Prithu das Remembers Srila Prabhupada

Prabhupada Memories

Interview 01

Prithu: In Sweden, Prabhupada was lecturing on the four classes of men—the brahman, or first-class man; kshatriya, second-class; vaishya, third-class; and sudra, fourth-class—to a university crowd of rowdy students. As soon as he finished, a student in the front stood up and said, “Of course you think you are a first-class man. That’s why your followers offer you flowers and you sit on a high seat.” I was boiling with anger. If Prabhupada had made a little sign, I would have pounced on this student and ripped him to shreds. It was dead silent in the room. Prabhupada practically pleaded with this student, saying, “No, no, no. I am not a first-class man. I am a fifth-class man.” Everybody was shocked. It was dead silent again. In this deafening silence Prabhupada said, “Because I am the servant of everyone.” We were astounded when he said this, and I saw that his lip was quivering and two big tears came behind his spectacles. It was clear that he was really the servant of the whole world, that he didn’t think much of himself. On one side, he had so much power, and on the other side, he was so humble that he considered himself fifth-class, the servant of everyone, the person who was supporting and giving to everybody and not expecting anything in return. This was such a sublime moment for Krishna’s pure devotee. I will never forget it.

We had a gorgeous temple that was the ISKCON headquarters in Germany. But at that time, Krishna consciousness in Germany was in shambles. We had had some trouble with the German government. Jayatirtha went to Srila Prabhupada and said, “I think we won’t be able to maintain this temple. It would be better to split up into smaller centers.” But Prabhupada liked this temple. He appreciated the Deities there and the location. When he heard Jayatirtha’s idea he said, “Even if your child has been born deaf and blind, does it mean you kill it?” We were shocked that he said that. Then he became angry. He said, “Does it mean you kill it?” Jayatirtha said, “No, no, no.” Prabhupada said, “Don’t be a rolling stone. Become determined.”

I was sitting on a bench chanting my rounds near Hippie Hill in San Francisco, when an old, black man came by. He said to me, “That old man who started this thing, he was a cool cat. I was living in the Bowery and he was living in the Bowery too. But then again, Jesus was born in a barn.” And he walked away.

We were walking with Srila Prabhupada under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, when Shivananda asked Srila Prabhupada, “What about your internal life, Srila Prabhupada?” Prabhupada was immediately strong. He said, “That you do not require.” Shivananda asked again, “But, Srila Prabhupada, we would like to know, what about your internal life?” Prabhupada became furious. He said, “That you do not require.” He turned away and walked on, disgusted. We could understand that what is going on between the pure devotee and Krishna is personal, private, and precious. It’s not meant for public display. The sentiments and the exchanges between Krishna and His pure devotee are on the raganuga platform and are not subject to discussion. Srila Prabhupada said later, “First deserve, then desire.” We were fools to try to enter into something that was dear to him.

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

The full Prabhupada Memories Series can be viewed here and also at www.prabhupadamemories.com

Following Srila Prabhupada

Interview DVD 04

Prithu: When Prabhupada came to Amsterdam, that was the time I met him the first time. So Prabhupada just came out of Immigration, and he saw me and he waved. It was very ecstatic. I fell to the ground, paid my obeisances, and I laughed and I cried and I had so many emotions at the same time, which was extraordinary. Normally you either laugh or you either cry, but you don’t have these emotions at the same time. Then he came to the temple and he gave a lecture; and the amazing thing of the lecture was prior to that I could not understand Prabhupada’s broad Indian dialect at all, particularly since English is not my first language. But the amazing thing was that as soon as he started talking, I could understand every single word, which was quite remarkable. I couldn’t believe it. Later I put on a tape and I listened to it and there it was, I understood every single word. It was kind of a miracle.

Interview DVD 06

Prithu: At that time Professor Dürckheim came, and he is a huge well-known personality in psychological departments of practically every university. He brought Zen Buddhism to Europe. He at that time had many German bishops, Catholic bishops, becoming very interested in Zen Buddhism. He had about 30 of them coming for retreats. So he was hugely influential. And I thought this Dürckheim is the guru of the Catholic bishops, let him become the disciple of Srila Prabhupada. So when he came he was quite reserved, but within minutes they struck up a very cordial relationship. They were contemporaries. Dürckheim was about maybe six years younger than Prabhupada. Prabhupada talked with him so nicely that immediately they developed a very wonderful relationship, and Dürckheim started to listen to Prabhupada. I remember they walked over the fields and that Dürckheim also had so many ideas in his head and he started trying to impress Prabhupada, and Prabhupada looked at him and said, “Look, this is not very intelligent.” Dürckheim said, “Why?” Prabhupada explained to him why it is not intelligent, and Dürckheim laughed and said, “I suppose you are right.” It was beautiful to see these two elderly men talking to each other like friends. I remember at the end of one discussion Dürckheim actually paid his dandavats to Prabhupada. And while he was in the dandavat position, he looked up and said, “Please accept me as your younger brother,” which was really nice, seeing such a huge personality accepting Prabhupada’s superiority. So when I brought Dürckheim back to the railway station, he was talking about Prabhupada. He said, “It is quite amazing, this visit.” He said, “I have met many people in my life of spiritual standing, but I’ve never met a person like this master.” He said, “He is er ist durch.” That means, “He is through, he made it, he achieved the perfect plane.” He said, “It is a remarkable day in my life.”