Satadhanya das Remembers Srila Prabhupada

Following Srila Prabhupada

Interview DVD 05

Satadhanya: Krsna das Babaji Maharaj was there and he was a very close friend of Prabhupada’s, a godbrother, and very pure and effulgent. Prabhupada had told us that he was a pure devotee, and they were discussing in Bengali. It was just Krsna das Babaji, Prabhupada and myself inside the room. But at that time, Subal Sadhu, a funny, eccentric fellow, old man, came in but at one point he started really chanting “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,” and he started rolling on the floor in Prabhupada’s room. I thought, “I must do something about it.” So at that time, what little Bengali I could speak I told Subal, “Prabhupada is very tired now. So you please come another time,” and I stopped him from rolling very gently and I lifted him up and I showed him out the door and I shut the door. I went back and Krsna das Babaji Maharaj, he was always prone to laugh. He would laugh at everything. Especially what the Western devotees would do and say, he found very humorous. But this time he was heaving; he was going hysterical. And as he laughed more, Prabhupada began to laugh, and they were both laughing and laughing and laughing. Then Prabhupada, in the midst of his laughter, he looked at Krsna das Babaji and he said in Bengali, “Khub bhalo bangla bolche,”that “He speaks real good Bengali,” and they laughed and laughed and laughed.

Interview DVD 07

Satadhanya: The Congress government was in power in West Bengal. I was very much interfacing with the VIPs, ministers and others; and the Education Minister, one Mritunjay Banerjee, I invited him to Mayapur when Prabhupada was there. I told Prabhupada just before I brought him in, “I have brought the Education Minister of West Bengal, and he’s here. Can he come in and speak to you?” Prabhupada said, “Yes, bring him in.” I brought him in and he kind of gave his shrug obeisances, and Prabhupada bade him to sit down right in front of his desk there in his room. Then I said, “Srila Prabhupada, this is the Honorable Minister of Education for West Bengal.” Then the man looked at Prabhupada, and then Prabhupada just looked at him and said nothing to the point where I flinched, I was embarrassed. I thought maybe he didn’t hear me. So I said, “Srila Prabhupada, this is the Education Minister of West Bengal.” And then Prabhupada looked at the man and he said, “That is not education.” I almost died. Then Prabhupada fell silent again, and then a few words were said. Then it was all over, I took him out. Prabhupada, of course, gave a couple of qualifying sentences to say what is real education is understanding the difference between the body or matter and the soul and explained a little to the fellow that this education should also be distributed. Sometimes Prabhupada just could pin a guy, who he was, and it wasn’t simply worth it to go beyond that point.