Remembering Srila Prabhupada - A brahmana must be clean - Blog - ISKCON Desire Tree

A brahmana must be clean

Sometime later, just before dawn, Srila Prabhupada rang his bell. Bali-mardana and Vegavan, tired from the late night before, had slept in. But Prabhupada, who had also been up late because of the interview, had been awake for hours. Srila Prabhupada rang his bell again and this time, as Bali-mardana leapt for the shower, Vegavan staggered, dishevelled and bleary-eyed into Prabhupada's room.

Prabhupada admonished his disciple: "You are a brahmana, and you haven't even cleaned yourself", he said firmly. "A brahmana must be clean".

-------

Back at his apartment, on returning from his bath, Srila Prabhupada discovered that there were no clean kaupinas (traditional Indian underwear). The devotees had sent them with Srila Prabhupada's laundry to the temple and they had gone missing. A couple of devotees raced off to the temple, but when they returned, they found that Srila Prabhupada had torn up a dhoti and made his own.

"Just see," said Prabhupada with a wry smile. "I am independent."

- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu

Comments