Prabhupada liked to make jokes, satirize, make us laugh. Even if he was involved in a stressful fight to get permission to build the temple in Bombay, or there was a court case in the U.S.A., or he knew some of his leaders were quarreling, there was always something funny that could occur to him and could make us break into smiles. He saw the merry side of things periodically and made a quip or humorous observation. Just as when he was in a very grave mood we became serious, so we laughed with him wholeheartedly when he tickled our ribs with a laughable point of view. He could be making fun of scientists or atheists or just something that made him laugh. He might be telling a story about the court jester Gopala Ban. Or he may have been making a joke at the expense of Dr. Patel and making the doctor laugh at his own foolishness. Being senior and spiritually advanced, Prabhupada could cut a joke at anyone’s expense anywhere in the world, and they would accept it in good spirit. Once at the Bhaktivedanta Manor a girl asked him why we shave our heads. He replied that for philosophy it is better to keep a cool head and warm legs. (The girl was wearing a mini skirt.) All the devotees present laughed, and the mini-skirted girl smiled. Even his use of words like “rascal” and “fools” were graciously accepted, even in India where these words are considered harsh. He had genuine compassion for everyone, and so he could laugh without malice even at rascals and fools.
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