Ashokamrita das Remembers Srila Prabhupada

Following Srila Prabhupada

Interview DVD 03

Ashokamrita: I met the devotees in very early ‘70s. One afternoon I saw them in Calcutta playing mridanga, and after some time they were preaching. After that, I asked them a few questions and they told me that they have a center in Albert Road. At the time I was student of Calcutta University, and I decided to go there. I also heard through the grapevine that at that time Srila Prabhupada is in town. So I brought some fruits and I showed up to see Srila Prabhupada one evening because also I heard that he gives darshan. I was met at the gate of 3C Albert Road by Shyamasundara prabhu, and he just told me to wait for a second. He went in to talk with Prabhupada, and he came and asked me if I am a student. I said, “Yes, I am a student of Calcutta University,” and he said, “Go head, go in.” I went and there was Prabhupada alone and there was nobody else. So I bowed down before him because in India it’s a custom to bow down before holy men, and I offered him the bananas that I purchased and then we started talking. At that time, I did not have any idea of the greatness of my Gurudeva. He was very open to me. He was glowing, I remember that. He was a glowing sannyasi, and that was my first meeting with my Gurudeva. We talked a lot of things and then when I was ready to leave, he took a banana and cut a piece off it and gave it back to me as prasadam, which I very gratefully accepted. And deep inside I have a very good feeling that he is a genuine swami, which is very rare in India. After that there was a program in a rich man’s home where a lot of devotees had gathered before a pandal program, and Prabhupada saw me in the crowd and he held up his hand and pointed towards me and said in Bengali, “Tumi tomar matha nara korbe kobe?” The translation of that is, “When would you shave your head?” In other words, he was telling me, “When would you become my disciple?” I was simply elated. I felt, “My eternal Gurudeva has found me, a lost soul wandering through the universe, and my Gurudeva has finally found me. It’s the beginning of my journey back home.”