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There is a saying in India that a mother teaches her daughter-in-law by teaching her daughter. In other words, the mother will most readily give corrective instruction to her own daughter, but the instruction will apply equally to the less accessible daughter-in-law. Similarly, Prabhupada gave many instructions not only during class lectures but in daily dealings with his servants, such as Upendra. Any exchanges with the acarya are themselves teachings both by precept and example, and the whole world can benefit from hearing them.

With Upendra, Prabhupada's instructions were often in response to Upendra's mistakes. Upendra followed Prabhupada everywhere. Once they were walking downstairs on the way to the temple, and Upendra, walking behind, called out to Prabhupada to get his attention. Prabhupada turned around on the stairs, raised his cane, and said, "I told you never to call from behind." On the way back from the temple, Upendra was supposed to carry Prabhupada's Srimad-Bhagavatam, eyeglasses, and karatalas. One evening Upendra got sidetracked talking with a guest, and when he returned to the house, Prabhupada was waiting for him. Govinda dasi warned Upendra that Prabhupada was angry at having to walk back to the house alone. Uttering apologies, Upendra entered his room. Prabhupada said, "Whenever you are to do something, do it nicely. Do not be irresponsible." One day Upendra was looking for Prabhupada within the apartment, and he went into Govinda dasi's room to ask her where Prabhupada was. As Upendra left Govinda dasi's room, he met Prabhupada coming down the hall. Later Prabhupada called him and told, "You are a brahmacari. You should not be in the same room alone with Govinda dasi or any girl. Do not do like that in the future."

When Govinda dasi had to go to the doctor, Upendra, although having no experience, whimsically volunteered to take dictation from Prabhupada as Prabhupada answered his letters. Prabhupada began to dictate quickly, and Upendra immediately ran into trouble trying to write down his words. At the end of the letter, Prabhupada asked him to reread it, but Upendra couldn't read his own handwriting because it had been scribbled with such speed. Prabhupada looked at him incredulously, saying, "Why do you do things like that? You cannot read your own handwriting?" Upendra attempted to read but could not, and Prabhupada had to fill in the whole letter again, while Upendra wrote in the words that he had missed or could not read.

One of Upendra's regular duties was to crush up rock sugar candy, which Prabhupada took in water as medicine. One evening, while Prabhupada watched him, Upendra put the crushed sugar candy in water and mixed it by pouring the water from one glass to another. Somehow a glass slipped from his hand, and in trying to catch it, he splashed it all over his head, face, and the front of his body. Prabhupada looked at him and simply said, "Go wash."

"No, no," Upendra protested. "Let me finish making your medicine for you." As he continued his work, the sugar water thickened, leaving his hands, face, and arms sticky as the sugar hardened and crystalized. Prabhupada said nothing, but watched and accepted the service of his foolish but sincere disciple.

Perhaps certain activities cannot be called instructions; they are simply lila.

Upendra: At the Willard Street apartment, Prabhupada would sometimes go out on the back porch. It was very small and wasn't meant for walking, just for going down the back stairs two levels. But the people in the apartment below us had a little Pekingese dog that would bark at anyone who would come out above. The dog would run up the stairs to the next platform below and yap away with a shrill bark. Prabhupada would go out and stand on the little porch, inciting the dog's barking, and then ignore the dog. Then all of a sudden he would turn to the dog, raise his hands, and make a scary face. The Pekingese would become very frightened and would whimper and run down the stairs, while Prabhupada would laugh. He did this a number of times, like a young boy.


- From "Prabhupada-lila" by HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami