Go to Vanipedia | Go to Vanisource | Go to Vanimedia


Vaniquotes - the compiled essence of Vedic knowledge


Disciple of... (Conversations)

Conversations and Morning Walks

1967 Conversations and Morning Walks

Discourse on Lord Caitanya Play Between Srila Prabhupada and Hayagriva -- April 5-6, 1967, San Francisco:

Prabhupāda: The outcome is that Sārvabhauma was impersonalist and Caitanya Mahāprabhu was Vaisnava. Then by argument, logic, and everything, that is shortly described here, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya became a disciple of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and he became a great devotee. That is the outcome. And it was a great victory on the part of Caitanya Mahāprabhu because Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was known as the most stubborn scholar of logic of that time and he became a devotee. By Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya's becoming a devotee of Lord Caitanya, practically He became victorious in His missionary activities because Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was the learned scholar in the assembly of the King of Orissa. So the King of Orissa also became a devotee. And many other scholars and big men.

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Questions and Answers -- Montreal, August 26, 1968:

Prabhupāda: That you cannot calculate. Nārada Muni is one of the sons of Brahma, so he's present since the time of creation. And many great sages and saintly devotees are all devotees of Nārada Muni. Prahlāda Maharaja is disciple of Nārada Muni, Dhruva Maharaja is the disciple of Nārada Muni, Vyāsadeva is disciple of Nārada Muni, Vālmīki is disciple of Nārada Muni. So Nārada Muni was very expert in getting disciples. He had so many disciples. Unlimited.

Devotee: Swamiji, what's the meaning of "Ṭhākura"?

Prabhupāda: Ṭhākura actually means God. So one who is godly, he is also addressed as Ṭhākura. Yes.

Interview -- September 24, 1968, Seattle:

Interviewer: Would you tell me something of your own background? That is, where you were educated, how you became a disciple of Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: I was born and educated in Calcutta. Calcutta is my home place. I was born in 1896, and I was my father's pet child, so my education began a little late, and still, I was educated in higher secondary, high school for eight years. In primary school four years, higher secondary school, eight years, in college, four years. Then I joined Gandhi's movement, national movement. But by good chance I met my Guru Mahārāja, my spiritual master, in 1922. And since then, I was attracted in this line, and gradually I gave up my household life. I was married in 1918 when I was still a third year student. And so I got my children. I was doing business. Then I retired from my family life in 1954. For four years I was alone, without any family. Then I took regularly renounced order of life in 1959. Then I devoted myself in writing books. My first publication came out in 1962, and when there were three books, then I started for your country in 1965 and I reached here in September, 1965.

Press Interview -- December 30, 1968, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: It was not there because in India there are so many churches, and they're supposed to be very saintly person. So simply to become a disciple of a saintly person is sufficient certificate. Just like in your country, marriage requires certificate. In India still, there is no certificate. The boys and girls, they are seated before the relatives and priest and elderly persons. They are offered. I am doing that. There is no certificate. But still their connection is lifelong. What certificate will do? That ceremony is so nice, the wife takes "My husband for life" and the husband takes wife, "She is my companion for life." They cannot separate. There is no history in India that there was a certificate issued. No. But still, their connection is so nice, that life long.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Allen Ginsberg -- May 11, 1969, Columbus, Ohio:

Prabhupāda: Rūpa Gosvāmī, Lord Caitanya's principal disciple.

Allen Ginsberg: Uhuh.

Prabhupāda: Rūpa Gosvāmī. There are six Gosvāmīs, direct disciples of Lord Caitanya. Er, not, six Gosvāmīs and three other confidential.

Allen Ginsberg: Yeah.

Prabhupāda: So, our... About the six Gosvāmīs, Rūpa Gosvāmī is the principal.

Allen Ginsberg: Rūpa Gos...

Room Conversation with Allen Ginsberg -- May 11, 1969, Columbus, Ohio:

Prabhupāda: Ah.

Allen Ginsberg: In Harvard many years ago. And then he went to India and found a teacher, and is now a disciple of Hanumānji or a devotee of Hanumān. And he said that, we were talking about māyā and the present condition of America...

Prabhupāda: Have some fruits?

Allen Ginsberg: In a while. Well, we can talk as...

Prabhupāda: Accha.

Allen Ginsberg: Bite your food. I have that question I wanted to asked. Are you tired?

Prabhupāda: No, no. I can talk with you whole night. (laughter)

1970 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- December 13, 1970, Indore:

Guest (1): Śrī Tukārāma is disciple of Caitanya.

Prabhupāda: He also went through in Maharastra by His chanting, (indistinct)

Haṁsadūta: And most important, Prabhupāda has presented Bhagavad-gītā. He calls it "Bhagavad-gītā As It Is." He explains in the introduction that till now there's been so many Bhagavad-gitas printed in all languages and all of them are misrepresenting. They have not presented Bhagavad-gītā as it is. They are trying to present Bhagavad-gītā without Kṛṣṇa. They want to leave out the speaker of Bhagavad-gītā and put themselves forward. So Prabhupāda has presented Bhagavad-gītā As It Is and therefore this movement has taken such hold because the real thing is being presented. This is in San Francisco, California. Then, the Nectar of Devotion, Rūpa Gosvāmī's book Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, also there. This book is the lawbook of devotional service. Īśopaniṣad, word for word translation, then the complete English translation and purport by His Divine Grace. So these books are (indistinct) bhakti-yoga (indistinct) Kṛṣṇa consciousness (indistinct) explaining the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. So we have so much literature.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation Vaisnava Calendar Description -- March 11, 1972, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Usually one has to study grammar for 12 years, and when one is very much conversant with grammatical rules, he can read any literature. That means after studying grammar, the door is open for any other subject matter, just like philosophy, medicine, then military art, there are so many Vedic knowledges. Generally they read literature, the Purāṇas, the Vedāntas and śaipa(?), śaipa(?) means general literature. So Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī became a great scholar in grammar and then he studied all Vedic literatures, and after that he approached his uncle Rūpa Gosvāmī in Vṛndāvana. He became a disciple of his uncle by proper initiation and remained with him. He was assisting his uncle and after hearing from him he composed very scholarly books know as Ṣaṭ-Sandarbha. These Ṣaṭ-Sandarbha are recognized as the most scholarly work in the world. There is no comparison of his philosophical approach to the Vaiṣṇava school.

Morning Walk -- October 15, 1972, Vrndavana:

Śyāmasundara: ...tell us a little bit about the temple as we move?

Prabhupāda: Yes. This temple was constructed by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, one of the first disciples of Lord Caitanya, and this is Narottama Samādhi. Here is Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī entombed, and here is Rūpa Gosvāmī entombed. Later on, several other devotees, they are not entombed like them. Flowers from their body, they were placed. It is called Puṣpa Samādhi. But here, the original bodies.

Devotee (1): Ah. This is Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja's body?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Devotee: Original bodies.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- May 2, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: That's all. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ (SB 7.5.31). Anyway he has admitted, "I do not know." That is sufficient defeat for him. But they are shameless. In spite of being defeated, they won't admit that "I am defeated." Not gentlemen. Formerly between two learned scholars there will be argument. If one is defeated... Just like Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. As soon as he became defeated, he became His disciple. That's all. That was the system. Not that we go on arguing for hours, and one is defeated; still, he remains the same. No. If you are defeated, then you must accept the other party as your master. That was the system. As soon as he said that I do not know, he should have become your disciple. That is the system. "If you do not know why you have come to teach me."

Svarūpa Dāmodara: He should come and become a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Room Conversation with Indian Guests and Devotees -- July 11, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: He should go... Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet.

Guest (1): Tad viddhi praṇipātena... (BG 4.34).

Prabhupāda: Paripraśnena sevayā. He should become a disciple of a bona fide guru. Otherwise how he can learn. If you are uneducated, you should go to school.

Guest (1): You want to ask anything? (pause)

Prabhupāda: (Hindi) It is very difficult to, to guru, but when guru comes, they also do not accept him. What can be done? They are so fallen. Only fortunate. Ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva (CC Madhya 19.151). So to go to guru, to Kṛṣṇa, that requires fortune. Kona bhāgyavān jīva. Some fortunate person. Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151). By the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa, he gets the seed of this bhakti. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). And when he's a bhakta, then he can understand what is God. (To disciple:) Get the light. Bhaktyā mām abhijānā... No, there. That's all right.

Morning Walk -- December 8, 1973, Los Angeles:

Karandhara: But I was not using the comparison in that sense. The sense I was using it in... to a scientist, if you tell him "You have to believe in Kṛṣṇa to realize He is God..."

Prabhupāda: No, no, it is not belief, it is fact. It is not... that we protest.

Karandhara: But the disciples of Guru Maharaji say the same thing.

Prabhupāda: Why?

Karandhara: They say they've seen Guru Maharaji lifting Govardhana Hill, and they've seen his universal form.

Prabhupāda: No, Govardhana Hill, when he lifted, everyone saw.

Karandhara: The scientists want to see it also to believe in Kṛṣṇa.

Morning Walk -- December 8, 1973, Los Angeles:

Yaśomatīnandana: Also, Prabhupāda, Christ never said himself that he's dying for their sins. But this is the later disciples of Christ, they claim that Christ has died for their sins.

Prabhupāda: Ācchā? This is the fact?

Prajāpati: That's fact, yes.

Prabhupāda: Just see how they are. They're saying so many things.

Bali Mardana: Cheaters. In Germany since they lost the war everyone has become atheists. In Germany, because they lost the war, they all became atheists.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Yaśomatīnandana: It's better sometimes to approach a person with no religion, Prabhupāda, than to approach a Christian.

Morning Walk -- December 8, 1973, Los Angeles:

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes. That is foolishness.

Prabhupāda: And that foolishness has killed the whole Vedic civilization.

Yaśomatīnandana: I thought the same way before I became a disciple of Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Here is a... He comes from a very respectable brāhmaṇa family, but he knows...

Yaśomatīnandana: Well I realized afterwards that I was lower than a śūdra, because actually it was my duty and I rejected it.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 9, 1974, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Yes. He's also a priest's son, coming from very respectable, priestly order family.

Guest (1): Last few days, we were enjoying a good day.

Guest (2): But there are so many disciples of one guru. Are they come all in bona fide disciplic succession?

Prabhupāda: Hmmm? Well, everyone is in a bona fide disciplic succession provided he keeps that tradition, keeps that tradition. Āpani ācari prabhu jīve śikhāilā. One must behave that "I belong to this disciplic succession. I must keep myself fit for the post." Then it is all right. If he deviates, then he deviates the disciplic succession. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says frankly that... This is disciplic succession. Āmāra ājñāya: "Just carry out My order." Then you are in disciplic succession. If you do not keep yourself in the order of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then simply by becoming disciple, you are not in the disciplic succession. This is disciplic succession. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said this clearly, āmāra ājñāya guru haña tāra ei: "Wherever you live, you become a spiritual master." How? Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa: (CC Madhya 7.128)

Room Conversation with Christian Priest -- June 9, 1974, Paris:

Priest: It's a tremendous work.

Prabhupāda: Our books are selling very nice. Last year we have sold four million copies throughout the whole world.

Devotee: This is Nectar of Devotion by a chief disciple of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He quotes from all different scriptures, the Purāṇas, and he supports devotional service.

Priest: This is what you use for your devotional service?

Devotee: They're a model.

Bhagavān: We have many copies downstairs. You can take. It was Lord Caitanya's plan that for the common men there would be much chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa and distributing of prasādam.

Room Conversation with Professor Oliver La Combe Director of the Sorbonne University -- June 14, 1974, Paris:

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. All the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, they are connected. Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī, Nimbārka. So we belong to Madhvācārya. Caitanya Mahāprabhu belonged to Madhvācārya. Madhvācārya was direct disciple of Vyāsadeva, and by paramparā, Mādhavendra Purī. Then from Mādhavendra Purī, Īśvara Purī. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted Īśvara Purī as His spiritual master. So we belong to this Madhvācārya-sampradāya, Madhvācārya-sampradāya or Brahma-sampradāya. The sampradāya, the disciplic succession, is coming from Lord Brahmā. Brahmā's disciple is Nārada. Nārada's disciple is Vyāsadeva. And Vyāsadeva's disciple is Madhvācārya. And from Madhvācārya, Mādhavendra Purī, Īśvara Purī. Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Then we are, Caitan..., like that.

Morning Walk at Marine del Rey -- July 13, 1974, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Then you can get rid of māyā's tricks. Otherwise, you may dress yourself like anything, but you are simply māyā's servant. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung one... Ei ota kalir chelā: "Here is another disciple of Kali." Nake tilaka galai mālā. "He has got tilaka on the nose and mālā, kaṇṭhi, also." Sahaja bhajana kache mamu saṅge lana pare bhalo: "And he's, he has become a Vaiṣṇava by illicit sex." This is stated by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. "Here is a Kali's chelā. He has dressed like a Vaiṣṇava, but he is doing his bhajan with illicit sex." Sahaje bhajana kache mamu saṅge lana pare bhalo. You know? There is a class of sahajiyās?

Morning Walk at Marine del Rey -- July 13, 1974, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Vaiṣṇavas. Just like, dress like Rūpa Gosvāmī, loincloth, and, but three dozen women behind him.

Bali Mardana: Yes, gopīs.

Prabhupāda: So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura: "Here is a disciple of Kali. He has tilaka and he has kunti and he's doing this nonsense." Eita kalir chela. (pause)

Bahulāśva: So the purport is that one must strictly follow the principles?

Prabhupāda: You do not understand that?

Bahulāśva: Yes.

Prabhupāda: You are asking after twelve thousand years? I am speaking always that. And still you are questioning?

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk Through the BBT Warehouse -- February 10, 1975, Los Angeles:

Paramahaṁsa: He is still doing that? Nārada Muni?

Prabhupāda: Yes. His business is preaching. So we have to become, every one of us, disciple of Nārada Muni. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (break) ...American people are spending, and it is going to the American people, not outside. So it is not bad idea, distribution of money. Therefore America is so opulent. Nobody's miserly. Everyone is spending. Therefore the benefit is distributed. I have got money, I am spending, so benefit is distributed.

Jayatīrtha: Now all the rich men in India have got all their money locked up.

Room Conversation with Yoga Student -- March 14, 1975, Iran:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Atreya Ṛṣi: The disciple of God.

Yoga student: And he was the perfect expression of the divine manifestation in human terms. He was not a divine figure as Christ or Kṛṣṇa. He was simply a man, and who was the mouthpiece of the divine word.

Prabhupāda: What is the meaning of Allah akbar?

Yoga student: It means God, the greatest.

Prabhupāda: Greatest.

Morning Walk -- April 1, 1975, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: Just see.

Devotee (1): He put his own statue there, that the people should worship him. He's a disciple of Mao.

Prabhupāda: And because there is no king, therefore he is flourishing.

Devotee (1): Yes.

Prabhupāda: Had there been any real king, he would have been killed immediately. Because there is no king, therefore in South India, they are insulting the statue of Lord Rāmacandra, because there is no king. Everyone is king. Diplomacy... Democracy. What is this nonsense, democracy? All over the world the royalty is hereditary, never elected. (break) ...and it was hereditary, even Russia. That is the system. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam (BG 4.2). And evaṁ paramparā-prāptam—who? Rājarṣayoḥ. They are king, but just like saintly persons. That is king, not a loafer class is elevated to the royal post. Rājarṣayoḥ. Although they're holding the post of a king for administration, they're just like ṛṣi. That is king.

Morning Walk -- April 8, 1975, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: No.

Satsvarūpa: Prabhupāda, in one purport in the Bhagavad-gītā, you write that a disciple of a bona fide spiritual master is supposed to know everything.

Prabhupāda: Yes, if he follows the spiritual master.

Satsvarūpa: But how could he know...? What does that mean, "everything"?

Prabhupāda: Everything means whatever his guru knows, he should know, that much. Not like God, everything. Within his limit, that's all. If he tries to understand whatever his guru has said, that much is "everything." Otherwise, "everything" does not mean that we know everything, like God, like Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. If he regularly chants and follow the regulative principles, follows the orders of guru, then he knows everything. That's all. Not very much... Knows everything, then what is the use of reading books when he knows everything? (break) ...everything—except Kṛṣṇa. Aham... Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo (BG 15.15). He knows past, present, future, everything. You cannot expect anyone to know like Kṛṣṇa, everything.

Morning Walk -- May 8, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Therefore those who are in high standard, they do not take anything as wrong. Everyone is suffering his own reaction. Then bhaktas, they think, tat te 'nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam (SB 10.14.8). When a devotee is in trouble, he thinks that "I am suffering for my past deeds. (break) ...me." That is a devotee's attitude. "Let me do my business, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." And then he is sure. Such person is assured to come back. He doesn't care for all this suffering. He thinks, "I am suffering for my past deeds. That's all. Why shall I bother myself? Let me do my present duty, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa." That is the first-class position. He is assured. In spite of all material difficulties, if he goes on with chanting, then his chance is first. That is stated. Dāya-bhāk. Dāya-bhāk means he inherits God's property as the son's inherits the father's property. Dāya-bhāk. So we should be callous with all these political, social... We should simply go on. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He was callous. Family affairs, wife's responsibility, for mother's responsibility for... Nothing. Simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's life. Even didn't care for anything, no responsibility. "My only business is chanting." That is... You preach for some time. Then you simply engage in chanting. Preaching means to make him strong, preaching, to become firmly convinced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is preaching. So when he is firmly convinced, then he can give up preaching and sit down and simply chant. Not in the beginning. That is imitation. He must be firmly convinced. So we have to study Caitanya Mahāprabhu's life. Except—this is the clear and simple truth—except chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, there is no other business of the human being. So this preaching is also chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This is preaching. That has been shown by all the disciples of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Morning Walk -- May 12, 1975, Perth:

Amogha: There is... One of the disciples of Guru Maharaj-ji, Bala Yogesvara, is in Perth. They have their center here. And he is giving lectures daily, and many people are attending.

Prabhupāda: That he is God.

Amogha: There was an article in the paper yesterday from India that says that the Indian court has banned Guru Maharaj-ji from leaving India. They have issued an order that he must stay until the court has finished because his brother is suing. Because his brother published a photo showing Guru Maharaj-ji embracing and kissing an American girl in the paper. So the Guru Maharaj-ji published a picture of his brother doing the same thing. But they say it was a fake photo, so the court is holding him in India, and they're having a legal battle, suing each other to see who is God.

Prabhupāda: Farce.

Room Conversation with Yogi Bhajan -- June 7, 1975, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: This is our or their?

Bali-mardana: No, that is... from downstairs.

Paramahaṁsa: I know one devotee who was a... There was one devotee who was a disciple of him before he came to us. He used to live with Yogi Bhajan about ten years ago in San Francisco. Not ten years ago, about eight, nine years ago in San Francisco. And he said that when he first came, he was a professor from India. But then he associated with the hippies for some time and became a...

Prabhupāda: He was Indian?

Paramahaṁsa: Yeah, he's from India. You mean Yogi Bhajan or the devotee?

Prabhupāda: No, the devotee.

Morning Walk -- August 27, 1975, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: But where they are?

Brahmānanda: Yeah. Where are those thousands of disciples of these other swamis?

Prabhupāda: "Here we are, but where are the swami's disciples?" Ask them.

Akṣayānanda: Then they will become angry.

Prabhupāda: "No, no. Well, don't be angry. Well, Bhaktivedanta Swami's disciples, we are present here. Present anyone else. So how shall I believe you?"

Akṣayānanda: Then they will say, "We are doing the same as you. But we don't have to help you because we are already doing the same thing. We are feeding the poor, giving charity."

Morning Walk -- November 3, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathā kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya śravaṇa... Because by hearing Kṛṣṇa, you'll be purified. Puṇya-śravaṇa. Simply by hearing, you'll be pious. And as soon as you become pious, then you can understand Kṛṣṇa. Yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ jananaṁ puṇya... (BG 7.28). But nobody will come here. They'll go to the restaurant, club, the playing cards. Nobody will come. We are opening so many centers that the rascals may come and hear and become pious. That will also not do. Caitanya Mahāprabhu regretted that. Etādṛśi tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānu... "You have done so much favor to us, but I am so unfortunate that I have no desire to hear You." (Hindi) So much unfortunate. (break) That I have already explained, that akusam adhikāro. (laughter) Yes. Caitanya... One of the disciples of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, he has taught us,

dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya
kaku-śataṁ kṛtvā cāhaṁ bravīmi
he sādhavaḥ sakalam eva nihāya durād
caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam

This is our process. What is that? Now, the Indian system of becoming humble is to take a straw in the mouth.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 19, 1976, Mayapur:

Bhavānanda: "...Tīrtha Mahārāja, who was then known as guru-preṣṭha, most dear to his guru, and also known to the disciples of Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura as Kuñjada, giver of shelter. In all the missionary works and the management of the maṭhas, Śrīla Bhaktivilāsa Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja was the right hand of his Gurudeva. By his constant, unstinted service rendered to Śrīla Prabhupāda, whose most intimate disciple he was, he almost became a counterpart of that great saint."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh. This is not... "Counterpart." Jumping... Trying to equal...

Prabhupāda: So those who are not accepting him, so they are all fools.

Morning Walk -- February 3, 1976, Mayapura:

Sudāmā: Oh, that, how they are trying to understand your powers? Oh, yes, in one college I was lecturing in Kansas. Some students came to me, and they said, "We are amazed." They were disciples of this one bogus yogi. I cannot remember his name. And they were asking me, "How your swami, how your guru has got some power, we are trying to understand."

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Sudāmā: I told them, "Yes, even we may be unwilling, still, we are forced to serve Kṛṣṇa by his grace and mercy."

Prabhupāda: And even the students are asking. That means it has become widespread, if the small boys are asking. They are also studying. So why did you not say, "You are asking why he has become so famous, and still, you do not say more than other yogis? You are asking this question, 'How he has become?' That means he has already become more than. So why you are asking this question?"

Morning Walk -- February 18, 1976, Mayapura:

Yaśodānandana: One of the leading paṇḍitas of the Rāmānuja-sampradāya has endorsed us as being bona fide Vaiṣṇavas, and also one of the main Aṣṭamaṭhas (?) in Uḍupi, the place of Madhvācārya, has given a letter to define that "The disciple of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, His Divine Grace, is doing very good work for the sanātana dharma, and they are bona fide Vaiṣṇavas. So these letters are very good for our preaching work.

Acyutānanda: Śrī Raṅgam.

Yaśodānandana: Also in Śrī Raṅgam, the leading paṇḍita, the leading priest of the Śrī Raṅgam temple, that big Viṣṇu temple... We had a program there, and he's very much impressed by your work.

Acyutānanda: He's the descendant of Veṅkata Bhaṭṭa.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Morning Walk -- February 18, 1976, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: No, this Veṅkata Bhaṭṭa, because Bhaṭṭa, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa was Caitanya Mahāprabhu's disciple. Śrī-rūpa sanātana bhaṭṭa-raghunātha, śrī-jīva gopāla-bhaṭṭa dāsa-raghunātha. They were direct disciples of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Acyutānanda: There's a big sign on the Śrī Raṅgam temple: "Only Hindus allowed."

Prabhupāda: Ācchā?

Acyutānanda: So we took a photograph of ourselves standing next to him with the sign in the picture. So we can use that, in case anybody tries to check us.

Prabhupāda: So one thing, if you can do, that India, at the present moment, that Swami Cinmayananda is prominent.

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

Reporter (6): Does it ever happen, Swamiji, that some disciples of yours may disagree with you in spiritual matters?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: No.

Prabhupāda: Unless he is a fool. (laughter) Unless he's damn fool, they do not. (laughter) If he's sane and sober, open-hearted, then he will agree. Not only Hindus. We have got so many Mohammedans also. So unless one is open-minded, sane, intelligent, they cannot understand. Therefore I say the Indians are becoming insane. By the influence of so many rascals they are becoming insane. So that has to be rectified. But insanity is prevailing all over the world, but not so much insanity as in India, that they are rejecting their own things. This is the greatest insanity. Why they are rejecting Bhagavad-gītā? What is the reason? Tell me, you.

Morning Walk -- June 8, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Darwin has captured that portion, how the body is changing one after another.

Duryodhana-guru: Śrīla Prabhupāda, in Bhagavad-gītā it is said śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo 'bhijāyate (BG 6.41). So, for somebody who is now a disciple of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, are we to understand if he is not born in a family of devotees and if he is not born in an aristocratic family, that he was not a yogi in his past life?

Prabhupāda: Eh? Past life, they had some good deeds. Therefore they have come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is called ajñāta-sukṛti. Besides that, whatever he may be in the past life, the movement is there, it is open for everyone. Everyone can come and take advantage, despite whatever he did in his past life. It doesn't matter. If he comes and if he is fortunate, if he chants, then he becomes advanced.

Morning Walk -- June 15, 1976, Detroit:

Devotee (1): They all do favors for each other. The government contracts big construction companies to build military bases for them. And then in turn they all have engagement, they all feed each other, like that. We met one boy in Houston, his grandfather was a disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta.

Prabhupāda: Indian?

Devotee (1): Yes. No, he is not Indian, he was German.

Prabhupāda: German. Yes.

Devotee (1): His grandfather was German, he was raised in Germany.

Prabhupāda: Yes, we had two German Godbrothers. One is that Sadānanda. Another was Bon something.

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

Prabhupāda: Yes, I am writing for reading by others.

Rūpānuga: Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda. What time is the initiation? (break)

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: ...our temple early in the morning at about seven o'clock Śrīla Prabhupāda will deliver a lecture and also there will be a sacrifice, very ancient sacrifice performed, which is formal initiation, of becoming a disciple of a spiritual master, and you are welcome to come by. It is a very colorful and beautiful ceremony. This will take place tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. here in the temple. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Rūpānuga: Thank you. (end)

Morning Walk -- July 10, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: No, no, what he has done? He has ruined the Vedic culture.

Hari-śauri: Completely misrepresented it.

Prabhupāda: And the Bon Mahārāja is his follower. He's in name a disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, but he's a servant of Vivekananda.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He's very similar to him.

Prabhupāda: He's a great appreciator of Vivekananda. He has put in his curriculum Vivekananda philosophy, Gandhi philosophy. Rascal, what philosophy they have got?

Hari-śauri: He mentioned all the nonsense people. He put a circular out, he mentioned Rama Tirtha, Vivekananda, all these nonsense.

Room Conversation -- August 3, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Hari-śauri: It's very good. There's just a real short one about the university in Kurukṣetra. It says, "Vedic Varsity for Kurukṣetra Soon." "The first Vedic university will come up soon at Kurukṣetra and will be affiliated to V.M. Cakravarty University. The proposed university is being set up by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON, and will cost rupees two crore. Most of the funds will be provided by Mr. Alfred Ford, the nephew of the auto magnate Henry Ford. Mr. Ford, on becoming a disciple of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder of ISKCON, changed his name to Ambarīṣa dāsa. The Vedic university will offer courses leading to bhakti-śāstrī and sarvabhauma."

Prabhupāda: (break) ...new devotees joining?

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

Jayapatākā: And that is the seventeenth branch of Lord Nityānanda. It's got the personal Deities of Nitāi-Gaura that he used to worship. It's got a building worth about fifty thousand rupees on it. A nice, brand new nātha-mandira. This man is Shri Keshav Priya Brahmacari. He's a disciple of that Krishna Prem, that Mr. Nixtan or something.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Jayapatākā: He talked personally with Bhaktisiddhānta, I heard, in Sanskrit many years ago. He's a disciple.

Prabhupāda: He's Indian or...?

Jayapatākā: Well, it's an unusual story that that man was a pilot in the World War, and he was flying over Himalayas or something, and he saw Kṛṣṇa in his mind's eye or something, and then, then he was shot down, he saw Kṛṣṇa, and then, when he landed, he searched out who he saw, and he came to Vṛndāvana or something and saw the Deity of Kṛṣṇa, and he became initiated at Rādhā-Rāmaṇa temple.

Prabhupāda: Rādhā-Rāmaṇa

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

Prabhupāda: Almora is a hilly station, Himalaya. If... Almora, one goes from Lucknow.

Jayapatākā: So this brahmacārī is a disciple of him. Therefore he doesn't have any connection. There's no sampradāya anymore because his guru's disappeared, and somehow he's got this sevā. These are the Deities there of Nitāi-Gaura. There's about twelve śālagrāma-śilās also. And a little Rādhā-Gopīnātha. This is all mentioned in your purport. It's only about four or five hundred yards. I could read from it.

Prabhupāda: Eh? No, that's all right.

Jayapatākā: It's four or five hundred yards from the Palpara Railway Station. It's the next station from Chuktaha, under Chuktaha police station.

Room Conversation with Pandita from Tirupati and Government Minister -- August 24, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: They have no idea.

Paṇḍita: No facility. So I left there. I came all the way, decided to select a place for myself. After touring Mathurā, Vṛndāvana, all these places, Kāśī, I came to Lucknow. In Lucknow Ramakrishna Mission I had been to. There was one Gauda Shivananda. He discussed with me, and he directed me to Calcutta. Then I went to Calcutta, and when I went to Calcutta, that Swami Gambhirananda, who is the general secretary now, was there. He asked me to join the Mission. I joined Ramakrishna Mission. I was in Ramakrishna Mission in Calcutta for one year. And I was taking care of their printing section, this proof-reading, editing, etc., Ramakrishna Vivekananda literature for one year. But still, my idea of going to the original texts of this Vedānta commentary etc., was not fulfilled. So I was not satisfied. Then I left that Ramakrishna Mission and traveled all the way from Calcutta to Kerala. There is another āśrama at Kerala, Parlika near Trichu, where there was one Swami Purnananda Tirtha who used to come to Bombay every year for giving lectures. So I went to his āśrama. I knew of that. And there I started studying this Śaṅkara Bhāṣya, Gītā Bhāṣya and Sūtra Bhāṣya for six months under one Swami Atmananda, who is no more, who has written Śaṅkara's words, the words, in his own words, teachings in his own words. Bhavan's Journal has published and the four yogas and so on and so forth, such books. He was a disciple of Swami Ramadasa of Kanaiḥ.

Garden Conversation -- September 7, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: No no, that is understood.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Okay. "He complimented ISKCON, for disseminating the Vedic culture. West Bengal government officials have praised our agricultural efforts. The principle officer of agriculture of Nadia District in West Bengal said that our Māyāpur farm is receiving attention of nearby farmers, and this farm is acting as a demonstration for them. So the statement that foreign devotees are running ISKCON in India is misleading. Point five, Blitz: Big business in Spiritual Sky. Boss of West Bengal is Gregory M. Scharf. ISKCON: In Māyāpur our devotees make handloom saris, dhotīs, and gāmchās. All over the world our devotees wear the traditional Indian dress of dhotīs, kurtās, and saris. It is our spiritual master's desire that all our devotees overseas only wear clothes made by our devotees in Māyāpur. Spiritual Sky sales and services was formed just to send our Māyāpur handloom and other necessities only to our centers overseas. In return our overseas centers send Māyāpur donations. Even Gandhiji wanted every Indian to be self-sufficient. This is what we are trying to do. We produce our own food and clothing. Instead of criticizing, Blitz should publicize these activities so that others can follow. Gregory M. Scharf's spiritual name is Gargamuni Swami, and he is an initiated disciple of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.

Room Conversation -- September 7, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: ...forest, naked, renounced, eating fruits. But debauch number one. Markaṭa-vairāgya. There are so many vairāgīs. Markaṭa. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has said, ei 'ta kali-celā. Here is a disciple of Kali. Nāke tilaka galāi mālā. But has got a tilaka on the forehead and neckbeads on the neck. But is Kali-celā-number one disciple of Kali. You know this song? Kali-celā. These persons who are committing sinful life—don't say anyone (laughs) or publish—there will be trouble. But that's a fact. Those who are living in Vṛndāvana and acting like monkey, they'll get next life—a monkey. To remain in Vṛndāvana, and then next life they will be liberated. In one life all their sinful activities will be punished. Because as soon as animal life is obtained, there is no more further record of the sinful life. The animals cannot make sinful activities more than what is destined by him. But their sinful activity is not taken into account.

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

Prabhupāda: Oh! Tukārāma is Vaiṣṇava.

Lokanātha: But this is different. Tukārāma met Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Mylapur(?).

Prabhupāda: Yes. Tukārāma is a disciple of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Then it is in order. What is the...

Indian man: (Recites Sanskrit)

Lokanātha: It's a very nice question.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. (Hindi) "By My order." That's all. That I was explaining to Mr. Gupta. If I say this bag of bead, you take it and give it to him, then where is my difficulty? There is no difficulty. This is called beadbag. You take it and give him. And you become guru. Call a spade a spade. And if you become ostāda, Kurukṣetra means this body and this means this, and this means that," then you spoil. You spoil yourself. (Hindi) (end)

Press Interview -- October 16, 1976, Chandigarh:

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.

Room Conversation -- November 15, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Cidananda.

Mr. Saxena: Cidananda is there.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Mr. Saxena: He is a disciple of Swami Sivananda, Divine Life Society.

Prabhupāda: He is dead now?

Mr. Saxena: No, Sivananda is dead.

Prabhupāda: Not.

Morning Walk -- November 17, 1976, Vrndavana:

Mahākṣa: Just a business. We also had a program with Dr. Gupta (?). That was a nice program. And his wife she cooked some Bengali prasādam for us. We took our lunch there. That was very nice.

Prabhupāda: I think that he is disciple of Tīrtha Mahārāja.

Mahākṣa: Yes. But his son... His house, they have so many pictures of Ramakrishna and Sai Baba. His son is telling him to not follow the same like his father. And his father did not speak. He only spoke about three words. He's suffering from some rheumatism or something. Anyway, we had a good kīrtana there. (break) No, I never say, I never say.

Akṣayānanda: But all the people who are Sai Baba followers, they all do have some activity in the mode of ignorance. They eat meat or onions. By their symptoms, we can see that they're in the mode of ignorance.

Room Conversation with Life Member, Mr. Malhotra -- December 22, 1976, Poona:

Prabhupāda: And this is the fact, Kṛṣṇa says. What Kṛṣṇa says you have to accept. Otherwise, what is the use of reading Bhagavad-gītā? You cannot accept Bhagavad-gītā through your whims. That is nonsense. You must accept as it is. That is wanted.

Mr. Malhotra: This Satya Sai Baba, he is also disciple of Kṛṣṇa. How he produces...?

Prabhupāda: Then if he is disciple of Kṛṣṇa, he would not have foolishly said that he is Bhagavān. That means he is bogus. It is bogus... You cannot say... You are disciple... Just like they are my disciples. They will never say that they are equal to me. They will never say.

Mr. Malhotra: No, no, but what power he has got to produce just now...?

Prabhupāda: That anyone can do, magic, jugglery. It has no meaning.

Room Conversation with Life Member, Mr. Malhotra -- December 22, 1976, Poona:

Mr. Malhotra: But amongst his disciples he will be worshiped...

Prabhupāda: That's all right, but he remains a disciple of his guru. He will never say that "Now I have become guru, so I don't care for my guru." He will never say. Just like I am doing, but I am worshiping my guru still. So I remain subordinate to my guru, always. Even though I have become guru, still I am subordinate to my guru.

Mr. Malhotra: But qualitatively...

Prabhupāda: Qualitatively equal I have already said. Not quantitatively.

Mr. Malhotra: Qualitatively we are one. Quantitatively.

Prabhupāda: Why? Do you think a grain of gold and a big gold lump is same?

Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Six Gosvāmīs. Rūpa, Sanātana, Bhaṭṭa Raghunātha, Śrī Jīva, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, Dāsa Raghunātha. Six Gosvāmīs, they were immediate disciples of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They were entrusted to develop Vṛndāvana. And they did it. Modern Vṛndāvana means, this is the contribution of the Six Gosvāmīs. (break)

Indian man: ...a portion which says that when she went there and...

Prabhupāda: So that may be, whatever is there, but Rūpa Gosvāmī had no reason to refuse seeing a woman.

Indian man: No, but, that... Which Gosvāmī?

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 4, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: So, our point is that if he was not on the platform of mokṣa, liberation, why did he waste his time by spoiling himself and for spoiling others? Now he has come to his senses, it is good, but it is to be understood that he simply spoiled his time and spoiled others' career by misleading them. Thus, without being liberated, nobody can guide anyone. That is useless. That is andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ (SB 7.5.31). If you have no eyes, then how can you lead others? If you are blind and they are blind, then what is the use of becoming their leaders? Actually all the so-called leaders and scholars, they are blind themselves and they have become big, big leader. That is the misfortune of the present life. And, therefore, our proposition is you take direction from Kṛṣṇa and His representative. That's all. That will help you. Try to understand this point. Our system, paramparā system, is that I am just like disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī. I don't say that I am liberated. I am conditioned. But because I am following the instruction of Bhaktisiddhānta, I'm liberated. This is the distinction between conditioned and liberated. When one is under the direction of a liberated person... The same thing: Electricity.

Morning Walk -- January 4, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: These things happened by Vallabhācārya. That's a long history generally. They call him Mahāprabhu to make competition with real Mahāprabhu, Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Dr. Patel: Vallabhācārya was disciple of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Prabhupāda: Not disciple. Very admirer. But when He criticized strongly on account of his attacking Śrīdhara Svāmī...

Dr. Patel: Caitanya Mahāprabhu differs in philosophy from Vallabhācārya. He did.

Prabhupāda: Yes. But they were friend, Vallabhācārya and Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So he wanted to present his (indistinct) Gītā to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that "You'll find better than Śrīdhara Svāmī."

Room Conversation -- January 22, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: Oh, hundred miles? (break)

Brahmānanda: ...here to Allahabad, I was coming from Bombay on the train. I was riding with some respectable people. They saw this button, and they said, "Oh, you are the disciple of Prabhupāda?" And I said, "Yes." And they were very appreciative of your work. And then I had one Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eighth Canto, the story of Gajendra. And one man wanted to see the book. And he started reading it, and he kept the book throughout the whole journey, and he read the whole book, and he loved it. He said, "Your guru has written very nicely, very simply, very directly, and everything is there." He wouldn't give me back the book until he finished it.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) So our book-selling appreciated all over the world.

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

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.

Guest (2): Sir, we have got similar in Oriya. Viśvāsa śunile kṛṣṇa tāte vata. Tāte vata is surrender. You surrender.

Evening Conversation -- January 25, 1977, Puri:

Satsvarūpa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, one thing they're doing against us more and more in the West is taking the testimony of an ex-disciple of yours, and he will say, "I was a Hare Kṛṣṇa..."

Prabhupāda: "Because he is rascal, therefore he's 'ex,' excommunicated. My Guru Mahārāja kicked him out, so what is the value of his word?"

Gargamuni: We can say these men were excommunicated.

Prabhupāda: Ex means he's executed. That's all. He's finished.

Satsvarūpa: Why listen to his testimony? We can say, "Why listen to his testimony?"

Prabhupāda: Yes. Why not take our testimony? We are... Now take.

Room Conversation -- January 28, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: Not all of them. But they are also claiming they're on the stage of Rūpa Gosvāmī. We are preaching—we are lower stage. That is their opinion. We are preaching all over the world; we are in the lower stage. And because he has imitated the dress of Rūpa Gosvāmī, mālā, tilaka, and he's manufacturing biḍi-he's higher. This is going on. Therefore Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has condemned these rascals—that kali-celā—"the disciple of Kali." Ei ota eka kali-celā.(?) Here is a disciple of Kali. Who? Nāke tilaka galāi mālā. And sahajiyā bhajana kache mamu, saṅge lana pare bala.(?) He has tilaka and mālā, and sahajiyā, with other girls he's making parakīyā-rasa-bhajana. Kali-celā. Ei ota eka kali-celā. So we have to guided by our predecessor ācāryas. Then we shall be saved. Otherwise we are condemned.

Room Conversation -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And coming from him it's especially relishable, because he used to criticize you for denouncing all of them.

Prabhupāda: Means he's an intelligent businessman. (laughing) He can understand. He's the disciple of Chinmayananda. But he has realized that "What Chinmayananda is before Bhaktivedanta Swami?" That he realizes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He used to criticize Prabhupāda. He used to tell me, "Your Guru Mahārāja is always denouncing all the other gurus in public."

Prabhupāda: Now he is doing that, (laughs) following me.

Hari-śauri: Actually you're very well known for criticizing everybody else.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. Yes.

Conversations -- April 19, 1977, Bombay:

Patita-pāvana: This is a great mistake. Surabhī Mahārāja did not want that. He specifically said, and we also told him, "You must put this, 'Founder-Ācārya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.' " He said it definitely, I said it, and I wrote it down. And I wrote it down, I think, two places for him. And then it was also written down on our release, "disciples of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda."

Prabhupāda: So how is that, nobody's name is there, only Saurabha's? And they have mentioned, "his city."

Patita-pāvana: Oh, no. That is not good.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They mentioned that "Will his city be like Auroville?" And the answer's given, "No, it won't."

Patita-pāvana: The answer's good, but the question's not.

Conversation with disciples of Chinmayananda and Shivananda Ashram -- April 22, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: They have come from Hawaii?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Hawaii. Hawaii.(?)

Prabhupāda: Oh, oh, that Hawaii program(?).

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Two of them are disciples of Shivananda Ashram in Hrishikesh, and three of them are from Swami Chin... They're Swami Chinmayananda's disciples. Swami Chinmayananda has this program. He advertises for getting young men. Now they're the second batch. They study different Vedas and Upaniṣads. (end)

Conversation Pieces -- May 27, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hm.

Rāmeśvara: This is based on the BBT Trust document that you wrote many years ago, the same idea almost. "I, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder-Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, disciple of Oṁ Viṣṇupāda 108 Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja Prabhupāda, and we, the members of the Bureau of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, hereby give and transfer the properties and all the property rights incidental thereto, as hereinafter described, to the following persons as trustees in trust for purposes hereinafter stated and to be administered in accordance with the provisions hereinafter set forth."

GBC Meets with Srila Prabhupada -- May 28, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: When I order, "You become guru," he becomes regular guru. That's all. He becomes disciple of my disciple. That's it.

Satsvarūpa: Next we have a question about the BBT. At present, no translation work is to be published without your seeing and approving it. So the question is, is there any system for publishing works in the future that you may not see? For example, we've heard suggested that the Padma Purāṇa or the Ṣaṭ-Sandarbha may be translated. But what would the system be to insure the paramparā if you would not personally see these translations?

Prabhupāda: That you have to examine expertly.

Discussions -- June 2, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Girirāja: Then we can type it. "I, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder-Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, settler of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, and disciple of Oṁ Viṣṇupāda 108 Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja Prabhupāda, presently residing at Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Mandir in Vṛndāvana, make this, my last will. 1. The Governing Body Commission, GBC, will be the trustees of the entire International Society for Krishna Consciousness."

Prabhupāda: You can... Then there will be question, "The trust deed will be given? Then there will tax."

Discussions -- June 2, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hm.

Rāmeśvara: "I, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder-Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, disciple of Oṁ Viṣṇupāda 108 Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja Prabhupāda and settler of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, at present residing at the Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Temple in Vṛndāvana, hereby solemnly declare, say and confirm as follows: 1. That I am the Founder-Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, known as ISKCON, a society registered under the Society Registration Act of 1860, with its headquarters at Juhu, Bombay, and branches at..." And then it's to be filled in. "2. That some properties with movable and immovable..."

Conversation -- July 1, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: He is the proper man.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This man is the biggest businessman in Lautoka, Fiji, and his brother is the mayor. And he became initiated disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda's, and personally he has organized a society there, collected all the funds and built a beautiful temple with Kṛṣṇa-Kāliya Deity.

Mr. Myer: That is where Yaśodā-nandana Mahārāja is going for the opening.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah.

Mr. Myer: Fiji, yes. Very nice.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very businesslike, how he sent this account sheet and everything.

Mr. Myer: Beautiful, so beautiful, so exact, not...

Room Conversation -- October 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Dr. Kapoor: He's not very efficient. You should call some good doctor from Agra, from Mathurā. Doctor Vyas of Mathurā is good. He's a devotee also, Dr. Vyas. The son of late Dr. Vyas, Dr. G. N. Vyas. If you say, I can write to him. Hm? I can write to him. Isn't there any doctor amongst the disciples of Prabhupāda who can stay here for some time?

Girirāja: Well, there are doctors, but actually it's very difficult to find a doctor that the treatment is effective. So it's very difficult.

Dr. Kapoor: What I mean to say is ask him to treat Prabhupāda or not. But there should be some qualified doctor who stays here permanently for the purpose of checking him out from time to time, because you are all laymen. If there is any complication, you don't understand it. So if there is doctor by his side always, he can check up and say, "This is so and so." You can call any other doctor afterwards and treat him. In the present condition of Prabhupāda it is necessary that you always have some good medical advice available here. So if you had one of the disciples of Prabhupāda... There was one Dr. Batnagar, I think, who retired as civil surgeon of Mathurā, who was here for some time I saw. If he can be help, you can call him, I think.

Girirāja: Dr. Batnagar?

Dr. Kapoor: I don't remember his name, but perhaps Dr. Batnagar. He's perhaps a disciple of Prabhupāda. He at least stayed here for quite some time, and he told me that once he proposed that he would stay here permanently and treat the devotees.

Prabhupāda: Sometimes they recommend hospitalization, and I don't like that.

Room Conversation -- October 12, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Where is that place?

Jayapatākā: That's in Balasore district. It's about thirty miles south of Balasore. It's a three-hour bus ride from Bhuvaneśvara north. There's a Gaura-Gopāla Mandir there that was being managed by a disciple of Parvat Mahārāja, a disciple of Parvat Mahārāja. Lokanātha Swami had written to you that they wanted to donate the temple plus twenty-four bighās of land, and you had replied back that he should accept it. So he left three men there from his party and they registered the land in your name, including the mandira. At that place Lord Caitanya had visited on occasion, going back and forth between Bengal...

Prabhupāda: Baribhada? That place is called Baribhada?

Room Conversation -- November 3, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But Anantadeva is connected with which group?

Gaura-govinda: He is a disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He's disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta or Bhaktisiddhānta's disciple's disciple?

Gaura-govinda: No, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Directly.

Gaura-govinda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Gaura-govinda Mahārāja says he is your Godbrother, Śrīla Prabhupāda. There's thirty-six pāṇḍās?

Gaura-govinda: Thirty-six groups nirjoks.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Nirjok?

Gaura-govinda: Yes. (break)

Prabhupāda: ...moment I am sick. When I am well enough, I shall do something. Hm? Tamāla Kṛṣṇa?

Page Title:Disciple of... (Conversations)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:27 of May, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=67, Let=0
No. of Quotes:67