“Here’s a story about you. “Harikesa in the morning had one argument with the manager of the Punjab Bank”.
The manager of the Punjab National Bank cheated us.
“He discovered some mistake on the statement sheet in the bank and told the man it was nonsense. The manager became very angry and refused to deal with Harikesa Svami and came and complained to Srila Prabhupada. The man is very much less intelligent, causing much difficulty. Harikesa Maharaja had become very angry. However, Prabhupada lectured to him about his dealings with important men. He explained, “They may be fools but they can cause so much trouble because of their position”. He told how once Syamasundara, who was formally Prabhupada’s secretary, had caused Srila Prabhupada to be locked up in quarantine for four days in Bombay because Syamasundara had not arranged a yellow fever card for Srila Prabhupada”.
Seven days.
Okay. “When the customs health official questioned him, Syamasundara became angry and rebuked the man for being less intelligent, so the man simply took a negative attitude and deliberately made things bad for them, and had things arranged so that Srila Prabhupada had to stay in quarantine for more than seven days. Prabhupada mentioned he is very disturbed by the whole thing, so he said to Harikesa, ‘even if you are agitated you should never show it.’ He quoted Canakya Pundit to the same effect and told the story of Raghunath who saved himself”.
But in that connection Prabhupada said,
“I was ready to tell the man, ‘Listen, you have our address, you know where we are living. You can check on the records, I took my shot in Calcutta. If I have not taken the shot in Calcutta when I said, then you can come and get us.’ And the man would have accepted it. But because Syamasundara made such a scene there was no way to talk to the man, and I had to go in quarantine”.
“Yes, but I am giving further detail about what Prabhupada said about Syamasundara. Prabhupada had his own plan, this was Prabhupada’s plan. he was ready to say this. he said that at this time, but because Syamasundara was being so angry, he could not communicate properly and say “I did not call the man nonsense, I called the bank nonsense” because we were trying to get rid of the bank.”
“Here is another good story about you. ”
“In the evening Harikesa Svami came into the garden and spoke to Srila Prabhupada, and said that on October 23rd the planet Rahu, and the planet Mars, meet and many astrologers are predicting that there will be a big war. So, in view of we should print that many books immediately? Srila Prabhupada smiled and said ‘We shall see whether there will be a war or not when the time comes. I have always said print many books, so keep big stocks for future sales. Do it. You have my full approval’”.
He said,
“you take all of the Almiras and you fill the rooms with Almiras and you fill the Almiras full of books up to the ceilings and in this way, you stack the Almira in temples full of book”.
He wanted me to run the Indian BBT at that time.
“But he did not seem to be so convinced that the war would happen because of the astrologers. It comes or not, but you want to print books because there a war coming? Good, print books. then the rest is all this fighting business, when Srila Prabhupada said,”
“Yes, you can save a hundred dollars if he takes the overland”
And you said,
“Well I can hitch-hike; it will only cost fifteen dollars”.
Then Prabhupada said,
“There you go again, arguing. It is not good to argue in front of the spiritual master”.
No, I said I can walk and save a lot of money. I said I can walk. I did not say anything about fifteen dollars.
“That is what he had written. Then Prabhupada was very upset, “You are always doing this”, he said.”
Srila Prabhupada said,
“Yes, this is your disease, you are always arguing”.
“As soon as I say something, you give …”.
Counter.
“This is not good”.
You know, although I am a rascal and a fool, I must plea that I was beaten more severely than anybody who has ever been beaten in Krishna Consciousness. Nobody was ever beaten the way I was beaten by Prabhupada.
“I do not think I could take lit.”
Mercilessly beaten. I mean mercilessly. My ego was completely destroyed from top to bottom. I mean I was finished, completely.