Prabhupada's Humor
by Gurudas
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Do-Nots
Walking down Stanyan Street one day, Swamiji saw a sign advertising "Do-Nuts" (doughnuts) and asked, "What are these do-nots?"
Perhaps he thought these were posted rules for what not to do in America.
A Question of Swamiji
"Can Krishna do anything? someone asked.
"Yes," Swamiji answered.
"Can He make a mountain so large that even He can't lift it?
"Yes. And then He will lift it."
Appetite
With a twinkle in his eyes, Swamiji entered the kitchen where Harsarani and Yamuna were making samosas. He began eating some, and then more.
"How many of these can you eat?" Harsarani asked.
Swamiji laughed, eating another. Then Swamiji said he liked cooking for himself.
"Why?"
He replied, "There is no one else to find fault."
7-Up
Swamiji was given a 7-Up soda. Later, wanting to try the soda again, he said, "Is there any 7 o'clock?"
Morning walk
Once, in a wooded section of Golden Gate Park, deep inside the forest, a policeman came driving slowly through the woods on a cement path. The cop leaned out of his car and said, "Hi-ya, Swamiji," waved, smiled, and drove on.
Swamiji turned to us and said, "He has seen me on television."
Charlie Chaplin
A devotee told me that once he was on an airplane with Swamiji, and a Charlie Chaplin movie was playing. All the disciples accompanying Prabhupada went to sleep or chanted to themselves, trying not to look at the screen. The devotee peeked up to see what our spiritual preceptor was doing and found him watching the movie and laughing, tears streaming down his face!
Strength
Malati had given birth to a baby girl in San Francisco in June 1968, and Swamiji had named her Saraswati over the phone from Montreal, pronouncing her the first child born to ISKCON parents. Now Malati had brought her to meet her spiritual master.
Swamiji held baby Saraswati up in the air with one lotus hand; he was so strong.
Gaurasundar then came in with a camera and began to photograph. Prabhupada put his garland around her and held Saraswati up again and said, "They will say, what kind of sannyasi am I?" He beamed on all of us like a proud father.
(*Note: In the early days of the Hare Krishna movement, Srila Prabhupada was known to his followers as "Swamiji." Afterwards [late '67-68], he was addressed with the honorific title, "Prabhupada," meaning at whose feet all masters sit.)
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