![](\"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/wp-content\/uploads6\/tumblr_o7haf2gsdU1sbj0vuo1_1280.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Prabhupada said, \u201cIf you don\u2019t want to help, I will help.\u201d
\nMahakratu: I cooked every day, but early one morning Shakti Mati, a fierce Punjabi lady and a renowned cook, invaded the kitchen and decided that she was cooking Prabhupada\u2019s breakfast.
\nI said, \u201cOkay, you can do it,\u201d and I went to the morning program and class. Shakti Mati had a group of brahmacharinis with her, and together they cooked a huge feast.
\nLater, Niragadeva and I came to the kitchen with two big silver platters and loaded them with the different preparations.
\nWe went into Srila Prabhupada\u2019s room, and Prabhupada\u2019s eyes got really big. I put one plate down in front of him, and he said, \u201cYou have cooked all this?\u201d
\nI said, \u201cOh, no, Srila Prabhupada, not me.\u201d He looked at Brahmananda and said, \u201cWho has cooked this? Shakti Mati?\u201d and they both started laughing.
\nThen Prabhupada gave everyone\u2014Chayavana, Brahmananda, Niragadeva, and me\u2014a handful of prasadam.
\nHe said, \u201cYou take this, distribute the rest, and then come back, and I\u2019ll tell you what I want for breakfast.\u201d He actually wanted local fruits.
\nHe said, \u201cThe fruits in Kenya are excellent,\u201d and that\u2019s what he wanted everyday. He also specifically said that he wanted me to make his breakfast. He said, \u201cI want you to do it.\u201d
\nPrabhupada got angry when he found out that I was doing all the cooking without any help.
\nEverybody else wanted to be in his classes and go on his morning walks, so I was alone in the kitchen cooking for the Deities, the devotees, and Srila Prabhupada as well. It was quite a strain.
\nOne day we ran out of gas, and Prabhupada\u2019s offering wasn\u2019t getting cooked. Nothing was getting cooked. By that time I was completely stressed. It was too much for me.
\nPrabhupada told Harikesh to find out what I was doing. Harikesh told Prabhupada, \u201cThe kitchen has run out of gas,\u201d and this and that.
\nPrabhupada said, \u201cWhy? Who is helping Mahakratu?\u201d Harikesh explained that I was doing it all by myself. I had to arrange everything and cook as well.
\nSrila Prabhupada said to Harikesh, \u201cYou help cook. I didn\u2019t realize that Mahakratu was under so much burden.\u201d
\nHarikesh helped for a while but walked out when some matajis came into the kitchen.
\nWhen he went back to Prabhupada\u2019s room, Prabhupada asked him, \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you helping in the kitchen?\u201d
\nHarikesh said, \u201cThere\u2019s matajis in there. Mahakratu can manage.\u201d Srila Prabhupada got up and said, \u201cI\u2019ll go and help him then. If you don\u2019t want to help, I will help.\u201d In this way Prabhupada was very merciful.
\nSome Gaudiya Math brahmacharis were cooking a big feast outside, and I was watching them.
\nThen, all of a sudden, Prabhupada walked up holding his cane, stood a little behind me, and looked also.
\nI didn\u2019t realize he was there. I turned around, and there was Prabhupada. I offered my obeisances, and Prabhupada said,
\n\u201cIf you can learn to cook like this, you can win the whole world. These Gaudiya Math cooks are very expert.\u201d
\nThen he walked off. He was strolling around by himself looking at the different preparations.
\n\u2014Mahakratu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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<\/p>\n
Prabhupada said, “If you don’t want to help, I will help.”
\nMahakratu: I cooked every day, but early one morning Shakti Mati, a fierce Punjabi lady and a renowned cook, invaded the kitchen and decided that she was cooking Prabhupada’s breakfast.
\nI said, “Okay, you can do it,” and I went to the morning program and class. Shakti Mati had a group of brahmacharinis with her, and together they cooked a huge feast.
\nLater, Niragadeva and I came to the kitchen with two big silver platters and loaded them with the different preparations.
\nWe went into Srila Prabhupada’s room, and Prabhupada’s eyes got really big. I put one plate down in front of him, and he said, “You have cooked all this?”
\nI said, “Oh, no, Srila Prabhupada, not me.” He looked at Brahmananda and said, “Who has cooked this? Shakti Mati?” and they both started laughing.
\nThen Prabhupada gave everyone—Chayavana, Brahmananda, Niragadeva, and me—a handful of prasadam.
\nHe said, “You take this, distribute the rest, and then come back, and I’ll tell you what I want for breakfast.” He actually wanted local fruits.
\nHe said, “The fruits in Kenya are excellent,” and that’s what he wanted everyday. He also specifically said that he wanted me to make his breakfast. He said, “I want you to do it.”
\nPrabhupada got angry when he found out that I was doing all the cooking without any help.
\nEverybody else wanted to be in his classes and go on his morning walks, so I was alone in the kitchen cooking for the Deities, the devotees, and Srila Prabhupada as well. It was quite a strain.
\nOne day we ran out of gas, and Prabhupada’s offering wasn’t getting cooked. Nothing was getting cooked. By that time I was completely stressed. It was too much for me.
\nPrabhupada told Harikesh to find out what I was doing. Harikesh told Prabhupada, “The kitchen has run out of gas,” and this and that.
\nPrabhupada said, “Why? Who is helping Mahakratu?” Harikesh explained that I was doing it all by myself. I had to arrange everything and cook as well.
\nSrila Prabhupada said to Harikesh, “You help cook. I didn’t realize that Mahakratu was under so much burden.”
\nHarikesh helped for a while but walked out when some matajis came into the kitchen.
\nWhen he went back to Prabhupada’s room, Prabhupada asked him, “Why aren’t you helping in the kitchen?”
\nHarikesh said, “There’s matajis in there. Mahakratu can manage.” Srila Prabhupada got up and said, “I’ll go and help him then. If you don’t want to help, I will help.” In this way Prabhupada was very merciful.
\nSome Gaudiya Math brahmacharis were cooking a big feast outside, and I was watching them.
\nThen, all of a sudden, Prabhupada walked up holding his cane, stood a little behind me, and looked also.
\nI didn’t realize he was there. I turned around, and there was Prabhupada. I offered my obeisances, and Prabhupada said,
\n“If you can learn to cook like this, you can win the whole world. These Gaudiya Math cooks are very expert.”
\nThen he walked off. He was strolling around by himself looking at the different preparations.
\n—Mahakratu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10650,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27689"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39349,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27689\/revisions\/39349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}