But you Westerners, you are not trained in such a way.
Instead of walking on the roof, Prabhupada went for a twenty-minute ride in his new, maroon Mercedes sedan. Gargamuni's van rode in front, playing kirtana over the loudspeakers. As we drove through the surrounding villages the inhabitants stood wide-eyed looking at the procession.
The car is classy and comfortable, and Prabhupada is very pleased to have it because previously devotees have had to beg various Life Members for the use of their cars whenever he arrived at their temples.
Prabhupada felt that this created a bad image for the Society.
There is a complication to keeping it in India though, because import tariffs are two to three times the value of the car. Pushta Krishna Maharaja has obtained a six-month carnet, after which the car must be taken out of the country. He hopes to make an arrangement to send it to Nepal, renew the carnet, and then bring it back in.
Once back inside the temple compound's front gate, Prabhupada got out of the car and decided to walk down towards the prasadam hall. At the end of the line of the boundary wall, opposite the southern gate, he stopped to inspect the circular-shaped toilet block. It is meant to provide basic amenities for the families occupying the rooms on the front wall.
He was repulsed by what he saw. Human feces lay strewn on the outer pathway. Poking several of the doors open with his cane, he saw that each and every toilet was completely blocked with stool and overflowing. Srila Prabhupada was shocked. He could not believe it possible that the maintenance of the block was so neglected. He demanded to know who was responsible.
One devotee explained that the newer Bengali devotees are simple village people, unaccustomed to using flush toilets. He said the Western devotees never used this block.
Prabhupada rejected the excuse. He was disgusted. "I could understand if they [the villagers] do not react to this, because they are used to passing stool in the fields. But you Westerners, you are not trained in such a way. How our Western men can allow this situation without doing anything about it?"
He called the managers and told them to immediately have the toilets fixed and cleaned.
After entering the temple, greeting the Deities, and receiving guru-puja, he gave Srimad-Bhagavatam class. The verse expressed Prahlada Maharaja's feelings of humility as he described himself as born in a family infected with the hellish qualities of passion and ignorance. It was a wonder to Prahlada that Lord Nrisimha had touched him personally on his head, even though such a favor had never been extended to great personalities like Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and even Lakshmi, the Lord's eternal consort.
The toilet incident was obviously still on Prabhupada's mind. He often draws upon real-life incidents and presents them in a more-refined philosophical way in class. But today, without any delay, he directly complained about what he had seen. He spelled out the serious implications very clearly. Prabhupada took full advantage of the description in this verse to express his disapproval of our inaction in the face of a gross display of ignorance.
"This is the position. Prahlada Maharaja, humbly submitting, because he is Vaishnava, that 'What is my position? My position is that I am born of rajas-tamo-guna.' This birth takes place according to quality we acquire. Just like I was rebuking that toilet. This is so nasty, tamo-guna, and if I have no response to such tamo-guna place, that means I am also of that quality.
"Just like between fire and fire, there is no reaction; but fire and water there is reaction. Similarly, sattva-guna and sattva-guna, there is no reaction. Tamo-guna/tamo-guna, there is no reaction. In English it is called incompatible, when different qualities [mix]. Acid and acid, you mix; there is no reaction. But acid and alkaline, if you mix, there will be effervescence immediately.
"So if one is developing tamo-guna, then, if he becomes a pig next life there is no reaction. He'll be very glad that 'I am pig,' 'I am dog.' There is no reaction. But if one is sattva-guna, then he cannot tolerate. Immediately obnoxious: 'Oh, such a nasty condition.'
"So I am very sorry there was no reaction in such a nasty toilet room. And you are getting sacred thread, the quality of brahmana, sattva-guna. It is very regrettable. Nobody reacted. This is the position, that unless we curb down these raja-guna, tamo-guna, there is no improvement. If a person in Krishna consciousness is found to have no reaction in raja-guna, tamo-guna, then he's a dull stone. It is not improving. It is simply show bottle. So show bottle will not help.
"This prescription is there. If one develops Krishna consciousness, then it is to be understood that he has surpassed sattva-guna, the brahminical qualification. Why we offer sacred thread to a person who is coming from very, very low family? Because it is to be understood by chanting Hare Krishna mantra, by following the regulative principle, he has already come to the platform of sattva-guna. But if it is a false thing, there is no need of second initiation.
"Our process is 'Don't do this. Do this: Chant Hare Krishna mantra, sixteen rounds; and don't do this, no illicit sex, no meat-eating.' That means he's becoming purified from the rotten condition of rajo-guna and tamo-guna. But if he does not, then there should be no second initiation. This should be the rule."
Prabhupada's criticism had its effect. By mid-morning the whole block was thoroughly cleansed and disinfected. The managers vowed to keep it that way.
The work on the new building is going on enthusiastically even though it is clear it will not be habitable for the festival. The several-hundred hired workers usually arrive around 7:00 a.m. Within a half hour everything is in full swing. Sometimes a great clamor and loud shouts can be heard from them as they respond to the urging of devotee supervisors to work faster and harder. Even though they are being pushed, they are in good spirits, full of smiles. They often chant "Hare Krishna" and "Jaya" due to their association with our devotees.
Some of our Western men are also helping with the construction. They balance mortar, bricks, and mud in the wok-shaped karai on their heads, much to the delight of the laborers. The new cement mixer is a boon, but its loud clatter has been creating a distracting background racket during Prabhupada's morning Srimad-Bhagavatam discourse. So now it is shut down while he speaks.
Reference: Transcendental Diary Volume 1 by Hari Sauri Dasa
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