Prabhupada’s Preferences 

Prabhupada is a person.  Like anyone, he likes his Прасадам in a certain way and expressed his preferences about various things.  We may wonder, are Prabhupada’s preferences absolute?  Does his expression of personal preferences make him a relative person? 

The pure devotee gives us so many details about Krishna and the process of devotional service.  He tells us what Krishna likes to eat, and what He doesn’t like to eat; he tells us how to behave under all circumstances, and how to think.  The pure devotee spiritual master represents Krishna absolutely; therefore, do we have a right to look into the pure devotee’s life and that everything be governed completely by Krishna’s indications?  If we can detect in his life any personal preference for doing something just because “I like it,” is that a defect in the pure devotee?  

But the pure devotee is a person.  Like any person, he will have personal preferences.  What we notice if we minutely examine the life of a pure devotee is that all of his preferences are favorable to devotional service.  They are each individual expressions of his meditation on, and service to,  Krishna.  This may not always be comprehensible when we examine the pure devotee without the requisite faith. 

There are nine principles of devotional service.  If a devotee chooses mainly to hear about Krishna, or only to chant, we cannot accuse him of whimsical behaviour.  There are also five primary rasas of a devotee in a liberated state to serve Krishna in a particular way according to his realization of his relationship with Krishna.  Rather than consider this fact whimsical, we should understand that these preferences are the perfection of devotional development.