Large number (Conversations)

Expressions researched:
"big number" |"large in number" |"large number" |"large numbers"

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

Conversation with Journalists -- August 18, 1971, London:

Prabhupāda: Well, become religious. If you are really Christian, that is all right. But you are not Christian because you are violating the orders of Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed his life and he says that he atoned for your sins, but you are not stopping your sinful life, and still you are claiming to be Christian. The fun is going on. Actually there is no Christian. Otherwise Christian religion is very nice religion. Yes.

Journalist (1): Do you think that you can help large numbers of people in this country understand that...

Prabhupāda: I can help everyone provided he takes my help. If you refuse my help, how can I help you?

Journalist (1): No, I'm merely suggesting that you would...

Prabhupāda: Yes, What is our...? I am helping. I am asking people to become God conscious. But if you refuse to become God conscious how can I help you?

Conversation with Journalists -- August 18, 1971, London:

Prabhupāda: So you can become also happy, you can know also God provided you take. If you don't take how can I help?

Journalist (1): What I'm suggesting is, I mean trying to suggest is that for a large number of people...

Prabhupāda: Well, large number... Large number... When you speak of something good, you cannot expect many. Just like if you want to sell diamond, you cannot expect that the whole population of England will purchase it. When there is question of diamond, the customer also must be very rich. Similarly, to understand God is not so difficult, or, easy job. Only the fortunate, pious, nice people can understand God. Not ordinary...

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Conversation with the GBC -- May 25, 1972, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: That must be executed. Haridāsa Ṭhākura, such exalted personality, such advanced, still he is numerical counting even up to the point of his death. Therefore he was given the nāmācārya, because so rigid (indistinct). Even at the time of his death, Lord Caitanya requested, "Now you can minimize." "No sir, I cannot minimize." And what is the number? 300,000. These are the examples. (indistinct ) Sometimes... But the regulation is that if one day you cannot finish, you have to finish on the next day. But sixteen rounds is not very large number, the lowest. The lowest in India is twenty-five(?). Here sixteen rounds, twenty-five, not even twenty-five. So the president, local president, must see that the members are chanting. So this way the institution will be managed, then it will make progress. That is our spiritual strength—to observe the regulative principles and at least chant sixteen rounds. Then you do other things.

Interview with the New York Times -- September 2, 1972, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: Well, this is a very difficult job, naturally. We don't have a large number of followers. As soon as you try to sell a diamond, you cannot expect many customers. Nonetheless, a diamond is a diamond, even if there are no customers. The number of customers is not the test. The customer must pay the value of the item. In this society we propose that you give up illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. When people hear this, they go away saying, "Oh, Swamiji is very conservative." But I cannot become liberal and tell everybody, "Go ahead and do all nonsense and you can become God conscious."

Interview with the New York Times -- September 2, 1972, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: If there is one moon, there is no need for millions of stars. It is useless to expect a large number of followers. We want only one good follower. If I can get one man to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, I will consider my mission fulfilled. If you talk to whatever small number of followers I have, you will find that they talk better than any great philosopher, better than any scientist or politician. That is the quality of my students. What's the point in talking nonsense? One's words may be simple, but they should be valuable. Every day your employer is printing so many newspapers. On Sunday, especially, the paper is so big that one can hardly carry it. But after reading it an hour, people throw it away. Here is this book, Bhagavad-gītā, and people keep it and read it for a lifetime, and in this way it has been read for the past 5,000 years. Give such literature that will be taken and kept forever.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Krishna Tiwari -- May 22, 1973, New York:

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Krishna Tiwari: This is just a number, because one-thousandth part of hair is just a big number that...

Prabhupāda: Not one thousandth. One ten-thousandth.

Krishna Tiwari: That doesn't matter. You can make it one millionth.

Prabhupāda: How's that?

Krishna Tiwari: It will be a measure of a distance, which is very easy. That cannot be a source.

Conversation with Mr. Wadell -- July 10, 1973, London:

Mr. Wadell: Names. Yes, I wrote my name for my friend here, and we joked as we came in about how this name should be pronounced. And, of course, it depends how people, how well people know me, which name would apply to me. But I want to go one further than that and I want to say that to know a name or a large number of facts and to be able to make a large number of statements about people is not the same as really knowing this person. And this is our difficulty as I see it in relating ourselves to God, that although we make many statements about Him which are often picturesque ones. We say that He is almighty, that He can, in our religion, move mountains or all sorts of separate statements like that. If you take all those statements together, they wouldn't really describe him at all sufficiently.

Prabhupāda: Now, suppose one man is engineer. So if I address him "Mr. engineer," what is the wrong?

Room Conversation -- London, August 24, 1973 :

Prabhupāda: This is a, this is a fact. That, that people are going to the higher planetary system, that is already known. Not this process, but there is another process, how you can graduate there. So, ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ. And even if you go to the highest planetary system, Brahmā-loka, where people live for millions and millions of years... Brahmā's one day, twelve hours, you cannot calculate. It is so big number of years. So Kṛṣṇa says that if you do go to the Brahmā-loka, still you have to come. Simply your suffering will be stopped, mām upetya tu kaunteya, duḥkhālayam. What is that?

Discussion about Guru Maharaji -- August 13, 1973, Paris:

Prabhupāda: So God could not... Kṛṣṇa says: ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo... (BG 18.66). That God can, without dying Himself, He can immediately and, I mean to say, vanquish all sinful action. Why He should be killed for that purpose? Just like the Pūtanā gave Kṛṣṇa poison. But Pūtanā was killed. And Kṛṣṇa was never ki... Kṛṣṇa cannot be killed by poison. Even Kṛṣṇa's devotees are not killed by poison. Prahlāda Mahārāja. If we discuss in detail, we create animosities. Therefore we do not discuss because Christian religion is followed by large number. We do not wish to make... We say yes. He says: "Son of God." We accept it. That's all. To accept a person God, that requires great evidences from śāstra. Especially. And when he's present, He will prove the statement of the śāstra. Then we accept Caitanya Mahāprabhu, God.

Conversation at Airport -- October 26, 1973, Bombay:

Guest (1) (Indian man): In Delhi we have got quite a big number of good life members and helpful people.

Prabhupāda: Yes, there are, certainly. India is born Kṛṣṇa conscious, but by artificial means... Amongst the mass of people the Kṛṣṇa consciousness is there, but amongst the so-called educated, advanced, they are trying to forget. This is the difficulty.

Guest (1): Physical life has become so difficult...

Prabhupāda: It must be difficult. It must be difficult, because the so-called advancement has not helped the people. In our childhood we purchased ghee one rupee, first-class. Now it is not available. And this is advancement of civilization.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- February 25, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: That is a...

Dr. Patel: Minority follow big number. That is where our question is. And come what may, you may say anything. If you open a single temple... (break) ...ancient religion, even though they are Muslims.

Prabhupāda: And Java.

Dr. Patel: Java, Sumatra, the same thing. Java and Indonesia, the same thing. Java, Sumatra is called Indonesia now.

Prabhupāda: In Indonesia, Jakarta I went. The Java Hindus, they gave me reception.

Morning Walk -- March 12, 1974, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes. The number of śūdras are always bigger. Just like in University education. The, the number of graduates and post-graduates, they're less. Others are big, number bigger.

Bhagavān: The whole idea is that at the end of everyone's life, everyone is required to leave home, perform devotional activities, but not necessarily take sannyāsa.

Prabhupāda: Devotional activities, either he leaves from home or not leaves, that doesn't matter. It must continue from the very beginning. For the management of affairs, we require to divide. Because there are different classes of brain, so those who have very intellectual brain, they should become brāhmaṇas. Those who are fit for management and protection, they should be trained as kṣatriya. And those who are fit for producing food, taking care of the cows, they should be trained as vaiśya. And the balance, they're all śūdras. This is the division.

Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva:

C. Hennis: I think that there, in your whole philosophy, there must be a very large number of points of coincidence with the more materialist activities that we engage in. But, well, they're just trying to give people a fair share of the material things of life, proper wages, decent houses, decent opportunities for feeling and for leisure.

Yogeśvara: All that must be there, but without proper instructions simultaneously as to what is the goal of life...

C. Hennis: Yes, but I don't think you can properly expect to indoctrinate people. I don't think that... At least, you can't expect an international organization to indoctrinate people on the national level. I'm sure that the...

Prabhupāda: No, it is not national. It should be international. Just like everyone... United Nation, it is meant for international activity. Our only proposition is that as the international organization, United Nations, they should keep a class of men who should act as brain. Then it will be all right. Without brain, simply legs and hands working, no direction, that is not very good.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Dr. Copeland, Professor of Modern Indian History -- May 20, 1975, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: That and many others, they also do that. They also worship Jesus Christ. That is... (break) We have no disrespect for anyone.

Dr. Copeland: And you've been rather successful in institutionalizing your religion, getting a large number of temples constructed or built or taken over, and a large number of followers.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Dr. Copeland: Why do you think you are so successful?

Prabhupāda: I don't think I am successful, but people say.

Dr. Copeland: (laughs) Very good.

Room Conversation with Dr. Copeland, Professor of Modern Indian History -- May 20, 1975, Melbourne:

Dr. Copeland: Why do you think a large number of people followed Gandhi? Why did they like him?

Prabhupāda: Well, large number of people followed Lenin. They are not important. Neither Lenin is important, nor their follower is important. So I don't think Gandhi's followers are as many as Lenin's. So these things are not important.

Dr. Copeland: But don't you look upon him as a religious man? Gandhi, religious man?

Press Conference -- July 9, 1975, Chicago:

Prabhupāda: Well, to find out first-class man is very difficult. Therefore, our followers, you cannot count a large number. We are training them to become first-class man. Still, we have got about ten thousand followers in the western countries.

Reporter (3): In the western countries.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Reporter (3): Where do you train them in the western countries?

Prabhupāda: We have got our headquarter in Los Angeles and we have got many centers all over the world.

Morning Walk -- July 19, 1975, San Francisco:

Paramahaṁsa: They're strays.

Dhīra Kṛṣṇa: Many dogs live around this campus, an unusual number, a very large number.

Paramahaṁsa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, in what śāstra is that recipe given for gold?

Prabhupāda: In the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. Not recipe. The comparison is there in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. Perhaps purposefully the recipe is not given so that you can take and misuse this. (laughter) And forget chanting. Because as soon as you get gold, then you are no more interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the infection of gold.

Paramahaṁsa: But I have gold.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

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

Reporter (2): Do you have a large number of American negroes in your movement, Swamiji?

Prabhupāda: Not large number, but there are.

Reporter (2): Is there any reason why that is so?

Prabhupāda: That is.... There is reason. They are not very much cultured.

Reporter (5): Do you have women followers also in this movement?

Prabhupāda: Yes. America, men and women have got equal rights.

Morning Walk -- April 21, 1976, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: They would not allow.

Guru-kṛpā: Yes, they don't allow.

Devotee (3): They have the "white Australia policy." (break)

Prabhupāda: ...Chinese man, Indians, they will come in large number. But they will not allow. That is the difficulty.

Guru-kṛpā: There's more cows in this country than people.

Prabhupāda: They are killing?

Guru-kṛpā: They are eating them.

Interview with Kathy Kerr Reporter from The Star -- June 17, 1976, Toronto:

Kathy Kerr: You were saying that you're not necessarily trying to get a large number of devotees, but you think there are a few people who are yet ready to accept?

Prabhupāda: Anyone we can accept. If he is interested to become learned in this subject matter, he's welcome.

Kathy Kerr: Can a person follow your movement, the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, without necessarily going into a temple and concentrating on your attentions?(?)

Jayādvaita: It's a kind of education. So to get that education you have to go to the institution. If you want to get an education in chemistry you go to college. Not that you have to.... It's not.... Yes, you have to come to the place where this is being taught. It doesn't mean you have to give up everything, but you have to take education from the recognized authority.

Kathy Kerr: Does it ever end?

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The Bhāgavatams... Also the freight from here is less. That's another feeling that we have. Prabhupāda told me England, Australia, Africa should get books from India, and America, Canada, from America.

Prabhupāda: There is no consideration of big profit. Simply we want big number, distribution. That's all.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Also this will increase our prestige as a movement.

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Big number, as big as possible. My Guru Mahārāja, he had magazines in six languages: English, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, and one Bengali daily. So if our men complained that "Such and such men are not giving their subscription, so, what we can do? Stop the supply?" Oh, he would become very angry. He asked them, "Are you commercial-hired fools? No! Supply free!" He used to say like that. He was asking, "Whether we shall stop supply? The subscription is not coming." So immediately he became angry: "Are you commercial-hired? If he's not giving price, supply him free." That was his policy. So less perfect or..., try to see how many numbers of books.

Room Conversation -- January 24, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Every year, the new batches of students, and you'll have opportunities of selling a new set. If the university professors cooperate—they must; they should—then we'll have every year a large number of books sold to the...

Hari-śauri: If you bring more small books... Like you were going to do Padma Purāṇa...

Prabhupāda: Yes. That we can give.

Hari-śauri: ...and the Upaniṣads, like that. Those will also be very...

Prabhupāda: That will be nice. I was training, but they have not become so expert. As I am doing Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad..., they could do Padma Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa in the same way, but our students are not so expert.

Room Conversation -- October 15, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He seems like a good massage man.

Prabhupāda: So, why not publish in large quantity of..., large number of books?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, I think that's advisable. There has been some complaints again about no stock.

Prabhupāda: Why it is not being done? There is money?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Jayapatākā had some complaint today.

Girirāja: It may be that because we're dealing with one printer he cannot handle all of the work.

Prabhupāda: Why one printer?

Room Conversation -- November 13, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: So go.

Lokanātha: No, we already did. I announced, and we also had kīrtana. It was very ecstatic. Thirty, forty devotees came, and it was very, very nice. Wherever we stopped, people gathered around us in a big number, enjoyed kīrtana and heard announcements about the program. So I just came back.

Prabhupāda: And prasādam?

Lokanātha: Prasādam will be served out to the guests after this ārati. Twelve o'clock is ārati. And then we'll be serving out prasādam to the guests first. When everyone is served, we'll eat the remnants.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The devotees aren't going to take the feast also?

Lokanātha: Yes, remnants of the Lord.