True compassion serves both individual welfare and institutional integrity through wisdom and creative solutions.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Prabhupāda: Where is Tamāla? Devotee: He's here. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I'm here, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Prabhupāda: Huh? What is...? Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, I mean, er, we already said some juices, vegetable juice. You said you have no objection to broth, vegetable broth. So he's proposing some vegetable broth.
That's nice. We can try. And... You see, you have to understand, one thing is that Prabhupāda willingly takes fruit juices.
You've never experienced a patient like Prabhupāda, who will not take what you prescribe. Everybody that you've worked with, they take whatever you tell them to take. But Śrīla Prabhupāda is not that kind of patient. You tell him to take...
You'll make a broth for six hours, and he'll take one spoon and then reject it. And then that's finished. So the point is that if he willingly takes some type of a fruit juice, for example—and we've seen, for example, how he willingly will take grape juice in big quantities. He may not take the thing which you prescribe in big quantities.
Better that he takes some liquid than nothing at all. Mādhava: This is very true. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So the proposal that he continues to take some fruit juice has certain merit, because at least we've seen that that's one thing that he will take in large quantities. If nothing else... Every single kavirāja and doctor we've consulted, they all insist that one of the most important things is that there be sufficient liquid taken so that the body can be cleansed properly.
So although you may be right that by taking one thing in particular and not taking fruit juice may be preferable, if he can't take it, then there's no use in that point. Mādhava: That's true. If Śrīla Prabhupāda would take nothing but fruit juice, it is much better that he have the fruit juice. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So therefore Svarūpa Dāmodara Prabhu's suggestion was not unbased, because we see that in the past Prabhupāda has rejected... I've seen him reject vegetable broths. I saw him reject it at least three or four times.
But I've never seen him reject fruit juice. So how much vegetable broth will Prabhupāda take? He won't take 500, 600, 800 cc's. He may, but I've never seen such a thing. Bhavānanda: He'll take one glass. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So you have to consider that, although he should take sufficient liquid.