A Pack of Camels
A few days back I called up Hansadutta Prabhu to hear some Prabhupada katha. This is the process of purification, shravanam kirtanam smaranam atmanivedanam. Discussing the activities of mahabhagavats like our previous acharyas in our Gaudiya sampradaya is equal to discussing the pastimes of the Supreme Lord, because Krishna and His elects are, in one sense, non-different.
Hansadutta chuckled as he remembered an episode in the life of our paramhamsa spiritual master. It’s a very funny episode that I’d never heard before, reminding me that the pastimes of an elect of the Personality of Godhead are too deep for a simpleton like me to understand.
One day Shrila Prabhupada was out walking with a group of disciples when a herd of camels passed by. Shrila Prabhupada asked the devotees if any of them had closely observed a camel’s attitude. Stretching his neck and imitating a proper camel from the desert of Rajasthan, Prabhupada explained that many British officers had been reborn as camels. After all, a camel’s attitude is much akin to the arrogance of a proper British gentleman of the British period.
(Hey, being born a camel in India is better than being a dog in Sweden! -Ed.)
