Devotion (Conversations 1976 - 1977)

Expressions researched:
"devotion" |"devotion's" |"devotionism"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: devotion or devotionism or devotion's not "nectar of devotion" not "love and devotion" not " devotion to krsna" not "pure devotion" not "unalloyed devotion"

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- February 21, 1976, Mayapura:

Acyutānanda: Of how to train the mind.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Acyutānanda: And...

Devotee (1): Āgamas.

Acyutānanda: Yes, and...

Prabhupāda: Practice devotion.

Yaśodānandana: Because it is a thick book which is also not so expensive, people like it very much.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Yaśodānandana: Also with color illustrations.

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.

Morning Walk -- March 11, 1976, Mayapur:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: There's been a feeling that all year their hard work has all become worthwhile simply by coming here.

Prabhupāda: Hm. Yes. Make it more.... Therefore I wanted first of all this house, not the temple, because where they'll stay? They'll come to the temple. Where they will stay? If you get staying place, then you can act your brain and improve. And if you are harassed—no place—then brain will not work. Therefore I wanted first of all the residential place. And they criticize me, "Oh, you did not construct temple first." And a temple of the devotees is first, our temple. Then God. God will come if there are devotees. Tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada yatra gāyantī mad-bhaktāḥ. Unless there is devotee, where is God? God is not a stone. Any stone is God? Unless there is devotees, there's no God. Therefore, without devotee: the idol, this is idol worship. That is not worship. Therefore they cannot understand what is the form, what is the distinction between form of the Lord and idol. They do not know how to worship in devotion. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante (BG 4.11). They are thinking, "It is stone, and God is remaining here, stone. He will never speak," because they are not devotee. If you become devotee.... Just like Sākṣī Gopāla. For devotee He went to give witness, "Yes, I'll walk." That is God. And if you are not devotee, how you can expect the stone statue is walking? You have read that Sākṣī Gopāla?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, very nice.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Gopāla was saying that "You are asking Me to go to give witness. Do you think a statue can go?" So he is devotee. He said, "Yes, if statue can speak, he can go also." So he had firm faith. So Kṛṣṇa had pledged him, "Yes, I'll go."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I think you also have that firm faith, Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: No, without firm faith there is no beginning of God worship.

Devotee: Niṣṭhā.

Morning Walk -- March 22, 1976, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Pañcadraviḍa: You know that person who gives us the mandir in Vrndavana and... What's his name? We stay at that Fogal Ashram every year? Vairagi Bhava?

Prabhupāda: Vairagi Bhava.

Pañcadraviḍa: He showed up in Hong Kong. He said that "There are two great influences in my life: one Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who taught me service..., who taught me devotion," and he said, "Ramakrishna, who taught us service to man." He also showed up with one woman sannyāsīni or something.

Devotee: Service to man. (laughter)

Prabhupāda: Especially woman. (laughter)

Pañcadraviḍa: And wearing saffron too. You gave him an offer he could travel and become..., and take part in our movement if he was willing to preach Bhagavad-gītā as it is.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Pañcadraviḍa: He did not accept.

Prabhupāda: That means he wants to cheat. (loud kīrtana-end)

Morning Walk -- March 25, 1976, Delhi:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Sudāmā: By reading your books, then all of the...

Prabhupāda: Therefore the books are there.

Sudāmā: Even practical, everything...

Ātreya Ṛṣi: But without attitude of devotion, nothing will work.

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Attitude of devotion must be there.

Prabhupāda: The attitude, devotion, is there. Otherwise why one should come to our camp? But it must be properly utilized. It should not be misused. If you go to school and if you don't read books, you'll fail in the examination.

Guru dāsa: But the attitude of devotion should be there every moment, so everything...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Conversation with News Reporters -- March 25, 1976, Delhi:

Prabhupāda: Just see the example, how they are.... ask them.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, then you lose your hankering for everything else.

Reporter (1): Really?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Yes. The higher taste.

Prabhupāda: That is the taste of Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra ca (SB 11.2.42). As soon as you advance in devotion, you become detestful to the all material enjoyment.

Reporter (2): Swamiji, may I inquire from which class of society people generally come to you in the States.

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: From which class of society in the United Sates do most of your disciples come?

Prabhupāda: You can ask them. I do not know.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: All classes. Many educated people as well as people from all different classes, all racial backgrounds.

Prabhupāda: No, no, in America who is uneducated?

Hṛdayānanda: Yes, all coming from very nice families, the majority, education. Many, many of them coming from very wealthy families.

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

Prabhupāda: So instead of becoming devotee, he wants to become God. And that is the problem. But it is the most confidential part of knowledge. Instead of carrying out the orders of God, he wants to order God. You see? Even in the lower stages of devotion, that mentality continues, that "God is order-supplier. If God carries my order, then I accept God. Otherwise I reject Him." In Germany... One of my German Godbrothers, he told me in 1935 that in the last world war, many people became atheists. They went to the church and prayed, especially women, "My husband may come back," "My brother may come back," or "My father may come back." Because all men went to the war field, and the women were there, they prayed in the churches. But nobody came back, and they became atheists. That means they took God as order-supplier. They ordered God, "Return my father. Return my brother. Return my husband," and God did not return. "Ah, there is no God. I don't care." This is going on. God is order-supplier. But our philosophy is God is not order-supplier; we are order-carriers of God. Anukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśilanaṁ bhaktir uttamā (CC Madhya 19.167). Just like Arjuna became. He became carrier of order of Kṛṣṇa. He did not like to fight, to kill the family members, but when he understood that Kṛṣṇa wants it, then he..., "Yes." Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava (BG 18.73). Find out this verse, naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labhdā tvat-prasādān madhusūdanaḥ.

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

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Indian lady: With the siddhis... One who has attained all these siddhis, all these powers, do they harm humanity sometimes?

Prabhupāda: Anything without devotion to the Lord is harmful to the humanity. Anything, either karmī or jñānī or siddhi, it is all harmful, because all these things will keep him aloof from God. His mission is that he is separated from God. His mission should be how to go back to home, back to Godhead. So all these things—bhukti, mukti, siddhi—will keep him aloof from God. Therefore it is harmful. It will not allow him to go nearer to God, and that is harmful. That is the greatest harm. Being aloof from God, he's suffering. So these bhukti, mukti, siddhi will keep him aloof from God. He'll falsely think that "I am God." Yogis, if they can show some mystic yogic power, then naturally foolish people will think him that "Oh, here is God." And he's satisfied with that. He's not God, but foolish people will adore him as God, and he's satisfied. That means he keeps himself aloof from God. After this mystic power is gone, then he is no more valuable. So anything which keeps one aloof from God, that is harmful.

Indian lady: But if they misuse these mystic powers, then they cannot stay as a mystic.

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

Prabhupāda: Now discuss on this point. If anyone has objection.

Hṛdayānanda: Objections?

Prabhupāda: Yes, Dr. Wolfe.

Dr. Wolfe: Do not some physical means come into the keeping the body strong, healthy, so that devotion is possible at all? Because to produce sick people, of course, is not in the Lord's spirit either, I think.

Prabhupāda: No. Our aim is not to create sick people. That is not our aim.

Dr. Wolfe: Swimming, walking, is still important I think.

Prabhupāda: No, we do not say. Neither.

Dr. Wolfe: I miss it in the Movement. I think it should not be made a sport, but it should be made, perhaps, a physical must under control.

Prabhupāda: No, if you eat more, then you require more exercise to digest unnecessary loading, but if you eat simply, just to keep our body and soul together, you don't require exercise.

Dr. Wolfe: Well...

Prabhupāda: Little movement is going on, we are walking. But not this severe type of exercise as surfers and fighting with the sea waves for four hours, five hours, ten hours. (devotees laugh)

Dr. Wolfe: But Śrīla Prabhupāda, a kṣatriya has to be strong.

Garden Conversation -- June 15, 1976, Detroit:

Prabhupāda: No. It is all right. You sit down. It is fine, you can sit. No, no.

Hari-śauri: Sit over this side.

Jayādvaita: "The sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, whom if we killed we should not care to live, are now standing before us on this battlefield." Arjuna did not know whether he should fight and risk unnecessary violence, although fighting is the duty of the kṣatriyas, or whether he should refrain and live by begging. If he did not conquer the enemy, begging would be his only means of subsistence. Nor was there certainty of victory, because either side might emerge victorious. Even if victory awaited them (and their cause was justified), still, if the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra died in battle, it would be very difficult to live in their absence. Under the circumstances, that would be another kind of defeat for them. All these considerations by Arjuna definitely prove that he was not only a great devotee of the Lord but that he was also highly enlightened and had complete control over his mind and senses. His desire to live by begging, although he was born in the royal household, is another sign of detachment. He was truly virtuous, as these qualities, combined with his faith in the words of instruction of Śrī Kṛṣṇa (his spiritual master), indicate. It is concluded that Arjuna was quite fit for liberation. Unless the senses are controlled, there is no chance of elevation to the platform of knowledge, and without knowledge and devotion there is no chance of liberation. Arjuna was competent in all these attributes, over and above his enormous attributes in his material relationships.

Conversation with Clergymen -- June 15, 1976, Detroit:

Prabhupāda: Yes. There are nine kinds of devotional service. They are all the same. Different processes. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyam (SB 7.5.23). Vandanam, this vandanam is prayer. We are worshiping, Deity worship, and you are offering prayers in the church. So both of them we take as devotional service. We don't say that because you are offering prayer, it is less important than.... No. Because it is, prayer is offered to the Supreme Lord. So that is devotional. That is devotion.

Scheverman: Yes, so prayer then is devotion offered to the Supreme Lord.

Prabhupāda: Supreme Lord, they are accepting the Supreme Lord. Yes. Accepting the Supreme Lord.

Scheverman: It's a sign of one's acceptance.

Prabhupāda: Anyone, yes, that is also very pious. If you accept the Supreme Lord, then you become pious immediately. Catur-vidhā. Find out this, catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ sukṛtino 'rjuna.

Kern: Is the prayer communal, where all take part in the prayer, or is it individual?

Prabhupāda: But there are different classes of men. So therefore nine methods of devotional service. And the general method is hearing. Hearing about God.

Scheverman: Hearing about God. So therefore the necessity of speaking aloud in one's prayer. Yes. The father was speaking of the charismatics among Christians. That is one of their tenets, too, speaking a prayer, praise, aloud, so that it can be heard and all simultaneously join in it too.

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

Prabhupāda: Nice. And no tea, no liquor. Yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhaḥ. If the professors chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, naturally the students will do that. Yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas tad tad eva itaro janaḥ (BG 3.21). Less important person also follow. If the professor's chanting, the student will immediately follow. You can do better service. If I go, I request them, they'll not do it. But as soon as they: "My professor is doing. All right. Immediately."

Prof. O'Connell: (to other professor) Do you have such devotion among your students in McMaster? You don't see much.

Indian man: (indistinct)

Prof. O'Connell: We had a graduation ceremony today down at the University. I've just come up from it. Are you going to send any of your students to the University to get their doctoral studies so that they can teach at other universities? We'd be delighted if some would come this way.

Viśvakarmā: One boy, Garuḍa dāsa, is going to study at the University of Chicago for his Ph.D. in Sanskrit.

Prof. O'Connell: Good.

Prabhupāda: The real education is life. Gurukula means it is a way of life training. It is said that brahmacārī gurukule vasan dānta. This is the way of life: how to learn controlling the senses. Nowadays we have got school, colleges, universities, but this method is not there, how to become dānta. The method is different, that "You can do whatever you like; you simply attend class." That is not the way of life. This is tapasya.

Morning Walk Conversation -- June 20, 1976, Toronto:

Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa, good morning.

Prabhupāda: (Hindi) This modern civilization. (Hindi) nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛ-loke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). Don't be hogs. Be human being. This is hog civilization. (Hindi) Sex. Don't care whether he's mother, sister or brother. No, no. This is going on. (long conversation in Hindi with Indians) (new sequence in car)

Satsvarūpa: (break) ...that we have to stick to the tradition. Tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt. Then.... Not just by mystical devotion.

Prabhupāda: There is no proper guide. They manufacture ideas, that's all. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2), that path is not there. (break) ...name? I forgot

Satsvarūpa: Gene.

Prabhupāda: Gene.

Satsvarūpa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: (break) ...building or something...

Viśvakarmā: Yes, it's a very big exhibit, scientific achievements. (break) ...come and see it.

Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:

Pradyumna: Ah, Prabhakara. Hm, hm.

Prabhupāda: He's a big Sanskrit scholar. But what is his position? He got big, big position also, but he could not stay. If one's mind is not fixed up, you learn Sanskrit or no Sanskrit, it will.... (break) To make a good man, it is not necessary that one has to learn Sanskrit. He can be made good provided he fully surrenders to Kṛṣṇa. Sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcana. If one has got unflinching faith and devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ. All good qualities will develop automatically. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad guṇā. If he's not a devotee, he will hover over the mental concoction. Manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). Then he'll remain in the material platform. Never mind he's a Sanskrit scholar or this or that.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Would you like to hear another question, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Hm.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: It is said that while the śrutis embody the eternal truths of Hinduism, the smṛtis, which embody the rules of conduct need to be revised according to the dictates of the changing times.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Will such a stand be acceptable to all sections of Hindus, and if so, how can the new smṛtis come into being and who will give them sanction and sanctity?

Prabhupāda: The authority will give. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He is giving authority. The śāstra is giving authority. But in this age, Kali-yuga, it is full of faults, the ocean of faults. And Śukadeva Gosvāmī is giving direction,

Room Conversation -- June 28, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: That's nice. So?

Rādhāvallabha: That's all that they want to know. Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. When everything do with devotion, it will come out correct.

Rādhāvallabha: Jaya.

Prabhupāda: We have got our testing tubes in Bhagavad-gītā. Who was speaking that "If God is talking, what is use of spiritual master," yesterday?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Yes, that was a...

Prabhupāda: "God will talk with anyone."

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: He said, "God is talking with them from within."

Room Conversation -- July 2, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: No fighting spirit. Ṭhākura dekhiya (indistinct). Just make a Deity, show. Our Tīrtha Mahārāja is doing that. His whole idea was, that "I have now captured the birthplace of Caitanya Mahāprabhu by high-court favor. Now I have got everything. People will come and they'll pay something, and that will be my income for my family." As the caste gosvāmīs do in Navadvīpa and other... A means of livelihood. He has no devotion. He wanted as a means of income. Like the Vṛndāvana gosvāmīs, Navadvīpa gosvāmīs do. Little devotion, automatically, there is. They are, after all, worshiping the Deity. But their purpose is different. Just like we have established Rādhā-Vṛndāvanacandra not that people will come and pay something. Who will come here, in this foreign country or in this secluded place? So our aim is to make the devotees real devotees. Not for earning money. When we establish a center in a place like this, where is the idea of getting money? (laughs) Who will come here? One, it is a foreign country, nobody knows what is Kṛṣṇa. And one has to come with so great difficulty, on the mountain. And who is coming to pay for it? After spending so much money, they will come here to pay? Our process is that wherever we stay, we worship Kṛṣṇa. As far as possible. That we are doing. Not for earning money but spending money. Now Tīrtha Mahārāja is seeing that without getting Caitanya Mahāprabhu's birthsite, Swami Mahārāja, he is attracting lakhs of people. Without the favor of high-court, he is attracting. That is his envy. This year, you were not present?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: At Māyāpur?

Prabhupāda: Oh, you were present?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Oh, yes. There was always...

'Life Comes From Life' Slideshow Discussions -- July 3, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: Otherwise, it is not possible. That I explained this morning, panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām, so 'pyasti yat prapada-sīmny avincintya-tattve (Bs. 5.34). Without bhakti, if you go on speculating for many, many years with the speed of mind, if you want to go, still avincintya-tattve, it will remain inconceivable.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: So what it means is that in order to understand this distinction between life and matter one must be a devotee.

Prabhupāda: Yes. We raise the question, we challenge these rascals because we are following the path of devotion. We are not scientists. And we could not challenge unless we were convinced. How it is possible? Suppose I am layman, how I am challenging these big, big scientists? It is not... Because we have known it through devotional service, so this is science. That is the difference.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: So these are some of the axiomatic truths that are necessary steps in order to study this problem between life and...

Prabhupāda: In Bhagavad-gītā it is said bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: (BG 18.55) "One can understand Me through bhakti." And the Vedic injunction is that "If one knows Me, or knows the Absolute Truth, God, then he knows everything." Yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. If somehow or other one knows the Absolute Truth, then he knows everything. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. That is the benefit of knowing the Absolute Truth. So a devotee knows everything. How it is possible?

'Life Comes From Life' Slideshow Discussions -- July 3, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: Some of them are devatās, some of them are human being.

Rūpānuga: When we say four hundred thousand species of human beings, that doesn't include all the demigods then.

Prabhupāda: The demigods are like human beings.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Prabhupāda told me that when you become a devotee, you are a demigod. (laughs)

Prabhupāda: The whole evolutionary process means to bring the living entity to the platform of goodness and then transcend that platform also, come to pure goodness. That is devotion.

Devotee: Prabhupāda? You explained that all those forms are already existing. What is the meaning of all those forms if there is no one inhabiting them? Why is it that they all exist without...

Prabhupāda: No, no, how you can say nobody is inhabiting?

Devotee: You said that they are there, you just go to the different forms. So that means they are existing without anyone living there?

Prabhupāda: No, form, a class of form. It can be immediately, that A class, B class, C class, D class. So if you are fit for D class, immediately form for you, a D class body is there, made.

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

Prabhupāda: Art?

Indian man: Yes, like painting, or music, or literature, poetry, like that. Because the problem is that they, if one devotes oneself to these things, they are full-time things, they take all your energy and time. And so...

Prabhupāda: Devotion means to engage your energy and time for Kṛṣṇa. Anyway you do that, that is utilized. Sarvopādhi-vinir... tat-paratvena. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa sevanam (CC Madhya 19.170). So if you can serve Kṛṣṇa by your hand, by painting about Kṛṣṇa, that is service. If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, if you hear the chanting, that is also service. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇu, about Lord Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa. That is the beginning. Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of pleasure, ānandamayo 'byāsāt. So these things are producing ānanda. If it is in connection with Kṛṣṇa, then it is service. (aside:) So, Pālikā, you can take these fruits, cut into pieces and distribute it.

Devotee: (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Ah, yes.

Devotee: Śrīla Prabhupāda, what if, ah, for instance, I'm too fallen to closely follow the regulative principles and I find myself in that way...

Prabhupāda: Just explain.

Evening Darsana -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: Number? Yes, of course, no. Actually, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). Always to be chanted. But because you cannot do that, therefore you must fix up a number. Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ. Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka, that "I must chant so many times." That is determination. I have prescribed to my disciples that "You must chant at least sixteen rounds." That is very easy. But there is saṅkhyā. Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ. The Gosvāmīs, they used to do that. So it is; otherwise, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. The chanting should go on twenty-four hours. Just like Haridāsa Ṭhākura used to do. He was simply chanting. But that is not possible for ordinary man. Therefore they should have a fixed up, that "I must chant so many times." That will fix up the determination. Bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ. There must be some dṛḍha-vratāḥ, that "I must do it." Then the devotion grows very firm. If we become lenient, "All right, I shall do later on..." No, must be done. Dṛḍha-vratāḥ. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). Dṛḍha-vratāḥ. Everything should be determined. Then spiritual progress will be rapid.

Mr. Deyani: So many, when we go to our offices, since we come from India, naturally the very intelligent young boys and girls, they ask various questions to us. And just for the sake of their curiosity, naturally they ask the question about the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we try to explain our ways, whatever we know. What explanation we have got when they put the example of, you know, that sixteen-year-old guru and something like that kind of things? What explanation we have got in that circumstance. In that circumstance, what explanation we have got as an individual for the Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: This young boy guru, when they bring up this subject matter to the Indians who have come from India who are working here in America, they feel a little embarrassed, loss for words or explanation what to say, that this is their Indian culture, they feel they don't know how to represent themselves.

Room Conversation -- July 10, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: Oh, he's American?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, yes.

Tripurāri: He thinks there are different types of meditation that all work, and ours is one type, bona fide, that works. There are also other types.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The article goes on—I don't know if you want to hear it all. You want to hear it? Okay. Here's this thing called "Who is Kṛṣṇa?" "Kṛṣṇa, viewed by ISKCON as the Supreme Personification of Godhead, is said to have many pastimes in which He assumes different appearances. One such is that of Gopālajī, the cowherd boy—see picture, cowherd boy—He can appear in other forms such as four-armed Nārāyaṇa. Most often Kṛṣṇa is portrayed as having light blue skin and, by Western standards, a soft and effeminate physique. He is said to be full in the six opulences: beauty, strength, fame, wealth, knowledge and renunciation. He is said to be all-attractive. Kṛṣṇa incarnates on one planet after another in infinite universes. The last time He appeared on earth as Kṛṣṇa was five thousand years ago. He will not return in that form for another four hundred thousand years, but five hundred years ago He appeared in His incarnation of Lord Caitanya, who taught people of the mahāmantra and started the Kṛṣṇa consciousness in its present state. According to the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa hungers for the devotion of His followers." Very nicely put. "This devotion in its pure sense takes the form of bhakti-yoga, the dedication of one's every action to Kṛṣṇa. Thus to use one's sense for one's own pleasure is to deny Kṛṣṇa devotion and accumulate negative karma. Kṛṣṇa has a consort, Rādhā, but She is considered only as an extension of His own pleasure principle, since He is all things. It is through Her intercession that devotees seek favors from Kṛṣṇa. According to ISKCON, Kṛṣṇa is the same God worshiped as Jehovah, Allah and so on." That is the explanation of who Kṛṣṇa is.

Room Conversation -- July 10, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Rādhāvallabha: He could write for Back to Godhead.

Prabhupāda: Yes, it is good.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very good. Then there is a part called "Hare Kṛṣṇa Meditation." "The Hare Kṛṣṇaś practice bhakti, the yoga of devotion. They have their mahāmantra, continual recitation of which will have a meditative effect. By integrating recitation of the mantra with a life of rigidly formulated devotional activities, it would seem that devotees actually live their meditation. Such a life of living meditation is not without parallel in secular fields. It is believed that the spiritual form of alchemy served this purpose; that is, an alchemist repeated the same experimental routine over and over until it became automatized, though still requiring some slight personal involvement." He's getting a little far out here. "It was expected that the result..." Anyway, "...practitioners of Western magical disciplines sought for similar results. Meditation takes effect in terms of the ambiance in which it is practiced. In the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement there are certain to be transcendental experiences. They would be in accord with Vedic teachings, but their exact nature has not proven easy of discovery, since devotees insist that their sole aim in life is to be of service to Kṛṣṇa." We're not interested in experiencing all these special things.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is very nice.

Interview with Newsday Newspaper -- July 14, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: No, you can read the Sanskrit also.

Hari-śauri:

ananyāś cintayanto māṁ

ye janāḥ paryupāsate

teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ

yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham

(BG 9.22)

"But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have."

Interviewer: They still have to go out and ask occasionally?

Bali-mardana: It's not that we sit back and wait for Kṛṣṇa to send it to us.

Rāmeśvara: No, we're very industrious.

Prabhupāda: We don't sit down idly.

Bali-mardana: God helps those who help themselves.

Prabhupāda: We are not idle preachers, we are working. All, very hard, more than the karmīs.

Rāmeśvara: These men, they go out to engage people in taking our books maybe twelve hours a day sometimes, ten hours a day, without any salary.

Interview with Religious Editor Of the Associated Press -- July 16, 1976, New York:

Hari-śauri:

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ

yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ

namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā

nitya-yuktā upāsate

(BG 9.14)

"Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion."

Prabhupāda: So this was spoken five thousand years ago and we are doing the same thing.

Interviewer: Now what's your, what's your...?

Prabhupāda: Now your answer is there, it is not that I invented something.

Interviewer: Yes, you didn't invent it, I get the point, that it derives from the Vedic scriptures.

Prabhupāda: Whatever we are doing, it is authorized. That is the principle for spiritual understanding.

Interviewer: What I was trying to ask you a while ago, do you think that these particular Vedic disciplines and spiritual principles, concentration on the spirit instead of the body, has a particular usefulness in Western society nowadays?

Prabhupāda: It is useful for every human being. If the Western society thinks that they are not human being, that is another thing. (laughter)

Room Conversation -- July 17, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hari-śauri: "As stated in Brahma-saṁhitā, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord. No one is greater than Him; He is the cause of all causes. Here it is also stated by the Lord personally that He is the cause of all the demigods and the sages. Even the demigods and great sages cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. They can neither understand His name nor His personality, so what is the position of the so-called scholars of this tiny planet? No one can understand why the Supreme God comes to earth as an ordinary human being and executes such commonplace and yet wonderful activities. One should know, then, that scholarship is not the qualification necessary to understand Kṛṣṇa. Even the demigods and the great sages have tried to understand Kṛṣṇa by their mental speculation, and they have failed to do so. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also it is stated clearly that even the great demigods are not able to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They can speculate to the limits of their imperfect senses and can reach the opposite conclusion of impersonalism, of something not manifested by the three qualities of material nature. Or they can imagine something by mental speculation. But it is not possible to understand Kṛṣṇa by such foolish speculation. Here the Lord indirectly says that if anyone wants to know the Absolute Truth, 'Here I am, present as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I am the Supreme.' One should know this. Although one cannot understand the inconceivable Lord who is personally present, He nonetheless exists. We can actually understand Kṛṣṇa who is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, simply by studying His words in Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The impersonal Brahman can be conceived by persons who are already in the inferior energy of the Lord, but the Personality of Godhead cannot be conceived unless one is in the transcendental position. Because most men cannot understand Kṛṣṇa in His actual situation, out of His causeless mercy He descends to show favor to such speculators. Yet despite the Supreme Lord's uncommon activities, these speculators, due to contamination in the material energy, still think that the impersonal Brahman is the Supreme. Only the devotees who are fully surrendered unto the Supreme Lord can understand, by the grace of the Lord, that He is Kṛṣṇa. The devotees of the Lord do not bother about the impersonal Brahman conception of God. Their faith and devotion bring them to surrender immediately unto the Supreme Lord, and out of the causeless mercy of Kṛṣṇa, they can understand Kṛṣṇa. No one else can understand Him. So even great sages agree, 'What is ātmā? What is the Supreme? It is He whom we have to worship.' "

Indian man: In my class I run into lot of arguments, especially from our Indian people, and this is one of the biggest arguments people pose. They say, "Why are you calling yourselves Vaiṣṇavas and not Kṛṣṇayas?"

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Room Conversation -- July 26, 1976, London:

Pṛthu-putra: (translating) (sic:) "The classical induries(?) based on sacred scriptures from which the eighteen great Purāṇas has a central place. These vast poems, their character give theologic teaching is giving all the knowledge of the Veda, and in the substance of the Purāṇa there is the face of the Indian populations. While reciting them in the temples and the preacher are giving commentaries in the assembly of devotees, which is called sankīrtana. This teaching read to the chant and dancing on the glories of the Lord Bhagavān. Amongst all these Purāṇas, the most famous is the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, called Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, because this literary form is achieved the most beautiful, and also because it's the poem which is expressing the best the doctrine of the faith that Sri Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Person, Purusottama, the principle of everything, the absolute unique without second, advaitam-brahman. Like in the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord reveals His majesty in plain. Much more than an avatara of Visnu, He appears in our eyes like the unique God. Towards Him all devotion is due. The French people are honored to have, from the beginning of the nineteenth century, to have the first edition of Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, but from long time already this work of the great Beurnuf"—that's the man who translated Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in nineteenth century in French—"is the reason why we have to thank very much the association, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, to give us that very big text, one of the master book of the humanity. This book is very benefic, and with the translation of the Sanskrit there is a commentary, the majestical commentary, which is given verse after verse by the master, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder of the association. As he did it with the Bhagavad-gītā, which was published in French in 1975 with the preface of a Professor Harvi Delacombe, Swami Prabhupāda explains word by word each mantra -stanza or sacred text-before to give a signification. Then the reader can judge every pieces, what is the meaning of the teaching of the master by confrontation with the text itself..."

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Room Conversation -- July 26, 1976, London:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Pṛthu-putra: "And there is also an index and some notes which are giving the work much more easy for the reader, even the profound. This teaching took its root in the teaching of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, that prophet of Kṛṣṇa's. His preaching in Bengal in Orissa in sixteenth century is again appear deeper for the devotion to Bhagavān. Srila Prabhupāda is descending in the disciplic succession, direct vamsa, from Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His first disciples, the famous Gosvāmīs. It is a considerable advantage for the French public to have these volumes where there is a vitality manifested from one of these past pantha, which are the most followed by the followers of the Hinduism. We hope that there is a large distribution of this tradition and commentary of the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa. Anyone who is interested in the life of India can find the authentic teaching, spiritual teaching authorized, and can also have access to one of the most beautiful religious poem from the Hindu tradition." This is the.... It's wonderful.

Prabhupāda: Yes, very good.

Jayatīrtha: What was his name?

Pṛthu-putra: Jean Vardin

Bhagavān: You met him several years ago, two years ago, when you were in France.

Prabhupāda: Yes, I met one...

Bhagavān: He took all your books.

Evening Conversation -- August 8, 1976, Tehran:

Pradyumna:

mām upetya punar janma

duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam

nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ

saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gataḥ

(BG 8.15)

"After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection."

Prabhupāda: The material world is full of miseries. It may be of different degrees, but it is full of miseries. You cannot avoid by adjustment. That is not possible. Therefore the materialists, they are trying. Just like in this country, Iran, now the Iranians are trying to become as opulent as the Americans. They are trying to build up similar cities and industries, but do you think they will be happy then? No. Are the Americans happy by having big, big cities? No. That is not possible. Now they are trying to imitate, but that is a false attempt. That is not the life. They can see that Americans have got big, big cities, they have big, big organizations, but are they happy actually or not? From practical example. Then why you are attempting again to imitate them? That intelligence is lacking. How they will be happy, they do not know. They are trying to imitate somebody else. He is already on the standard, so-called, but still they are not happy. The Communists, they're trying for the last fifty years to become happy, but are they happy actually? No. The Russians and the Chinese, they are now differing, "No, this is not the standard. This is standard." So the same thing is going on. Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30). It is like chewing the chewed, that's all. Somebody has chewed the sugar cane and it's thrown away. Another man comes, "Let me taste it." And what you'll taste? It is already finished. So all these "isms," they are all finished. All the scientific discoveries, they are all finished. And where is happiness? This is not the way. Mām upetya kaunteya duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). You have to attempt in such a way that after giving up this body, you go back home, back to Godhead, never come back again here. This is the way. Otherwise, there is no happiness.

Evening Conversation -- August 8, 1976, Tehran:

Pradyumna:

bhaktyā mām abhijānāti

yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ

tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā

viśate tad-anantaram

(BG 18.55)

"One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God."

Prabhupāda: That's it. Now unless you enter into the kingdom of God, you'll not feel full satisfaction. Even if you go to the moon planet or Mars planet, there is no question of satisfaction.

Atreya Ṛṣi: So your question is whether one can enter this kingdom of God with this body.

Prabhupāda: No, that is already explained—tyaktvā dehaṁ. Giving up this body, one can enter in the spiritual world. Viśate tad-anantaram—after death. By bhakti, when he's mature and he gives up this body, then he enters into the spiritual world. Tyaktvā deham, giving up this body. You cannot enter, although by devotional service the material activities of the body will stop, but you have to wait for the moment when this material body is no more existing, then with spiritual body you can enter. Tyaktvā deham, mām eti. Viśate tad-anantaram. Tad-anantaram after death. And if you have got little pinch of material attachment, then you'll have to accept another material body. So we have (to) come to the point that no more I want anything material. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170).

Evening Darsan -- August 10, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: So ritualistic ceremonies, Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. Everywhere there are some ritualistic ceremony. So when you go above this... Just like Kṛṣṇa says in another place, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo. By performing the Vedic ritualistic ceremony, the ultimate goal is to understand Kṛṣṇa. So if you understand Kṛṣṇa, then you may not perform this ritualistic ceremony. Because you have come to the objective. Not before that. That is sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66). Vedic ritualistic ceremony is that if you perform this yajña, then you go to the heavenly planet and there you'll get so long life, ten thousands of years, you get nice woman, and so on, so on. People are after that, karma-kāṇḍa. So this karma-kāṇḍa is required so long one is unaware of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When one understands this karma-kāṇḍa elevation is not the aim of our life, our real aim of life how to go back home, back to Godhead, then these things are not required. Just like we have no ritualistic ceremony, we have simply devotional service. We have no ritualistic ceremony. There are so many things ritualistic. And we are performing only this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, mahā-mantra. Therefore the smārta brāhmaṇas, they misunderstand. They do not admit that they have become elevated. The Jagannātha temple does not allow. But when one becomes a pure Vaiṣṇava, then tepus tapas te juhuvuḥ sasnur āryā (SB 3.33.7). He has performed all the ritualistic devotion. There are many statements in the śāstras, that when you come to the devotional platform, you haven't go to perform these ritualistic ceremonies. Because the end of ritualistic ceremony, you have come to the point. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Dharmaḥ projjhita kaitavo 'tra (SB 1.1.2). Kaitava means cheating. Cheating type of dharma is rejected here. This karma-kāṇḍa, by performing some ritualistic ceremony you may go to a heavenly planet, but what benefit you will have? That one has to understand. You can enjoy there materialistic, highest type of materialistic civilization means eating, sleeping, mating. These things you can get, but you have to come back again. Kṣine punye martya-lokaṁ viśanti (BG 9.21). So what benefit there is? No benefit. Just like in British period, some Englishman was made viceroy of India. Then after five years they sent to London, again with his bag, marketing in the street.

Morning Walk -- August 11, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Tapasā brahmacaryeṇa, beginning tapasya, austerity. Brahmacarya, celibacy. Tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śamena damena (SB 6.1.13), controlling the senses, controlling the mind. Tyāgena, by renunciation. Satya-śaucābhyām, by following truthfulness and cleanliness. Yamena niyamena vā, by practicing yoga, yama-niyama. These are the different items of being qualified. But all these things can be done by one stroke, kevalayā bhaktyā, by engaging oneself in devotion, vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ.

kecit kevalayā bhaktyā

vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ

aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena

nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ

(SB 6.1.15)

One becomes qualified by one stroke of bhakti to Vāsudeva. Just like the sunrise immediately dissipates the fog. Aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ. In the Kali-yuga, this one item of bhakti can make one perfectly fit candidate to pass the examination. Aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ. What is this nonsense life? There is no tapasya, no spiritual culture, simply like cats and dogs. Last night I was reading. Vāmanadeva created a planet, Sutala, in which Viśvakarmā was ordered to construct big, big houses, palaces, better than in the heavenly planet. And these rascals are going and seeing simply rocks and sand. And what about these palaces and...?

Morning Walk -- August 11, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: What he'll do?

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Well, I thought that he's a devotee and I should engage him, we should engage him here. But of course, if he's not sincere...

Prabhupāda: He's trying to get such opportunities. He's requesting so many, "Take me here, take me there."

Ātreya Ṛṣi: So I should not do it because we will have problem. We would be in anxiety here.

Prabhupāda: He came to Vṛndāvana for the purpose of devotion, but he had some other motive.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Not give up, would not give up.

Prabhupāda: To take advantage for sense gratification. Why he wants to come here? He requested similarly Bhagavān.

Hari-śauri: He wanted to go to Detroit.

Prabhupāda: Detroit, everyone is trying to take some advantage.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Everybody thinks America is everything. A heavenly planet.

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?

Evening Darsana -- August 12, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: Yes, if I understand that he is rich, I may consider, "Well, I have got one thousand dollars, so he may have one hundred thousand dollars," that's all. But if you understand that he has got millions and millions of dollars, then you'll appreciate, "Oh, so rich!" Then your regard for him will increase. That is not being done. Stereotyped, "God is great." How He is great, to what extent He is great, what is His greatness activities, if you know more and more, then your regard for God will increase. But that they are not doing. Simply officially, "God is great, God is great," finished. No jijñāsā, no inquiry. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. One should be inquisitive. Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21). One who has become inquisitive of the uttamam, the most exalted subject matter, he requires a guru. Otherwise, who will answer his inquiries? Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ. If he's not jijñāsuḥ, what is the need of guru? And where is the question of advancement? He must be jijñāsuḥ. That is, people are not interested. Officially, go to church, go to mosque, go to temple and do something. Then drop it and go to your own business and do whatever you like. No discrimination. They're not serious. Not very serious. One who is serious, he'll inquire. Otherwise, the formula is all right, "God is great, there is no more greater than Him." But inquire, "How He is great?" (guests enter) Thank you. Jaya. Therefore society is required, association is required, to inquire. Satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ (SB 3.25.25). There is need of association for discussing how God is great. That is needed-jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. Unless one is inquisitive... Sharmaji, you can come here. So, that is the... Simply we should not remain satisfied to understand... That is not proper understanding, officially, "God is great." No. Try to inquire how great He is, why He is great. Then your regard for God, your devotion for God will increase. And because we do not inquire how God is great, therefore cheap gods are coming. Any rascal, he is repre... "I am God." Because we do not know actually what is God. But if you inquire about God, if you go through the śāstra, as it is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā:

Evening Darsana -- August 12, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Harikeśa: "I am the Self, O Guḍākeśa, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings. Of the Ādityas I am Viṣṇu, of lights I am the radiant sun, I am Marīci of the Maruts, and among the stars I am the moon. Of the Vedas I am the Sāma-veda; of the demigods I am Indra; of the senses I am the mind; and in living beings I am the living force, knowledge. Of all the Rudras I am Lord Śiva; of the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas I am the lord of wealth (Kuvera); of the Vasus I am fire (Agni); and of the mountains I am Meru. Of priests, O Arjuna, know Me to be the chief, Bṛhaspati, the lord of devotion. Of generals I am Skanda, the lord of war; and of bodies of water I am the ocean. Of the great sages I am Bhṛgu; of vibrations I am the transcendental om. Of sacrifices I am the chanting of the holy names (japa), and of immovable things I am the Himalayas. Of all trees I am the holy fig tree, and amongst sages and demigods I am Nārada. Of the singers of the gods (Gandharvas) I am Citraratha, and among perfected beings I am the sage Kapila. Of horses know Me to be Uccaiḥśravā, who rose out of the ocean, born of the elixir of immortality; of lordly elephants I am Airāvata, and among men I am the monarch. Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows I am the surabhi, givers of abundant milk. Of procreators I am Kandarpa, the god of love, and of serpents I am Vāsuki, the chief. Of the celestial Nāga snakes I am Ananta; of the aquatic deities I am Varuṇa. Of departed ancestors I am Aryamā, and among the dispensers of law I am Yama, the lord of death. Among the Daitya demons I am the devoted Prahlāda; among subduers I am time; among the beasts I am the lion; and among birds I am Garuḍa, the feathered carrier of Viṣṇu. Of purifiers I am the wind; of the wielders of weapons I am Rāma; of fishes I am the shark; and of flowing rivers I am the Ganges. Of all creations I am the beginning and the end and also the middle, O Arjuna.

Evening Darsana -- August 12, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: That's it. This is greatness. So we should not simply be satisfied God is great. We must try to know how great He is. Then our God consciousness will be fixed up. It's all right?

Ātreya Ṛṣi: It's very beautiful.

Prabhupāda: That people are not interested. Only officially chanting "God is great," that's all. These are the... You try to understand. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. This is the Vedānta-sūtra. Go, inquire, be inquisitive. Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21). One should be inquisitive. That is human life. And as soon as you become inquisitive, you become aware of God more and more, then your devotion increases. That is wanted.

Mr. Sahani: It is also said that you have a blind faith.

Prabhupāda: Blind faith?

Mr. Sahani: You should have a faith in your God. But when you are inquisitive and you keep asking more and more and more, and...

Prabhupāda: And who says that you keep blind faith? Who says?

Mr. Sahani: You should have faith, in God, should have faith.

Prabhupāda: No, no. God, it is not blind faith. God is there, you have to accept. It is not blind.

Mr. Sahani: Means give up, give everything, surrender. You were talking day before yesterday, when we surrender that means we don't ask any question. So when we are inquisitive, then we ask more questions. How do we blend these two things?

Prabhupāda: Blind, blind... God says that idam..., idaṁ te jñānam ākhyātam? Guhyam, guhyataraṁ mayā. Find out this.

Harikeśa: Idaṁ te guhyatamam?

Evening Darsana -- August 14, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: That is bhakti. Just like Arjuna, he was a soldier but he fought for Kṛṣṇa. That is a military art. For his personal, he refused, "No, no, I am not going to fight with my relatives." But when he understood that Kṛṣṇa wants it, he did it. So anything, if we dovetail with Kṛṣṇa's service, that becomes bhakti. (indistinct) Just like Kṛṣṇa is saying, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). Anyone who is offering in devotion a little leaf, little flower, little water, "I accept." So Kṛṣṇa is not poverty-stricken that He wants from me something but He wants your bhakti, that you become a devotee, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto. He wants that. So if the poorest man also gives something in bhakti, Kṛṣṇa accepts it. So that does not mean that I have got money, Kṛṣṇa is satisfied with little flower, so give little flower to Kṛṣṇa and enjoy this money for my sense gratification. (chuckles) That is cheating. That is cheating. Kṛṣṇa says, "Whatever you do, kuruṣva tad mad-arpaṇam, give Me that," and that is bhakti. So whatever position we may be in, if our life is dedicated to Kṛṣṇa, that is bhakti. That is bhakti, it doesn't matter what is his status, qualification. Kṛṣṇa is unlimitedly everything. Just like we are spending lakhs and crores in this, for this purpose. They may say that Kṛṣṇa is satisfied with patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ (BG 9.26), why you are spending so much money? The idea is that when there is money, if you simply offer Kṛṣṇa patraṁ puṣpaṁ toyaṁ, that is cheating. Kṛṣṇa knows it. If you have got money, then you must spend—a gorgeous temple for Kṛṣṇa. That is proper utilization. Not the money is kept for my separate use and Kṛṣṇa may be offered a little leaf and water. According to one's position, he must worship Kṛṣṇa. So Bombay is so rich, therefore you are collecting. Spend for this temple, spend for this temple. Otherwise it will be spent for other purposes. Money will be spent, it will not stay. Samdimite varuṅkala vinaśiniyate sati (?), money will not stay. At least at the time of my death money will remain where it is, I (indistinct). So money, so long is in my hands, let it spend for Kṛṣṇa, that is bhakti.

Morning Walk -- August 14, 1976, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Cold water from. We put boiled water into it. Bring boiled water from the kitchen.

Prabhupāda: We have no tap water here?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We have tap water, but it's not drinking water. I mean it needs to be boiled. In Delhi you can drink the tap water, they say it's okay, but in Bombay it's very risky to drink tap water. Especially in monsoon. (break) ...famous actress and singer called Shri Lakshna-pandit. She's one of our devotee's sister-in-law also. She has some devotion. So she is coming to sing bhajanas tomorrow in the pandal. Is that okay? She's very famous.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It's okay.

Prabhupāda: Before Deity one can do. Before Deity one can show devotional activities, but not otherwise. Otherwise it will be sense enjoyment.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: In Vṛndāvana once you told me not to have the rāsa-līlā by these professionals also.

Prabhupāda: No, before Deity everything.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: They can do it.

Prabhupāda: (counting floors) One, two, three, four, five, six? No?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It's five, including the ground floor it comes to six.

Harikeśa: One, two, three, four, five, six. From the ground floor it's twice as high.

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

Jayapatākā: Other thing we can discuss tomorrow. (break)

Gargamuni: ...Birla

Prabhupāda: It is difficult to go there. It is difficult to go there.

Gargamuni: And here there is more devotion.

Prabhupāda: Here are devotees.

Jayapatākā: We made this for distributing, and the public, the take and worship in their home, purchase it.

Gargamuni: (to Jayapatākā) Let's go.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Indian printing? Purchase?

Gargamuni: Yes. This is Indian printing.

Prabhupāda: Calcutta?

Gargamuni: Yes. (Break)

Prabhupāda: So, so far the building is concerned, that is already settled up.

Jayapatākā: Yes, that's all set up.

Prabhupāda: Then what other?

Room Conversation -- August 22, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: This is "theologians, scholars," and they, he said... Just see. Go on.

Maṇihāra: "At present there are 108 ISKCON centers in 30 countries throughout the world. These centers enable full-time members to live in close association, following the principles of Vedic life, and also provide a place where interested visitors can learn about the philosophy and culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and participate in its various functions. The basis of the movement is the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. The chanting of this mantra is the most recommended means for spiritual progress in this age, as it cleanses the mind and enables one to transcend the temporary designations of race, religion, and nationality and to understand one's true identity as an eternal spiritual being. In other words, simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa one can directly experience self-realization and lead a blissful life. The devotees experience divine ecstasy in singing the holy names of God to the accompaniment of musical instruments. The Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees, as a prerequisite for the serious pursuit of spiritual life, voluntarily abstain from meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling. The Kṛṣṇa conscious life style is based on the principles of simple living and high thinking. The devotees rise very early, about 3:30 a.m., and spend the morning hours in meditation and study. During the day, the main activity is preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Many devotees go out to public places to distribute the Society's books and its official journal, Back to Godhead magazine, which has a monthly circulation more than a million copies in fourteen different languages. In addition to book distribution, devotees engage in a variety of activities, including teaching, artistic pursuits and farming. The qualification in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not what kind of work one performs, but that it be done in the spirit of devotion to God. For the first time, Swami Prabhupāda has introduced Ratha-yātrā of Lord Jagannātha of Purī in the Western world.

Meeting with Endowments Commissioner -- August 24, 1976, Hyderabad:

Harikeśa:

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ

yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ

namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā

nitya-yuktā upāsate

(BG 9.14)

"Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion."

Prabhupāda: This is religion. They are mahātmās. Previous verse?

Harikeśa:

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha

daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ

bhajanty ananya-manaso

jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

(BG 9.13)

"O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible."

Prabhupāda: That is mahātmā. This is mahātmā. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha (BG 9.13). Find out this...

Harikeśa: Daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ, bhajanty ananya-manaso jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam.

Prabhupāda: Sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19).

Morning Walk -- September 2, 1976, New Delhi:

Prabhupāda: Why the spiritual master is given so exalted position than the demigods? That should be the answer. Demigods, they are also Vaiṣṇava, mostly.

Lokanātha: They are not pure devotees.

Prabhupāda: They are also devotees.

Lokanātha: But their devotion is mixed devotion.

Prabhupāda: No. Just like Lord Brahmā. We belong to the Brahmā-sampradāya. Brahmā is the original spiritual master after Kṛṣṇa. Brahmā, then Nārada, then Vyāsadeva-like that. So all of them are gurus, ācāryas. So why spiritual master is honored as good as the Supreme Lord? Sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstraiḥ. Why? That should be his question: Why spiritual master is given the supreme post than all others? Sākṣād-dharitvena—as good as God. Why? Is it not? It is clear, his question. First of all, is this his question?

Caraṇāravindam: Yes, this is the question.

Prabhupāda: So what is the answer?

Lokanātha: The spiritual master is very much concerned about our personal welfare. They are the present ācāryas in the paramparā...

Prabhupāda: He gives direct knowledge of Kṛṣṇa; therefore he's as good as Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa... Hmm?

Hari-śauri: I was just telling him to fan just when there's flies just to scatter.

Room Conversation (Bullock Cart SKP) -- September 12, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: No, they're thinking that so many people are coming to the cities, how we shall provide them? That's a problem. After all government has to supply them rations. Where is so much foodstuff? And if they are not supplied, then there will be resentment. That's a fact. What they are doing in the city, so many scooter (makes motor sound), going here and there. Actually no engagement. The girls are loitering in the street by dressing. It will become more and more problems, city life. So this is the solution, that they must go back to the village. But they are trained up to enjoy the facilities, so-called facilities, of the city. They are not going to village. But if we can introduce this hari-saṅkīrtana, and if they have little taste, that is success. It's a great program. And that taste will come-ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). If he simply becomes little sober that "I want to eat, I have to sleep, I want some sense enjoyment and defense. So if I can get easily in the village, why shall I go three hundred miles away? Just keep in mind the psychology. So that simple life will be possible if one is bhakta. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt (SB 11.2.42). Only by devotion. Not by otherwise. Not by artificial means, by manufacturing toilet. Only bhakti. If they get little attachment for Kṛṣṇa the questions will be solved automatically. And they will be happy. Undoubtedly. That is the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's first instruction. Ceto-darpaṇa.

Lokanātha: I come from village, and I'm happy now as I have taken to holy name and prasāda. So more, other villagers... Half of these boys are from villages?

Prabhupāda: Yes, they are villagers.

Press Interview -- October 16, 1976, Chandigarh:

Prabhupāda: We have our centers, we have got big centers in Bombay, in Navadvīpa, in Vṛndāvana. We have got very comfortable guest house. So you can come and live with us and see practically.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: If you all don't mind, just for five minutes, we would like to read the selected extracts from some leading scholars about this movement. We're not reading the views of Western scholars. These books are being used in five thousand universities, including Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, but some of the leading Indian scholars. So you also get an understanding of the Indian appreciation of Prabhupāda's activities. This for example, is a letter from Mr. Ghosh, District and Summon Judge in West Bengal: "I'm highly impressed at the sincerity and devotion of the disciples of the International Society of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. A visit to the Māyāpur Chandrodaya Mandir, West Bengal, sublimes the mind from all harsh talk and disturbing influences." Then...

Prabhupāda: (aside:) Stop now. Don't divert attention.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: This is a letter from Śrī Ambarish Sarkar, General Secretary of the Nadia District Congress Committee. "I had an opportunity to visit the Śrī Māyāpur Chandrodaya Mandir on the 12th August, 1975. It is absolutely a religious institution. Jayapātāka Swami has devoted all of his efforts and endeavors to organize and propound the sacred name of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. I'm impressed by his charming manner and strength. Although it is a religious institution, this organization has performed many social services. Many poor and destitute families have had an opportunity to work and at the same time they have become worshipers of Lord Śrī Caitanya. To engage these workers, so many industrial centers have already been started, such as handloom cloth, printing, etc. I wish this organization, with its help of the local people, all success."

Room Conversation -- November 13, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: ...devotion, activities. Who can take more care than the father and the mother? So you combine together, make a batch of good character, ideal character in the whole world. There is no ideal character. Everyone is drunkard and meat-eater or woman-hunter. What is the civilization? Hog civilization. (break) ...civilization. Work hard, get some money, and spend it for intoxication, illicit sex. This is civilization. Is it not? They have no idea how to make civilized.

Devotee (1): I was hearing that before I left England there was some trouble in Scotland over the rules about the bars and drinking. And now they want to make a rule, a law, that the children can be allowed into the bars under their parents... They make it a big social...

Prabhupāda: They allow the children sit down. They take soda water and the father-mother drinking. I have seen it. They are learning from the father and mother from the begin...

Hari-śauri: My father used to... Every Sunday they used to go to the pub, and then for Sunday afternoon, as a special treat, they would all get..., we'd be given a glass of beer.

Prabhupāda: Just see. Father-mother take... Because they think it is civilization. Elderly boys, the father mother tell, "What is the wrong, illicit sex? Take woman, take car. Enjoy life." I have seen it. They know, "This is life. Why...?" Therefore they say, "Brainwash. This Swamiji is controlling their minds and brainwashing." That is their charge. Wash, ne. The brain should be operated, surgical to take out all rubbish things from the... It is called membrane?

Morning Walk -- December 5, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Yes. So what does he mean? What does he mean?

Guest (10): What is your point?

Prabhupāda: The point is that... You can explain in this way, that goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ (Bs. 5.37). Kṛṣṇa is in the Goloka planet which is far, far away from our planet, but still He is everywhere. That is the difference. That you cannot imagine. In our material knowledge you cannot imagine that. But that is the fact. Kṛṣṇa says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati, tad aham aśnāmi: (BG 9.26) "Anyone offering Me in devotion patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam, I eat." Now, Kṛṣṇa is living far, far away in the Goloka planet. How He can eat? That is your imagining. But Kṛṣṇa says, "Yes, I do." That is Kṛṣṇa. Although He is far, far away, He is within your heart. That you cannot imagine, how it is possible. That is your material knowledge. But you have to accept from the statement of śāstra that although He is far, far away, within your heart. Aṇḍāntara-stha-para... He is within the atom also. So that you cannot imagine. That requires a different knowledge, Vedic knowledge. The material knowledge will not help you, but you cannot imagine. You have to accept Vedic knowledge. What is stated in the Vedas, that you have to accept. That's all. Otherwise there is no possibility. Therefore to understand Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's activities you have to learn from Kṛṣṇa. That is Bhagavad-gītā. You cannot manufacture your knowledge. That is not... Because you are defective—your senses are imperfect—so whatever knowledge you get through your senses, that is all imperfect. You cannot get perfect knowledge by your imperfect senses. That is not possible. Therefore the Vedic injunction is tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). In order to learn that transcendental science you have to approach a guru who knows it.

Press Interview -- December 31, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No emotional. It is fact. Concrete.

Indian man: Concrete reality.

Prabhupāda: Yes. If your mother says, "Here is your father," that's all right. You don't require any other. And that is paramparā. Mother knows how you were created by your father. So she is the ultimate evidence. That's all. You cannot speculate. If you disbelieve your mother, then there is no question of understanding your father.

Indian man: We all have at certain moments of devotion some sort of feelings when we feel we are very much near the God. But that concrete reality, to attain that, the only way is jñāna, upāsanā.

Prabhupāda: Yes, this is jñāna. But the jñāna must be received through the right source. Jñāna is not speculation. The modern rascals, they create jñāna by speculation. That is not jñāna. That is ajñāna. The same example. If you don't receive jñāna from your mother, there is no jñāna of father. If you millions of years go on speculating who is your father he'll never be revealed. That is not jñāna. That is ajñāna. So these rascals, they are creating jñāna. That is not jñāna. Jñāna means you should receive jñāna through the right source.

Indian man: And what is the upāsanā you will be prescribing for those people who want to achieve jñāna?

Prabhupāda: Yes, upāsanā. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, amānitvam adambhitvam ahiṁsā kṣāntir ārjavam ācāryopāsanam (BG 13.8). Vinigrahaḥ, indriya-vinigrahaḥ. Find out this, Thirteenth Chapter. These are the process. First of all amānitvam. You have to surrender yourself that "I am insignificant." But in beginning you are puffed up. "I am so academic. Now I have got Ph.D." Rascals. First, beginning is amānitvam. And as soon as we become puffed-up, a little knowledge... A Little knowledge is dangerous. Then finished. So they are doing like that. A little knowledge, I think, "I have become more than my Guru Mahārāja." Finished. That is the defect. Find out. Read the...

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

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

Prabhupāda: They did not know what is truth, beginning from Vivekananda.

Yogi Amrit Desai: All the way, right. See, after you came... I was there in 1960. I started teaching yoga. But after you came I became fearless to teach bhakti and chant mantras. So now we have lots of bhakti in āśrama, lots of bhakti. And I paid that respect to you because I was afraid to give them because I thought, "They are Christians. They will not like so much devotion. They will misunderstand." But you have performed a miracle. God, Kṛṣṇa, has performed miracle through you. It's just very amazing, greatest miracle on earth. I just feel so strongly about it.

Prabhupāda: It is very kind of you that you give this statement. If we give genuine thing, it will act.

Yogi Amrit Desai: Right. This is what I'm doing too. Everyone... We have about 180 people who live permanently in the āśrama, and they all practice celibacy. Everyone wakes up at 4:00, and they sleep by 9:00. And they don't touch even each other. They sleep different quarters. They sit even separately in sat-saṅga. Everything strict. No drugs, no alcohol, no meat, no tea, no coffee, no garlic, no onion.

Prabhupāda: Very good. Yes. We are following this. But you have got any Deity?

Yogi Amrit Desai: Yes. Lord Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā is our Deities. My guru is Swami Kripalu-anandi. He is in... Near Baroda he has an āśrama. He practiced his sādhana for twenty-seven years, and twelve years was complete silence. The last few years he is speaking once or twice a year because many people request.

Prabhupāda: He's not chanting?

Evening Darsana -- January 7, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: (Hindi) Aiye.

Guest (1) (Indian man): Humanity is hungry for love of father Śrī Kṛṣṇa, devotion, yes.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the only...

Guest (1): That is only medicine. That is only remedy.

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Guest (1): Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is only medicine. That is only remedy.

Prabhupāda: (Hindi) ...directly presented, "Here is God." Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). "But why you are making research and wasting time, 'Whether God is person or imperson or this or that? What is His...?' Here is God."

Guest (1): That is the material view, to analyze all these things.

Prabhupāda: God is personally presenting Himself, aham. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). Still, people cannot understand.

Guest (1): Mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate.

Prabhupāda: But they are so dull-headed, they can't understand.

Guest (1): They can't understand. They have no imagination, nothing at all, no sight.

Room Conversation -- January 7, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ.

Indian (1): Sve sve karmaṇy abhirataḥ saṁsiddhiṁ labhate naraḥ. Sve sve karmaṇy abhirataḥ. That means everyone must be firm.

Prabhupāda: Tam abhyarcya. Not only simply dṛḍhatva, but karmaṇā tam abhyarcya. Otherwise it is zero. Karmaṇā mānavaḥ tam abhyarcya. If you give up that tam abhyarcya, then it is useless. So where is that abhyarcya?

Indian (1): It is devotion. To forget ourselves.

Prabhupāda: No, forget ourself not... If you forget yourself, then how you'll work? You must know what is your position.

Indian (1): No, no, forget ourself, that means we have to forget the passions and selfishness.

Prabhupāda: Passion, that is base principle. I mean to say actually you have to remember yourself, what is your position, not forget yourself. Your position, as it is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, mamaivāṁśo (BG 15.7)—"I am the part and parcel of God." You cannot forget this. If you forget this, then everything is...

Indian (1): No, no. That is... Not to forget that, only to forget the bad things...

Prabhupāda: That you cannot forget bad things unless you are engaged in good things.

Indian (1): Good things. Correct, correct. Correct.

Prabhupāda: Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 2.59). If you do not get good engagement, you cannot give up bad engagement. So similarly, if you do not forget your constitutional position, then the bad things cannot be forgotten. So our position is that we are part and parcel of God.

Room Conversation -- January 7, 1977, Bombay:

Trivikrama: Many temples. All over India.

Indian (1): All over India. In Mathurā, Vṛndāvana, there is something going on.

Prabhupāda: And that is finished. Our temple is the biggest and the nicest.

Indian (1): Idea is the nice. Devotion is the biggest. So everything naturally...

Prabhupāda: (Hindi)

Indian (1): (Hindi) I will advise my people...

Prabhupāda: Why advise? Why not come practically?

Indian (1): Why not practically they should come?

Prabhupāda: Advise gratis, that will not do. (Hindi) ...temple... We have spent fifty lakhs of rupees. There is very big guesthouse behind the temple.

Indian (1): To continue all the mission and... That is...

Prabhupāda: All over the world.

Indian (1): All over the world.

Prabhupāda: We have got 110 Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temples all over the world. Where is that...? Vraja?

Jagadīśa: Brijabasi Spirit.

Morning Walk -- January 9, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Faith means extreme faith. Not reserved. Faith does not mean any reservation. What is that? Bhajate mām ananya-bhāk. This is... Ananya-bhāk. No reservation. That is... Sādhur eva. He is sādhu. Whatever he does, it doesn't matter. Bhajate mām ananya-bhāk. Sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ (BG 9.30). He sādhu. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ, bhajanty ananya-manaso (BG 9.13). These are the words. Require staunch faithful devotion. Then you are perfect. Then doesn't matter what you are, what you are doing. Whether the real point is fixed up. Bhajate mām ananya-bhāk. Fifty percent, ten percent devotion...

Dr. Patel: Not even .001 percent reservation. I mean so far the bhakti's concerned. Bhaktya avyabhicareṇa.

Prabhupāda: That is. Sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhuyaya (BG 14.26). Even in the Brahman platform. Not in the material platform. Sa guṇān samatītya. Sama-prakarena utītya(?). Cent percent utītya(?).

Dr. Patel: (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Yes. This is credit.

Dr. Patel: This is credit, and this is also, I mean, that this should happen also...

Prabhupāda: Yes. Here is the right movement. This is the test.

Dr. Patel: If all that...

Morning Darsana and Room Conversation Ramkrishna Bajaj and friends -- January 9, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Faith. Yes. Faith means firm faith. Faith does not mean... Anyway, ādau śraddhā. This śraddhā, if we increase this śraddhā, you have to associate with sādhu.. And who is sādhu? Bhajate mām ananya-bhāk sādhur eva samantavyaḥ. He is sādhu, who is simply engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service. He is sādhu. Api cet sudurācāraḥ: "Even though you find there is some discrepancies in his character, because he is fully engaged in My service, he is sādhu." Sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ (BG 9.30). If he has got other engagement, he is not sādhu. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam: (Brs. 1.1.11) "Other engagement zero." That is sādhu. The sādhu-saṅga (CC Madhya 22.83). You have to associate with such sādhus who are cent percent engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service. Ādau śraddhā tato sādhu-saṅgaḥ tato bhajana-kriyā. If you mix with the sādhu, then you'll learn the activities. Sādhu-mārgānugamanam. The sādhus are rising early in the morning; they are attending maṅgala ārati, they are reading Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then dressing the Deity and having ārati and so on, so on, so on. This is called bhajana-kriyā. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo 'tha bhajana (Cc. Madhya 23.14-15). Then anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt: then all these material activities will stop. Because if you are engaged in spiritual act..., where is your time for material activities, for drinking wine and eating meat and going to the restaurant and...? No time. These boys, although they are trained up from childhood how to eat meat, how to drink, but now they have no time. They never ask me, "Swamiji, give me one rupee. I shall go to the cinema." Never. They have no time. Anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt, all anarthas finished. These are the stages. Then his life becomes of devotion. Athāsaktiḥ niṣṭhā: "Yes, I shall stick to Kṛṣṇa consciousness." Tato niṣṭhā ruciḥ. Ruciḥ means taste. Unless they have got taste, why they should remain with me? They are not coming from poor family. His father is a big lawyer. You know? Yes. So why he is living with me? He has got taste, rucis. Tato niṣṭhā tato ruciḥ, athāsaktiḥ. Asaktiḥ, attachment. Whenever I am there, they are coming. Asaktiḥ. Tato bhāvaḥ. "Oh, I am servant of Kṛṣṇa. I have to do this." These are the different stages.

Room Conversation with Film Producer about Krsna Lila -- January 22, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: That's nice, but...

Guest (2): But if I have got the concentration, I can find you in me.

Prabhupāda: That is special case.

Guest (2): That is special case. That is devotion. That is surrender, actually a complete surrender.

Prabhupāda: Still, you know... Surrender... Surrender, but he did not do it properly. Therefore Droṇācārya did not like.

Guest (2): But he has got the devotion. He has complete surrender to Droṇācārya.

Prabhupāda: You know that Ekalavya. He asked that "You do that."

Guest (2): Oh, yes. In the interest of the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas.

Prabhupāda: Anyway, that means he did not like.

Guest (1): But the superpower.

Guest (2): I don't know. But what you think that actually Droṇa, er, Ekalavya is the disciple of...?

Prabhupāda: The general process we have to accept. Ādau śraddhā. If you think that "This line of action is very nice, Kṛṣṇa consciousness," this is called śraddhā. And śraddhā is explained by Kavirāja Gosvāmī, śraddhā śabde viśvāsa surila niścaya, kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva karma kṛta haya. This is śraddhā. When one is firmly convinced, firmly. Sudṛdha viśvāsa.

Room Conversation with Film Producer about Krsna Lila -- January 22, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: Simply I am attracted with the words of Kṛṣṇa. That's all. No compromise.

Guest (2): No compromise. No compromise. There is no question of compromise.

Prabhupāda: That is not surrender.

Guest (1): Guruji, we must get your blessing definitely. In future we are...

Prabhupāda: Then, if you make conditional blessing...

Guest (2): No, no. No condition. With full devotion, full surrender...

Prabhupāda: Best thing is... This is the formula given by every big personality. The Rūpa Gosvāmī, he is authorized person for bhakti-mārga. He says, ādau śraddhā tato sādhu-saṅga.

Guest (2): We are so lucky. We are writing the letter... We wrote here that "From distant land of Orissa, Guruji... This is... Your literature has tempted us, and perhaps it is your intention that we should go upon..., with Nitai Gaura..."

Prabhupāda: Just like our this Kṛṣṇa book, from the very beginning, or Bhagavad-gītā. You try...

Guest (2): So eleven or twelve days' time... We have posted the letter on seventh, and yesterday this gentleman from here rang me that "You were searching for the Guruji, and he is at..." "Nonsense." When I am busy giving some dictation to my steno. "He is humbug." So from there we came here.

Prabhupāda: Thank you. Hare Kṛṣṇa. So if you want to give education, take it from the very beginning, ABCD, and present nicely so that people may..., can take advantage.

Guest (1): We have that līlā also, Bāla-līlā. The children chant...

Evening Conversation -- January 25, 1977, Puri:

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

Satsvarūpa: (reading) "The real qualification is to become a devotee of the Lord, and gradually all the good qualities worthy of possession developed. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a mahā-bhāgavata, or a first-class devotee, who was not only well versed in the science of devotion but also able to convert others to become devotees by his transcendental instructions. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was, therefore, a devotee of the first order, and thus he used to consult great sages and learned brāhmaṇas who could advise him by the śāstras how to execute the state administration."

Prabhupāda: So who is going to do that? All these... All rogues and thieves, drunkards and fourth-class character, meat-eaters, they are the government. How you can expect good government for the benefit of the people? This is Kali-yuga. Unfortunately we have on the heads of government all men of the low-grade character. You... Your President?

Satsvarūpa: New President?

Prabhupāda: No, that Kennedy.

Satsvarūpa: Kennedy.

Prabhupāda: He was always associating with naked woman.

Satsvarūpa: Yes, it's been discovered.

Prabhupāda: Just see. And he is the President.

Room Conversation -- January 27, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: They'll prefer, because to hear Kṛṣṇa is difficult. They'll accept some rascal who will make meaning here and there. That is...

Guest (7) (Indian man): Can anything be called religion without devotion? Can anything be called religion...

Prabhupāda: First of all we must understand what do you mean by religion. First of all let me know. What do you mean by religion? Hm? Religion means, according to Vedic śāstra, dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). "Religion means the law given by God." It is very simple. But is you do not know what is God and if you do not know what law He has given, then where is religion? This is cheating. Just like law means the principle or the regulation given by the state, by the government. That is law, not that you manufacture some law at your home, as it is going on—yato mata tato patha. You manufacture something, rascal law, and that becomes a religion. That is not religion. Religion means the law given by God, simple law. So if you do not know what is God and if you do not know what law he has given, then where is your religion? There is no religion. Without understanding of God and without understanding of the law as given by God, then there is no religion. That is cheating in the name of religion. Therefore in the Bhāgavata, from the very beginning it is said, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ vedyaṁ vāstavam atra: (SB 1.1.2) "Real religion is to be understood here." Real religion is Bhagavān speaking, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇam (BG 18.66). This is real religion. If you do not know God, if you do not know how to surrender to God, then where is your religion? If you do not know government, you do not know the law of the government, then where is the question of becoming... (break) ...therefore we are misguided. Very simple thing. Kṛṣṇa is God, and He's asking, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). What is that śaraṇaṁ vraja? Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). There is no difficulty. Where is the difficulty? Satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ (BG 9.14). Why don't you follow it? That is the...

Guest (7): Sir, what is your idea about people following other religions?

Room Conversation -- February 14, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Actually it is brainwash, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12), but it is for the good. People are suffering with these dirty things within the brain. We are washing them. That is brainwash actually.

Satsvarūpa: "Indian Brain Research Association, Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta. Gentlemen: The Hare Kṛṣṇa kīrtana mantra used in meditation or chanting of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa has been practiced not only by the Vaiṣṇavas of India, but by most of the Hindus as a regular religious and social practice in Hindu families. Millions of Hindus practice with sublime devotion the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. We are not aware of any case where such practice has resulted in any detrimental effect to the health or mind of anyone. We can submit that the worshiping of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, as being practiced in West Bengal, India, does not differ from that of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra chanting of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. And as such, either of them cannot do any harm to the devotee or to the observer. Further we can add that the rhythmic dance and musical (Bengali:) svara in Hare Kṛṣṇa kīrtana mantra may have profound beneficial effect on a distorted human mind. These practices do not have any relation with brainwashing, although the word seems to carry no scientific meaning at all. Statement by Professor Ajit K. Mytee. Yours faithfully, J.J. Ghosh, President on behalf of the Indian Brain Research Association."

Prabhupāda: It is good certificate. And University of Calcutta. So you publish this.

Satsvarūpa: Śrīla Prabhupāda sent letters to Rāmeśvara and Ādi-keśava to put it in the newspaper.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Ādi-keśa is here in India.

Room Conversation -- February 16, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Ananya-yoga, ananya-bhakti, pure.

Pradyumna: Ah, vivikta.

Prabhupāda: Vivikta...

Pradyumna: Vivikta-deśa-sevitvam aratir jana-saṁsadi (BG 13.11).

Prabhupāda: Hm. Not to mix with ordinary men, aratir jana, general public. Just like this, our place—only devotion. This is vivikta, aloof from this world. We have no other business except Kṛṣṇa consc..., bhakti. And aratir jana-saṁsadi, no, mean, association with ordinary person, no association. We can go and talk of some..., for our own benefit or Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise we have no business with them. Noncooperation. We go to the public for preaching, not to associate with them. To give them association, so they may be benefited. Either he may be prime minister or this or that, we have no business with them. But for our purpose we go. Big, big karmīs, life member. So we have no personal concern, but for their benefit we go there. Their hard-earned money, if something is spent for this purpose, he'll be benefited. This is our... Otherwise we have no business with them. Aratir jana-saṁsadi. Then?

Arrival of Devotees -- February 24, 1977, Mayapura:

Rāmeśvara: "Two and one-quarter million copies in print." They can understand that millions of people are studying this. And at the bottom of the back cover there is a review by a scholar, a professor of Humanities, Religious Studies and South Asian Studies at the University of Minnesota, which is one of the largest schools in America, Dr. Robert Tap. He says, "Kṛṣṇa has been too transforming a figure for too many people to remain confined to India or to be known only through the Bhagavad-gītā. Here we have the rounding out of His story that has proven so fruitful for Indian art, song, dance, and devotion." "...the rounding out of His story."

Rādhā-vallabha: Perfection of Yoga also has the printing quantity on the cover, "Over 2,300,000 copies in print."

Rāmeśvara: Gorgeous! Look at those pictures of Prabhupāda!

Rādhā-vallabha: We also calculated how many hardbound Bhāgavatams are in print. That's one million. And there's almost three million Gītās in print too.

Prabhupāda: So this should be displayed here.

Rādhā-vallabha: That... We have one big framed stat showing the English. You have five or six books that have over one million copies in print.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This is very good, putting the quantity on the cover. It's very impressive. (devotees talking among themselves about books) It's like McDonald's. They advertise...

Room Conversation -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Ananyāś cinta... Simply you have to think how to execute Kṛṣṇa's program. Ananyāś cintayanto mām?

Hari-śauri: Ye janāḥ paryupāsate.

Prabhupāda: Ye janāḥ paryupāsate: "One who has dedicated his life for this program," teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānām, "because he is twenty-four hours engaged," yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham (BG 9.22). Clear. Purport? Read.

Hari-śauri: Translation: "Those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form, to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have." Purport. "One who is unable to live for a moment without Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot but think of Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours, being engaged in devotional service by hearing, chanting, remembering, offering prayers, worshiping, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, rendering other services, cultivating friendship and surrendering fully to the Lord. Such activities are all-auspicious and full of spiritual potency. Indeed, they make the devotee perfect in self-realization. Then his only desire is to achieve the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called yoga. By the mercy of the Lord such a devotee never comes back to this material condition of life. Kṣema refers to the merciful protection of the Lord. The Lord helps the devotee to achieve Kṛṣṇa consciousness by yoga, and when he becomes fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, the Lord protects him from falling down to a miserable conditioned life."

Prabhupāda: Why not do this business, guaranteed by Kṛṣṇa?

Bali-mardana: By your grace it is all possible. By your grace.

Prabhupāda: Yes. (laughs) You do this.

Room Conversation -- February 27, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: He is mistake. He should not think his authority mistake.

Rādhā-vallabha: He didn't know what he should do. He didn't know...

Prabhupāda: So why he should be given this business? He's such irresponsible man. He should not be given any responsible work. Our first business should see how he is advanced in devotion. We don't want so-called scholars.

Rādhā-vallabha: They just leave us.

Prabhupāda: Leave, I don't mind. Just like he became a big scholar.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Nitāi.

Prabhupāda: Nitāi, he's a rascal.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Big rascal.

Prabhupāda: I think that Jagannātha is within his group? Nitāi?

Rādhā-vallabha: Jagannātha was somewhat affected by Nitāi, but he's...

Prabhupāda: I know that.

Rādhā-vallabha: I think he understands what the problem was. I think he understands what his problem was, and that's why he won't do anything without asking you.

Prabhupāda: Don't allow him to do anything.

Room Conversation -- April 2, 1977, Bombay:

Gargamuni: ...from one very important Hindi scholar, and he is Dr. V. P. Singh, M.A. Hindi, M.A. Sanskrit, Ph.D. literature, and he's the senior professor and head of the department of Hindi, and Dean of Faculty of Arts of Benares Hindi University at Benares. So he writes about your Hindi Bhāgavatam, which has just come out: "It gives me great pleasure to review these publications of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Especially I am appreciating this Hindi edition of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, complete with original Sanskrit text, word-for-word synonyms, and a marvelously lucid Hindi translation. In addition, having read thorough portions of the purports, which in my opinion reflect the vast erudition of the genius of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, I am discovering an unequaled body of literature in terms of scholastic quality and devotional impact both. The real meaning of such bhakti literature can only be disclosed by one who is a truly devotee and a saint. The evidence of these qualities in Swami Bhaktivedanta are highly apparent because of his great dedication and success in spreading the message of the Bhāgavata all over the world, and creating thousands of foreign bhaktas who aptly deserve the title of Vaiṣṇava Brāhmaṇa, due to their strict practice, devotion and learning."

Prabhupāda: Ah, very good.

Gargamuni: "I am very proud to have the acquaintance of such a saintly devotees of ISKCON, who have such an addition of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in our library. I have also...."

Prabhupāda: So he will get order anywhere if you present this.

Room Conversation -- April 22, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: They are educated.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They're not smārta, not like that.

Prabhupāda: And these other countries, they are smārta.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: South, South Indian...

Prabhupāda: Yes, South...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The Bengalis, they really appreciate the devotion. They see how nice and they come. Never mind who is doing it.

Prabhupāda: No, in Vṛndāvana also.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Same. They appreciate. Or they don't.

Prabhupāda: No, not appreciate.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, they're a little standoffish.

Prabhupāda: They're envious.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You tried to placate them by inviting all those brāhmaṇas for the installation ceremony.

Prabhupāda: Now I am not...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But still, they were not placated.

Room Conversation -- April 22, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: There is no doubt about it. Therefore big, big men, scholars, they are so appreciating: "The scholarship and devotion." Yes. They have marked this.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, both things are marked...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: ...combination.

Prabhupāda: That is... Rarely they found. Therefore they appreciate. One may comment on scholarship. That is jñāna. And devotion without scholarship-sentiment. Just see. They're both combined. Perfect knowledge. That is wanted. That is my Guru Mahārāja's... He used to say, "Philosophy without religion is dry speculation, and religion without philosophy is sentiment."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, you wrote this in your purport in Bhagavad-gītā.

Prabhupāda: That should be confirmed(?). Caitanyera dayāra kathā karaha vicāra. Don't accept it blindly. We have not accepted Caitanya cult blindly. This is practical. The purpose was to separate from India to become happy. Where is the happiness?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Civil strife.

Morning Conversation -- April 23, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Rogues and thieves, what they know about Deity worship?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Neither they have any books.

Prabhupāda: Simply words, long, long.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Words. And promises.

Prabhupāda: Cheating. Cheating. Yes, everyone with common sense can understand that "What philosophy?" Here they see practically character, philosophy, devotion, faith, strict discipline. Any gentleman will appreciate.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, the gentlemen are very much impressed, especially, Mr. Mokta(?), people like that. They can see.

Prabhupāda: And Indians are appreciating that "Foreigners, they have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, not Indians."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: For the first time they can see that the foreigners are appreciating India's culture, not trying to squash it.

Prabhupāda: And practically applying their life, not that simply...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Official.

Prabhupāda: ...official.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: There's no doubt. And it is all due to your credit. Single-handedly, Śrīla Prabhupāda... Even now everything is being done strictly by your instruction and guidance.

Prabhupāda: Now I am getting old, old age, not good health, so try to give me relief. Otherwise it is too much. Brain has to be taxed. But if my foreign(?) business is there, if you tax my brain in this way, that will be suffer. So try to give me relief from this managerial... (pause) Still I can hint like this. But where is the work going on?

Second Meeting with Mr. Dwivedi -- April 24, 1977, Bombay:

Kārttikeya: Amadara?

Prabhupāda: Formerly India was very advanced in devotion.

Mr. Dwivedi: And just near there is moving door, shutting door. It has got nine pillars. If you just push one pillar, the entire structure shifts. And the pity is the archaeological department of government of India has taken no care about this. We had some good statue of Buddha and Mahāvīra and... Two, three were stolen away. We collected at our own institution. Then ultimately I wrote to government. I said, "Already some statue have been stolen away. You kindly left it wherever you like. We can't protect them from thieves." Just three months back. Then they took away another three statue, one of Viṣṇu, one of Buddha, another of Mahāvīra.

Prabhupāda: Stone?

Mr. Dwivedi: One big, one were stolen. Three... I asked government. I asked them three times. Government has not yet taken them away from there. Otherwise we had collected it at our own headquarters and institute.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Deity of Kṛṣṇa?

Mr. Dwivedi: Pardon?

Prabhupāda: No, Buddha.

Morning Talk -- June 27, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: And they are all intelligent in sense gratification. Quite equal in intelligence, like the man. There is no scarcity of intelligence. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithuna. How to sleep, how to eat, how to enjoy sex, how to protect from danger—they know everything completely. (break) ...he's trained up. And how to enjoy according to the body, place, that complete intelligence is there. Lord Brahmā has got that intelligence, and the small insect, he has got. And Kṛṣṇa is giving everyone facility: "All right, enjoy." Bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā (BG 18.61). Sarva-bhūtāni. Everyone is getting opportunity. According to his karma, he's getting a suitable body. You want to become Brahmā? All right. And you become, want to become a hog? All right. If you want to become worm in the stool, all right. This is going on. And devotion begins when one does not want to become anything. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (Brs. 1.1.11). Then he likes. So when you desire, either you desire like a Brahmā or the worm in the stool, that is material. And when you give up this desire, then spiritual life begins. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (CC Madhya 19.167). Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). So to become anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (CC Madhya 19.167), that is required. Who will understand this philosophy?

Room Conversation with Alice Coltrane -- July 1, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Says, "Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion." Purport. "The mahātmā, or great soul, cannot be manufactured by rubber-stamping an ordinary man. His symptoms are described here. A mahātmā is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. He has no other business. He is always engaged in the glorification of the Lord. In other words, he is not an impersonalist. When the question of glorification is there, one has to glorify the Supreme Lord..."

Prabhupāda: (indistinct)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "...one has to glorify the Supreme Lord, praising His holy name, His eternal form, His transcendental qualities, and His uncommon pastimes. One has to glorify all these things. Therefore a mahātmā is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who is attached to the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord, the brahma-jyotir, is not described as mahātmā in the Bhagavad-gītā. He is described in a different way in the next verse. The mahātmā is always engaged in different activities of devotional service, as described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, hearing and chanting about Viṣṇu, not a demigod or human being. That is devotion: śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ, smaraṇam, and remembering Him. Such a mahātmā has firm determination to achieve at the ultimate end the association of the Supreme Lord in any one of the five transcendental rasas. To achieve that success, he engages all activities—mental, bodily and vocal, everything—in the service of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That is called full Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Room Conversation -- July 1, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: If you come this way, you are condemned. If you come this way...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, both ways. In either case we're condemned.

Prabhupāda: (Bengali)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I've seen that Kṛṣṇa always helps you, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Even against Mr. Nair, such a big demon, the way he was acting... I mean, simply by your devotion Kṛṣṇa did everything.

Prabhupāda: No, if it actually considered by the cabinet, there will be some...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Then there's a good chance.

Prabhupāda: You show me the list of men.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah. I'm writing Gopāla, so I'll tell him to send a copy to you. He's the one who's composing the list.

Prabhupāda: He alone doing?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He says he was going to do it in conjunction with the temple presidents in India. And me. Said he was going to do it in conjunction with me and the temple presidents. I don't see how he's going to do that, sitting in Bombay.

Prabhupāda: You did not ask that "You are here, and I am seven hundred miles away. How you'll do?"

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Actually I wrote him a letter stating...

Prabhupāda: Simply explanation, but there is no practical. I receive only explanation—"I did it. I did it." That's all. Where is the action?

Discussion about Bhu-mandala -- July 5, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That's... We're trying to impose some preconceived idea onto this. As soon as that happens, this knowledge is blocked. Because the whole attitude shouldn't be like that. One should come out of service and devotion, not with some mental, materialistic speculations.

Prabhupāda: Did you know that story, the Nārada was going to Vaikuṇṭha? Nārada came back and replied to a cobbler... Cobbler asked him what Nārāyaṇa is doing. "He has taken one elephant and He's drawing through the hole of a needle like this and again taking." The learned brāhmaṇa, he began to laugh. "These are all stories." And the cobbler began to cry, "Oh, Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, can..." Nārada inquired, "How do you believe that elephant is being drawn through the hole of needle?" "No, why not? I'm daily seeing by sitting under this banyan tree, and within a fruit there are thousands of seeds. And each seed contains the big tree." Can the scientists make such small seed contain a big banyan tree? So it is acintya. That's a fact. (break) ...thing is inconceivable. And these rascals want to bring them as conceivable. He's conditioned, and he's trying to bring inconceivable thing to his conception. Useless, futile attempt. How the scientist will answer? We take a fruit. There are hundreds of seeds, and each seed contains a big tree. How you can explain? Is it not inconceivable?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So what is the use of arguing?

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.

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

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: " '...should have on its shelf these works.' " Next is a letter from Trinvak Govind Meinpark(?), Professor of Sanskrit and Head of the Department at the University of Bombay. " 'His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the renowned Vedic scholar and founder-ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, has translated into English the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the Encyclopedia of Vedic Culture.' " Now it's getting to be known like that. " 'The special feature of this publication is to be seen in the explanatory notes, added with a view to summing up the purport of the passages rendered. The Bhāgavatam is a classic of the Kṛṣṇa cult, and in the manner of sweetness, sincerity of devotion and purity of emotion, it surpasses all other texts of the Purāṇas, as well as other texts of the Bhāgavata religion. As such it is no wonder that it has become a veritable scripture of the devotees of this cult. Again, of all incarnations of the highest Lord, the Kṛṣṇa incarnation has a peculiar fascination for the Indian mind and has all along exercised a great influence over the Hindu religious mind—in fact, of all minds that have God consciousness. The Lord's grace, His interest and deep concern for His devotees and even for sinners, His great love for all beings without any distinction of order, caste, creed, and sex, His ever-willingness to look after all ardent devotees, His extreme sweetness, all these qualities have made Him the most easily lovable of the divine manifestations. The text of the Bhāgavata, scenes of the whole life of the Lord from His childhood to His withdrawal from the world, yet the philosophical aspects receive greater emphasis than the historical ones.' " Not simply that it's some stories, but full of philosophy. " 'Along with the Bhāgavata, the Caitanya-caritāmṛta has received as much care and attention in the translation by Śrīla Prabhupāda. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust is presenting these two sets as an encyclopedia of our culture, and our university has made a standing order of these volumes, which our students delight in reading. There is no doubt that the Swamiji has immensely obliged all lovers of our Vedic culture and devotees of Kṛṣṇa cult by this simple, clear, faithful, and illuminating rendering into English. The notes bring out beautifully the subtle implications of the Sanskrit and Bengali text. The lay reader is thus greatly helped in appreciating and understanding the brilliant simplicity of the path of bhakti.' "

Prabhupāda: What he is?

Room Conversation -- October 11, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hm. That is real medicine.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I think that our being here and chanting before you is spreading this movement, because the more we chant, the more love and dependence we develop for you, and that's making us strong in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and therefore our movement is getting stronger. Every day that we stay here, we become stronger in our devotion for you and dependence on you. (pause) I think that I should just tell them to end their meeting now. They're waiting for me, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Then I'll come back in a little while and chant. Actually you have to get better, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Kīrtanānanda Mahārāja has built this palace. It's only meant for you. We were seeing pictures of it today. It is so beautiful. It is exactly the place that you want to retire in and translate. And this community of Gītā-nagarī will be just proper place to give direction how to establish nice spiritual community. These two places are very close to each other-New Vrindaban and Gītā-nagarī. They're only three hours away from each other. Two very good communities for showing the example how to spread ideal Vedic life. We were discussing that actually it is not anything new that Kṛṣṇa can make His devotee better, because we were reading before in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta how sometimes Lord Caitanya would bring back to life someone who had even expired. And His associates were able to do that. And there is many cases. I think if we are very determined, then Kṛṣṇa will surely fulfill our desire.

Prabhupāda: Without fail.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Without fail.

Room Conversation -- October 21, 1977, Vrndavana:

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.)

Room Conversation -- October 21, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: (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.)

This is from Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Then Brahma-saṁhitā.

rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan

nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu

kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

(Bs. 5.39)

Then again from Brahma-saṁhitā, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu (Bs. 5.38). These mantras should be recited so that I can hear, you can hear, occasionally. And kīrtana must go on. And physically, massage. Sometimes that brahmi oil massage on the head. (break) Translating, whatever I have done in this state, is it going right?

Jayādvaita: Everything that you've translated is edited so far, except for the last two sittings. It's coming out very nicely. Now by your instruction to concentrate on Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's commentary, I think it will become even more clear, because Pradyumna will be able to give the English more easily.

Prabhupāda: So do it.

Room Conversation -- November 2, 1977, Vrndavana:

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

Jagadīśa: No more than croaking frogs.

Akṣayānanda: Śrīla Prabhupāda, this morning, in the Bhāgavata class, we read a verse how Bali Mahārāja had been awarded all material opulences by the Lord—because of his devotion, not because of his puṇya. So I gave lecture to the devotees—in the same way Your Divine Grace, because of your devotion and preaching, Kṛṣṇa has given you every facility for propagating the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, and although there are other nice movements in India, actually they should all join you. They should all surrender to you. We want that everyone should actually join us at your lotus feet because you have actually been given all śakti by Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana. So I told the devotees like this. "Do not be misled by others, even though they may be appearing to do nice work." Actually you are the only one who is really distributing the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This is very obvious by the result. These others have not made even one foreign disciple. And if they did make one, he could not give up smoking, drinking and this and that. So there is no benefit whatsoever. Any intelligent person can see. Plus you have given us so much nectar. Prahlāda Mahārāja says mahāmṛta. I always think of that verse. You have given us so much nectar to absorb our minds in. There is really no chance that we will be influenced by these dry personalities.

Prabhupāda: Now you take up seriously and distribute. (aside:) It has finished.

Upendra: Twenty-five.

Prabhupāda: Only?