Ramai Swami - Memories of Srila Prabhupada

This man was wide-eyed and looked a little unstable. He was silent. Prabhupada didn't wait for any reply but began preaching the basic philosophy, that we're part and parcel of God, that the name of God is Krishna. Prabhupada spoke for a long time, and the gentleman didn't say anything. At the end, he had that same expression on his face, wide-eyed, looking at Prabhupada. Prabhupada said, "Give him some prasadam." A devotee gave him fruit on a plate. Prabhupada said, "Thank you for coming." The man still didn't say anything and left. Afterwards, Prabhupada turned to all the devotees and said, "That man was ghostly possessed." But the wonder of it was that Prabhupada still preached to him. Prabhupada wasn't fazed by his condition. He came as a guest, and Prabhupada treated him as a guest, despite his condition. Prabhupada treated everyone who came very cordially, very respectfully.

Of course, once when a professor came and began to challenge the devotees and the philosophy of Krishna consciousness, it was different. The professor said, "You people pose yourself as knowing everything." Prabhupada said, "We are posing as knowing everything, or you are posing as knowing everything? We are narrow, or you are narrow?" That moment was very tense, and there was silence. Then Prabhupada changed the whole mood. He started speaking very respectuflly to the professor. By the end of the session, this man was grateful that he had come. In the beginning he was agitated by the devotees and he had come to challenge. But Prabhupada defeated his challenge, and simultaneously this man became respectful to Prabhupada. It was incredible.