Govardhana Hill (Conversations)

Expressions researched:
"Govardhana"

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Questions and Answers -- September 6, 1968, New York:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes?

Devotee: Why do you say that Jesus Christ performed so many miracles when he (indistinct), and you never said that Kṛṣṇa performed any miracles. When Kṛṣṇa lifted up Govardhana Hill, nobody said that was a miracle. But when Jesus Christ made so many things, they say it's a miracle. How is that?

Prabhupāda: The difference is that in Vṛndāvana they are pure devotees. They knew that "Oh, this is not a miracle for Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa can do anything and everything." So they were not surprised. If I lift one mountain, you will be surprised because you know that "Swamiji is man. How he is lifting?" But they know that Kṛṣṇa is all-powerful. So there was no surprise. It is just like natural work. They were so much affectionate to Kṛṣṇa that... He was not only lifting. Every day He was doing so much great performances, and His boyfriends, they would come home, and they would narrate the story to their mothers, "Oh, mother, today Kṛṣṇa performed like this.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Conversation with Dai Nippon -- April 22, 1972, Tokyo:

Prabhupāda: Three hundred. Simply grains, fruits, and butter, that's all, and sugar. You give us these four items and we give you three hundred items. Yes. There is a ceremony in India, annakūṭa, Govardhana-pūjā. So in that ceremony, in each and every temple they prepare as many varieties as possible. Some of them prepare three thousand.

Dai Nippon representative: Three thousand.

Prabhupāda: Yes. For weeks they prepare. And the competition is the more items the temple prepares, he becomes... (break) And distribution, prasāda distribution, free of charges. It was a very nice system that nobody should remain hungry. That is the system. If there is any temple in any neighborhood, in that neighborhood nobody should remain hungry. The Vedic system is that in your house, a householder shall see that even a lizard in the house is not hungry. He must also be given food. Even there is a snake—nobody likes snake—but a Vedic householder has to call the snake and give him food. He also may not remain hungry. This is the...

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- August 30, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

David Lawrence: They're being, lacking in imagination really because they can't imagine what happens when God possesses a man.

Prabhupāda: Because Kṛṣṇa is lifting the Govardhana Hill, they are thinking this is imagination. But if actually Kṛṣṇa is God, is it very difficult for Him to lift a mountain? He's floating so many heavy planets in the air, so, weightlessness. If Kṛṣṇa can make weightless so many heavy planets, is it very difficult for Him to make the Govardhana Hill weightless?

David Lawrence: Not at all.

Prabhupāda: So these things have to be understood.

Room Conversation -- September 19, 1973, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No... nāpnuvanti. Saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ. Saṁsiddhim. Siddhi, siddhi is ordinary. If you become transcendentalist, jñānī, yogi, that is also kind of siddhi. Yogis, they have got aṣṭa-siddhi, aṇimā-laghimādi. But that is not saṁsiddhi. Saṁsiddhi is different. Saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ. The highest perfection, saṁsiddhi is to go back to home, back to Kṛṣṇa. That is saṁsiddhi. Mām upetya kaunteya duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). That will save him from coming down again to this place which is full of miserable conditions of life. That is saṁsiddhi. That one can attain very easily. That is also described, that janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ: (BG 4.9) "Anyone who understands Me in truth..." Generally, people understand Kṛṣṇa that "He appeared as a great personality, son of Vasudeva. At Mathurā, He was born. And He acted very gorgeously in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, and so on, so on." This is also knowing. But this is not knowing factually that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When one understands Kṛṣṇa, the original source of everything, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), which Kṛṣṇa explains, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no superior authority beyond Me." Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: (BG 10.8) "I am the origin of all." When one understands Kṛṣṇa like that... The Māyāvādī philosophers, they think that "I am also Kṛṣṇa, I am also Kṛṣṇa." But people who follow, they do not ask him that "If you are Kṛṣṇa, you show something as Kṛṣṇa showed. Kṛṣṇa lifted the Govardhana Hill when He was seven years old.

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

Prabhupāda: Yes. That he'll say, "Everyone is God". But there is comparative God. He cannot say that he is as good God as Kṛṣṇa.

Karandhara: Well, he says that. He says he is Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: No, why? You have not shown any lifting of Govardhana Hill.

Karandhara: He says you have to believe in him to see it.

Prabhupāda: Why shall I believe? You are present, you show me.

Karandhara: He said if you believe in him...

Prabhupāda: How can I believe? You show me; then I believe.

Karandhara: No, no. I bel... Well, they say the same thing about Kṛṣṇa. They say, "Well, bring Kṛṣṇa here and show me."

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

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.

Prabhupāda: Yes, so show him. Show him. But prove him. Then everybody says that... I have got some disciple. I can say also, "I am God. My disciples have seen it. Believe me." Say that.

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

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Yaśomatīnandana: All the great sages and saints.

Prabhupāda: Where are their higher authorities?

Satsvarūpa: They don't accept śāstra, that Kṛṣṇa lifted Govardhana Hill five thousand years ago.

Prabhupāda: No... Like that, they do not believe the śāstra, just see.

Yaśomatīnandana: They believe in Alexander the Great and George Washington. Why don't they believe in Kṛṣṇa?

Prabhupāda: Yes, that's it. That is their foolishness. Nobody has seen George Washington.

Morning Walk -- December 17, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: So anyway, there are so many laws. If the laws are fulfilled, then your so-called gravitation works. So who made the laws? That is the point. Under certain law, condition, it will not act, and under certain condition it will act. So who made the condition? That is the question. You cannot make finalize the laws of gravitation. It is also under condition. Who makes this condition? That is the point. (break) ...Lord Rāmacandra constructed the bridge with stone on the ocean, it began to float. So He is the condition-maker. He made the condition. He changed the condition, "Now these stones will float." That's all. Therefore God is supreme. (break) Law of gravitation did not work when Kṛṣṇa lifted the Govardhana Hill. (break) So that is nice. The scientific discoveries act under relative condition. That is not absolute, final. If such and such conditions are there, then the so-called scientific laws will act. Otherwise it will not act. (break) ...see. But you cannot see even so many things. Now you cannot see there, what is there. So what is that seeing power?

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 18, 1974, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes, Kṛṣṇa is everywhere.

Satsvarūpa: When Prabhupāda was walking in Letchmore Health, he said, "This looks like Govardhana Hill."

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes.

Bicyclist: (ringing bell) Hare Kṛṣṇa! Hare Kṛṣṇa! Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee: It's like you said last night. They begin to chant.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guru dāsa: Do the rickshaw drivers in Letchmore Heath chant Hare Kṛṣṇa?

Morning Walk Excerpts -- May 1, 1974, Bombay:

Dr. Patel: Yes, that is also imitation. We are imitating gopīs, not Kṛṣṇa. (Hindi) Ah, his representative, will put on him. (break)

Prabhupāda: Girirāja, who is the Girirāja?

Girirāja: Govardhana.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Dr. Patel: You are also Govardhana, enlarger of the cows.

Prabhupāda: Govardhana-pādapa-tale. This is the... This is the bhajana of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava. He rādhe vraja-devike ca lalite he nanda-sūno kutaḥ. Kutaḥ: "Where You are?" Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava will never say that "We have seen." Kutaḥ: "Where You are?"

Morning Walk -- May 24, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: What is that God? Tell me.

Yogeśvara: Well, it's like the Guru Maharaji people. They say they've seen Guru Maharaji lifting Govardhana Hill and displaying universal form and so many miracles. They say they have seen Guru Maharaji doing all the miracles that Kṛṣṇa claims to have done.

Prabhupāda: No, Kṛṣṇa, when Kṛṣṇa is present, when He lifted the Govardhana Hill, everyone saw. Where is your rascal Guru Mahārāja doing that, everyone can see? When Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, He lifted the Govardhana Hill. All the inhabitants saw it. (break)

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Conversation with Devotees -- March 31, 1975, Mayapur:

Acyutānanda: I heard that after the death of Vallabhācārya, Sanātana Gosvāmī told his son to worship the Gopāla Deity. He engaged his son, Vallabhācārya's son, as a pūjārī in Govardhana. So then it came into their hands.

Prabhupāda: Hm? That may be, yes.

Acyutānanda: Then, when the Deity was moved, it was moved to Nāthadvāra, and now they, now they are...

Prabhupāda: When the Deity was given to them, they could do anything.

Acyutānanda: Yes. 'Cause his son was all hopeless that "The ācārya is dead and my father is dead." He didn't know what to do. But they have written... They have pictures. They draw pictures of Śrīnāthjī on Govardhana, and Vallabhācārya is worshiping Him, all over.

Conversation with Devotees -- March 31, 1975, Mayapur:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That is a big... That's the reason. It's a big mistake. I had a discussion with one man. So I was stating that Mādhavendra Purī found this Deity, Gopāla, but their teaching is that Vallabhācārya found the Deity. I said, "No, Mādhavendra Purī handed the Deity over later on for worship, but it was he who found the Deity and originated the worship on Govardhana, and all the villagers..."

Prabhupāda: It has been confirmed in the court that this Deity belongs to Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. There was big case amongst themselves, and the court gave judgement that "This Deity belongs to the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava."

Acyutānanda: Oh. When was that court case?

Prabhupāda: Say, about four, five years ago. No, about ten to fifteen years ago.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Recently.

Conversation with Indian Guests -- April 12, 1975, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: That is the sign. These boys are certified in their own country by the Christian priests that "These boys are our boys, they will never come into church, they are never interested about God, and now they are mad after God. What is this?" Because that is the price only to purchase Kṛṣṇa. To mad after Him. Where is Kṛṣṇa? He rādhe vraja-devike ca lalite he nanda-sūno kutaḥ. Where You are? Where You are? Śrī-govardhana pādapa-tale kālindī-vane kutaḥ. Are You under the valley of Govardhana Hill or on the bank of the Yamunā? Where you are? Ghoṣantāv iti sarvato vraja-pure. That was their Kṛṣṇa consciousness, simply wondering where is Kṛṣṇa, where is Kṛṣṇa, where is Kṛṣṇa. Ghoṣantāv iti sarvato pure khedair mahā-vihvalau. Madlike, vihvalau. Vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-go... This is, this price one takes, then you can get Kṛṣṇa, you can understand Kṛṣṇa. It is not so cheap, that anyone can comment on Kṛṣṇa, whimsically, and he becomes a devotee. That is not possible. That is going on.

Morning Walk -- April 23, 1975, Vrndavana:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: We just recently went to Govardhana Hill. Several years ago the grass at Govardhana Hill was very nice and long and green. This year, though, it didn't seem so green. It was very brown and...

Prabhupāda: Yes, from Kṛṣṇa's time the Govardhana grass was being supplied to the cows. Therefore Kṛṣṇa recommended, "Better worship Govardhana Hill. Why you are going to Indra?"

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: So that means that it is possible for long green grasses to grow in this area.

Prabhupāda: Yes, everywhere. The only difficulty is there is no water, no supply of water. In the rainy season this will be all green immediately, immediately, without any delay. So, the only difficulty—there is no water.

Guest: In Gujarat now the same problem is there and they are digging well, five-acre well, just we have dug at Māyāpur, and collecting water. Rainwater is collected that way. So here also it can be done for a small farm. (break)

Morning Walk -- December 4, 1975, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Then how you can? These rascals, these Māyāvādīs, they play rāsa-līlā. (break) ...ācarati śreṣṭhas means that śreṣṭha is ordinary person, but not Bhagavān. Bhagavān can act any way. And still, Bhagavān has never instructed you that "You imitate Me in raising the Govardhana Hill." Has He said like that, that "You also raise the Govardhana Hill like Me"? (break) ...orders man-manā bhava mad-bhakto ṁad-yājī mām. That is for you. Always think of Him. Always become His devotee. Worship Him. Offer your obeisances. That's all. That is for you. Yasodamayi was asking Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, can you bring the slipper of Your father?" He could not. He was a small child. Still, with great difficulty He could raise that. But the person who can raise the Govardhana Hill, He was feeling difficulty to raise the slipper? Why? If at that time He becomes like Govardhana, Giridhārī, then the līlā between father and son will be damaged. He plays just like a child. Although He can raise even in that age, to raise the hill. One should understand Kṛṣṇa. Everyone compares Him with ordinary man: "Kṛṣṇa has done this? Then I shall do." Kṛṣṇa has done so many other things.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk Excerpt -- April 2, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: (aside:) Jaya. Jaya.

Ādi-keśava: (break) ...the devotees are asking one question. They're wanting to know how it was that even though there is so much distance between, let's say, Govardhana and Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Vṛndāvana, Nanda-grāma, Varṣāṇā, how it was that still Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā could go and meet, and the cowherd boys could go and meet at these various places. They could go such great distances.

Prabhupāda: That is distance for you, not for them. Just like a small ant. It goes from here to here. It is a great, three hundred miles, but for you, one step. Why do you study Kṛṣṇa like you? Why do you think that Kṛṣṇa was like you? Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). Kṛṣṇa can do anything, so His associates.

Pañca-draviḍa: In the Upadeśāmṛta, in the translation you refer to this, the līlā-aṣṭa...

Tripurāri: Aṣṭakāla-līlā.

Morning Walk -- June 3, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Eh? He creates his own world. Nothing is own—temporary—he creates, and Kṛṣṇa gives him the opportunity, "All right, you enjoy." Hare nāma, hare nāma.

Govardhana-dhārī: While doing books we create an atmosphere sometimes, the devotees..., Kṛṣṇa gives us the intelligence to give the spiritual world to these living entities. How can we always stay on that transcendental platform, to make them see this? (break) (in car:)

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: If the soul is the living force, if the soul actually leaves the body, how the body will be..., work.

Rāmeśvara: There's some connection still. When the soul is..., when the body..., when you are dreaming, and the soul leaves the body, but still there must be some connection between the soul...

Garden Conversation -- June 14, 1976, Detroit:

Prabhupāda: Yes, increase farm projects. It is very nice project. Self-dependent. Very good. Kṛṣṇa personally, He lived in village, farm, cows, calves, land, Govardhana Hill. It is very nice. Land, in America, you have got so much land. Produce vegetable, grains, milk, eat sumptuously, no economic question. Prepare very nice product. And make some money by sending ghee in the city. Śrutakīrti will take charge. (laughter) There is sea also? No.

Makhanlāl: There's a small creek in one...

Prabhupāda: Not ocean.

Makhanlāl: Not ocean, no.

Hari-śauri: That's just the hills in the background.

Prabhupāda: I think this farm organization will not be liked by the government.

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

Prabhupāda: So He is existing with all the incarnations, rāmādi-mūrtiṣu. So Rāma is not less than Kṛṣṇa, but He is incarnation. This is the conclusion.

Indian man: Because I was trying to refer to Govindāṣṭakam, Where it says, (sings) śrī kṛṣṇa rādhā āra gokuleśa gopāla govardhana-nātha viṣṇu, jīveti amṛtamedhadevo govindaṁ dāmodaram ada vetti(?). He's saying, śrī kṛṣṇa rādhā āra gokuleśa gopāla govardhana-nātha viṣṇu. That is what I was trying to see that is really... I know that say Kṛṣṇa's expansion is Mahā-Viṣṇu, but still, why do they say govardhana-nātha viṣṇu? That I was trying to understand. Please don't misunderstand me.

Prabhupāda: No, no, Govardhana... Every one is viṣṇu-tattva. Viṣṇu-tattva, jīva-tattva, śakti-tattva, like that. So all of them on the Viṣṇu category. That's all. Viṣṇu-tayā vibhāti. Viṣṇu-tayā vibhāti. Dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya dīpāyate viṣṇu-tayā vibhāti (Bs. 5.46). These things are there. So Godhead is viṣṇu-tattva. So sometimes Viṣṇu, sometimes Nārāyaṇa, sometimes Govinda, sometimes Kṛṣṇa, like that.

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

Indian man: ...jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ, viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya (Prabhupāda quotes same verse simultaneously) kalā-viśeṣo govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. So he says Mahā-Viṣṇu is even one expansion of Kṛṣṇa, yet in Govindāṣṭakam they say, govardhana, gopāla govardhana-nātha viṣṇu, śrī kṛṣṇa rādhā gokuleśa, gopāla govardhana-nātha viṣṇu.

Prabhupāda: They're all viṣṇu-tattva. Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma-stotra.

Indian man: Because many people... At least among the Indians I get very big argument about it, that it is Mahā-Viṣṇu who is Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Kṛṣṇa is only one avatāra of His. And I try to...

Prabhupāda: That argument is discussed in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Hari-śauri: First volume?

Prabhupāda: Yes, first volume you see. You see. See the contents. You can't find it? When he is discussing somebody, says Viṣṇu is the origin? So children, how many?

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

Prabhupāda: Yes, He is Kṛṣṇa. He's our Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava. It is decided by the court. Śrīnāthajī, there are... Mādhavendra Purī's worshipable Gopāla... He discovered Gopāla in Govardhana. That Gopāla was delivered to... Who is the ācārya? Vallabhācārya. And it is decided by the court that Śrīnāthajī originally belongs to Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava, by the court. This Mādhavendra Purī is the spiritual master of Īśvara Purī. And Īśvara Purī is the spiritual master of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So from Mādhavendra Purī is Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava. So his Deity is Gopāla. That Gopāla is Śrīnāthajī.

Indian man: When I was a young boy, eight years old, I went to Śrīnāthajī with my father, mother, and there I had to take the brahma-samāna,(?) which is the oath, taking of the oath in front of the Mahārāja and the priest of the Śrīnāthajī temple. And is that equal to initiation, or is that just a ceremony by itself?

Prabhupāda: No, initiation is another ceremony.

Evening Darsana -- August 14, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. They will fall down. This is their gain of life. We have discussed this point. Why the green apple does not fall down? So this is their concoction. And why the other planets do not fall down? With so many rocks. Millions. They do not fall down. Where is the law of gravity acting? That means, law means it is made by somebody. And the maker, if He likes, it will act. If He does not like, it will not act. Just like Lord Rāmacandra, all the stones He threw over the sea and they began to float. Not that when He made that bridge with stones, they are solidified. No, they began to float. And all the monkeys went over them. So the lawmaker is Lord Rāmacandra. If He likes, the stone will go down. If He doesn't like, it will float. The lawmaker is fact, not the law. Just like in the state law, today it is law, tomorrow it is no law. It depends on the lawmaker. (break) ...there is the Govardhana Hill. What law is there?

Evening Darsana -- August 14, 1976, Bombay:

Indian man (3): What I was thinking was that we have a limited...

Prabhupāda: Simply by seeing that Kṛṣṇa is lifting the Govardhana Hill, they'll, many of them will laugh, that "This is all mythology. A boy is lifting Govardhana Hill." Many of them will laugh instead of taking seriously. Because unless one is devotee, he cannot understand what is Kṛṣṇa. And as soon as he sees the boy Kṛṣṇa is lifting Govardhana Hill—he does not understand what is Kṛṣṇa-he'll laugh.

Indian man (3): That is elsewhere.

Prabhupāda: Everywhere. Here also.

Yaśomatīnandana: Mostly here. (several Indians talking at once) (end)

Morning Walk -- August 14, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No, don't mention it.

Acyutānanda: Because they don't listen. Their history is that Vallabhācārya had the dream and discovered Govardhana and Śrī Nāthajī, Gopāla Deity, and there was no Mādhavendra Purī.

Prabhupāda: Ācchā? But in the court it has been established. One lawyer in Delhi, he told me that this Deity belongs to the Gauḍīya-sampradāya. In the court it has...

Acyutānanda: How did it come to them?

Prabhupāda: That Mādhavendra Purī or somebody delivered to Vallabhācārya. Mādhavendra Purī is not possible, somebody else. (break) Dvārakā Śaṅkarācārya, he's a Māyāvādī, and he'll give Bhāgavata?

Room Conversation -- September 5, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Then he's Rādhā-kuṇḍa.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: In Bombay you...

Prabhupāda: He has taken four thousand rupees and gone to Rādhā-kuṇḍa.

Devotee: Yogānanda is in Govardhana?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No. Yogānanda is in Delhi. He's going to come here.

Prabhupāda: This is his taste. Sit idly, and become famous as very good scholar.

Rūpa Vilāsa: He did not come to class so often. He did not even come to teach so often. Śrīla Prabhupāda, when Dayānanda prabhu was teaching the children he was a very good teacher and he liked very much to teach. Now I know he is in Tehran upon your order, but still he was very effective as a teacher of Bhagavad-gītā to the children.

Room Conversation -- November 15, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Aiśvaryasya samāgrasya, that one who is in possession of all the wealth, vīryasya all strength, all faith yaśasaḥ, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation, that is God. Now so far Kṛṣṇa is concerned, He showed all these things. Aiśvaryasya... For example Kṛṣṇa married sixteen thousand wives and for each wife a different palace. And for each wife ten sons. Woman requires very nice accommodation, sons, husband, that is their ambition that He fulfilled, although he married sixteen thousand one hundred and eight wives. This is aiśvaryasya samāgrasya vīryasya. This so-called rascal Bhagavān, who has shown this? Why shall I accept this cheap god? Show me something that you are God. Seven years old Kṛṣṇa, He lifted the Govardhana hill. (Hindi) There is, but they have no knowledge to compare with the idea of God. So far knowledge is concerned, Bhagavad-gītā, left by Kṛṣṇa, it is adored all over the world. Especially nowadays we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, and millions of copies we are selling. Now we are advertising, where is that picture? Million, 1.5 million.

Morning Walk -- December 5, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: This is the process of knowledge. Amānitvam adambhitvam ahiṁsā kṣāntir ārjavam ācāryopāsanam. Ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyāt (SB 11.17.27). If you go to ācārya, then you'll know the knowledge. What is this, go to a magician, a rascal? Magician is authority? There are so many magicians. So one should go for God to a magician? Ācāryopāsanam. Go to ācārya. That is recommended. Why should you go to the magician? That is your fault. You go to the wrong person, and you are cheated because you want to be cheated. You want to see magic; you don't want to see God. God is personally speaking, accepted God, not that by magical... And who can show greater magic than Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa, when He was seven years old, He lifted the Govardhana Hill. Can this rascal do that? Who can be greater magician than Kṛṣṇa? So we shall go to the greatest magician. Why shall I go to a tiny magician? That is our misfortune.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

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

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (2): Then here Kṛṣṇa... The spring has come, and this is... You have got here the Govardhana pūjā, and Kṛṣṇa's līlā with these cowherd boys, and they're going on. In the spring they are going out... Here, in Orissa also, in Bengal also. On the full moon day of Phalguṇa we get that..., where all the cows meet together and we get this. From that function we started. We have established that...

Prabhupāda: On the whole, my point is: it is a very difficult subject matter. So unless we very carefully deal, people will misunderstand.

Guest (2): We have carefully dealt with...

Guest (1): So we have given them images the superpower of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

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

Prabhupāda: This is described in the śāstra. If one hears of the Yadu-vaṁśa, he becomes purified. And Kṛṣṇa is addressed, Yadupati. Then?

Hari-śauri: "Having taken birth in that family, how could Kṛṣṇa have been induced even by the gopīs? It is concluded therefore that it was not possible for Kṛṣṇa to do anything abominable. But Mahārāja Parīkṣit was in doubt as to why Kṛṣṇa acted in that way. What was the real purpose? Another word Mahārāja Parīkṣit used when he addressed Śukadeva Gosvāmī is suvrata, which means to take a vow to enact pious activities. Śukadeva Gosvāmī was an educated brahmacārī, and under the circumstance it was not possible for him to indulge in sex. This is strictly prohibited for brahmacārīs, and what to speak of a brahmacārī like Śukadeva Gosvāmī. But because the circumstances of the rasa dance were very suspect, Mahārāja Parīkṣit inquired for clarification from Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Śukadeva Gosvāmī immediately replied that transgressions of religious principles by the supreme controller testify to His great power. For example, fire can consume any abominable thing. That is the manifestation of the supremacy of fire. Similarly, the sun can absorb water from urine or from stool, and the sun is not polluted. Rather, due to the influence of sunshine the polluted, contaminated place becomes disinfected and sterilized. One may also argue that since Kṛṣṇa is the supreme authority, His activities should be followed. In answer to this question, Śukadeva Gosvāmī has very clearly said, īśvarāṇām, or the supreme controller, may sometimes violate His instructions, but this is only possible for the controller Himself and not for the followers. Unusual and uncommon activities by the controller can never be imitated. Śukadeva Gosvāmī warns that the conditioned followers who are not actually in control should never even imagine imitating the uncommon activities of the controller. A Māyāvādī philosopher may falsely claim to be God or Kṛṣṇa, but he cannot actually act like Kṛṣṇa. He can persuade his followers to falsely imitate the rasa dance, but he is unable to lift Govardhana Hill.

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

Prabhupāda: That's all right. Not... You are going to produce some film. Begin from the first chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Why you jump over the Tenth Canto? That is kept very confidential. Unless one understands... By understanding nine cantos of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he has no entrance. Just like you cannot enter into the law college unless you are graduate. So Śukadeva Gosvāmī has arranged in such a way that one should understand what is Kṛṣṇa by reading these nine cantos. Then he can enter into the Kṛṣṇa's līlā and Kṛṣṇa's birth. What is the purpose? He could have given Kṛṣṇa... Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is for Kṛṣṇa. So we have named this, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa-katha. So first Kṛṣṇa-katha is: Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā. Present Bhagavad-gītā. Then one accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality... Sarva dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). When he comes to that stage, then Bhāgavata begins. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṇām (SB 1.1.2). Paramo nirmatsarāṇām. Unless one is matsara... "Oh, Kṛṣṇa is doing that? Why I cannot do it?" The sahajiyā bābājīs, they do that. That is matsarata, that "Kṛṣṇa can do? I can also do." So he simply imitates Kṛṣṇa's rasa-līlā. And Kṛṣṇa can raise the Govardhana Hill—that is not possible. That is... What is called? Mythology. What he cannot do, he takes as mythology. And what he can easily imitate and go to hell, that is very good.

Conversation with Bhakti-caitanya Swami-New GBC -- June 30, 1977, Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: They can go to Hyderabad, Ahmedabad. And why here? This should be stopped and independence given(?).

Akṣayānanda: Today's a special Govardhana-parikrama, so we're sending out women and men both, for book distribution. Tamāla had a suggestion. We made a competition between the men and women, who will distribute the most books.

Prabhupāda: What is the time now?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's about five minutes after nine, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Akṣayānanda: I went to the gate site this morning. They are digging. They have made enormous holes, taking about two days to dig. Now there's some hitch from the P.W.D. about materials list... When our construction man Adbhuta comes at ten o'clock, I will meet with him and find out exactly... They had bogus sculptor working.

Prabhupāda: (indistinct)

Bhu-mandala Diagram Discussion -- July 2, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Ten thousand yojanas, 80,000 miles. Here it says that "The highest mountain is Mount Everest, 29,000 feet." Not very high. That's about six miles. And we are saying 80,000 miles. So we want to know where is that. How high is Govardhana supposed to be?

Bhakti-prema: Govardhana (indistinct). Govardhana mountain is sinking.

Prabhupāda: Sinking.

Bhakti-prema: Crushed by (indistinct). (break)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So the Rand McNally's Illustrated World Atlas, its special feature is that it gives maps describing all different subjects like language. What language is spoken throughout different places is the world is shown by map and the national areas, according to size, population, and cities, major populations, densities of population. Like China is supposed to be... China. This shows proportionately in population according to this and India, it says that it is... Everything else is very small compared to these two, India and China. Agriculture, what kind of agriculture, natural vegetation, climate... (break)

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

Prabhupāda: Argument is there when it is conceivable. It is inconceivable. Kṛṣṇa lifted Govardhana. Seven years old, six years old. How it is conceivable? But devotees, they are crying, "Oh, Giri-vara-dhārī." And the Māyāvādīs they say kalpanāyā. The Akhandananda was saying. And Śukadeva Gosvāmī is narrating something kalpanāyā and wasting his time?

Bhakti-prema: (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: This is acintya for the Māyāvādīs. They say kalpanāyā. These Akhandananda and other Māyāvādīs, they explain Bhāgavata-kalpanāyā. They are making some imagination that "I am God," but they are alleging us, that "You are in illusion." God, as soon as there is some toothache, he goes to the doctor. He's such a rascal hypocrite. There was some heart attack going on, so Akhandananda, immediately he called one of his chief disciples, that Mishra, Jasri, and he was taken to Bombay hospital. And he's God.

Room Conversation about Mayapura Attack Talk with Vrindavan De -- July 8, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Govardhana Hill?

Vrindavan De: Govardhana. (Bengali)

Prabhupāda: (Bengali) So do you know anything about Bengal situation?

Vrindavan De: I think it's okay now.

Prabhupāda: What is the Communist view?

Vrindavan De: Communist view?

Prabhupāda: They don't want religion? What is this leader? Ajit Bose?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Jyoti Bose.

Vrindavan De: No, he's not the man of that sort. He's very serious type of man.

Prabhupāda: But Bengal is now full of rogues and rascals and dacoits, everywhere. Practically whole Bengal is full of these elements.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: More than other places.

Vrindavan De: The Congress Minister is very much serious person.

Prabhupāda: Anywhere you are going, anywhere, you can be attacked.

Room Conversation about Grhasthas -- July 17, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I think Mādhavendra Purī, he gave his Deity. Now it's again... You know, who has Govardhana Deity. Vallabhācārya's line now worships.

Prabhupāda: They gave to the Vallabhācārya. But somehow they are maintaining the status quo.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Hm. Still very opulent. They do very elaborate. That Pushti Marg group, they do very elaborate Deity worship.

Prabhupāda: Very nice.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Of course, they don't preach very vigorously, but at least their Deity worship...

Prabhupāda: That is also preaching. Arcanam. One of the... If they maintain the Deity worship gorgeously, that is also preaching.

Room Conversation -- October 8, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Who comes to me.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Your Godbrother. Oh, you want to see him. Okay. I'll make sure that he comes. Śrīla Prabhupāda? You know how you were asking me about what those dates were? So I told you that today and tomorrow is difficult days. Then the day after that is not a difficult day, and it's also Govardhana-pūjā. Then the day after that becomes difficult again for one day. But the day in between, Govardhana-pūjā, is not considered to be a difficult day. (some discussion with Hari-śauri) It's the wrong date, Śrīla Prabhupāda. It's not Govardhana-pūjā . Our information was wrong. So we'll get Kṛṣṇa dāsa? Okay. (kīrtana starts) Śrīla Prabhupāda, have you been thinking about parikrama? (aside:) Let him chant.

Hari-śauri: Softly.

Prabhupāda: Do you think in this stage is it possible?

Doctor Visit and Conversation -- October 20, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hm!

Hari-śauri: That's very good. Since you've been here in Vṛndāvana, I sent them a telegram that now they have to distribute more books so that Lord Kṛṣṇa will be pleased and allow you to stay with us. So they've doubled up since then. Now they're almost run out, they've distributed so many. (break) He said that up on the farm also things are going very nicely. Many, many people are coming now to see how we are living. And for Govardhana Pūjā they are planning a two-day festival. They're expecting to get many hundreds of people coming. Your farm is already very well known now up in that area, and people are becoming very interested to see what we have to offer. In the immediate district where our farm is, many people have tried to start communes—these hippies and people like this. But they've never been successful because they've never had any central point to agree on. Everybody's simply gone their..., lived their own way. But within a few months now, some of the more serious people have seen that within just three or four months we have achieved more on our farm than any of these communes have done in the last six years. So they're becoming very attracted to come and stay with us, and they appreciate the kīrtana and prasādam very much. (end)

Room Conversation -- October 26, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Why not?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What about to Govardhana?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Rādhā-kuṇḍa.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: This is very, very nice weather now.

Brahmānanda: Yes, it's beautiful weather, fantastic weather.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We will make a palanquin, special palanquin, you see, which will have a bed in it. It will be very nice. And it will have curtains. When you want, the curtains can come down or they can come up. And it will be full length, so you can recline very comfortably. And we will make a camp. We will go by foot all the way.

Prabhupāda: Very good idea. If I die then, it will be a great luck.

Room Conversation -- October 26, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: No. This camping is very...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very nice. So shall we arrange for it?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Okay. (break) Śyāma-kuṇḍa, Govardhana, Barṣāṇā, Nandagrāma, Brahma-ghāṭa, all these places. Remember when we went bathing in that... I think it was Brahma-ghāṭa. You bathed. We will go there again. All around Vṛndāvana. See all the Deities of Vṛndāvana.

Prabhupāda: Very good idea.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And ecstatic kīrtana.

Bhavānanda: Perhaps it might be a good idea to begin at Rādhā-Dāmodara.

Prabhupāda: Hm? Begin?

Room Conversation -- November 5, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: All right. (break) San Diego, we have got a temple.

Jayādvaita: Oh, yes. We have... They just moved to a nicer location, nicer building. They have maybe seventy devotees. It's quite large temple near the ocean in San Diego. They have... Every year at Govardhana-pūjā they have a very nice festival in the park. They have chanting and discourse and distribute prasādam. Then in the spring again they have a very nice festival. You were there one time. You spoke. Your Divine Grace spoke at one festival in the park in San Diego. They also go to preach just over the border in Mexico, and many Mexican boys join our San Diego temple, Mexican boys who've come to America. They join our temple in San Diego. The Deity there is very beautiful and very nicely dressed also in San Diego.

Pañca-draviḍa: Their new temple is very nicely decorated, with arches and everything. Rādhā-Giridhārī.

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Lokanātha: Those are seven temples.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, another possibility is to go to the places where the main temples are, Śrīla Prabhupāda, the Gosvāmīs' temples.

Haṁsadūta: Tomorrow is Govardhana-pūjā, and a procession through the city of Vṛndāvana would be very ecstatic.

Prabhupāda: Hm.

Pañca-draviḍa: One parade.

Prabhupāda: Others will come also.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, yeah, well, if we go through Vṛndāvana, probably many people will come.

Haṁsadūta: Then we could also get some experience, because if we were, for example, to go to Govardhana, we would have to pass over similar roads.

Lokanātha: This cart does not have cover, Śrīla Prabhupāda. This bullock cart which I hired has no cover on the top.

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So where will we go tomorrow if we go?

Prabhupāda: Govardhana?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Govardhana.

Pañca-draviḍa: That's very far. We went on one parade three years ago in Vṛndāvana, with elephants, that Your Divine Grace went. Maybe we could go on that same route.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Govardhana will take about six hours to reach there.

Lokanātha: No, how many kilometers is that?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, it's very far.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Twenty-eight to thirty kilometers.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It takes one hour by car.

Lokanātha: Take five kilometers an hour.

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That's six hours to get there. Six hours to get there, and then three hours around Govardhana. Nine hours.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And six hours back.

Pañca-draviḍa: And the bulls might have to rest.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You have to rest the bulls, don't you?

Pañca-draviḍa: There's one route we went on in Vṛndāvana, on a parade. Shorter route. First time, as an experiment, we could go a shorter distance.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That's quite a big experiment to make, going to Govardhana the first day, Śrīla Prabhupāda. You feel confident that you can travel nine hours in a row on a bullock cart?

Prabhupāda: I am sleeping here.

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: The same thing.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The same thing?

Jayādvaita: One thing is that in the Gosvāmī temples they have govardhana-śilā. That's also Govardhana.

Haṁsadūta: Śrīla Prabhupāda? The main concern of the devotees is that whether you will be able to survive such an experiment. But before, you said that you felt that such a parikrama would actually cure you. You said that. So your vision is transcendental, because you are the spiritual master. You're a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. So if you say that it will cure you and that it will be beneficial for you, then we have to carry out that..., whatever you desire. We do not know. We're just on the mundane platform.

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: One-day experiment. It is for one day?

Lokanātha: We have hired it for one day.

Prabhupāda: Rest assured. I will not die in one day.

Haṁsadūta: So we should go to Govardhana? Because tomorrow is Govardhana-pūjā.

Prabhupāda: Yes. And we shall make our cooking there and...

Lokanātha: We should start early.

Prabhupāda: He has got experience. Dig the ground and make our foodstuff. Very good picnic.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Very good picnic.

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Haṁsadūta: If we go to Govardhana, we would take the prasādam that was prepared here and bring it there, so that many people can take.

Prabhupāda: I have no objection.

Lokanātha: Or otherwise we can make real picnic. We could collect some grains there from door to door and cook some khicuṛi there.

Prabhupāda: That will be very nice.

Guṇārṇava: There are already many thousands and thousands of people there, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Perhaps it will take a long time to get there because of traffic. I was in Mathurā today. Every ten minutes buses and ṭāṅgās and so many kinds of vehicles were going to Govardhana. There are many, many thousands of people there today.

Pañca-draviḍa: Besides that, the devotees would have to walk nine hours in the sun.

Guṇārṇava: Perhaps the road will be very busy tomorrow, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Whew!

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This is not the best. There is other mattresses that are as good or better than this. The temple has many gadis. We'll get them.

Pañca-draviḍa: We can make nice arrangement. This will purify Govardhana Hill, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Tīrthas become purified by the presence of...

Lokanātha: Another tīrtha.

Pañca-draviḍa: Yes. Prabhupāda will go to the tīrtha.

Jagadīśa: You're a Vaiṣṇava like Arjuna and Hanumān, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Tomorrow is a great festival.

Lokanātha: Tomorrow is Govardhana-pūjā festival.

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Hm. We are in Vṛndāvana and we are not taking part. We must take part.

Pañca-draviḍa: So we should all go to Govardhana?

Prabhupāda: Why not? Who is here?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: About thirty or forty devotees, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: We're just like puppets, Śrīla Prabhupāda. We are all unfit to make any decision. Whatever Your Divine Grace instructs us to do, we just follow.

Prabhupāda: So, Lokanātha, what do you say?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: What do you say, Lokanātha Mahārāja?

Lokanātha: We should make experiment to please you.

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Carry it.

Haṁsadūta: Bring it along.

Pañca-draviḍa: We'll bring it along. (discussion of how to do this)

Svarūpa Dāmodara: So when we'll come back from Govardhana?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Tomorrow night.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So after circumambulating Govardhana, we will return to Vṛndāvana or stay out?

Prabhupāda: What do you think?

Pañca-draviḍa: Maybe we could stay overnight.

Lokanātha: When we are there, out, we'll decide.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: He can't come back tomorrow night.

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We definitely have to stay there.

Haṁsadūta: :Six hours to go, three hours to go, that's nine. It's not possible to come back. So one night, spending one night in Govardhana.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The devotees are crashing after two hours.

Lokanātha: The devotees should be prepared to stay overnight there. Under the trees. (laughter)

Haṁsadūta: We're supposed to be gosvāmīs. We have to stay under a tree. Different tree every night.

Lokanātha: When we were traveling from Vṛndāvana to Māyāpura we stayed many times. Outside we'd live under the tree. It's nice.

Bhakti-caru: Yes, but if just one window is open at night, Prabhupāda starts feeling cold in spite of the blanket.

Lokanātha: You are making mundane.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: It will be very cold in the early morning hours.

Haṁsadūta: We'll bring the van, and Prabhupāda can stay in the van overnight, or we'll find some place.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: All the āśramas will be overcrowded.

Pañca-draviḍa: We can sleep around the van. Prabhupāda is like a desire tree. He satisfies everybody.

Lokanātha: That cart could be turned into house. Have bamboo sticks, cover it with...

Prabhupāda: So begin to plan.

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: To Govardhana.

Prabhupāda: Yes, other devotees can go. I cannot go.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No, they'll go on your behalf, but you will go one day. That we promise you.

Prabhupāda: All right.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Our greatest pleasure will be to take you on tīrtha-yātrā, Śrīla Prabhupāda. We wanted so much to go with you on that.

Prabhupāda: Thank you very much.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Actually, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we're so much attached to you that you practically drive us to madness sometimes. Tonight we were becoming mad.

Prabhupāda: No, no, I shall not do that. Bābājī Mahārāja? (Bengali) So you will take bath in Rādhā-kuṇḍa on my behalf.