Bhagavata das Remembers Srila Prabhupada

Bhagavat: One of the things that struck me about Srila Prabhupada was how concerned he was about the welfare of his disciples. That especially struck me in Bombay. I had cut my foot, and Prabhupada noticed it during guru-puja. At that time he was receiving worship from a hundred devotees, and arati was going on. He called me to the vyasasana, completely ignoring everyone in the room for that moment, and said, “What happened to your foot?” I said, “I cut myself.” He said, “Are you all right? Is it very bad? Have you gone to the doctor? Do you need medicine?” I assured him that I had taken care of it. Then he said, “Remember, if you need anything, come and see me, and I will help.”

Srila Prabhupada displayed deep care and affection. Nothing was as important to him as the welfare of his disciples.

Bhagavat: As exalted and as glorious as he was, Srila Prabhupada was humble, unlike other gurus who’d say they were something wonderful. Once there was a dispute between senior devotees about Srila Prabhupada’s position. A woman disciple wrote to Srila Prabhupada, “Some of the devotees say that you can see what’s in the hearts of all your disciples, and other devotees say that you can’t do that. What do you say? Please tell me.” Prabhupada’s secretary read this question and Prabhupada said, “For a greatly advanced pure devotee, this is not at all difficult. He can easily see what is going on in the hearts of all his disciples.”

The secretary said, “Okay, I should tell her that you can do this?” Prabhupada said, “I didn’t say that. I said, ‘A greatly advanced pure devotee could see that.’ I am not a greatly advanced pure devotee. I am not even a devotee. I am just trying to be a devotee.” So in that statement, he simultaneously exhibited his humility and also showed us what our state of consciousness should be in trying to develop our Krishna consciousness: We are trying to be a devotee.

To view the entire unedited video go to Memories 15 - The 1996 NYC and LA Reunions

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