Don't Gossip
Srutakirti: It was incredible. No matter what was going on, Srila Prabhupada always related it to his service to Krishna. It was never about bodily inconvenience. He only complained about something if it interfered with his service. Of course, all I ever saw was Srila Prabhupada serving his Guru Maharaja, and Srila Prabhupada in the state of bliss. The two went on simultaneously. Mayapura was chilly in the evening, but Srila Prabhupada never complained.
He complained though about the unnecessary talk between his disciples. Since we all stayed in the same room, Srila Prabhupada heard us talking. "Tell them to be quiet," he told me. "All this talk is not good. Simply they are gossiping. Tell them to stop." This was not easy for me to do, since the devotees were usually my senior godbrothers. I told them Prabhupada had asked them be quiet.
This same scenario occurred months later when we stayed in the guesthouse. In 1973 Mayapura was such a quiet place that any talking could be heard by Srila Prabhupada. Whenever he was at any ISKCON temple, many of his disciples would gather. It was a perfect situation for devotees to exchange stories about this person and that person. "Why must everything deteriorate into this idle talk, idle discussion," Srila Prabhupada said. "This is wasting time, destroying Krishna Consciousness."
I always "watered it down" before relaying this to my godbrothers. I didn't have the nerve to tell them as he had told me. I never heard him mention it to anyone when they were in his room, but he sure let me know about it. This was one of Srila Prabhupada's qualities. He was very careful not to discourage anyone through criticism. If they were capable of dealing with it, then he would chastise them. Otherwise, he was the greatest transcendental diplomat there ever was. His only goal was to infect as many people as possible with love of Krishna. If you had the chance to personally associate with him, then there was a strong possibility of becoming deeply attached to him no matter how hard you fought it.
Reference: Srila Prabhupada Uvacha by Srtuakirti Dasa
Recently Added
Trending Today