Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Proper etiquette - Blog - ISKCON Desire Tree

Proper etiquette

In the early morning Prabhupada rang for me. Although I had supposedly cleaned his rooms, he noticed that his silver lota was tarnished and the balcony was covered in a thick layer of dust, so he mildly reminded me that it was my service to attend to these things. He said that if I didn't do them, then he had to see to them himself. I sheepishly concurred: I had neglected the polishing of the lota because it was a task normally taken care of by the cleaning crew supplied by the host temple, and I had thus paid it scant attention. And although I had swept the floor of the room I had neglected the balcony, thinking it would not be used. I am getting a little dull but Srila Prabhupada is as sharp in his observance as ever.

It wasn't just my negligence that he noticed. He took his massage early, at 8:45 a.m. and called for Mahamsa and Gopala Krsna. He asked them why the temple was not being decorated with garlands of flowers, strings of mango leaves and banana trees for the opening. He pointed out that although today was such an important occasion, the temple room was bare.

Mahamsa's excuse was that he had been busy with all the other arrangements. Prabhupada, obviously agitated at the lack of proper organization, also mildly chastised Mahamsa for the dirty and unfinished condition of his quarters. When he moved in, cement dust had been everywhere and the bathroom barely worked. Srila Prabhupada lightly thumped the bolsters flanking his asana and complained that they were so hard that they were no better than stones. "The rooms of the spiritual master," he said, "should be ready even before the Deity rooms. This is the higher form of worship."

Thanks to Srila Prabhupada's timely intervention they were able to arrange suitable decorations in time for the ceremonies.

- From "A Transcendental Diary Vol 4" by HG Hari Sauri Prabhu

Comments