Prabhupāda: So we are holding classes there and discussing on this book, having kīrtana, distribution of prasādam. So it is very nice. There is no labor. Simply you come, you hear nice songs, you dance, you take nice food, you hear nice philosophy, and you think over, and you may go home. We don't ask anybody that "You press your nose like this, you make your head down like this, make exercise like this." We don't ask anybody. But people automatically like to dance with us. Although dance is labor, but they like it. So the next stage is to associate with us, to understand more and more. This is the second stage, to associate. First stage, faith and respect, and second stage, association. The third stage, if by association one becomes serious, that "I shall become a regular student of Swamiji," that is third stage. That is called initiation. Just like these boys. They are initiated. So in that stage they are guided by me. They follow strictly. Just like we have got for the initiated students we have got six, four principles. We do now allow illicit sex life. No, we do not allow these boys or girls sex life without being married. Yes. This is one regulation. We don't allow them to take anything which is not offered to the Deity. So we offer to the Deity foodstuff, grains, fruits, flowers, milk products, in that way, no meat, no egg, nothing of the sort. Simple food. They are nutritious. We prepare very... Perhaps you have participated in our love feast in Sundays.
Feast (Conversations)
Conversations and Morning Walks
1968 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Now, when you offer something to some respectable person, you ask him, "What can I offer you?" If I go to your house and if you want to offer me something to eat, you will ask me what I wish to eat. That is the etiquette. So similarly, we have to offer Kṛṣṇa what Kṛṣṇa likes to eat. So how we can know? In this book we have the things, what Kṛṣṇa wants. He says, "You give Me foodstuff, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ (BG 9.26) fruits, flowers, grains, milk, like that." So our diet is Kṛṣṇa prasādam. Therefore... Kṛṣṇa wants these things. We prepare these things, and we eat the remnants of food. If Kṛṣṇa says that "You give me meat," then we can offer Kṛṣṇa meat also. But Kṛṣṇa does not say that. Kṛṣṇa says, "Give Me fruits, flowers, grains." So we have no quarrel with the meat-eaters. Let them do whatever he likes. But our concern is that unless Kṛṣṇa takes, we don't take. So in order to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, this is necessary, just like an important segment of the work. We cannot accept anything which is not offered to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore this diet, this sort of diet, as you have tasted in our love feast, that is important. We cannot take outside the scope. So in that sense, diet is important. Besides that, from health point of view also, you require a balanced food—carbohydrate, starch, protein, and fat. That is scientific. So fat we are getting from milk, butter. So if I can get fat from milk and butter, why shall I kill the cow and animal? This is humanity. My necessity is to get some milk and fat. The cow is supplying you milk and fat sufficiently. Why should you kill it?
Prabhupāda: They kill the grandfather and have a feast, the cannibals. Yes. That is a great sport, that the grandsons will kill the grandfather and have a feast on his body by toasting.(?) Yes. The same idea is being preached by the communists. They want that all old man of the society, they should be killed. That is one of the theories put forward by the communists. Because they are not producing anything. So just imagine, these things will come gradually. So better to leave this place as soon as possible. Not to come again. That should be our serious attention. The other day the radio man was asking, "Swamiji, how to adjust?" "And there is no adjustment. You have to go out of the scene. There is no adjustment." So he was not very happy. If I would have bluffed him, "Oh, you do this, you do that, you do this humanitarian work, you spread(?) education and give foodstuff." No! There is no adjustment. The only adjustment is quit this place. That is the function of this human form of life.
Satsvarūpa: Swamiji? Can I make an announcement? Swamiji has said there are fifty important pilgrimage cities in India, but as far as we're concerned here, it's whatever city His Divine Grace is residing in. So right now it's Boston. And he will stay here so long as it's the best place to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So you have some taste for it. You can help us to keep Boston this city of pilgrimage. We need engagements for Swamiji. The universities will be closing... Well, some of them are almost already closed. But if you have any access to a nice engagement, a church or a club where people attend, please approach us and help us to spread in this way. Also we have a love feast here in the temple every Sunday at noon, and this is very sumptuous bhakti-yoga love feast with Indian delicacies that you'll certainly enjoy. So approach this way. We'll take collections at this time also. You can help us very solidly by putting in all that you can. Our next kīrtana is scheduled for Wednesday-Monday, Wednesday, and Friday—but it won't be, because it will be held at MIT instead in the student mezzanine lounge in the third floor at eight.
Prabhupāda: Wednesday there will be no meeting here?
Satsvarūpa: Yes, there'll be no kīrtana. That's the next engagement, May 8th. Also, does anyone have a car? Swamiji lives nine blocks away.
Prabhupāda: You have got a car? Thank you.
Interviewer: What types of food, what types of things do you drink, such as juices or anything else do you drink?
Prabhupāda: Eatables are just within this jurisdiction of fruits, flowers, vegetables, grains, and milk. But we can prepare thousands of preparation, very nice palatable preparations. And I invite you to our temple. When love feast is distributed on every Sunday, you will see how they are nicely prepared. But they are prepared... Only if we get some grains and some butter and some fruits and some vegetables, we can prepare hundreds of preparations, hundreds, very, very palatable. You will forget all other eating.
1969 Conversations and Morning Walks
Brahmānanda: When I first came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, I'd only been coming I think maybe two days to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and then Mukunda had his wedding. Oh, that hooked me. Nice wedding and nice feasting. I was hooked.
Rāyarāma: That was the day after our initiations. They initiated the night before. We had two days feasting.
Devotee: I came into San Francisco looking for a spiritual teacher and I came to prasādam and I never left.
Gargamuni: I think that's what hooked all of us. (laughter)
Prabhupāda: Prasāde sarva-duhkhānāṁ hanir asyopajāyate. (pause) Thank you. Govinda dāsī has become very good housewife. Yes. (pause) Rāyarāma, come. Kṛṣṇa baṛo doyāmoy koribāre jihvā jay sva-prasād-anna dilo bhāi. No more. (end)
Prabhupāda: Yes. Marriage. Yes, that is nice. The Indian system, marriage, is that the bridegroom goes to the house of the bride with procession, band, nicely decorated. They'll go... And He'll be married with first Lakṣmīpriyā, the first wife. There will be fireworks in the marriage ceremony. Yes.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That will be very nice in this...
Prabhupāda: Yes. You can make band, fireworks, decoration, and feasting...
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Kīrtana.
Prabhupāda: So many ladies, like that. That scene, I shall direct how to do it. Caitanya Mahāprabhu's father was not very rich man. So there was a big zamindar. He was devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So he had some affection for Caitanya. So when the marriage ceremony was being settled up, he said, "Oh, His marriage shall not be just like the brāhmaṇas' marriage." Brāhmaṇa's wife, they are poor; so there is no expenditure. Some way or other, his marriage is done. But especially kṣatriyas and the vaiśyas, oh, they spend lakhs of rupees in marriage. So he said that "His marriage will not take place just like the brāhmaṇas. His marriage will be royal marriage." So he spent all the money, and there was grand, everything grandeur.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So we can show His mother and His wife crying because He is taking sannyāsa. They see Him in His...
Prabhupāda: No, no. He took sannyāsa by previous arrangement. One day He went away from home, accompanied by Murāri and Lord Nityānanda, and went to Katwa. There was one Māyāvādī sannyāsī, Keśava Bhāratī, and He took sannyāsa from him. And then He was, in emotion He was going to Vṛndāvana, but He was misled by Nityānanda, and He was brought to the home of Advaita, and Advaita arranged to bring His mother to see Him for the last. So His mother and many people from Nabadwip came to Sant... Advaita's house was in Santipur. So there was, for a few days, Caitanya Mahāprabhu stayed there, and saṅkīrtana and prasāda distribution was going on. And His mother feeling, feeling very well... But Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw that "My mother is not allowing Me to go. That is not good." So He requested, "Mother, I have taken sannyāsī. If I go on feasting like this with mother, what people will say? So you give Me permission to go." So mother said, "Yes, my dear boy. You have taken sannyāsī. But anyway You are happy. That is my happiness. But my only request is that You make Your headquarters at Jagannātha Purī. Because people from Nabadwip generally go there, so I shall get at least Your news. That is my last desire." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Yes. I shall make My headquarters in Purī." So people were coming and going. So His mother was getting news of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. That was then last days. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu, after that incident, never met, either His mother... And there was no question of meeting with wife.
1971 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Sannyāsī should be always preaching. Parivrājakācārya. Four stages of sannyāsa: kuṭīcaka, bahūdaka, parivrājaka, and paramahaṁsa. In the beginning... Because according to Vedic civilization everyone has to take sannyāsa at a certain age. So as a matter of routine if he takes sannyāsa... Just like this old man I was asking that "Now you have children grown up, why don't you take sannyāsa?" But he is hesitating. Nobody likes, because sannyāsa life is difficult. So first there is kuṭīcaka means he gives up the connection of the family life, takes sannyāsa officially, but he is not accustomed to maintain himself independently; therefore, he goes out of the village and makes a cottage and lives there. And the foodstuff, the home supply, that is called kuṭīca. Kuṭī means cottage. Then when he is little practiced, then he says family members that "Don't bring foodstuffs. I shall go to every village man and ask something for my food. I shall depend on them, not on you." That is called bahūdaka. Bahū means many. Not accepting food from one place but from many. Then when he is prac... Because first problem is problem, when he is practiced, "Now Kṛṣṇa is giving us food, so why shall I remain in one place? Let me preach." That is called parivrājakācārya, when he is preaching. Parivrājaka. Parivrājaka means wandering all over. Then when he is experienced, when his preaching is done, he can sit down in one place. At that time, he can chant simply Hare Kṛṣṇa like Haridāsa Ṭhākura. And if he imitates from the very beginning, he will be spoiled, that's all. Because in the beginning, if I take Hare Kṛṣṇa, then it is (indistinct). (laughter) Don't do this. Always be busy. First stage, last stage. When one is paramahaṁsa just like Haridāsa Ṭhākura, three hundred thousand times, no eating unless he finishes his chanting. No eating, no sleeping. That is another thing. "I shall eat so much, I shall sleep so much, and I shall do nothing, simply chanting." No. That is not recommended by my Guru Mahārāja. He says that you are cheating people. (Bengali) There is a song written by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī: "What kind of Vaiṣṇava you are?" (Bengali) "Your chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa in a secluded place," (Bengali) "is simply cheating." What do you know what you are chanting? First of all prepare yourself to come to the stage of perfect chanting. This is sevā. Always be engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service: how to decorate the temple, how to invite people, giving the feast, write books, distribute books and knowledge. In this way don't sit idly. Always be engaged, always. Just like our Karandhara, he has taken so much responsibility. He is doing. I am very pleased. He is prepared to do the masonry work and building work and distribution of book, accounting. In this way, we shall be always busy. Find out some work. I have no work now. Of course, the sixteen rounds must be chanted hundred percent. Rest time, simply find out where is Kṛṣṇa's work. Why sixteen rounds? It only takes two hours, you have got twenty-four hours. What you will do twenty-four hours? You cannot sleep more than six hours, seven hours, that's all. So two hours chanting and seven hours sleeping. Sleeping is a very important thing in your country, but reduce it. As much as you reduce sleeping and eating, you will become advanced.
1972 Conversations and Morning Walks
Acyutānanda: Tomorrow we fast. Up until evening.
Prabhupāda: Up to evening.
Acyutānanda: Until the moon comes. Then we take ekādaśī or feast?
Prabhupāda: You can feast. Feast.
Acyutānanda: So we'll fast up until the rising of the moon and then take feast, full prasādam. (break)
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Sometimes it happens that one day out of the week all the shops close except for one. I've experienced in India that all the... (break)
Devotee (2): Well, like I say, all the devotees are here from all the temples in England, so Edinborough and Manchester, they're all here too, but always it is crowded, and uh, on Sunday's it's no good at all because so many people come, they can't even come in to see the Deities, you know. They can't fit all in the temple, and uh, and we don't advertise the Sunday feast. If we advertise the Sunday feast, we couldn't get them in the whole building. So we can't even advertise. So therefore they don't even mention it, people still come, and we can't fit them all in the building. And we're hoping that it would get so full that Kṛṣṇa will see and he'll give us a place quickly.
Prabhupāda: Give her some position, and she's very influential, rich. But everyone wants some post, that is natural. Therefore I told, offered her the presidency of Bombay Trust. To raise the fund. In Bombay we have got very nice place. The best place of anywhere. And it is so nice in summertime, you'll find in paradise. So many coconut trees. You have seen?
eŚyāmasundara: Everyone wants some prasāda.
Prabhupāda: (break) ...some small feast.
Indian: (Hindi)
Śyāmasundara: Sarasvatī.
Prabhupāda: (Hindi with Indians)
Śyāmasundara: I should stay here with Subala Mahārāja?
Prabhupāda: Huh?
Śyāmasundara: I should stay here with Subala Mahārāja?
Prabhupāda: As you like it.
Śyāmasundara: What is that?
Prabhupāda: We shall talk.
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Yes. We are installing our Deity next 21st. So if you have time, I invite you. It is not far, London.
Professor: London is not far. Yes.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Professor: The 21st of September?
Prabhupāda: Twenty-first of August.
Professor: Oh, I see.
Yogeśvara: In a few days.
Professor: It's a big feast.
Prabhupāda: So you are Sanskrit scholar. You can join with this movement and help us.
Professor: Thank you.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Because it is worldwide movement.
Professor: I cannot help you. That's, that's...
Prabhupāda: No, you can help us.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Dhanañjaya: Yes, I've seen sometimes at the Sunday Feast we make some sweets, like sweetballs, and there's some left over. They'd find the next day so many drowned ants, because they'd been so wild, they'd jump into it and drown themselves.
Prabhupāda: So śāstra says, labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte: "My dear human being, please note. You have got this form of life after many many births, bahu-sambhavānte. You had to undergo the aquatic life, 900,000 species, the birds, trees and plants, two million. How much time it has gone by for this evolution. Now you have come to the human form of life." Labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte mānuṣyam: "This is human form of life." Artha-dam: "Now you can achieve success. Although it is temporary, but you can achieve the highest perfection of life.
Paramahaṁsa: Yes, and some small parts are used for administrative offices, the government and police. This used to be a king's palace.
Prabhupāda: Eh?
Paramahaṁsa: This used to be the king's palace, of France.
French Devotee: (indistinct)
Paramahaṁsa: Yes, this was the palace before they built the big palace in Versailles. Versailles is like a demigod's planet. It's the most wonderful building in all of France. Everything in gold, and wonderful paintings. Very, very big, and wonderful gardens and rivers. The king of France was very intelligent. In order to keep the nobles from revolting against him, he invited them all to his palace to enjoy with him. And he gave them wonderful feasts and a lot of sex life, and wonderful music. And like this, they never revolted during his time. This was Louis the Fourteenth.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Gurudāsa: Yesterday at the love feast they did Pralambāsura, and the guests loved it. Wonderful.
Jayatīrtha: They applauded.
Prabhupāda: They must love it. It is very nice, very nice. Organize this very nicely. We have got so many boys and girls. They can play simply. And they haven't got to speak. This system is very nice. Let them play. What is this called, system?
Hṛdayānanda: Narration.
Prabhupāda: No, there is...
Jayatīrtha: Like pantomime.
Gurudāsa: Mime.
Prabhupāda: Even they play with tape. Tape... Tapes... The tape is going on, and then are playing.
Prabhupāda: We shall eat also. (break) So I request you to come every Sunday and take feast with us. (break)
Prabhupāda: All right. Take, give prasādam. All right.
Devotee: We have a feast.
Prabhupāda: All right.
Devotee: Thank you Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda: Thank you very much. (devotees pay obeisances, and some guests leave) Jaya, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. (break)
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Prasādam distribution is very important?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: We find that when people taste the Sunday Feast, it's so nice that they want to give up meat-eating.
Prabhupāda: Eh?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: When people taste the Sunday Love Feast at the temple, it's so nice that they want to give up their meat-eating.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: At least, they express that sentiment.
Prabhupāda: No, they'll do if they are continually eating.
Jayādvaita: In New York so many people are coming, they want to start a Saturday feast also.
Prabhupāda: Do it.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Jaya.
Prabhupāda: Yes. There is no harm. We want to distribute all the days prasādam. Yes, if possible. Give them all.
Devotee: We have a couple of alcoholics that come here, and we give them food every night.
Director: You do?
Devotee: Yes.
Director: Just like the Gordon House.
Devotee: Yes. They come, we have a feast every Sunday. They come and we give them food.
Prabhupāda: It requires little time to practice. Otherwise, it is open for everyone for reformation.
Director: But you would have your limitations how far you can go in feeding people.
Prabhupāda: Hmm?
Devotee: He says we would have our limitations in that how many people we could feed.
Prabhupāda: We can feed unlimitedly provided the government helps.
Hari-śauri: You were speaking before about controlling the tongue is very important. And in your lectures you have said simply by eating prasādam this is controlling the tongue. But still, we have tendency when there is a big feast to eat very much prasādam. Is this a good thing, or...?
Prabhupāda: (chuckles) It is not very good, but it is still good. Instead of going to the restaurant and eat like the hogs and dogs, better take more prasādam. There is no harm. Kṛṣṇa baṛo doyāmoy, koribāre jihwā jay. Kṛṣṇa is so kind. Just to conquer over our tongue He has given us nice variety of prasāda. Take it and control your tongue. Yes. Hmm. Don't come very near.
Jayatīrtha: ...men from the University of Southern California wants to come and see you, the chairman and many of the members.
Prabhupāda: Oh. Then invite them and give them nice feast, yes. Make arrangement. Time, whatever suitable time you will fix up, I...
Jayatīrtha: We'll discuss it with Upendra when is the best time. (break)
Prabhupāda: ...hīna paśubhiḥ samānaḥ. "As soon as one become bereft of religion, he's animal." That's all. That is the difference between animals and man. They think to become polished animal is advancement of civilization. To become lion is advancement of civilization. "Because I am stronger than the dog therefore I am civilized." Americans think like that. "Because we are stronger than the Chinese dog or Russian cat, therefore I am civilized." (laughs) This is going on. "Because I am tiger, I am lion..." He doesn't think that after, "You be tiger or lion; You are animal." Just see. (break) ...puruṣaḥ paśuḥ. Śva-viḍ-varāha uṣṭra-kharaiḥ. I think we were discussing this verse? Saṁstutaḥ puruṣaḥ paśuḥ. (break)
Revatīnandana: The Mexican people are always a little appreciative. They naturally believe in God.
Prabhupāda: Give them invitations. Today is Sunday.
Bahulāśva: Yes, Cit-sukhānanda is speaking with them.
Prabhupāda: No, you have no card? Love feast card? Give them, that "come."
Jagannātha-suta: Jayatīrtha has one. (break)
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. One of the important things about taking prasādam is that all the devotees sit together. It is actually a very spiritual activity. Just like in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the feasts...
Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. That is recommended, that we are following. But now it is not following?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, I have to say frankly, I have seen now that in many... I don't want to get into mentioning any names, but some devotees are preaching this.
Prabhupāda: Preaching? Who is that nonsense, preaching.
Prabhupāda: ...Balarāma's. So fasting.
Tejas: Yes. Till noon?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Then a feast?
Prabhupāda: Hm. (break)
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Dr. Patel: That has been said in Rāmāyaṇa by that Matan(?) Muni, you know, Matan Muni who was harboring Saubhari, and then he was killing one elephant and living on the elephant for one year, and all other ṛṣis were against him. He was, I mean, not practicing ahiṁsā. Then he gave the feast to all those ṛṣis, and the lāḍu starting moving about. Everywhere there is life, I mean, every grain of the wheat or...
Prabhupāda: Yes. So therefore how it is possible? Because, after all, apart from Matan(?) Muni, if this is the rule, that one living entity is the food for another living entity... This is the law of nature. Jīvo jīvasya jīvanam. You cannot starve and live.
Rāmeśvara: I was thinking yesterday, Śrīla Prabhupāda, that as our movement becomes greater and greater, then taking Kṛṣṇa prasādam at a restaurant or at our Sunday feast will be like a national pastime.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Rāmeśvara: Everyone in the country.
Prabhupāda: And the Rathayātrā also.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, it will be like going to the ball game.
Prabhupāda: Rathayātrā, introduce in every city. You have already got some national holiday?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.
Prabhupāda: You'll get everywhere. In this way, one day we'll capture the whole government, and you'll become the president.
Rāmeśvara: (in car) ...that in Kṛṣṇa consciousness fasting and feasting are the same.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Rāmeśvara: Could you explain that?
Prabhupāda: Fasting and feasting is the same?
Rāmeśvara: That what I, they told me.
Prabhupāda: Yes, it is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for Kṛṣṇa. For Kṛṣṇa, you fast or feast, the same thing. Better fast. (laughter)
Rāmeśvara: (break) ...by the devotees, is that in the spiritual world every day is feasting.
Prabhupāda: And there is no fasting. Fasting is recommended when a man is diseased. When he's in health, there is feasting. So spiritual world means health. Why there should be fasting?
Hari-śauri: And our disease is uncontrolled senses.
Prabhupāda: There is no sense agitation.
Hari-śauri: No, for us though, conditioned.
Prabhupāda: Yes, conditioned. Śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvam.
Hari-śauri: So I think they're going for the feast now?
Mādhavānanda: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Go. Take prasādam.
Guest: I don't understand you, but accept my humble obeisances please, anyway.
Prabhupāda: That's all right. Thank you.
Mother: Thank you Prabhupāda. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda: And we have got everything. We have got feasting, dancing, chanting, philosophy, clean and spotless life.
Hari-śauri: Friendship, everything.
Prabhupāda: Yes. No animal killing. We are not envious of anyone.
Mādhavānanda: People come to the temple, and they say that it is like paradise here because there is no anxiety. Everyone is so happy and peaceful.
Prabhupāda: So keep this standard. At least, people will be attracted; they will appreciate it. Don't minimize this temple; keep it nicely.
Ambarīṣa: We're charging anywhere between three and eight dollars. Eight dollars for a very big, many preparations and different nectars and very sumptuous feast for eight dollars. And then if you just want a sandwich or something a little smaller you can pay just three dollars. We think we'll be making about half a million dollars a year, which will all go to you, Prabhupāda. (laughter)
Devotee: So we couldn't call the restaurant the "Hare Kṛṣṇa Restaurant" because there were some restrictions in the block, so we were thinking we'd call it "Saṅkīrtana." That's okay?
Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. They are Hare Kṛṣṇa phobia; they are afraid.
Śrutikīrti and Ambarīṣa: Yes.
Prabhupāda: You have suggested "Saṅkīrtana"?
Ambarīṣa: Yes, they think that is nice. They do not know what that means.
Prabhupāda: Just like our Haridāsa. You know Haridāsa? Bombay?
Ambarīṣa: Yes, uh-huh.
Prabhupāda: He, Moscow, he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa on the street, and when people asked "What is this?" "This is cinema song."
Hari-śauri: There were about three or four hundred Indians came to the feast yesterday. No, not yesterday, on Sunday.
Prabhupāda: Six hundred.
Hari-śauri: Six hundred.
Kīrtanānanda: In Toronto?
Hari-śauri: Yes, very big turnout. Big turnout also in Detroit. Same in Detroit. I never realized there were so many Indians all over the world.
Prabhupāda: Generally, they are engaged in education.
Hari-śauri: I know in England they all have responsible jobs. Doctors and like that.
Prabhupāda: There are many medical practitioners. I have, I learned that British people, they like Indian physicians.
Prabhupāda: There are so many kadarya things. In Burma, they have got a system, Burmese family. In the door, there is a pot, a big pot. So whatever animal dies, put it in there and cover it. So in this way, after some years, they're decomposed, and it becomes liquid, and then it is so decomposed that if you open it, within three miles they smell. So that is mature. Then they take out the liquid and keep it in bottles. That is called naphi. And they stock it, and when there is some feast at home they'll give little that naphi, and they'll relish it.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Barbers?
Prabhupāda: Burma.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: That's the most...
Prabhupāda: And when you fry luci, all the other tenants will come "What you are cooking?" This is practical because we opened..., my Guru Mahārāja opened a branch in Burma in an apartment. So that Gaurāṅga who was my servant in family life, he was there. He said like this, that "When I fry puri, the ghee smell is there, so many people will come from other apartments, (whispers) "Oh, what you are cooking? What you are cooking?" And the naphi, they relish it in feast. So it is a question of taste.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: That's the ultimate.
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: I remember as a child in Hong Kong, in the village they would keep big glass jars of snakes, they would put the snakes in jars. And after they were many times soaking in liquid, then they would eat it.
Hari-śauri: Pickled snakes.
Prabhupāda: Snakes.
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Yes, keep it in a jar in liquid.
Prabhupāda: They put in the jar alive?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: No, they catch it, kill it, put it in the jar.
Hari-śauri: It's like a pickle, they pickle it. And when they want to eat it, they take.
Prabhupāda: So there is poison in the mouth, they cut it?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: They cut off the head, flesh.
Prabhupāda: Snake they eat. Even in India there is a class, they eat snake. Chinese, they eat. They are Chinese?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: They ever come to the Sunday feast?
Vṛṣākapi: Some do. One man does. We've been here a short time, only four months. So we have to advertise more so people will come on the Sunday feast. But I think we will have thousands.
Prabhupāda: That is nice.
Prabhupāda: Indians are coming?
Rūpānuga: Yes.
Prabhupāda: They come on the Love Feast?
Rūpānuga: They come to the Sunday feast.
Vipina: They are starting to come more now. With the changes we made in the temple, and they are being very much impressed that we are doing nicely, and they want to become a part.
Prabhupāda: I heard that Ambassador, you have made some engagement?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, yes. And on Sundays we put on saṅkīrtana in the park, and then people are invited to come to the temple for the feast. Now because of the good weather, many people leave the city on the weekend, so the numbers of people who are coming on the Love Feast days is not as much as before the summer and after the summer. Now they like to go to the beaches and resort areas, where it's cool and there's water.
Prabhupāda: The zoo is here also here? (pronounces "joo")
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Jewish people?
Prabhupāda: No, zoo, zoology.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Zoo, zoology. Yes, Central Park Zoo is on about Sixty-fourth Street, Sixty-fifth Street, just off of the east.
Prabhupāda: All big, big buildings.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That's New York. The population now of the greater New York area is eighteen million.
Prabhupāda: Eighteen million?
Prabhupāda: Some prasādam? Oh, they have taken prasādam.
Indian man (2): Want something to eat?
Hari-śauri: Feast prasādam.
Bali-mardana: Someone is making them some little prasāda?
Hari-śauri: There is some prasādam to distribute.
Prabhupāda: (Hindi) And they talk of Bhagavad-gītā and keeping Kṛṣṇa background? Somebody says?
Rāmeśvara: But then they want to kill the old people. This mercy killing, they think that "An old man is suffering, so let us kill him."
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: They think if someone dies in their sleep, they are very lucky.
Prabhupāda: It is dangerous to die here.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Not as dangerous as in Africa. I saw one movie, and there's one tribe, that when a man becomes very old...
Prabhupāda: Yes, I've heard of that.
Hari-śauri: They throw him on the roof, and then eat him.
Prabhupāda: That is a feast.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Love feast.
Prabhupāda: Grandfather feast. Now great-grandfather feast.
Cyavana: We're preaching to them, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Trying to change them.
Rāmeśvara: Also the Eskimos, when a man gets old, if he is an Eskimo, then he has to go out into the icelands and wait for some animal to kill him. He cannot stay at home and be supported by the family.
Bali-mardana: He eats too much, they say.
Rāmeśvara: Too much burden.
Bali-mardana: Because he's eating, and he is not able to go and hunt, they send them out to die.
Prabhupāda: The Communists also, they'll do. All old men should be killed. That time is coming. Don't become old. (laughter)
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We were selling prasādam. I think we must have made somewhere between five and ten thousand dollars so far from prasādam sales. That's in addition to the free feast. We served a free feast to five thousand people when I left.
Prabhupāda: Oh, you did not stay there?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, still, it's so big. I estimated that through three to four hours there were thirty to forty thousand people that went in and out of that park.
Prabhupāda: Still they are eating?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They're still eating. Every piece of burfi we sold cost one dollar.
Prabhupāda: What is that?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Just a piece of burfi...
Prabhupāda: Burfi?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, they were charging one dollar for one square.
Prabhupāda: (laughs) That is good.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He got. I'm sure he must have gotten. Everybody was given free feast. Feast was very good. I tasted it, nicely prepared.
Prabhupāda: How many preparations were there?
Bali-mardana: Very hard to estimate.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: How many preparations in the feast? There was halavā, sabji, very good sabji by Ṛṣi Kumāra, rice, sweet, lemonade, popper-six preps. And puri, seven preps.
Prabhupāda: Very nice. Very good preps, sumptuous.
Bali-mardana: Oh, yes. Besides that, we had booths with watermelon, lassi and burfi.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Lassi was selling very big. We could not supply it fast enough.
Bali-mardana: We could not... All the time, those booths, there was a line.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Because this was our first year, we were not expecting such a big turnout, so we did not have sufficient stands to meet everybody's needs.
Prabhupāda: And the police officer has approved.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very nicely written. "With everybody pulling together and everybody puffing together, a huge float is tugged down Fifth Avenue yesterday during the first Ratha-yātrā Parade of International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The parade moved south from Central Park to Washington Square Park, where a free feast, music, art, dance and theater festival was held. According to a spokesperson, Ratha-yātrā is a time when people come to dance, sing and feast amidst a sublime atmosphere of bright flags, festoons, banners, garlands, flowers and incense, simply to feel the poetry and blissful nature of life.' "
Prabhupāda: Very good, this is blissful nature.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, you can see the devotees pulling the float.
Bali-mardana: Read the caption in the middle.
Prabhupāda: And they have created a civilization, wine, woman, gambling and meat.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Here's what it said. "The multicolored floats contrast with Fifth Avenue's concrete canyon as parade passes Thirty-fourth Street yesterday." Here it says, "An idyllic mood in saffron robes."
Prabhupāda: Everything is approved.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, yes, highly approved. Then there's another, New York Times.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This one is not, it's not bad, but it's not so accurate. "In size it was dwarfed by 'Operation Sale.' In popular concern it was outweighed by the Democratic National Convention. But for hundreds of Hare Kṛṣṇa followers, including many Indian immigrants to New York, yesterday's Ratha-yātrā festival was by far the most important event in an eventful month. Pulling three brightly-colored chariots down Fifth Avenue from Central Park to Washington Square, the religious group's adherents were celebrating one of the oldest holy days of the Indian calendar, the feast of Jagannātha, the Lord of the Universe, according to Kṛṣṇa doctrine. Most of the participants in the parade were young Westerners, followers from as far away as Caracas and Montreal. But the crowd included hundreds of Indians who brought the basic Kṛṣṇa faith with them from Bombay and Calcutta."
Prabhupāda: That's nice.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "But the Kṛṣṇa people were not entirely free of harassment. Along the parade route three men, including one who said he was an Evangelical Christian minister, jeered at the parade and called on parade watchers to become Christians. 'Idol worship. This is absolutely ridiculous. Read the Bible,' cried one man who would identify himself only as a normal Christian. There was a brief scuffle when an Indian immigrant tried to tear a large placard out of the hands of another heckler. The placard read 'Turn or Burn.' The police broke things up but made no arrests. 'They are insulting us,' said the Kṛṣṇa follower who declined to identify himself. 'I'm a devotee of Kṛṣṇa and Christ. These people who are doing this in the name of Christ are criminals.' " Very strong statement. "Except for the hecklers, however, the parade was generally very well received by passersby, who enjoyed the three multi-hued floats, the sun, and the chanting and dancing of the young Kṛṣṇa marchers. 'I think it's great,' said Tyrone Adams of Philadelphia, who was paying a visit to his home town of Inglewood, New Jersey. 'I'm not religious, but they're all happy and dancing, and that is what life is all about.' " Even a nonreligious person said that. "In Washington Square a crowd of about three thousand, many of whom were there as part of the normal Sunday afternoon activities, heard Swami Prabhupāda deliver a lecture. Later the crowd was served a free vegetarian feast. Along the side, Kṛṣṇa followers sold Indian sweets, Kṛṣṇa scriptures, and what one speaker described as 'transcendental paraphernalia.' "
Prabhupāda: Very good.
Rāmeśvara: On the return you simply go to the temple and drop the Deities off?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. We'll go to Fifty-ninth Street and have another feast at the park.
Rāmeśvara: Yes, there has to be another feast.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We'll have the feast, we may have buses, we'll have all our buses, and we'll bus the people to the temple. We could rent buses, Rāmeśvara.
Prabhupāda: Return Ratha-yātrā. Ulṭā-ratha.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What is it called?
Prabhupāda: Ulṭā-ratha.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Ulṭā-ratha.
Rāmeśvara: Should the actors perform the Herā Pañcamī ceremony?
Prabhupāda: That is in the middle.
Rāmeśvara: In the middle.
Prabhupāda: Do that(?).
Kṣīrodakaśāyī: (laughs) Mūḍhas, yes. So I understand... Some of the friends said it was a big feast and all that, but there was nothing, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They never talk about the Lord. They were simply arguing each other, "I think so." (laughs)
Prabhupāda: This is their business.
Kṣīrodakaśāyī: Big, big professor from the university, from Glasgow, so many professors. Big pamphlet came to me. They all sent to... They sent it to this place here. I don't know from where they get the address or the name all that, and they sent, many, many of these new societies. (laughs)
Prabhupāda: Keep our standard. Then everyone will give assistance.
Hari-śauri: Seems they're always carrying little snippets of information about what we're doing. Before there was a report about the restaurants, and here there's two reports about..., one about the Jagannātha festival in New York and one about the proposed Vedic university in Kurukṣetra. These were on consecutive days. The one about New York, it says, "Washington, July the 19th." That's where it's reported from. It says, "New York saw on Sunday an unusual spectacle of three brightly colored chariots being pulled along the city's prestigious Fifth Avenue from Central Park to Washington Square, a distance of about five kilometers, by members of the Hare Kṛṣṇa group. The rathas, built in Orissan style with giant wooden wheels, attracted large crowds of spectators all along the route. It was a novel experience for the New Yorkers. Many resident Indians who are not members of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement enthusiastically gave a hand in the pulling. The Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees were celebrating the feast of Jagannātha in the traditional Indian way. The police and the city administration readily cooperated. In a city that is coming to be known for its tolerance of diverse cultures, chariot processions promise to be an annual event. While a few citizens booed and some altercations were reported, the spectacle was well received by the New Yorkers. 'I think it is great,' the New York Times quoted a man as saying. The person, who identified himself as a visitor to New York and was not a Hare Kṛṣṇa fan, referring to the Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees, added, 'They are all happy and dancing, and that's what life's all about.' Later a vegetarian feast was served to the admirers."
Prabhupāda: Very good.
Mahāṁśa: He has seen our temples in Europe and Africa and he was very, very impressed. So when I told him that Prabhupāda is coming for the inauguration, he said, "You must give me the privilege again to have a program." So tomorrow evening there will be a program there, and on the 18th morning at ten o'clock, between ten and ten-thirty is the prāṇa-pratiṣṭhā. The chief minister is coming there as the chief guest, and it will stay till about twelve o'clock. I wanted to have a feast for all the people as we did in Vṛndāvana, but it's not possible here because there's no space. The area around the temple is very little. So we have made these kinds of packages with different items, just like a little prasāda feast, small. We'll be giving everyone who comes, about ten thousand packages we are preparing. We'll be distributing prasāda like that. And then in the evening there's a program again, Janmāṣṭamī program, this is for public. The morning program we have restricted only to invitees, because it will be so crowded otherwise. This is one problem which I am trying to figure out, how to face of managing the crowd. The space around the temple is very small, so we cannot have very big, huge assembly. We have to figure out something about that. I'm still trying to think what to do.
Prabhupāda: There is no question of management. Anyone comes, if you have made packages for distribution, give a package.
Vipramukhya: When we prepare a feast we should give and give and give, and when no one wants any more then...
Prabhupāda: Up until he comes to this point. Not only this point, but up to this point. Eat as much as you like. We are not miser. You eat. As much you want I shall supply. But don't waste. Eat. Don't waste.
Prabhupāda: Cere... Not... It is all gobar. Take out. (pause) Ne, make khicuḍi.
Devotee: Puṣpānna rice?
Prabhupāda: Little, little.
Devotee: Always keep it simple, puris, one, and one other thing?
Prabhupāda: No, one kind. Either puri or puṣpānna or khicuḍi, like that. You cannot make.
Devotee: Tonight I made sabji and puri.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is easiest, puri and sabji. Similarly, khicuḍi and sabji, puṣpānna and chutney, like that. Temple means feeding them with prasādam. In Bombay the Sunday feast going on?
Surabhi: We don't have so much facility to feed them because there's only the temple floor so there's always a big crowd and we have to do two shifts. So sometimes...
Prabhupāda: When it will be complete, more facility.
Surabhi: Oh, yes, then it will be... Everything...
Prabhupāda: Take prasādam, see drama, read books, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Bas. And if you like, you can live with us. So where is the difficulty? Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā (Bs. 5.37). (pause) That American politician has predicted that "This Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, within ten years, they will capture our government." (laughs) So do it actually. Then it will be very nice. It is not... Simply take the people in your favor; the government is yours. That they are afraid of. The young boys, they are taking Hare Kṛṣṇa movement seriously, so the government can be changed in their favor. After all, it is democracy. So you can do it. You become president. You become senator. In America it is possible. And if America accepts... What about this new president? Or... Formerly I heard about him that he is religious man.
Jagadīśa: A problem may come if they say, "But you invite people to come."
Prabhupāda: Friends I must invite. For feast. This is our community project.
Hari-śauri: Once you're in there, then it's... In Melbourne we told them that it's just strictly private, it was going to be like a monastery, there was just going to be a few monks who were going to do our worship, like that. And then when we were in we just had the Sunday feast and everything and everything was fine.
Devotee: Well actually, the way...
Prabhupāda: Śaṭhe śāthyaṁ samācaret. That is that if the other is cheat, you become cheat. Why you should be honest? Śaṭhe śāthyaṁ samācaret.
Devotee: Well, in this case actually I don't think there will even be a problem if we said "temple." Because...
Prabhupāda: That is your... I say, "Don't declare it a temple." It is our community, living quarters, residence, that's all. We live like this, our style of living is this. How you can...?
Prabhupāda: Whatever it may be, whatever they like, the villagers, you prepare. If you have no money, I shall pay money.
Mahāṁśa: O.K.
Prabhupāda: But attract them. They will come here to eat, "Oh, very nice thing." That is wanted. I made this movement successful simply by love feast. They did not come to hear Hare Kṛṣṇa. They came for love feast. From very beginning, when I was in 26 2nd Avenue, every Sunday I was giving nice foodstuff, at least 200 men. Daily at least more than 15, 20. I was cooking myself. That is the beginning of my movement. The cāpāṭis with Kīrtanānanda, first of all he was taking one and two, then twelve. (laughter) There was another boy...
Mahāṁśa: They're not cooking for the feast. They're cooking their own thing.
Haṁsadūta: No, no, no. They were cutting up our vegetables which are going to be cooked and served to the public.
Mahāṁśa: No.
Haṁsadūta: Yes, right over there by the fire.
Prabhupāda: No uninitiated person should cook. Brāhmaṇa cook.
Mahāṁśa: What about professional cooks?
Prabhupāda: Real brāhmaṇa.
Mahāṁśa: Professional cooks?
Prabhupāda: Profes...? They are brāhmaṇas.
Mahāṁśa: Yes, but they... Even though they are brāhmaṇas, they have this habit of smoking, and if we try to find a professional cook who doesn't smoke, it is very difficult.
Prabhupāda: Hm. As far as possible, our men should cook, a professional man who is in good habit, who has promised that they will not do this smoking. We have to manage somehow.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: In our childhood I saw. To go weekend to the garden and... Generally they go with family, and others, they go with prostitute. With prostitute they have got freedom to handle. The higher... And not only that, during marriage ceremony, high circle marriage ceremony, they would participate in drinking, even men and women. Otherwise, in India, woman drinking or taking meat is a horrible crime. And what to speak of smoking? That is most shameless. That was aristocratic, drinking and eating meat... The Bengali, they were the richer section because others, they were foreigners. They came to Calcutta and earned money. And the Bengalis, they had their aristocratic families, zamindaries, everything in their occupation. So Bengalis were richer section in Calcutta, and..., four, five big, big families. And now they are finished on account of this aristocracy. So one gentleman, he was Harendranatha Singh, very rich man, one of the richest men of Calcutta. He lost all his estate simply by this extravagance. Every evening his house is full with guests every evening, for... What is called? That table?
Girirāja: Billiards?
Prabhupāda: Billiard-playing or some exhibition of singing, and hundreds of men will gather. And they were feasting, first-class food. In this way spending, spending, spending... And then prostitute, aristocracy. In this way one property and one property lost, everything. At last I saw him going by rickshaw. One day it was raining, and I saw that he was sitting in a rickshaw, and no friend asked him that, "Haren Babu, why you are...? You come to my car," so many. And he was friendly to so many zamindars, kings, and very intimate with... But they lost of everything, and nobody cares. His sons, they are of our age. I do not know whether living or not. But most probably they are not living. They became professional singers, coming of such aristocratic father. His father, that Mr. R. N. Singh, was a very good singer. That also was another aristocratic that aristocrat family—art, some art: painter, singer, poets. Just like Rabindranath Tagore. They became famous as artist.
Prabhupāda: Acyutānanda's mother was coming. Sometimes your mother came? No.
Gargamuni: Not for a feast, but she came.
Prabhupāda: No, she used to come. And kissing you. (laughter) He's very pet son of his mother. Sometimes I told her, "Mrs. Bruce, you can give us some money." "I have given my two sons!" And "That's all right." I have met his mother, is very nice lady.
Gargamuni: A brāhmaṇa priest would come?
Prabhupāda: Eh? Brāhmaṇa priest would come. There would be pūjā. There would be nice feast. Now those things are gone.
Rāmeśvara: They never existed in America.
Prabhupāda: During our wife's time they were not... And what about our daughter's time? Now, generation by generation, giving it up.(?)
Satsvarūpa: Our movement has changed in America in the past six years or so. Now devotees are not much seen on the streets chanting. So there's different feelings. Some say it is all right, because everyone is now distributing books more.
Prabhupāda: That is also nice.
Satsvarūpa: That's also a kind of kīrtana. But then the public, they hardly ever see us anymore. They used to say, "Oh, the saffron-robed people chanting on the streets."
Prabhupāda: But they come to the love feast.
Satsvarūpa: Yes.
Prabhupāda: That's all right.
Satsvarūpa: Yes. It's not necessary to emphasize that street chanting.
Prabhupāda: No. Sell books and invite them to come to temple for love feast.
Satsvarūpa: And there is all these men. It's still five more days before the ceremony. If they can do this..., programs locally.
Prabhupāda: Yes. They should go to the... Yes, locally. Kīrtana party. They should go in their bus and have in the city kīrtana party. Try to collect something. (end)
Guest (2): No, my point is everyone has some special strategy if we don't want the total population the world is Communist. Should not there be a special strategy to enter in their own hearts?
Prabhupāda: This is special strategy, that as far as possible, give them those who are educated, read then, give them chance to read. And those who are not, let them come, and music and dance. Everyone likes to do this. And take prasādam, feast, lecture. Common sense.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He says they've been requested by the various temples around our society to film Sudāmā Mahārāja's theater group playing "The Age of Kali" and, perhaps, other plays so that these films could be shown at Sunday feasts, because they can't have the theater group in every temple.
Prabhupāda: Oh, it is good idea. Good idea.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Sometimes people say... There's couple people that even went to your place on 26 Second Avenue. They say, "So this movement has come a long way in ten years, from Second Avenue." They remember you sitting there. On Sundays in New York they have the Love Feast. So the average, they get about seven hundred people come. Six to eight hundred is an average crowd on a Sunday. And they serve the... They have simultaneously activities on the five different floors, four different floors. In the basement they have the restaurant. That is where the Life Members take prasāda. And very nicely dressed people, they go down there and they sit at the tables. And we have a group of devotees chanting bhajana, and they take prasādam and we serve them right at the table. Then, on the next floor, there is all the time kīrtana and ārati, throughout the Love Feast. It starts from five in the evening till nine. So they have continuously kīrtana and ārati. And also the store. We have a very good store. It's a very big sized store, and it has all kinds of devotional paraphernalias, all instruments, mūrtis, things to make people take part in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in their homes. And another very popular thing we have, just in front of the temple room we have a big table where we sell flowers and oils that people can purchase to offer to the Deities. And even mukuṭas for the people... Even though we would have bought them for the Deities anyway, but this way we put them there and the people buy them and then they come and offer them to Rādhā-Govinda, so it's a... We don't have to purchase ourselves. And then we sell prasādam. People take home. They like dessert. We sell in box. We have cardboard boxes the same as they have in bakeries where they put bread. We put different types of pastries and other things that have been offered to the Deity as mahā-prasādam. People purchase this. Then on the next floor up there is a lecture room, so there someone's always giving lectures, constantly giving lectures. And then there's different offices there, Life Membership office so we're enrolling members there. Then the floor after that they have a big lounge, and there we show all the time movies from the cassettes, so people can come in all the time and see movies. Plus there's prasādam. All young people, sitting on the floor, taking prasādam in all the different rooms.
Prabhupāda: They enjoy.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, yeah. And then again on the next floor up it's the same, plus there's the theater, and the theater has two performances, Sudāmā Mahārāja's group. So a person can go from one floor to another for many hours and take part in different activities and feel very blissful. They love it. The same people love coming again and again, every Sunday. And there's about eight or nine devotees. Their only business is to try and make the people join and become full-time devotees.
Prabhupāda: And book selling?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Book selling... We sell at least, say, I would say, something like about four hundred dollars worth of books every Sunday at the temple. Most of the people who came, they came because they bought your book, and we gave them an invitation to the feast. Everyone who has joined has bought your book first. That is their introduction to Kṛṣṇa consciousness—a book. Very few people come first to a temple. First thing they take and read your book. Then they become interested. The book goes into their home. (break) They can put these. Oh, yeah... Because they're libraries. I mean, they can buy the books. They can buy the books. The theology, arts... Nothing wrong with their buying, but probably they... From what I know, the general system is that you don't send salesmen into these communist countries. You send a brochure, and they buy through their agents. And this is unheard of, that someone sneaks into a country with all these books and preaches. He said sometimes his life is threatened.
Prabhupāda: Just see.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He has to run out of the universities because finally, after a while, the officials get notified. They figure out who he is, and then they start chasing him. Then he had to run out.
Prabhupāda: Dangerous affair.
Prabhupāda: Gargamuni did not join in the beginning. He was watching his brother. He was, rather, little critical. Gargamuni came first, er, yeah...
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Brahmānanda.
Prabhupāda: Brahmānanda. Then our Satsvarūpa, then Jadurāṇī. In this way, gradually increased. And Kīrtanānanda was very expert in learning. He learned how to make puri, kacuri, samosā, sweet ball. We were having very nice feast every Sunday. On Saturday night we would prepare so many things and stocked it. And Sunday, distributing... People would take: "Oh, so..." At least in that time seventy, eighty guests were coming. And they were very happy.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I think even in America things were better.
Prabhupāda: There things are changing fast.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But we keep on going strong.
Prabhupāda: Every middle-class man could hold some festival, and society feast very occasionally. Now cannot, they cannot even receive a guest.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No. In fact the government for a while had passed a law that prasādam could not be served to any more than so many people, such and such amount of people. They were prohibiting. I remember a couple of years ago we were trying to get āṭā or something, and they said, "Oh, no, you cannot have any big meetings where you feed people. We are short of things, so you cannot." "Food shortage," they said.
Prabhupāda: So they are eating. That means you want to keep people starving.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And every species is eating. We don't find that the birds have a food shortage.
Prabhupāda: It is not government. Just see to the head of the government, that Bose? He's planning how to cut down religious movement, keeping aside.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "The Sunday feast here has become so popular that whereas before only fifty people would come, now at least three hundred came yesterday."
Prabhupāda: Very good.
Prabhupāda: So what are your activities now?
Gaurasundara: In Hawaii we have Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Deities and bathing, Deity worship and reading your books.
Prabhupāda: Very good.
Gaurasundara: Feast program.
Prabhupāda: May Kṛṣṇa help you. How many inmates are there?
Gaurasundara: Right now there's about one dozen people in the farm, and on Sundays maybe forty, fifty people coming for feast.
Prabhupāda: Very good. You are my old disciple. So I'll be very pleased if you keep the principles—it doesn't matter wherever you live—and spread Kṛṣṇa conscious wherever you feel happy, and do not forget the real business. She is helping you?
Gaurasundara: Yes, very much. She's doing all the pūjārī work and taking care of the Deities.
Prabhupāda: Very good.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Lord Jagannātha is all-attractive. You cannot keep Him here. He's going out the door. This is... One of the sannyāsīs was giving a big lecture. We had some elephants. The children were riding on them. See, "Free Love Feast." Prasādam distributed... You can see these people are...
Purī Mahārāja: Love Feast.
Jayatīrtha: They served full prasādam to fifty thousand people.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Fifty thousand people took full prasādam free of charge. (break)
Prabhupāda: ...ratha (Bengali) prasādam.
Purī Mahārāja: Prasādam.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I just sent Hari-śauri to...
Purī Mahārāja: Yes, yes. They are preparing.
Hari-śauri: The prasādam will be ready in about five minutes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. They're just cooking the puris now. The halavā is done, and the sabji is almost ready. (break)
Prabhupāda: (Bengali)
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The prasādam is here, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Purī Mahārāja: (laughs) There is so much prasādam.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No, not so much.
Prabhupāda: What you have given?
Purī Mahārāja: Puri, halavā and gulabjamin. You have prepared very costly feast.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Because you are our most valuable guests. (break)
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So I don't think there is any problem. I mean, what you ate today was more than I saw you eat in three months, Śrīla Prabhupāda. You ate a Love Feast today. So whenever we eat a Love Feast, we never have much appetite in the evening. Usually we simply chant.
Prabhupāda: So I am trying to drink a little fruit juice.
Bhakti-caru: Prabhupāda wanted to drink some of this sweet lemon juice.
Prabhupāda: What do you think?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I don't know what to say. The devotees should all attend the conference. I think that's the point.
Prabhupāda: Not necessarily. But where (whether?) the conference is going on or Bhagatji's feast is going on? This is perplexing me.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Why it is? Because some of the devotees may leave by next week. So Bhagatji wanted to have a feast when everyone was here. And I told him to arrange then for Thursday, which was yesterday. But he said that that was not sufficient time. Therefore then I told him, "Then if you can't arrange for Thursday, then the best day is Friday, because Saturday and Sunday are the more important days of the conference." I advised him that the feast should not be held simultaneously with the conference, but he said that there was no... (break) In other words, I attended the lecture and the program, but I came out on account of Bhagatji's invitation. The lecture should have been over by one according to their program that they published. But on account of the scientists' arriving late, they did not want to push anyone. This was the whole point, Śrīla Prabhupāda. I think it's just a, what would you call it, a circumstantial mistake. It was not planned that the two would..., one would interfere with the other. And the conference is in no way being interfered with. It's going on.
Prabhupāda: That I want.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You'll have to sit up. Is that all right? (break) These are very favorite preparations. Today is Rāma Vijaya Utsava. Also the appearance day of Śrī Madhvācārya. So you should have a feast today, Śrīla Prabhupāda. (laughter) So maybe Pisimā should do some cooking to celebrate this day. It is a very big... Dr. Ghosh told me that amongst the Bengali community...
Prabhupāda: No, all over India.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And also Durgā-pūjā is today.
Prabhupāda: Vijayotsava. Today Rāmacandra conquered over Rāvaṇa.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So to celebrate that, shouldn't Pisimā do some cooking?
Prabhupāda: Hm. Lugdu.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And you'll taste a little of each thing?
Prabhupāda: Hm. I'll take. (break)
Jayapatākā: It will be historic. Many people have been invited to the temple here. Many people have been invited to attend the function here at the mandira.
Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Thousands of people are expected to come tomorrow.
Pañca-draviḍa: That can also go on.
Prabhupāda: When they have invited?
Svarūpa Dāmodara: To Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma temple, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda: When?
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Tomorrow.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "What time?" he's asking.
Bhavānanda: At 11 a.m.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: At around noontime, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: There's a big feast at one o'clock.
Prabhupāda: So half of our men may come back.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Half of the men may come, and half should stay. All the Vṛndāvana devotees can stay. All the visiting devotees should go. All right, we'll make that division, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda: Keep that palanquin.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Keep the palanquin on the cart?
Prabhupāda: Cart?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What, Śrīla Prabhupāda?
Prabhupāda: Palanquin.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Where should we keep it? With us on the cart?
Prabhupāda: Carry it.
Haṁsadūta: Bring it along.
Pañca-draviḍa: We'll bring it along. (discussion of how to do this)
| Page Title: | Feast (Conversations) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, MadhuGopaldas |
| Created: | 23 of Feb, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=70, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 70 |