His Insistence for Respect to Elders and Superiors

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This incident happened during those days when our Dehradun maṭha was not yet fully constructed. Gurujī did the morning hari-kathā recitation and kīrtan and then he then stood up. He was smiling and was in a very pleasant mood. At that time, a teenager came and offered obeisance to Gurudeva. Gurudeva asked him whether he did praṇam to his father in the morning, for which he moved his head indicating “No." Gurujī got very angry and his face became suddenly red.

Gurujī told him, “Why did you come here without offering praṇams to your father? You have come here to do Kṛṣṇa bhajan? Without respecting your father, you'll not be able to do any bhajan.” 

Then Gurujī spoke to him about the life of Prahlāda Mahārāja, his respect towards his father, and how he prayed for the well-being of his father in spite of being tortured by him earlier. After this, the teenager left from there.

I did not know who that person was and why Gurudeva suddenly became angry with him. When I inquired from other devotees I learnt that the teenager was a son of our Parama Gurudeva’s disciple. He was not on talking terms with his father. That is why Gurujī got angry with him.

Sometimes we might also have clashes with our parents due to the generation gap and differences in opinion. I also used to have some clashes with my parents sometimes, but after this incident, Gurudeva’s angry face would come in front of my eyes. Gurudeva taught me that day we should always have respect for our parents and superiors.

—Kṛṣṇananda Dāsa, Punjab



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