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Price (Conversations 1976 - 1977)

Conversations and Morning Walks

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 3, 1976, Nellore:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He says that he finds it very.... From reading your books it is very clear that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very careful and strict to only eat prasādam cooked by proper persons.

Prabhupāda: No, purchase from Jagannātha temple. People would come to offer Him prasādam, so what is the cost of the prasādam, that was taken, and He purchased. Formerly, the system was, there was no hotel, but there were temples. You go and you can purchase very cheap price. I went with my father in my childhood in a place. My father would never take food at anyone's house or in the hotel. He will find out some temple and pay them and take prasādam. Still there are many temples. So I was about ten years old at that time, say, seventy years ago. So he paid two annas to the pūjārī and he gave us so much. It can be eaten by five, six men. Kicheri, vegetables, varieties. So much. Two annas.

Morning Walk -- January 16, 1976, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: They'll never give us.

Jayapatāka: They're willing to give; they just want a higher price.

Prabhupāda: What is the use?

Jayapatāka: (break) He wants six thousand rupees. (Prabhupāda laughs) He has got three and a half bigas, about twenty thousand rupees...

Prabhupāda: We don't want it. (break)

Jayapatāka: This is about four feet. It used to be ten feet high. This used to be ten feet high. (break) ...the top during the monsoon. But according to the Ganges level the water is going up and down.

Prabhupāda: Now what is the depth?

Jayapatāka: It's about twelve feet now.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. (break) This is not our land?

Morning Walk -- January 17, 1976, Mayapur:

Bhavānanda: (break) Yes. (Break) ...went to Krishnanagar yesterday and he's found bricks, so we can begin...

Prabhupāda: Immediately.

Jayapatāka: He can supply two and half lakhs of bricks within one month.

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Jayapatāka: We should give the... We have two life members there. I've done this before. Give the price for one lakh of bricks in advance and we get twenty rupees off. That way they'll give you the full supply. So in one month we can get all the bricks.

Prabhupāda: So why they want advance?

Jayapatāka: Because then they get the twenty rupees off.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Per thousand?

Jayapatāka: They want advance because they have so many expenses for labors and they just started producing. It's helps them.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Twenty rupees per thousand?

Jayapatāka: That means over two and a half thousand you save five thousand rupees.

Prabhupāda: So we have to advance two and a half thousand?

Jayapatāka: No. We have to advance about thirty thousand.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: To save five thousand you have to advance thirty thousand.

Jayapatāka: You get all the supply within one month.

Prabhupāda: No, no. Then they have no money. They want to manufacture with our money. Is that?

Morning Walk -- January 17, 1976, Mayapur:

Jayapatāka: You get all the supply within one month.

Prabhupāda: No, no. Then they have no money. They want to manufacture with our money. Is that?

Jayapatāka: Well, then they'll supply at full price.

Prabhupāda: But if they cannot supply, why shall I give advance? You take... You give us supply and take money. (break) ...take. Advance you take. Whatever he will be able to supply, say, within a week, you take one-fourth advance. Then take payment immediately as you supply. (break) ...of this?

Bhavānanda: The... He works in the gośālā, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: So what he will do?

Bhavānanda: He's going to get it out of here today.

Jayapatāka: He... (break)

Prabhupāda: And engage it for Kṛṣṇa's service. If you are getting that for nothing, why not? (break) ...bhavan ke kana gulugar.(?)

Jayapatāka: Would you like to see the gośālā or the boat today, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Which side is boat? Straight?

Bhavānanda: Boat is at Hulor Ghat.

Prabhupāda: Boat is worth seeing. (laughter)

Morning Walk -- January 17, 1976, Mayapur:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That means that land should be very cheap.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He can sell very cheaply. It's very low land.

Prabhupāda: Now you should have sufficient experience. People may not cheat you-low land, high price.

Jayapatāka: I understand. I know those things. That's why... But he was just forcing his way in your room and then saying all those things. That's why when he came I said, "How many crops you took from your land?" I know all the history of these lands.

Prabhupāda: (Bengali) You cannot utilize it for different crops. Only one you can.

Jayapatāka: You can only use for, in the rainy season, for some type of rice and then now wheat-two crops.

Indian man (3): (Bengali)

Jayapatāka: Winter rice, he is saying, bula(?) rice.

Prabhupāda: Oh. (Bengali) Now, taking instruction from Mādhava Mahārāja, you should be careful about purchasing land. People are very cunning.

Morning Walk -- January 17, 1976, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: So many. So it is good land? No?

Jayapatāka: This is medium land. Across the road is considered good land. Our area here is considered good because of irrigation. This is medium. And the man wants to sell. But it doesn't go as far as our land. It only goes to this point. He's asking three thousand.

Prabhupāda: They are all expecting good price from us.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Before we came here...

Jayapatāka: Only in the back, still they are asking more reasonable: seventeen, sixteen, eighteen, four thousand.

Prabhupāda: Seventeen, sixteen?

Jayapatāka: They're asking in the back.

Prabhupāda: Seventeen hundred? That's all right.

Jayapatāka: We're buying those. So why they put the water here? To sabotage. There was no water when we came. Now they put more water here. Gosvāmī Mahārāja is taking water.

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Jayapatāka: They flooded.

Sudāmā: You cross here, Prabhupāda. (end)

Morning Walk -- January 19, 1976, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: Where is Tapomaya? (Bengali)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This is all our, for our sugarcane?

Tapomāyā: Another two.... (break)

Prabhupāda: So we shall pay reasonable price for all the lands.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I don't think the price will be more than eight hundred rupees.

Prabhupāda: Yes. They will take statistics for ten years and make an average. That is the way. (Bengali) (break) ...scheme requires very huge land. So if we purchase in that way they will go on charging more and more.

Indian man: Indira Gandhi.... They have now made a new one formula called "Twenty-point formula." And in that, one part is that any society, saṁsthā (indistinct), or individual, he can keep a land, twelve acres.

Prabhupāda: Society also?

Indian man: Anyone. But gives two crops, and which give up one crop, they can keep thirty acres. And more than that, the government will take every, and they will distribute to all the farmers.

Prabhupāda: Then?

Indian man: They are doing in Haryana and Punjab. They have taken all the land. And there are many big, big gurguras. They have a land hundred acres, fifty acres, something like that. So they have given them.

Prabhupāda: So without government award it will be risky. They can take away.

Room Conversation -- January 19, 1976, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: And these ingredients are supplied by Jagannātha's own field. They grow it, and they... So there is no difficulty. They grow and they sell. They get money so they can maintain the establishment. A long time. There are potters. Daily they will supply for each prasādam a new pot. It cannot be used again. So few people purchase with pot, original pot, and they have got a fixed price. This big pot, say, five rupees; this pot, two rupees; this pot, one rupee. So as you like, you can purchase. Very nice system.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You went there sometimes to take prasādam?

Prabhupāda: Yes, I became a guest. A gentleman was our tenant, and he gave me introduction letter to his brother-in-law. He was a pleader in Jagannātha Purī. So he received me very well. So he offered me a lunch, and I saw there was something, a small ball-like, in the pot, bowl. So I asked, "What is this?" He said, "It is meat." (laughs) He was eating meat, so he thought it is good reception, the guest is offered nice meat. So I said, "No, you... I never took meat. I never expected..." (break) Then "Never mind." Then I stopped eating there. At that time I was a boy. After appearing in my B.A. examination there was holiday, so I went to Jagannātha Purī in 1920 or something like that. So I was married in 1918. So some of the friends of my wife, they said that "Your husband now gone. He is not coming back." So after returning I understood she was crying. (laughs) So anyway, then I used to purchase prasādam in the market. They were bringing, and I was eating. I stayed for three, four days. That's all.

Morning Walk -- February 6, 1976, Mayapura:

Jagadīśa: (break) In Toronto, Śrīla Prabhupāda... When we purchased the new church in Toronto we sold all the church pews. And Billy Graham... Do you know who Billy Graham is? He's an Evangelist preacher in the United States. He sometimes went to that church to preach. So when we sold the pews we would tell people that "Billy Graham sat in this pew," and they would become excited to purchase.

Prabhupāda: So it was sold in good price?

Jagadīśa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) That's nice.

Hṛdayānanda: As you are always saying, Prabhupāda, these people are not becoming purified. This one man who Jagadīśa mentioned, he's the most famous Christian preacher practically in the Western world. Now he's becoming older, about sixty. Recently they asked him that "If you could live your life again, would you live the same life or a different life?" So he said, "I am very sorry because I spent too much of my time preaching. I should have spent more time with my family."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, he actually said that?

Hṛdayānanda: Yes. At the end of life this is his...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He's the foremost Christian preacher in the world right now, Prabhupāda.

Hṛdayānanda: He said, "I accepted too many invitations to go preach. I should have spent time with my family."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That will make him more popular, and they'll say he's more religious.

Hṛdayānanda: (break) ...already left to preach.

Prabhupāda: Oh, that's nice. (break) Eh? Dhunvanti, aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ.(?) This is Kṛṣṇa. In one second He can make it purified. Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ (BG 18.66). Simply surrender.

Morning Walk -- February 21, 1976, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Now you can give still cheaper, when you print here.

Acyutānanda: Yes, that is what we were wondering.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Acyutānanda: If we have...

Prabhupāda: What price you are selling?

Yaśodānandana: Twelve rupees.

Acyutānanda: Twelve rupees.

Prabhupāda: Twelve rupees. So you can sell, ten rupees, eight rupees.

Acyutānanda: Now the one, when...

Prabhupāda: Still, you keep profit, two, three rupees.

Yaśodānandana: Oh, yes, always. We always make sure of that.

Acyutānanda: When the Teachings of Lord Caitanya, small size, came, something happened, but it cost us from the BBT... How much does the Teachings of Lord Caitanya cost us?

Yaśodānandana: That's very expensive.

Acyutānanda: It's very expensive.

Yaśodānandana: That's about twenty-two rupees that we have to pay, and we cannot resell it for twenty-eight rupees.

Prabhupāda: No, no, no...

Acyutānanda: Twenty-two rupees, we shall pay.

Prabhupāda: We shall print. It will cost not more than ten to twelve rupees.

Room Conversation -- April 20, 1976, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Otherwise you'll not read it. If I give you free, then you'll think, "Ah, this is something nonsense. They are giving free."

Carol Jarvis: Not necessarily give them free, but perhaps sell them for a price that pays for the cost of producing them.

Prabhupāda: So when they pay for it.... When they pay for it, they will try to see "What these books are saying? Let me see." And if you get free, then you may keep it in your rack for hundreds of years. So that is not the.... But after all, we have to print these books, so who will pay for that? We have no money.

Carol Jarvis: Well, what happens to the rest of the money, though, that is collected in the streets?

Prabhupāda: We are increasing our movement. We are opening centers. We are printing more books. This is my books. I have made a Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. That is my will, and I have given my will that fifty percent of the collection should be spent for reprinting the books and fifty percent should be spent for spreading the movement. So there is no question of material profit.

Morning Walk -- April 26, 1976, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: That is spiritual. (break) ...Gosvāmī's śloka. Kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ krīyatāṁ yadi kuto 'pi labhyate: "The anxiety for Kṛṣṇa, if it can be purchased, immediately purchase it." Rūpa Gosvāmī said. Kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ krīyatām: "Just purchase Kṛṣṇa anxiety if it is available somewhere." So the next question will be that "What is the price?" Tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalam: "That anxiety can be purchased by anxiety." "So I'll do it." No. Janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate: "That anxiety is not available even by millions of births' pious activities." So this anxiety is not so easy.

Devotee (1): So if we're performing the Deity worship and we get in anxiety, how to make it nice...

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is Kṛṣṇa anxiety. That is Kṛṣṇa anxiety. If you become anxious how to worship Deity, how to dress Kṛṣṇa nicely, how to do, if you remain, that will develop your anxiety for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Deity worship essential. Exactly in time to get up, to offer maṅgala-ārati, to dress, this anxiety is the beginning of Kṛṣṇa anxiety. Then, when you become perfect, you'll always be anxious for Kṛṣṇa. And that is perfectional stage. Therefore, by the injunction of the śāstra, regulative, it is a way of creating that anxiety. So we must follow. Then we'll come to the real anxiety.

Room Conversation -- May 7, 1976, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: First business, how to get our books. (indistinct) For Russia export from India will be favorable. So government paper we are printing seven, eight rupees price. Make that addition, all the books. Ask them to take paper from the government, huge quantity, and all these books should be published immediately, 5,000 books.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: 5,000 copies each.

Prabhupāda: Yes, if possible, minimum 1,000.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Last time we were speaking, I was mentioning to you that in Russia they are particularly inclined towards an exchange program of books, where we give our books and they will give some useless books.

Prabhupāda: (indistinct), why should we do this?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You mentioned last time you will throw them away.

Prabhupāda: For us there is no readable books in the whole world.

Room Conversation -- May 7, 1976, Honolulu:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We can sell, there is some set resale value. Then we can realize some money.

Prabhupāda: Yes, then it is alright.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They'll have value. There will be some money. We can request them to send some samples of the books that they will return to us. Then we can...

Prabhupāda: Find out cost. Some shopkeepers, stores. Some return. If we can get our cost price of the books.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We should get cost price.

Prabhupāda: Not should, but must as far as possible.

Guru-kṛpā: I've heard that in Russia the people are so eager to read imported literature that any literature appears they immediately buy it.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Morning Walk -- May 26, 1976, Honolulu:

Devotee (5): They limit the supply so they can sell things for higher prices.

Prabhupāda: No, here the American policy, the Western policy, that if the people get easily food, they'll not come to work in the industry. That is their policy. If they get cheap food, then they won't work. That is human nature.

Devotee (5): That is very interesting.

Prabhupāda: Ha?

Devotee (5): That's very interesting.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So they want to keep them starving or in want, so they'll come and produce and make the capitalists rich. This is the system. (break) ...idea, but...

Devotee (5): It's (indistinct).

Prabhupāda: I think in here, in Hawaii, they set fire to the huts. Poor beggars, they are living in cottages, the government set fire so that they may be without home and come to work. Do you know that? Yes? You know that?

Devotee (5): No.

Morning Walk -- May 31, 1976, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: They will try to make adjustments with material nature, everything will be failure. ...hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā. They'll never be able to adjust. Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30), chewing the chewed. That's all. (break) ...adjustment to lie down in the skyscraper, and now they are coming. Why they have come to the ground? Punaḥ punaś carvita. Sometimes on the ground, sometimes the sky. (break) They reject the stool and urine and then accept it. They do like that. (laughing) (break) It is rejected. It cannot be utilized. In India still the system is they use metal; when it is broken you can sell it. They take half price and supply new.... They use metal pots, and the (inaudible) is that when it is broken and old we can exchange with new plates. And this kind of bowls you have to throw away. You cannot utilize.

Devotee (3): So they break very easily?

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Devotee (3): These plates, the silverware and things that people use?

Prabhupāda: No, whatever (unclear). Silver is not half price. Silver, little less than new one. They purchase one rupee less. It was 200 rupees new, and the purchaser will take 190 (unclear) ...India they use (unclear). Bell metal, copper...

Morning Walk -- June 4, 1976, Los Angeles:

Rāmeśvara: The actual project, without considering how much the devotees live on, forty thousand dollars.

Prabhupāda: Never mind.

Rāmeśvara: That's the budget for the project, not counting the devotee maintenance.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: More than that.

Prabhupāda: Never mind. You can you can raise that four times price.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So we don't mind the cost?

Prabhupāda: No.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And the BBT is paying part of the...

Prabhupāda: And at least, by tickets, people will pay ten dollars.

Rāmeśvara: Yes, that's Bharadvāja's idea, to tickets.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. Otherwise, how we will raise the money? Book Fund cannot give.

Room Conversation -- June 9, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: (still laughing) One may try to leave Him, but He is not going to leave you. Once come, "No sir, you cannot go out." Just like our Ajāmila. He was devotee in the beginning, and later on, by bad association of prostitute, he fell, but Kṛṣṇa took him at the end. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt. Kṛṣṇa gave him chance to give him a son. He kept the son's name Nārāyaṇa. So on account of affection of the son, he was chanting, "Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa." Just Kṛṣṇa is so kind that (laughs) "All right, this rascal is going out of My hand. All right, give him a child, Nārāyaṇa. He will chant, 'Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa,' and that will be his credit." Ajñāta-sukṛti. Janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate. Sukṛti, pious activities, of many millions of birth is not equal to love of Godhead. Janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate. Tatra laulyam ekalaṁ mūlyaṁ krīyatāṁ yadi kuto 'pi labhyate. Kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā-matiḥ krīyatāṁ yadi kuto 'pi labhyate: "Purchase Kṛṣṇa consciousness anywhere it is available." What is the price? Tatra laulyam ekalaṁ mūlyam: "Only greediness, hankering. That is the price." "Oh, that I have got." "No, no. Janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate. You cannot obtain this price even after millions of births' pious activities." All right.

Devotees: Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Jaya, Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)

Garden Conversation -- June 10, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: In 1942 I have seen when war was going on, so, these Britishers wanted soldiers, so they created artificial famine. The people became in need of money, so they enrolled them as soldiers. I have seen it. There was no other way to get money to get commodities at higher price. Artificial famine. There was no food grains available, but black market it is available. Black market means more price, but they had no money. So to get this money, they enrolled as soldiers. This was Mr. Churchill's policy.

Rādhāvallabha: That's going on now in America. Previously they had to force men to join the Army because they had such a shortage. Now, because there are so few jobs, it is harder to get into the Army. Even volunteers, there are so many volunteers just to get a job that they have too many practically.

Prabhupāda: Even in Army there is no service? They don't want?

Rādhāvallabha: Now they want because they can't get a job.

Hṛdayānanda: More selective.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Room Conversation -- June 10, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Where is the editorial department?

Hṛdayānanda: Here. That's why I'm here. For Spanish and also Portuguese. I just received information that in Caracas they were selling every day one thousand Bhāgavatams.

Devotees: Wow!

Prabhupāda: What is the price?

Hṛdayānanda: Each book about two and a half dollars.

Prabhupāda: That means about three thousand dollars daily?

Rādhāvallabha: That's very big.

Hṛdayānanda: And they have been defeated by Mexico.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Mexico is selling more?

Hṛdayānanda: Yes. This month, last month in Mexico they sent in for a month, $23,000 for a month. Now the, all of South America combined this month has almost defeated Rādhā-Dāmodara. (Prabhupāda laughs) Almost on the same level now, South America.

Prabhupāda: This competition must go on. (laughter) That is.... (end)

Morning Walk -- June 13, 1976, Detroit:

Devotee (1): ...use this land here now for our vehicles. We want to purchase it.

Hari-śauri: That's all our vehicles?

Prabhupāda: What price they want?

Devotee (1): We haven't started negotiating yet.

Prabhupāda: But they are willing.

Devotee (1): They're willing, they want to sell.

Prabhupāda: Up to this?

Devotee (1): No, only up to that bridge. I can show you on the way back.

Ambarīṣa: We've got some pictures we can show you later.

Prabhupāda: (break) ...bicycle also?

Ambarīṣa: Made where?

Prabhupāda: Bicycle? Cycle?

Ambarīṣa: Do the car companies make bicycles?

Prabhupāda: No, some companies.

Garden Conversation -- June 14, 1976, Detroit:

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Just like the Kāliya serpent, poisoning the river. But you have come to dance on their heads, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Sometimes our boys, when they go into the city, they see the big buildings like the teeth of Aghāsura. But they say, "Śrīla Prabhupāda will protect us. We will go into the smelly city, we will distribute the books in the belly of the city, but Śrīla Prabhupāda will come and he will protect us." (Prabhupāda laughs)

Prabhupāda: What price they want for this island?

Mādhavānanda: Very large amount.

Rakṣaṇa: We can have a Māyāpur complex and a Detroit complex.

Mādhavānanda: I don't know exactly. (break)

Satsvarūpa: ...Sundays ago, one Indian man asked after the Sunday lecture why does Kṛṣṇa like a peacock feather, or why does Kṛṣṇa have a peacock feather? So Mādhavānanda answered, "Because He likes it." And the man said, "This is not an answer. There has to be some reason." So then I said, "You cannot question why Kṛṣṇa likes something. He's a person." But he wasn't satisfied.

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa is God; whatever He likes, you have to supply. That is God. Why He likes, we cannot question. That is not the business of the servant. So as servant we simply obey the orders. That's all. That is real servant. Is there any instance the servant is asking, "Why you are asking me to supply you this?" Therefore what would be the position of the servant? He would be dismissed. Bhṛtyaś cottara-dāyakaḥ. That is very dangerous.

Garden Conversation -- June 14, 1976, Detroit:

Hari-śauri: Oh, Śukadeva was saying in Hawaii. They bury the pig, and when it becomes completely rotten they dig it up and eat it.

Prabhupāda: So similarly, when the cow is dead, you dig, or put it within the.... Or take it. No, nobody will object. In India, that is the system. When the cow is dead, there is a class, they are called cobblers, camar(?). They are informed and they'll come. They'll take it. And they'll eat the flesh and take the skin, and tan it in their own method, and then prepare shoes. They sell it in the market. So without any price, they get the skin, they eat the flesh. So nobody is harmed. But there is a class.... (break) ...they are not going to starve. From economic point of view, it is very good. So why you are killing and maintaining so big, big slaughterhouse? Let everyone maintain the cows for taking milk. And when it dies, you take it, you meat-eaters. Make that arrangement.

Garden Conversation -- June 14, 1976, Detroit:

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: They have another trick. Now they make them very cheap so the cars will break down every year.

Prabhupāda: But if I don't want it, either cheap or dear, who cares for it? If I don't want that. There was a statement by some Pope that "If the crown of England is offered to me at very cheap price, so why shall I accept it? What shall I do with it?" That is the..., that if I don't want a car.... Suppose if we advance our farming program, who will want the car? Theoretically, accept it, that we shall remain in the farm. Then where is the necessity of car?

Mādhavānanda: Therefore the government will not like.

Prabhupāda: Yes. The government does not like it now because we are not going to eat meat, we are not accepting liquor, no gambling, no prostitution. So the government is already concerned. Theoretically, suppose these things are stopped, then where is the human civilization? Everything is finished. Because they have no other alternative. We have got—Kṛṣṇa consciousness—but they haven't got.

Room Conversation with Ambarisa and Catholic Priest -- June 14, 1976, Detroit:

Prabhupāda: So we thought that we shall use it as temple. That they disagreed. "No, you cannot keep it, you have to break it, then we can sell to you." Then why shall I break it? We shall pay for it and break it? No. Then the negotiation failed. But a huge land, and we are prepared to purchase. In England, in London, I was..., one, two churches I was negotiating, and one church, that man, he said, "I'll burn into ashes. I'll not sell it to Bhaktivedanta." (laughs) Recently we wanted to purchase in St. James Park one nice house. So they did not give us. They..., we offered better price; still they did not give us.

Stansky: Your Grace, the thing that impressed me the very most at the temple in Los Angeles.... Now you must bear in mind that I am very, very steeped in Catholicism, I'm very steeped in the New Testament. So when I observed what was happening at the temple in Los Angeles, I was seeing the Book of Acts coming to life. Something that died three hundred years ago in the Roman church. In 300 A.D. it died. Since then there's been no such example. And I was just amazed wandering around because there I saw the exact, the Book of Acts. And I was impressed.

Indian girl: (Hindi)

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Devotees: Jaya, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Room Conversation -- June 17, 1976, Toronto:

Hari-śauri: Nothing. It's just imaginary wealth.

Prabhupāda: That's it. Bank will give you loan, they are eager to give you loan, and you haven't got to pay anything in gold and silver. One check, that's all. And with that check you can purchase lots of commodities and hoard it, and price will be increased. If I have to pay gold for (indistinct), then I have limited source. The price will not increase. This is the only way. Introduce gold only, gold and silver. In the British period in our childhood there was practically no notes. Silver. If I have to take payment from you, one thousand rupees, you will give me so much silver. For counting, counting, I have to see whether it is.... There were some imitation, counterfeit. So each coin you have to see, they were saying like that, that, "For thousand rupees I have to occupy so much space."

Hari-śauri: And weighed so much.

Prabhupāda: Yes, and weight was so much. (pause) The time was not so bad. If you take some cash, thousand, two thousand rupees with you, you can safely walk on the street. Now if somebody knows that he has got thousand rupees cash with him, maybe he will be killed. The bank, they are so much afraid, they keep police in bank, police guard, always.

Room Conversation -- June 17, 1976, Toronto:

Hari-śauri: Yes, at that time, anything that was made in England automatically was considered first class.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes, any rascal thing. They made a good market. And British Empire means to sell their goods. And they, for that purpose, they became rich. Money was drawn from all parts, especially from India. Everything. Later on, gradually we came to understand. In Lucknow, because I was in medical business, so I saw one Japanese salesman was selling one medicine, one or two items, potassiodide. Do you know? No. Potassium iodide. And another, iodine. He was selling at four rupees, eight annas a pound. But we were accustomed to purchase English potassiodide and iodine, thirteen rupees a pound. That Howard's.... Very famous, Howard's chemicals, like that. They were selling. So I doubted that "How so much cheap this Japanese firm can supply?" And they used to advertise that all these Japanese goods are third class. Yes, "German goods are second class. Our goods, first class." So I inquired from the salesman, "How is it that you are supplying so cheap?" "They're supplying.... The price is the real price." "Now why they charge more?" "They purchase from us and pack and sell." There are many big chemical concerns in Germany. Germans are very good manufacturers, especially of chemicals, iron, machine. Still you find, all this Uher and, what is called, Gundsag?

Hari-śauri: Grundig.

Interview with Professors O'Connell, Motilal and Shivaram -- June 18, 1976, Toronto:

Guest (1): Swami, do you attach any significance to the fact that this temple is in a form of a Christian church?

Prabhupāda: There are many Christian church we have converted temple. They sell for want of customer. And we purchase, we increase customers. But customer of the same place. That is the beauty. These customers, they are not brought from India. But formerly they were not coming here, now they are coming in crowd. In Los Angeles we purchased.... You have been in Los Angeles? Now we have got a regular colony. About one dozen big, big houses. So that was a church. Nobody was coming, they sold it to us. Now it is always crowded. This church, they were not going to sell us. But (laughs) under circumstances it came to us. We wanted to purchase it, but the proprietor would not sell to us. They were charging very big price. So we are prepared. Still he'll not agree. Now we have purchased less price. (to devotee:) What is the history?

Room Conversation -- June 24, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: Why? Legal, illegal, that is their whim.

Kīrtanānanda: But that will get us in trouble.

Prabhupāda: No, no. That is, they can give us, they are in power, they can do that, but legally...

Kīrtanānanda: Yes, you are right. If they want to eat, let them take the dead cow.

Prabhupāda: They take it. Free, they get without any price. They get the skin, they get flesh, let them eat. We are not going to charge for the... You take it. Why maintain slaughterhouse? Take this.

Kīrtanānanda: They even object if you let the animals, wild animals eat the dead cow.

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Kīrtanānanda: They even object if you let the wild animals eat. They want it buried.

Prabhupāda: Oh, jackals or fox, if they come, they don't like it.

Kīrtanānanda: The jackals like it.

Prabhupāda: No, jackals like it, (laughter) but government...

Kīrtanānanda: Government doesn't like it.

Prabhupāda: Government will like when the jackal takes your animal. They will eat it, they will not attack somebody else, because if they are not hungry, they don't attack. Even tiger or any ferocious animal, if they are satisfied in hunger, they don't attack. In the jungle, tiger and other animals, they live together. When they are hungry, they attack. So at least you can advertise that here is a cow, available free. Take it, those who are meat-eaters. Take free without any price.

Marble Shop Visit -- June 26, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: Oh. This is marble?

Kīrtanānanda: Yes, this is all marble, but it is glued together in little pieces. Like inlaid. And this is the polishing room. (break) Take the rough marble and make it shine.

Prabhupāda: You have spent so much money. What is the price of this machine?

Kīrtanānanda: Well, there was a man, he was going out of business in Pittsburg, and I got a great deal of marble and all the machinery and everything for nine thousand dollars. It is very cheap.

Prabhupāda: Oh. Do you know how to work? No. (devotees laugh)

Kīrtanānanda: That is a heater, it's burning wood. (break to walking outside, kīrtana going on.) ...growing mung beans in this little field over there.

Prabhupāda: (kīrtana ended, conversation in car now) Jaya. ...horse? What do they do, plowing?

Kīrtanānanda: Yes. They do some plowing, they do some pulling wagons. Mostly they are used in the woods for logging.

Prabhupāda: Oh. This land is very nice. For mung beans?

Kīrtanānanda: Yes, those are all mung beans up there. (break)

Children: Haribol!

Garden Conversation -- June 27, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: That is, if you want to purchase something, you must know where to purchase. Otherwise, you may be cheated. You, generally, you ask your friend that "I want to purchase some diamond, so can you give me some reliable address where I can go and purchase?" Generally, people do that. So you have to do that. If you want to purchase, you must know the preliminary understanding where diamond can be purchased. And if you are not aware of it, you may be cheated. That preliminary knowledge you must have. That means best thing is, those who are dealing with diamonds, you go there. Just like if anyone is inquisitive to understand God, so best thing is those who are dealing with God only, they have no other business. Then you go there. That is the intelligent. Why should you go to a cheater? This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is especially distributing knowledge about God. So why do they not come here and inquire? First thing is, unless one is inquisitive to understand God, or Absolute Truth, he has no necessity of guru. But if he is actually serious, then he must go to a person where the dealing is only God, that's all. Just like ordinarily, if anyone wants to purchase some share of company, he goes to the share market and he sees the price of different shares, and he selects. So everything requires little intelligence, then it is all right. Otherwise, you may be cheated.

Morning Walk -- June 27, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Mucis?

Prabhupāda: Muci, yes. Their business is shoe maker. So when the cow is dead, they take it, they eat the meat and take the skin and the hoof. They make business without any, what is called, investment. Harer nāma (CC Adi 17.21). That is economic. He gets the skin without any price, and he makes shoes and gets full profit. But that is for a class of men, not for all. Economic gain for a cobbler is not the economic gain for a brāhmaṇa. "One man's food another man's poison."

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Is considered, Śrīla Prabhupāda, that when a brāhmaṇa is engaged in the activities of plowing and cultivating, that he has become a vaiśya?

Prabhupāda: No. If there is nobody to help, he can do.

Hari-śauri: As long as he keeps up his brahminical standards.

Prabhupāda: Huh? Yes. This is our car?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Arrival Room Conversation -- July 2, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: This is your own house? What you have paid for it?

Rūpānuga: Well, now we are leasing with option to buy. We have ten-year lease, we can purchase anytime before ten years.

Prabhupāda: Price is fixed?

Rūpānuga: Six hundred fifty thousand. But all money paid for rent goes toward purchase.

Prabhupāda: That's nice.

Rūpānuga: How much a month?

Vipina: Right around now, it's about twenty-five hundred, and it will average that for ten years. At the end of ten years, it will drop to like twenty-two, twenty-one, which is..., it will be worth much more in ten years. It's very good. And he also is responsible, the owner is responsible for any major malfunctions in any equipment on the property. We just had your water pump replaced for six hundred dollars, and he had to pay because of our contract.

Rūpānuga: It is an exceptional arrangement.

Vṛṣākapi: No interest.

Prabhupāda: How many rooms?

Vṛṣākapi: Several buildings, Prabhupāda. We have one big temple building down there, very gorgeous, with big kitchen.

Prabhupāda: I may see now?

Rūpānuga: If you like.

Conversation with Prof. Saligram and Dr. Sukla -- July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: So Kṛṣṇa is giving us facilities to preach this cult. Everywhere we have got very, very palatial buildings to accommodate devotees. Now we have got here a very nice place, accommodate devotees. Everywhere we have got. In Bombay we are getting the best temple in India. We are spending crores of rupees, Kṛṣṇa is giving us money. So I started the business with forty rupees. That was also not American currency. They allowed me to bring forty rupees. So when I was getting off the ship I asked the captain, "I have brought these forty rupees, which will not be accepted here, so you take." At that time three books I had, the first, second and third volume. So I asked him that "You purchase. Give me some dollars." So he asked, "What is the price?" "Sixteen dollars." So he gave me twenty dollars, and I delivered them. With that twenty dollars I got out down on the land of America, and that forty rupees. So I did not know where to go, where to stay. So Kṛṣṇa is giving us all facilities, and these American boys are helping. I think those who are Indians, they should join this movement sincerely and preach more vigorously. People will be benefited—this is real substance. Otherwise people are being misguided, so many things going on. Transcendental meditation, the, what is called? No, another. So many. Actually, speaking for the last at least two hundred years, many swamis, people came here, but not a single person was converted to become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. That is history. What do you think, Sukla? You have studied. So many swamis, yogis, scholars came, and they spoke on Bhagavad-gītā and other, but not a single person became a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.

Arrival Comments in Car to Temple -- July 9, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: Copy, how do you make copy?

Rāmeśvara: We have some artists practicing. So he makes a copy of the original, and I sell it for five hundred dollars. Half the price of the original.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Good business.

Rāmeśvara: But that will increase. You can get ten thousand, twenty thousand dollars for one painting in the future, because they are paying that much now for inferior work.

Prabhupāda: Who is painting nice? Muralī?

Rāmeśvara: Muralīdhara, Jadurāṇī, Parīkṣit.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Parīkṣit is wonderful.

Prabhupāda: Parīkṣit, yes.

Arrival Comments in Car to Temple -- July 9, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Ask why him don't you come here? (laughter) Why you are driving taxi? Come here.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's amazing how everybody is looking at us.

Prabhupāda: Now, formerly it was thirty-five, now it is

sixty-five?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, Prabhupāda. Everything has doubled in price. This car is very ordinary, but it is because you are in it, Prabhupāda, that they are looking. Ordinarily it is not such a special car.

Prabhupāda: What is the make of it?

Hari-śauri: LTD. What is it?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's the same, more or less the same car that you had when you were driving in Los Angeles.

Hari-śauri: The same as what you had in Melbourne also.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's a Ford.

Prabhupāda: Los Angeles this was Mercedes.

Evening Darsana -- July 10, 1976, New York:

Devotee (1): Śrīla Prabhupāda, there are so many gurus...

Prabhupāda: No, we are not talking of so many gurus... We are talking of real guru. That's all, real guru. Real guru is he who talks in disciplic succession of Kṛṣṇa. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). That is guru. The bhumi-phala (?) guru is no guru. Avaiṣṇavo gurur na sa syāt. "Anyone who is not Vaiṣṇava, he is not guru." Or He says in the Bhagavad-gītā, Bhagavān, ya idaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati (Bg 18.68). Find out this. He is guru who is preaching what Kṛṣṇa has taught. He is guru, not that anyone and everyone becomes guru. No. If you want to be cheated by such rascal guru, that is your business, but who is guru, that is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. No? Anyone who preaches the teachings of Kṛṣṇa, he is guru. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also says, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa: (CC Madhya 7.128) "You become a guru on My order." "How shall I become guru? I have no knowledge." Oh, you don't require any knowledge to manufacture. Yāre dekha, tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa: (CC Madhya 7.128) "Simply repeat the instruction of Kṛṣṇa, you become guru." Everyone can become. The instruction is there. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). We say the same thing, not that I have become Kṛṣṇa, not my... You say that "Surrender to Kṛṣṇa." Then you become guru. Kṛṣṇa instruction, not to become Kṛṣṇa. If you want to become Kṛṣṇa, then you are not guru; you are cheater. Suppose you are working for master. If you say, "My master has fixed up this price. You cannot change it," then you are honest salesman. And if you place yourself that "I am the master," then you are cheater. The cheater cannot be teacher. Teacher is he who simply teaches what Kṛṣṇa has said, that's all. He's teacher. That is not difficult. Everyone can do. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, yāre dekha, tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa: (CC Madhya 7.128) "Whomever you meet, you simply speak to him the instruction of Kṛṣṇa." Then you become guru. And if you don't say that, if you manufacture your own words, then you are cheater, you are not teacher. So the so-called gurus, they are cheater. They want to become Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they are cheater. And it is very easy thing. If you cheat people that "You take this mantra, and you become God..." Is God so easy thing, to become God? But they want to be cheated. "Purchasing mantra, I shall become God." They want to be cheated. They do not think that "Whether I can actually become God?" They do not take the weight of His existence. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. So what is the time now.

Evening Darsana -- July 11, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: We are not talking of so many gurus, we are talking of real guru, that's all, real guru. Real guru is he who talks in disciplic succession of Kṛṣṇa. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). That is guru. The bumifor(?) guru is no guru. Avaiṣṇavo gurur na syāt. Anyone who is not Vaiṣṇava, he's not guru. First, He says in the Bhagavad-gītā, Bhagavān, ya idaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati (Bg 18.68). Find out this. He is guru, who is preaching what Kṛṣṇa has taught, he's guru. Not that anyone and everyone becomes a guru. If you want to be cheated by such rascal guru, that is your business, but who is guru, that is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Anyone who preaches the teachings of Kṛṣṇa, he is guru. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also says āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa (CC Madhya 7.128). "You become a guru on My order." "How shall I become guru? I have no knowledge." Oh, you don't require any knowledge to manufacture. Yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). "Simply repeat the instruction of Kṛṣṇa, you become guru." Everyone can become. The instruction is there. Kṛṣṇa says sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). We say the same thing. Not that "I have become Kṛṣṇa, not..." We say "Surrender to Kṛṣṇa." Then you become guru. Kṛṣṇa's instruction, not to become Kṛṣṇa. If you want to become Kṛṣṇa, then you are not guru, you are cheater. Suppose you are working for master. If you say "My master has fixed up this price; you cannot change it," then you are honest salesman. And if you place yourself that "I am the master," then you are cheater.

Morning Walk -- July 12, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: Hmm.

Rāmeśvara: Some ambulance. Somebody is sick. Right now in New York City there is a big strike. The people who work in the hospitals, they refuse to work. They want more salary.

Prabhupāda: What can be done? Price raising, they want all comforts.

Rāmeśvara: So if someone is sick they will not take him to the hospital because there is no one to take care of him there.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This school is called Amsterdam School, Prabhupāda, because this is Amsterdam Avenue.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's very funny that Ninth Avenue turns into Amsterdam Avenue at this point. Ninth Avenue becomes Amsterdam Avenue on about Sixtieth Street.

Rāmeśvara: Yesterday there was a big parade in New York City, all people who are against abortion, they were marching. The U.S. is having a presidential election, so the Democratic party, they are having their convention in New York City to decide who will be their candidate for President. So all these people were marching to try to convince him to be against abortion. But he has already said he will not take any issue, he will not take a stand, because it is too controversial.

Prabhupāda: Who?

Rāmeśvara: The Presidential candidate. He will not give his opinion.

Evening Darsana -- July 13, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: They have given all orders?

Devotee (5): Yes, most of them gave orders to our... Even unlike... Some like Unites States some place, they would order all seventeen Caitanya-caritāmṛtas, and all the volumes of Bhāgavatam out and place an order for the rest to come, plus other books. And we lowered the price to about 45 rupees which was, which was right where they can afford to pay for the volumes (indistinct) take them.

Prabhupāda: What is the usual price?

Devotee (5): $7.95 which would be like too many, eighty rupees or something like that. It would be very expensive for India for one volume.

Prabhupāda: So you have reduced the price?

Devotee (5): To forty-five rupees. Gopāla Kṛṣṇa made it very, very reasonable for them that they can partake.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. They are taking the book. That is wanted. We don't want much profit.

Evening Darsana -- July 13, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: Therefore the Marwaris, they become very big businessmen.

Mr. Kallman: Very powerful.

Prabhupāda: Yes. This Birlas, they have become so big, they have so much credit in the market that by telephone they will ask any gold merchant, that you purchase one thousand tolās of gold for me. He'll immediately purchase, because he has a credit.

Mr. Kallman: Sure, many years.

Prabhupāda: And next moment he phones another gold merchant, "What is the price," he says. Say one anna less... I'll sell one hundred tolās. So he'll purchase without any investment and sells immediately and makes one hundred tolās, one anna profit, some (indistinct).

Mr. Kallman: Sure.

Prabhupāda: By telephone.

Mr. Kallman: Very quick.

Prabhupāda: In this way, they become very, very big. They know how to use this art, these Marwaris. If you are going in India, you'll see Marwaris are very quickly, they will come. They know how to do business.

Room Conversation -- August 8, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: This is a rented house?

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: What is the rent?

Ātreya Ṛṣi: The rent now it is twelve hundred dollars. But of course everything is now much more expensive. So I was negotiating in New York for better arrangements, because in Iran price is going up and up and up. And I told my company that they should buy one house. And they have agreed. So there is going to be that house, we will buy something like this for Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: This is very nice.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: And also we have saved some money, we'll buy a temple also in addition to that.

Prabhupāda: No, this is very nice. Dayānanda, do you like it?

Dayānanda: Yes.

Prabhupāda: It is very nice place, private, everything is so nice. In winter, what is the temperature?

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Very cold.

Room Conversation -- August 11, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: I paid 50,000.

Guest: Fifty thousand. Here the down payment means the total payment. You have to pay everything.

Guest (2): And land is so small. Must be very small. Land is only two hundred and... (everyone talking at once)

Guest: But we expect that in one or two years' time the prices of land will come back to normal, or at least there will be some place available out of town at a reasonable price. When that happens, I think...

Ātreya Ṛṣi: I don't think that will happen.

Guest: (general discussion about land purchasing) But now, you know, people are taking advantage. The one who is selling now, he is going to America. He says, "Let me pack this two lakhs of dollars and go and buy in America." Why should (indistinct)?

Prabhupāda: So American immigration?

Guest: Yes, he must have taken immigration. Then he is going to America. His son or daughter must be there. All Iranians have daughters and sons in America or Europe. So...

Prabhupāda: What is the reason?

Guest: Reason is because from the last fifty years the education was a big problem here, and the government needed people to get educated. So they gave a lot of facilities that people should send their children out to get educated.

Prabhupāda: Foreign education.

Room Conversation -- August 11, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: This is always, Western disease. It is a Western disease. Vairanga-roga (?). In the Ayur Veda it is called vairanga-roga. Fairanga, ferengi, ferengi, the Westerners are called ferengi, the vairanga-roga. So this syphilis disease was imported in India by these Europeans. Before, it was not there. There is a medicine called (indistinct) injection. Fifty years ago it was one rupee, four annas, price. But during the wartime the same medicine was selling at nineteen (ninety?). On black market.

Jñānagamya: That is their nature—they will always try to exploit.

Prabhupāda: Hm. I have seen it, one rupee, four annas, the price goes nineteen (ninety?).

Jñānagamya: There is a story about a man who made some perfect cloth that would never get dirty, never get torn. So he made a suit out of it and he was trying to market it. So he went to the capitalists and said, "Now I have made some perfect cloth." And they did not like it because they could not sell more cloth after they sold this. No one would want anything else. And the workers, they did not like it either because they would lose their jobs. No one would buy.

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Jñānagamya: They tried to kill him.

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Devotee: He's telling a story.

Prabhupāda: A story.

Morning Walk -- August 11, 1976, Tehran:

Nava-yauvana: That means it cost only six rupees per month for food.

Prabhupāda: Yes. In the hotel also they were charging six rupees. Means third-class hotel, not first class for cooking dāl, vegetables. Rice was, first-class rice, six rupees per month. Dāl, twelve annas for kg, flour, five annas for two and a half kgs. And from 1942, all of a sudden the price increased, artificially. Milk, two annas per kg. Now three rupees, four rupees. Ghee, first-class ghee, one rupee per kg. First-class ghee. (break) ...paying for the clerks thirty rupees per month. And head clerk, sixty rupees. Officers, hundred to two hundred rupees. High-court judges, four thousand rupees. High-court judges were highly paid.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Iran at that time was even cheaper, much cheaper. Because you had the British in India, you were...

Prabhupāda: Yes, when India was native state, they were cheaper. In India, this inflation was caused by Mr. Churchill. During the war he wanted men to join the fighting, so people were not coming. So artificially...

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Printed money?

Prabhupāda: No, artificially increased the price. So they were obliged to join.

Hari-śauri: He'd increase the price and then advertise free food in the army.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Morning Walk -- August 11, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: Yes, for India it is heavenly planet, certainly.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: I'm sure there is always a lot of people who gather around American devotees.

Prabhupāda: To exploit.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: They want money, they want this, they want benefit, some sort of, this I can see.

Prabhupāda: What is the price of this bread?

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Five rials, it's about half a rupee.

Prabhupāda: Ācchā.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: It's big, it's good. It is good bread.

Nava-yauvana: It is subsidized by the government.

Prabhupāda: Still half a rupee.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Government pays half on the price, more than half the price. That is why if Iranian poor people, with very little salary, they can survive. They can eat this bread.

Nava-yauvana: We had asked Praṇava to help arrange for a cook to come here. We'd asked help to arrange for a cook, so we could open a small prasāda restaurant. And he's written back that "I have made arrangements for a cook, and also I would like to come."

Ātreya Ṛṣi: We can get someone else. (break) ...strong but dangerous.

Prabhupāda: Not dangerous if the both of them become devotee.

Evening Darsana -- August 12, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: Why piece? Take big land. Make something gorgeous. Kṛṣṇa is not poor. Although He likes to live in the village, but He is Dvārakādhīśa also.

Mr. Patel: It should be big land for the...

Mr. Sahani: Here the land prices are five times what they are in America.

Prabhupāda: Never mind. Eh? There?

Mr. Sahani: The price of land here in Tehran is five times what it is in New York.

Prabhupāda: Ācchā? (laughter)

Mrs. Sahani: Highest, most highest in the world, next to probably Tokyo.

Mr. Sahani: The house which you have seen today is worth two lakhs of dollars. In two lakhs of dollars you can have palace in America.

Prabhupāda: No, not that...

Mr. Sahani: But two lakhs here, you have to have all two lakhs completely in your hand before you can step into this house. Over there with two lakhs you step into the house, a palace of one million dollars.

Prabhupāda: Our Los Angeles temple, what we paid? Dayānanda, you know?

Dayānanda: It was two twenty-five, I think. 225,000 dollars.

Prabhupāda: 225,000.

Evening Darsana -- August 12, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: I paid fifty thousand.

Mr. Sahani: Fifty thousand. Here the downpayment means the total payment. You have to pay everything.

Mr. Patel: And land is so small, must be very small.

Mr. Sahani: We expect that in one or two years' time the prices of land will come back to normal, or at least there will be some place available out of town at a reasonable price. When that happens, I think...

Ātreya Ṛṣi: I don't think that will happen.

Mr. Patel: No, it won't happen. Price will never become down.

Mr. Sahani: Now, you know, people are taking the advantage. One who is selling now, he's going to America. He said "Let me collect this two lakhs of dollars, go and buy in America."

Prabhupāda: They, in America, they immigration?

Mr. Sahani: He must have taken immigration. His family is going to America. His son and daughter must be there. All Iranians have sons or daughters in America or Europe. So...

Prabhupāda: What is the reason?

Mr. Sahani: Reason is because from the last fifty years the education was a big problem here. And the government needed people to get educated. So they gave lot of facilities that people should send their children out to get educated.

Prabhupāda: Foreign education.

Room Conversation About Mayapura Construction -- August 19, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: As they doing (?).

Jayapatākā: This food distribution has been very important.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Jayapatākā: Now the price of rice has gone up by about eighty paisa. From two rupees to two-eighty. So the poor class of people, they are in a very bad situation. So now our attendance has gone up from twelve hundred to two thousand on that Saturday and Sunday, each day. So we have two shifts. So many people are coming that they come from ten o'clock in the morning and wait because otherwise they can't get a boat in time to cross the river. So then we were very surprised to read in a recent newsletter from LA that "They're going to restart the food relief." But we never knew it stopped. We never knew that they had stopped the food relief. We saw then that he said, "They're going to restart." But we never stopped, and we were very surprised to see that. And now they say...

Prabhupāda: Who said?

Jayapatākā: Rāmeśvara.

Gargamuni: To maintain this food relief from the centers only requires what? Fifteen hundred dollars a month. So little amount and so much service is done.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Room Conversation About Mayapura Construction -- August 19, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: You can bring so many men and keep everyone in charge of such places, and it will develop. Money, there is no scarcity. But the difficulty is as soon as we establish, the immigration, "You go away." This is... What is this? You say the MLA and this Tarun Kanti." This is our difficulty. Otherwise there is no difficulty. We can take all the charge and develop them very nicely." So if one man is kept in charge, and after few months he's advised, "Go away," then all his training goes to hell and we have to spend another ten thousand rupees. This is the difficulty. What... We are not... Not a single case there is that we have taken any part in politics. So give us some facility. We can take charge of everything. Tell them that actually that is fact, that there is no scarcity of money. We can bring money from America and develop. There is no difficulty at all. The difficulty is the immigration department. You can say that "Prabhupāda has put this philosophy, andha..." What is that? Paṅgu. Andha-paṅgu-nyāya. Blind and... Depends on this... Blind and... I think you have already know. Blind man, lame man. One man is blind, another man is lame. Both of them are useless. But when they combine, the blind man takes the lame man on his shoulder, and the lame man gives direction to the blind man, "Go this way. Go this way." So he walks. So both of them are benefited. So America has got money but blind. And India has got culture but lame. So let us combine. Then things will be done very nice. Andha-paṅgu-nyāya. Just like I am the same man. I was finding difficulty to start this mission in India, very, very difficult. With great hardship I published three books. But as soon as I went America, the andha-paṅgu-nyāya became successful. So this is the the position. So instead of becoming envious from political... We have nothing to do with... To the Americans unnecessarily thinking that "CIA, CIA..." Let American money and India's culture combine together, and the whole world will be benefited. America has got enough money; they can spend. Either they give me as the price of my book or anything, money is there like anything. India has got culture. So Indian culture, Vedic culture, Bhagavad-gītā culture, pushed through American money, the whole world will be benefited.

Room Conversation About Mayapura Construction -- August 19, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Yes. And we haven't got to keep so many accountant, auditors, and other nonsense, unnecessary things. As soon as there is collection, invest the money in some building or in making some book, book printing. Follow this policy. I am very much eager. I have got money here and there, but I want to spend it in this way. So therefore I am advising take this. We shall invest renovating them and in developing them. Spend money. Don't keep money.

Jayapatākā: Yes. So I'll tell them our policy is changed. We don't keep any more money in fixed deposit because it's a losing bargain?

Prabhupāda: That's it. Actually it is losing. Actually it is losing. Every day the price... Just like the price of rice has increased.

Jayapatākā: It is up and down.

Prabhupāda: Up and down, now... Take it. When it goes up it does not come down, generally. So this is practical example. Two months ago you were purchasing two rupees—now two-eighty. So where is the value of the money?

Gargamuni: If we invest in books... Just like this little pamphlet I printed. It cost me fifty paisa. If we sell it in one month...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Room Conversation -- August 20, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Syndicate Bank is not very...

Saurabha: I also think to have a big bank is better.

Prabhupāda: Big bank is better. And who pays the best price.

Saurabha: The best. And also the facilities. Now, in the floor we start tiling, the basement floor... Under the Deities there we have a basement. So there we have started the flooring, tiling, and now we have decided on all the other parts of the building, for the stone. So they promised, they guaranteed, that at the end of this year the building—that means the guesthouse—will be completed. And of course, that includes the temple. The only thing which will definitely go on is the marble work, the carving. That is a very big job. But that we can always continue. That is mainly outside work, finishing. So that we get the inside ready for the opening.

Prabhupāda: ISKCON Juhu? That is sufficient address?

Saurabha: Well, this was hand-delivered. It would be nice if... I think now it is sufficient. Many letters come like that now.

Prabhupāda: No, we are famous now, Juhu.

Room Conversation -- August 21, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: It was a very good place. This Prabhākāra helped me. Ninety percent was... But if I did not leave, nobody could drive me, that was a fact. But I thought "Who is going to..., for litigation? She is the governor's wife, and she is pressing through collectors, through..." The manager who was in charge, he had some cinema house. So they had to renew the license, cinema house. And the collector pressed him that "Unless you arrange for this house, we are not going to renew your license." I thought, "Unnecessarily this man will be in trouble. I'll have to pay so many rupees, and she is governor's wife." And that lady came to me in Bombay several times. "You take my press. You have got so many publications." So I said "I can take your press. I have got money. But what shall I do with it? It is letter press. Now printing is done by offset." That press, Associated Press, is very good press. It was... They got so many government contracts. The whole telephone guides were printed there. But because it is letterset press, it is costly. The government got offset press, cheaper price. So that contract was cancelled. So for her nefarious activity she is punished. Her husband died. She has no more importance, and she was one of the trustees of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. So she was exempted. Now she's an ordinary woman. Press is not working.

Meeting With Member of Parliament, Mr. Krishna Modi -- August 31, 1976, Delhi:

Prabhupāda: Yes. First-class prisoners. Not first-class, third-class. (laughter)

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: But I was told, because a lot of people in Russia who are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa also. It's very... There's a lot of corruption. Even the taxi drivers are corrupt. They'll park their taxi a bit away then come and approach you when you are standing in a line and say, "Okay, I'll take you there," but he'll tell you three times the price because everyone's waiting in such a long line for a taxi.

Prabhupāda: Black market.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. And one friend of ours told us what they do because all the cars belong to the state, a lot of taxis, the people...

Krishna Modi: The taxis are not independent.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No, they all belong to the state. But the driver, if he makes extra money, that goes in his pocket and they have tipping also.

Prabhupāda: And they are always anxious to get extra. Buses are not very good. Third-class buses.

Garden Conversation -- September 3, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: If there is war they were not affected. And the soldiers would not bother the public. It is said during Mohammedan period the soldiers of one party will ask the cultivator, "Where the other soldiers gone?" They would say, "I have seen and they have gone this side." The cultivator is going on. The fighting is going on, but the cultivator is not affected. He is free. "You fight between themselves and whoever the victor is, I shall pay taxes. That's all. I have nothing to do with politics." This was... Between two parties of king or political, they may fight. Citizens, they have nothing to do who is the victorious. "You fight and one of you will become victorious. So you take taxes. I am concerned with paying tax. And tax, tax means whatever I have grown, you take one-fourth. You see this I have grown. Now you can take away one-fourth." No income tax, no sale tax, no this tax or that tax. And if some year, by chance, he has not grown anything—no tax. "I have not produced, I could not produce anything." Very simple. Soldiers, they were not paid. They were given land by the king. "You enjoy this land without any price. But when there is fight you have to come out." Fight is not going every day. It may take place after some years. So they are living peacefully.

Room Conversation -- September 7, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Many monkeys were deported by the government but people protested. They were capturing monkeys...

Harikeśa: Here?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Government. And selling at good price in Europe for taking their hormone. The monkey's hormone is injected or replaced so one regains his sex power. They are very sexually strong.

Harikeśa: That must interfere with that monkey's spiritual life. That interferes with the spiritual life of the monkey? Because then he can't die in Vṛndāvana.

Prabhupāda: It is further from them. Everything is being done by superior arrangement. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). People should learn all these things by practical example instead of becoming irresponsible and without any obedience to the superior law. They should learn it, but they have no intelligence. They think, "We are all free." Wherefrom the monkey is coming, why there are so many varieties of life, how it is...? What do they know? Nothing. All bluff, vague explanation and that is going on in the name of science. This is the position. All rascals. Fortunately we have got this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā. All knowledge. First-class knowledge. (break) ...eternally-enjoyment. For him everything, ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). Everything ānanda. He has no such thing that this is harmful, that this is useful. That is Kṛṣṇa. Because nobody can do harm to Him and neither in the spiritual world, anyone is harmful. Everyone is advanced devotee. Even the tigers, they are also devotees.

Room Conversation -- September 16, 1976, Vrndavana:

Haṁsadūta: We had this experience when we were traveling with our bus from Calcutta to Vṛndāvana. We would want to buy watermelon from people who were growing right on the bank of the river, and he would have huge piles. And he would say, "No, I'm not selling. I'm transporting these to Delhi, where one cannot get watermelon." He's getting five times the price he would get in his local...

Prabhupāda: And from Vṛndāvana, we have seen, they are exporting that drumbeats? Vṛndāvana?

Hari-śauri: Drumsticks.

Prabhupāda: Huh? Drumstick. So the transport is a dangerous thing.

Haṁsadūta: Yes, this is a scheme.

Prabhupāda: A local man cannot get. He's starving. And the man in big cities, he's doing nothing, he simply has got paper to sign and paper money he's attracting. All production. And they are starving. This is modern civilization. Everything, milk, vegetables, fish, everything, this chānā. Otherwise, within the village you can get everything. Village economy. Everything very cheap. And as soon as they got these transport facilities, the local men, they could not eat, and these lazy rascals, they are getting everything. Big, big cities like Calcutta, Bombay, they (have) millions of population. They are not producing anything. The producer is different man. They are simply artificially cheating them by paper money and they take. This is modern civilization.

Room Conversation -- September 16, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Especially in your country. Packing is more important than the... They sent me some presentation in a huge package.

Haṁsadūta: Consequently those persons who are farmers, they become discouraged.

Prabhupāda: Now it has become a problem how to throw these packings.

Haṁsadūta: Yes, this is another problem.

Hari-śauri: Yes. Plastic they can't dispose of, glass.

Prabhupāda: Simply creating problems. Lavana haila ithe gatila jagya.(?) This modern civilization, they could not make any profit. They have created some problems, that's all. Very dangerous civilization.

Haṁsadūta: There was one writer, he wrote a book about the cities, these big modern cities. And he said that in the future the price of labor will become so enormous that to break down the old buildings in these cities which have been built to become obsolete, will be impossible. And the whole place will become swamp land by that. (end)

Press Interview -- October 16, 1976, Chandigarh:

Interviewer: One question. You have priced these books very high comparatively for the poorer countries. Do you have any plans to reduce...

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: You have priced these books very high for poor countries.

Haṁsadūta: We're printing locally now. The same books, but local printing so that they can be afforded by the public.

Prabhupāda: Yes. When we print locally it will be sold at half-price.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: This Bhagavad-gītā for example, it's going to be sold to the masses at fifteen rupees in about three weeks. We are printing the Indian edition with 48 color plates. The government of India is giving us concessional paper for printing. They are very pleased with our... We're getting lot of concessional paper so we are expanding the printing.

Interviewer: What is the price of this edition?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: This is, in America it's seven dollars, seven dollars ninety-five cents.

Prabhupāda: And what the home member has said?

Room Conversation -- November 3, 1976, Vrndavana:

Hari-śauri: Potato pakorā.

Prabhupāda: Oh, hm. (break) ...just in front of our house, attached to our house. That means the house belonged to one of our relatives and her son, stepson, he sold the whole house to a Marwari without the knowledge of this, my, she was in relation grandmother. So when the house was sold in those days, about say about 100 years ago, not 100 years, about 90 years. In Mahatma Gandhi road, most important, that Mullik's house you have seen? That was one of the Mullik's house, for 12,000 rupees. One bighā of land and grand building. So it was unknown to the stepmother, the stepson sold it. Then she appealed to the high-court that, "I belong to a respectable family and this my spoiled stepson has sold the house without my knowledge, then where shall I go?" The high-court considered that, "The drunkard son has sold at a cheap price, and she's belongs to a respectable family, where she'll go?" And the high-court order was, "The half of the house shall be used by this lady. During her lifetime, you cannot take possession," the Marwari who purchased. So under that grandmother, we used to live. Therefore this half portion of the house was a Marwari school. So it is just like our temple and this. So my father first admitted me in that Marwari school. So I learned this devanāgarī there, for a few days I was going. I was the only Bengali student there. Because I was little, my father thought that instead of going outside the house, within the house there is a school, get him admitted. The school name was Visuddhana(?) Marwari Vijnala(?), something like that, and later on they constructed huge building Visuddhana(?). Then the house was vacated. So in the beginning I was admitted in a Marwari school and I learned a little Hindi there, that's all.

Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 7, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Ten kg.

Devotee (7): Approximately he is selling ten kgs.

Devotee: 1.50 a kilo.

Mahāṁśa: It's high priced.

Prabhupāda: Higher... (Hindi conversation over price) Pañca-rūpya, you can take?

Devotee (7): I told him but he said "I will better go there and sell it."

Prabhupāda: All right.

Devotee (7): He will walk all the way there.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. He can go. (Hindi)

Boy: Is the sun-god an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa?

Prabhupāda: Everyone is incarnation. You are also. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). You have not read Bhagavad-gītā? Any living entity is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Just like this child is the part and parcel of his father, you are part and parcel of your father. Similarly, every one of us, we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa.

Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 7, 1976, Hyderabad:

Mahāṁśa: You see the big trees? That is the border. Yes, all the way to the village our land goes.

Prabhupāda: Man gone?

Mahāṁśa: He went that side.

Prabhupāda: What is the market price?

Mahāṁśa: Of those vegetables?

Prabhupāda: Ah.

Mahāṁśa: To be about a rupee a kilo.

Prabhupāda: So how many kilos it is?

Mahāṁśa: He says there's ten kilos.

Haṁsadūta: We should have bought it.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Haṁsadūta: We should have bought because when we go we have to spend money for gas, five rupees.

Devotee (4): Of course, paying a Hyderabad price.

Devotee (7): He is going there.

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Mahāṁśa: You want him to come, Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: No, if you offer him little more, if you pay...

Mahāṁśa: Ten rupees less.

Room Conversation -- December 12, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. Yes.

Tejas: We should have every night.

Prabhupāda: Do.

Mahāṁśa: Prabhupāda wants us to continue every day kīrtana and prasādam.

Prabhupāda: So do this and purchase. What is the price?

Mahāṁśa: I'll find out tomorrow.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Do it nice, enthusiastically. Everything will be success. So any other question to discuss?

Haṁsadūta: I don't know if this is the time, but I think this project should have a separate account.

Mahāṁśa: Yes. It will have an account in the name of the trust. The Venkatesh..., I mean ISKCON Venkateshwara Trust. So as soon as we register tomorrow, day after tomorrow we'll open an account in that name. With how many signees?

Prabhupāda: So make three, you three.

Mahāṁśa: Joint.

Prabhupāda: Out of three, two. Out of three, any two will do. That's all.

Press Conference -- December 16, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Because five to six lakhs daily collection. If I take minimum fifteen percent, what it comes to? Big, big authors, they get twenty-five percent.

Guest (9): But one gentleman... I think in this temple... Some of your books are, rather, prohibiting the cost.

Prabhupāda: Yes, this was meant for the outside. Because our countrymen, they are learned, they don't require. They are so learned, they don't require anybody. Therefore it is prohibited. Better they do not take it. Otherwise they will misinterpret. That's all. Their only business is misinterpret. Therefore the prohibited price.

Guest (9): There is something which is difficult to make them understand.

Prabhupāda: Therefore better they do not take it.

Guest (9): It's easy to go in the virgin soil.

Prabhupāda: That means they do not understand what is the meaning of śāstra. They want to interpret śāstra in their own way. That is the difficulty. Big, big person...

Guest (9): Real testing would be only in India in that case.

Prabhupāda: No, Kṛṣṇa does not speak for Indians. He is for everyone.

Room Conversation -- December 27, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Concentrate on viṣṇu-mūrti here, in the heart, and hear... This will immediately give some effect.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Or... Yes. We can have some pictures of people. And we'll publish your Sixth Chapter, like, just like publishing Sixth Chapter of the Gītā with a two-page introduction how this yoga is different from others and this is a guide, the Sixth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, the most ancient Hindu scripture, Indian scripture.

Prabhupāda: So keep some price for that.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. That will be like a separate book, five rupees, with some illustrations...

Prabhupāda: Make that.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And then like we can have some... People are very much into beads...

Prabhupāda: And dancing.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: So we'll have some neckbeads they'll take with a small statue, Deity, pendant of Viṣṇu.

Prabhupāda: So then there is one artist. He has come to paint pictures. Explain. He will give you. Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Oh, yes, very good.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Room Conversation -- December 28, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Why increase cost?

Rādhā-vallabha: I don't think it would be that much. The first volume has over sixty pictures and the second one only has thirty-two and the third only has twenty-four. Anyway, anything we do will increase the cost but not so significant. Few cents. We were thinking that the Kṛṣṇa Books were originally printed many many years ago and since then we have a lot of nice paintings of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes that we could put in.

Prabhupāda: If you can give without increasing price, there is no harm. Or for this cents. Let us.

Jagadīśa: Prasāda is ready.

Rādhā-vallabha: If it's only an insignificant increase then we'll put some in.

Prabhupāda: But you don't increase price.

Rādhā-vallabha: Oh, to the temples.

Prabhupāda: No, to the customer.

Rādhā-vallabha: Yes. That's no problem.

Prabhupāda: Prasāda ready?

Woman: Yes. (end)

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Conversation with Yogi Amrit Desai of Kripalu Ashram (PA USA) -- January 2, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: So why don't you order more?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Right now I don't have much money, so I'm going slow. But when we sell, we'll get the money back, print more.

Prabhupāda: No, I can give you some loan.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. We will do that. We may need a small loan because... Also the printer came to see me. I told him to bring down the Bengali Gītār Gān price, and I'll think we'll print only one lakh here because his quality is much better than a small letter press in Calcutta.

Prabhupāda: So if you regularly do businesslike, I can give you loan.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. We may need a small loan, Śrīla Prabhupāda. I'm not asking till it becomes...

Prabhupāda: No. For printing books I'll give you loan.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Actually the BBT's turnover now is around four lakhs. A year ago we opened this BBT account with only two thousand rupees in the bank. Now it's gone to four lakhs.

Prabhupāda: Books which are sellable, you can print in quantity. That will be cheaper. These books I think will be...

Conversation with Yogi Amrit Desai of Kripalu Ashram (PA USA) -- January 2, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: (yawns) We want first quality.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: But for Hindi books, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we find pricing is also very important. Because in Hindi and Bengali books, they cannot sell for more than a rupee or rupee, fifty. In English books...

Prabhupāda: So at what price you are selling?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: This is costing us seventy-eight paisa. So BBT will sell it to the temples for eighty paisa, and the temples are free to sell it for one, one-fifty. So we're charging reasonable price, so we can go after quantity.

Prabhupāda: No, if it can be sold at two rupees, you spend little more. Yes.

Indian: That's what I said.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I selected the most popular pictures for covers because people buy in India on the basis of covers.

Prabhupāda: Yes. It is very nicely selected. Both pictures are very nice.

Conversation with Yogi Amrit Desai of Kripalu Ashram (PA USA) -- January 2, 1977, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It's not a mistake. We perfectly agreed. You told me so, that (Hindi).

Prabhupāda: What will be price for one lakh?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Of this? I think it will go around a velo(?), because the real book cost seventy-eight paisa; paper is about forty paisa. So paper, whether you buy one or one lakh, it's the same. Printing is about thirty-eight paisa. And out of thirty-eight paisa, plate-making and all will come to about ten paisa.

Prabhupāda: Plate is already made.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, that's what I'm saying. No, I'm just saying by increased run how much can you save? So I imagine you save about three paisa, four paisa more per book. It's not enough to warrant extra investment. I have analyzed the difference between doing large print runs India and America. In America and Europe labor is very expensive. So to them, to stop the machine in between and start again, it's very expensive, so it makes a lot of difference. But in India labor is cheap. So for them to stop the machine in between and then start again, it's not so expensive. So the ceiling is not as great as the extra investment you have to put in. Therefore I'm not doing large run except where it's absolutely necessary.

Prabhupāda: No. Items which are selling, that we can do because...

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Like Bhagavad-gītā we did one lakh.

Prabhupāda: ...to wait means that waste of time.

Conversation with Yogi Amrit Desai of Kripalu Ashram (PA USA) -- January 2, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: We can print here.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We have very good arrangement.

Prabhupāda: At what price you are printing?

Trivikrama: Pretty cheap.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Hong Kong is very expensive.

Prabhupāda: No no, let him say.

Trivikrama: Well, you know the book we have, six chapters.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Trivikrama: It costs seventy-five cents, U.S...

Prabhupāda: Seventy-five cents. So multiply it by six.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It comes to about six rupees.

Prabhupāda: It's costly. I think here it must be cheaper.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: There're very few... How many color illustrations in it?

Prabhupāda: Just take quotation. If you can, you print here.

Conversation with Yogi Amrit Desai of Kripalu Ashram (PA USA) -- January 2, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: We can take quotation.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. How many color plates do you have? Hm, 298, 300. Well, we can take a quotation and see.

Prabhupāda: Here it must be cheaper.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Have you seen the Gītās we printed in India? Here are our samples. They're very good. Actually, I mean I'm not trying to be rude... Because I was negotiating the prices for the Chinese Gītā when... You know that time. Sevānanda was telling me all the prices of the worst of Hong Kong for that time. It was above a dollar.

Trivikrama: Yeah, I know, but that was in Hong Kong. We got it printed in Taiwan for cheaper.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh. Because he sent me for dollar forty, dollar thirty. I have the prices with me.

Trivikrama: And this was... That was also for the corrections. No, the price is about seventy-five cents.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Only thing I've told Jayatīrtha and Bali-mardana Prabhus to do is to open a letter of credit now because we are going to be exporting these Gītās at export price. And the bank is giving our printer a loan of ten lakhs. So he has to show the bank a letter of credit, so I hope they send it, and then this will start rolling. End of February is our first shipment. We're going to ship ten thousand Gītās.

Prabhupāda: Letter of credit you can get.

Room Conversation -- January 3, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: And what you have got? You are asking that "I require now food." That means you have nothing. You have no food even. (aside:) Oh, you have brought it very quickly. Very nice. All right. (break) Live very comfortably, eat very comfortably and work. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Simply wasting time, the civilization... śrama eva hi kevalam (SB 1.2.8). Working hard and wasting valuable time of... Misguided. Andhā yathāndhair upanīya... When I think of their position... So every Vaiṣṇava should be para-duḥkha-duḥkhī. So you like it?

Hari-śauri: For thirty paisa it's very good. For the price it's very good.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, it's very good in other ways, full color. We're going to sell it for a rupee, and...

Prabhupāda: Kṛpāmbudhir yas tam ahaṁ prapadye (CC Madhya 6.254). The unhappy for the unhappiness of others. They love them, unhappy without Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is a fact. The rascal may agree or not agree. That's a fact. Ghostly haunted.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Jaya, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Jaya. (break) Where is this temple? London? No.

Hari-śauri: Which one? Oh, that's the German castle. Schloss Rettershof.

Prabhupāda: Oh, France.

Roof Conversation -- January 5, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: There are so many instances. You can utilize your hankering for Kṛṣṇa and His devotees.

Trivikrama: There's one verse like that, ekalaṁ mūlyaṁ lobha...

Prabhupāda: Laulyam ekalaṁ mūlyam. Laulyam, yes, right. That is greediness. Laulyam. The verse is by Rūpa Gosvāmī. He advises, kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ krīyatāṁ yadi kuto 'pi labhyate: "This Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you purchase. If it is available somewhere, immediately purchase it." So the next question is, if you want to purchase something, you must pay the price. So therefore said that "The price is laulyam, greediness. How I shall become Kṛṣṇa conscious?" That is price. "How I shall?" Oh, that I can very easily. No. Na janma-koṭi-sukṛtair labhyate. "If one has done pious activities for many, many births, he also cannot have this greediness." It is so rare. But if you have got that greediness, you get Kṛṣṇa.

Trivikrama: Intense greediness.

Prabhupāda: Intense greediness. So one may think, "Oh, I can be very greedy." So the answer is na janma-koṭi-sukṛtair labhyate.

Devotee (1): If a human being can try repeatedly, showing kāma, krodha, lobha, moha... He keeps on trying to get over it...

Prabhupāda: That is negative side.

Room Conversation -- January 7, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Nine annas. (laughs)

Dr. Patel: So my place, I bought in 1958 for fifteen rupees. Today it would take me four hundred, five hundred rupees a square yard, only within these two, three years, twenty years.

Prabhupāda: Mr. Nair told me that "I have purchased not more than twenty rupees per square yard. So I shall charge you seventy rupees. It is my profit."

Dr. Patel: Seventy rupees also you were wise as compared to the modern, present prices.

Prabhupāda: No, at that time it was selling 150. And now it is more than four hundred. Our land is, only one crore, apart from these buildings. Therefore everyone is envious.

Dr. Patel: Most envious men are... That fellow was himself burned by pouring kerosene on. He was a most envious fellow. He even once told me, "Why do you go there?"

Prabhupāda: Ācchā?

Dr. Patel: I used to treat his family. I was doctor. And I stopped treating him because he has not, he was so envious. He has got half a dozen girls in his family. I mean, where you will get...

Prabhupāda: In Kali-yuga there is no marriage. Svīkāra eva codvāhe. Agreement.

Morning Discussion about Kumbhamela -- January 8, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Three thousand lost.

Dr. Patel: Because the prices was so down, you see, and fertilizer they are selling at a very high rate. Before it was available, a bag, for fifty rupees or fifty-one. Now it is more than eleven-ten. They don't want that a man in the city should be employed for less than five rupees a day. It's very expensive. And they don't work also. They used to work very hard in ancient times. Now they come at ten o'clock, go at five. Before they used to come early morning at six, seven o'clock and work up til five in the evening, and you used to feed them afternoon.

Gurudāsa: Use gobar instead of...

Dr. Patel: No, gobar is not that much available.

Gurudāsa: Gobar means cows. Get a cow.

Dr. Patel: We use gobar. All of us keep cows. But there is not sufficient for that.

Gurudāsa: You can eat six thousand rupees' worth of rice yourself?

Dr. Patel: No, you can't. You have in the market. No, I cannot eat even this much because I can't bring it here to Bombay. There is a barrier. You can't export from one place to another. This is the government. And our rice is just like the (indistinct) quality.

Prabhupāda: (Hindi)

Dr. Patel: (Hindi)

Prabhupāda: You go and eat there. (laughter)

Room Conversation -- January 9, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Let them say that. This is our advertising. And let this opposition party understand that "If it is brainwash, then your whole country is now washed. (laughter) How you'll protect them? It is already washed." Tell them like that, humorous.

Rāmeśvara: The price of this printing...

Prabhupāda: Very cheap. No, we are supplying also very cheap.

Rāmeśvara: Yes. But last year we printed 500,000 copies, this year, one and a half million copies, and the savings was $200,000. We have gotten them to reduce the price so much that now, just because we have ordered so many books, we will save 200,000...

Prabhupāda: Why not spend some money for advertisement? It will be noticed.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We can advertise them in prestigious papers like Reader's Digest or printer's...

Prabhupāda: Nice advertisement. Spend some money.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: That will increase our prestige.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Now they have the Pin code. Zip Code, so...

Prabhupāda: Phone number.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, I have that. Telephone 617796. Now one question on pricing. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we are selling it to the libraries for forty-five rupees.

Prabhupāda: No, no. It is not the question of library. What is the general price?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The general price is...

Rāmeśvara: Lower.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No. The general price is higher. What's the U.S. registered price? They're just asking that... It comes about seventy rupees.

Prabhupāda: Don't make duplicity pricing.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Exactly. That is why I'm discussing with you right now, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Our pricing will be consistent. So I think forty-five rupees is reasonable. Above that, in India people will hesitate on buying. I'd like to get everyone to think it is available at...

Prabhupāda: Why forty-five? We can reduce more even, do you think.(?)

Jagadīśa: (indistinct)

Rāmeśvara: He's already charging the libraries forty-five rupees.

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: That's nice.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Śrīla Prabhupāda.... (break) What do you think?

Rāmeśvara: Lower the better.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. That is what I'm saying. Because...

Rāmeśvara: We are selling so many Gītās in America because we lowered the price.

Prabhupāda: So you consult and do.

Rāmeśvara: Did you mention about the loans for Bhūṣaṇa? Another thing.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I had spoken to you earlier that we can expand our printing, especially in India...

Prabhupāda: So now you have received nine lakhs' worth books. So how you'll pay?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Nine lakhs' worth of books?

Prabhupāda: From America.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. As we sell these, this money can be put into construction.

Prabhupāda: So you have to inform them. He'll send less.

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Okay. So Bali-mardana says... I just got his letter today.

Prabhupāda: I had one... When I was doing medical business I had one very nice customer. He was my patron also, one Muhammadan doctor, Sriraja Uttina.(?) He was very kind to me. He was just like a father to me. So his system was that in his pharmacy, patent medicine, drugs, medicine, surgical instruments, like that different headings. So suppose, at the sales time, sells some patent medicine. So he has got a box. So he puts the price in the patent medicine. And if he sells some surgical, he puts the price in the surgical pot. In this way, when they want to purchase again, so he would consult his pot, whether there is money. Then he'll allow to purchase. Otherwise not. So he told me, "This is my account. This is my account. When they want to purchase, they consign us something. I shall allow them to purchase so much as I have got in the box." This is... I have seen that gentleman. And in Calcutta there was... In our young time there was a cinema, Mr. Maddar, J.F. Maddar. He's a Parsee. So for some..., business, he was tenant of mine. One of my tenants. So in his room there were boxes. So I asked Mr. Maddar what is this box at home. And "This is the counter containing counter part of ticket in my cinema house. So these are sent to me. I count the counter part. Then I can calculate, 'This is the calculation.' I don't keep an account. Now let them do whatever they like. I understand that so many counter parts, so much money."

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: I don't think India can make such quality.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: But the Gītā we did came very close, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: It may come to close, but not to... Then that's all right. If it is possible, we can...

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Like Jayatīrtha wrote to me. He prefers the Indian Gītā to the American because it is economical.

Rāmeśvara: Because it is... Yes, because of the price.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. We all have to be realistic. The price...

Prabhupāda: Now Jayatīrtha is going first in selling, more than anyone.

Rāmeśvara: During the... During one week of Christmas he defeated Los Angeles. (Prabhupāda chuckles)

Jagadīśa: He's taking (indistinct).

Rāmeśvara: Oh, yes, he did.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: He was third on that list.

Rāmeśvara: His one temple defeated any other temple. His one temple was the number one temple, but as a whole zone...

Prabhupāda: Jayatīrtha is also good business. (chuckles) He has got good business brain. So do it nicely and Kṛṣṇa...

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: This will be very good.

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Then America can order from you also.

Rāmeśvara: On the Gītā, his price is not better than America.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: That is because of the...

Rāmeśvara: America, the printing is better and the price is better on the Gītā, because we are printing so many copies.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: On the Bhāgavatam the prices are better here.

Prabhupāda: It is a quantity. They are giving nice price for large quantity.

Rāmeśvara: Even though the price is better in America, he is getting the market because he is selling it for less.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And we are going to order few small extras. We're going to offer a few small extras like small ribbons with plastic cover.

Rāmeśvara: Has Prabhupāda told you how much profit you should make? Because in America you have always said it should be marked up one hundred percent. If a book costs us one dollar, we should sell to the temple at two dollars. So your book is costing over one dollar, and you are only selling it for $1.45.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No, no. The Bhāgavatam's costing less. The Gītās we are selling for $1.50.

Rāmeśvara: Oh.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The Bhāgavatams... Also the freight from here is less. That's another feeling that we have. Prabhupāda told me England, Australia, Africa should get books from India, and America, Canada, from America.

Prabhupāda: There is no consideration of big profit. Simply we want big number, distribution. That's all.

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Big number, as big as possible. My Guru Mahārāja, he had magazines in six languages: English, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, and one Bengali daily. So if our men complained that "Such and such men are not giving their subscription, so, what we can do? Stop the supply?" Oh, he would become very angry. He asked them, "Are you commercial-hired fools? No! Supply free!" He used to say like that. He was asking, "Whether we shall stop supply? The subscription is not coming." So immediately he became angry: "Are you commercial-hired? If he's not giving price, supply him free." That was his policy. So less perfect or..., try to see how many numbers of books.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Because once BBT India starts making profit, then the burden on BBT America will also be lessened. BBT India can start giving money for construction and other things. I foresee that if BBT India goes on, next, in 1977 we should make a profit of at least twenty-five lakhs rupees, twenty-five to thirty lakhs.

Prabhupāda: That's nice. And open center village to village, town to town. Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma. (CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126) See first printing is very first class and it is distributed very widely. Not shabby thing. No. Just like our Godbrothers, they printed... They have no printing; still, whatever they print, all shabby.

Conversation on Train to Allahabad -- January 11, 1977, India:

Rāmeśvara: They are subscribing to our newsletter. They somehow or other get our newsletter, and they read about our Māyāpur city costing so many lakhs and crores. So they became envious. That's all.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. That's all right. We are selling books. That is my book. I can spend in such a way.

Rāmeśvara: It was just envy.

Prabhupāda: Envy is envy. But it is my book. I am selling. So I can take the price anywhere. That is my right. You have nothing to say. You stop your men to purchase, that's all. Otherwise I'll sell anywhere and I shall spend anywhere. I have got the right.

Rāmeśvara: Normally they do not attack you.

Jagadīśa: We are voluntarily doing all this.

Rāmeśvara: We're voluntarily. But one of their main arguments is that before someone joins the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement he has great affection for his father, his mother, his brothers, his relatives. And after he joins the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement he has nothing to do with them anymore, and sometimes he even calls them demon.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is the fact.

Conversation and Instruction On New Movie -- January 13, 1977, Allahabad:

Prabhupāda: Actually India is poor. When we give food, how voraciously they eat. They cannot eat. They have no resources to eat nicely at home. That's a fact. Half-fed. At least half-fed. In the villages they are not fully fed. They have no sufficient clothing, no food, that's all. The rascal politicians, realizing heavy tax, and that is divided amongst them. It is not going to the poor. They are imitating Western way of life. They have got huge expenditure. So whatever money is coming, they are spending for their luxury, and poor men... The Gandhi's movement, boycott British goods, but they took it: "Boycott British goods and take our goods." So the consumer goods were the same. Gandhi helped to stop the British capitalist in favor of the Indian capitalist. The consumer remained in the same position, rather, worse. The foreigners, they are thinking that "These people are poor. They cannot pay more to me." And these rascals, Indian capitalists, in the name of nationalism, Birlas and others, they exploit. And they give contribution to Gandhi, Gandhi's staff, Jawaharlal Nehru's staff. And they took the opportunity that "I shall pay this rascal one lakh, and I shall utilize the ten lakhs." That's it. So the object of exploitation remained the same. Rather, by artificial inflation of money market put common men in plight, because the other day I was calculating... The things have gone high priced, thirty times, but the income has not increased thirty times. The other day I was calculating. My father's income was, utmost, three hundred rupees. So we had no scarcity. In our standard of life there was no scar... What standard of...? That standard of life is still... Now that three hundred rupees is... He calculated.

Conversation and Instruction On New Movie -- January 13, 1977, Allahabad:

Hari-śauri: Price of gold, it was based on.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Hari-śauri: We worked out the price of gold.

Prabhupāda: Yes, gold standard. Gold standard... At that time gold was selling... My mother was purchasing gold for ornament at twenty rupees per tola. Now the gold in India is six hundred rupees.

Rāmeśvara: Thirty times.

Prabhupāda: Thirty times.

Rāmeśvara: So that three hundred rupees is like nine thousand.

Prabhupāda: Nine thousand. And who has got nine thousand rupees' income?

Rāmeśvara: Per month?

Prabhupāda: Yes. That three hundred rupees is equal to nine thousand rupees now. Now, a middle class man, who has got nine thousand rupees' income? Maybe one thousand, two thousand... (break) ...same thing, thirty times. The same ghee is selling not less than twenty-five, up to thirty. Thirty times. Take anything, rice, dahl, wheat, two annas per seer. And now they charge two rupees, three rupees per kilo. So from two annas to two rupees, sixteen times more.

Room Conversation -- January 20, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: Panihati, ha. Panihati.

Gargamuni: You pass through... See, by this present boat it takes about ten days from Calcutta to Māyāpur. It takes a long time. And if there's no wind, they have to walk on the shore. And the boat is too small now for our program.

Prabhupāda: No, then you can take... What is the price?

Gargamuni: Well, I can only estimate. I have not gone deeply into it. But it will cost a few lakhs of rupees.

Prabhupāda: Few lakhs?

Gargamuni: Yeah. (Prabhupāda laughs) Well, it's a huge boat. But it can go on the sea. And we can do the whole coast of India. We can go all around the coast and do all the villages.

Prabhupāda: Why so much? Few lakhs?

Gargamuni: Well, it's a huge thing. It's made of solid teak wood. It's a huge thing.

Rāmeśvara: It's dangerous, going on the sea.

Gargamuni: No, not if you have proper navigation. And this sea is not so... It's not a rough sea.

Prabhupāda: Bay of Bengal is rough.

Room Conversation -- January 21, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: You should introduce coin, real money.

Hari-śauri: Real gold coins. No paper.

Prabhupāda: Anyone has got money... It is fact. And what is this nonsense, keeping some paper and thinking he has got money? How cheating it is going on, from government's side. And therefore artificial inflation. You can print, so the price is increased. Because you haven't got to pay him real money, you print and pay him, and he will ask, "Give me this money. Then I'll supply." "All right, take." You print and pay.

Rāmeśvara: It's definitely a means that the government has for controlling. Because they can withdraw money, pull it back out of circulation by increasing the interest the banks give, or they can get more money in...

Prabhupāda: Anything done artificially.

Rāmeśvara: They control the amount of interest on loans. It's all standardized from what they call the Federal Reserve system. This was introduced during the Depression by the bankers.

Prabhupāda: Whatever they do, when you receive money in the paper it has no value. Bad money. It is bad money. It is not good money.

Room Conversation -- January 21, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Hari-śauri: So you can alter... Say, you have one gold coin. You can alter what it...

Prabhupāda: No. If you introduce real metal coin, then there will be no inflation.

Hari-śauri: There's only a certain amount of metal.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. The exchange... The more demand, more price. So suppose here is a spectacle. I am demanding ten rupees. So both of you are customer, and you are asking for this spectacle. Then I am increasing my price. So if you can pay me by printing paper, you'll accept any price. That means artificially price is increased. Is it not?

Rāmeśvara: Yes.

Hari-śauri: So the idea is that with coins the man who has the goods, he can't...

Prabhupāda: Therefore... Suppose he has got ten coins; you have got ten coins. I am wanting fifteen coins. So there will be no competition. I have to accept either from you or you, ten coins.

Hari-śauri: Right. Because there's only that much money.

Prabhupāda: But if I increase price and if you print... If you have got power to print, "All right. Take fifteen coins, er, fifteen rupees." But you print and pay me. But if the gold, the coin, is there, you cannot increase on that.

Room Conversation -- January 21, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: But if I increase price and if you print... If you have got power to print, "All right. Take fifteen coins, er, fifteen rupees." But you print and pay me. But if the gold, the coin, is there, you cannot increase on that.

Hari-śauri: He can't increase the price of the product, and the man who got..., 'cause there's only a certain amount of money there.

Prabhupāda: But I can increase the price provided you pay me. But by printing, it is easier. But if you have to collect coins, that will be difficult, so there will be no artificial increase of...

Hari-śauri: Yes. Coins is a check...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hari-śauri: ...on charging too much.

Prabhupāda: That is wanted. And these rascals, they are artificially printing paper as money. And I am a rascal; I'm demanding more because I have got customer.

Evening Conversation -- January 25, 1977, Puri:

Prabhupāda: So what, these nonsense politicians? They lost the money and inconvenience to others. These rascal politicians, they can do anything whimsical. They were getting money, not less than fifty thousand, not smaller than daily fifty thousand. From business point of view they could have raised the toll. They could get more money. What is the use of stopping?

Hari-śauri: Well, they raised the price of oil instead.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Hari-śauri: They raised the price of oil instead.

Prabhupāda: Muhammadan, they... Brain fag. And they are thieves. The captains said that they are all thieves, these Egyptians.

Hari-śauri: Arabs.

Prabhupāda: Arabs. Vast desert we saw, passing. Huge stack of sand. How they are living there?

Hari-śauri: Certainly not for a civilized man.

Prabhupāda: This stove is ours?

Hari-śauri: It's Gargamuni's... (break)

Prabhupāda: Just imagine what kind of astrologer. The modern astrologers, they cannot foretell like that, neither they can believe that it is possible.

Room Conversation -- January 27, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: We don't support it. Our business does not support. You can live without car, but you cannot live without rainfall. Why don't you take the important business? Make machine that the water from the sea can be drawn and saltless and distributed. Why don't you do that?

Satsvarūpa: They've put aside the big problems and doing little things.

Prabhupāda: That's all. Childish. Every day the consumer's goods are increasing in price. So many poor men, they cannot purchase. Your motorcar machine, that is not meant for the poor man. Poor man requires food grains. There is no water. What you are doing for that? They require bread, food grains. Supply them sufficiently. They'll be happy. Without motorcar they can live. You can live also. But without food grains you cannot live and they cannot live.

Satsvarūpa: They can't do it, but then, when we say, "Rains will come by yajña," they'll say "No."

Prabhupāda: No, that is... You don't believe it, but here is the... That means you do not believe in God. Why don't you make an experiment? Ask everybody to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, kīrtana. As soon as you say you don't believe, then you don't believe in God, "God says." That is your disease. I can give you so many points. You have to elaborate it.

Room Conversation -- January 28, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: Our gateways, you mean to say.

Gargamuni: This year we've noticed that more respectable people are coming, well dressed, from the areas.

Prabhupāda: That, er... Behind our new house, that Muhammadan wanted to sell that land. But if he wants to sell at our price, not his price, we can take it.

Gargamuni: Yes, at our price. He knows that. But he wants his price.

Prabhupāda: No.

Gargamuni: He wants... What is it? Five thousand per bighā. Something like that.

Prabhupāda: We can pay, utmost, one thousand five hundred, as we have paid.

Gargamuni: Well, land prices have gone up since then. I think now they're running eighteen hundred. That was in '71 we were paying fifteen hundred. But now we have to expect to pay, say, eighteen hundred. This land is valuable because it produces so much. That is why it is most costly. You get very good crops from our, this land.

Prabhupāda: No, that land I shall use, if I take it, for another gate, in and out. That is my idea.

Morning Walk -- January 31, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: He is openly.

Satsvarūpa: Yes. He comes with his women.

Prabhupāda: He is openly. His philosophy is how to enjoy women, tantric.

Satsvarūpa: Yes. He advertises sex for..., yoga for two. He has a special price that a couple can come and learn tantra-yoga in America. And then Guru Maharaj-ji, he married.

Prabhupāda: Tantra-yoga means they will have sex, and he will be able not to discharge. That is tantra-yoga. The woman likes a man who does not easily discharge. This is tantra-yoga. So he is teaching that art or science. They will prove their tantric success that while sex there is no discharge.

Satsvarūpa: I spoke to one of them and said that for spiritual life you had to refrain from sex, and he said, "No. If you do this enough, then you will not have any more desire." Otherwise if you just refrain, that is not as thorough.

Prabhupāda: So many things going on. Very difficult to lead spiritual life.

Room Conversation -- February 2, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Yugadharma: And they are mūrtis that slip off the base. They are very first-class. I went to mūrtiwālā in Navadvīpa, Gopal.

Prabhupāda: No, he's not good.

Yugadharma: No. I went and looked at his prices and his quality...

Prabhupāda: No, no. Don't deal with him. He's a great thief.

Yugadharma: Yes.

Prabhupāda: I don't like him. He has made the karatālas so third-class. He is simply cheating. Don't deal with him.

Yugadharma: Laguna Beach temple... Agnideva dāsa, he's doing very nicely, very first-class. Everything is going... Temple life now is very nice.

Prabhupāda: Everywhere there should be nicer because you are getting experience.

Conversation on Roof -- February 14, 1977, Mayapura:

Brahmānanda: That is their standard.

Prabhupāda: But still, you are forced to take help of this lantern when there is no electricity.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This electricity has enabled so much...

Prabhupāda: What is the price of one tin kerosene?

Bhavānanda: It's sold by liter. I don't know. About 90 paisa per liter, one rupee per liter.

Prabhupāda: And one tin, how many liter?

Bhavānanda: It depends on how many liters the tin holds. Five liters, twenty liter tin.

Prabhupāda: So price has not increased very much.

Bhavānanda: No.

Prabhupāda: Because in our childhood we used to purchase one big canister, Monkey Brand. That was considered to be very first-class. Less smoke. Four rupees and two annas.

Conversation on Roof -- February 14, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Formerly they used to stock huge stock in Calcutta. Burma Sale. And new tin, if you exchange the container, then six annas less. Not very costly. Of course, in those days it was costly, taking consideration of the purchasing power of money. Four rupees, I remember, a few annas. My father did not like to purchase anything retail. For his daily necessity he'll purchase, he would purchase potato, one bag. So one bag means, maybe, one rupee, eight annas. (laughs) One anna per seer, kilo, I have purchased. Rice, fifteen mounds he will purchase. And what is the price? Three rupees, four annas. First-class rice. Coal, this coal, coke. Five annas per mound, purchase one cart load, fifteen mounds. The other day I was calculating. My father's income was, utmost, three hundred rupees per month in those days. And taking gold standard, my mother was purchasing gold from my cousin—he has gold shop-twenty rupees per tolā, first-class gold. Now it is six hundred rupees per tolā. (break) ...in those days thirty rupees per month. For thirty rupees, clerical staff, if you increase thirty times, how much it comes?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Nine hundred.

Prabhupāda: Nine hundred rupees. So where the clerk is getting nine hundred rupees?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That is upper middle class.

Prabhupāda: Nobody, no clerk is getting nine hundred rupees. Maybe officers, superintendent, they are getting. So actually people have not increased their income. That means they have become poor. Thirty rupees' clerk is very good position in those days. And sixty rupees' clerk, that is superintendent. The things were cheap. And two hundred rupees, officer, big income. The high-court judges were getting four thousand rupees in those days. What they are getting now? I don't think their salary has increased. Maybe five thousand, six thousand. The governor was getting ten thousand. High-court judges were getting four thousand. And secretaries were getting five hundred to one thousand.

Evening Darsana -- February 15, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Oh, I think about 1928, long ago, because about twenty years ago there was centenary, hundred years. So the local produce was not exported. Everything was cheap in the village because you have to consume. Whatever is produced in the village you have to consume. And these Britishers, they introduced railway and drew everything in the village to the town. And they would not sell in the village because they would get good price in the city. Otherwise in the village, everything was very cheap, very, very cheap-milk, vegetables, rice, dāl, everything. And the Britishers, they had no food. They have got only the potato. In England what they produce? No food. So everything was exported. Their policy was to supply manufactured goods and take raw materials from India. So they supplied cotton goods. They saw that all Indians are using cotton cloth. Iron they introduced. They introduced railway line, all iron, the carriage, the wheel, the road. Everything was... In this way they became prosperous. And the Indian people, they saw... They were educated because they are fond of going to pilgrimage by walking. They would go... Suppose from here, Navadvīpa, one has to go to Vṛndāvana. He would make his will, because he does not know whether he'll come back or not. Long distance, thousand miles, you have to go by, on leg. They used to go. So they were advertised that "No. Now you'll have not to walk. The Company, they're making very easy going railway." So they received it, "Oh! (Hindi)" (laughs) But their idea was to draw all the raw materials from villages and send it to England.

Evening Darsana -- February 19, 1977, Mayapura:

Indian: Two annas, eight paisa.

Prabhupāda: Former paisa, when sixty-four paisa was one rupee. Now hundred equal to one. The purchasing power of money was big. Now thirty percent has gone up, but people's income has not gone up so much. Thirty percent, thirty times. Formerly gold was priced twenty rupees per tolā. Now it is six hundred rupees. So thirty times. But people have not increased their income thirty times. My father was earning two hundred fifty to three hundred per month. So we were middle class. So now thirty times of three hundred means nine thousand. So which middle-class man has increased so much? Middle class man now, if he's earning one thousand rupees he's considered very well-to-do. But what is that one thousand rupees? Nothing. My father had from one business, one hundred rupees, from another business sixty rupees, and we had a house rented, eighty rupees. Eighty rupees, sixty rupees and hundred rupees. How much? Two hundred forty, plus something more. Utmost, three hundred. And in our house four, five guests was always present. It didn't matter. Besides that, he was inviting some Vaiṣṇava, some sādhu. He married four daughters, and we were eating very sumptuously, daily two and half kg milk. Two annas per kg. Very nice milk. This man was coming from outside Calcutta. So we were so many children. We would stand, "Give some phāo:" Two half kg's milk and half kg phāo. He wouldn't mind.

Evening Darsana -- February 19, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Because we are so many children, little, little, little. Kṛṣṇa was asking for phāo. That is the system in India. You purchase something from some vendor and ask little more phāo. He'll give. That is included in the price. (Bengali) Phāo? Especially children, they'll ask," Phāo dā." They'll give gladly. (Bengali) Ask them to come inside. (Bengali) Come inside. (Bengali) (end)

Evening Darsana -- February 24, 1977, Mayapura:

Hṛdayānanda: He's printing twenty-four pages only. So Britain House...

Prabhupāda: No, it is very nicely done, very nice.

Hṛdayānanda: He's got a very low price.

Brahmānanda: He doesn't have the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam included.

Prabhupāda: That he should. That is not American or English. (laughter) Next issue, they can add. Where is Jayatīrtha Prabhu? So your South America, there is some trouble?

Pañcadraviḍa: No. No trouble. Just in Argentina. The trouble is finished now. We're out.

Prabhupāda: Trouble is finished?

Pañcadraviḍa: And we're out. (laughter)

Prabhupāda: That is called mora mera gale.(?) To call a man by ill names, the last word is "You die."

Evening Darsana -- February 24, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Hm. You have already ordered for printing?

Jayatīrtha: We've already printed Īśopaniṣads, and just now they're preparing Nectar of Instruction and Perfection of Yoga for printing.

Prabhupāda: In London there are very big, big press.

Jayatīrtha: Yes. Quite good prices too, better than American prices. We're having our Swedish Bhagavad-gītā also printed in England. It's going to the press while we're here in Māyāpur.

Prabhupāda: How is that vegetable market? There is wholesale vegetable market.

Jayatīrtha: Not a very big one.(?)

Prabhupāda: Near I saw there is very big press.

Jayatīrtha: London's a fantastic city for spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Prabhupāda: Ācchā?

Jayatīrtha: Very good.

Prabhupāda: On whole, they like it?

Jayatīrtha: Yes, especially our kīrtana parties on Oxford Street and Picadilly Circus. They like that very much. Sometimes we get a thousand people standing around our kīrtana party, Picadilly Circus and Leicester Square, places like that.

Evening Darsana -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: This is their civilization. They have got so nice thing to eat, but they are making business by killing. How much insane. Killing is done by the uncivilized men when they are hungry. But when there are so many things to eat, why they should kill? And that is not for themselves. For others.

Hari-śauri: More ghee.

Prabhupāda: Huh? No, no, Australia can produce huge quantity of ghee. What is the price generally?

Bali-mardana: This is $3.90 for five pounds, no, two kgs.

Brahmānanda: Two pounds.

Bali-mardana: No, no, it's four pounds six ounces. Four and a half pounds. Less than one dollar per pound, little bit less.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Same as in America.

Prabhupāda: Per pound. What is the price here?

Devotee (4): About eighteen rupees.

Bhāgavata: Sixteen or eighteen rupees a kg.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The same price in America also, about a dollar a pound.

Prabhupāda: No, in India?

Bhāgavata: Sixteen or eighteen rupees, one kg.

Evening Darsana -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Hari-śauri: They're getting that Holland ghee for about twelve rupees a kg.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's the same price here also, about a dollar a pound.

Hari-śauri: That's not pure ghee. That's dalda.

Prabhupāda: That is not pure ghee?

Hari-śauri: No. That's dalda.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Pure ghee is...

Prabhupāda: Pure ghee is not available. So at least we can import pure ghee for our own use. If possible, we can sell also. At least for our own centers, food distribution.

Pañcadraviḍa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, when we first got to Argentina it used to be for three dollars you'd get five kilos of butter, or for a dollar you got, like, twenty-four quarts of milk.

Prabhupāda: Australia.

Bali-mardana: No, Argentina.

Prabhupāda: Argentina, oh.

Bali-mardana: There is also many cows... They produce many cows there.

Rāmeśvara: They have the reputation in Argentina of killing more cows than any country in the world.

Prabhupāda: No, because they do not know what they will do except killing.

Evening Darsana -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Bali-mardana: But this... The export... The Australian ghee in Australia is cheaper. This is export quality, is much higher quality. Higher...

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Bali-mardana: ...price.

Prabhupāda: Higher.

Bali-mardana: But now they are going to cut down the amount of ghee they make, because not many countries are buying ghee.

Prabhupāda: India is not buying?

Bali-mardana: Not so much.

Prabhupāda: They have learned to eat meat. Meat-eaters, they don't like ghee. Meat-eaters, they say (Hindi). (laughter) "A dog cannot digest ghee." Because they are meat-eaters.

Bhāgavata: Here's some more ghee.

Bali-mardana: These are all the book distributors. They have all come for your darśana with ghee. (laughter)

Bhāgavata: Soon I will not be able to see you.

Jayatīrtha: Also meat-eaters can't stand the smell of ghee cooking. No?

Prabhupāda: This ghee should be distributed in all our Indian centers.

Room Conversation with GBC members -- March 2-3, 1977, Mayapura:

Pañcadraviḍa: That was passed.

Satsvarūpa: Resolved: Tuṣṭa Kṛṣṇa's group in New Zealand and Siddha-svarūpānanda Swami in Hawaii should pay the same price for BBT books as the temples in the ISKCON, not less, as they are paying now. It is well known that these groups preach actively against ISKCON. In response, although we should point out their philosophic defects, we should not directly confront them but remain aloof from...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In other words, no fighting with them.

Prabhupāda: This is to give them chance. They are chanting. Some way or other, keep them alive.

Satsvarūpa: Resolution: An international life membership committee is formed headed by Brahmānanda Swami and Jayatīrtha, Gopāla Kṛṣṇa, and Ādi-keśava Swami. Each GBC man is responsible to try to recover devotees, blooped devotees, in his zone. That means fallen devotees. Say, if Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa has left, then wherever he is living in the world, that GBC man of that area should try to contact him, or Madhudviṣa, like that. They're responsible for them, trying to recover them. Resolved: A committee to be formed to discuss the improvements in the Māyāpur festival and set programs. Advisory committee of Jayapatākā Swami, Rāmeśvara Mahārāja, Bhavānanda Swami, Gopāla Kṛṣṇa, Mahendra and Balavanta. This is an advisory committee which will plan for an action committee.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Can you repeat who they are?

Satsvarūpa: Jayapatākā Swami, Rāmeśvara Swami, Bhavānanda Swami, Gopāla Kṛṣṇa, Mahendra and Balavanta.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is this for the festival? Could I be added to them? Is that all right, Śrīla Prabhupāda? I'd like to be added to that committee to help with the festival if that's all right with the GBC.

Gurukṛpā: Sure.

Satsvarūpa: Next year at the Māyāpur festival, separate but equal facilities will be arranged for the women. It was felt that they weren't equal this year, that perhaps next year the new building could be divided in half, that they could have the same type of facility but kept separate.

Prabhupāda: That's nice. Now we have got enough place.

Room Conversation -- March 22, 1977, Bombay:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And sell something less.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Diamond is diamond. It must be purchased by the suitable customer. Because there is no customer I shall throw it away? So we have got diamond. It is not possible that everyone will purchase it, but there must be diamonds. People must know that "Here is diamond. If I want it, I must pay the proper price." That I want to establish. Why India's culture should be lost in this way, in the wilderness?I am not cheap patriot like Gandhi and... I want to give Indian culture to the whole world. I'm not going to cheat people, taking Bhagavad-gītā and speaking all nonsense. I want to present Bhagavad-gītā as it is. That is my mission. Why shall I cheat you, a gentleman? (Hindi)

Guest (1): We'll try to follow your message properly.

Prabhupāda: (Hindi) Why India's such big culture should be lost for the matter of these rascal leaders? This should be stopped. As Kṛṣṇa says, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma (BG 4.13). There must be ideal brāhmaṇa, ideal kṣatriya, ideal vaiśya, as Kṛṣṇa says. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is all-inclusive. Economic question? Annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). Grow food. Practical. Just like when I was going to the pandals, millions of clerks were coming—"Education. Educated." And who is growing food? And they have to be provided in these pigeon holes and depend on ration. Is that civilization? And throngs of people are coming, just like machine, ants. Ants are coming. I saw like that. And go to the village side—all vacant land. Nobody's interested to produce food. Everyone is interested to live within the city, in these pigeonholes, and go to the cinema and go to the brothel, go to the club and learn how to drink, how to become gentleman. Is that civilization? Human life's aim is lost. You do not know why you are going to the office, why you are eating, why you are... Keeping them all pet animal's mentality, doggish mentality. We have explained. University education means doggish mentality. Unless he becomes a dog, there is no food.

Room Conversation -- April 2, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Is there any Deities?

Guru dāsa: No. Actually, my opinion is that it would be a great endeavor to take it, because the house needs also some repair. Although it is in good structural condition, it needs cleaning. But the only advantage is that there is no place left in Kali-yuga like it. Because it is such a beautiful mansion. And one hundred acres and a lake and in a hill, that's the advantage.

Prabhupāda: And what price does he want?

Guru dāsa: The price he didn't say yet. That we would have to negotiate.

Prabhupāda: Not only you, others also, you can see first of all. If we can utilize, otherwise...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: How would we utilize such a thing?

Prabhupāda: That you consider. Otherwise, why you should unnecessarily...?

Guru dāsa: In other words, some other devotees should also...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Put all the women there.

Prabhupāda: Where are so much women? (laughter)

Morning Conversation -- April 11, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Hm, that's nice.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "15) Foreign temples will receive records for approximately 75 cents, while North American temples will pay one dollars. All profits made by the BBT for records will go to ISKCON Food Relief. Prices may increase if the costs rise. 16) Harikeśa Mahārāja will take responsibility to prepare the Māyāpur brochure. 17) The BBT Trustees for each division are responsible for setting priorities in each division." That means printing priorities. "18) The US BBT will experiment with importation of books from India as soon as..."

Prabhupāda: What happened to that book, Dialectic Spiritualism?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Spiritual Dialectics?

Prabhupāda: Yes, Dialectic Spiritualism.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Dialectical Spiritualism. I think Harikeśa was working on that, wasn't he, when he was here...

Prabhupāda: No, no, it is finished. It was being edited by...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, okay, well, I'll write and ask.

Prabhupāda: ...Hayagrīva. But he is doing nothing and taking money.

Room Conversation with Ratan Singh Rajda M.P. 'Nationalism and Cheating' -- April 15, 1977, Bombay:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, we can only hope that we'll catch them. We hope that we'll catch them.

Prabhupāda: That is another thing, "when we catch." Who will catch? "Bell the cat." It is going on. I know. During wartime, one Chinese man was coming from China, and one business friend, he was appointed his purchasing agent. He was giving a list of goods to purchase. And this man, whatever money he'll charge, he'll immediately-Indian currency. He'll not say, "Why so much price?" No. Then he will pack up the goods and through some channel he'll dispatch it. That is also through our way, not in the... The China is in on the border. There also, if you pay money, smuggler's rate... They try to do.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That seems to be a big issue now, these smugglers. I notice in the newspapers every day.

Prabhupāda: The smugglers get with money, printed money. Who can check it?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So printed money should have gold behind it.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is the theory. What is the rate of economy?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What is the idea...

Prabhupāda: That is called...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Gold standard.

Room Conversation -- April 19, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Impound? Impound? What is the impounding?

Bhakti-caru: Cancelled today.

Prabhupāda: Where there is?

Bhakti-caru: New Delhi. (Bengali) "The instructions have been issued in this regard to Assam authorities. Mr Brahmacari is known to be close to Mr. Sanjay Gandhi." "Morarji Wants Prices. The Prime Minister, Mr. Morarji Desai, today promised in a radio broadcast to check the recent rise in prices on certain goods. 'If necessary by comparing quotas in the current stocks and even by imports, where feasible.' Mr. Desai observed that prices had declined since between February 25 and the end of March but have again increased in the last few weeks in the case of essential goods like oil seeds, cotton, edible oil, til, pulses and food grains. This has raised apprehensions in the minds of (indistinct). Some traders and some stockists have taken advantage of the shortage of certain commodities to increase prices. The form of exploitation would not be tolerated. The Prime Minister said that 'Lifting of the emergency does not mean that traders should try and make extra profits. That will hinder them in the eyes of the law, the people and government. I should like to emphasize that the ordinary law of the land is sufficient to deal with any antisocial conduct.' "

Prabhupāda: They should severe punishment. Then... We shall see.

Room Conversation -- April 22, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: That is natural. "If you become my enemy, I shall be your enemy." That is everywhere. Material world means that.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I was shocked to see that the mangoes... Did you see the price that they're being sold for? They are now selling in the market here for one hundred rupees a dozen.

Prabhupāda: (in disbelief) Hm?!

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: One hundred rupees a dozen they are being sold for, and they are being sent to the Gulf states, to the Arabs, and the Arabs are paying up to five hundred rupees a dozen for Alphonso mangoes. Fifty rupees per mango they are willing to pay. So the newspaper commented that "It may be that the poor people will not eat mango this year." Mangoes are so costly, over double the cost of last year.

Prabhupāda: Fifty rupees, twenty-five rupees per mango—who will pay?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Nobody. Of course, here in India they won't be so costly. The most costly ones are selling for one hundred rupees a dozen, so about eight rupees apiece. But then you can get lesser quality, and once the season is more in, then it will be available. But they are becoming increasingly costly. But isn't that an unheard of price? In your childhood I don't think they were that costly.

Prabhupāda: One rupee, dozen.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Phew! Good ones?

Prabhupāda: And later on, '53 or so, we saw, one rupee, half a dozen.

Morning Talk -- April 25, 1977, Bombay:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. (long pause)

Prabhupāda: I think he wanted 150 rupees two ways.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Huh? Yes. So I say sixty, sixty-five rupees one way times three, because first class is three times the cost. So I'm giving him two hundred rupees per person, and he'll give me the receipt and change.

Prabhupāda: No, in the ticket there is price written. In the ticket.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In the ticket, yes. And he's also honest man. But I will check. (long pause)

Prabhupāda: The reservations should be four. Three opposite. Throughout the car also(?).

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No, no, no, no. We're going to get two full compartments, four and four. No, we're not... Because I want both compartments full, because we have so much expensive luggage and machines, we could not let anybody else into our compartments, and they must be locked at every... That's understood. Rāmeśvara called you the other night, and we gave him the answers to our call. He said that Gurukṛpā Mahārāja was requesting that I write him a letter saying that they actually require the second $100,000 for construction.

Prabhupāda: No mail?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: There's no mail today because yesterday was Sunday. (long pause) (end)

Morning Conversation -- April 29, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: It is luxurious. (break) ...the āṭā dough. So after it is cooked... They have got ghee. That ball soaked in ghee and the ḍāl, it is so nice when taken. That is called baṭī. Very quickly made. And after eating, with that ash the two or three utensils, mean the loṭā and the plate, they'll cleanse it very nice and walk away. And that food is sufficient for twenty-four hours. Within twenty-four hours he will not be hungry and feel very strong. The two things. And you can cook anywhere without any difficulty. In India, especially in village, you can get so many dried cow dung. So fuel is ready. The āṭā is packed up. And ghee in a pot. That's all. How simple life. Simply they'll sit down where there is water, and they'll take water. Then everything is arranged. No hotel. Or even there is no āṭā, they keep their own ghee, homemade, pure. Āṭā can be purchased anywhere in the village. There is no need of carrying āṭā. So this preparation for tourists... Tourists, Indian tourists, means going to some holy place. They have no other sightseeing, no program. All villagers, they are still... The pilgrimage in holy places, now no educated man goes. Very rarely. All these villagers by thousands... They... You see this Tirupati, Tirumala. All the contribution by the villagers. By their hard-earned money they keep something for going. You have seen Tirupati, Tirumal...? Standing for hours to contribute in a line. Hundreds of people. They'll come, contribute something. Then they'll shave their head, see the Deity, have some bath in the adjoining lake. Then they'll take prasādam. That is very big tank. Everywhere. In India, wherever some famous temple is there, there is a tank. Now the haircutting, that lakhs of rupees are sold to foreign countries is hair. Heaps. These managers, they are selling the hairs. Very big business. The foreign countries, the black hair, they purchase it at good price for making wig. (pause) So that is written nice. He wanted to criticize me, but he could not do it very strongly. He did not like the idea that I am sticking to Bhagavad-gītā. That was his... But it has been shown that our sticking to Bhagavad-gītā, that is our mission. And it is a science. Why he called sectarian? When Kṛṣṇa says anything, that is science. "Two plus two equal to four" is acceptable by everyone. Why it is sect...? Actually all religion is going on under the plea, "We believe." What is this nonsense, "We believe"? If you believe "Two plus two equal to five," will it be correct? Their religion is "We believe." So our Bhagavad-gītā is not like that. It is fact. That is the difference. (break) ...of him. I was staying there in one big room. Crazy. Alone I am.

Evening Darsana -- May 13, 1977, Hrishikesh:
Prabhupāda: Whenever you'll get opportunity, you'll cut your throat. How much I can give you protection? That is going on. They have no faith in the words of Kṛṣṇa. They'll manufacture ideas. It is not "seldom." It is my dog's obstinacy that is checking. We cannot give up. Kṛṣṇa has..., sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66). That you cannot do. You want to keep in the same position, and at the same time, you want to understand Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. In this Hrishikesh, tīrtha-kṣetra, everyone comes to get some spiritual enlightenment, but who is talking of Kṛṣṇa? Am I right? And there is Gītā-bhavan, Gītā this, Gītā that. What is that "Gītā"? Gītā commentation. Nobody's interested. They don't like to hear even about Kṛṣṇa. This is the position. So mat-para is not seldom. (laughs) The followers are seldom. But Kṛṣṇa says, mat-para. "If you want to practice this yoga..." Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogam... This is yoga. Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1). This is real yoga. So nobody's interested. Then what can be done? My Guru Mahārāja used to say that "If one is selling langlam(?), and he's canvassing, 'Please come here. Take langlam. There is no price for it,' then people will not take. 'Why langlam he's distributing free?' " So that is the position. We are going to door to door: "Take Kṛṣṇa." They think, "It is very cheap thing. What is the use? Let us practice some other yoga." Kṛṣṇa says, yoginām api sarveṣām (BG 6.47). We don't take. So langlam is not seldom, but the person who take langlam is seldom. This is the difficulty. Kṛṣṇa says, "By this practice of yoga..." Aiye.
Conversation with M.P., Shri Sita Ram Singh -- May 19, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: No, thirteen rupees.

Sita Ram Singh: Thirteen rupees in our time.

Prabhupāda: Ghee, first-class ghee, we were purchasing, one rupee, Vardwa(?) ghee. Now what is the price of ghee?

Indian man (1): Twenty-five.

Sita Ram Singh: Twenty rupees.

Indian man (1): Twenty, twenty-five. Between twenty and twenty-five, depending upon the place.

Prabhupāda: That means between twenty-five to thirty times, the price has increased. But income has not increased.

Indian man (1): Not in the real sense.

Prabhupāda: No sense. All nonsense.

Indian man (1): No sense not at all.

Sita Ram Singh: No sense. No sense at all.

Prabhupāda: Simply nonsense. So what is remedy? Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ (SB 7.5.31). All over the world... Of course, we do not want to criticize, but according to śāstra, people will suffer more and more. And they must suffer. Because they are becoming godless, they must suffer. That is nature's punishment.

Short Dissertations -- May 24-25, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: That was in 1936. Rice has increased after 1940.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: At least it was twenty thousand rupees' value now.

Prabhupāda: All of a sudden rice has increased in 1942 by Churchill's artificial increasing his bribe to recruit soldiers. I have seen. Within two hours the price of rice, from six rupees it came to fifty rupees.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Completely artificial.

Prabhupāda: I was in the grocer's shop purchasing, and all of a sudden the grocer says, "No, no, I am not going to sell any more." He got some information. So that time, six rupees per mound, first class...

Bhavānanda: Mound.

Prabhupāda: Per mound. Very first class rice. So he was not going to sell. A few hours after, I went to purchase-fifty rupees. From six rupees. Government appointed agents to purchase it and stock it. So people, being harassed, they'll come to military. This was Churchill's...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Those British were very clever.

Prabhupāda: Artificially created a famine in India. I have seen.

Morning Conversation -- May 29, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes. (break) ...come directly, brāhmaṇas sometimes brahmacārī, gṛhastha. That will impress. (break) ...hodgepodge. Respect is no. Ideals become a leader. He'll do. He'll do. There must be some strong men. Tilaka always must be there. That is our great standard. Kaṇṭhī-mālā. Every fifteen days you should be cleansed. (break) (indistinct) Don't be in all this (indistinct). Go on very nicely. Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita Gadādhara Śrīvāsa... (break)

Gargamuni: Well, we only printed two Oriya books. Both were printed in Calcutta so far, because there's one Oriya printer there. Gaura-Govinda Mahārāja is investigating completely the... We went around investigating the presses in Cuttack and Bhuvaneśvara, if we might get some cheaper or easier price. It appears that some things we can do cheaper there, like the inside part, but cover cannot do cheaper there.

Prabhupāda: Cover you can get there, cover.

Gargamuni: In Bombay we might be able to do cover much cheaper and then the inside cheaper in Orissa. That we have...

Prabhupāda: Better quality also.

Conversations -- May 31, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: (Bengali) (break) Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. (break) Begin. If we make Hindi plate, Los Angeles, and send it to...

Rāmeśvara: We could do it in Los Angeles, but it would be more costly. Gopāla says that the main concern with the Hindi books is keeping the cost as low as possible so it can be sold in India.

Prabhupāda: No, plate-making, we have got all machine, so it will be cheaper.

Rāmeśvara: The price that he is getting in India is very cheap. He says that he can do twenty pages a day, composing. He's got one place in Vṛndāvana that he uses and another place in Delhi. So if each place is doing one different book, two books can be done simultaneously at twenty pages every day.

Prabhupāda: Twenty pages and cost?

Rāmeśvara: It costs about a dollar a page.

Prabhupāda: Where? In...?

Rāmeśvara: In India. To compose.

Prabhupāda: And there?

Rāmeśvara: If we did it in America, it would not be less expensive. It might be even more expensive, because you have to order a special font for the Hindi alphabet. I've gone over this with Gopāla, and he says that so far, he is able to keep up with the translators. He is just now in Bombay, giving some more books in Hindi to the printer. Bhāgavatam 1.3 and Bhagavad-gītā in Hindi are going to the printer. And the translator is just still working on the first volume of Second Canto. As far as printing, this printer in Bombay called Usha is giving us very good service at a very low price. So it's a good place to print the books, the Hindi books. (pause) There's no question of buying equipment in India because it's too expensive for us to buy our own equipment.

Prabhupāda: No, that is...

Rāmeśvara: Plus it will not be repaired when it breaks.

Prabhupāda: That is very risky.

Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- June 21, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: They like prasādam.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, very much. Because vegetarian is becoming now a very popular thing. People are thinking that it is more healthy to eat vegetarian. They call it health food. It's called health food. In fact, they have places called "health food bar." Instead of getting a whiskey, they get carrot juice, like that. People come... They comes sometimes just for one glass of juice. They'll pay dollar and a half, any price. They'll pay anything in America. If you know how to sell it, you can ask any price. Now, this month of June, now the prasādam carts will be doing more and more, all day long, because New York...

Prabhupāda: No, I have seen. They are always busy. Always.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In our New York building we have two elevators. And that impresses people when they come there to see. If you own a building with two elevators in it, it's a big thing.

Prabhupāda: It goes up to the roof.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. And the roof is quite nice. When the viewers see...

Prabhupāda: Very nice.

Conversation with Bhakti-caitanya Swami-New GBC -- June 30, 1977, Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: There is a special name of that place. Everyone, every poor man or rich man, must use quantity of spice.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I was surprised. In Bombay this one life member, very wealthy man... I thought, "Oh, this man must have many businesses." And I found that he only had one business. He simply exports cardamom. And he's a very wealthy man, and he simply exports little cardamom seeds, but such quantities, and it fetches a very good price abroad.

Prabhupāda: Yes, there are many merchants. They deal in quantity and stock huge. Nobody can compete with him.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, they buy everybody out.

Prabhupāda: He can give so cheap one lakh. Somebody gives you a black, what is called...? Berries, berries.

Upendra: Black pepper?

Prabhupāda: Black pepper.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So you'll take the milk of magnesia.

Prabhupāda: Yes, and little (indistinct).

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Okay. (indistinct) Maybe you'll get immediately, I mean, if you take it before going...

Prabhupāda: No, before going, take out.

Room Conversation with Mr. Myer -- July 2, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hayagrīva was eating also. (laughter) And he was typing. He's a very good typist. He'll type very swiftly and correctly. Then I started this Back to Godhead, Hayagrīva and Rāyarāma, editors. And I purchased two machines. What is that?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Mimeograph machine.

Prabhupāda: There was advertisement. So I went to Long Island. That two machines... I asked, "What is the price?" "$150 each." Then he wanted to take away the machines. Machine was all right. And then I told him that "I have got $150 only. If you want to give us, give those two machines." So "All right, you take these all." (laughter) So I gave him $150, whatever I had, and I took the machine. In that machine was printed Back to Godhead. So five hundred copies... How many copies you were selling?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, by the time we were selling, you were printing about three thousand, and we were selling twenty-five hundred.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. Then I asked Brahmānanda that "Why not print it nicely?" So he said that "Unless we print twenty thousand, nobody will take this work." And "All right, order twenty thousand." Now, from twenty thousand or five hundred, what is the quantity now we are printing?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Not less than five hundred thousand a month.

Room Conversation with Vrindavan De -- July 6, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes. If you go I shall give you chance to see how my devotees are living happy in big, big houses. Big, big house. Do you think to possess a twelve-story house in New York is joke?

Vrindavan De: Even I cannot think of.

Prabhupāda: Is joke? We have got. In Detroit we have got a house which was constructed at the cost of six million dollars, fifty years ago. What is the price six million dollars?

Vrindavan De: Sixty lakhs.

Indian: Five lakhs forty thousand.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No, no, no. Six million means five crores.

Indian: Five crores for...

Vrindavan De: No. One million is ten lakhs.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Six crores.

Prabhupāda: So that house we are possessing.

Room Conversation Gaurasundara, Dr. Kapoor -- July 26, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Anyway, Ratha-yātrā has been performed. This is good news. Thank you. (break) Each standing order is for eight hundred rupees, seventeen books. So four thousand. So how much it becomes?

Dr. Kapoor: These boys are doing very good work. How much enthusiasm they are putting in.

Prabhupāda: There is two, three groups working in the Communist country. So we are getting very encouraging report, especially for Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta. So what is the price of four thousand sets at eight hundred rupees?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I think it's about thirty-two lakhs' rupees, four thousand...

Prabhupāda: So beyond imagination. (laughter) We printed Caitanya-caritāmṛta, twenty thousand copies. Out of that, five thousand copies are already sold, and we have collected at least forty lakhs of rupees. And India also we are getting orders even from Bangladesh, Dacca, Dacca University. So by Prabhupāda's āśīrvāda things are going very encouraging. What we have sold in the last one week? The last report?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The last report... This is simply from the American and Western European countries, it was reported in one week, June 27th to July 3rd, they sold 51,000 hardcover books, then 30,000 medium size books, 20,000 small books, and 140,000 magazines in one week.

Dr. Kapoor: Staggering figures.

Prabhupāda: Fifty-one thousand, five dollars each. What is the?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's about a quarter of a million dollars. Two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

Prabhupāda: Two hundred fifty thousand dollars, and if you exchange in rupees?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In rupees? About twenty lakhs, more than twenty lakhs.

Prabhupāda: In one week. So unimaginable.

Room Conversation -- July 27-28, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Why not print them?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We're printing them. I was in Ahmedabad last week, and we finalized plans to print those books.

Prabhupāda: Print.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We are purposely using government paper on this to keep the prices low.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Oh, yes. Use government paper.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Because in India...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What's the price of this book?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We are going to sell it for sixteen rupees or twenty rupees. Actually our life members love these books.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I was in Calcutta. Adri-dhāraṇa Prabhu told me that the Marwaris love it, even in Bombay.

Prabhupāda: Yes, the ladies can read at home.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Also, Śrīla Prabhupāda, the cover for First Canto, Part Three, is already printed. I'm going to take 1.3 now, but we've already printed the cover. This is 1.3.

Prabhupāda: This I want. Books are coming.

Room Conversation -- July 27-28, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: The printing is first class.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. It's like American standard.

Prabhupāda: I think the Diwali greeting card dealers also will accept.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, but we are keeping it... Śrīla Prabhupāda, I studied the whole market. It is to our advantage to restrict the sale, because when we deal with dealers or distributors we have to sell them at half the price and allow them to keep their profit. But we want to make this exclusive for life members. Otherwise, if anyone can buy it in a market, it's not such a great prestige.

Prabhupāda: No, no, no. You keep...

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: So this we are showing, as if we are doing the life members a favor. These are just some advanced samples that are printed just to get orders. And plus, anyone who orders more than hundred cards, we will print their name and message inside. And plus, there's a mahā-mantra on the back of every... Hundred cards is the minimum order.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: A hundred's nothing. They'll all do that.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So both consulting, you can see.

Room Conversation -- July 27-28, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: And Communist country wonderfully.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I'll show you that letter that I got from Russia inviting us to come to the...

Prabhupāda: Caitanya-caritāmṛta. They have sold at least thirty to forty lakhs' worth Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Yaśomatīnandana: Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma (CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126) .

Prabhupāda: Bengali's price.(?) Still, they are purchasing. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It's been raining very, very heavily in Bombay. Because of this, all the ships, everything, have been getting delayed. It's very heavy rainfall. Last seven days it's raining continuously, day and night.

Prabhupāda: That is Bombay. Three days, four days raining continually, that is not unusual in Bombay.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We are now printing the small books for Australia also. Hari-śauri just sent me an order for twenty thousand Rāja-vidyās...

Prabhupāda: Just see.

Room Conversation -- August 8, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: You arrange. In this stage, don't tax me very much. Now I have authorized that will and everything. Follow that. You believe.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We'll discuss it with Tamāla.

Prabhupāda: As far as..., don't tax me. And printing, don't mind for price. Do it quickly and nicely.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: That is... As quickly as possible. No manuscript should be left vacant. That I want. Here and there I have more money invested. Now you don't...

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No. We're not leaving anything.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: There are four Gujarati books now also coming out.

Prabhupāda: Print.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, we have already finalized.

Prabhupāda: Print.

Room Conversation -- October 4, 1977, Vrndavana:

Haṁsadūta: She's becoming popular again.

Bhagatji: The question is about this dearness, these costly things, going, prices higher and higher.

Bali-mardana: Yes. The prices are going up, so the people are becoming dissatisfied with this Janata government.

Haṁsadūta: Just prior to her being arrested, a few days, she has publicly announced that "The government doesn't have the guts to arrest me." She said, "The government doesn't have the guts to arrest me." So this arresting her will make her more popular. She is very intelligent lady. And her little sister, this Shreemav Badranayiki, she was the prime minister of Shree Lanka. She is also coming back. These two women went to school together. They were in the same class.

Bhagatji: From Ceylon.

Haṁsadūta: Yes. It's an amazing coincidence. This woman prime minister of Śrī Lanka, she follows everything Indira does. When Indira Gandhi held elections, she also held elections. She lost; she lost. She's coming back; she's coming back. They're very friendly, two ladies running these two countries. Sometimes when preaching I tell the public, "What kind of country is this? The land of the rājarṣis and some lady is running the government."

Prabhupāda: Hm, don't touch politics.

Haṁsadūta: Oh, all right. We should stay clear of the government. They are too dangerous.

Prabhupāda: Cultural... We, our culture and philosophy. To be arrested is not new thing for politicians.

Room Conversation -- October 4, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Don't waste money for this astrology.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah. In London when we were going to get the astrologer to do, when I heard it was expensive, then we cancelled. How much money he is asking here?

Hari-śauri: He didn't say a price. He said it would take two or three days to do a detailed chart.

Prabhupāda: It is useless. Better arrange as many hours as possible to chant kīrtana. That is...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda? Today we did kīrtana starting in the afternoon till the evening. So do you want more than that?

Prabhupāda: I can hear day and night.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So should we arrange...? Maybe we should arrange starting in the morning going till night.

Prabhupāda: That is according to your convenience. But kīrtana is very sweet.

Hari-śauri: Last June we were doing twenty-four hours.

Prabhupāda: That is real business. These astrologer are karmīs. We have nothing to do with the karmī.

Room Conversation -- October 6, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: And you can send to Europe, America also.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, England. America, we are thinking of printing small books for them, because for America to get lower price on all books they have to print many hundred thousand. So many books of yours are out of print, out of stock with BBT Los Angeles. But we can get the same price on a lower run. That means that on lower investment we can print the same books, and in this way at least they will have some books in stock of every book you have published. So if somebody wants some book, they won't say that they don't have it, but they can supply it. So I've been writing about this to Rāmeśvara Swami.

Prabhupāda: My point is, I don't wish to keep money in the bank. Invest in printing.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. And now we are making a big go-down in Bombay, a professional go-down for BBT.

Prabhupāda: Where?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: In Bombay.

Prabhupāda: In our?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, in our Hare Kṛṣṇa land. In that Gurukula building, because now we have so many books and we don't have enough space, so we're going to start work on the go-down. I just need three lakh rupees, but when Rāmeśvara comes I'll talk to him and then start it.

Prabhupāda: No, three lakhs we have got.

Visit From Allopathic Doctor -- October 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: By seeing the picture they sell.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: People will buy just from seeing. (Prabhupāda laughs)

Harikeśa: In Germany pictures like on the back, they're very popular.

Prabhupāda: What price you are selling?

Harikeśa: We sell these for about eight or nine marks or ten marks. That's somewhere between $3.50 and $4.00. Sometimes a little more.

Prabhupāda: They pay that.

Harikeśa: We've made on the covers the same gold stamp as in the American books, on this cover, and on the side also, for the libraries, because we are selling standing orders in German also. And here's Second Canto, Third Part, with Śrī-Śrī-Rādhā-Madana-mohana from Germany, from the Schloss.

Jayatīrtha: These Deities are superexcellent Deities.

Harikeśa: The pūjārī, he will not leave the temple under any circumstances, Aṣṭaratha dāsa. No matter what, he will not leave the temple. I tried to force him to come to London to see you. He said he cannot do it.

Prabhupāda: Very good.

Visit From Allopathic Doctor -- October 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Rāmeśvara Mahārāja, how do you like?

Rāmeśvara: These books are very good. The most incredible thing, the printer can print them faster than anywhere else in the world. From the day he gives the book to the printer and the day the printer ships it, it is faster than anywhere else in the world.

Harikeśa: The printer has invited all the BBT trustees from all over the world, and he will pay their fare, and he will say he will beat everybody's price in the whole world for printing.

Prabhupāda: Then why not print there?

Rāmeśvara: He wants us to go to do the research next month in November.

Prabhupāda: So go. If you get cheaper and nicer, why not?

Rāmeśvara: We're planning to go and research it very carefully.

Room Conversation -- October 11, 1977, Vrndavana:

Ātreya Ṛṣi: They like it very much. Nandarāṇī Prabhu and Dayānanda Prabhu are managing.

Prabhupāda: They are both intelligent.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Yes. They are working very hard.

Prabhupāda: And they are very sincere. What do you charge?

Parivrājakācārya: About sixteen rupees, fifteen tomands(?). It is very little price. It's very small.

Prabhupāda: For one plate?

Ātreya Ṛṣi: One plate. Very reasonable price. But many people give donations. And many of them take the books. We have your books. They take, and they read it, and they love it.

Prabhupāda: Success.

Hari-śauri: What kind of people do you get?

Prabhupāda: High class.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Higher class. Very intelligent, educated...

Prabhupāda: The low class, they purchase that big ruṭi. (laughs) That's all.

Room Conversation -- October 12, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: He wants to sell it. What does he want?

Jayapatākā: Right now he's asking... Actually right now he's more eager than ever to sell his land. The sādhu next to us, Praphulla Brahmacari, both of us, we met together, and we made a verbal agreement that we wouldn't give him any hope for purchasing his land at a high price. And as the result, now because of this incident... Before he had some hope that some outside person would come and buy land. But now the outside people, they don't want to purchase land at Māyāpur. So now he has no other hope than to sell either to us or to that brahmacārī. So now he's still asking four thousand. He's come from six to four. But it's even appearing that within a short time he may come down to three thousand.

Prabhupāda: So if he comes three thousand... How much land there is?

Jayapatākā: There's four bighās.

Prabhupāda: So purchase it. Do you follow?

Jayapatākā: Yes. That brahmacārī, he would purchase it also. If you wanted to have him purchase, he would purchase and give us a piece. He said he would give us a piece alongside the building as big as we want, and he would purchase the rest.

Prabhupāda: My idea is it is a land where we shall dig another pond. No building.

Room Conversation -- October 12, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Over one thousand per day are selling in Brazil.

Prabhupāda: Oh. What is the price?

Hṛdayānanda: Price? They're charging to the public around eighty cents.

Prabhupāda: So you have got a good collection?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Good collection, Hṛdayānanda?

Hṛdayānanda: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Print more books.

Hṛdayānanda: Yes. Also in Brazil the Bhāgavatam is very, very popular.

Prabhupāda: This is life. This material world and the bones... The bones are not our... This is life. We are not concerned with bones and stones. Our real concern is the living force. Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām, jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat (BG 7.5). The living force which is sustaining the bones... Bone is not important. It may remain; it may go. It doesn't matter. Real life, what is sustaining the bone, is steady. We have got history that there was a ṛṣi, he had only bones. So there is a science by which you can sustain life—only bones. Hiraṇyakaśipu did it, practically.

Room Conversation -- October 15, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: So, you arrange many printers.

Girirāja: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Never mind the price. Huge stock should be maintained. Why unnecessarily keeping in the bank?

Girirāja: Now we'll spend it all for printing.

Prabhupāda: I think in the BBT there are five, six lakhs.

Girirāja: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So why...? Turn them into books.

Girirāja: (whispering) "I think that in the BBT there's five, six lakhs. So why not transform it into books?"

Prabhupāda: Hindi books can be distributed all over the world.

Girirāja: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Similarly Gujarati, and English to Australia. Why money should be kept in the bank?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I don't think it will be any more, now that we have your direction. You actually gave us directions about a week ago, and I think they're going to carry through on it.

Prabhupāda: Don't depend on one printer.

Room Conversation -- October 21, 1977, Vrndavana:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: What I'm saying it's very good. A thousand Gītās in two months is very good. Now I'm expanding this to the Bhāgavatam.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Unless you have good godown, it will be stolen and sold in the market at cheap price.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. A good godown is very, very necessary, so we're starting work on it right away. And in three to four months it will be completed.

Bhavānanda: Śrīla Prabhupāda? Can you turn onto your back again so I can do your other leg and your arms?

Prabhupāda: Hm. You can turn me any way. Deal with the Home Minister's letter very carefully.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Deal with the Home Minister's letter very carefully.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Actually the first meeting I had with him was very, very nice, by your grace. He took great interest. He called me for one minute, and he sat down for twenty minutes with me. So... Now, actually, it is his secretary who is handling it. The big thing is getting his approval, which we already have. Now we are dealing with the secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Prabhupāda: A set of book Hindi may be taken there to the secretary.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: To the Home Minister?

Prabhupāda: To the secretary.

Room Conversation -- October 21, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: So, whatever Nava-yogendra has presented, let it be sold and utilized...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In Mombassa.

Prabhupāda: Mm. Sometimes presentations are sold at higher price by bid. Yes. That is the way.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: By bid. The most valuable thing, you gave to Gurukṛpā Mahārāja-conchshell. But he did not pay anything for it.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. He'll worship. Jaya Nitāi-Gaura.

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

(I offer my obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all others in the line of devotion.)

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

(My dear Lord, and the spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service. I am now embarrassed with this material service. Please engage me in Your service.)

rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan
nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu
kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
(Bs. 5.39)
premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
(Bs. 5.38)

These mantra should always be chanted. That will do great benefit to me. Hm?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, Prabhupāda. Should we chant it now?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Room Conversation -- October 24, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What medicine the poor man would take. So he said, "Poor man or rich man, it doesn't matter. The price of it is about forty-eight rupees per tolā, because the gold that is given, it's given back at the end." It's just passed through, the gold. It's not utilized itself. So forty-eight rupees a tolā. This is what he said, very big Marwari kavirāja.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that I have heard.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So this Rāmānujī kavirāja was charging five hundred rupees a tolā. And Vanamali, when we gave him gold, he never returned any gold. So... This is the position, cheaters.

Prabhupāda: Vanamali was also.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Something. Anyway, before we leave I'm going to speak with Bhagatji. Bhagatji is the one who gave the gold and pearls to Vanamali. So I think Bhagatji will be able to recover it. We'll leave this medicine with Bhagatji, and he can give the medicine to Vanamali and take the money. So Smara-hari will be leaving today, just now. And we've already spoken with Delhi, and they're already going to purchase the airline tickets. Either we will leave Wednesday... Today is Monday. Either we will leave Wednesday or we will leave Friday. We're not going to travel on Thursday. And they've already informed Calcutta and Māyāpur.

Prabhupāda: Who will go with me?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Your Divine Grace, Bhavānanda Mahārāja, myself, Bhakti-caru Mahārāja, Śatadhanya Mahārāja, Upendra Prabhu, Svarūpa Dāmodara, Bharadvāja. That'll be on the plane. Then in the train, Pradyumna, Arundhatī, some other devotees also. So eight of us will be going on the plane with you, seven plus Your Divine Grace, and you will have three seats. Altogether, we're purchasing ten seats. So I don't think there will be any difficulty. We're going in full team. Scientist is with us. In case of any special knowledge, Svarūpa Dāmodara will be there. Bhavānanda with his gun. (laughter) Full team. I think it will be a nice journey, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: I hope.

Room Conversation -- November 3, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: (chuckles) (pause) Do you want to hear some of the newsletter? It says here... This newsletter is written by Rāmeśvara. It's especially meant for encouraging book distribution, Śrīla Prabhupāda. It says, "Later on in the morning, Prabhupāda sent for Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Prabhu and explained to him that he wanted to print as many books as possible. 'My point is,' Śrīla Prabhupāda said, 'that I don't wish to keep money in the bank. Invest in printing.' So in this way, although... Then Prabhupāda went on, referring to Harikeśa Swami, after he presented six new hardbound German books to His Divine Grace, 'He is very intelligent boy. My Guru Mahārāja is so pleased. He used to say whatever money is there was to be used for printing books. He was so happy to print books. So you do it all very nicely. I printed my books, and now you do it. These are first class and there is no defect. German printing is very favorable. This is all right. Thank you very much.' It says here, 'Harikeśa Swami told Prabhupāda that now he has to become more healthy to finish the Bhāgavatam. Prabhupāda replied, 'Healthy? I have nothing to do with this body. I have to do with the spiritual world.' Bhagavān prabhu mentioned to Prabhupāda how many books his zone was distributing. They are trying for twenty thousand big books in one week. Prabhupāda was very encouraged and told him, 'Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī will give them all blessings. He wanted this very much.' An hour later Hṛdayānanda Mahārāja was in the room and told Prabhupāda that they had printed 100,000 copies of Kṛṣṇa book in Portuguese. Prabhupāda said, 'Thank you very much. Printing of books is our life force.' Prabhupāda looked through the books and again he asked, 'How many published?' When he heard 100,000, 'Oh, how they are selling, and what is the price? Very good collection? Print more books. This is life. This material body—only bones. So go on and this is life. We are not concerned with bones and stones. Our concern is the living force. The living force is actually sustaining these bones. Bones are not life. Print books as I have shown the way: half again for printing and half spent for propaganda as you like. In this way go on.' Then he turned to Jayapatākā Mahārāja and asked him if he was doing that. He told him, 'Whatever propaganda is needed, you go out and spend, but print books and distribute. Whatever English books we have got, if we translate into Bengali, you have got enough stock.' Jayapatākā Swami replied 'Yes, we have got a treasure house,' and Prabhupāda said, 'In this way, in all languages, distribute. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.' " It says here, "Prabhupāda is translating the Third Volume of the Tenth Canto, and Volume Two is now just being printed and will be available for shipping to all temples on November llth along with a new book written by Śrīla Prabhupāda called the Teachings of Lord Kapiladeva. Fifty thousand copies of each volume have been published."

Prabhupāda: Fifty copies?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Fifty thousand.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Room Conversation -- November 3, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So why not purchase?

Bhavānanda: Right where the, where we want to put the temple. It must be a group of men that the prices vary per bighā.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Why not purchase?

Śatadhanya: Jayapatākā Mahārāja is very anxious to purchase that land. It's exactly where the site for the big temple, at that location. Fifteen bighās.

Prabhupāda: Whether he can purchase?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Whether he can purchase? If you don't go to Māyāpur, Śrīla Prabhupāda, all of Māyāpur will come here to be with you. Now, if you get a little stronger, we can go.

Śatadhanya: Even the airport officials were disappointed. They were saying, "Where is our Guru Mahārāja?" I was shocked to hear them saying. "Where is our Guru Mahārāja?" They had purchased very nice fruits and vegetables of all different varieties, and Prabhupāda could choose which he liked-portal, jinga, so many things.

Prabhupāda: What other news?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What other news?

Śatadhanya: Everything is very nice there, very organized. Jayapatākā Mahārāja and Bhavānanda Mahārāja have organized it very nicely. Calcutta is very clean. Also Calcutta was prepared in case your Divine Grace was feeling tired. Then you could have stayed at Calcutta for a day or so and then gone on to Māyāpur. Many life members had come to the airport. Sita Ram Daga...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I think we have to go soon, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Actually, to take you to different places is the greatest ecstasy, because there's no greater pleasure the devotees have than when you first arrive, they see you. Their feelings know no bounds. Airport arrivals have always been ecstatic over the years, Śrīla Prabhupāda. The newspapers always remark how ecstatic they are.

Prabhupāda: What is the condition of the road?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This road is hopeless. We have to find an alternate way.

Room Conversation -- November 6, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: He is selling the land also?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is he selling?

Jayapatākā: Right now he's still asking four thousand rupees, but he seems to be weakening. But he hasn't come down yet in his price. He's not coming around so much because now they have to go regularly to the jail.

Bhavānanda: How often?

Jayapatākā: They were going once a day. Now it's once a week. So it's a big trouble for them.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Including him?

Jayapatākā: Yes, he's one of them. He has to go.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He's one of the men who was...

Jayapatākā: Oh, yes.

Bhavānanda: He's one of the main instigators.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You should tell him that if he sells at 2000 rupees a bighā that we will not be so severe with him.

Jayapatākā: To say stuff like that is very dangerous. They use that, how to say that, in court.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Kṛṣṇa worked with this man. He was harassing us and now he is harassed.

Prabhupāda: Up to three thousand you can take. Four bighās.

Jayapatākā: Yes.

Prabhupāda: And make a dighi.

Room Conversation -- November 6, 1977, Vrndavana:

Jayapatākā: He's very friendly. He came by and he said that... He recommended about two months ago that for a while we shouldn't say anything to the Muhammadan. Then he will bring the price down. Then mutually we can decide that who will take the land.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He wants the land?

Jayapatākā: He doesn't know if he has the money to buy the land, but he has got some interest to get the land.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Why?

Jayapatākā: Because he only has one bighā right now, and that land is just next to his.

Bhavānanda: Planting?

Jayapatākā: Now planting is going on. Already many flowers and vegetables have been planted, and now the wheat fields are being plowed for planting. (break) ...if the big temple was thirty or thirty-five stories high, there would be any harm?

Prabhupāda: No harm. It is too much.

Jayapatākā: The present design is too much. Yes, the present design means that every month, six hundred thousand dollars would have to be given, and that's just too much.

Prabhupāda: Too much strain is not good.

Room Conversation -- November 8, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hm.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "My dear Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami and Dhṛṣṭadyumna Swami: Please accept my most humble obeisances unto your feet. All glories to our beloved spiritual master Śrīla Prabhupāda. May Lord Kṛṣṇa, if He so desires, please cure Śrīla Prabhupāda. I'm writing this letter as a brief report on the recent events as a result of my trip to Kwangchow, Canton China. I arrived on October 16th. Business—attended the Trade Fair but signed no contracts as all the prices were far too high. Research on some items may result in future business. Saṅkīrtana—our real business: I gave two Chinese Bhagavad-gītās to the Chungshan University, or Dr. Sun Yatsen University as it is called now, in Canton. They were accepted by the administration with assurance of being delivered to the appropriate departments. I inquired from the liaison office how to visit the university. They said it must be prearranged, but they did not know how. From past experience..." This boy had gone to China once before, Śrīla Prabhupāda. He's a Canadian. He says, "From past experience..." He's one of your disciples. "From past experience, because of limited time, I decided to just go, although warned not to. I walked past the guard's house at the gate of the university, hoping not to be seen. After I got forty to fifty yards, when a woman came running after me yelling in Chinese. I finally turned to her and said, 'No, it is all right,' and smiled and I kept walking on. She retreated, by Kṛṣṇa's grace, and I went on to the first building, where I saw some books through the windows. As I approached the front door, the first person I met was a middle-aged woman who spoke good English. She was a biology teacher, and we discussed the life principle as she took me to the history department and then reception. There, with two other Chinese persons, we discussed Chinese politics, and I explained the natural social body, varṇāśrama." He was discussing varṇāśrama with them. "However, as they began to understand how much sense it made, they said I had better talk to the people of the political philosophy but were unwilling to arrange it, and I was unable to also. They admitted to still having a class society in China, but the goal was to have no classes, with the means of production so arranged that everyone could have what they wanted. Such demons. They accept Marx, Lenin and Mao as absolute authority and plan to spread this perfect social system, as they call it, all over the world. I gave one Gītā to the main public library. They accepted when they found out that I was a Canadian and thanked me very much. Then, on October 25th, with saffron dhotī and Chinese cymbals, I went out on the main street in Kwangchow in the evening, chanting the holy name." This is in China, Śrīla Prabhupāda. "At first there were many suspicious looks, but in a few minutes I had a large crowd following me. Soon the children were running in front, with some of them dancing. I also began to dance, and a loud uproar ensued from the audience. The crowd grew larger and extended out into the road, where the buses began to honk their horns. Just then a cymbal fell from the string to the ground. As I picked it up and repaired it, the crowd came very close all around and tightly crowded. I chanted loudly, 'Hare Kṛṣṇa,' and heard one 'Kṛṣṇa,' in return. I responded with 'Kṛṣ-ṇa' loudly, and three or four answered. Soon I had about twenty responding to the chant, but decided to go on, as the crowd was getting too big. A few minutes later a man broke through the crowd and grabbed my arm and motioned me to stop. I continued, and soon another grabbed the other arm and pulled me into a shop, closed the doors and offered me a seat. The crowd responded with an uproar and banged on the doors for a little while. I had to wait about fifteen minutes until a person came who spoke English. He told me I was causing interference with traffic, and soon after they let me go. I did not go out again as I did not want to agitate them too far. I had previously chanted in a bus and showed the people pictures of Kṛṣṇa. It was very ecstatic. I have been told since then that the incidents would be heard of by nearly everyone in Kwangchow as a conversation topic. Perhaps the name of Kṛṣṇa will also be repeated many times by many people..." (break) Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: So China has sacrificed everything. What is their aim?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In China? Their aim... They say that their aim is to establish a classless society where everyone gets everything that they require. Economic aim.

Prabhupāda: What aim? Low-class men.

Room Conversation -- November 8, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Why they suppose?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, I personally don't feel at this point... Frankly speaking, I don't think that this reply on his part is very good. I don't think it's proper. He's speaking about a settlement. First of all there is no settlement. The whole legal way in which he's worded this letter indicates to me that he's not taking things in a very... Seems to me he has some motives. He has no reason to doubt this scheme. That's my point. And if he's thinking that he has some kind of rights... (break) ...offices. They're very pleased. And they were especially pleased to get these fixed deposits. Immediately we gave them this six lakhs' fixed deposits, they were very happy with this. They've got about something like 350 accounts already from outsiders within a month or two. They're very, very pleased. They feel that this will become a full branch very quickly, and they have a great amount of space, and they're not at all sorry about the price that they're paying. And it's a good income for our temple.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Nearly ten thousand rupees a month.

Prabhupāda: Why ten thousand?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I don't think it's quite ten thousand. I think it's less. Eight or nine thousand. Four rupees....

Prabhupāda: No. It is... Plus interest of the money.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Plus interest of the... Of which money?

Prabhupāda: The deposit money.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Fixed deposit money. Well, of course, but that we would have gotten anywhere. But from the point of view of rent it is certainly very substantial rent. That was your scheme, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: No, Kṛṣṇa is giving us all facility. Utilize it.

Page Title:Price (Conversations 1976 - 1977)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Mayapur
Created:18 of Mar, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=145, Let=0
No. of Quotes:145