Accepting service is such a serious thing as it can be very much implicating

[krsna]

 

by Govinda dasi

 

One day Srila Prabhupada was talking about his life as a gentleman householder in Calcutta. He described the various types of rice, eaten by different types of people, saying that the aristocratic class preferred the long-grain basmati rice and the servant-class preferred the short grained, cheaper type of rice. Basmati was new to us and Srila Prabhupada was expressing his appreciation of it. Srila Prabhupada said: "They like according to their nature", he explained, 'everyone has taste according to his nature.

 

If you give a tiger milk he will not take. He desires blood to drink. That is his nature". Srila Prabhupada began to talk about his own experiences. When he was a householder he had a few servants, as was the custom in colonial and post-colonial India. "Because we were eating a very fine quality Basmati rice, which is long-grained and very flavorful, so I wanted to give the best rice to my servants also. I wanted to offer them the best prasadam and care, as it is said that even though one pays his servants, still one becomes indebted to them as they are rendering so much service". Accepting service is such a serious thing, he explained, as it can be very much implicating.

 

"So for some time the servants were eating this very nice Basmati rice". Then, one day, Srila Prabhupada described, one servant came to me very humbly and requested 'Sir, you are very kind and respectable and I have no complaints in your service. I am very satisfied serving here in your household but only one thing, sir, this rice which you are giving us to eat, is very difficult for us to eat. We are not accustomed. Is it possible we may have to eat that short grain variety". Srila Prabhupada burst into smiles, chuckling and shaking his head from side to side, eyebrows raised, his eyes half-closed he said; "Just see, I am giving him first class rice, but he is unable to tolerate. He desires third class rice, cheaper quality because his taste is for that. These are the modes of nature, such a subtle thing. So I gave them as they wanted". Srila Prabhupada gave such a profound explanation of the modes of nature. It takes it out of the books and into our lives. We can look around everywhere and see how people have tastes according to their modes of nature in food, music, environment, everything, and we can also see how by association with pure devotees and devotional service it changes; our tastes, our preferences become more refined and more sattvic. Srila Prabhupada also gave a cautionary statement about accepting service from others, how entangling it can be and thus how important it is to reciprocate, to give them some prasada, some Krsna conscious blessing and opportunity for that will help prevent us from becoming entangled in the karmic cycle of receiving service. Thank you, Srila Prabhupada for giving us your service so that we may become purified and our tastes will change from the desire to serve dogs to the desire to serve God. You used to comment that 'dog' was "God' spelled backward and it indicates the backward mood of the modern civilization. Rather than worshipping God, they worship and serve the dogs. Dogs are seen as the repository of the lower modes of lust, anger, and greed and unbridled senses. Dogs are the symbol of degradation. Though they themselves have the good quality of faithfulness, the problem arises when one replaces God-seva with dog-seva. Thank you, Srila Prabhupada for teaching us the difference between serving the dog and serving God and for purifying our consciousness so that our modes of nature slowly change and we develop a taste for serving Krsna. Thank you, Srila Prabhupada, we are eternally indebted to you.

 

[krsna]

Story # 18 - Hawaii 1969

 

After Gaurasundara and I had been traveling and living with Srila Prabhupada for about a year, Srila Prabhupada began to encourage us to go and open a temple. He would sometimes say: "We have become just like a family but now it is time to go and preach." He would say: "It is time to push you out of the nest", and later on he would joke that "like birds he had pushed us out of the nest to fly". Gaurasundara left for Hawaii in September for opening a preaching center and later on, in January of 1969, I left Srila Prabhupada in Los Angeles and also came to Hawaii. Gaurasundara had rented a house in Kaawa (?) about 45 minutes from Honolulu by ocean on about 7 acres of land. He also had a small storefront; it actually was an office building in Honolulu where the preaching center was held. The area around Kaawa was a very beautiful jungle retreat, yet there were houses nearby. One day, shortly after I arrived Gaurasundara and I walked to a small grocery store, opposite Swanzy (?) Park, which later became a tirtha, where Srila Prabhupada took his daily walks. On the way back from the store we stumbled upon a tiny kitten, just two or three feet from the side of the road. The helpless creature was sure to be hit by a car, so we asked some children playing nearby to take him home with them. Then we walked the remaining half-mile back to our home. When we returned home I could not find my japa beads anywhere, which had been with me on my walk. So we retraced our steps and there besides the road, next to the small kitten were my sacred beads. They had fallen from the bead bag and the kitten was still there. Compassionately, Gaurasundara and I decided that since the children were not going to help him we would. We picked up the small animal and brought him home. The last thing I wanted was a pet cat. So I had mixed feelings about this, yet we decided to give him some shelter until he was larger and we could find a home for him. He was a very tiny, wining, whimpering kitten who would always get under our feet and we would always have to avoid stepping on him. Then we got a telegram that Srila Prabhupada was coming. What to do? I was embarrassed that we had this kitten and we had not yet found a home for him. So when Srila Prabhupada came the kitten was still there. Srila Prabhupada would often affectionately tease me about the small kitten and even in lectures he would mention it. Sometimes when I worked down in the garden outside, Srila Prabhupada would watch me from his window up above and he would see the kitten running around at my feet. Then, later on he would chuckle and say: "Oh, this cat is always at Govinda dasi's feet but that is fortunate because she is Vaisnavi". This kitten had the constant habit of getting under foot, almost tripping people as they walked. It stayed outside the kitchen door and each morning when Srila Prabhupada went for his walk, he invariably stepped it on. I was often amazed at how often this small creature managed to get under Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet as he left for his daily walk, and as it was always hungry, prasadam scrubs was given to her daily. Of course, I felt somewhat embarrassed for the situation, so we continued to look for a home for the small cat. Srila Prabhupada stayed with us for about a month and the day of his departure we had a chanting and feast program at our home. Many people came and one young couple agreed to adopt this kitten. We were glad to find her a good home. A few days later, however, they informed us that the kitten had suddenly died the very evening Srila Prabhupada had left Hawaii. I then wondered at the good fortune of the kitten that daily was stepped on by Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet. Thank you, Srila Prabhupada for giving your grace to anyone, even a small cat that takes shelter under your lotus feet. May we always remember to take shelter beneath your lotus feet and focus our love entirely on you and Krsna and be spared the danger of taking birth in the body of a deer, a cat, a dog, or any other creature or we cannot serve you in the most complete way. Thank you, Srila Prabhupada.

 

 

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