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The duty of the disciple and the shikha

Gargamuni Dasa: So that's when it occurred to me; I have to do something for Prabhupada to make his job easier. It was in my mind, but I didn't know what to do. I was eighteen years old. What do I know! Nothing. So I asked Prabhupada one time, I disturbed him. I used to disturb him a lot. Finally I had to move my office down in the temple, because I would talk to Prabhupada while he's doing his work, asking him questions. Like I asked him, "How come we're having shikas? How come?" He said, "Because the guru pulls you out of the material world at the time of death." So I always keep a long shikha, so he can grab it. Those people have little shikhas, Prabhupada may not be able to grab it. But if you have a long one then he can grab it easily, and pull you out. So you get saved you know.

So another question. I said, "Prabhupada, you're doing everything for us, you're feeding us, you're giving us a lot, we stay with you, you take care of us, you know. What are we supposed to do for you? What is our job to do for you, because you're taking care of us." So Prabhupada answered very simply the question. He said, "The duty of the disciple is to assist the spiritual master in his work." And that's all he said. So that's not very specific. Prabhupada left it up to me to think about it, to be spontaneous. That's the meaning of devotional service. 
 



Reference: SPF Interviews