Early in the morning, around 1.30am, Bali-mardana awoke to hear Srila Prabhupada ringing his bell. Running into the room, he found Prabhupada sitting behind a small bookstand, his large volume of Srimad-Bhagavatam open in front of him. The whole room was dark, save for the light of the desk lamp.
Bali-mardana: Srila Prabhupada was wearing his glasses and he motioned me to come closer. It turned out that he didn't need anything, but rather he wanted to talk to me about what he was reading in Bhagavatam, which was the story of Prahlada Maharaja from the Seventh Canto. He spoke of how compassionate Prahlada was, how a Vaisnava doesn't want anything for himself, but rather he is interested only in the welfare of others. As Prabhupada quoted from various verses, tears formed in his eyes. I could see that Prabhupada was also experiencing a very deep, ecstatic mood of devotion, like Prahlada Maharaja's. I felt blessed to be privy to such tangible spiritual emotion.
- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu
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