Symbol (Conversations)

Expressions researched:
"symbol" |"symbolic" |"symbolical" |"symbolically" |"symbolism" |"symbolized" |"symbolizes" |"symbols"

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Interview -- February 1, 1968, Los Angeles:

Interviewer: What is the significance of... Right after the chanting, everyone bows, and that I don't understand, what they're doing.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is offering respect. The whole, our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is to ask people to surrender to God. They have rebelled against God. Somebody says, "There is no God." Somebody says that "I am God." These nonsense things are to be eradicated from human society. So they should be trained to submit. So the submission is symbolized by bowing down: "Yes, you are great; I am humble." This should be taught. Otherwise, whimsically somebody is thinking that "I am God." They do not know what is God. It is most foolish proposal if somebody claims that he is God. He is dog. We very much hate this proposal, when a man claims that he is God. It is most blasphemous.

Interview -- September 24, 1968, Seattle:

Interviewer: As far as rites which you practice and demands upon you which Kṛṣṇa makes, what are any of these rites or demands? That is must you eat special foods, wear special clothing, special..., anything special which you put upon your face, sign, symbols, and also, is there any connection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness to the meditation of yoga or of Zen, and what of physical fitness? How does Kṛṣṇa consciousness look at this?

Prabhupāda: Our process is to accept everything which conduces to develop Kṛṣṇa's love. So those methods are given by experienced ācāryas, that "You just follow." Just like when a child tries to walk, the mother gives some direction or some help in a wooden plank, that "You try to move in this way. You will learn how to walk," similarly, there are certain principles given by experienced ācāryas. If we follow those principles, then we can work or we can go to the perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not the method that is important. The real important is how to develop your love of Kṛṣṇa. If somebody develops love of Kṛṣṇa, or God, without those methods, there is no objection. We are not limited by the methods or ritualistic methods. But there are certain ritualistic method, which, if one follows, then he can quickly learn the art of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like we restrict our students in four principles: illicit sex life and intoxication, gambling, and meat-eating. So it is not that a gambler or a meat-eater or a man addicted to illicit sex life, he cannot love Kṛṣṇa. It is not that. But that is very rare case. If he follows these principles, then it will be easier for him. Because Kṛṣṇa, or God is pure, so so long one is impure in his habits, it is not possible for him. So these are the purificatory processes. And so far our signals or some marks on the body—just like we take tilaka; we have some beads—this means... Just like it is practical. When I was in Montreal and other cities, when we passed through the road, the children, the persons, they also said, "Hare Kṛṣṇa!" So these marks and this symbolic representation reminds others to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like a policeman, as soon as he appears in his dress, "Oh, here is a policeman," so similarly, these things are also required to remind others. Our process is to raise persons to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So if by our symbolic representation one immediately remembers Kṛṣṇa, that is our success.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- April 11, 1969, New York:

Madhusudana: How is the lotus a weapon? They're all weapons. All the symbols in Viṣṇu's hand, are, all the symbols in Viṣṇu's hand are weapons. How is the lotus a weapon?

Prabhupāda: Lotus is blessing. And that disc and club is for punishing. Viṣṇu has to see two ways because He's the Lord. So, as it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8). Just like the state. State is meant for punishing the criminals and giving protection to the law-abiding citizen. Wherefrom this idea is taken? It is taken from Viṣṇu. Everything. Because He is the supreme maintainer. So everything is required for maintaining. So this gada, the club, and the disc is for punishing the disobedient, the demons, or those who are harassing devotees. To punish them the Viṣṇu-cakra is there. Just like Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, he was harassed by Durvāsā Muni, and Viṣṇu-cakra punished him sufficiently. Mahārāja Durvāsā... Mahārāja Ambarīṣa was a great king, but a great devotee at the same time. Because he was kṣatriya and householder, Durvāsā Muni, he was envious. Durvāsā Muni was brāhmaṇa and a great yogi. So he could not tolerate that a householder king... King is supposed to be dealing in politics, economics. Therefore, according to social position, he is lesser than the brāhmaṇa because they are simply engaged in the matter of transcendental advancement of life. But a devotee is above the brāhmaṇas. That is the position of devotee. Here, the highest qualitative position is to be situated in the modes of goodness or to acquire the qualities of brāhmaṇa, in this material world.

Room Conversation -- April 11, 1969, New York:

Prabhupāda: But that frustration has no disappointment. (laughter) That is the beauty. Just like Lord Caitanya is manifesting that spiritual frustration. "Oh Kṛṣṇa, I could not see You." He's jumping on the sea in frustration. But that frustration is the highest perfection of love. Yes. Everything is there. But without inebriety. You are very intelligent boy. I thank you. Yes. Yes. There is frustration, but not this frustration. Yes. That frustration, I mean to say, enriches one's eagerness of love for Kṛṣṇa. Everything is there, but without inebriety. Everything is there. Yes. Now see, Viṣṇu? Of course, in Vaikuṇṭha-jagat there is no violence. But Viṣṇu is taking the symbol of violence. Otherwise what is the meaning of this disc and club? So when He wants to be violent, He comes here as Nṛsiṁha-mūrti. (laughter) And He sends some of His devotees to play violence. That is Hiraṇyakaśipu. Because there the devotees are so much in accord with Kṛṣṇa and Viṣṇu that there is no question of disagreement. But violence is when this disagree-ment, atheist. Therefore sometimes a devotee is deputed in this world to play as atheist, and Kṛṣṇa comes to kill him. To teach these people that "If you become atheist, then here is disc and club for you." But it is not possible to be displayed in the Vaikuṇṭha. Otherwise, if there is no the propensity of violence... Just like there is sometimes mock fight. A father is fighting in mock with a small child, and he has become defeated. But there is pleasure. So ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). The Lord is joyful.

1970 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- December 13, 1970, Indore:

Haṁsadūta: Canakya Pandit... I have see that book, and he says in his book that if a crow sits on a high (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Yes. If you make a crow... The crow generally sits on the roof of the house, but that does not mean he has become a great man. "How great I am, a very beautiful bird."

Revatīnandana: The symbol of the Democrat party in America is the ass.

Prabhupāda: Everywhere. As soon as you...

Revatīnandana: Their symbol is an ass. They have a symbol.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. Because they are asses.

Revatīnandana: The Republican party is elephant and the Democratic party is ass, a donkey.

Prabhupāda: What is the value of vote by asses? According to Vedic civilization, there was democracy but that democracy is selected committee. Just like in England there was Privy Council. So selected body of learned brāhmaṇas and sages, they were guiding the king, and the king himself was properly educated how to rule over, under religious principles. He was trained from the beginning of his life as prince. As the future heir of the throne, he was trained, and at the same time, he was guided by a council of learned sages and brāhmaṇas.

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Dr. Weir of the Mensa Society -- September 5, 1971, London:

Śyāmasundara: The rose has nice scent. It appears...

Prabhupāda: ...beautiful.

Śyāmasundara: ...beautiful.

Mensa Member: (indistinct) be subjective (indistinct)

Dr. Weir: And you see, a lot of people would like a red rose because that has a symbolism to it. Why have a yellow rose? It must have a sort of subjective reaction. It has nothing to do with the fact that it's got a chromatic wave length.

Prabhupāda: So there is a cause. That means there is a cause. We have to accept the cause. So that cause, we go further till we find out the cause of all causes.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- August 1, 1972, London:

Prabhupāda: They can print our books, in Bombay.

Dhanañjaya: He said he wanted to offer his services here for this temple somehow or other by getting money from advertising purposes. He's the director of some company that's just been started. It's called Golden Products. They make all kinds of consumer goods like shampoos and soap powders, so many things like that, for household use. And he wanted to use his symbol, Golden Products, with this society. This is his idea.

Prabhupāda: Golden powder?

Dhanañjaya: Golden Products.

Prabhupāda: In our society? No.

Dhanañjaya: I told him...

Prabhupāda: That is not possible.

Devotee: Who is he?

Dhanañjaya: He went to the (indistinct).

Prabhupāda: Yes. There was a boy.

Dhanañjaya: His other idea is, he said he was working for Sai Baba, Satya Sai Baba. He said that in India he had raised so many thousands of lakhs of rupees by making posters. They are impersonal posters, so much nonsense in them, but they sold like lottery tickets. In this way he printed them and made so much money.

Prabhupāda: I mean he cannot suggest. We cannot accept anyone's suggestion.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- February 28, 1973, Jakarta:

Devotee: Yes. About every two weeks.

Guest (1): Every two weeks. What mean this symbol?

Prabhupāda: Flag. It is flag.

Guest (1): Flag? (indistinct) It is better to do like this?

Devotee: Yes.

Guest (1): And some Indian gentlemen only married here (indistinct) and...

Prabhupāda: This is temple. Temple.

Guest (1): Yes. Temple.

Prabhupāda: Lord's temple.

Devotee: The Lord's temple. Temple of God.

Guest (1): (Japanese)

Devotee: Yes.

Guest (1): This quite different Japanese, Asian sometimes but European made never like this only female, lady like this Europe.

Prabhupāda: No. It is sacred thread, sacred thread.

Morning Walk -- April 29, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Thread. Thread sometimes missing. In some stock of thread, you are missing where it begins. So you have to find out. As soon as you find out, the whole thread is open. Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa...

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Is it like in mathematics, in chemistry, like they call formulas?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. Just like symbolic: CH, square root, like that.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Like in chemistry, for example, the molecule of Benzine. So you present it just like six lines, but a hexagon figure with a circle inside, they condense a lot of information.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is a code, sūtra. But the chemical symbolic representation, that is understand by the specialist. But this sūtra can be understood by anyone. Just like athāto brahma jijñāsā. The meaning is: "Now, this is the time for inquiring about the Absolute Truth." So this is a question for everyone. Any intelligent man. Here we are understanding everything relatively. Relatively. Just like when I say: "Father," there must be one son... (break) ...truth, there must be one truth. In this way, this is, this world is relative truth.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Duality?

Prabhupāda: Dual... No, relative. Relative truth. You don't understand relative? Relative means you cannot understand anything without the other. That is called relative. Suppose if I say "good man," I cannot understand a good man without having another man, bad man. This is called relative truth. Is it clear or not?

Morning Walk -- April 29, 1973, Los Angeles:

Karandhara: The Russian scientists are very proud in their working, and they're atheistical. But still they're not able to produce enough food. Every year, there's not enough food.

Prabhupāda: No. There's not enough food. Yes. I have experienced it. You cannot get food as you like. What government supplies, you have to accept. That's all. And that is rubbish, all rubbish. Generally, they supply meat. No fruit, no vegetable, no rice, no, nothing. You cannot get. You simply eat meat. That's all. And milk is available. This is their arrangement. And in all store, lines. You have to ask, even if you want to take meat only, you cannot go and immediately purchase. You have to wait for three hours, control. This is their position. No bank. No motor car. No taxicab. Simply... There are simply symbolic. And people are poverty-stricken so much that one taxi driver, he was trying to cheat us. They have no sufficient money. So they saw us, that: "Here is a foreigner, Indian and American. Let me cheat." This is their position. Just like India. India, being poverty-stricken, they also cheat. Of course, cheating is a disease. But especially those who are poverty-stricken, generally, they cheat, they steal. No character. And all women are engaged for sweeping, fat, fat women.

Room Conversation with Krishna Tiwari -- May 22, 1973, New York:

Prabhupāda: I, we don't say people could not measure. People could measure. People measured; therefore it is, the measurement is given there. It is not that people could not measure. People measured it, definitely, and then gave it, "This is the measure."

Krishna Tiwari: Okay, so what you are trying to say? What symbolically it means, very small. Is that what it means? Is that what it means?

Prabhupāda: Very small..., that small part is there in every body. The soul is there. Now, they, without finding it, they say soul is nirākāra; there is no measurement. That is my point. I say there is ākāra, form.

Krishna Tiwari: There is a form of soul, according to you.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. But they say there is no form. That is my point.

Krishna Tiwari: Well, they don't know probably, at this moment. But I don't..., I..., we have trouble, at least I have trouble, in understanding whether anybody else knows about soul. According to you...

Prabhupāda: Now, so far we are laymen, we have no instrument to measure. We simply hear from the śāstra and we try to perceive, that's all. But there is something. That measurement very, may be very, very small, but there is the substance. That is our point.

Room Conversation With David Lawrence -- July 12, 1973, London:

David Lawrence: Hm. There's one matter that I'd love to ask you about which is I found personally difficulty because perhaps I haven't had the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is as long as I should have done, is to really feel that I've got to grips with the idea of the spiritual sky. I couldn't quite understand there was any form, any form at all of symbolism coming into the idea of the various stages of planets and so on, or whether, in fact, this was a very physical...

Prabhupāda: Bring Bhagavad-gītā.

Śyāmasundara: Here.

Prabhupāda: Find out this verse: paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo... (BG 8.20). Why not call Paṇḍita Mahāśaya? (Pradyumna)

David Lawrence: Paras tasmāt...?

Prabhupāda: Paṇḍita Mahāśaya.

Śrutakīrti: Can you get Pradyumna?

Prabhupāda: Yes. We have got nice index in this book.

Room Conversation with Sir Alistair Hardy -- July 21, 1973, London:

Sir Alistair Hardy: Temple gates. Yes. And I was making a drawing of this. So I had a very big crowd around me. And my Indian friends... I'd been staying at Mandapam (?) which is the... It was a naval settlement. Well, it was really a settlement of the Indian fisheries. My biological interest had always been in the sea. And these friends came over, and they left this case while they went to take photographs. And they came back. And so the crowd were very excited. "Would you like to know what they're saying?" And so I said, "Yes." So he said, "What they're saying is, 'Isn't he wonderful! Isn't he wonderful! He's taking photographs with his fingers.' " They were more used to photographs, I think. They'd never seen anyone doing an actual... They'd seen symbolic drawings, but... I was reproducing the temple gates, and they said I was taking photographs with my fingers. I thought that was a wonderful expression really, "taking photographs with my fingers." (Someone brings in prasādam) Oh, thank you.

Prabhupāda: No, you can keep it here.

Revatīnandana: Perhaps if you keep your case there.

Sir Alistair Hardy: Oh. My case, yes.

Revatīnandana: You can use it like a little table.

Sir Alistair Hardy: Thank you. Such a huge... Oh, now can I have... I'd like some of this. Put that down. Put that down.

Pradyumna: You know the Indian style of...

Sir Alistair Hardy: I must follow you, how you eat this. I don't know how you...

Prabhupāda: Anything you can eat, as you like. There is no restriction.

Morning Walk -- December 20, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: (laughs) That's it. Then he has to accept jail. He should not defend himself. "Never mind. I go to jail." Why he appoints a lawyer to defend himself?

Karandhara: Well, that's what the impersonalist philosophers say, that "Go ahead and..." (break)

Prajāpati: ...The most famous theologian of this century named Paul Tillich said that all words are symbols, and God is a religious symbol pointing to our ultimate concern.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that's nice. We say also.

Karandhara: Except Paul Tillich was the ultimate rascal. He was a debaucher. He debauched women all over Europe.

Hṛdayānanda: He recently died.

Karandhara: There is a book about him, a very inflammatory book about how he would debauch all of his friends. He said he got all of his inspirations after having sex with other women. He said after having sex he would get his inspirations on theology.

Prabhupāda: Sometimes the drunkards say also like that. They get inspiration by drinking.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 3, 1974, Los Angeles:

Nara-nārāyaṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Yes, she is very nice, good artist. Give her engagement like this.

Prajāpati: Maybe you could explain us a little more detail of the...

Prabhupāda: No, with very much detail it will be cumbrous. You... Symbolic representation.

Prajāpati: Those three figures in the center?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Prajāpati: One is a devotee, one is a...

Prabhupāda: No, everyone is devotee.

Prajāpati: Yes, they are all three devotees.

Prabhupāda: But they're engaged in three departments.

Karandhara: We were thinking for the administrator there could be a judge.

Prabhupāda: Ah.

Morning Walk -- January 12, 1974, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Just like, Śrīla Prabhupāda, a vulture. When the vulture wants to take off, he will run just like an aeroplane for a certain distance. They cannot just get up immediately. Vulture.

Prabhupāda: So you scientists, you are like vultures. (laughter) You have imitated vultures.

Umāpati: The symbol of the United States is an eagle, which is a bird of prey.

Prabhupāda: No, eagle... Our symbol is also Garuḍa, big eagle. Yes. Big eagle, Garuḍa. And you know Garuḍa is not vegetarian. You know that?

Prajāpati: Snakes.

Prabhupāda: Yes. He is not vegetarian. So if one becomes a sincere devotee like Garuḍa, you can allow him to become non-vegetarian. If he cannot give it up. (break)

Nara-nārāyaṇa: Garuḍa is from the jīva-tattva or he is an expansion?

Prabhupāda: No, he is jīva-tattva. Nitya-siddha.

Nara-nārāyaṇa: Does that mean that there is some soul who can come under influence of māyā in the spiritual sky and some soul who cannot?

Prabhupāda: Yes, that potency is there always.

Morning Walk -- March 31, 1974, Bombay:

Mr. Sar: Yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ.

Prabhupāda: This is yoga practice also. Yoga. Yoga means to concentrate the mind on a subject matter. So we should meditate upon Kṛṣṇa. Mayy āsakta. Then gradually you'll increase your attachment for Kṛṣṇa. And that is the perfection of life. The perfection of life, the symbol is in Vṛndāvana. Because all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, they were very, very, much attached to Kṛṣṇa.

Mr. Sar: Attached to Kṛṣṇa were.

Prabhupāda: The cowherd boys, the girls, the elderly persons, the trees, the flowers, the land, the birds, the beasts, the cows-their center was Kṛṣṇa. So we have to follow their footprints, how to... We have got already attachment.

Mr. Sar: Yes. Yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ.

Prabhupāda: No, attachment we have got for material things. That we have to transfer. This is yoga practice.

Mr. Sar: That is yoga practice. Correct.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ. Yoga, the... I think it is Patañjali sūtra.

Morning Walk -- April 2, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Nyāsa means giving up, giving up. Sat nyāsa, sannyāsa. Oṁ tat sat. Sat is Kṛṣṇa. Therefore when you sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa, that is real sannyāsa, not this dress. This dress is symbolical. That's all. Real thing is kāryaṁ karma karoti ya. Kāryam. "Oh, it is my... Kṛṣṇa wants, everyone should surrender unto Him. Then I shall teach everyone to surrender to Kṛṣṇa." Kāryam. "This is my business." Kāryaṁ karma karoti, sa sannyāsī. What is that kāryam? Kāryam means this is kāryam.

Chandobhai: Yajñā dana tapa.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66). You'll take a practical... My Guru Mahārāja gave me hint that book publication is more pleasing to me than Maṭha-mandira. So I took it and I began to publish books and that has come successful. Kāryaṁ karma. I took it, "Oh, Guru Mahārāja wants that books should be published. So let me concentrate on this instead of..." My creating so many centers, big, big temples, that is not my primary duty. My primary duty is to write books. Therefore I am going on still. These are coming automatically. Maybe this is the secret of my success.

Morning Walk -- April 4, 1974, Bombay:

Girirāja: (continues synonyms to:) "mālya-..."

Prabhupāda: Aneka. There are aneka ayuddhas. Every Viṣṇu form has four symbolic representation—śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-padma—and they are differently situated. People do not know it. They... It begins. Just like here śaṅkha, then next, cakra, then next, gadā, then padma. Then here begins padma, here begins śaṅkha, in so many.

Chandobhai: Differently.

Dr. Patel: Combination, combination.

Prabhupāda: Yes, changing. These are in the śāstra, siddhārtha-saṁhitā, how many forms are there. This is aneka. Not evasively, that "All is one." No. There are so many, so many varieties, variegated, all spiritual, aneka.

Girirāja: "Mālya-garlands..."

Prabhupāda: These things are there. Each of them were garlanded, had helmets, had, I mean to say, ornaments. Everything aneka.

Dr. Patel: Mālyāmbara-dharam.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Dress, everything, garment, all varieties.

Morning Walk -- April 11, 1974, Bombay:

Girirāja: "The transcendental body of Kṛṣṇa did not require any protection, but to instruct us on the importance of the cow, the Lord was smeared over with cow dung and washed with the urine of the cow, sprinkled with the dust raised by the walking of the cow." (break)

Prabhupāda: ...otherwise, yes. We shall come

Satsvarūpa: Ten to six.

Prabhupāda: No. Why ten to six? At least fifteen to six.

Italian Man (1): How long you both will be here. I have to go today. (break)

Prabhupāda: The whole Sāma-veda is music. Gāyanti yana-sāmagāḥ. Sāma-veda is full of music. The musical sounds, sa re ga ma pa da, this is from Sāma-veda. Yes.

Italian Man (1): Is it possible to obtain technical materials of theorems, the way of combining notes to make music for Hare Kṛṣṇa and...

Prabhupāda: These are the symbolic, sa re ga ma, sarad ṛṣi garbha, like that. Different sounds. (end)

Morning Walk -- May 29, 1974, Rome:

Dhanañjaya: So these buildings are mere symbols of their ignorance.

Prabhupāda: That's all. They have got some intelligence. They are utilizing for piling up these stones and bricks. That's all. This is their intelligence, how to pile up nicely stones and bricks. Crane. The same thing. The real business is to pile up some stones and bricks, that's all. They are making research, engineering. The real business is how to pile up stones and bricks. That's all. The same business as the children pile up some sand and imagine "This is park, this is this, this is that."

Dhanañjaya: Didn't Rāvaṇa want to pile up stones and bricks, too, to reach the heavenly planets.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. No, he was a materialist. That is the business of the materialist. What is this? Aerodrome? No.

Dhanañjaya: No, this is a restaurant.

Prabhupāda: They can eat down. (laughter) These rascals are thinking eating on this top, this is their advancement of civilization. And waste energy. The human energy is so valuable that one can understand his real life, self-realization—that they forget. They wasting the energy for making a restaurant on the sky. They think it is advancement.

Morning Walk -- June 2, 1974, Geneva:

Yogeśvara: In the ancient tribal system, there was some form of religiosity. There was some form of worship of God. The so-called modern civilization doesn't even maintain that.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Their developed consciousness is being used for sense gratification. That's all. They have taken up, sense gratification is the highest aim of life. Hedonism. What is that hedonism?

Karandhara: Hedonism means to eat, sleep and be merry.

Prabhupāda: That's all.

Yogeśvara: When I was in school, I read that when the British went to Africa to colonize, the first thing they did... In the north there was a tribe called the Ashanti tribe. And the symbol of religion was an axe. Whoever possessed that axe was a leader. So the first thing they did was to import thousands and thousands of axes and they distributed them to everyone. In this way, they destroyed the religious sentiment and then introduced their own system.

Prabhupāda: Who first started this colonization? Britishers or the Spaniards?

Yogeśvara: It was a Britisher.

Karandhara: Spaniards were, I think Portuguese.

Prabhupāda: Portuguese. Because they had very small land.

Room Conversation -- June 5, 1974, Geneva:

Yogeśvara: He says he hopes we excuse if he has some basic questions that he wanted to ask. And his first question was regarding tilaka. What is the symbolism, significance?

Prabhupāda: It is just like your cross, amongst Christian. It is temple of Viṣṇu. Not only here, we have got twelve place: here, here, here, here, here. Twelve place. The idea is being protected by Viṣṇu from all sides.

Swiss Man (2): (French)

Yogeśvara: The shaved head, he's asking.

Prabhupāda: This is cleanliness. Instead of keeping unnecessary hair, we keep very clean.

Swiss Man (2): (French)

Yogeśvara: These traditions have existed for a long time, he's asking.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Especially the brāhmaṇas, they keep the shaven head. Brāhmaṇas are the topmost class. What is the symptoms of brāhmaṇa, find out.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Carol Cameron -- May 9, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: Then why you are claiming that you are Christian? Just like you are having cross. That is the sign that you killed Christ. The cross is the killing symbol of Christ.

Carol: This is the resurrection symbol.

Prabhupāda: Maybe. (laughter)

Carol: But it's not only Christian symbol...

Prabhupāda: But many, many priestly order, they carry the cross. Cross is the sign when Lord Jesus Christ was killed. Is it not?

Carol: It is, but that symbol is used in a lot of ways.

Prabhupāda: That means how you killed Lord Jesus Christ. That is the sign. That reminds you that you killed. You accuse the Jewish people "They killed," but you are also killing. Although you are claiming Christian. Therefore I want to know—you are a learned scholar—when you abided by the order of Lord Jesus Christ? That is my question. When?

Amogha: When did you abide by the orders of Jesus Christ?

Carol: When did I?

Prabhupāda: Every one of you, Western countries. And if you have abided by the order of Jesus Christ, then why you are systematically killing? The order is, "Thou shall not kill."

Morning Walk -- May 12, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: So why Māyāvāda... Interpretation is required when you cannot understand, but when the things are understood very clearly... Just like we had been in Kurukṣetra. That place is there for millions and millions of years. And why one should interpret, "Kurukṣetra means this body"? Why should we accept this meaning? Kurukṣetra is already there. Everyone is going. And if somebody interprets, "No, Kurukṣetra means this body," so why I shall be so foolish to accept this interpretation?

Paramahaṁsa: Well, people say that they're not sure whether it's a symbolic meaning or an actual meaning.

Prabhupāda: That is your conjecture. But when you read book you should understand the wording of the book. You cannot conjecture in such...

Paramahaṁsa: Because they say some of the Vedic literatures...

Prabhupāda: That means willingly they want to become fool.

Paramahaṁsa: There are so many great symbolic literatures.

Prabhupāda: You are seeing this green. If you interpret, "It is not green; it is white," what is this? Can you interpret like that? It is green, and "No, in my interpretation it is white. What you are seeing, it is not actual seeing." You can go on saying like that. But I am an ordinary man. Why shall I take it white? It is green. That's all.

Morning Walk -- May 12, 1975, Perth:

Paramahaṁsa: But that is the way of great writing, to write in symbolism. That is...

Amogha: Great literary works are done in that way.

Paramahaṁsa: They call it "writing between the lines." There's some hidden meaning. Therefore it is very deep.

Amogha: And so if Kṛṣṇa was such a great philosopher, then naturally He would have also used those literary talents to write in between the lines.

Prabhupāda: All right, you become very good bluffer. That's all. We don't accept you. All the ācāryas, they did not accept, those who are authorities. Vyāsadeva, he did not accept these foolish theories. Nārada never accepted. Recent ācāryas, Madhvācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Caitanya. Why shall I accept these third-class professors? Kick on their face. We have got authority to support this.

Gaṇeśa: I think they want to interpret Bhagavad-gītā because they do not want to surrender to Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: That is the idea. That is the real purpose. They want to kill Kṛṣṇa. That is the endeavor of Hiranyakasipu, Kamsa, that "We shall kill Kṛṣṇa." And ultimately they become killed. Their faith is like that.

Morning Walk -- May 28, 1975, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: So different dress does not mean converts. We are in different dress, American body or Indian body or this body, black body or... This is body. But we are within the body.

Guest (1): What is the symbol of the staff here? There's a symbol of that, is there?

Prabhupāda: That is a big thing to be understood. (laughter)

Guest (1): Can't be answered in one sentence, huh?

Prabhupāda: That is the symbol... That requires good explanation. If you come to our temple, then we shall inform you.

Devotees: Jaya. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya.

Guest (1): (laughs) Good talking to you folks. You know...

Prabhupāda: Wherefrom you are coming?

Guest (1): Indianapolis, Indiana. You ever hear of that? Yes. Five-hundred-mile race.

Prabhupāda: It is in America?

Gurukṛpa: It's the all-American city.

Guest (1): You know where the Great Lakes are in the United States? Just right down south from there, about a hundred, 150 miles south of Indianapolis.

Prabhupāda: We have no temple there?

Śrutakīrti: No.

Morning Walk -- July 1, 1975, Denver:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is there a plaque there?

Brahmānanda: It's a symbol for something.

Harikeśa: They usually make justice to be like that. (break)

Satsvarūpa: Allegorical.

Prabhupāda: Allegorical?

Satsvarūpa: It's not a historial person. One lady represents learning, another... They represent different things.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: All, women. (break)

Prabhupāda: ...imperson.

Brahmānanda: Cupid is there, and it is marked "love."

Prabhupāda: Oh. (break) (To Harikeśa, who has been coughing throughout:) ...not taking any medicine?

Harikeśa: No.

Prabhupāda: This continuing is not good.

Morning Walk -- July 2, 1975, Denver:

Prabhupāda: How is that? You can see the universe; that does not mean that you can become universe. You can see the sky; that does not mean you become as big as sky. (break) ...small, minute shining sparks, minute combination. So they are also shining, but that does not mean they can become as good, as big, as the sun. (break) ...the defect of the Māyāvāda philosophy. They think of themselves too much. Therefore they remain here, always in māyā. (break) ...abuddhayaḥ, means the intelligence is not purified. They are called aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ or viśuddha (SB 10.2.32), "without purification of knowledge." (break) ...kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmād-aṅghrayaḥ. They fall down. (break) ...this symbol?

Harikeśa: Some fountain.

Prabhupāda: No, there are some children, symbolic.

Brahmānanda: They're looking at the water. (break)

Prabhupāda: ...written, "Danger." Now they are going to the safety. What is danger, there is that safety. Now, what is danger and what is safety?

Brahmānanda: That means it is relative.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Everything is relative. Therefore it is called relative world.

Room Conversation with writer, Sandy Nixon -- July 13, 1975, Philadelphia:

Sandy Nixon: Well, they say... Those people...

Prabhupāda: No, first of all you answer my question. If he says contradictory things, is he not a rascal?

Sandy Nixon: Well, he's contradicting himself.

Prabhupāda: Therefore he is a rascal. He does not know how to defend him.

Sandy Nixon: Can the Vedas be taken symbolically as well as literally?

Prabhupāda: As it is. We are presenting Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, not symbolically.

Sandy Nixon: Are you attempting to revive... I feel like asking this question two different ways. First I'll ask it one way which is, in a sense, incorrect. Maybe I'll just ask it this way and just get your answer. Are you attempting to revive in the West the awareness... Are you attempting to revive the ancient Indian caste system in the West?

Prabhupāda: Where do you find we are reviving caste system? Where do you find? First of all let me know. Why you are asking this question? If you have seen that we are trying to introduce the Indian caste system, then you say. But if there is no such attempt, why you are asking this question?

Sandy Nixon: Well, because a lot of people are interested, and...

Prabhupāda: No, no, lot of people, you are also one of them. So where do you find that we are trying to introduce caste system? First of all find out where is the attempt. Then you ask question. Otherwise it is irrelevant question.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 7, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hm.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: What is that six-pointed star significance?

Prabhupāda: Cakra.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Oh.

Hari-śauri: What is the symbol on the right-hand side, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: I think śaṅkha. That is the conchshell.

Akṣayānanda: (break) ...thread from the Deity, the old sacred thread, and they tie it on their wrist. They tie it here.

Prabhupāda: Who?

Akṣayānanda: Some of the devotees have started to do that now.

Prabhupāda: Why?

Akṣayānanda: I don't know. It's just like wearing beads. The sacred thread from the Deity, after replacing, they take the old one and they wear it here.

Prabhupāda: Who has told them?

Akṣayānanda: I don't know.

Prabhupāda: Then why...

Akṣayānanda: Well, I told one boy to stop it, and because I couldn't quote any authority, he keeps wearing...

Prabhupāda: No, no, there is no author.... Where is his authority?

Akṣayānanda: Yes.

Morning Walk -- April 10, 1976, Vrndavana:

Yaśodānandana: Prabhupāda, there has been discussion amongst many of the members of the press and the Sanskrit editors regarding the actual place of Nṛsiṁha's pastimes. So I told them that on the occasion of our travel to South India we visited this place Ahobilam, and the paṇḍitas, they have scriptural reference from the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa and the Nṛsiṁha Purāṇa that the place is actually mentioned there, and it has been recognized by Rāmānujācārya and many of the great Ālwār saints. And yourself have already told me twice personally that this was the actual place where it happened. And on top of the mountain there, there is the pillar, iron pillar, which is the symbol of the spot where Lord Nṛsiṁha killed Hiraṇyakaśipu. So for the benefit of all of these devotees, they were just requesting your actual confirmation.

Prabhupāda: Confirmation or no confirmation, Nṛsiṁha-deva is our worshipable Deity, that's all. Why you are bothering where He killed Hiraṇyakaśipu? You worship Him, that's all.

Yaśodānandana: They just wanted...

Jayādvaita: The question came up because they have some pictures, photographs from these places, and we wanted to know if they were suitable for publishing or not.

Prabhupāda: So why you are bothering with that? Let it be accepted or not accepted. Worship Him.

Akṣayānanda: Not that important.

Prabhupāda: That is the important thing. (break) A man is diseased. He has gone to the physician. So whether is the first duty to investigate wherefrom the disease came or to cure him? Which is important?

Yaśodānandana: To cure.

Room Conversation -- April 23, 1976, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Where is the difficulty? Christ's picture is there. Suppose we have got our picture, Kṛṣṇa. So all right, don't believe in Kṛṣṇa. But you have got picture of Christ, and you can see that he is being crucified. The cross is your symbol.

Guest (4): We don't worship the dead Christ.

Prabhupāda: You may not, but Christians.... The Christians, they put the cross, a reminder that "Christ suffered for us." This is the cross. So we became sinful, and the Lord, he suffered for us. We should stop this sinful activity. That is sanity. But "Christ will suffer, he'll be repeatedly crucified, and we shall go on with our nonsense activity." Is that religion?

Guest (3): Well, I agree with you there.

Prabhupāda: So that is the point.

Guest (3): But I have a different thought and feeling.

Prabhupāda: You may have, but we are talking on the principle that if we are so base and fallen down that we go on committing sinful life and "Christ will be crucified; I'll be saved," that way is said, what kind of religion? "One should continually suffer for my sin, and I am free to act sinfully." Is that religion?

Guest (3): Well, we don't believe that Christ continues to suffer.

Room Conversation with Mother and Sons -- June 13, 1976, Detroit:

Satsvarūpa: That the mother is just some symbolic idea, there is no...

Prabhupāda: Whatever it may be, mother it is. Mother means who begets, who gives birth. You practically see, grass to the highest form of life, they are coming from earth, living at the cost of the earth. The earth is supplying food, food grains, vegetables. So mother..., as child is growing by sucking the mother's breast, so we are living at the cost of mother. She is giving us milk, she is giving us everything. That is mother. And śāstra, the earth is considered mother. Ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī brāhmaṇī... but they have no knowledge. Mother means who creates my body, who gives me feeding in the beginning, gives me strength. That is mother. How you can understand mother otherwise? So mother is there, earth. Dhenur dhātrī tathā pṛthvī. Pṛthvī is mother. And practically we see. She is giving, the mother earth is giving birth to so many varieties of children-8,400,000. Then the next inquiry should be: the mother is there, the children are there, then where is the father? That answer is given by Kṛṣṇa: ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4), "I am the father." So where is the difficulty to understand the Supreme Lord? But they are so dull-headed that they have no even common sense, and they're passing as philosopher, politician, and scientist, big leader, big rascal. This is going on. This is going on. And big, big rascals, they have taken the leadership of the world, and the world is in chaos, chaotic condition, everyone is unhappy, suffering.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

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

Prabhupāda: What was his reply?

Rāmeśvara: On every point he was defeated. Then this Reverend from the Lutheran Church, he said that we have invented this Kṛṣṇa religion. He said that Kṛṣṇa is an ordinary man who is a sex symbol, having so many women, gopīs, wives, and that we are saying that He is God. And this is heresy, he told us, a concoction. So he was defeated in different ways also. And at the end he had to admit that "The only way to find out is if you buy their books, so everyone go buy their books and see for yourself."

Prabhupāda: No, even taking it that Kṛṣṇa is after sex, then if sex is bad, then why you are after sex? The whole world is going on after sex. How you can deny it?

Rāmeśvara: He says that sex is not for God.

Prabhupāda: Why? If sex if not there in God, then how it comes? If God created everything, so God did not create sex?

Rāmeśvara: They think it means we are saying God has a material body, because they associate sex with material body.

Prabhupāda: Material body has no sex. A dead man does not enjoy sex. Do you think that a dead man enjoys sex? Suppose a beautiful girl-dead. Will you accept for sex? Then why do you take that sex is for the body? (train noises) "Sex if for the material body" is not the fact. When the soul is not there, where is sex?

Rāmeśvara: They consider sex to be his lower nature, animal nature.

Room Conversation -- January 21, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Rāmeśvara: Just like Prabhupāda gave the argument... Because this one man was challenging that "This Kṛṣṇa is simply sex symbol, dancing with so many women, having so many queens," so Prabhupāda's challenge was: "But where is the pregnancy? Where is the abortion when He was dancing with the gopīs? Therefore this is not ordinary. This is beyond the material. It's spiritual." That's a big challenge they make.

Gargamuni: How can any materialist manage more than a few wives without divorce?

Prabhupāda: No, apart from that, apart from that, where is the...? If you believe Bhāgavatam, that Kṛṣṇa danced with so many thousands of gopīs and He has so many wives, so why there was pregnancy? Why the gopīs were not pregnant?

Hari-śauri: Yes. The gopīs never had any children by Kṛṣṇa. But His wives had ten each.

Prabhupāda: Ten children each. You cannot say that "He was impotent; therefore He could not make the gopīs pregnant." That you cannot say, because when He married, He begot ten children, each wife, sixteen thousand wives, and sixteen thousand, ten.

Room Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- January 30, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: That is...

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Nainam... Yes.

Prabhupāda: Nainaṁ chindanti... That is the nonphysical.

Hari-śauri: Like a comparative study chart.

Prabhupāda: We are presenting śāstric version in modern scientific symbolic representative. So the chairman said that he never...?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. Here's the letter with me. These are the... That's a comparison between Bhagavad-gītā and science. On the left side is the modern scientific view, and the right side is from Bhagavad-gītā about the nature of the Absolute Truth.

Prabhupāda: "Two alternative views of the laws of nature. These laws exist, but they are inconceivable to the human mind. The view of modern science—yes. They exist invariantly throughout space—yes. They do not change with time—yes. They control all manifestation—no." What that is, mean?

Room Conversation with Adi-kesava Swami -- February 19, 1977, Mayapura:

Ādi-keśava: I will go that way.

Prabhupāda: You can explain, daṇḍa means subjugation. So the three daṇḍas. Daṇḍa means subjugation. So kāya-manaḥ-vākya. "We have surrendered. We have voluntarily surrendered, subjugated ourselves, under God." Kāya-manaḥ-vākya. "Three daṇḍas are there, and one-myself. There are four daṇḍas within. So I am fully surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, or God, with my mind, body and words. This is the meaning." You can explain. This is symbolic reminder that "I have fully surrendered to Kṛṣṇa with my body, mind and words, so I must serve Him."

Ādi-keśava: Sometimes in their propaganda these deprogrammers they complain about our sannyāsīs the most. They say, "Because they are saying everything in the material world is evil, so therefore they are the worst."

Prabhupāda: Yes, it is worst. Because I am spirit soul, I am now imprisoned with this material body. It is my unnatural state, and I am eternal, and because I have accepted this material body I have to undergo birth, death, old age and disease. So that is my effort, how to get out of this material body and remain in my original spiritual identity. That is our whole propaganda. We think material atmosphere is our imprisonment, suffering. Material body means suffering. Otherwise I am eternal, blissful, full with knowledge. That is my position. But because I have been impact... (aside:) Again you have the same disease. Attention, you attend, draw there. Don't do that. Very bad habit. Immediately you sit down, you do it. You cannot check it. So actually this is our punishment. This is māyā. That example I have explained this morning, very nice verse, that the moon in the sky is reflected in the water, in hundreds of pots of water, and the wind is agitating the water, and the moon is also agitated—sometimes round, sometimes long, sometimes... The moon is fixed up, but the reflection in the pot making him different. Similarly, I am spirit soul, and I have been captured or I have voluntarily surrendered to this material world, and it is being agitated by the mind, so I am taking this shape, that shape, that shape, this shape, eight million four hundred... That is my trouble. My nature is to be fixed up, always illuminating, but circumstantially I am being agitated by mind, and working with my mind, I am accepting this body, that body, this body, that. So this is very troublesome. Those who have no knowledge, no brain, they are satisfied with this material condition, agitated condition, and driven by the thinking, feeling, willing of the mind. This is very dangerous. We want to get out. This is psychology.

Room Conversation -- April 2, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: We accept him as avatāra, śaktyāveśa-avatāra, empowered incarnation of God. That we accept.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah. He says, "Like any other revealed scripture, the Bible's teachings are absolute, but are they to be understood literally or symbolically, and are they applicable for all men?"

Prabhupāda: Literally, not symbolically.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He says, "What is the actual meaning of the sacrifice of the cross, Jesus dying on the cross?"

Prabhupāda: It has no meaning. The people were so rascal that they attempted to kill him. Because he was speaking of God. So we can understand the pollution of the then society, how intelligent they were. He had to deal with such rascals that he was speaking about God and the result is that they wanted to kill him first. He preached, "Thou shalt not kill," and they killed him first. This is their intelligence. Now people are advanced. Those doctrines, they are not (indistinct). That's all. The answer.

Room Conversation -- April 2, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Then where is his belief? Where is the question of belief? Unless strictly follow the teachings, there is no question of belief. It is bogus principle.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, it's all... His next question is, "The essence of Christianism is to believe that Christ is our saviour and redeemer, but the final test of one's faith in Christ rests upon one's hope that he will come back down to earth from heaven to establish his glory and his realm of justice forever. Is this second advent of his to be taken as a symbolic one, or will he actually come back?"

Prabhupāda: I do not know. What does he say? What does he say? Explain.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What does he say?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, he quotes, "And then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of earth mourn and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." In other words... "And shall he send..." There is so many statements in the Bible to allude that Christ will come again.

Prabhupāda: What is the harm if he comes again?

Room Conversation -- April 5, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: That I have heard it. Maybe in the Bhāgavata. Such a nice thing. Alone in this world I am struggling, and the so-called intelligent persons, they will not come. They have business. Why? If it is actually beneficial to the human society, why I should alone try? I will go on trying so long I'll live. There will be no checking of... But what kind of intelligent persons there are? (Govindam record in background) It has been approved by intelligent men like... From our section. Most wretched rogues. They do work. They are not so. They are intelligent. They have rejected all these "Lord" ideas and the... Because they have sinned, all humbug. Especially in the Western countries, in the Christian world, what is there? It is bogus. I have condemned it. You have seen that book? One Christian boy inquired. Have you got the copy? Bring. (pause) We shall go on playing govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam aham. People may hear or not hear. We don't mind.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: To Mr. Francois Pierre. "My dear Francois." He's in France. "Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your letter dated March 17th. Try to understand our mission of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The world is all going to hell. They do not know what is the value of life. Like blind sheep following a blind leader, they are all going to the slaughterhouse. Human life is meant for saving, but instead the leaders are keeping the people in darkness. This is suicidal. Let us try to save them. Christian, Hindu, or Muslim, it doesn't matter. One must have faith in God. But if one does not know what is God, then what is the question of religion? This sectarian view has caused havoc in the world. Our real business is to know God and one's relationship with God. Do you know what is God? The answers to your questions are as follows: 1) Yes, the message of Jesus is universally applicable. Why not? Jesus says, 'Thou shalt not kill.' This is applicable to all. But all Christians are violating this law. So where is a Christian? In my opinion there is not a single Christian. Do they follow all ten commandments? 2) We accept Jesus Christ as śaktyāveśa-avatāra, an empowered incarnation of God. 3) The Bible should be accepted literally and not symbolically. There is no symbolical meaning of the sacrifice on the cross. The people were so rascal. They attempted to kill him because he was speaking of God. We can understand the position of that society. He had to deal with such rascals. He preached 'Thou shalt not kill,' and they killed him. The argument that Jesus died to redeem us of sins is simply another sinful argument. That Jesus has taken contract to redeem your sins is simply a plea of the sinners. They continue sinning and expect Christ to take the contract to freedom. It is most sinful. Instead of actually stopping sins, they contract with Jesus Christ. These people should be immediately hanged. That way our..., they say, 'That way our religion is very good. We cannot stop sinning, but it is okay because Christ has taken contract to save us.' It is the same as saying 'I am chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa now. I can do any nonsense.' That is known as nāma-aparādha, offenses to the holy name of the Lord. 4) Regarding Christ coming again, for the time being, you follow his instructions. Then if he comes it will be all right. Regarding the position of our movement if Christ were to come again, that we shall see when he comes. 'The end of the world' means that the world will be devastated. Just like you have a body and it will be finished, similarly the whole world body will be devastated. Creation, maintenance and annihilation. Naśa in Sanskrit means devastated. 5) There is no difference between a pure Christian and a sincere devotee of Kṛṣṇa. 6) Everything is accurately described in the Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa. Love of God means God's mercy. If God is pleased, He will do anything. The pleasure of God can be awarded by God. In Sanskrit it is described kṛpā-siddhi, perfection out of mercy. One must follow the four regulative principles—no eating meat, fish or eggs; no intoxication; no gambling; and no illicit sex life. Repent of all sinful activities and depend on Kṛṣṇa's mercy. Hoping this meets you well, your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami."

Girirāja: Very nice. Actually, about two years ago there was a propaganda in the West that if you are afraid of sinning, then it means that you don't have full faith in Jesus Christ. Because he has promised to accept your sinful reactions. So therefore if you sin, then it means that you have full faith that he will accept the reaction.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Prabhupāda said those people should be hanged immediately.

Prabhupāda: When the Bible has said, that after death one goes to hell or heaven? If Jesus Christ has taken a contract, then where is the question of going to hell?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, that is for people who don't sign the contract with him. That is what they say. As long as you say that you accept Jesus, then you are going to heaven for sure.

Prabhupāda: So then Jesus Christ accepted sinful reaction of a certain class of men. He is not universal.

Conversation with Vedic Astronomer -- April 30, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes, they do not believe.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No. And therefore no one takes it seriously. Modern people don't take it seriously.

Prabhupāda: There was a Gosāi. He was reading Caitanya-caritāmṛta. So the description of the planetary system there is. He used to say to his audience, "Actually these things are not there. These are imaginary descriptions." He was such a fool. So the whole world has taken like that, "symbolic, imagination."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And he was lecturing on Caitanya-caritāmṛta. I think you mentioned that one of your Godbrothers once said to you, "You really believe that there is such a place, Kṛṣṇaloka, Vaikuṇṭhaloka?" He was himself...

Prabhupāda: Bon Mahārāja did not believe. No... Nobody ever thought of it.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You are the only representative, the lone representative of religion left on this planet, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: So what to do? He has wasted so much money. He's not the proper man.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No. Why not let us try to find out some man locally here in Bombay?

Prabhupāda: Very difficult. You can try.

Room Conversation-Recent Mail -- July 14, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Very good.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Next, from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay. This is from Dr. Ram Kanstanari(?) Chairman of the Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. " 'Sir: I am pleased to make the following comments concerning your beautiful and learned publications, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta of Gosvāmī Kṛṣṇa Kavirāja and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, both written by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. I feel that these works are the result of Swami Prabhupāda's extraordinary commitment to the bhakti cult in the Indian tradition. Swami Prabhupāda's style and language are full of the flashes of his intuition. They clearly represent his realization that love for God and for mankind should be the foundation of all interpersonal relations. Kṛṣṇa is the symbol of this love. He is the Absolute in an incarnate form. Love for Kṛṣṇa therefore sung in all forms of devotion-laden language asserts man's empathy towards His entire creation. The Central Library of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, has already secured, on my recommendation, the above-mentioned works complete. These works are read by the faculty and students here, not only for their religious message but also for the unique interpretation they embody of the traditional cult of bhakti in India. The poetic and devotionalistic tenor of these works, I am sure, would make one realize the meaning of man's dependence on God. I have no hesitation to state that His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda has done an immortal service to the movement of devotionism and Hinduism in particular and in world religions in general, by so ably bringing out these works in beautiful English. Every library in the world that is engaged in promoting the welfare of the human self by turning it towards the supremacy of the divine spirit...' "

Prabhupāda: Everyone is recommending. All libraries.