Disciples attempted human pyramids to get eucalyptus twig

In Chapultepec Park, Srila Prabhupada liked to walk on the narrow Road of the Philosophers. The early mornings were cold and he wore his long saffron coat with hood. The simple canvas shoes he wore would become wet from the dew on the grass. His rapid pace made his younger disciples hustle to keep up. Often Prabhupada's words would go untranslated and the Mexican boys could catch only a phrase or two but they were happy to be with their spiritual master. He was interested in the many varieties of trees and sometimes asked about them.

Once, stopping before a large dead tree, he examined it carefully. "What is the difference between this dead tree and the others?" he asked.

One disciple replied, "This tree is dead because its time is over."

"No," Prabhupada said and tapped his cane on the ground.

Another devotee ventured, "This tree has a certain karma different from the others."

"No," Prabhupada again tapped his cane on the ground. "The difference is that there is not a soul in this tree."

While walking among the trees in Chapultepec Park, Prabhupada spotted a certain eucalyptus twig above his head. He stopped. From as early as 1967 in San Francisco, he had used the twigs of eucalyptus trees as toothbrushes, a Western substitute for the antiseptic neem twigs of India.

Kshiti-mohana: Prabhupada pointed to the tree and told Hridayananda Maharaja, "I want that stick." It was a very small one. Hridayananda Maharaja heard Prabhupada. He said, "Prabhupada wants that. Come on, bring it down, bring it down." He wanted to give it to Prabhupada. So we made a pyramid of men, with three men on the bottom, then two men on top of them and one skinny devotee climbed on top. When the devotee stood and reached up, he was still about fifty centimeters short but when he made an effort to reach it, the whole pyramid fell to the ground. Prabhupada was watching them, smiling and laughing. Again they made the pyramid bigger and the devotee tried to reach it again but again they fell down. Then more devotees tried. They became wet because of the grass and Hridayananda Maharaja was very excited, saying, "Come on, Prabhupada wants that. Prabhupada wants that. Keep moving."

Prabhupada was smiling at the fun, sometimes watching the twig and sometimes watching the devotees. A third time they tried the pyramid and it fell down but the fourth time it worked and the devotee stood up and broke the twig from the tree. He gave it to Hridayananda Maharaja, who gave it to Prabhupada. Prabhupada held it in his hand, inspected it for a minute, and then threw it away.