Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Gardener

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In 1969 when Prabhupada stayed at John Lennon's

estate, he liked to walk in the misty morning through

the gardens and groves. It was there that Prabhupada

met the head gardener, an old English gentleman who

used to wear a tweed suit jacket even when digging in

the earth. The gardener had shown no interest in the

philosophy or the devotees, but when Prabhupada came

he was interested to meet him. On Prabhupada's first

morning walk the head gardener presented himself.

Prabhupada was also dressed in a gentlemanly way,

wearing a long black coat, black hat, and wellington

boots.

"I am the head gardener here." said the man.

Prabhupada said he was glad to meet him and asked him,

"What are you growing?" The gardener eagerly showed

Prabhupada some of the plants and fruits he was

raising in the greenhouse, including watermelons and

varieties of flowers. He also pulled out trays from

underneath a greenhouse table and showed Prabhupada

his mushrooms.

"O, we do not eat this," said Prabhupada. "This is

fungus." The man admitted that it was a fungus.

Prabhupada explained that mushrooms do not have a good

taste, and because they grow in a dark, damp place,

they are considered food in the mode of ignorance.

Srila Prabhupada then suggested that the gardener

should try to grow ladyfingers, but the man didn't

know what Prabhupada meant. Prabhupada pointed to his

own fingers. "You should grow these ladyfingers." He

gave the Hindi word, bhindi, which the man also

couldn't understand. Finally the gardener understood

that Prabhupada was talking about okra. Prabhupada

asked if the man could grow mangoes, but he said he

couldn't, not even in the greenhouse.

"What is your age?" asked Prabhupada.

The gardener replied that he was sixty-six.

Prabhupada said, "Do you still have all your teeth?"

The gardener seemed to be a little embarrassed, but

replied, "No, I don't. I have all false teeth."

"My age is seventy-two," said Prabhupada, "but I have

all my teeth." Prabhupada opened his mouth and showed.

The gardener replied, I've lost all my teeth because I

like sweet things too much."

"I also like sweets", said Prabhupada. "I eat many

sweets myself - rasagulla, gulabjamuns. But I am

eating the right kind of sweets. You should also eat

these sweets."

After that, when taking his morning walk, Prabhupada

regularly greeted the gardener with a few words, or at

least, whenever the gardener was working at a

distance, they exchanged a wave of hands.

 

- From the Nectar by HH Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami

 

 

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