Prabhupāda: English civilization is not good. What was the wrong? I say repeatedly, again and again, he ruined the Manchester cloth business; he developed Ahmedabad cloth. The result is we poor men, we were paying one rupee six annas per pair(?), now we are paying thirty rupees. Money is going . . . Instead of going to the pocket of the Englishmen it is going to the pocket of Mahadevia. (laughter)
Dr. Patel: English people, they, I mean, ruined their whole industry of . . . Bengal textile industry was ruined by Britishers. They cut away the thumbs. That is . . . I'm sorry, sir . . .
Prabhupāda: Therefore why mahātmā? The same business you are doing, why you say mahātmā? If you are doing the same business . . .
Dr. Patel: He never called himself mahātmā. People called him mahātmā.
Prabhupāda: He liked to enjoy it. He liked to enjoy it. That's all. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). Mahātmā has no business to this . . . (break) . . . fact, the present position of India, it is not very good. But we can do that. We have got the means. If we make propaganda village to village . . . Still, the villagers, they are unpolluted; they can be recovered. Still, when we hold meeting of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, thousands of men come. And that our Hyderabad land is very suitable for this purpose.
Devotee: The thing is, Prabhupāda, in India they know that materialism is wrong because they've been educated.
Prabhupāda: Yes. But they are being educated that materialism is good, and this so-called spiritual . . . They do not recognize the spiritual movement. Our government do not recognize any spiritual movement.
Dr. Patel: They interpret secularism as no religion. Rather equal truth to all religions is the real meaning of secularism. The government tries to pander the minority . . . (break)
Prabhupāda: (Hindi) . . .world will be benefited. Still people observe India.