Vedavyas das Remembers Srila Prabhupada

Following Srila Prabhupada

Interview DVD 05

Vedavyas: Prabhupada went to Stockholm, to Sweden for the first and only time, and we took buses and went all the way up to Sweden to meet him again there, September. We went to the university several times, Prabhupada lectured there. There was one incident. We had started the festival program so that means we had amplification system, speakers and amplifier and all this, microphones. So we had taken all that up to Sweden. During one class, this same devotee who had made the recording of “Krishna Meditations,” in the temple room he had made all this arrangement. He had put down the speaker somewhere, he had the microphone for Prabhupada and the amplifier. Then somehow or other the microphone didn’t work and Prabhupada was tapping on the microphone, “Doesn’t work? Doesn’t work?” Then this devotee, Uttal was his name, he was twiddling the knobs and trying to get this thing going. And you could see, such a small place, such an arrangement – big speakers from a festival system and microphone and this and that. Prabhupada, he started to laugh, he said… and I would have to look up the Sanskrit…that such a big arrangement and no result, and he gave the example of in the early morning you many have big, big clouds in the sky and there may be thunder but then there’s no rain. Or there’s a fight between husband and wife, the screaming and everything, and at the end nothing, it’s peaceful. Or he said goats, and he made the noise of two he-goats when they fight for a female and they’re banging each other, the heads. So much noise and at the end nothing. So Prabhupada gave that example for us making such a big arrangement for amplification and at the end no sound. Typical Western idea.

Interview DVD 06

Vedavyas: I was translating Prabhupada’s books together with Sacinandana, and Nikhilananda was there also. Hansadutta, he was showing Prabhupada around in the Schloss. Then suddenly, of course, Prabhupada came in, he showed also the translator’s room. I had been working on Teachings of Lord Caitanya. So Prabhupada came in and he asked what we were working on, and I showed him this book is practically published. We had the galley proofs from the printer. So then suddenly he said, “Read.” I started to read the introduction of Teachings of Lord Caitanyafor quite some time – three, four paragraphs. Prabhupada was just standing there smiling, big smile, and listening, although obviously he couldn’t understand German. But for him to see that the book is in another language and was coming out was his great, great pleasure.