Mouse and Yogi
Dina Bandhu : Prabhupada explained that a mouse went to a yogi and complained that a cat was bothering him. The yogi said, "What do you want?" The mouse said, "I want to become a cat, and then the cat won't bother me." The yogi waved his hand and the mouse became a cat. Later the cat (who was previously the mouse) went back to the yogi. The yogi said, "Now, what's the matter? You want something?" The cat said, "Now a dog is bothering me. I want to become a dog." The yogi said, "All right, become a dog." So the cat became a dog.
After a while he came back to the yogi, who said, "Do you want something?" The dog said, "Yes, now a tiger is bothering me. I want to become a tiger." The yogi said, "All right, become a tiger." When the dog became a tiger, he looked at the yogi with longing eyes. The yogi said, "Oh, do you want to eat me?" The tiger shook his head "yes." The yogi said, "punar mushika bhava," which means, "again become a mouse."
The tiger immediately transformed into a mouse. When we heard this we all burst out laughing, but Prabhupada meant it to be serious, and later we understood what the story meant. Prabhupada was telling us that if we become puffed up and fail to realize that Prabhupada is actually the power behind us, then we would fall back to our former position.
Prabhupada wanted us to understand that we shouldn't think, "Now I am very big, I can take over my spiritual master's position." After he told that story, Prabhupada looked at me and said, "Try to understand. Don't laugh."
Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 2 by Siddhanta Dasa
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