In 1986, I was very busy because I was in charge of the construction of Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi in Mayapur. And there was no limit- no limit- in what had to be arranged for that building. One day I looked at that Samadhi and it looked just like a huge face with a big mouth and the mouth just said, ‘Aniyor! Aniyor! Aniyor! Bring me more! Bring me more!’ And I brought trucks of cement and steel and bricks and stone and marble, and I brought engineers and draughts men and drawings and technical experts and labors and I broke labor strikes to bring more work and I had to deal with endless things and I was chanting my rounds during mangal arati because I had to start working at six and in the evening I was so tired that I couldn’t chant anymore and I would just crash…and I was just so totally busy!!! And in the middle of that, one day Lokanatha Maharaja appears in 1986! At that time Lokanatha Maharaja had the padayatra. And the padayatra had a mad elephant! This elephant was heavy; it had picked up people and had thrown them about! And there was a camel that would bite people! And then there were many villagers from India, and all these villagers, (imitates) ‘ha ha ha’- many of them! And then they had so many dioramas and exhibitions and tractors and everything! And Lokanatha Maharaja came to me and said, “I want you to look after the padayatra when we come to Mayapur.” I said, “Maharaja, Maharaja, Maharaja, please Maharaja, have mercy! Maharaja, I am so busy, Maharaja, I am so busy that it’s…Maharaja, I, I have hardly time to chant my rounds! One more straw Maharaja, it will break the camel’s back…” I thought finished, you know- got rid of Lokanatha Maharaja! And then he starts and he said, “You know, in my village, they say that if you want to get something done, you go to a busy man.” He said, “because a man who is not busy, is a lazy man. So if you go to him he won’t do anything! But a busy man is by nature very active- he may be busy and he may not be able to do so much but at least he’ll do something! So if you want something done you go to a busy man!” What could I say after that! Defeated by village logic! It’s like totally practical!So there I was and I had a camel that was biting all the time and I had to really watch out for this camel! And then I kept a safe distance from the elephant! And then all the villagers, (imitates) “ah, there is no water, pani nahi he, pani nahi he!” and “we are hungry” you know, and “we want drinks, we want maha prasadam!” God they wanted everything! And I was like the father of the padayatra! And that’s how they saw me! They wanted pocket money- they wanted everything! They wanted to pick my pockets! It was too much!
So this story is there for all of you because I know you are all busy people. And I know that since you are all very busy, you all have no time. Yes, and I would have sympathized with you….until I met Lokanatha Maharaja! And he just totally smashed my illusion and made it completely clear that yes, sorry, if you are busy, you are the right person! You’re the right person to do something extra! Something extra- may be not a big thing but at least something, because busy people are by nature active. So yes, you are the right people for Kartik! Kartik is made for you, for you busy people- too busy people! Yes- many busy people! For all of you busy people, there is this month of Kartik to become a little more busy! Hmmm….very nice! So in this way we can all be busy in the service of Krsna and do something special...
(HH KKSwami, 04 Oct '09, Phoenix, Durban, SA)
