“It was the philosophy that kept me”
Ananga Manjari: We were in Los Angeles and somehow I got myself right behind Prabhupada while he was paying his obeisances to the deities.
When I went to pay my obeisances, his lotus feet were right in front of my face and I thought,
“What an opportunity. This is the opportunity of many life times. What can I do? I don’t want to touch him and disturb him at all, because he is in meditation praying to his Lord.”
But there was a carnation petal stuck to the bottom of his foot.
It was very invitingly sticking out, so I thought maybe I could take this petal and get his mercy without disturbing him.
Very carefully I plucked that little carnation petal off his foot and then I got very frightened thinking that someone might see me and they’re going to think that I am disturbing him.
I could just imagine some sannyasi booming, “What did you just do?”
I got so scared that I popped it in my mouth, like I was eating the evidence.
As I swallowed the petal, I thought,
“This is the holiest communion I have ever had in my life. This petal is going to keep me here forever.”
And it did.
Srila Prabhupada arrived at the New York airport, and like many devotees have described, Prabhupada seemed to float through the airport as if he was on an escalator, and we would all be running to keep up.
They sat him down and he gave a little talk in the airport.
There were some policemen watching our crowd from a distance and a reporter asked Prabhupada,
“Why do you wear these clothes and this mark on your forehead?”
Prabhupada said, “It is just like a policeman. A policeman wears a uniform to show that he is an authority of the government. He represents the government, so if anyone needs help in that way, they can go to the policeman.”
The policemen in the back started nudging each other and feeling very proud and happy that Prabhupada had noticed them.
I thought that he was doing a few things at once.
He was instructing us and winning their hearts.
He wasn’t just satisfying the reporter and of course he was preaching to all of us, but he noticed the policemen specifically.
I thought that significant in that he wanted to say, “Thank you” for their service.
Prabhupada was a grateful person, even for anyone who did the least little thing.
I think that the gratitude that Prabhupada showed us is something we all can imbibe.
Sometimes as devotees we see another devotee doing their service quietly and we think,
“They are just an ordinary devotee and that my service is more important.”
But if we can show gratitude and appreciation, then everyone can feel uplifted.
Prabhupada saw everyone equally and saw only the good in everyone.
That is one of the main qualities of a devotee.
Then someone asked Prabhupada something about why he was chanting and he said,
“We are chanting, but we also have many books.”
He always wanted people to understand that there was knowledge behind this philosophy.
Then he said, “But for those who can’t read, just chant. It doesn’t matter but otherwise we have many books on philosophy.”
I thought that was very significant and important for me because I was into the philosophy.
That is what kept me going as well.
The mantra caught me whereby I could not stop chanting Hare Krishna, even as a hippie.
But it was the philosophy that kept me.
—Ananga Manjari