Architecture (Conversations)

Expressions researched:
"architectural" |"architecturally" |"architecture"

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- November 3, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Now, the Indian system of becoming humble is to take a straw in the mouth. (Hindi) Dante nidhāya tṛṇakam: "So I am taken a grass in my mouth," and padayor nipatya: "I am falling down your lotus feet," and kṛtvā ca kaku-śatam: "And flattering you hundred times. I am submitting you." So any man will agree, "All right, say." So as soon as you give me the chance, then I say. What I say? He sādhavaḥ: "You are a very great personality, sādhu." "Then? What do you want?" Now, sakalam eva: "Whatever nonsense you have learned, please forget." (laughter) "Whatever nonsense rascaldom you have learned, please forget." "Then what shall I do?" Kuru caitanya-candra-caraṇe anurāgam. This is our preaching. First of all we shall...

Dr. Patel: Don't forget architecture. I tell him, don't forget architecture, the important just now. (laughing) Forget other thing.

Prabhupāda: Hm. This is the process. First of all flatter him. When he agrees, "Please tell me..."

Dr. Patel: How he became this.

Prabhupāda: Yes. (laughter) Ask submissively, that "Forget all rascaldom, whatever you have learned, because you do not know what is knowledge. You have simply learned all rascaldom. So please forget it." This is our preaching.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- February 27, 1976, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Yes, planetarium...

Devotee (4): Temple and planetarium.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Devotee (4): "World's largest planetarium and Temple of Understanding."

Prabhupāda: No "Understanding" simply Vedic "Temple of Vedic Planetarium," That's all. We shall show the Vedic conception of planetary system within this material world and above the material world. (break) We are going to exhibit the Vedic culture throughout the whole world, and they'll come here.

Jayapatākā: The whole world will be coming here to...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Jayapatākā: ...visit.

Prabhupāda: Just like they come to see the Taj Mahal...

Hṛdayānanda: Yes.

Prabhupāda: ...the architectural culture, they'll come to see the civilization culture, the philosophical culture, the religious culture by practical demonstration with dolls and other things.

Jayapatākā: And we'll be advertising that all over the world.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hṛdayānanda: It is a perfect plan.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Jayapatākā: There can be a model of that temple in every temple all over the world.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Room Conversation -- September 11, 1976, Vrndavana:

Dhanañjaya: Now, another thing I wanted to ask. Many devotees were asking me if we could make a Deity of Your Divine Grace.

Prabhupāda: That is not very, well... That is not immediate. We shall see later on. You can make. That we shall see later on. Not immediately. Immediately you make this arrangement.

Dhanañjaya: And for design of Gaura-Nitāi and Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, we should just use the same design or we should make better?

Prabhupāda: Make a hand design like that and have your people make like that. Make a nice...

Dhanañjaya: Make, yes. I mean, better design.

Prabhupāda: Yes, make a better design. And the hand will be like this.

Dhanañjaya: Not like this. I like this myself. It's Navadvīpa style.

Prabhupāda: This is Navadvīpa style.

Dhanañjaya: Yes, I like this much better. Otherwise the arms are too long and thin.

Prabhupāda: In this way make a nice design Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. And Rādhārāṇī should be like this. This is Vṛndāvana style. Not this. This is Lakṣmī style. This. Make these arrangements. I am hopeful of this business. Very good business we'll have. I want to introduce in every family. They'll do it. If they do not worship, let them keep as dolls. That will also give them inspiration.

Dhanañjaya: Actually so many Indians in their house they're keeping just like dolls. They are not worshiping regularly. They're keeping on the mantlepiece or on the side.

Prabhupāda: In this way be encouraged and in full capacity do business and get others.

Dhanañjaya: There was one boy who just came from Italy and he's expert in wood carving.

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Dhanañjaya: So we can take artists for wooden siṁhāsanas. Siṁhāsanas he said he can make. He even brought his tools. He has a whole box of tools he brought just for carving and he studied in the south of Spain, religious architecture.

Prabhupāda: He can make a small siṁhāsana for the Deities, collapsible. So that if anyone wants, he can dispatch them.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 19, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: If you arrange for prasāda distribution, you become very popular.

Rāmeśvara: None of the tourists who are Westerners ever takes Jagannātha prasādam, do they?

Prabhupāda: No, if there is good prasādam, they'll take.

Gargamuni: Tourists... We'll send in the sweet shops, but...

Prabhupāda: If they understand they are very palatable.

Gargamuni: But that beachfront, if we're on there, we can use that beach as a place to feed thousands of people.

Rāmeśvara: Of course, all the pilgrims that come to Purī for the temple festivals, they'll also come to our temple if it is very big.

Prabhupāda: Yes, naturally.

Rāmeśvara: But what style will it be? It will be a different style of architecture.

Prabhupāda: Vṛndāvana? That will be new introduction here.

Hari-śauri: Vṛndāvana's not a very big temple.

Prabhupāda: Not big, but... Bombay.

Hari-śauri: Yes. That's the same, along the same lines at least.

Gargamuni: Shouldn't it be higher than the Purī temple or less?

Rāmeśvara: We can make it higher for not too much extra cost. The height is not that expensive. I was talking...

Gargamuni: Height should be... Because you can see Purī temple from the road ten miles away.

Rāmeśvara: It would be suitable, appropriate, if this temple was taller.

Prabhupāda: That can be done.

Gurukula Inspection -- June 26, 1977, Vrndavana:

Bhagatji: First the gurukula children are there. We have to see to the comforts of the gurukula children.

Prabhupāda: Their comforts first. They have done very nice. (Hindi conversation) ...university, but producing hippies. (Hindi) Library in your... It is all nonsense. Who is going to read the books, big, big library? It is simply waste of time. Train them how to become self-controlled, how to become God conscious, how to become humble, obedient. This is required. And so-called education and last result is to become a hippie, what is the use? Simply waste of time. Education is meant for the first-class men. A kṛṣana does not require education. He should see how to plow, and he'll learn. This mistri does not require any... He should work with other mistri, and he'll learn. Architecture, this, that, so many... Why? Why waste your time? This nice building has been constructed by these laborers. They have got training by seeing, by practice. They did not require university education. Of course, guide is there. Of course... So these big, big universities, allowing everyone to come and join school, college—simply wasting time and unemployment. Unemployment. This is not required. Only brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, those who are being trained up as brāhmaṇa and kṣatriya, they should be given book education.

Conversation -- June 30, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Whether you're sitting in here or sitting in Colombo, it's the same.

Prabhupāda: It is same thing. And I am taken from one place to another by chair. So where is the difficulty? There is no difficulty. It is difficulty by imagination.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah.

Prabhupāda: Otherwise no difficulty. Jaya Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma. Nitāi-Gaura Rādhā-Śyāma, Jaya Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma. It is symmetrical.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very symmetrical. Very... Actually it goes in my mind a lot now.

Prabhupāda: Jaya Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma. Who has got strength like Balarāma? Balarāma, He can do everything by His strength. We are depending on Him, Balarāma. He can please everyone, and He has got immense strength to do anything He likes. Jaya Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma. Now these sakhīs, aṣṭa-sakhī, there is no instance we have displayed. Why they should be kept inside? Only one man should be under a cloud(?), in an upturned (indistinct).

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Nice. Nice.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Temple is very attractive. People come in. They walk all the way around, looking at all the paintings, talking about them...

Prabhupāda: This new architecture(?)...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's the most unusual temple in Vṛndāvana.

Prabhupāda: And it is not meant for making money. It is meant for giving service. And that is the difference.

Room Conversation With Son (Vrindavan De) -- July 5, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Only fortunate person, they can understand what is the value of Kṛṣṇa, only fortunate.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But it says, guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya, bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151). So it's fortunate because the guru gives the...

Prabhupāda: So that fortune is... By fortune he gets a guru. And by the instruction of guru he gets Kṛṣṇa. So to create fortune we have to take this regulative principle, to become fortunate that someday he'll be able to meet somebody who is real guru and who will give him real guidance. "Man is the architect of his own fortune." Therefore pious activities and other things, yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-kriyā, these things are recommended, to acquire the qualities of brāhmaṇa. These things are required. If he remains like animal, that fortune will never come. This is the architecture. So that fortune begins when he enters the varṇāśrama-dharma, four varṇas and four āśramas. That is a easiest way. Fortune does not come that "This is very important. Man is the architect of his own fortune." He must accept some process to become fortunate. And if you want to become fortunate through the rich man, you should enter... (microphone moving) ...just like businessman... (microphone moving) And without doing something, how you can get fortune?

Room Conversation -- October 25, 1977, Vrndavana:

Hari-śauri: We just got a telegram today from Bhāgavata.

Prabhupāda: Who is he?

Hari-śauri: He was an elderly Australian devotee, the man who was doing the architecture. You saw him in Bombay, that older man. He was about fifty-six.

Prabhupāda: In Bombay?

Hari-śauri: You saw him in Bombay last year. He had just done some drawings for the development of Bhuvaneśvara, and you asked him if he would like... Oh, Haridaspur. At that time he was working on some plans for Haridaspur, and you asked him if he would like to stay there. He's... Bhāgavata put that he had died of some brain virus.

Prabhupāda: In Bhuvaneśvara?

Hari-śauri: Yes. That is part of Jagannātha Purī dhāma?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Hari-śauri: Is that a guarantee for going home, if someone leaves their body in the dhāma?

Prabhupāda: At least, he gets high standard of life for many years. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Find out in Bhagavad-gītā.

Hari-śauri: (pause) Prāpya puṇya-kṛtāṁ lokān (BG 6.41)?

Room Conversation -- November 2, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: What about the gate?

Akṣayānanda: That's going on. Construction is going on. Saurabha Mahārāja came yesterday, and he has given that idea. He had some objection before. He's clarified that objection. It was an architectural point, just for the beauty. So he's clarified that with the engineer, and it's going on now. I haven't had time, Prabhupāda, to talk to the members—some of the members are still remaining-about their conference, because I had to go for this work. But I'll go now and meet some of these gentlemen, get some idea what is their aims and objectives and resolutions. Otherwise, unfortunately, I could not be present there. But I'll give you a report.

Prabhupāda: Their aims and object is superficially good, that "We altogether preach." But they do not know the ways. That is their defect. Neither they'll take up as it is. So it will be failure.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It is already failure.

Akṣayānanda: It is failure.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The only success they had here is that they got your darśana and the darśana of Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma. In that sense it was a great success.

Prabhupāda: They do not want anything. They want to assemble together and have some excursion.