Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: . . . it is misdirected and simply based on sense gratification. Has no purpose. So people may question us that we are putting forward a civilization which India had practiced for thousands of years.
Prabhupāda: Why you speak of India?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Well, because when we speak of Vedic culture, at least contemporarily speaking, people think of India. Even few hundred years ago, all the ācāryas . . .
Prabhupāda: All right, India. Then?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: So then the point is that they criticize that how we can preach such a civilization to the Western countries if even it's not working in India today. Although theoretically it's perfect, practically it's not working.
Prabhupāda: No. Practically, because you have preached your culture in India, therefore they have lost their own culture. The Western, the Britishers, were for two hundred years, and they preached. Their policy was to kill the Indian culture. Because that report of Lord Macaulay, after studying Indian situation, the report was to the Parliament that "If you keep India as Indian, then you will not be able to rule over them." So therefore there was regular policy to kill Indian civilization. And because they were on the governing power, they could do it. Therefore India lost its own culture, and victimized by the Western culture. This is the position. Just they are learning how to eat meat, how to drink wine, how to dress them with coat and pant, how to go to the hotel, illicit sex—these things are . . .
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Imported.
Prabhupāda: In India it was unknown. They did not know. In our childhood we have seen that they did not know how to drink tea even.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Tea?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Nobody would drink tea, no family. We have seen it. And for drinking, for drinking tea, drinking wine, regular propaganda was done. There was a tea sets committee. Men, these foreigners, they began to grow tea in India in the beginning for exporting to Europe and America. Later on, they began to pay some tax to the government. That was known as "tea sets committee." The tea sets committee, in order to popularize drinking tea, they used to hold stall, just like here in park and public places, and they would prepare very tasty tea and distribute free.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Free.