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Praise or Chaisement - Mercy of Guru

Nischintya Dasa:   Paramahamsa Swami let me put the garland on Srila Prabhupada and knowing that no one was assigned to do it, I made sure that I regularly garlanded Srila Prabhupada. Nobody said anything to stop me. Then a devotee told me an ecstatic story about how he ground sandalwood paste and added camphor to make it cooling and saffron to make it a nice orange color, and how he dabbed it on Srila Prabhupada's forehead. So I proudly thought, I'm going to put the sandalwood paste on Srila Prabhupada too I diligently ground it up, made it the right consistency so it wouldn't drip and put in the right amount of camphor, but when I put it on Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada got a cross look on his face. I understood that it was supposed to be put on his temples more than his forehead. I was shaking, but somehow or other I got it on Srila Prabhupada's temples. I paid my obeisances, and I was thinking again, my pride has been squished, I am on the hellish planets. But as I got up, I was in ecstasy because I had been chastised by my spiritual master. That was mercy too. Praise was mercy, and chastisement was mercy also. My pride had been curbed and I was in ecstasy that I had been chastised, although ordinarily I never become ecstatic if I'm chastised. So, it was instructive, and it was sweet.


Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 3 by Siddhanta Dasa