Prabhupada in Tears
Sarva Bhavana Dasa: After the Gaur Purnima festival in March-April of 1977, Prabhupada came to Juhu. At that time the Juhu temple had opened but work was still going on in the adjoining twin towers guest house. Prabhupada's quarters were on the top floor of one of the towers. We greeted Srila Prabhupada at the front gate and I took the opportunity to hop into the one little place left in the front seat of the car. Srila Prabhupada was in the back seat, and Gopal Krishna Maharaj, Surabhi Maharaj (the architect), and Hari Sauri Prabhu were also in the car. Srila Prabhupada was looking straight ahead and his features were a little drawn because he was not well. When we passed the twin towers, Prabhupada looked to the right, saw it pass, didn't say anything and again looked straight ahead. We stopped in front of his old quarters in one of those two-story buildings in the back of the property, where the BBT was housed, and we all hopped out, opened the trunk and took out the luggage while Prabhupada sat in the car. There was a flurry of activity as we took Prabhupada's luggage and everything else upstairs. Then a devotee informed, Prabhupada, All your luggage is upstairs, you may come now. Prabhupada said, "This is not my house. My quarters are there in the twin tower. Why did you bring me here?"
It was embarrassing for Surabhi Maharaj because Prabhupada's quarters in the tower were not complete. Surabhi Maharaj hedged and hawed and wrung his hands, and Prabhupada said, "I'm not staying here. You promised to take me to my quarters so take me there" and remained seated in the car. He didn't raise his voice, he was very calm. Everybody put all the things back in the car and we returned to the guesthouse. The guesthouse elevator wasn't complete, it didn't reach the ground level yet, so two of us carried Prabhupada on a palanquin to the first floor and from there Prabhupada took the elevator to the top floor. We all went up also. The marble floor needed to be polished, there was muck everywhere, and his windows were not in place so strong breeze was blowing in from the sea about fifty meters away. Prabhupada sat in a chair as we washed his lotus feet and then Surabhi Maharaj offered him guru puja. Surabhi Maharaj wanted to make amends for what he had done, but the flame in the ghee lamp he was offering kept blowing out and he was fumbling.
In the meanwhile, Surabhi Maharaj arranged to have Prabhupada's reception area cleansed and he also arranged for a little carpet, a small table and a sitting asana for Prabhupada there. After the guru puja, Prabhupada quietly came and sat in his reception area. Most of the devotees were asked to leave and about ten of us remained, Gopal Krishna Maharaj, Surabhi Maharaj, Giriraj and some others and we all sat down with our heads hanging down. We expected a thunderstorm from Prabhupada because his quarters were so messy and noisy. Prabhupada had his head hanging down also. We sat like this for several minutes in pin drop silence. Time lost its meaning. Finally Prabhupada raised his head and spoke in a soft and tender voice. He said, "All of you are trying so hard to please this old man who gets irritated so fast. I am old and on top of that I am unwell so little things irritate me, but all of you are so tolerant." He went on like that for about ten minutes. I thought I was the only one who was crying but when I looked around I saw that everyone had tears in their eyes, including Prabhupada. It was so sweet, so wonderful. How can you not love such a person? That was one of the most beautiful experiences I had with Srila Prabhupada.
Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 3 by Siddhanta Dasa
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