Kulashekhar: I had studied the pronunciation for the Sri Isopanisad with Pradyumna in New York, but I only knew the first six verses. Now, it’s said that the guru knows everything about the disciple, and he’s expert in engaging the disciple and using anything the disciple has to offer. So when an impersonal mayavadi swami came to visit Prabhupada at Bury Place, Prabhupada gave him all respects and had me put a cushion down for him. Then Prabhupada said, “Please make up a plate of fruits.” I ran down, made a fruit plate, returned and offered it to Prabhupada, who said, “No, offer it to our guest.” I offered it to the swami, then offered it to Prabhupada and Prabhupada said, “Sit down.” I sat down. Prabhupada looked at the swami and said, “My boys all know Sanskrit.” I thought, “Oh, no, what is he up to now?” Prabhupada, beaming, looked at me and said, “Chant Sri Isopanisad.” I started chanting, om purnam adah purnam idam, purnat purnam udacyate, purnasya purnam adaya…in perfect meter, as best I could. I got up to the fourth verse and thought, “Prabhupada, I only know six,” but I kept going, I had faith. I got up to the fifth verse and I was sweating, but I kept going. When I started on the sixth verse, I felt like Draupadi about to come unraveled. Mentally I was saying to Prabhupada, “Prabhupada, I only know six, I only know six.” On the second line in the sixth verse, Prabhupada looked at me and said, “That will be enough, you can go now.” Even though I only had that little bit of knowledge, he used it perfectly and got the maximum value out of it. That was a nice experience.
In the early ’70s, I’d been preparing to take sannyas and Srila Prabhupada was giving me special attention. I went on all the morning walks—on one walk I had a beautiful vision of Prabhupada’s skin changing from flesh to golden silk. When the time had come, I got fresh cloth, shaved up, went to Shyamasundar and said, “Shyamasundar, I’d like to see Srila Prabhupada.” He said, “Why do you want to see Srila Prabhupada?” I said, “I want to ask him for sannyas.” He said, “Kulashekhar, do you really want to take sannyas?” I said, “I’ve been preparing for it for years and I’m ready.” Shyamasundar said, “Do you ever think of sex? Do you ever think of marriage?” I said, “Sometimes the thoughts cross my mind, but I don’t pay any attention to them.” He said, “Kulashekhar, maybe you should get married.” I said, “What?” He said, “This is a big decision. This is for the rest of your life. Go away and think about it because if you ever think of sex, you shouldn’t take sannyas.” I didn’t sleep much that night. Trying to be truthful with myself, I thought, “Sometimes I do think of sex life—it does cross my mind. Maybe I am being totally false. I should probably get married.” Then I started thinking, “Who do I want to marry?” I thought about the different brahmacharinis and which one would be best for me to marry. I more or less went through the complete ceremony. The next morning I went back to Shyamasundar and said, “Shyamasundar, I think you’re right. I should probably get married.” He said, “Who do you want to marry?” I told him the name of the girl and he said, “That’s a good choice. Go in and see Srila Prabhupada. Just knock on the door.” I said, “Great.” I knocked on the door, went in and Prabhupada was beaming at me. I paid obeisances, got up and sat there. Prabhupada said, “Yes?” I said, “Srila Prabhupada, I’d like to get married.” He said, “What? What? Who has done this do you?” I was devastated. I said, “Prabhupada, I went to see Shyamasundar…” and he said, “Shyamasundar!” He said, “Pradyumna, get Shyamasundar in here immediately!” Prabhupada was furious. I sat there, looking at the floor and feeling like a dog. Shyamasundar came in and Prabhupada said, “Who are you to tell my brahmachari to get married?” Shyamasundar said, “Prabhupada, he said he wanted to take sannyas, and I told him if he ever thinks of sex life…” Prabhupada said, “Everyone with a material body thinks of sex life.” Prabhupada looked at me with compassion and said, “Look at him. He’s finished.” Then he said, “You have no right to tell my brahmacharis to get married, ever.” I don’t remember much after that.
The day after that sannyas incident Srila Prabhupada let me have a private darshan with him to talk about the marriage system. I said, “Prabhupada, can you tell me about married life?” He said, “When the girl is 8, she is betrothed to a husband from the same social strata. The families have already worked out their astrological compatibility. Then from 8 till 12 or 14, the girl would go to her husband’s house every day and his mother would train her how to take care of her son—the way he liked his food cooked and so on. Then as soon as she attained puberty, they would have sex life and she would never look at another man the rest of her life.” He said, “That is marriage. Anything else, I do not know.”
Once my father drove Prabhupada from the London airport to Bury Place in his white Jaguar Mark II, a car with red leather seats and an exceptionally smooth ride. Prabhupada sat in the front with my father and I sat in the back with Pradyumna and Shyamasundar. We were in the middle lane of a three-lane road by the British Museum when a red double-decker bus was in the lane to our right and another one was in the lane to our left. Then those two buses almost closed in on our car. It was very dangerous. My father spontaneously screamed, “Haribol,” slammed down on the gas pedal, and our car took off through a small gap that opened between the buses. Prabhupada turned to my father and beamed at him. Years later my father wrote me, “Remember when I was driving Swamiji from the airport and those buses closed in on us and I screamed “Haribol!” and the buses parted just like the waves of the Red Sea parted for the Lord.” My father equated the experience of the buses parting to the parting of the Red Sea. That was something special for me.
Since my mother and father had visited Prabhupada a few times, I spoke about my family with him when he said, “Because you are a devotee, twenty-eight generations of your family will be liberated.” I said, “What do you mean by liberated, Prabhupada?” He said, “That means they will become devotees in their next life.” I said, “Does that mean just my immediate family, like my mother and father and brothers and sisters, or does it mean my extended family, aunts and uncles . . .?” He said, “Extended family, everybody. Aunts, uncles, everybody, twenty-eight generations of your whole family become devotees.”
