Prahladananda Swami: I was looking at a little cartoon about Prahlad Maharaj and thinking, “Prahlad, what a nice name.” When I got my initiation letter from Srila Prabhupada saying that my name was “Prahladananda,” I thought, “Wow, that’s amazing!” Afterwards I heard from Srila Prabhupada’s secretary, Devananda, that when Prabhupada received my letter requesting initiation he said, “How can I initiate this boy? There’s no letter of recommendation.” Devananda said to Prabhupada, “Well, I just talked to him on the telephone, and he seems like a nice devotee.” Prabhupada said, “Oh, you recommend him?” Devananda said, “No, I don’t even know him, how can I recommend him? I just talked to him.” Prabhupada said, “If you think he’s a nice boy, then I’ll give him initiation.”
Once I asked, “Srila Prabhupada, should I control my desire to eat prasadam?” Prabhupada chuckled and said, “No, you can eat as much as you want, but don’t fill yourself up to here.” (points to his neck). Everyone laughed. Another time I asked Srila Prabhupada, “Swamiji, how will I know whether or not Krishna wants me to do something?” Prabhupada chuckled and said, “You won’t know.” He said, “You’ll do the wrong thing.” Everyone started to chuckle and laugh also. When Prabhupada saw that the others were chuckling and laughing, he looked at me compassionately so I wouldn’t feel offended. Prabhu- pada was sensitive toward everyone he dealt with.
Dr. Rao was an Indian and a Mayavadi who had asked the devotees to open a center. Rupanuga had done that, but Dr. Rao had never surrendered. Prabhupada preached to Dr. Rao very simply. Prabhupada said, “To know who your father is, who do you ask? You have to find out from your mother. Your mother is the authority on the identity of your father.” Dr. Rao wouldn’t accept that. So Prabhupada repeated the same analogy three times. “If you want to know who your father is, you have to find out from your mother, the Vedas.” Since Dr. Rao didn’t accept that simple analogy, Prabhupada didn’t go any further. He stopped right there. Then Dr. Rao said, “Swamiji, I wrote one article for Back to Godhead magazine, but it’s never been published.” Prabhupada took his little bell and rang it. Pradyumna came in, and Srila Prabhupada said, “Dr. Rao has written an article for our Back to Godhead, and it has not been published. It must be published.” I thought, “It must be published; his article? What kind of article could it be?” Then Prabhupada said, “It is very important to write for Back to Godhead. I want all of my disciples to write for Back to Godhead.” So I realized the importance of writing for Back to Godhead, and I realized that Dr. Rao’s article would never be published. Prabhupada was very kind to Dr. Rao.
Once Prabhupada came to the University of Buffalo and lectured to many students in one of the university rooms. Afterwards he asked for questions. One boy stood up and said, “Swamiji, tell us truthfully, are you really happy?” Prabhupada became grave. He said, “If I told you, would you believe me?” The boy said, “Swamiji, come on, tell us. Are you really happy?” Srila Prabhupada looked at him even more gravely and said, “If I told you would you believe me?” The boy repeated, “Oh, come on Swamiji, just tell us. Are you really happy?” Then Prabhupada smiled beautifully and said, “Yes, I am very happy.” The devotees said, “Jaya, Prabhupada!” This boy’s grin turned into a big frown, and he sat down. Just by his smile Prabhupada could defeat someone.
One time my mind was wandering while I was absorbed in some type of yoga meditation. Prabhupada looked at me and said, “Our process is bhakti, not meditation.” I was surprised and impressed by Prabhupada’s sensitivity. Another time Prabhupada was giving a lecture at the university when he said, “Brahmananda told us that young boys and girls take off their clothes and go in with the pigs.” Some of the other devotees and I became a little disturbed by hearing this. Prabhupada saw that we were disturbed and immediately changed the subject. He was sensitive when he spoke and noted people’s reaction to his words.
At the end of the lecture, when Srila Pra- bhupada was leaving, a girl approached him and said, “What is the difference between TM and Krishna consciousness?” Prabhupada said, “Krishna consciousness means we chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.” That’s all he said. I realized that preaching didn’t necessarily mean that one had to do a complete analysis of the person’s personality or attack anyone. One could preach simply and be effective at the same time.
Once Satsvarupa Maharaj was mentioning some of the devotees who lived at the temple and explaining their qualities to Prabhupada. Prabhupada said, “Devotee? A devotee means they’re first class. If they’re a devotee, they’re first class.” In other words, rather than analyzing the different personalities, Prabhupada said, “If they’re a devotee, then they’re first class.”
Once I wrote Prabhupada a letter and asked him, “How does bhava turn into prema?” I had been reading the Bhaktirasamritasindu by Bon Maharaj. Srila Prabhupada had told Rupanuga Prabhu that we should only read the purports but not the translations in that book. The purports were by Srila Jiva Goswami or Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur. Rupanuga didn’t like me reading that book, but I’d stay up at night and read it secretly. I thought that it would give me some special realizations. After a while I was convinced that I was on the stage of bhava, and it was just a question of time before it turned into prema. That’s why I asked Srila Prabhupada about how bhava turns into prema. He wrote me a one-page response on preaching, which surprised me. Srila Prabhupada wrote, “I’ve heard that you’re all going out in Buffalo. This is very good. You should all go out, chant Hare Krishna all around Buffalo, distribute Bhagavad-gita, and preach about Bhagavad-gita as much as possible. The boys and girls in your country generally are good souls—that’s why they’ve taken birth in such a nice country. Just like here, in San Francisco, we’ve had Ratha-yatra, and ten thousand boys and girls were dancing and chanting in full transcendental ecstasy. I’ve heard that in just two weeks in New York they’ve distributed three thousand Back to Godheads, and that in Buffalo, you’re also distributing Back to Godheads very nicely. Please continue in this way and your success in life is assured. As Krishna sees that you are working seriously to bring His other children back to the spiritual kingdom, then He will bestow all of His blessings upon you. Krishna is never ungrateful for our efforts to serve Him, rest assured. Regarding your question, ‘how does bhava turn into prema?’ there is no need to trouble yourself over such advanced questions at the present time. Shortly I will be publishing The Nectar of Devotion, and that will be explained there. As far as the fifty dollars you sent me, I find no enclosed money in your letter. Do you know where it is?” So at once I realized that Prabhupada was quite sensitive. In- stead of answering my question directly, he answered it in another way. It was not the answer that I expected, but if I actually wanted these advanced stages of Krishna consciousness, the method was going out and distributing Prabhupada’s books and chanting Hare Krishna in the street. That would gradually give me what I was looking for.
The devotees went to the airport to greet Srila Prabhupada when he arrived and created more or less a riot. They ran through the airport chanting and screaming and were disrespectful to the people. Prabhupada was disappointed by this behavior. In any case, afterward we all went to Keshava Prabhu’s home. Prabhupada went upstairs, and we performed an abhishek. I was fanning Srila Prabhupada, and I remember how he became compassionate. He said, “These people are unhappy. We simply want them to become happy.” Prabhupada’s compassion and those words summed up the whole mission of Krishna consciousness for me. We are trying to help unhappy people become happy. After the ceremony Tamal Krishna Maharaj and Vishnujana Maharaj related some stories about preaching to the students in Berkeley. They said to Srila Prabhupada, “We had a problem with the vendors in Berkeley because we were giving out free prasadam. They became envious and filed a petition with the police chief saying that we were creating a disturbance by giving out food without a license. Then we got a petition from thousands and thousands of students asking for our food, and we presented that to the police chief. We asked him, ‘Which is better, thousands of signatures from the students, or a few signatures from the vendors?’ The police chief understood that a few signatures were not as good as thousands and thousands of signatures, so he said, ‘All right.’” Then the vendors attacked the devotees, and Vishnujana Maharaj and Tamal Krishna Maharaj defended them. Prabhupada thought for a few minutes and said, “Yes, wherever there is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement there will be victory.” The devotees said, “Jaya, Srila Prabhupada!” By this time Jayananda Prabhu, who had been working on the Ratha-yatra carts, had fallen asleep in the back. The devotees were going to wake him up, but Prabhupada said, “No, don’t, he is doing more work than all of you.” Then when we were leaving someone brought in a huge bowl of fruit for Srila Prabhupada. I thought, “Wow, we’re going to have a feast now.” Srila Prabhupada took a little prasadam and offered some to the devotees. He gave me a strawberry and said, “Don’t eat very much at night.”
One of the matajis stripped the paint off the Deities and was going to repaint them. Prabhupada said, “Who told you to do this?” She said, “Baradraj.” Prabhupada said, “Baradraj? Who is Baradraj?” She was shaking. Prabhupada said, “I’m your spiritual master, and I’m right here. Why didn’t you ask me?” She ran out of the room crying, and it was doubtful whether we could install Radha-Kalachandji. Then the devotees discovered some quick-drying paint, so they painted the Deities, and Srila Prabhupada installed Them. I was amazed at how expertly Prabhupada directed everyone. After he personally performed the sacrifice, Prabhupada did the first arati, and the whole room was blissful. Sri Sri Radha-Kalachandji and Srila Prabhupada were giving so much mercy that the whole room became like Vaikuntha.
Once the gurukula students were reciting verses from Bhagavad-gita. One of them, Lila-smarana, had a good memory. Although I wasn’t living in the temple, I was also memorizing Bhagavad-gita verses, because if you knew a whole chapter then you’d get a whole plate of maha-prasadam. I was trying to keep up with the gurukula students so I could get a maha plate also. When this little boy recited many verses I thought, “Wow, this is fantastic! He’s expert!” Prabhupada asked him, “So what is the translation?” Lila-smarana said, “I don’t know.” Prabhupada said, “This is useless. They must know the translation.” Then I realized that I also have to know what the verses mean. It’s not enough to simply parrot the words.
Once he said, “People are so foolish that they don’t know that sometimes there’s a chemical—potassium phosphate—in margarine, that’s from stool. Yet they think that margarine is better that butter. People are so foolish.”
That night we all watched Prabhupada’s arrival because it was on television. Television cameras had recorded Prabhupada’s airport arrival. Then Purushottama came back and said that before Prabhupada went to sleep he said, “I pray to Krishna every night to please protect me from maya.”
