When a cow gives good milk, do not chastise her for occasionally kicking

Contributed by: Mahavishnu Dasa

Ugrasrava: Prabhupada told Madhudvisa to send me to the Philippines to check up on the "Haribols" which was a fringe movement that sprung up at the time. After that I went to check up on what was happening in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Bangkok. At this time Guru Kripa was in Bangkok and he was getting a little wishy-washy. Then I went to Mayapur and reported to Srila Prabhupada. Regarding Guru Kripa, Prabhupada said, "When a cow gives good milk and occasionally kicks, you do not chastise." I've seen a lot of people use that quote in different situations but that's where it came from. "When a cow gives good milk, do not chastise her for occasionally kicking."

Ranadhir: Once Prabhupada called all of the temple presidents to Los Angeles to see how a good temple was run. At the time, Kirtanananda was the temple president in New Vrindavan, but somehow I was elected to go. One of the things that I was supposed to do in Los Angeles was to tell Srila Prabhupada about how everybody in New Vrindavan was frustrated with having to deal with Hayagriva. We wanted an official sanction against Hayagriva so that he wouldn't continue to make our lives miserable.

I hitchhiked to Los Angeles and rehearsed the litany of grievances that we had against Hayagriva. When it was time for my darshan with Srila Prabhupada, I was introduced, "Prabhupada, this is Ranadhir from New Vrindavan." I paid my obeisances. With a look of love and affection on his face Prabhupada said, "And how is Hayagriva?" And there went my whole thing. I definitely could not say a bad word about Hayagriva. That's an example of the spiritual master not only knowing your mind but also knowing how to change your heart.