Chitralekha devi dasi Remembers Srila Prabhupada
Prabhupada Memories
Interview 01
Chitralekha: Just after we arrived in Vrindavan, two dozen devotees, including my one year-old daughter and I, went into Prabhupada’s room for darshan. My daughter and I were quietly sitting in the back when my daughter got up and started walking to Prabhupada. The brahmachari at the door motioned to me to get her. He whispered, “Get her! Bring her back!” Although I saw the brahmachari out of the corner of my eye, I conveniently ignored him and instead made a motion to Prabhupada asking, “Should I get her?” Prabhupada saw the brahmachari flipping out at the door, put his hand up and told me, “Just sit down.” I had no idea what my daughter, Chintaya, was going to do. She walked to Prabhupada’s desk, looked around, looked at Prabhupada, walked over to him, crawled across him and sat down on his lap. All other conversation stopped as she played with his garland and then crawled off his lap. He gave her a flower to take with her and then he nodded to me to come and take her. I picked her up and took her back to sit down. No matter who or what age the person was, Prabhupada built sweet relationships with everyone—even with the youngest children—through his sweet exchanges.
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To view the entire unedited video go to Memories 36 - Bhutatma, Tosan Krsna, Kuladri, Chitralekha dd, Rangavati dd, Atma Tava
The full Prabhupada Memories Series can be viewed here and also at www.prabhupadamemories.com
Following Srila Prabhupada
Interview DVD 08
Chitralekha: Upendra went to Fiji first about a month before I arrived, and I believe it was September 1970. We were in Suva. People used to call us Mr. and Mrs. Swamiji, which we thought was very funny at that time, because we wore our yellow dhoti and sari. When we were in Fiji, an Indian family had given us a small Lord Nrsinghadev Deity. I still have Him. He was always our Deity who presided over our center and our preaching there in Fiji. He was the first Nrsinghadev Deity that appeared in our movement, so that was very significant. He was given to us soon after we had arrived there. On Sundays we had a feast, and our place would be packed with Fijian people and Indian people. So they took very enthusiastically to the feast. Upendra always wrote to Prabhupada about the difficulties that we were running into and the criticisms, and one of the sadhus next door wanted to chant Hare Rama first instead of Hare Krishna first. Prabhupada just wrote back and said, “Well, if he insists on chanting Hare Rama first, what is the harm? He is still chanting.” And part of it was their criticism about the color yellow for our dhotis and saris. Prabhupada answered back that “Usually white dhoti and colorful saris are what’s worn in India. But when someone is engaged in preaching activities or devotional activities they may wear yellow, and your life is always involved in preaching activities. So you may put on a white dhoti if you like, if you want, that is fine.” He was always instructing us every step of the way. Upendra would write him letters two or three times a month. So he was our guiding force all the way through. We really took to heart and felt like we had been given a responsibility to follow Lord Caitanya’s prediction that in every town and village there would be chanting of the Holy Name. So we literally went to every little village that we could and often were hosted in a very humble place, ancient temples of Narayan or Kali or whatever, but we would hold a program and all the villagers would come. There would be simple prasadam. Then we’d go on to another village and make our rounds. We went to Lautoka. We had met Vasudeva’s father, who was a very elderly man at that point, and his five sons, of whom Vasudeva was one of them. His father was a very devotional man and was always wanting to help in any way he could. And then we heard later how Vasudeva had come around to want to know more about Krishna consciousness and follow Prabhupada, and it was very exciting for us to see that from our humble beginnings that Vasudeva was going to take up the mission and carry on Krishna consciousness there under Prabhupada’s supervision. |