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Radhanath Swami’s “Intentional Mistake”?

(continuing from the post of October 6…)

When the editing of the book was nearing the end, Radhanath Swami told me to do a final proofreading of the 300-page manuscript. (During our editing, the draft had grown by over 50 pages) He said, “After you finish, tomorrow we will send the manuscript.” My mind started spinning at the thought of how I could complete the whole manuscript in one night. Fortunately, he got busy with some guests and so didn’t ask for the manuscript till the next evening. When he called me, I had carefully gone through around 240 pages and hastily glanced through the remaining. I gave him the manuscript, wondering what I should do about the remaining 60 pages. Again, fortune favored me, for he, due to his other engagements, didn’t finalize the draft till the next noon. By that time, I had carefully gone through the remaining pages. When I told him that some proofreading changes needed to be incorporated in the draft that I had given yesterday, he silently assented. When I pointed out that the spelling of “Bhaktisiddhanta” had been written as “Bhaktisddhanta” (the second “i” was missing), he suddenly exclaimed, “You passed the test!” Seeing the bewildered look on my face, he explained, “I had kept the spelling like that to see whether you would find it or not. Now that you have found it, you have passed the test.” I didn’t know what to say or even what to think. Laughing to see my confusion, he added, “Don’t worry; I was just joking.”

To this day, I don’t know whether Radhanath Swami made that mistake intentionally or unintentionally, but I do know that there was a divine intention in that whole incident. When we do a service, we should aspire to do it the very best that we possibly can, and not be satisfied merely because nobody can find any visible fault with it.

–Chaitanya Charan Das

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148 replies on “Radhanath Swami’s “Intentional Mistake”?”

Thank you Caitnya Prabhu for sharing this experience. It teaches us that whenever we have the opportunity to offer any service, we should give our very best, being satisfied that we did all we could.

Radhanath Swami is very simple to heart personality, nice story about his ‘new’ coming book

Thank you Prabhuji for sharing this wonderful experience with Radhanath Swami. Radhanath Swami always wanted us to practice integrity which include both humility and honesty as some senior devotee comments. Thank you once again for sharing.

radhanath swami is really a special gift for humankind, he is more than the best father available for his disciples,

Wonderful story which fills the heart with humour as well as the seriousness about how Radhanath Swami is dedicated to preach the mission of his spiritual master HDG Srila Prabhupad.

Radhanath Swami himself has an eye for detail and ensures that the same quality is imbibed in his discip;es.

Very nice experience..thanks for sharing…….Please let us know whenever your dilemma is cleared……..

Through this incident Radhantha Swami is teaching us how to serve in the right spirit. Thank you Maharaj.

Great experience to share, it is not uncommon to learn a deeper meaning even with the most unassuming statements by Radhanath Swami, he is like an ocean of knowledge but most importantly combined with a lot of genuine care and compassion, interactions of any kind with him direct or through listening to his discourses, one cannot stay impacted in a positive manner.

Rightly said about the service we render..and nice sharing of an incident with Radhanath Swami..thanks

thanks for sharing the amazing incident.
it shows how while doing services it is very important that we pay attention to details.

Thank you very much for such a valuable lesson, if we can really understand that whatever services we do are a direct offering to the spiritual master we will take them so seriously.

Association with Maharaj teaches everyone to see spiritual angle in every step of life…