A friend of Srila Prabhupada called Naren Mullick took him to hear a scholarly and reputable devotee of Lord Krishna, the "Lion Guru" of Bengal, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati.
Although somewhat skeptical of "holy men" in general, Srila Prabhupada was very impressed by this saintly person's lecture on the topic of spreading Lord Chaitanya's message of Krishna consciousness to everyone. He felt obliged to challenge him in the light of Indian nationalism:
"Who will hear your Chaitanya's message? We are a dependent
country. First India must become independent. How can we spread Indian culture if we are under British rule?"
..and was reminded of the truly urgent cause
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta countered:
"Krishna consciousness doesn't have to wait for a change in Indian politics, nor is it dependent on who rules India. Moreover, Krishna consciousness is so important - so exclusively important - that it can't wait."
Srila Prabhupada later said he felt happy to have been defeated, and at that meeting had already accepted Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sawaswati as his spiritual master. However, it was to be many years before he formally took initiation from him.