Srila Prabhupada Memories

Srila Prabhupada Memories ~ The Hidden Keys
To istagosthi@googlegroups.com

The Hidden Keys
(Vrindavan June 77)

Srila Prabhupada was sitting in his garden as his secretary Tamal Krsna Maharaja was reading some letters to him. I was engaged fanning Srila Prabhupada. In those days the secretary would read the letters to Srila Prabhupada and he would dictate a response.

When Tamal Krsna left he left the keys on the carpet in front of Srila Prabhupada's Vyasasana. They must have fallen out of his pocket. They were the keys to Srila Prabhupada's house and elmira.

Srila Prabhupada immediately noticed the keys on the carpet and told me to hand them to him. He took the keys and put them under his cloth. Then he told me to get Tamal. I went out to the front office and told got Tamal. When he came out Srila Prabhupada told me he wanted his sapphire ring out of the elmira. Tamal. felt his pockets nonchalantly for the keys and took a quick look around before going back into the house.

After a few minutes Srila Prabhupada told me to get Tamal again. This time he was busy tearing his little office up looking for the keys. He asked me if I had seen his keys and I didn't want to lie so I just looked up and put my hands in the air like I didn't without saying anything. When he came out into the garden again Srila Prabhupada asked him where his ring was and Tamal said that a guest had just come and he had to help him and he would get the ring right away. As he hurried off again Srila Prabhupada shook his head. I couldn't help but laugh at what was going on.

For the third time I was sent out to get Tamal who asked me to go look in his room upstairs for the keys. I told him that I couldn't leave Prabhupada alone that long and returned to my service in the garden. When Tamal Krsna came out Srila Prabhupada asked him again where his ring was. Tamal started to make another excuse, then Srila Prabhupada pulled the keys out from under his cloth and dangled them in the air and said, "Here you nonsense, if anything is stolen; it's your fault for giving them the chance."

Upendra Prabhu and I laughed at this, because we hardly ever saw Tamal get chastised, as he did to us so often. Of course we sobered up real fast for fear of Tamal's temper. This story exemplifies how security conscious Srila Prabhupada was. He was very careful about every detail and didn't waste a penny of Krishna's Laxmi. He said he had millions of dollars but he didn't waste a farthing of Krsna's Laxmi.

Another time on a morning walk in London Srila Prabhupada noticed a faucet at someones house was dripping so he walked across their yard to tighten the knob. He would even reuse the envelopes from letters that were sent to him.

Another time in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada sent Upendra Prabhu to the market to get a glass cup eye washer. When Upendra Prabhu returned with it Srila Prabhupada asked him how much he paid for it. Upendra said 4 Rupees. (about 60 cents) Srila Prabhupada complained that it should of been only 1 Rupee, maybe 2 at the most. He went on talking about not wasting Laxmi for a good 20 minutes.

Another time Yasodanandan Swami came to Srila Prabhupada and asked if it was ok for a sanyasi to have a Rolex watch. Srila Prabhupada said that a Vaisnava doesn't have many things; but what he or she does have should be first class. A watch is an important thing for a Devotee to make sure to get to everything on time.

All glories to our jagat guru who saw everything as Krsna's and showed us how to engage everything in Krsna's service.