Jyotirmayi: What struck me most about Prabhupada was his intelligence. He was able to be completely transcendental and at the same time completely down to earth. Sometimes devotees are so transcendental that they are out of touch with reality and do some nonsense that hurts the movement. But Prabhupada was able to be in Krishna loka, having a relationship with Krishna, and at the same time be practical. He was concerned with all the specific details of daily life. And he trained his first devotees in that way. For me, this is the highest intelligence of Prabhupada. I think that one cannot understand Krishna consciousness only from reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. One must also understand his personal life, his personal example, how he lived the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. If you do that, if you have both together, then you can really understand how to practice Krishna consciousness. Very often the problems we have are that people try to live Krishna consciousness only according to Prabhupada’s books but not according to his personal example. Now, through books and memories of Prabhupada by different devotees, we can have a clear idea of his personal dealings. Many of the things that I have done in Krishna consciousness were based on some instruction he gave while talking with devotees in a casual way. I am struck by his completely spiritual intelligence. For me Prabhupada is the greatest intellectual on the planet and I’m very attracted to that.
Remembrances – Sidhanta Das – Folio Vedabase
