Nandi devi dasi Remembers Srila Prabhupada

Following Srila Prabhupada

Interview DVD 09

Nandi: From way up the street, the devotees parted and the car stopped and Srila Prabhupada got out of the car and walked toward the cart. It seemed like it was a great distance to me. But my very distinct memory is that as Prabhupada approached the cart, I was privileged to witness the meeting of great personalities – the meeting of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Jagannatha. And I felt suddenly as if the devotees had melted away, that the sound of the kirtan was from a distance, and I had a little peephole into this extraordinary exchange the moment when Srila Prabhupada and Lord Jagannatha greeted one another. I was insignificant in that exchange, I was just a little ant with a little glimpse. And it was profound, it was bigger than any emotion I’ve ever experienced. It was beyond this material world.

Interview DVD 10

Nandi: I made my way to the veranda outside of his quarters, and there I saw a long line of devotees. I was told they were all waiting to get into darshan, but I sat down anyway and waited. Then someone from inside the darshan room came out and said, “There is room for one more person to go in,” and I immediately stood up and said, “Me! Me! I want to see Srila Prabhupada!” So he said, “OK, you.” And all of those devotees who had been waiting longer than me, I walked past them and in to see Srila Prabhupada. I had these bananas. I felt so lucky. So I walked in the door, and there was Prabhupada sitting behind his little desk and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if proper etiquette was to offer my obeisances first and then give him the bananas or to give him the bananas and then offer my obeisances. I was very confused. I looked at Srila Prabhupada and he smiled at me and I felt, “Oh, he knows me.” I knew that he could see that I was very confused and didn’t know what to do, and the smile was not only of welcome but it was some amusement also to see me in such a state. But I felt like he was looking at me and no one else but me and he was welcoming me as his daughter, and he was so happy to see me, that it had been a long, long time and we were finally seeing each other again. That’s how I felt, that it was a great distance, a great time had elapsed and we were once again united. I don’t remember if I offered my obeisances or gave the bananas first. The next thing I remember is I was making my way to the back of the room, where I sat and listened to him speak. Truly I don’t remember anything that was said in that darshan, but I was happy just to be there in his presence and to hear him speaking.