Srila Prabhupada's Sandal and the Monkey

[Maitreya]

leyh's question on Prabhupada's rings reminded me of this story that Srutakirti wrote down for us all.

 

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Srila Prabhupäda’s Sandal And The Monkey

 

 

During this time, Srila Prabhupäda stayed in a room on the second floor of the Radha Damodara Temple. I do not remember why he didn’t stay in his usual two rooms on the ground floor. His rooms on the second floor opened onto a large, concrete deck which formed the roof of his quarters on the first floor. In Vrindavan, most of the buildings are made of brick and concrete so the roof is usually a flat, smooth area of concrete that can be used for many purposes.

On the second floor facility, Srila Prabhupäda had a sitting room and a separate bedroom. His entourage shared another room. As Srila Prabhupäda took his massage on the patio in front of his sitting room, the sun glistened on his sparkling golden skin smeared with mustard oil. After his massage he bathed in the same spot from a brass bucket filled with water that was naturally warmed by the sun.

"Put the bucket of water on the roof,” he told me. “The sun will heat it up."

Using his lota and this single bucket of warmed water, he took his bath while squatting on the patio in his gumpsa. Srila Prabhupäda made a point of keeping the maintenance of his body very simple. After taking his bath he returned to his bedroom and put on the fresh clothing I had laid out on his bed. On this particular day the weather was very hot, so Srila Prabhupäda only wore a dhoti and no kurta.

A few minutes after he went into his room to dress, I heard him shouting. I was still outside on the patio cleaning up. As soon as I heard him shout, I raced into the room. The front door was ajar. I had no idea what was wrong and although I ran in, out of habit, I offered my obeisances. Srila Prabhupäda was behind his desk. As I hurriedly sat up and looked toward him, he hurled his ball of tilaka toward my head. It was the size of a golf ball and he threw it with the vigor of a baseball pitcher. It missed my head by inches. I was shocked and frightened.

"What's the matter?" I blurted out.

"That monkey has stolen my shoe," he said, pointing in my direction.

I turned around in time to see one of Vrindavan's furry pests run out of the room with Srila Prabhupäda's sandal in his grasp.

Monkeys were prolific in this part of the dhama and were always looking for a bead bag, glasses, or some other valuable item to steal. They used the items to barter for eatables. I was relieved knowing that my Guru Mahäräja was tossing the tilaka at the monkey rather than me. It was an unusual experience to have a ball of tilaka whiz by my head. Fortunately, my spiritual master was an expert marksman. The monkey vaulted to the roof of Srila Prabhupäda's sitting room and waited.

“This rascal, he has taken my slipper,” Srila Prabhupäda said. “Get some pera and come outside."

I grabbed a few milk sweets from the glass jar above Srila Prabhupäda's book case and followed my guru outside the door for the upcoming confrontation. Srila Prabhupäda brought his cane. The monkey sat on the edge of the roof with the sandal in his mouth and waited for negotiations to begin.

The roof was barely out of reach at about eight feet from the ground where we stood. Srila Prabhupäda began jumping up and down, swinging his cane over his head to intimidate the monkey. The monkey seemed to enjoy the attention. He wasn't threatened or concerned that Srila Prabhupäda might get the slipper. The furry fiend began waving the shoe, taunting us. Srila Prabhupäda continued jumping up and down with his cane over his head. Swinging at his fussy foe, he said, "These monkeys are such rascals."

The monkey continued taunting us. Now he was making faces at us. It was clear that he was skilled at holding valuable items hostage and holding out for ransom. He was a crafty thief that enjoyed his mischievous negotiations.

This was my first experience in such warfare and I have to admit, I found it very exhilarating.

"Srila Prabhupäda,” I said. “Let me see if I can give him a sweet and get the sandal."

"Yes, see if that works," Srila Prabhupäda replied.

With my fearless leader beside me, I cautiously held a sweet into the air hoping the monkey would give me the magical slipper in exchange. True to the nature of a monkey, he tried to cheat me. He attempted to snatch the sweet without relinquishing Prabhupäda's holy slipper. Again I tried. I held up the sweet and motioned for the shoe. The monkey started to deliver the slipper with one hand and reach for the sweet with the other. Convinced I was successful, I let down my guard. In front of my beloved Guru, I was prematurely proud of my anticipated success. I failed and gave up the sweet. Unfortunately, the menacing monkey didn't surrender the slipper. To my chagrin, I managed to lose three sweets to the enemy without getting close to retrieving the lotus slipper.

At this point the monkey began chewing on the heel of the slipper with gusto. He managed to tear some cloth from the heel and put a number of teeth marks in it. Srila Prabhupäda was not amused with his aggressor’s demolition.

"Forget it,” he said. “He has ruined the shoe."

His Divine Grace went back into his room and prepared for lunch. I started to follow him into the room. I looked up and saw the monkey drop the sandal at his furry feet and run away. I guess he understood it was of no use to him if it was of no use to us. I figured I may as well get the slipper, so I called for Girisha, Hayagriva's son, and asked him to go up the stairs to the roof and get Srila Prabhupäda's slipper. Girisha was about 10 years old and eager to help.

I watched from below as Girisha headed for the slipper. Just as he bent over to pick it up, a ruthless gang of monkeys came from nowhere and attacked him. They scared the heck out of him. One monkey started to swing at the young boy. Girisha screamed, "Srutakérti! Srutakérti!" Startled, I looked about and saw a bamboo stick. I threw it to him. As soon as he grabbed the stick and started swinging it the monkeys hastily retreated. Girisha grabbed the slipper and raced down the stairs with the beasts hot on his heels. Girisha gallantly delivered the slipper.

I brought the slipper back to Srila Prabhupäda because he had worn these slippers for some time and seemed to be very fond of them. He had others to choose from, but he favored these. I showed him the torn slipper.

"Ah, it doesn't look so bad,” Srila Prabhupäda said. “Get some glue and see if you can repair it."

I took it back to my room and mended it to the best of my ability. I hurried back to Srila Prabhupäda's room with the saved slipper, offered my obeisances, and showed him my handy work. With a smile on his face and a nod of his head he said, "That's all right. I can still use them."

Two weeks later we were in Hyderabad staying at the home of Mr. Pithi, a very wealthy life member. One day Mr. Pithi noticed Çréla Prabhupäda's slippers. I explained to him what happened.

"I would love to get Prabhupäda another pair of sandals," he said.

I told him I thought it was a great idea. He sent his servant to buy a pair of sandals. When the new sandals were presented to Srila Prabhupäda he accepted them graciously, but later told me, "I cannot wear these. They are made of leather."

He continued to wear his damaged sandals for weeks until we arrived at another temple. At that time we bought some sandals to Çréla Prabhupäda's liking and he released the others. His torn sandals now reside at the home of Kirtiraja prabhu in Alachua. They are in a glass case and are held in high esteem by their caretakers.

Srila Prabhupäda, it is very difficult to describe the immense pleasure I experienced that day as you swatted your cane at the monkey. For a few minutes we were fighting a common foe, in the land of Krsna. I may never again be able to take part in such transcendental pastimes. I will never forget that one special day, for a few minutes, when you allowed me to participate in a most joyful game in Vrindavan Dhama. I pray that my memory of that day is never taken from me.

[dasanudas]

Even tho they're such pests I just don't know why I like those Monkey tales. Maybe I'm lining up for my next birth, God forbid.

Still that monkey sure knew where the mercy was.

[Gauracandra]

I too like the monkey stories. Perhaps there should be a forum section called "Monkey Stories" Keep them coming if you have any. They are really funny

 

Gauracandra

[JRdd]

I love monkey stories too. Perhaps we were monkeys together in a previous life. Thank you for reminding me of Srila Prabhupada. I always wondered who ended up with those sandals.

Ever dig the monkeys at seva kunj? Or was it the nidra place, or both. The nidra kunj which was low trees under which Krsna and the gopis rested after the rasa dance, on bed of flower petals. All over the place, these monkeys are, like little guards of the holiest of places. They look hilariously andinappropriately undignified, these exalted devotees, when picking through each other's hair and eating the nits. Talk about humble service to the Vaisnavas.

I carried a stick everywhere I went, in thes ekind of places, waving it back and forth automatically as I walked. This kept them away from me. Just a little tip.

 

JR

[atma]

What about when Srila Prabhupada was talking to a monkey? Yamuna Devi told that story somewhere.

Lucky monkey , he got Prabhupada's sandals and lived in Vrindavan. Who knows, maybe he is now in Goloka. That is that thing that baffles me the most. Tha inhabitants of the dhama (animals and humans). So difficult to understand them and still somehow they are there getting all the mercy.

[amanpeter]

Originally posted by atma:

What about when Srila Prabhupada was talking to a monkey? Yamuna Devi told that story somewhere.

Lucky monkey , he got Prabhupada's sandals and lived in Vrindavan. Who knows, maybe he is now in Goloka. That is that thing that baffles me the most. Tha inhabitants of the dhama (animals and humans). So difficult to understand them and still somehow they are there getting all the mercy.

Oink oink to that!

[Maitreya]

 

Monkey & the Bananas

During this visit Srila Prabhupäda regularly spoke in his sitting room. Local residents offered fruits and flowers by placing them at his lotus feet.

One evening in the middle of Srila Prabhupäda’s lecture, a monkey darted into the room and lunged for the bananas. Visaka dasi quickly threw her chaddar over the monkey and tugged at the bananas as he ran past her. She managed to get most of the bananas, but within a few seconds the monkey was gone with a prize banana in his hand.

"Just see how intelligent this monkey is,” Srila Prabhupäda said. “This shows that in their own respect all living entities are intelligent. How long do you think it would have taken you to do that, run in and out of here and get the bananas? This monkey is so intelligent in regards to his eating. He can do it in a few seconds. Practically no one even saw him. He just took the bananas and ran out. This is what it is like in the material world. Everyone is very expert in their own sphere. So, we have to become expert devotees, not expert like the monkeys.”

The entire incident lasted about four seconds. Even though Srila Prabhupäda had been lecturing, he was aware of everything going on around him. Srila Prabhupäda was always aware of activities around him. He was expert at doing more than one thing at a time.

 

For the delight of the bhaktas,

YS MC

[dasanudas]

Hmm, delightful for me too.

[Gauracandra]

Here is just a quick monkey story from the "Memories" series I remember. I'll just tell it quickly.

 

Nanda Kumar (Srila Prabhupada's personal cook) told this story. Once a giant monkey was harrasing the building they were staying in causing all sorts of trouble (knocking on doors etc...). So Nanda Kumar asked Srila Prabhupada what to do. Prabhupada responded with his cane that you should raise it up high and say "Hut!!! Hut!!!" and shake it at the monkey. But he said never hit them else they will get ferocious. Srila Prabhupada demonstrated the technique at one point to the monkey and it ran a way. Later in the evening this monkey came to harrass them again. Srila Prabhupada was discussing with some guests. So Nanda Kumar went outside with a stick and shouted "Hut!!! Hut!!! at the monkey. At which point the monkey stood up straight reaching 5-6 feet tall, barred its fangs and started approaching him. He quickly ran back to Srila Prabhupada and told him what happened. Prabhupada laughed and said "Yes, you do not know the process".

 

Gauracandra

[JRdd]

BIG GRIN HERE!!!