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On Speaking Strongly in Srila Prabhupada's Service


At a public lecture in Glasgow, a young man stood up and loudly declared, ''I am God!'' ''You are not God,'' Srila Prabhupada retorted, ''you are dog!" (From Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta Vol. 5 Ch. 4) And that man also thanked Prabhupada.

At a pandala program in Delhi, Srila Prabhupada called a belligerent American hippie onto the stage in the middle of his lecture.

"Have you realized yourself ?" the young man demanded. "Have you realized the soul in the innermost depths of your being?"

"Yes!" Srila Prabhupada replied.

At first the man was taken aback, but then he again challenged, "Now you tell me another thing. When was the Bhagavad-gita written?"

"Now you answer my question," Srila Prabhupada said. "What is the process of receiving knowledge from the Bhagavad-gita?"

"No," the young man retorted, "you tell me -- when was the Bhagavad-gita written? In your lecture you said five thousand years ago, but according to other swamis, it was written only fifteen hundred years ago. Answer my question. I asked you first!"

Srila Prabhupada raised his voice angrily. "I am not your servant, I am Krsna's servant. You must answer my question!"

A heated argument began, with the hippie yelling at Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada arguing back. Finally, the devotees removed the boy from the stage.

The incident confused the audience. Many people began to leave. "Why did your Guru Maharaja become angry?" some of them demanded from the devotees. "He should have answered the man's question." Some of the civic leaders supporting the pandala program also became upset, fearing Srila Prabhupada had made an unfavorable impression on the public. Those who were devotional, however, remained in their seats to hear further what Prabhupada had to say.


- From the "My Memories of Srila Prabhupada" by HH Bhakti Vikas Swami

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