Page 34 - MMOSP (English)
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My Memories of Çréla Prabhupäda
Rädhä Mädhava,” shaking his head in great absorption as he
chanted in his incomparable way. Nitäicänd Däsa Brahmacäré,
young, trim, and looking quite grand, would stand to Çréla
Prabhupäda’s right, intricately beating the mådaìga. One
morning, Çréla Prabhupäda recounted an incident he had seen
in Calcutta of a man who had half-killed a chicken by slitting its
throat. Dying in pain, the chicken was squawking and jumping
about. Although his son was crying, the man was laughing
and asking, “Why are you crying? It is very nice.” Then Çréla
Prabhupäda said, “Just see. Without being a devotee, a man will
become cruel, cruel, cruel, cruel, cruel—in this way go to hell.”
Çréla Prabhupäda repeated the word cruel with great feeling.
I was shocked at how directly and forcefully Çréla Prabhupäda
spoke while lecturing on Çrémad-Bhägavatam 7.9.47, on
2 April 1976. He explained that it is not possible to imitate
great devotees like Haridäsa Öhäkura by going off to chant in
solitude, and stressed that we must remain active in devotional
service under the direction of authorities, and that by doing
so we would realize Kåñëa. Çréla Prabhupäda particularly
mentioned book distribution. As far as I remember, on this
day the devotees were scheduled to go to Rädhä-kuëòa. (The
devotees would travel each day by bus to different hallowed
sites in Vraja-maëòala. Senior devotees who were familiar with
Våndävana would speak about the respective places and read
from Çréla Prabhupäda’s books on the pastimes connected to
each site.) It struck me that on this particular morning Çréla
Prabhupäda gave a stern warning regarding Rädhä-kuëòa.
After the class, I heard that Çréla Prabhupäda had strongly
admonished devotees not to be lured into imitative bäbäjé life:
“Don’t think you can simply sit in one place and chant. You
will simply eat and sleep, think of women and money, and fall
down. There are already so many monkeys, hogs, and dogs in
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