Vyas Puja Homage
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(Part 3)
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by Gurudas
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15) Extremely Clever.
A person who can perform various types of work at once is called 'clever'. In London one morning we were looking at slides in a battery operated slide viewer, which was standing on your desk. You would put the slide in and comment on it. The prasadam arrived and I began to pay my obeisances and leave and You asked where I was going. I said that I wanted You to respect your prasadam and we could resume looking at the slides later. You said "I can do more than one thing at a time", and I then proceeded to put in slides and You viewed them as You ate and You commented by tilting your head yes or shaking Your head no.
Other displays of cleverness manifested themselves when alone in New York, with a few of Your young followers. you convinced the landlord of "Matchless Gifts" to become a trustee of an organization newly formed and therefore the first months rent was given free.
One time You taught how a thrifty treasurer acts. You were the first treasurer of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and once when Woomapatti Prabhu approached You for fifty nine cents for a can of paint, You said, "Oh, you should not ask the Spiritual Master for money". So in your treasury the money was only coming in which is the wish of every treasurer.
Once in London You were speaking to me about erecting a book stall in front of the temple, in between the building and the small gate. I said "Srila Prabhupada, the law states that one cannot build on the outside of this building". You retorted: "This is the outside", gesturing as we were inside the gates. I then stated that the law forbids the building of anything on the immediate inside of the building. You again replied "This is the outside of the building", as we were on the outside of the building itself. Thus you showed Your cleverness.
Another time the law of one state discouraged food distribution, without permission, and to get permission required a lot of red tape so you said, "Do not say we are distributing 'Food', say we are distributing 'Prasadam'. And from that time on no one ever objected to our prasadam program and permission was automatically granted.
Once You were asked, "Can we see Krsna and the gopis actually in our impure state?" You said cleverly, "Yes, if They wish to come, who will check Them? If I want to see the king and queen it is a very difficult affair. But if the king and queen wish to see me, where is the difficulty?"
All glories to Your Divine Grace.
16) Expert.
So many times You have executed difficult tasks when we were perplexed. Once when Your shippers went on strike when You were a chemist You boxed the chemicals Yourself and they stopped their strike. You said, "A devotee should be expert in everything". Once when Shyamsundar das was wondering whether to rent or buy a place he said, "If we rent then we will pay one fourth of the buying price in a short time". You said, "That is no calculation, suppose from your birth you have eaten $10,000 worth of foods, you should not lament for what is gone; rent a nice place."
Once in San Francisco a girl was challenging: "When I eat meat it becomes a part of me, so I don't kill." Your Divine Grace replied, "Then why don't you eat your father?" She was stunned but then replied, "Because I love him". Your Divine Grace replied, "Your love is restricted if you eat animals but not your father, brother or friend. In Krishna consciousness we love all living entities." She replied, "If you eat vegetables, you also kill. Your Divine Grace retorted, "Yes, that is the law of nature, one entity kills another for survival, but we eat vegetables because we love Krishna and He says to offer a leaf, flower or fruit to Him, so that is why we eat vegetables." She said, "That is an expert answer, I accept it. Thank you very much."
All glories to Your Divine Grace.
17) Grateful.
Once you expressed Your gratitude that so many nice boys and girls have come to push on this movement. Then you said, "That is due to My Guru Maharaj". There is an example of gratitude to both Your Preceptor and Your disciples. So many times You have remembered any small service rendered. N.O.D. says, "Any person who is conscious of His friends beneficent activities and never forgets his service is called grateful".
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
All glories to Your Divine Grace.
18) Determined.
It is Vaishnav history as to how You began, "Back to Godhead" Magazine in the midst of all sorts of criticisms and how you continued alone in Delhi. In Bombay You approached Smt. Moraji three times undiscouraged, and finally due to Your determination, she gave You free passage to the western countries. There due to Your determined wish to serve Om Vishnupada 108 Paramhamsa Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and though you suffered much, You were determined and undaunted. And this we are trying to continue by Your example.
All glories to Your Divine Grace.
19) Expert Judge of Time and Circumstances.
So many times we have thought that a certain endeavor was premature or untimely, but you have still requested us to go on and the success verifies Your expert judge of time and circumstances.
An example is when most of us didn't think the "Bhagavat Dharma Discourses" were held at the right time for the Bombay residents, but You showed us why it was worth trying. You said we were unknown and if we arranged the event successfully it would be a great thing, and we should be bold and try to cooperate on this venture. Regarding this bold attempt You told this proverb: "If you are going to hunt, then hunt a rhinocerous, and if you are going to plunder, then plunder the government treasury." You said in that way if we were successful then everyone would say "Oh how great" and if we failed, then the people would say "It was an impossible thing to do."
When "Back to Godhead" Magazine first began, after some time had passed, You ordered us to print 3000 copies. Everyone thought that it would be impossible to distribute 3000 copies, but you showed that, as usual, You are an expert judge of time and circumstances.
Once a mother came to You requesting that her son not take up the chanting. She said his working himself into a ferver was not proper, and he should not get entangled in this movement. You said, "This boy is not entangled. He is free, and he can go with you now if you like." She was satisfied.
It is often the case that You direct our movements by Your expertise, when to do and when not to do something. So Your example of these qualities are demonstrating to us how to act in accord with time and circumstances.
All glories to Your Divine Grace.
(Cont'd on next page.)
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