Even a crow becomes a peacock through guru's grace; knowledge without Krishna consciousness remains merely mundane.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Room Conversation — May 26, 1972, Los Angeles 720526R1-LOS ANGELES [16:44 Minutes] Conv_720526R1-LOS ANGELES Prabhupāda: …the crow and a peacock dance. Kāka-moya[?]. There is a story. Do you know it?
Do you know? The crow imitated a peacock. He got some tail feathers and put, [laughter] holding his head up, and began to… So that is imitation. But if guru-vaiṣṇava blesses, even a crow can become a peacock.
That is the... There is vast ocean of difference between peacock and crow. Still, by guru-vaiṣṇava, a crow can become a peacock. Śyāmasundara: The other day I was hearing a tape, a philosophy tape, of you telling a story about a man who sawed himself off a limb.
Prabhupāda: Huh? Śyāmasundara: He cut himself off the limb. The sages said, "Oh, you are such a great fool, you should marry the queen." Prabhupāda: Oh. Śyāmasundara: But I forgot the end part. After Sarasvatī, Goddess Sarasvatī, gave him knowledge, then what happened? I can’t remember.
Prabhupāda: Then he is coming back. Śyāmasundara: After he was given knowledge... Then how does the story go?
Prabhupāda: Then he returned to his wife. So he was knocking door. The wife was very, very sorry, that "My husband is such a fool." And he began to write. Asti-vada viśeṣa[?].
Asti-kaścid vāda viśeṣa[?]. The wife was very great Sanskrit scholar. [indistinct]. "Yes.