Prabhupada’s Stature

The soft saffron on Prabhupada’s body … He was not tall, nor fat, but neither do we think of him as gaunt.  None of these words seem to apply.  We met him in his seventieth year, yet we remember his graceful form.  The movement of his fingers, hands, wrists.  Never lost grace.  Never slowed down or showed signs of palsy.  He extended his pinky in a delicate way when putting on tilaka, and his fingers did their “dance” of spontaneous mudras while he lectured. 

The rest of Prabhupada’s body was also graceful.  Grace is not possessed only by a youngster on a trampoline, or by a ballet dancer leaping.  Prabhupada was graceful in the way he used his cane and the way he put his feet forward when he walked briskly.  He was graceful in the way he turned to someone who called his name.  He opened and closed books, and picked up objects from his desk in the same flowing way.