Memories: The Past Life of a Pure Devotee
Hari das Prabhu
Note: Your Editor once showed Shrila Prabhupada’s horoscope to a renowned astrologer, Shri Shashikant Jain, whose hospitality and insight I enjoyed in Bangalore for many memorable weeks in 1976. The pandit noted that all Prabhupada’s planets were in perfect order. But he commented “There’s one minor flaw in the chart. That flaw was put there so that he would have to appear on earth. Otherwise he could not take birth.” He pointed to the conjunction of exalted Moon with Mars in the 6th house of medicine. I told the pandit how in 1968 Prabhupada had related to us that he had been “medically-connected” in his past life, but had killed a snake by accident. For that one misdeed he had to take birth again. The pandit immediately agreed that this was indeed a plausible explanation for the combination. It was not until 2010 that I would discover the entire story, from watching the Memories Series of Videos by Shriman Siddhanta das Prabhu. This one is taken from DVD #30 (or vol. 3 of the books), an interview with Shriman Hari das Prabhu of Hare Krishna Land. The following episode took place in Shrila Prabhupada’s quarters Hare Krishna Land, Bombay around 1976.-Ed.
Haridas: One day Prabhupada was alone in his room. Usually he was quiet, but this day he was laughing and talking with himself. I went by his room and inquired, “Shrila Prabhupada, why are you laughing?” Prabhupada said, “The reason I was laughing was that I just remembered my past life.” Then I asked, “So, Prabhupada, what was your past life?” He replied, “I was a medical person and I had not committed any sin. I had a guru. I was fanning my Guru Maharaja and he could see in the rain that there was one snake and he make me go kill that snake.” Then he said, “Now I remember why my Guru Maharaja made me kill that snake, so I had to take birth again in this life to save so many snakes like all of you.”
Replies