Srila Prabhupada sat behind his desk and Mr. Sarkar stood to his left, facing his audience. Both were in a jolly mood, and for about twenty minutes Mr. Sarkar demonstrated many sleight-of-hand tricks, making coins disappear and then seemingly reappear from behind Prabhupada's ear. We were a little unsure at him using Srila Prabhupada as his stooge, but Prabhupada laughed brightly and so we also laughed along with him.
As the show ended Srila Prabhupada grinned broadly and issued his famous visitor a challenge. "Sarkarji, I am a better magician than you!"
Laughing, Mr. Sarkar asked, "Oh, how is that?"
"You can make coins disappear," Prabhupada said, "but can you make birth, old age, disease and death disappear?"
"No Swamiji, I cannot."
"Well I can," Prabhupada said.
With a big smile on his face, Mr. Sarkar conceded defeat. "Yes, you are definitely a better magician than me."
All the devotees cheered loudly as Srila Prabhupada and his guest laughed heartily.
- From "A Transcendental Diary Vol 4" by HG Hari Sauri Prabhu
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