Srila Prabhupads Nectar

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Realizations

 

I went to one darsana with Prabhupada. Prabhupada was

sitting in a very

casual

pose with one leg stretched out and the other propped

up. His hand was

resting

by his side, and although he was leaning back, his

head was erect.

 

When Prabhupada asked for questions, I knew I had to

ask him a

question. I

thought I would ask something that meant a lot to me,

something that

was

troubling me. I asked Prabhupada, "How does one become

humble, and how

does

one

stay humble?" I had the tendency when I was

distributing the most books

in

the

temple to become proud. I wanted to know what to do.

Prabhupada looked

at me

and then looked over at Harikesa Maharaja and said,

"Tell him what I

told

them

in Chicago." Harikesa Swami said that there was one

sankirtana girl in

Chicago

who had asked Prabhupada a similar question, and

Prabhupada had replied

that

she should be like a lion in the chase but a lamb at

home.

 

While I was absorbing this reply, I was looking at

Prabhupada and he

was

looking back at me. Then suddenly a great surge came

from Srila

Prabhupada

and

he said, almost yelling, "Be aggressive for Krsna,

then it is

successful.

There

are two things: First, if I am aggressive, I should be

aggressive in my

service

for Krsna. And second, I should be aggressive also in

trying to get

Krsna's

mercy. So both ways -- aggressive to preach and

aggressive to get the

mercy." I

had asked Prabhupada how to become humble, but he said

the opposite

thing.

Yet

now I have found out that it is by aggression that I

am factually the

humblest,

because to be aggressive you have to surrender. Within

those few words

Prabhupada had actually given me the essence of Krsna

consciousness."

 

-- Krsna Gopala dasa

 

 

 

Bhumi-devi dasi and I were distributing books at the

airport when Srila

Prabhupada was departing. We had managed to get into

the departure

lounge.

No

other devotees were there except Prabhupada,

Jayadvaita, and

Srutakirti. We

were in ecstasy, Bhumi and I, because here was Srila

Prabhupada, but he

didn't

know we were there. We knew that he was there, and we

told the people,

"See

this gentleman? He's the one who wrote this book. He

translated these

books."

People began to look at the books and look over at

Prabhupada. We

distributed

many books in the half hour Prabhupada was there. Then

Jayadvaita told

Prabhupada that we were there distributing his books.

Prabhupada looked

at

us.

He had a big smile and was nodding his head. He was

very pleased and of

course,

this was a source of great encouragement for us. We

didn't want any

personal

darsana; we just wanted Prabhupada to know that we

were distributing

his

books.

 

I remember I used to look at the sankirtana board in

the temple and

they

used

to write slogans like "We have to make Prabhupada the

most famous man

in the

world." I used to think, "Yes, that's what we have to

do." That used to

impress

me very much and that's why I wanted to do sankirtana

so much, because

we

have

to make Prabhupada the most famous person in the

world.

 

Another time, we were again distributing books at the

airport when

Prabhupada

was leaving. This was in 1976, in New York, after the

Ratha-yatra, when

Srila

Prabhupada was feeling sick. He was about to leave. I

was distributing

at

BOAC

Airlines in karmi clothes. We just wanted to see

Prabhupada and it

wasn't my

intention to be obvious and stand in front of him, but

when I was in

the

middle

of distributing a book to a man, Prabhupada happened

to pass right by

me. I

was

so nervous, I said, "Oh, my God. I didn't mean to do

that!" As

Prabhupada

passed he saw his book and stopped a little bit. Then

he looked, and

Tamala

Krsna Goswami said, "That's Sunita, Prabhupada. She

distributes your

books."

Prabhupada said "Accha," and he turned around and

looked at me. "Very

nice,"

he

said. He then raised his hands, giving his blessings.

That was another

source

of great encouragement for us. We really didn't want

anything else from

him,

just that he knew we were distributing his books.

 

-- Sunita-devi dasi

 

Krsna Gopala dasa, interview; Sunita-devi dasi,

interview.

 

 

- From the Prabhupada Nectar by HH Satsvarupa dasa

Goswami

 

 

 

 

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