Locanananda: Prabhupada asked the devotees receiving first initiation to come up and explain the regulative principles, and then he would say, “And how many rounds a day do you chant?” The devotees would say, “Sixteen.” Then Prabhupada would say, “Minimum.” So that was very instructive. We think that after chanting sixteen rounds we have to put our beads down and go do our service, but Prabhupada said if you chant Hare Krishna 24/7, “I will be very happy.” So that was just the minimum. Then he said, “You can chant early in the morning and late at night, but don’t count the rounds you chant in the afternoon.” He said, “I finish my rounds late at night.” So that was also an interesting thing. I heard him say that the mode of passion is prominent during the afternoon because there is a lot of activity, a lot of distraction. But he wanted us to be very, very focused and hear the chanting—our own chanting and the chanting of others—so we would get the greatest benefit.
Srila Prabhupada called me into his room in London at Bury Place for a private meeting. I had never experienced speaking with Prabhupada privately. He wanted to convey some message to me. He started speaking and leaning back with his eyes closed. He started talking about Mayavada philosophy and how philosophers were saying that, “I am God. We are all God.” Then Prabhupada would say, “This is going on.” Every time he would state something that was false or erroneous, he would then say, “This is going on.” Eventually, he told the story about two frogs who heard that there was a God. They wanted to see proof of God. Prabhupada told us, “There was a stick and they started jumping up and down on the stick, and they said, ‘This is not God. It doesn’t even respond.’ So they jumped up on a stone. The stone also didn’t respond. The frogs said, ‘How can that be God?’ Then a crane appeared.” Prabhupada started acting out the part of the crane using his arm as the crane’s body and his hand as the crane’s head. Aravinda, Shyamasundar and I were all listening very intently. It appeared to be a very serious philosophical discussion. Then Prabhupada made a gesture with his hand imitating the crane looking around. Prabhupada’s eyes got real big as he quickly moved his hand in two directions and said, “The crane ate one frog and then ate the other frog.” It was so funny that I rolled over backwards. We were sitting cross legged, and I just rolled over onto my back with my legs up in the air. I could hear Prabhupada laughing at me as were my god-brothers. It was wonderful to see this humorous aspect of Srila Prabhupada.
In Los Angeles I went into Prabhupada’s room to offer obeisances, and he started talking to me before I could get up from offering my respects. Prabhupada said, “When did you get here?” On my hands and knees, I said, “Oh, I got here about three days ago, Srila Prabhupada.” Then he said, “I saw you in the class.” There were four hundred devotees to hear his class in the temple room and I was just shocked that he would say that. Then he said, “Come sit here.” I went and sat next to Srila Prabhupada, and he said, “I want to ask your opinion on something.” My opinion!? What is the value of my opinion? He said, “I am thinking about my travel itinerary. I think now I can continue working on the translation of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. I will spend four months in Los Angeles, four months in London and four months in India. What do you think of that plan?” I said, “I think that’s a great plan, Srila Prabhupada.” Prabhupada used to say, “You have your plan, I have my plan, and Krishna has His plan.” But this was obviously Prabhupada’s plan, and I was not going to contradict him. Plus, I could see the logic in it. He said, “I will be able to translate and write the commentaries to my books, and devotees can come from all over to see me in those three locations. What do you think?” I said, “That’s a great plan, Srila Prabhupada. I will come to see you in London.” So that was the idea. We all knew that nobody could make Srila Prabhupada’s travel plans as he made his own plans. Sometimes he would ask Pradyumna, “Panditji, when is the next auspicious day to travel?” Pradyumna would say, “Next auspicious day is Tuesday.” Prabhupada would say, “Cannot wait. We must leave on Sunday.” So, you couldn’t make his plans. But that was part of Srila Prabhupada being guided by Krishna. Every move, every action, every instruction, everything that was in his books was coming through him from Krishna to us.
Pusta Krishna asked, “Prabhupada, in the spiritual world, can you go from one planet to another?” Prabhupada said, “The material laws are not acting there. So yes, you can do that.” Then he asked, “Prabhupada, will we recognize you in the spiritual world when we arrive?” He said, “Yes, you will recognize me.” He had previously said, “We will have big ISKCON in the spiritual world. That is my role, that when you return back home, back to Godhead, the spiritual master will take your hand and put your hand in Krishna’s hand and make the introduction.” So that is an eternal position he has. We are eternally related with Srila Prabhupada.
