As He Narrates Transcendental Pastimes, He is Seeing Them Directly

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In 2005, I was serving in the maṭh itself. In the Vraja-maṇḍal parikramā, I was given the service of translating for the Western devotees. When we hear, we may not be attentive, but when we translate, we must be very attentive. That year there were so many Westerners that they filled an entire bus.

This was the first year that Śrila Gurudev was not there in Vraja the entire time as he was performing the pastimes of sickness. When he arrived, he explained what he was seeing directly how Śuka and Śārikā competed, and how Kakkhaṭī was given the service. I was finding it difficult to translate, not because of words, but because I was so ecstatic. I could see that Gurudev was speaking not because of the books or something, but because he was actually seeing.

—Hariprasād Das

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