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Srila Prabhupada on sleeping.
From the Srila Prabhupada Uvaca by HG Srutakirti Dasa
Submitted by Krpa Moya Gouranga das.
Srila Prabhupada did speak about sleeping on different occasions. When I first became his servant, he called me into his room after taking a short nap after lunch. This was at the Dallas temple when Srila Prabhupada went to see the gurukula facility. He asked me if I took rest after eating lunch. I said no. This was not something that was done at this time. He then said, "I am an old man. I can not sleep very long at one time so I take a nap after lunch." I had only been with him for a few days at this time. But his humility had already captured my heart. On another occasion, when he was getting ready to take rest in the evening, he said to me, "Whenever I go to take rest 'I think now I am going to waste my time.'"
Srila Prabhupada was so amazing. After being with him for two years one thing I know for certain is that he never, ever wasted his time. At 20 years old I would have a difficult time keeping up with him as he traveled around the world to enliven his disciples. He was 75 at the time. Sometimes on the morning walk some of his disciples would shake their heads, looking at each other, and wonder when he was going to turn around and head back because they were getting tired of walking.
Once Srila Prabhupada was on a short flight out of JFK. Since it was a wide-bodied plane -- that particular jet must have had about 10 seats going across -- many of the devotees got tickets that placed them in the same row as Srila Prabhupada. Who wouldn't want the chance to sit near their guru? I was next to Srila Prabhupada -- my most fortunate duty as his servant. As the flight progressed, unfortunately, some of his disciples began to do the devotee dive-bomb (nodding out). It was quite a sight -- shaven heads bobbing up and down across the isle, like the little dolls with heads on a spring people put in the back window of cars. Prabhupada was not amused by the tamasic display and let me know about it. "Just see" he said "everyone is wide awake except for the devotees. They are in maya, sleeping. Everyone else is awake. Why they can not stay awake". Usually whenever Srila Prabhupada addressed me in this way I would become quite silent. Afraid of saying the wrong thing, something that might further disturb him, I would just sit there and wait for him to stop, without saying a word. This was one such instance. During my stay with Srila Prabhupada, I learned there was no such thing as a good reason. There wasn't a point you could bring up that Prabhupada couldn't defeat, and I was not advanced enough to have him start chastising me on a regular basis. Therefore, I didn't even try the argument that the devotees only slept a few hours compared to the karmis. Prabhupada spent a few more minutes pointing out how even the karmis were up but his devotees could not stay awake. One thing was certain: I did not nod on that flight.
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November 31, 1972
ISKCON Bombay (excerpt from letter)
I received your letter and was happy to hear some of the current news of the western world. None of the items were known by Srila Prabhupada. One item was especially interesting. It involved the separation of men and women in the New York temple. Srila Prabhupada received a letter involving this matter at the same time that yours arrived. When he heard that the women were only allowed in the temple at certain times because of agitating the brahmacaris he said that the brahmacaris could go to the mountains as it wasn't possible to have such rules in our temples.
In Srila Prabhupada's letter to Ekayani Srila Prabhupada said, "I don't know why these inventions are going on. We have already got our Vaisnava standard. It is sufficient for all the big, big saints and acaryas in our line -- why it shall be inadequate for my disciples so they must manufacture something? That is not possible. Who has introduced these things -- that women cannot chant japa in the temple, they cannot perform arati and so many things? If they become agitated, then let the brahmacaris go to the forest, I have never introduced these things. If the brahmacaris cannot remain in the presence of women in the temple, then they may go to the forest, not remaining in New York City, because in New York there are so many women so how they can avoid seeing? Best thing is to go to the forest for not seeing any women, if they become so easily agitated, but then no one will either see them and how our preaching work will go on?"
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