Prabhupada chastises Govinda Dasi

Upendra Dasa: One of the devotees who had been with Prabhupada in India wrote that Swamiji should not be given sweets. Prabhupada didn't think much of that either, as he had introduced coconut laddus on the first evening of his return.

He gave us the recipe that you grate the coconut and cook it in a pot along with some sugar and camphor, and cook it until it comes to a certain thickness, and then it can be squeezed into balls and offered in this way. So he was giving this instruction to me, and I was following. The stove was an old-fashioned type that allowed for one-half of the stove to be covered with a safety cover.

While I cooked, Prabhupada leaned against the corner of the store with his elbows, his chin resting in his hands, and he leaned and watched me stir. He got up and walked away, and then came back just like a restless young boy. He walked around the kitchen and then returned to look into the pot, stirring it to see if it was done. He asked, "Is it done? I think it's done. It must be done. Let us take the substance out."  Although it was still hot, we began squeezing it into balls. As soon as one ball was squeezed, Prabhupada took it and popped it into his mouth. He turned away from the stove and shaking his head pleasingly, said, "Yes, it is done. Very nice." Prabhupada spontaneously showed his displeasure also. That was the risk of serving him closely as his personal servant or cook. One day Govinda Dasi was cooking a cereal for Prabhupada's breakfast when he walked past the kitchen, looked in, and asked, "What are you cooking?" 

'I am making cereal, Swamiji,' she replied. 

"But today is Ekadasi," said Prabhupada. 

'Oh! thank you, Swamiji. I didn't know.'

She thought that by his reminder, she had not done anything wrong. After all, neither he nor anyone else had eaten the grains, but Prabhupada began to criticize her with a severity that surprised her. It was a great disqualification on her part, he said, to cook grains on Ekadasi, the day when devotees fast from all grains. He kept repeating that she had cooked grains on Ekadasi, and described her mistake as very serious. Her one mistake seemed to indicate a whole wrong mentality. Govinda Dasi finally felt it was as bad as if she had actually eaten grains, so she fasted entirely for the rest of the day. Many things had to be done exactly right.

When Upendra placed a small amount of salt on Prabhupada's plate in front of the rice, it made it difficult for Prabhupada to eat the rice without mixing it in the salt. Prabhupada mentioned it, but when Upendra did it again the next day, Prabhupada said, "I told you to put the salt in the back of the rice, not in front!" and foregoing his own pleasure due to his servant's foolishness, Prabhupada added, "Now give me no more salt."

The next day, however Upendra put salt and pepper in separate containers and placed them beside the plate so Prabhupada could move them as he liked. Prabhupada accepted them silently. Whenever a mistake was rectified, he seemed to immediately forget the wrong.