His next suggestion made Prabhavisnu raise his eyebrows and laugh a little in mild apprehension and surprise. "Even if you don't eat these foodgrains, that is preferred, better. Vegetable and fruits and milk, that is sufficient nutritious. There is no question of disease. But for our tongue taste we eat so many cooked food, but if we eat vegetables, boiled vegetables and fruits and milk, ah, it is sufficient. Ekadasi, daily ekadasi. And these peanuts, a few grains. Not much. That is also nice. Cashew, peanut, yes.
"So thank you very much. You are working so much for Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission. Yare dekha tare kaha krsna-upadesa. Bas, you become a guru. Actually you are doing the guru's work. 'Here is a message from Krsna. Please take it.' Bas. Simple. Yare dekha. And whomever you meet, tare kaha krsna-upadesa. Either you speak personally or give him a book."
Manihara had a copy of the most recent Hare Krishna Explosion with him. This is a newspaper Mahamsa Swami produces and publishes here in Hyderabad. Prabhupada thumbed through it and something caught his eye. "What is this Krsna crossword?" he asked mildly. "This is gambling."
We were all surprized. I asked, "Oh. Crosswords are gambling?"
"Yes," Prabhupada said.
Manihara also couldn't quite see the connection. "Gambling?"
Prabhupada looked at us innocently. "Is it not gambling?"
"They give clues and it's to make you think," I said, failing to understand the point.
"But there is prize," Prabhupada said, revealing it.
Manihara didn't think our paper was offering a prize, but Gargamuni confirmed that other newspapers do offer prizes.
Prabhupada analyzed it for us. "So they work; originally it began for prize. Otherwise, these karmis, why they shall waste their time? They wanted some prize."
I explained that sometimes they simply print the names of the winners in the following issue, but Prabhupada said that "winner" means there is a prize. "Anything of these four prohibited regulations should not do. Yatra papas catur-vidha, four kinds of papa-sinful activities. From the very beginning, because I introduced this, no catur-vidha, four kinds of papa, therefore our Society is now so respected. From the very beginning we are following to keep these principles in forefront. This is appreciated by anyone. Even he is himself a debauch, he'll appreciate. It is so nice thing. A person may be a big drunkard, but he'll never like to see his son drunkard. That is natural."
- From "A Transcendental Diary Vol 4" by HG Hari Sauri Prabhu
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