Page 34 - MMOSP (English)
P. 34

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



                                         18
   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39