Traveling Monk || Srila Prabhupada | HG Maha Vishnu Dasa [Animated Web Narrative]

Srutakirti: We were on an airplane from Mexico City to Caracas and Prabhupada started taking his puffed rice, puffed rice and peanuts. He ate for about 10 minutes or so, and then he just looked and said, “OK.” So I moved the puffed rice over and I gave half to Paramahamsa, the other half I had in front of me. After a few minutes, there was this stewardess, she was walking down the aisle and she stops right in front of us and she reached over, put her hand in my plate and grabbed a handful of puffed rice and threw it in her mouth. She says, “Oh, this is wonderful. What is it?” I said, “Puffed rice.” She said, “Why are you eating this?” I said, “We have our own diet and we’re vegetarian.” She said, “Oh, is there anything else I can get you?” I looked at Prabhupada and he looked at me, he said, “Hot milk.” She said, “Fine.” So after about 10 minutes she comes back with three plates. She left and I turned to Prabhupada, I said, “Prabhupada, that’s amazing, isn’t it?” Prabhupada said, “No, women, they have a natural propensity to serve.” Of course, I was thinking it was amazing that she took Prabhupada’s mahaprasadam right off of my plate. Somehow or other, she got what all of us were mad after was Prabhupada’s remnants. So when I travel, it’s always one of my favorite stories. One day I was giving class and I told this story, and after class a devotee boy came up to me and he said, “That’s an amazing story. Can I tell you a sankirtan story?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “We would go out to the villages far from all the cities in Brazil in different places. You have to go by fourwheel drive. One day we were in the rain forest really far away from everywhere, and we found this village and we did our Harinam. Then we began going door to door to distribute books. Then I went to this one house and I knocked on the door and a woman answered and tried to distribute books. As soon as she saw me, I was in dhoti and kurta, and she invited me in. I went in, and I started seeing that there were pictures of Krishna on the wall and she had an altar, she had Deities,” and he was so surprised. Then he said, “You’re a devotee,” and she said, “Yes, yes. It’s so wonderful to see a devotee here.” And he said, “How did you become a devotee?” She said, “Well, the first time I met devotees was I met Prabhupada on an airplane. I was a stewardess.” So this was the woman, it was 10 years later from that time after she took the mahaprasadam. Then she met devotees again and got a book and that was it. That was the beginning of her spiritual life. Just seeing what Prabhupada has done, it’s mindboggling to understand how Prabhupada has made devotees, and it just goes on and on.

Sādhusaṅga means to associate with the bona fide spiritual master and abide by his order.
Lecture on SB 7.9.12 Montreal, August 19, 1968: Just like let us first of all enter into the school; then talk of M.A. examination. The gopīs' love is just like M.A. examination. So people are not even schooling. So first we have to surrender by the regulative principle, by the order of the spiritual master: "You do this, you do that, you do this, you do that."

Then gradually, ādau śraddhā, if you have got faith, then ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhusaṅga (Cc. Madhya 23.1415). Sādhusaṅga means to associate with the bona fide spiritual master and abide by his order. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhusaṅga 'tha bhajanakriyā. And as soon as you intimately associate with the spiritual master, he teaches you how to develop devotional service.

Bhajanakriyā. And if you are perfectly executing devotional service, then anarthanivṛttiḥ syāt, then all your misgivings and misunderstanding will be cleared. Then niṣṭha, then you get firm faith. Beginning is the faith, but when your misgivings are all, I mean to say, eradicated, then the firm..., faith becomes firm. Tato niṣṭha tataḥ rucis. Then after firm faith, you come to the stage of taste. It is very nice, Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Tato niṣṭha tataḥ rucis tathāsakti, then attachment. Then you cannot leave. Then ecstasy. Then you come to the stage of gopī love. Don't try to come to the stage of gopī immediately. First of all, follow the rules and regulation.

#traveling
#hgmahavishnudasa
#harekrishangoldentemple