So the Lord says, Lord Kṛṣṇa says, that "According to your quality, you have to do your duty." You just... Just you can... Hereditary or by your own choice, you can have your own duty. But there is no question of that one should be idle. No. If you are intelligent class, then you have to take to intelligent quality of work, just like you must become a scientist, you must become politician, not politician, philosopher. You must be a religionist or so many intelligent class of work. So you must engage in that way if you are actually intelligent, if you belong to the intelligent class. Now, if you are administrative class, then you must take to the politics or election, be elected the mayor, be elected the president or something like that, and work in that way. And if you belong to the mercantile community, then you must do business and produce agricultural grains and distribute them. That is your business.
Mayor
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the most important subject of the present-day society. The responsible men who are leading the society, the president, or the secretaries, or the mayor, they should have intelligence to understand. But if we approach... The other day when I was coming to your country, I met in Japan, Tokyo, one chief secretary of the governor. I wanted to explain to him that "You just cooperate with this movement." He said, "Oh, we are secular. We cannot cooperate with any religious movement." Just see. He's one of the chief secretaries of the governor, and he's such a fool. He is taking this movement as religious movement. Just like they have got so many sentimental religions. Oh, it is not sentimental. It is the necessity of the society that a class of men should be Kṛṣṇa conscious.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
What does he know? So indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokam (SB 1.3.28). There are many universes and many planets. So in either of them or each of them, some sort of incarnation is present there. Just like in government, in every department, there is a government representative. Just like in your city, your mayor, mayor is there. Or any responsible post, there is some director, there is... Similarly, indrāri-vyākulaṁ mṛḍayanti yuge yuge. Yuge yuge means different yugas. The same example. Just like the sun. The sun is present everywhere. Just at this moment it is now eight, eight o'clock in New York. In India it is night. There is no sun. But here it is, sun present. Similarly, in your country also, if you go more farther eastern, western side, somewhere the sun is already there somewhere, somewhere the sun is not there.
Philosophy Discussions
Karandhara: Just like if five thousand years from now some archeologists came to Los Angeles, which is all covered over, who knows what they may dig up? They may dig up a monkey who lived in a zoo, they may dig up the mayor of Los Angeles, they may dig up anything. What will they conclude from their findings? That all of Los Angeles was made up of monkeys?
Prabhupāda: It is simply poor fund of knowledge. He is going to give us knowledge, but he is very, very poor in his knowledge.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1971 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like we are sitting here in Delhi City. Now here is Lalaji. He is supreme personality, mayor. (laughter)
Reporter: So we, we can see and feel and touch Him and be something also like...
Prabhupāda: No. I am taking for example India, the president is the supreme personality. The president is the supreme personality. You have to admit it. You may accept him or not, but officially you have to admit. So in this whole creation, cosmic manifestation, there must be some Supreme Personality.
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Students are doing very nice?
Jagajjīvana: Oh yes. I was there before when Amarendra ran for mayor in Dallas. I helped him with that. And I got a chance to associate with the children there. And they have made so much advancement since last I was there.
Prabhupāda: They are now chanting ślokas very nice?
Jagajjīvana: Yes. Dayānanda Prabhu is doing very well. And Hiraṇyagarbha Prabhu is teaching them Sanskrit and English. But mostly they like kīrtana. They become very ecstatic during kīrtana.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: So much fighting was there. Immediately I went and purchase and everything stopped. (devotees laugh) They are surprised. This man, they... You know there are two very stubborn parties who have cheated. Chaganlal, he advanced fifty-one thousand as advance, and when there was question of settlement, so he came, he wanted that "If you give me three lakhs, then I'll compromise." So I was prepared to pay him three lakhs. So that Mr. Ganotra, Mayor, I induced him just to make settlement. Then down he came-two lakhs twenty-five thousand. Then asked Mrs. Nair, "Now you'll pay this..." Where I have got... If he takes all money, then what shall I get? Then I had to settle with her how much he will pay. So she came from one lakh to one lakh, forty thousand. So what is the balance?
Prabhupāda: This mayor, mayor...? This mayor?
Yogeśvara: This man was explaining there's a very famous, beautiful actress. Her name is Brigitte Bardot, and she has become very popular now because she is trying to protect the animals. So she lives around here somewhere. He suggested that we contact her.
Bhagavān: What about him?
Yogeśvara: He just wants to...
Prabhupāda: What did he say about himself?
Yogeśvara: Last year, you were received by the Mayor at Hotel De Ville.
Prabhupāda: No, but in America we have reception from highly scholarly people, university heads, like that. Our books are being read in universities, colleges, and they're accepted in big, big libraries. Not only accepted what is published, but they have forward order for all the publications that will come. Yes? Hmmm. (someone comes in with a plate of prasādam)
Pṛthu-putra: (explains about prasādam)
Prabhupāda: They have learned this preparation, these girls. We have taught them. We are strictly vegetarian. From grains, from milk and sugar, and just two three, things, we require, and we can prepare thousands of preparations out of that. From milk and grains and sugar... And? What else?
Prabhupāda: So put into action this proverb. So that is... You are one of the leading mayor. That is our appeal. What is unreasonableness in our proposal that so long the cow lives...? Cow, every cow gives milk. So it fulfills your proverb also. So under the circumstances, let the cows live peacefully, take milk and make this preparation of cow's milk, and when it is dead, free of charges. (French)
Yogeśvara: He says he will try to take to heart what you have told him today, and he thanks you for having received him.
Prabhupāda: So kindly do this service. Kṛṣṇa will bless you.
Prabhupāda: So if you want to solve it, you take to bhakti-yoga. Anarthopaśamam. Directly it will be solved, directly. Anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam, lokasya ajānataḥ. The rascals, they do not know. Therefore vidvān, Vyāsadeva, the most learned, vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām, he has done this sātvata, Vaiṣṇava literature, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That is the only solution. These rascals, they have created problems. Therefore we have started this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement for their benefit. Let them cooperate, and we shall make solution of all problems-political, social, everything. Let them come and cooperate. (pause) They are not agreeable to close the slaughterhouse? Yesterday, you were not present when that mayor came?
Bhagavān: I was there.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: ...magazine?
Mayor: No. I know about the article on the crime and I have it at home, but I have not read it as yet. But we certainly know that it's a tremendous problem in the United States, perhaps throughout the world and certainly here.
Prabhupāda: It is not a problem. Just like there is disease, and there is remedy also. And as much as the disease is chronic, the remedy is also costly. So in the western countries—do not mind—they are not trying to educate first-class men, and that is the difficulty. This advancement, technical knowledge, to have nice motor cars or big, big buildings, highways, this is very good, but this is not the aim of life.
Mayor: No, material things should not be.
Prabhupāda: They are missing the aim of life. That is the... The aim of life is, an..., not according to Vedic, but anyone, the aim of life is how to realize God. That is aim. In the animal life or in other lives less important than the human being there is no question of God realization. In the human life, the civilized human life, there is religion. It doesn't matter whether one is Christian or a Hindu or a Muslim or a Buddhist. These are the principle religions of the world. So any civilized man must be inquisitive to know what is the original source of everything. That philosophy is there.
Mayor: Yes.
Prabhupāda: So they were habituated to all... Because that is a system in the European, American life. But now they are free. That is Professor Judah's remark in his letter. Have you got that? Yes. He has written one book, Hare Kṛṣṇa and Counterculture, about our movement. He has read all our books. Here are, you have shown all these books? So he appreciates, many gentlemen appreciate, even the priestly class, they also appreciate. So this is a movement which is trying to create at least a section to become first-class. The first-class man does not mean that he is nicely dressed or very rich or very opulent. Generally, of course, a first-class man means good parentage, good education, good looking and nicely rich. That is the standard. But... That may be first-class position, but first-class man is different. First-class man means he is self-controlled, in the mind he is undisturbed, he is truthful, he is very clean, inside and outside, he is very simple, tolerant, full of knowledge, practical application of knowledge, and believe in God. This is first-class man. There is no mention that he is rich, he is beautiful, bodily, or he is educated. Educated, this is a result of education.
Mayor: It takes a great deal of discipline to try to achieve these ideals, and that's one thing that seems to be difficult these days, especially in young people, to have any sense of the need for discipline at all.
Prabhupāda: Hmm?
Jagadīśa: He says young people today have no sense of discipline. They don't know what it means to be...
Prabhupāda: How they can be? They are not trained up. They are not trained up from the very beginning. For being trained up, there is another four divisions, brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa. These are the training divisions. So for the first-class, second-class, third-class, all the students, they are trained up as brahmacārī, student life. Brahmacārī means celibacy, live under the direction of the teacher and accept all kinds of hardship under the teacher's or spiritual master direction. Children, they can easily take it. If a child, a small child, I ask him, "My dear child, you take my shoes and keep it there," he will immediately agree.
Mayor: Well, we'd like to cooperate and we certainly need a different approach I think because we're not being successful now in trying to...
Prabhupāda: No, this way will never be successful. It will degrade more and more. So our process is very simple. That is the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's contribution, that we chant... Where is that letter? Professor Judah's? Just read that.
Brahmānanda: "I feel certain my book will help people both to understand the teachings of Kṛṣṇa the of His descent as Caitanya and to realize how Kṛṣṇa consciousness has transformed lives from drug-addicted hippies to loving servants of Kṛṣṇa and humanity."
Prabhupāda: This is his study. He has written a book. So we can stop this, provided we are given the facility to work on.
Mayor: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Yes. So I was thinking. Just in front there is a very nice house, big house. You have knowledge about this house?
Mayor: No, I...
Prabhupāda: What is that building?
Śrī Govinda: Merrywood.
Mayor: Oh, we are right across the street from Merrywood, yes, uh huh, which we're going to have as a city hall.
Prabhupāda: Oh. You have decided?
Mayor: Yes, uh huh, about, oh, just two weeks ago actually, the council...
Prabhupāda: So is it not possible to use this house at least for some time for this movement?
Mayor: Yes, uh huh, about, oh, just two weeks ago actually, the council...
Prabhupāda: So is it not possible to use this house at least for some time for this movement?
Mayor: The, er... I'm not sure what the time schedule is, but it's my impression that they were going to start remodeling it for city purposes later this year. It's about a three million dollar project, both for the purchase of the land from the sisters and the remodeling to make it suitable for various city needs. And then they're going to... The city is now located at nine different locations, that is, their facilities. And they're trying to incorporate them all in this one place so that when people need city services, they can just go one place and get all the...
Mayor: Well, I could certainly discuss this with the city manager and see what could be worked out.
Śrī Govinda: Possibly we could invite the city manager also to come to discuss with Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda: No. So if we get a good place with the cooperation of the authorities, then our simple program is that, as Professor Judah has remarked, drug-addicted hippies, they have been turned into devotees. We shall invite anyone to come and chant this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and take prasādam and we are... I began this movement in New York alone, and these boys gradually came to me, but my process was this: chanting and giving them prasādam. He is one of the original student. He was. So this process, very simple process, everyone will be able to accept it. Chant, dance, and take prasādam. Within that process, everything is there.
Mayor: Yes.
Prabhupāda: But I have no money. So if the authorities give me a place, and for feeding them necessary foodstuff, then I am sure it will be successful. These two things I want. I don't want any charges for my mantra, no. My mantra is open, Hare Kṛṣṇa, and there is no charge for it. And I have no necessity. I require a little clothing and two capatis. That's all. Anyone can bring. I thought Chicago is one of the important cities of your country. And when I first came, I saw this is vacant. So I thought if this house can be utilized in the beginning and we invite anyone, especially young men, come here, live with us at least for one week and associate with this chanting, dancing, and we give nice prasādam. There is no difficulty. We can attempt. And if the authorities give us this facility at least for one year then we shall talk of permanent. They can see the result.
Mayor: Would you use the facility, then, as sort of a center for all over the United States?
Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. We invite. As soon as they have got a leisure hour, let them come and live with us for one week and see the result. They can remain forever. It doesn't matter. But for experimental sake they can come, live with us and associate with us. It is not difficult. And we invite everyone. We have no such discrimination that black, white, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, no. Anyone. It is universal. Because we consider every living entity is part and parcel of God. That is a fact. We are teeny gods, part and parcel. The same quality we have got—in minute quantity. Quality is the same, quantity is less. So God is good, so we are also good. But we have become bad under circumstances. Just like under infection, one becomes diseased. So if we cure that infection, again he becomes good.
Mayor: We're aware that a religious approach is more successful and our mental health society here is funding the Reverend Perry who is a black ordained, I think, a Baptist protestant minister, formerly a drug addict. And he's been working out with, especially with the blacks who have drug addiction and he achieves much more success than other agencies.
Prabhupāda: Which process? Drug addiction has been helped by somebody?
Brahmānanda: No, the mayor's saying that the administration is not against supporting religious organizations.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Brahmānanda: He gives the example of one religious organization.
Mayor: All right.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is our request. Bring prasāda. If you have got any further enquiry, I can try to...
Mayor: No, I really don't think I do, and I think I'd like to learn more about your movement too. But I have enjoyed having to talk and listen to you and I appreciate it.
Prabhupāda: No, put it here. He'll take. Take this prasāda. They are all fruits, innocent. In your country you have got so many nice fruits.
Mayor: Yes, we do.
Prabhupāda: Yes. And grains and milk. So much nice things. You can avoid meat-eating very easily, as they have given up.
Mayor: It looks very good, but I (indistinct) with a knife. (laughter)
Viṣṇujana: Someone is bringing a fork. Prabhupāda, perhaps we could provide him with some of our literature and that will inform him more about our movement.
Prabhupāda: Yes, give him.
Mayor: All right, thank you.
Prabhupāda: So, Jagadīśa, you give whatever... You take his... Give him some fork.
Mayor: I had some cake over at the temple on Emerson Street, so I'm being well-fed this morning. (break)
Viṣṇujana: ...park areas where a lot of young people go for their summertime. And we'll be putting on our program right there in the park. We'll be chanting with our simple instruments. We'll want to serve some simple vegetarian, like a drink and some fruit, and discuss this philosophy amongst young people. We find that very successful all over the colleges in the country. And we think that around the Great Lakes here it will be very successful.
Mayor: Well, I think I probably should be getting on. Well, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me this morning.
Prabhupāda: And I also thank you for your kindly coming here, taking...
Mayor: It's an honor to meet you.
Prabhupāda: So you can keep his card. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. (break)
Śrī Govinda: ...to your wife.
Mayor: My wife may take it away from me. (laughter)
Prabhupāda: So you can take another for your wife.
Mayor: No, this is fine. Thank you very much. We'll see you all.
Prabhupāda: So you can take another for your wife.
Mayor: No, this is fine. Thank you very much. We'll see you all.
Prabhupāda: (laughing) Hare Kṛṣṇa. (mayor leaves) Now, try to get this house from the... He can... If he likes, he can do it.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. They're in a position. They have many such buildings, Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: If not this building, they could give an alternate building.
Prabhupāda: Yes. But this is very good building. We can keep five hundred men.
Prabhupāda: Yes, yesterday the mayor of this place came. Here is a house vacant. So if we get this house, then we can begin in a mass scale. The America is not poor. So at least on experimental stage the government or the municipality can give us this house and arrange for some prasādam. Simple prasāda we give, not costly. We don't use meat or anything.
Lt. Mozee: Yes, sir.
Prabhupāda: Vegetable, grains, that's all. But something must be given. This is our program. So I saw yesterday the mayor. He came also very kindly. And you have come. So you consult yourself. This place or any place, give us some facility and see the result.
Prabhupāda: ...mayor and the police officers, through them, try to approach higher authorities. And what is that? We met yesterday?
Harikesa: The public relations?
Prabhupāda: Ah, public relation. So convince them to..., the Americans should take this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement on the shoulder, and because the Americans are blind, we shall give them direction on the shoulder, "Go this way. Go this way." So blind and the lame man combined together will perform a great task. (break) ...blindly, simply accumulating money, but they do not know how to utilize the money. They should take direction, authorized direction from us, and then it will be very nice. (break) ...not these concocted "isms." This "ism," that "ism," that "ism." Because it is, andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ. These all rascals are blind. They do not know how to direct. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā (SB 7.5.31). They are trying to adjust the world affairs blindly. They do not know.
Brahmānanda: ...heard one report that the mayor of this city, he prevented a race riot. He personally prevented there being a race riot. Recently one white man killed a black man. So the blacks then were attacking his shop, and the mayor personally came and subdued the crowd. He was able to prevent the riot.
Prabhupāda: Recently?
Brahmānanda: Yes. (break)
Ādi-keśava: ...see that in those deer up there, that the one with antlers, the horn coming out of his head, he is the male. He thinks he is in charge of all of the females. He will fight anyone who comes after them, any other deer who comes after them. And he thinks, "I am so strong. I am so brave." He tries to protect them all and chase them away. That one in the center there.
Devotee (1): It looks like they've all assembled to see you.
Prabhupāda: There's a big. (break)
Kartikeya: Government side. There is no mayor in Ahmedabad now.
Prabhupāda: Oh. Why?
Kartikeya: There is some difficulty, so they have abolished the post for the moment.
Prabhupāda: No post is required.
Kartikeya: Only for applying the people.
Prabhupāda: Simply it is prize post. Nobody does anything. Simply they draw salary. All these ministers, they do nothing. Just like Indira Gandhi is supposed to be very big plan-maker. So what she has done for the people? Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. (Hindi)
Harikeśa: Whenever we have to go to a government office, there are six men sitting, and only one is doing work, and all are getting salaries.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: The government cannot manage?
Ambarīṣa: No. The mayor is black. The police they cannot do anything.
Devotee (4): The police force is also becoming black. He's putting black men in charge of every department of the city, and they're mismanaging everything.
Prabhupāda: There is possibility of another civil war?
Ambarīṣa: Yes. Possibly some sort of a race war or something. In Boston, they have a lot of trouble because of this bussing. They bus the black children into the white neighborhoods to go to school to achieve equal education, and the white communities do not like this. In Boston there has been a lot of violence between the black people and the white people. Very much hatred, very much hate each other.
Prabhupāda: Between the cracks in the stone. (break) (in car)
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: When Balavanta was running for mayor of Atlanta he met him, so there's a good chance that if he gets elected to be President then that's easy opportunity to see the President.
Prabhupāda: What we'll do, seeing him?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, right.
Hari-śauri: At least, though, if he's favorable, if he likes us a little, it may give us, ah...
Prabhupāda: Yes. (break)
Prabhupāda: So why not ask the mayor to construct a temple there? (laughter)
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I don't think they'd...
Prabhupāda: People will come.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Maybe, but, ah, I don't think they will agree to that. They're not that spiritual.
Rāmeśvara: No, in America you have to raise your own money for temples. You cannot get the city to build it.
Devotee: After you spoke with the mayor in Geneva, Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was worried about the economy of the country, when you explained if we cultivated grains there will be no problem.
Yogeśvara: "If people become devotees of Kṛṣṇa, then who will work?"
Prabhupāda: What was answer?
Hari-śauri: What answer did you give?
Yogeśvara: Do you remember the answer Śrīla Prabhupāda gave?
Devotee: Prabhupāda said we work for cultivating grains. All living entities to live together peacefully. (projector goes off)
Prabhupāda: Very good.
Bhagavān: You have done something very extraordinary.
Prabhupāda: Therefore I was explaining our ecstasy. (laughter) Who will feel that ecstasy? That is not possible. They can lecture only. No ecstasy. Here is ecstasy, that is the difference. Ecstasy means immediately on the spiritual platform. (end)
Paramahaṁsa: This is from the Mayor of San Francisco proclaiming that Ratha-yātrā is a public holiday.
Krishna Modi: In America.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Paramahaṁsa: Yes, fifty thousand people come every year.
Prabhupāda: And this time, New York, the government, the police, they appreciated that this kind of dancing, it is not artificial. So here is life. They appreciated. What the American boys have got to dance for Kṛṣṇa unless it is from the heart? They are not dancing dogs that I have trained them and they are dancing. So there are so many things to be done in India but I am, without getting any cooperation, I am getting opposition.
Jagadīśa: I think so. Balavanta... There was one man, a black man who was running for mayor at the same time that Balavanta was, for Atlanta. And that black man dropped out of the race and supported Balavanta.
Prabhupāda: He's a black man.
Jagadīśa: Yes. Then, later on, that man he was appointed Lieutenant Governor under Carter. So Carter and this man are close, and through this man Carter knows about Balavanta and the movement.
Prabhupāda: You have written one letter?
Jagadīśa: Yes.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Girirāja: Actually she is... Now the mayor, the mayor is scheduled for tomorrow, but he had agreed without checking his diary, and he has to come earlier, so what my idea is that he wants to come at five o'clock.
Prabhupāda: So where he will be best.
Girirāja: Yes. So what I was thinking is that he could stop here for a few minutes and meet you. Actually his term expires on March 31st.
Prabhupāda: When the chief minister or something like that?
Girirāja: Chief minister is coming on Tuesday, on Rāma-navamī.
Prabhupāda: But I am going to Juhu on Monday, is it not?
Girirāja: Well, see he's coming because he is a leader in the municipal corporation, and tomorrow they are electing the new mayor. So I was thinking that probably on the way to the airport in the evening we could invite him to stop here.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Girirāja: Otherwise, he is coming back on the 8th to spend about a week here.
Prabhupāda: Oh.
Girirāja: But he is very enthusiastic.
Prabhupāda: Very good. He is a good boy.
Girirāja: At Mr. Rajda's office the ex-mayor was there. One of the ex-mayors of Bombay was there. He was the chief guest here on Vyāsa-pūjā day two years ago. So he had recently visited our New York center, and he liked it very much, New York and Washington, D.C.
Prabhupāda: He's impressed. He told Mr. Rajda? He informed Mr. Rajda?
Girirāja: Um, not... No, he didn't, not when I was there. But I am sure they had talked. I mean, people are very aware of our movement, at least superficially, that we are building something, we're doing some... One weekly newspaper editor...
Bhakti-caitanya: That Mr. Raj Kumar Gupta. He is the right man in the ministry now. That Kedaranath Swami, the mayor of Delhi, he always... He is a fast friend. So if we have influential man... Now he has shifted his office from Chandigarh to Delhi, so I have to get the all ordination for Chandigarh from him, through him. So if he will introduce me to his friends in Delhi, and Delhi people mind if I will take our money to Chandigarh, so what I was wondering is collect the money from Delhi from all over, put in Delhi and Chandigarh together, all the north India.
Trivikrama: There will be no shortage of money. There's so much... Just yesterday a man gave five thousand rupees. And he wasn't even a big man. Small man. Big man, we can get. There's so many.
Bhakti-caitanya: (laughs) Yes, practically because we have no small big man.
Prabhupāda: So it is very good premise. So why Gopāla should be sorry that "I go"? Is there any reason?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This man is the biggest businessman in Lautoka, Fiji, and his brother is the mayor. And he became initiated disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda's, and personally he has organized a society there, collected all the funds and built a beautiful temple with Kṛṣṇa-Kāliya Deity.
Mr. Myer: That is where Yaśodā-nandana Mahārāja is going for the opening.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah.
Mr. Myer: Fiji, yes. Very nice.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very businesslike, how he sent this account sheet and everything.
Mr. Myer: Beautiful, so beautiful, so exact, not...
Prabhupāda: No, they know business.
Prabhupāda: They are approaching municipal libraries?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah. " 'But for all libraries of the world, wherever people have a sincere interest to go into the depths of Vedic philosophy.' Signed Murali S. Deora, Mayor of Bombay."
Prabhupāda: Very good.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Next, from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay. This is from Dr. Ram Kanstanari(?) Chairman of the Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. " 'Sir: I am pleased to make the following comments concerning your beautiful and learned publications, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta of Gosvāmī Kṛṣṇa Kavirāja and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, both written by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. I feel that these works are the result of Swami Prabhupāda's extraordinary commitment to the bhakti cult in the Indian tradition.
Prabhupāda: No. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavat... Any devotee can become. That letter, mayor's letter also, it carries weight. What is his name?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Ganatra? That telegram he sent?
Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. And the Statesman report, it is very very...
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very encouraging. This Haridāsa is transformed. You said that it was due to the mercy of a Vaiṣṇava, Girirāja.
Prabhupāda: Hm, yes.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Remember how you said that?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. (Hindi) And the mayor, ex-mayor, has given telegram. Where is that telegram? This is a telegram... It says, "Pray God, Kṛṣṇa, to give you long life to spread Indian culture in every nook and corner of the universe. Signed Raji K. Ganatra, ex-mayor of Bombay." He's very convinced, Śrīla Prabhupāda, about Your Divine Grace and this movement, because he traveled around the world and stayed as a guest at our temples, and he was amazed to see how this Indian culture had actually been transplanted and taken root in all of these countries all over the world. He could not believe it. He was so amazed and impressed. He said that he's seen genuinely that this Indian culture has been taken up in true spirit.
Hari-prasāda: This is the first movement that has started (indistinct).
Prabhupāda: Hm?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We haven't heard anything in the last two or three months, Śrīla Prabhupāda. This telegram came from the former mayor-Ganatra? Rajiv Ganatra? He wrote, "Pray God to give you long life to spread Indian culture in every nook and corner of the universe."
Rāma-Kṛṣṇa: That is the feeling of all, everybody.
Śrī Nārāyaṇa: (Hindi)
Prabhupāda: That is Bhagavān, Kṛṣṇa. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyate (Hindi) Para-upakāra. This is the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, para-upakāra. Especially those who have taken birth in India...
Correspondence
1947 to 1965 Correspondence
As desired by you I have, immediately on receipt of your letter, sent two letters by air mail to the two respective Mayors of your country. The copy of the letter is also enclosed herewith as you desired me to do.
While I am feeling too much ecstasy for the reception arrangement you are doing for me, I beg to inform you that my passage expenses which is near about Rs 3500/- not yet settled.
The hope and expectation of the Congress is undoubtedly very great and I wish that I may fully utilize this opportunity for general welfare of the entire human society. I have fully explained my views authoritatively in my statements already sent to you for publication and the gist idea is expressed in the letter of the Mayors the copy of which is also enclosed.
As a Sannyasi I have no personal purse for expenditure. Under the circumstances if the Government denies to help for the passage then I will have to ask for the same from you otherwise my going to the congress will end in dream only. I have very little faith in the dealings of the politicians and specially of the Indian politicians.
1967 Correspondence
The letter of appreciation by the Mayor (which Garga Muni used for the Cart license) or any other things that are used for our propaganda. I require this immediately for presenting to the Naturalization and Immigration office here where I have to be present on the 2nd March 1967.
After this I shall be free for three weeks and if required I can have a trip for New York which I have already informed you in my letter of yesterday. I hope you will receive this letter on Monday next and if you post the above articles immediately by air mail special delivery, I must get them latest the 1st of March and for which I shall thank you very much.
I am starting on Wednesday morning (Dec. 13) reaching Tokyo the same day. I shall rest there for 24 hours and then start for San Francisco arriving at 12:45 p.m. on Dec. 14 by flight PAA 846. I have got one general introduction letter from the mayor of Calcutta and it may be that I shall be meeting important people there.
You will be glad to know that I have arranged with Messrs. Dwarkin & Son, 8/2 Esplanade East, Calcutta-1, to supply all kinds of musical instruments to our society at a special discount of 20%. Ramanuja has already written you about this thing. There is one company, the "American Mail Line" Navigation Service from Calcutta to San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.
1968 Correspondence
I shall request you in this connection to secure a copy of "Illustrated Weekly of the Times of India", published on January 21, 1968, and see on page 38 how our movement is going on. Many papers in this country also, especially LIFE Magazine, Times of India, San Francisco Chronicle, and many other minor papers have printed articles about our movement. Many mayors of great cities, police officials, have also appreciated our movement. The late Ambassador of India, now Governor of Assam, Sri B.K. Nehru, has also great appreciation for these activities.
I understand you are going to apply for legal recognition of Krishna Consciousness as a bona fide religious organization, and try to obtain a tax franchise also. They have done this in London also, using the same preamble has been registered as we have done in New York, so you can do the same in Hamburg. And I am sending two separate letters, one to the Mayor of Hamburg, and the other to the chief of the police at Hamburg, as drafted by Sivananda Brahmacari.
1970 Correspondence
I think that you may distribute copies to all centers of the letter from the Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, endorsing our S.K.P. program and giving us official permission.
I am interested to know how much you have recently deposited in the Bhaktivedanta Book Fund Deposit Account. Please continue to earn thousands of dollars for printing of my books and this will be a great honor for you.
1971 Correspondence
Sada Jiwat Lal saw me the other day and he said that on some nominal condition of say Rs 1/- per year, they will give the dharmasala for a Radha Krishna temple. Hansaraj Gupta, the mayor of Delhi, is friendly and he can help also, so take this dharmasala and open a center there.
Also I heard that Dalmia is willing to give us his place in Vrindaban. Take it. Recently I have asked Karandhara to send another 50 to 60 men here, under the leadership of Dayananda. So we want to keep at least 100 men here in India for preaching. The people are appreciating our movement, so there is great potential.
From L.A. I went to San Francisco yesterday and the Rathayatra festival was very very gorgeously performed. There were three Rathas consecutively and Lord Jagannatha's Ratha was bigger than the other two. People received us so nicely and one mayor was the chief guest in the meeting in which more than 10,000 people assembled and the mayor spoke very highly of our movement. She is very much impressed with the basic principle of our Back to Godhead movement. In this way we are getting support gradually in the U.S.A. Maybe our movement will be supported in the future in the United Nations. So we Krishna Consciousness people have accepted a very important and responsible task in the whole world, therefore our principle work also must be very responsible.
There were three Rathas and Lord Jagannatha's Ratha was bigger than the other two. People received us so nicely and one mayor was the chief guest in the meeting in which more than 10,000 gathered and the mayor spoke very highly of our movement. She is very much impressed with the basic principle of our back to Godhead movement. In this way we are getting support gradually in the U.S.A. Maybe our movement will be supported in the future by United Nations. So we Krishna Consciousness people have accepted a very important and responsible task in the whole world. Therefore our principle work must also be very serious and responsible.
There were three Rathas consecutively and Lord Jagannatha's Ratha was bigger than the other two. People received us so nicely and one mayor was the chief guest in the meeting in which more than 10,000 people assembled and the mayor spoke very highly of our movement. She is very much impressed with the basic principle of our Back to Godhead movement. In this way we are getting support gradually in the U.S.A. Maybe our movement will be supported in the future by the United Nations. So we Krishna Consciousness people have accepted a very important and responsible task in the whole world, therefore, our principal work also must be very responsible.
I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 2nd September, 1971 and have noted the contents. Also I have received the three checks enclosed for $15.00, $12.50 and $10.76 respectively and I thank you very much for the same. Also I have seen the clipping of Visnujana Maharaja speaking with the mayor. It appears that he is doing very nicely there, preaching in Austin. Please offer him my blessings.
I can see also that you are a very sincere and enthusiastic boy and are anxious for spreading this movement. Those are first class qualifications for making advancement in Krishna Consciousness. So continue enthusiastically as you are doing and Krishna will surely bless you.
Yes, take the recommendation of the Mayor, J. Dalmia and others. That will be a very great help. Make a copy of the letter to show to individuals that our service is approved by the government and the mayor also. That will be most beneficial.
President Giri must be chief guest (preside) one day at least. If Giri can attend one day then why not Indira Gandhi? If Indira Gandhi says that she cannot attend such a function then how the president will attend? Is there any difference between the president and the prime minister? There is no need to invite Dr. Radhakrishnan. He is a retired man.
We shall return to Delhi tomorrow by coach. The officials and residents of Vrindaban have greeted us very nicely, and they are simply astounded to see our SKP chanting with great jubilation through the city streets. The Mayor has publicly proclaimed that I have done something wonderful, and practically speaking, they realize that before I went to the western countries no one there knew about Vrindaban. Now hundreds of visitors and hippies from your country come here to see Krishna's place. The Vrindaban devotees have understood that Vrindaban is now world-famous due to my preaching work, so they are all very much appreciating their hometown Swamiji.
So if you are determined in this way to expand the Atlanta Temple, then you can try for it by begging for the protection of Krishna. Consult Satsvarupa your GBC man in this regard.
Yes, it is a very good proposal that you should run for Mayor in Atlanta. I very much approve of this plan. We should always set the perfect example of Krishna Conscious person in all fields of activities, why not in politics?
Kirtana is our life & soul, so we must be very concerned to have it no matter where we are and no matter what circumstances are there.
So far that land, the Mayor has promised, so you both also try for it & let me know what is their program. That P. Saraf who also lives in Vrindaban ___ can be given. I've already instructed Gargamuni & Subala in this matter, so you see them & help try to secure some land.
Lalita Prasad says that I have ordered 20 sets of deities, but I wanted him to show me & he didn't show me. So I did not order. Do not confirm this order.
So as soon as possible you can immediately come to Bombay. I am very eager to see you and when you come I shall give you the second initiation.
In Delhi our program was very successful and at least 25,000 people attended each evening. The Governor, the Mayor, the Canadian High Commissioner and many other important persons were amongst our chief guests. And at the end of the program the Government has agreed to give us free land in Delhi on the Yamuna Rive bank for constructing a Temple. Then after the Delhi program our whole party went to Vrindaban for seeing all the important places.
1972 Correspondence
Yes, take the Doc Bungalow property. As soon as you get it we will begin construction immediately. We should prefer to construct our institution by Mayor's gift land. So work very fervently to get it. I think you are very expert. But if you need someone to help you I can send someone. But I think you are very strong.
That is the method recommended by my Guru Maharaja—now you are practically demonstrating this fact with good results. So go on like this, you have all of Krishna's blessings.
It is very nice that even the Mayor was convinced by you to buy our Krsna Book. That is a very good sign. Yes, you may name your naughty boy Radha-Damodara because He is always being tied-up with ropes.
I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of January 25, 1972, and I have no objection if the date for celebration of Lord Caitanya's Appearance Day be moved up to April 15. The program sounds very transcendentally satisfactory, and if I am in USA by that time I shall certainly come to see it. I am very pleased that you are running for Mayor of such important city as Atlanta. Now you present to the populace the perfect example of Krishna Conscious person, and always be very clean and neat. You may present the simple program to the citizens for becoming purified and regaining their lost happiness by meeting together frequently to chant Hare Krishna, that's all. We have no complicated political platform.
So we shall be here until 6th May, then we are going to Honolulu until 20th May, then to Los Angeles. I have heard that the meeting in Atlanta was a very great success, and that many people attended, but I have not heard from you the details, and also how your political campaign as mayor of Atlanta is running.
1974 Correspondence
"Select Real Leaders—Don't Spoil Life", and it will depict devotees as leaders, illustrating that real leaders have to be free of meat-eating and animal slaughter, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling. This poster is being prepared in L.A. and I want it distributed all over the world, and you can use it widely in your campaign for Mayor of Washington D.C.
1975 Correspondence
So after making all these arrangements I shall have to go to go to Philadelphia where I shall attend the Ratha Yatra ceremony, and then I shall go to San Francisco where as usual our Ratha Yatra will take place for the seventh year. The Mayor of the city of San Francisco has declared two days local holiday for this particular ceremony. This will take place on the 20th of July. If you could have found the time to come to Hawaii, I thought I would take you with me to all these places and surely you would appreciate my humble attempts. I thank you very much for your appreciation, "A wonderful job in this country."
Your donation to this movement and your becoming the Patron Member is a very great thing, and it will ensure others who will also follow in your footsteps. So I am very much grateful to you.
Please visit our Hare Krishna Land Juhu for Janmastami and Vyasa Puja Day on the 30th instant. I think the Mayor of Bombay will preside over the meeting.
Krsna will be pleased with you. You are a sincere student from the very beginning of your spiritual life and I wish that you may advance more and more.
The clippings for Nalini Kanta who is running for the mayor of Phoenix is a good advertisement and we are getting good publicity. But be careful not that he may be implicated too much. There is a proverb which states that one should pick up the fish without touching the water. I think you can understand me on this matter.
1976 Correspondence
I am in due receipt of your letter dated 22/11/76.
Yes, I accept your invitation to attend your Hare Krishna festival. I can come for either date, so you can arrange according to the convenience of the Mayor.
That's very nice that we are now getting rear access to our land. That means that more visitors will come.
| Page Title: | Mayor |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 12 of Dec, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=4, Con=42, Let=26 |
| No. of Quotes: | 72 |