Padmalocana das Remembers Srila Prabhupada

Following Srila Prabhupada

Interview DVD 03

Padmalocana: They were making a new vyasasana, so I’d been requested to upholster that vyasasana. So most devotees went off to the airport to meet Prabhupada, welcome Prabhupada, but we were still trying to finish this thing up before he arrived. So we wanted to finish, get it in the temple room, and it was green with gold trim around it. So Prabhupada came and immediately everyone was offering obeisances and I was completely overwhelmed, I’d never seen such a personality. I immediately had extreme emotions of crying, and I was quite overwhelmed. Then we went in and Prabhupada took darshan, and he sat down on the vyasasana and started giving a lecture. Then just as he finished the lecture he mentioned something about the vyasasana, “Oh, this is very nice.” Then he went upstairs. As soon as he got there it seemed, he had just arrived and then immediately somebody said, “Oh, Prabhupada is saying something about the vyasasana, you should go up there.” So I went up and Prabhupada said, “I want two more vyasasanas.” He said, “Yes, they should be small size because every day Lord Brahma and Narada Muni come here for the evening aratik and there should be a vyasasana for each of them. They should look identical to my one in small size.” I think we finished them on that same day, and next morning they were placed there. So Prabhupada was very appreciative the next day. He said, “Yes, yes, they should stay always and be here next to Radha-Londonisvara.” Then he told everyone, “Every day Lord Brahma and Narada Muni come here for the evening aratik.”

Interview DVD 04

Padmalocana: Prabhupada used to take his morning walk quite often in a little park just around the corner to the temple. I think it’s called Deshapriya Park, and there was a lake in the middle of that park. So Prabhupada would walk around that lake a few times. So on this one occasion, quite a large number of devotees came for the walk, maybe as many as 40. Prabhupada was walking around, not saying anything, just walking around the park. And he would come back to the starting point where there was a little gate, which we would go through, and then he would set off again. Prabhupada wasn’t speaking anything, he was chanting japa. So after about four times around I was noticing that many devotees were dropping off and going back to the temple for one reason or another. He went on a couple more times around the park, he was going on quite a while. So I was still following on, and it got down to the point where there was about six of us left and we’re going around. Suddenly Prabhupada stopped and turned around, looked at us and he said, “Oh, all the others have given up. Just see how easily we give up.” Then he was very silent and turned around and started walking again, and we followed him. Then when he came back to the gate, we went back to the temple.