Cooking for Srila Prabhupada with Jayadvaita Swami, Radhanath Swami, and Narottama Prabhu

Giriraj Swami: Now we will talk about prasāda. I remember some stories with prasāda. So, the first time I came to the temple, I was under the influence of impersonalism. So, I asked Srila Prabhupada a question and he answered in such a way as to defeat all impersonal ideas. So, at the end of the answer one of the devotees brought out a huge platter of prasāda for Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada looked at the plate and actually, he understood that either I thought I was God or I was trying to become God or something like that. And the devotee brought out the platter. He said, I am not God, I cannot eat such a big plate. And then, he just took a little piece and said, distribute.

So, Srila Prabhupada was with us in Boston for about ten days and then He left. It was a very tearful experience. Up until then, I was convinced that everything about Krishna consciousness was perfect including the prasāda. Because the first night when I had the prasāda, I never had experienced anything like it. And I was convinced about everything. But when we went to the airport with Srila Prabhupada and all the devotees were crying, I said maybe this is the defect because Prabhupada isn’t here all the time. I didn’t know because when I came Srila Prabhupada was there. I never knew, He would leave. So, I asked one of the devotees who was really crying a lot. But sometimes I used to ask her my questions. So I asked her, “Why are the devotees crying? So, she replied that Srila Prabhupada had said that, “On the absolute platform, there is no difference between meeting and separation. Both are occasions of ecstasy.” The theory sounded good but still I wasn’t completely convinced about the practicality. Every day we would do ‎ hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. A few days later, we were chanting in front of the, I think maybe Copley Square Train Station. And I remember, I was playing kartals. A few other devotees were playing kartals and I was playing mridanga. And I suddenly felt Srila Prabhupada’s presence. I actually felt that he was right there. We couldn’t see him but I knew that He was right there. And then I thought that yes, everything about Krishna consciousness is perfect.

Anyway, after Srila Prabhupada left, the devotees went to clean out his apartment, because He was staying in an apartment across the street from the temple. And one of the devotees came in with a jar of dal, and all the other devotees became extremely excited. And the devotee said that Srila Prabhupada had eaten from this dal but that it was a few days old, and from the material point of view, It had gone bad so they were going to distribute it among the devotees. And they were waiting for some kind of response from me. And then one of them said that Srila Prabhupada said that if you have faith in prasāda, even if it has gone bad you won’t get sick. Well I said I will also have some. So, they gave a little portion from the jar to each devotee and I was extremely new, just a few days old. And I wanted to experience what it meant? What it was? So, I took some in my mouth and the initial contact between the dal and the tongue gave some funny taste. But after the initial contact, within moments I started to taste the sweetest nectar I can’t even describe it. It was like the sweetest nectar I have ever tasted. And then I thought, this is mahā-prasāda. This is Srila Prabhupada’s remnants. Although, I was convinced and everything seemed perfect but still I was observing.

So, we had many little Radha-Krishna deities and there were no special offerings for the deities. But whatever was prepared for the devotees, would be offered to the deities. So, I wanted to observe whether there was any difference in the taste between the food offered to the deities. Because they would take the remnants from the deities’ plate and distribute to the devotees. And I would taste that and then I would taste the other prasāda, and then I would compare the two. And I found there is a definite difference. But I was a little afraid to express myself because I thought I might be speculating or something. But then, one day at prasāda one of the other devotees commented that all the prasāda that comes directly from the deities’ plate, tastes as If It has a fine sprinkling of sugar on it, which is more or less what I was experiencing. So, then I felt even more convinced that yes she is also experiencing the same thing. This is not my mind, this is definitely real. So, then gradually I became convinced and took initiation and came to India on Srila Prabhupada’s instruction. And in 1971 we went to Gorakhpur where we were the guest of Sri Hanuman Ji Prasad Poddar of Gita Press. So,

While we were there, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura appearance day came. And Srila Prabhupada said, This is a very important day, so we must have a nice celebration and we shall invite all of our friends from Gita Press. They said, well, they will all be busy during the day. So, Srila Prabhupada said, “Okay, you have the feast in the evening and invite them all for some program.” So, after the program, we were sitting on the veranda. It was one of those old-style Indian mansion, and it was a nice feast. And then towards the end, Nanda Kumar Prabhu who was Srila Prabhupada’s servant then came down. And he said that Srila Prabhupada gave him two messages to convey to us. The first message is that, “My guru Maharaja is very pleased with you all and he will shower his blessings upon you.” And the other message was that, “The feast was so good that I couldn’t control myself and I ate too much.” So, Narottama Ānanda Prabhu said Srila Prabhupada was very expert in encouraging.

I guess the last story, I will tell you took place in Juhu in 1977 when Srila Prabhupada was staying in his quarters on the top of the tower. Morarji Desai had just become Prime Minister and he had a place on Marine Drive in Bombay, and he was going to visit Bombay. So, one of our friends who was a Member of Parliament wanted to arrange for Srila Prabhupada to meet the new Prime Minister. But the whole visit was very short. He was just going to come one day, maybe spend the night, spend another day and then leave. Anyway, at about 12:30 at night, I got a phone call in the brahmachari ashram from the Member of Parliament. And he said that Morarji has agreed to meet Srila Prabhupada. So please confirm if Srila Prabhupada will be able to meet him. So, it was 12:30 at night and he wanted an answer immediately. So I said, “I will go and see Srila Prabhupada and try to get the answer and I will phone you back.” So, I went up to Srila Prabhupada’s quarters and naturally about one o’clock in the morning everyone was asleep. So, I just ventured in and walked around the pathway and came to the door, to the area where Srila Prabhupada used to stay. So, very timidly and slowly began to open the door and I looked in. And, Srila Prabhupada was on the far side of the room behind the translation table where he used to translate the Bhāgavatam at night. So, I still wasn’t sure, what to do? But I offered my obeisances. And Srila Prabhupada saw me. So, he motioned to me, come.

Now, at the time in 1977 already ill and he wasn’t able to eat anything. Sometimes, He would drink some juice but otherwise, he wasn’t able to eat. So, I came up to Srila Prabhupada’s table and I said, “Srila Prabhupada I hope, I am not disturbing you.” And, Srila Prabhupada said, “No. Since I have this disease, I can’t sleep at night and I can’t eat either. And mating and defending, there is no question. So, I guess I am liberated.” Although Srila Prabhupada was liberated but he very humbly and very sweetly attributed the symptoms of liberation to the circumstances. But even though Srila Prabhupada wasn’t eating, he was very concerned that the devotees should eat nicely. And I remember one other time actually, Yadubara Prabhu was just beginning to come. His name was John and Srila Prabhupada was encouraging him to eat; he was quite thin. But Srila Prabhupada was encouraging him to eat and then he quoted the verse, catur-vidha-śrī-bhagavat-prasāda. That the spiritual master takes pleasure when he sees the devotees taking bhāgavata-prasāda. He said, he doesn’t take so much pleasure when he takes prasāda, but he takes pleasure when he sees the devotees are taking prasāda.

So, this is one of Srila Prabhupada gift, kṛṣṇa-prasāda. In fact, another time he commented that he will go down in history for introducing the manufacturer of [Unintelligible 00:33:08] in America. So, it is true. Even Srila Prabhupada’s jokes were true. It was one of Srila Prabhupada’s many contributions, and we can really appreciate.

Srila Prabhupada, ki jaya!
Sri bhāgavata-prasāda, ki jaya!