I remember that during the festival in Vrndavana in 1976, in the mornings you would take your morning walk in Ramana-reti with the sannyasis and GBC men. One brahmacari, Praghosa, was sneaking on those walks, and I was very envious. The site of the walk was in the distance, so only those who knew the place could go on the walk. This brahmacari got ready to go one morning, and I criticized, “You always hog all the nectar, Praghosa. Tell me where you’re going!” Due to my offensively demanding nature, he said, ” All right, come on, but don’t tell anybody.” We took a ricksha to the forest site, and the walk had already begun. You were talking of how the karmis are so much like animals that they even name their paraphernalia after animals. One devotee said “Jaguar.” Another said “Pinto.” Then you said “Greyhound,” and Praghosa said, “But we use the Greyhound to preach, Srila Prabhupada.” “That is the perfection,” you replied! Then later you asked one Indian sannyasi what were the berries on a certain tree. He replied that they were edible and sages used to live in the forest and simply exist on these berries. You said that our men should be able to do like this-chant all day, eat some berries, and once a week go to the village and beg a few capatis. Immediately some devotees responded, “But Prabhupada, we have to preach, and. …” “That’s all right,” you said. “But we should be able to chant all day Hare Krsna, eat a few berries, and once a week go to the village and beg a few capatis.” The whole walk you had been holding one small bouquet of flowers that was given, and occasionally you held them to your nose to smell them.

When the walk ended, everyone headed back to the mandir for Bhagavatam class. Because Praghosa and I took a ricksha back, we were late, and the Jaya Radha-Madhava prayers had already begun, and apparently you had given someone in the front that bouquet. Praghosa and I sat in the back, and after a few minutes someone handed me this beautiful small bouquet. I recognized it and immediately gave it to Praghosa. He, upon understanding that this bouquet was the one from the morning walk, to my surprise and amazement ripped it into two pieces, handing half back to me. Then with the fervor of finding a sweet ball from the Lord’s plate, he ate his half of the bouquet, smiling all the while. Although I materially calculated how it might be rough on my digestive tract, I followed suit and ate the bunch of flowers in about three blissful gulps. We knew that we had been blessed by some wonderful tadiya of Krsna’s greatest tadiya.

(Written by Sura dasa)