Posted on December 14, 2011
Filed under BVKS Sanga
Anything that Srila Prabhupada (Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura) wanted to
get done always got done. Whatever desire he expressed always was fulfilled,
sometimes very miraculously. Let me tell you about just two incidents.
The new temple at Sri Yogapith in Mayapur was going to be opened in a few
days by the King of Tripura. Since there was no electricity in Mayapur at
that time, we had ordered a generator to be shipped to Mayapur from
Calcutta. We went to Dhubulia railroad station to get the generator. The
generator had come on a railroad car from which it had to be brought down
with a crane. But unfortunately there was no crane at that station at that
time. So the railway clerk suggested that we send the generator back to
Calcutta, so that it could come back to us in a railroad car with a door. We
did not know if Srila Prabhupada would approve of the plan. So I went back
to Mayapur on my bicycle to tell Srila Prabhupada what has happened. As we
had guessed, Srila Prabhupada did not approve of the plan. He said that
there was no certainty that the generator would come back in time for us to
use it at the opening. Then Srila Prabhupada told me “You go and try. You
will find a way to get it out.”
So I went back to Dhubulia station and told my Godbrothers what Srila
Prabhupada had said. No one could figure out what to do now. Suddenly
Revati-raman Brahmachari thought of using some spare railroad ties that were
lying around to get the generator down. So we got the permission from the
railway clerk to use those ties. We arranged them to form a ramp to the
railroad car. Then we manhandled the generator down to the ramp. Next we had
to put it on our own bullock cart and take it to Mayapur. But our bullock
cart was rather old and worn out, and it broke under the weight of the
generator. Now we were really at a loss for what to do, and there was no one
else there besides us. Suddenly a man appeared there on a brand -new bullock
cart. He approached us and asked us if we could give him a job. We asked him
if he would take our generator to Mayapura on his cart, and he happily
agreed. When I went back to Mayapura and told Srila Prabhupada what had
happened, he was very happy , and he told me to let him know when the
generator arrived. It took the bullock cart a long time to come, but when it
finally arrived Srila Prabhupada was waiting for it. He gave the poor
bullock cart driver a reward that was ten times more than what he had
requested.
Everyone was busy at the temple putting finishing touches on the
arrangements for the upcoming opening. Besides all the devotees, all the
local people who were available for work were employed there. We were
working on the garden when Srila Prabhupada came there. He pointed at a pond
and asked if there was anyone who could clean it. Cleaning the pond would
be very time consuming, and there wasn’t anyone available to do that. Then
Srila Prabhupada told us “Perhaps it will be dome anyway”, and left us. All
of a sudden, a group of Muslim laborers arrived there from Murshidabad. They
asked us if there was any job for them to do. All the poor people — Hindus
and Muslims alike — liked to come and work for the Gaudiya Math, as they
knew they would be treated well and paid generously. Srila Prabhupada was
always very generous to poor people. So the pond was cleaned in no time.
Everything else Srila Prabhupada wanted done for the opening of the temple
somehow also got done.
(Told by Sankirtana Prabhu)
Comments