Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Swami: On Monday morning, Tamal Krishna Maharaj took all of us, about 80 devotees…there were three bus parties who had converged on Atlanta…to see Srila Prabhupada. We all went into Prabhupada’s room. Prabhupada started to lean against his bolster and he spoke about brahmacari life and he said, “My Guru Maharaj, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, loved this brahmacari life.” He said, “You can sleep anywhere. But if you get married, then you have to get apartment and so much trouble.” So when those three words came out of his mouth, my jaw dropped. I was shocked. I thought, “He’s trying to save us. He’s trying to save us.” Then his smile went off his lips, he became grave, and his eyes became deep and he said, “So the senses will bite. They will demand satisfaction,” he said. Then he pointed his finger at us, “But you preach,” and he put his hand up, “and you pray to Krishna, and Krishna can make this itching sensation go away,” and he flipped his hand. But then his hand went like this, “Ah, but if it does not go away,” and he pointed in the back of the room were standing Gadi das and Aja das, “then like them, you can take.” He did not insist that we remain brahmacari. “But my Guru Maharaj very much liked this brahmacari life,” and that’s how he ended his talk. As soon as he ended it that way, I thought, “That’s it, no more questions. That’s what I’m going to do.” I was completely convinced. And the crux of his conversation was “Preach!” That was the most impressionable thing of my entire devotional life.
Reference: Remembrances by Yadubara Das- Folio Vedabase
