Radhanath Swami’s Unorthodox Style
By admin on December 5, 2010 | Category: Tolerance | Tags: cooking, Radhanath Swami | 161 CommentsRadhanath Swami is often called for lunch at people’s homes. In the Vedic tradition an opportunity to cook for a sadhu and feed the sadhu is considered a rare service, a rare blessing. The more the sadhu eats, the happier is the cook; and even a word of appreciation about the preparations from the sadhu is eagerly awaited.
There are several stories of Radhanath Swami going out of his way to make the cook happy: sometimes tolerating the extra spices, sometimes tolerating the blandness, sometimes over eating, sometimes eating though not hungry and almost always eating preparations that go against his dietician’s advice. There are even grisly stories of him having to vomit after returning from the host’s. But every time, Radhanath Swami is appreciative of the preparations. Being his secretary, I am a witness to several of these stories.
With me, however, Radhanath Swami was once a little unorthodox. Yet, through that experience, I felt the intimacy of our relationship sore up to newer heights. This happened when Radhanath Swami’s favorite cook Radha Vallabha was sick. I then got an opportunity to cook for Radhanath Swami. I found my mind in ambivalence. While I obviously felt exhilarated, I also felt jittery: I was cooking for no ordinary person. The preparation before the cooking—deciding the menu, thumbing through the recipes and collecting the ingredients—seemed no less intense than preparing for IIT JEE, the entrance exam that I had cleared years before for getting admission in IIT. The actual cooking was more intense than IIT JEE itself.
While the flames rose to heat the vessels, the heat was already on me. When those flames threatened to burn the preparations, I was already dead-burnt in anxiety. All along, the stirring spoon moved in synch with my heartbeat.
Once ready, the preparations—lafda, karela sabji, beans sabji, chapatti, rice and daal—were taken to Radhanath Swami’s room by Damodar Dulal, where it was to be served out. After half an hour Damodar Dulal returned to the kitchen, where I was all ears to hear Radhanath Swami’s comments about my preparations.
“He asked me who had prepared today’s lunch,” Damodar Dulal began to narrate the exchanges he had with Radhanath Swami while he had served out the lunch.
As Damodar Dulal spoke, the suspense was building in me.
“I said you have prepared,” Damodar Dulal continued.
Now, that suspense was killing me.
“He told me…” Damodar Dulal paused.
My heart beat also paused. What did Radhanath Swami say????????
“He told me, ‘please tell Radha Vallabha to get well soon.’”
–Vikram Arora, Radhanath Swami’s secretary.
Naveen
Its a great blessing to get an oppurtunity to serve saints like Radhanath Swami.
T.Sita Ramaiah
The way in which Radhanath Swami interacts are unimaginable.They always end-up making the person more serious in his/her devotional service.
vrajdevipriya
Such a delicate situation tactfully handled by Radhanath Swami.
bipin
All Glories To H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj
What a beautiful experience. Thanks Prabhuji for sharing it with us.
Hare Krishna
Ketan Pendse
What a wonderfull experience…. Thank you for sharing this…
Naveen
Every single act of Radhanath Swami has some divine message hidden in it to help us intensify our practice of devotional service.
Pankaj
Every dealing of Radhanath Swami with his disciples is for bringing them closer to him and thus to the Supreme friend, Krishna.
yogish
very nice past time. lot of lessons to learn.
Chandrika
Thank you for sharing this intimate pastime with Maharaj.
Pankaj
Radhanath swami is so much surrendered to Lord that all his activities / words and thoughts bring others closer to God!
Vidya Patham
Radhanath Swami’s sense of humour even in situations where he has to experience some personal difficulty is really inspiring.