Fwd: South African soccer team...

November 16, 2004

In 1975, Prabhupada was flying from Kenya to South Africa for the first time,

and as it happens, the South African soccer team had just played in Kenya and

was also on the plane. They had won the match and were in a rowdy mood. After

the plane took off, the stewardesses started serving drinks, and these guys

started getting high and lighting up cigarettes, although they were in a

non-smoking cabin. Pushta Krishna Maharaj, Prabhupada's secretary, was sitting

next to Prabhupada, and got disturbed.

He thought, "Why should Prabhupada be subjected to this?". He called the

stewardess and said, "This is a non-smoking area, so please ask them to

extinguish their cigarettes." The stewardess asked the football players to

extinguish their cigarettes, which they did, and then she left. But, since

they were drunk, after a few minutes they lit up again. This time Pushta

Krishna got up to heavy these guys.

Srila Prabhupada said, "Where are you going?" Pushta Krishna said, " Well,

they are smoking, Srila Prabhupada." In a deep voice Srila Prabhupada said,

"Sit down." Then Srila Prabhupada looked him in the eye and said, "What

is the difference between us and them if we cannot tolerate?" Prabhupada

could tolerate the cigarette smoke and the rowdiness. He was undisturbed.

The pure devotee, the Vaishnav, exemplifies this taror iva sahisnuna -

being more tolerant than a tree.

Vaiyasaki Das. MEMORIES, Anecdotes of a Modern-Day Saint. Volume 2. p377.

(Transcriptions from video interviews - Siddanta Das)

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