As we have seen, Srila Prabhupada did not always extend unnecessary politeness to rascals. From the incident with the hippie in Delhi, it is clear that Srila Prabhupada did not always consider public opinion to be the criterion for his actions.
Of course, this was an isolated occurrence, not to be taken as a general model to follow. Srila Prabhupada's activities are not be imitated. We should not take this as an excuse to pick up fights. Srila Prabhupada showed the perfect example of how to be forceful in preaching yet personally prideless. Strong preaching has to be done without false ego and with due consideration of time, place and circumstance. Devotees should not take a license in the name of strong speaking to be nasty or rude, or take the stance of a heavy preacher to vent their anger born of the lower modes of nature.
Regarding your tendency to become angry in public, that is alright provided there is positive reaction. Otherwise we do not wish to create any unnecessary enemies and you should curb your anger by your advanced intelligence in Krsna consciousness. We have to better correct the faulty habits of the conditioned souls by persuasive authoritative preaching and personal example without stop. Letter, 4 Jan 1971
Nevertheless, there are important points to be learned from the episode with the hippie: that when publicly challenged, devotees are duty bound to dynamically present the correct siddhanta; and that an unmixed approach will sometimes lead to confrontations.
We have no business creating enemies, but the process is such that nondevotees will always be inimical toward us. Devotees engaged in preaching should be prepared to be accused by ignorant persons. SB 6.5.39 purport
If you become Krsna conscious, the whole world will be your enemy. You must be prepared for that. 740802BG.VRN
Those who are envious will become disturbed if Krsna consciousness is presented straightforwardly, just as Sisupala could not tolerate glorification of Krsna. Indeed, that demons become annoyed may be a sign that our preaching is to the point.
- From the "My Memories of Srila Prabhupada" by HH Bhakti Vikas Swami
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