice Yoga. Back in India I did not even go home wich was my fathers house in Calcutta. From Dehly I went straight to Hardwar and Hrsikes on the foothills of Himalaya mountains. When I went to Hrsikes and also a little high up in the himalayan foothills I could see that all this so called Sadhus where not really inspiring;they are actually doing the same things the hippies were doing in the west. It seemed that the hippies and this so called Sadhus are almost in the same platform. The hippies smoke dope and the Sadhus also smoke dope and they were leading a carefree life, a freak life more or less. I didn`t see much spiritual about them. Some had some mystic power, they could perform some kind of miracle but that did not impress me, I thaught that i am not going to take to spiritual life just to learn some magical tricks. At that time I didn`t know what spiritual life really meant but I knew that these are not my gurus. Then I left Hrsikes and this area and went back to Calcutta. I kept on searching for a guru. I was meeting with some spiritual leaders in India but some or other I felt that non of them where inspiring enough to become theire disciple. Everyone seemed to be falling short of my expactation. This time was very difficult. I could not adjust my self in the materialistic way of life and at the same time I could not fit in to spiritual life. Finally in 1976 when I almost gave up any hope , a friend ofmine who joined in Germany invited me to visit him in Calcutta temple but even when Iwent to the temple I was not very impressed. I wanted to take a Bhagavad gita but they didn`t have any Bhagavad gita ,they had only the Nectar of Devotion, so I took that book and went back to my fathers house. As I started reading, from the very first page I felt that this was what I was looking for all this while. It seemed that every page was unfolding the spiritual sky to me. While readingthis book it became clear to me that this Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and we allare Hiseternal servants andunlissen until we becomesituated in His service we all become miserable. I found the book so interesting that I just kept on reading tillI fell a sleep and then when I woke up in the morning the first thing did, even before brushing my theeth, was to pick up the book and start reading again. While reading the book Imade up my mind to join this movement. Nectar of Devotion describes about the life of a devotee in Vrindavan and I already started to picture myself in Vrindavan leading the life of a devotee. When i made up my mind I felt a great joy, I felt that now I don`t have to worry about my self anymore, I wouldn`t even have to worry about my spiritual life ‑ it is all up to Krsna and let Krsna decide what He wantsto do with me. The next nightI hada dream, I dreamed of Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada was sitting on something like a throne. Of course these days I did not even know what a Vyasasan was because in India generally the Sadhus don`t sit on big seats. There was a brilliant holow around Prabhupada, he was effulgent and as soon as I saw him I felt that now i found my spiritual master. It was not exactly a dream, I was very much aware but at the same time my eyes where closed and I was materially not conscious. My heart was filled with tremendous joy and I didn`t have any question to ask, I was just looking at Prabhupada. By that time I became completely convinced that Prabhupada is my spiritual master and ISKCON is the society that I am destined to belong to. Than i inquired but I was told that Prabhupada was in America at that time so I decided to wait till Prabhupada went back to India and when Prabhupada is back then I will surrender to him. Till then I decided to travell arround the places where Mahaprabhu performed His pastimes. Thinking that the first place I went to was Mayapur. When I arrived in Mayapur it was evening and Sundara aratik was going on. Mayapur in 1976 was quite different. We didn`t have so many big buildings, there was just the main temple building and the rooms at the wall and mostly they were western devotees. The mood was very warm and whoever I spoke to, everyone was practically asking me to stay in Mayapur to become a devotee. Those days I didn`t know that devotees are very enthusiastic to preach, I thought that they are being exceptionally kind to me by inviting me to stay with them. Then I attended the Bhagavad‑gita class. The class was given by Raghava Pandita Prabhu (later Bhakti Raghava Maharaja) a very nice devotee. He gave such a sweet class and while listening it seemed to me that he was actually speaking to me as if he was telling me "why waste your time in this materialistic endevaour , just give up everything, move into the temple and become a devotee. I started thinking "Oh it is so nice, this is a really wonderful place. The next morning Satadhanya Maharaja got to know that I was there. He called me and he also started to preach to me very nicely. Very sincerely he persuaded me "You have tried so many things in your life, why don`t you trie this". By the time he finished preaching to me I made up my mind, I thaught that these people are inviting me so earnestly, why shouldn`t I accept. After speaking to Shatadhanya Maharaja I just walked up to the barber, shaved up`my head threw away my old clothes and took up a dhoti and kurta from a shop. I went to the Ganges, had a bath and moved in to the temple for good. Of course Prabhupada was not there but still the associaton of the devotess was so nice, everybody was very kind. Madhusevita Prabhu used to be the templecommander at that time and he was also very kind. He would not let me sit down for a minute. The first service he gave me was to go to the kitchen and help cooking the kitchari that they distribute every Saturday and Sunday. That means we are talking about the kitchari of two thousand people. Adi guru Prabhu was in charge of cooking the kitchari, he looked at me and he was quite disgusted. He wanted help but he did not know that he would get this kind of help. There they cook with wooden oven and he told me to go and get the logs from outside. Saying that he showed me the logs, told me where to put them in the kitchen and left the room. Now I was alone but he didn`t tell me how much log to bring, so I thought probably he wanted me to bring all the logs from outside. I just kept on bringing the logs and stacking them in the kitchen and when he came he saw that there was a huge pile of logs. Now he got even more disgusted with me. He said "You are useless " and he asked me to take all the logs out again. I took the logs out. Then we went to the storeroom and he showed me the bags of rice and dahl and asked me to bring the bags to the kitchen. We are talking about bags weighing a hundred pounds, obviously I could not carry them on my back. The only way I could do it was to drag them over the floor, from the storeroom to the kitchen. The first bag I was trying to drag was a bag of dahl but that bag got stuck between the starecase and a square pillar. I started pulling it and finally it broke. Adi guru Prabhu got completel disgusted and I started feeling that I am completely useless for rendering devotional service. Then Adi guru Prabhu did not ask me to leave the kitchen but he would not give me any sevice because he saw whatever I do, it gets messed up. In this way I did different service for about six, seven days and I think it was nice; because for a devotee when he comes it is a good test how sincere he is. We don`t come to Krsna consciousness to have a comfortable life. We come to render service and Madhusevita Prabhu, as a good friend that he is, was very concerned about my spiritual life. Now when we meet we always have good laughs about those days. He of course feels very guilty now. He puts the blaim on Satadhanya Maharaja. He says that Satadhanya Maharaja told him not to let me sit down for a moment because if I sit down I would get into maya. They were actually very concerned about keeping me in Krsna consciousness. But one afternoon I was really exhausted. It was summertime, India gets very hot, and I literally collapsed but as soon as I almost collapsed Madhusevita came. He got very heavy with me, started saying that I am in maya and so forth. I got so angry that I also started shouting back at him. Then he said that he will inform Bhavananda Maharaja and I replied that he wouldn`t have to inform Bhavananda Maharaja, I go and inform him myself! Madhusevita Prabhu got a little afraid and pacefied me. Lateron I was engaged in a more responible service. We were constructing the long building in Mayapura and I was given the responsibility to by the material like cement, stonechips, iron and all these things that are needed for the construction. Pancaratne Prabhu was in charge for the construction and I was assisting him. Those days were actually different; I had to run around every day to Calcutta or Krsna nagar, buy things and come back again. I started missing those sweet days of rendering devotional service with the devotees in their association. At that time I started one work. I found some old articles, published by Gaudiya Math, written by Prabhupada from 1945 to 1956. I collected all those articles from Devananda Gaudiya Math and started to print a book and at the same time I started to print the first bengali"Back to Godhead". In the meantime Prabhupada came back to India and one day I told Bhavananda Maharaja that I wanted to go to Bombay to see Prabhupada. Bhavananda Maharaja said that Prabhupada is quite sick and no one can actually see him as such. "Why go to Bombay? Better wait for Prabhupada to come to Mayapur, then you can see him. The best thing is to render service to Prabhupada in seperation". I liked the idea to render service in separation and my hands were quite full at that time, there was so much to do in Mayapur. Then we got the news that Prabhupada was going to Kumbha mela in Allahabad. It was a Purna Kumbha. That Kumbha mela takes place once every 144 years and we also decided to go. We rented a bus and I was one of about fifty devotees which went from Mayapur to Allahabad.

When we arrived there it was in the afternoon. On that confluence of Ganges and Yamuna there were thousands and thousands of tents, millions of people actually attended this Kumbha mela. One big area was reserved for our ISKCON tents and there was a very nice big tent for Srila Prabhupada which was covered by a wall made of corrugated tin sheets. Somebody was guarding the door and nobody was allowed to go to Prabhupada's quarters. I was told that in the evening Srila Prabhupada gave darshan. So I felt that I would wait and in the evening when Prabhupada would give darshan then I would go and see him. Thinking that I was rooming around, waiting for the evening. At that time Bhavananda Maharaja was going to Prabhupada. He brought a big basket full of vegetables from Mayapur and when he saw me on the way he said "come lets go and see Prabhupada". I immediately jumped up at this proposal and we ran together to Prabhupada's tent. Bhavananda Maharaja walked in but I offered obeisances from outside and when I stood up I saw that Prabhupada was sitting behind his desk and Prabhupada was looking at me. Ramesvara Maharaja who was Srila Prabhupada's secretary at that time told me that Prabhupada was taking Prasada so i should not go in now. With folded hands I just offered obeisances again and walked out. That evening Prabhupada was giving darshan. I was a little late in coming and the whole tent was packed, it must have been hundreds of people. There where so many devotees and so many guests, there was practically no room to go in but somehow I squeezed myself in. I was half standing, half sitting, leaning against the tent wall and for a long time I could not hear what Prabhupada was saying. All I could register was my heart beating very heavy and this was practically the only sound I could hear. Just seeing Prabhupada was such a wonderful experience, specially after waiting for so long. After a while when I came back to my senses I noticed that different people where asking Prabhupada various questions and at that time Prabhupada appeared to me like Bhisma. In the battlefield different soldiers where shooting arrows at Bhisma and Bhisma was very easily defeating those arrows. It seemed like those people where shooting arrows at Prabhupada with their questions and Prabhupada was very easily waving those arrows aside by his wonderful answers. From that meeting I remember one encounter which was very remarkable. One indian, a middle aged businessman, asked Prabhupada in a rather challenging way why Prabhupada was building new temples when there are so many old temples, why Prabhupada does not repair those old temples instead of building new ones. Prabhupada did not answer the question directly but asked the man who this lady is which was sitting next to him. The man said that this is his wife. So Prabhupada asked "Why did you get married?" and the man got completely flabbergasted, he could not say anything. Then Prabhupada told him "putrarte kriyate bharja - one accepts a wife in order to produce children. So why produce children if there are so many children loitering in the street?". Then Prabhupada came to the point, he explained " The way you want to have your own child, born of your own wife, the same way devotees like to build their own temples and offer them to Krsna. In this way Prabhupada just made the point and everybody started laughing loudly. Another incidence I remember from that darshan: There was one bengali sadhu, he must have been about 25/26 at that time. He belonged to an group, those who are into social work. They claim themselves to be a religious group but all the do is public welfare. He asked what Prabhupada is doing for the sake of people. This man asked the question in bengali but Prabhupada answered him in hindi and Prabhupada just kept on blasting him. Each time this man would say something in bengali, Prabhupada would just answer in hindi saying: "What is your understanding of helping people? What do you know about helping people and how are you helping people? This people those who say that they are helping people, in the name of helping people they simply gratify their senses." Prabhupada was very heavy and at one point this man asked him "Why are not you answering me in bengali, why are you speaking in hindi?" Prabhupada said "Hindi or bengali, does not matter, the question is whether you understand my point." and he just kept on blasting him in hindi. I could understand that Prabhupada was saying it in hindi because Prabhupada wanted to make the point clear to everybody present. There most of the people where hindi speaking. Allahabad is actually hindi speaking area. I felt that this man is never going to become a devotee. At the dept of my heart I was thinking "why Prabhupada is chastising him so heavily? If Prabhupada spoke to him sweetly than probably he could have become a devotee." Strangely enough, after Prabhupada left the planet this man became a devotee. One day i saw him in Mayapur and I was simply feeling that he is so unfortunate. He could have joined at that time and got the association of Prabhupada but instead he missed that opportunity and he came so late when Prabhupada already left. This way Prabhupada was giving darshan and it was so exciting. Seeing Prabhupada was like literary seeing the spiritual sky and hearing from Prabhupada was literary hearing the transcendental sound vibration. Kumbha mela is a big spiritual fare and many important people came. Many movie stars and big businessman used to come to see Prabhupada. Everyone was so happy just being around Prabhupada.Everything was very, very joyful. I remember the next morning, it was very cold in Allahabad at that time and we had the guru puja outside. Prabhupada was sitting outside the tent and one devotee was leading the kirtan in a very ecstatic way. Then all of a sudden this devotee started to sing "bhaja Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare..." and Prabhupada became very, very angry and stopped the Kirtan. Everyone was so ecstatic that practically everyone was jumping three-for feet high but then Prabhupada just shouted "Stop that!" and the Kirtan immediately stopped. Prabhupada asked him "Where did you learn this bhaja Hare Krsna? Did you ever hear me singing bhaja Hare Krsna?" And Prabhupada just chastised him for about five minutes. He was very heavy and he told "Never add anything to Hare Krsna maha mantra and never subtract anything from Hare Krsna maha mantra. Sing maha mantra just as it is". Prabhupada also explained that "This is how deviation starts. Somebody puts in his own concocted thing and then somebody else comes, he adds some more concoction to it and with time it becomes a complete distortion". Few days after that Prabhupada changed "Bhaja Sri Krsna Caitanya..." into "Jaya Sri Krsna Caitanya...". Instead of "Bhaja" Prabhupada changed it into "Jaya Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu Nityananda...". Then Prabhupada decided to leave Kumbha mela. Although initially Prabhupada`s plan was to stay there for another seven days, he wanted to leave. Prabhupada used to work at night and although it was a religious festival there where so many mundane restaurants and food shops. They where playing all kinds of Karmi music and movie songs through blaring loudspeakers till late at night and that used to disturb Prabhupada very much. So one morning Prabhupada decided that he would go to Calcutta. Prabhupada did not want to take a plain because his health was not very good, instead he wanted to travel by train and we got a whole railway carriage for Prabhupada. Fourteen devotees accompanied him and by Krsna's mercy I was also included in that group. i felt very happy and maybe a little puffed up also, that I have been included in that group, travelling with Prabhupada. At night the train left and we all took rest. The next morning, after taking bath I was chanting.

Generally everyone knows about Prabhupada but I have noticed that when devotees describe about their personal experiences with Srila Prabupada that seemed to have a different kind of appeal.Althaugh i joined the movement very late (I joined in 76 and met Prabhupada in 77 ) I was very fortunate to have the association of Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada was present on this planet only for about another ten months and I was forunate to be with him for all that period.To come to that point how I met Prabhupada I wold briefly describe about what I was doing. I came in contact with ISCKON in 1976 and also visited the temple in Germany but Krsna would not accept me at that time. I had to wait for another six years and get little more disgusted with material life. decided to take to spiritual life but I would not really think of joining ISCKON. I thought that I would go back to India and as soon as I am there I will find a guru and then my guru will lead me to spiritual life. At that time my understanding of spiritual life was going up to Himalayas and practice Yoga. Back in India I did not even go home wich was my fathers house in Calcutta. From Dehly I went straight to Hardwar and Hrsikes on the foothills of Himalaya mountains. When I went to Hrsikes and also a little high up in the himalayan foothills I could see that all this so called Sadhus where not really inspiring;they are actually doing the same things the hippies were doing in the west. It seemed that the hippies and this so called Sadhus are almost in the same platform. The hippies smoke dope and the Sadhus also smoke dope and they were leading a carefree life, a freak life more or less. I didn`t see much spiritual about them. Some had some mystic power, they could perform some kind of miracle but that did not impress me, I thaught that i am not going to take to spiritual life just to learn some magical tricks. At that time I didn`t know what spiritual life really meant but I knew that these are not my gurus. Then I left Hrsikes and this area and went back to Calcutta. I kept on searching for a guru. I was meeting with some spiritual leaders in India but some or other I felt that non of them where inspiring enough to become theire disciple. Everyone seemed to be falling short of my expactation. This time was very difficult. I could not adjust my self in the materialistic way of life and at the same time I could not fit in to spiritual life. Finally in 1976 when I almost gave up any hope , a friend ofmine who joined in Germany invited me to visit him in Calcutta temple but even when Iwent to the temple I was not very impressed. I wanted to take a Bhagavad gita but they didn`t have any Bhagavad gita ,they had only the Nectar of Devotion, so I took that book and went back to my fathers house. As I started reading, from the very first page I felt that this was what I was looking for all this while. It seemed that every page was unfolding the spiritual sky to me. While readingthis book it became clear to me that this Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and we allare Hiseternal servants andunlissen until we becomesituated in His service we all become miserable. I found the book so interesting that I just kept on reading tillI fell a sleep and then when I woke up in the morning the first thing did, even before brushing my theeth, was to pick up the book and start reading again. While reading the book Imade up my mind to join this movement. Nectar of Devotion describes about the life of a devotee in Vrindavan and I already started to picture myself in Vrindavan leading the life of a devotee. When i made up my mind I felt a great joy, I felt that now I don`t have to worry about my self anymore, I wouldn`t even have to worry about my spiritual life - it is all up to Krsna and let Krsna decide what He wantsto do with me. The next nightI hada dream, I dreamed of Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada was sitting on something like a throne. Of course these days I did not even know what a Vyasasan was because in India generally the Sadhus don`t sit on big seats. There was a brilliant holow around Prabhupada, he was effulgent and as soon as I saw him I felt that now i found my spiritual master. It was not exactly a dream, I was very much aware but at the same time my eyes where closed and I was materially not conscious. My heart was filled with tremendous joy and I didn`t have any question to ask, I was just looking at Prabhupada. By that time I became completely convinced that Prabhupada is my spiritual master and ISKCON is the society that I am destined to belong to. Than i inquired but I was told that Prabhupada was in America at that time so I decided to wait till Prabhupada went back to India and when Prabhupada is back then I will surrender to him. Till then I decided to travell arround the places where Mahaprabhu performed His pastimes. Thinking that the first place I went to was Mayapur. When I arrived in Mayapur it was evening and Sundara aratik was going on. Mayapur in 1976 was quite different. We didn`t have so many big buildings, there was just the main temple building and the rooms at the wall and mostly they were western devotees. The mood was very warm and whoever I spoke to, everyone was practically asking me to stay in Mayapur to become a devotee. Those days I didn`t know that devotees are very enthusiastic to preach, I thought that they are being exceptionally kind to me by inviting me to stay with them. Then I attended the Bhagavad-gita class. The class was given by Raghava Pandita Prabhu (later Bhakti Raghava Maharaja) a very nice devotee. He gave such a sweet class and while listening it seemed to me that he was actually speaking to me as if he was telling me "why waste your time in this materialistic endevaour , just give up everything, move into the temple and become a devotee. I started thinking "Oh it is so nice, this is a really wonderful place. The next morning Satadhanya Maharaja got to know that I was there. He called me and he also started to preach to me very nicely. Very sincerely he persuaded me "You have tried so many things in your life, why don`t you trie this". By the time he finished preaching to me I made up my mind, I thaught that these people are inviting me so earnestly, why shouldn`t I accept. After speaking to Shatadhanya Maharaja I just walked up to the barber, shaved up`my head threw away my old clothes and took up a dhoti and kurta from a shop. I went to the Ganges, had a bath and moved in to the temple for good. Of course Prabhupada was not there but still the associaton of the devotess was so nice, everybody was very kind. Madhusevita Prabhu used to be the templecommander at that time and he was also very kind. He would not let me sit down for a minute. The first service he gave me was to go to the kitchen and help cooking the kitchari that they distribute every Saturday and Sunday. That means we are talking about the kitchari of two thousand people. Adi guru Prabhu was in charge of cooking the kitchari, he looked at me and he was quite disgusted. He wanted help but he did not know that he would get this kind of help. There they cook with wooden oven and he told me to go and get the logs from outside. Saying that he showed me the logs, told me where to put them in the kitchen and left the room. Now I was alone but he didn`t tell me how much log to bring, so I thought probably he wanted me to bring all the logs from outside. I just kept on bringing the logs and stacking them in the kitchen and when he came he saw that there was a huge pile of logs. Now he got even more disgusted with me. He said "You are useless " and he asked me to take all the logs out again. I took the logs out. Then we went to the storeroom and he showed me the bags of rice and dahl and asked me to bring the bags to the kitchen. We are talking about bags weighing a hundred pounds, obviously I could not carry them on my back. The only way I could do it was to drag them over the floor, from the storeroom to the kitchen. The first bag I was trying to drag was a bag of dahl but that bag got stuck between the starecase and a square pillar. I started pulling it and finally it broke. Adi guru Prabhu got completel disgusted and I started feeling that I am completely useless for rendering devotional service. Then Adi guru Prabhu did not ask me to leave the kitchen but he would not give me any sevice because he saw whatever I do, it gets messed up. In this way I did different service for about six, seven days and I think it was nice; because for a devotee when he comes it is a good test how sincere he is. We don`t come to Krsna consciousness to have a comfortable life. We come to render service and Madhusevita Prabhu, as a good friend that he is, was very concerned about my spiritual life. Now when we meet we always have good laughs about those days. He of course feels very guilty now. He puts the blaim on Satadhanya Maharaja. He says that Satadhanya Maharaja told him not to let me sit down for a moment because if I sit down I would get into maya. They were actually very concerned about keeping me in Krsna consciousness. But one afternoon I was really exhausted. It was summertime, India gets very hot, and I literally collapsed but as soon as I almost collapsed Madhusevita came. He got very heavy with me, started saying that I am in maya and so forth. I got so angry that I also started shouting back at him. Then he said that he will inform Bhavananda Maharaja and I replied that he wouldn`t have to inform Bhavananda Maharaja, I go and inform him myself! Madhusevita Prabhu got a little afraid and pacefied me. Lateron I was engaged in a more responible service. We were constructing the long building in Mayapura and I was given the responsibility to by the material like cement, stonechips, iron and all these things that are needed for the construction. Pancaratne Prabhu was in charge for the construction and I was assisting him. Those days were actually different; I had to run around every day to Calcutta or Krsna nagar, buy things and come back again. I started missing those sweet days of rendering devotional service with the devotees in their association. At that time I started one work. I found some old articles, published by Gaudiya Math, written by Prabhupada from 1945 to 1956. I collected all those articles from Devananda Gaudiya Math and started to print a book and at the same time I started to print the first bengali"Back to Godhead". In the meantime Prabhupada came back to India and one day I told Bhavananda Maharaja that I wanted to go to Bombay to see Prabhupada. Bhavananda Maharaja said that Prabhupada is quite sick and no one can actually see him as such. "Why go to Bombay? Better wait for Prabhupada to come to Mayapur, then you can see him. The best thing is to render service to Prabhupada in seperation". I liked the idea to render service in separation and my hands were quite full at that time, there was so much to do in Mayapur. Then we got the news that Prabhupada was going to Kumbha mela in Allahabad. It was a Purna Kumbha. That Kumbha mela takes place once every 144 years and we also decided to go. We rented a bus and I was one of about fifty devotees which went from Mayapur to Allahabad.