(H H Kadamba Kanana Swami, 30th March 2012, Cape Town, South Africa) Lecture: SB 7.15.25
One has to maybe find that little bit of interest in a person. Srila Prabhupada could find the spark and fan it. Whatever sparks our interest, find it and fan it. When someone wanted to learn Sanskrit and thought it was very interesting then Prabhupada became a Sanskrit teacher. Three days later all this Sanskrit was too much trouble and Prabhupada stopped being a Sanskrit teacher.
Mukunda was into drumming and Prabhupada taught him how to play the mrdanga.
‘Slow down, do it properly,’ He said.
And gradually he got it, and then he was playing whilst Prabhupada was listening, and Prabhupada was smiling. Mukunda saw that and he was a musician, a piano player. He said:
‘I have had many music teachers, but I never had one who actually enjoyed me playing.’
It’s like you teach someone who is a beginner:
‘Okay you keep on practising and eventually you’ll get there one day.’
No, but that was not the mood, since the mood was nice, so Mukunda appreciated. Anyway fanning the spark is simply the principle and that was Prabhupada’s approach.
