(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 12 April 2020, Durban, South Africa, Vyasa Puja Lecture)
I have had the fortune of staying in Vrndavana. There were prices of austerities to pay undoubtedly. I had a lot of malaria in the Holy Dhama. In one year, I had it twelve times and each time it took about two weeks to recover. So I was sick for about half of the year. As a result, I lost a lot of weight and they sent me to Australia. When I arrived in Melbourne, I found that the sparrows there were twice as fat as they were in India, and I knew that I had come to the right place! (laughter) I knew that I would be able to gain some weight in Australia. Of course, what I did not realise right there and then is that not all the sparrows in Australia were that big. But it were the sparrows that were living near the temple because there was so much prasadam, so much mercy, that even the sparrows were just flooding in this transcendental mercy. Somehow or other, we have the good fortune of a human birth. It is rare, it is not often obtained. We attained it and therefore we are able to receive transcendental knowledge which can give us a clear understanding of what the goal of life is, to render devotional service to Krsna. This goal of life should remain at the forefront at all times.