Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Why is it that in the modern day good people, they don't come into public office? Good people. In previous ages there were rājarṣis, great kings, very pious kings. Why is it that only rogues are aspiring today?
Prabhupāda: Because the democracy. You will not get vote. As soon as you become honest man in the public office, nobody will be obedient to you, and it will be impossible for him to execute any... You see? The bank manager in Delhi—he was my friend—that "I am afraid of this union. If I press them to do something, they will immediately topsy-turvy the whole management." Bank manager said. "So I am afraid of the workers' union," he told me. So therefore good men, they do not go to this political post because they know they will not be able to do anything good. He will be surrounded by all rogues. Nobody will execute his order.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: So the future in Kali-yuga looks very bleak.
Prabhupāda: Very, very black. Āchinna-dāra-draviṇ gacchanti giri-kānanam. People, general people, will be so much disgusted that they will be obliged to give up family and home and go to the forest, being disappointed: "Now I cannot manage. Let me go away."
Harikeśa: That's predestined.
Prabhupāda: Yes, predestined.
Harikeśa: But that can all change in a minute.
Prabhupāda: Yes, that can be changed only by... Therefore we are... "Go giri-kānanam, but take shelter of Kṛṣṇa." Vānaṁ gato yad harim āśrayet. "Go, leave your, this so-called family, home, and go to the forest and take shelter of Kṛṣṇa." That is advised by Prahlāda Mahārāja. "That is the best thing in life. If you want to be free from anxiety, give up this so-called family life. Go to the forest and take shelter of Lord Kṛṣṇa." That is Prahlāda Mahārāja's advice. Don't try to adjust it. It will not be possible.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Especially in Kali-yuga.
Prabhupāda: Especially in Kali-yuga. So we are offering them shelter that "In this age you are not accustomed to go to the forest. It will be more inconvenient. Come to our center and be Kṛṣṇa conscious and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Your problems will be solved." This is our mission. Everyone is faced with problem. Otherwise why there is majority of suicide? Everyone is faced with problem.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: It's best to go this way.
Harikeśa: Oh, somebody hitting.
Prabhupāda: Shilling?
Harikeśa: No, they are playing golf.
Prabhupāda: Oh. How persistent life is this. His main body is cut into pieces; still, he's struggling to exist. He has got some attachment—"I shall live here, stand here for ten thousand years." This is māyā. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī (BG 7.14). (break)
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: How can a man's intelligence be rectified? If intelligence is the...
Prabhupāda: This hari-kīrtana, chant. Somehow or other, induce them to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Everything all right. By flattering, by soliciting, by giving him prasāda, by elevating him, that "You are the best man in the world"—in this way inducing him, "Please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa," then he will be rectified. This is Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. There is no other way. He is ruined, and the more the Kali-yuga advances, he becomes more and more ruined. All other attempts will failure. Don't you see in your country the LSD-addicted hippies? Government spends so much money to rectify them-failure. But as soon as they come to our camp, immediately success. How it is possible?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: By this chanting...
Prabhupāda: That is the amazement. That is the amazement of Professor Judah and all others, that "How it is happening? There is something in the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement."
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: This is good propaganda with the governments also. This is good way to get the governments to support our movement more and more, isn't it?
Prabhupāda: The government never objected to our movement. Never. I never met any objection from government side. Neither even Christian priestly side. I never met any objection. They understand that "He is doing something."
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Only from your Godbrothers. (laughter)
Prabhupāda: Yes. (break)
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: You don't like the sunshine so much.
Prabhupāda: Only at the time of massage. (break)
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: ...Vedic statement or is it just preference?
Prabhupāda: No, that is my personal. During winter it is pleasing, of course, sunshine.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: ...walk this way. There's a ravine here. (break) Śrīla Prabhupāda, it always seems that there is some kind of inspiration for spiritual life there. Is that simply mental concoction, or is it actually a fact, the land itself?
Prabhupāda: Land. It is the influence of the land. Just like Vṛndāvana. Whatever you may be, you stay here, you become spiritualized. Simply you stay there.