Morning Walk Conversation
with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
March 13, 1976, Mayapur

Prabhupada: …to eat yourself, sufficiently, and if there is excess, then question of trade, vanijyam. Otherwise, if there is no excess, where is the question of vanijya? You are starving. [break] Then we shall. There is no excess. [break] …will spoil everything everywhere. [break] “The government men will take up the policy of plunderers and rogues,” that is stated. Dasyu-dharma. Dasyu means plunderer. He catches: “What you have got, give me.” This will be government. “What you have got, give me.” Bas. You cannot say anything. “Law.” Plundering is law. Then where is your government? If killing is law, plundering is law, then what is this government? Government means to give security to the property and life. So when the government will make law, “I can take your life whenever I like, and I can plunder your property as I like,” then where is the law?

Pusta Krsna: The government’s duty, then, is to protect.

Prabhupada: Yes, that is government. That is ksatriya. Ksat trayate iti ksatriya. Ksat means injury, and one who gives protection from injury, he is ksatriya. Just like Pariksit Maharaja. As soon as he saw a cow is attempted…, immediately he said, “Who are you, rascal? You are trying to kill this cow in my kingdom?” That is ksatriya. And nowadays, even if I kill you, the police will see from there; he’ll not come. This is government. And when the finished killing, then he will say, “Who is this man?” He’ll note down, “A man is killed.” And then inquiry, and then finished. Who is the man killed and what is happened? Nothing of the sort. Inquiry and finish. Big commission report.

Madhudvisa: They have made a survey in America. They have made a survey that nine out of every ten crimes never gets a victim.

Prabhupada: Hm?

Madhudvisa: Never gets solved. Nine out of every ten crimes never gets solved in America.

Prabhupada: No, it cannot be solved.

Panca-dravida: It’s more than that, probably.

Madhudvisa: So the criminal is very much encouraged, because he has only one chance in ten of getting caught whether he robs a bank or steals or rapes or something like that.

Prabhupada: But for this purpose they are maintaining huge police force, and you are earning money and tax, that’s all.

Ramesvara: The police all accept bribes.

Prabhupada: Eh?

Ramesvara: They all accept bribes or they do some illegal business themselves with the criminals they capture.

Prabhupada: Yes, regular… Every criminal has got organization to bribe the police. And the police does not take directly, and some in- between man, agent, he collects from the criminal and gives to the police. In India this is going on. I know that. A via-media man, he makes fortune. Yes. Whatever is collected, ten percent he takes, and balance is given to the police. There is a confectioner in Delhi. He is selling jalebi. You know jalebi?

Devotees: Yes.

Prabhupada: He has got ten lakhs of rupees because he collects the bribe from others and pay to the police. Everyone knows. There was one Mullik, now, on that Mahatma Gandhi Road. His business was that. He was collecting. That quarter, our quarter, was full of pocket, pickpockets, gundas. Pickpockets, gundas, in our childhood they were our neighborhood. (laughs) I remember when I was child I was coming, and the pickpocket was pickpocketing, and he was… He was doing like that: “Don’t speak. Don’t talk.” I have seen all this. And whenever there was any riot, so we were accustomed to see everything. When there was Hindu-Muslim riot, one boyfriend told me, “Oh, don’t go to your house. It is… A great riot is…” I thought, “Riot is going on daily.” It was the same thing. [break] …quarter. Induriya prakara(?)

Bhagavata: In New York one policeman admitted that when the police would capture the thieves with the stolen goods, then they would confiscate the goods and keep it privately in their homes and sell the stolen goods and get the money for themselves. They would not return it to the owner, but they would utilize it for making money. So they are also thieves.

Prabhupada: So if this is the practice in a country which is so opulent, just imagine what is there in India.

Pancadravida: I had experience, because when I was younger I was stealing, and I was taking to the hock shop one typewriter, and while I was taking to the hock shop this typewriter, the police came and showed me his badge and took this typewriter and one French horn from… He took the money, and he said, “I am going to check to see if this is stolen.” So one week later I was worried. I called him. I said, “What is happening?” He said, “That typewriter was reported one year ago stolen from the school.” But he said, “Because I think you’re a good boy, I’m not going to arrest, you because I don’t think you did it. If I thought for a moment you did it, I would immediately come and take you.” So I said, “That’s all right. What about the French horn? When can I have my money back?” He said, “You just forget about this. You leave it to me.”

Prabhupada: To keep you honest. (laughter) To keep you honest, you just don’t hope your money.

Guru-krpa: Their practice is that they watch our sankirtana devotees collect all day, and they know when he has good pocketful of money. Then they arrest him…

Prabhupada: In Germany they have done this.

Guru-krpa: …take to jail, and then they say… Actually the boy collected two hundred dollars. They say, “Oh, he only collected thirty dollars,” and then the others, they split.

Prabhupada: Where it is done?

Guru-krpa: This happened in Chicago to us.

Prabhupada: Then? What action is taken?

Guru-krpa: Nothing we can do.

Pancadravida: That is their business. They take from the thieves because they are the biggest thieves, and then they split. This is regular practice.

Guru-krpa: There’s one devotee who was in the Detroit temple who used to be on the police force, and he told us everything about how they are all cheaters.

Mahendra: In America also sometimes they’ll arrest someone who is selling illegal drugs. Then they’ll arrest him, then they’ll seize the drugs, then they’ll take the drugs home and they’ll sell them to make money.

Yasodanandana: Sometimes they’ll use it themselves.

Mahendra: Sometimes they use it, right.

Madhudvisa: In New York there was a big scandal. There was ten millions dollars worth of drugs confiscated from a boat, and they put it in the police lockup, and then it was gone.

Prabhupada: In Navadvipa… You have heard the name of Vamsidasa Babaji. So sometimes, when his things were stolen, the disciples will cry that “It is stolen.” So he said, “Why you are bothering? One thief gives; another thief takes. That’s all. Who gave the money, he is also thief, and who has taken away, he is also thief. So why you are bothering?” One thief gives; another thief takes.

Bhagavata: He learned that the policeman was selling the stolen goods because one morning in New York they passed by the temple, and they said, “We have many cartons of paper towel. You want to buy?”

Prabhupada: Hm?

Bhagavata: They came by our temple. They said, “We have many cartons of paper towel.”

Prabhupada: Paper towel?

Bhagavata: Paper towels, yes. And they asked if we wanted to buy. “Very cheap,” they said, “cheaper than in the supermarket.” So then we could understand where they had gotten…

Prabhupada: [break] …deal with such men. This material world is so corrupt. [break] …we are not going to get that land, eh? That land? I don’t think we are going.

Mahamsa: Well, we’ll know in one, two weeks. By end of the month we’ll know exac…

Prabhupada: No, no, you’ll know, but for the time being, by the situation…

Mahamsa: Now it is still under litigation. We are not sure. But we have waited one year now under suspense. Now it has come to an end.

Yasodanandana: Yeah, but they don’t know…

Mahamsa: Yes, Prabhupada, even if they take away… Even if they take away 600 acres, they have a right on 250 acres, so we will get the 250 acres. So minimum we’ll get. We won’t get… Maybe we won’t get the full 600 acres, but we’ll get 250 acres. Because even if they come under the Ceiling Act, then 250… They can keep the rest they will get. Then they can give, they can sell, they can do anything.

Prabhupada: [break] …can get?

Mahamsa: Yes, as soon as they can… Either one decision is that “Yes, you can keep the whole 600 acres.” And the other decision is “No, you have to… We will confiscate. You can only keep 250.” As soon as that decision is made, I will get the document for transferring the trust deeds.

Yasodanandana: One advantage of the land there, of the soil in Andhra Pradesh, that it’s very good for the sugarcane, and that fruit called sitaphala(?) grows very nicely in that area.

Mahamsa: It grows wild there. And out of the 600 acres, there’s about 200 acres which is very fertile, and the other area is kind of dry. So it is fertile. So we would invest lot of money on cultivating all year round. So if we get 250 acres, then we’ll get the good area.

Yadubara: We can choose our own land?

Madhudvisa: Yes. [break]

Prabhupada: So that…

Radhavallabha: There will be a second rail on this other side, Srila Prabhupada. We will put that up today.

Prabhupada: [break] …now the visitors?

Radhavallabha: Just a few. Their sign just got up last night, so no one has seen the sign yet. Mostly devotees are coming to see it so far.

Madhudvisa: [break] That’s the library party.

Radhavallabha: In this place we’re going to put a large board and put all your books on the board.

Ramesvara: [break] “…a standing order to begin with volume one of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, then please enter standing order to begin with volume one for Srimad-Bhagavatam.” This is their standing order, the order they send us in the mail.

Prabhupada: What is the…? (reading) “No work in all Indian literature is more quoted. Because none is better loved in the West than the Bhagavad-gita. Translation of such work demands not only knowledge of Sanskrit but an inward sympathy with the theme and a verbal…” What is called?

Devotees: Artistry.

Prabhupada: “Artistry. But the poem is a symphony in which God is seen in all things. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is, of course, profoundly sympathetic to the theme. He brings to it a special interpretative insight. Here we have a powerful and persuasive presentation in the bhakti tradition of this dearly beloved poem. The Swami’s introduction makes clear at once where he stands as a leading exponent of Krsna consciousness.” That is my actual…

Devotee (1): [break] …not only have your books there in the New York Public Library, but the head librarian of that Oriental division did the review also.

Prabhupada: “…government(?) of postgraduate college…” Oh, O.B.L. Kapoor. [break] “It is an exhaustive plan of original Sanskrit text in Devanagari, then a translation, English synonym… What practitioner of philosophy cannot but be attracted to this serious student and scholar of Sanskrit language and Hindu religion and philosophy? The viewpoint of a devotee cum scholar has the advantage of making the philosophy meaningful to any practical-minded person.”

Devotees: Jaya.

Radhavallabha: Srila Prabhupada, this professor calls you “uncompromising.” He said that you are “uncompromising.”

Prabhupada: Hm. That is my philosophy. Read it. Read it somebody.

Satsvarupa: “Ever since 1893, when Swami Vivekananda proclaimed monism and tolerance to the World’s Parliament of Religions at Chicago, nonspecialists in America have pictured Hinduism as an easy-going phantasmagoria of smiling faces disappearing like dewdrops into the shining sea. The Nectar of Devotion should bring them up sharp. (laughter) His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, whose shorn, orange-clad disciples have brought the inseparable twins of bhajana and bakshish to the streets of America, has no doubt that such impersonalism is nothing less than rascaldom.”

Devotees: Jaya!

Satsvarupa: “With all the books on Vedanta and bland neo- transcendentalism that are at present available to the English- speaking public, it is good to have on the popular market such an uncompromising statement of an opposing view from the pen of one who is as firmly rooted in a disciplic tradition, guru-parampara, as Bhaktivedanta Swami.”

Devotees: Haribol!

Ghanasyama: At this school, Srila Prabhupada, they ordered two orders. They were so favorable, for their Theology Department Library and also for the main library, because there were so many professors like this one who were favorable, they wanted your books to be very easily accessible.

Devotee (1): This is the largest professor in Sanskrit in the whole United States, from Harvard University.

Satsvarupa: Most distinguished of all men.

Ghanasyama: He never writes reviews for anyone, Srila Prabhupada, but he wrote for you. He just refuses. He hides himself, you know.

Prabhupada: What? Tell me. What does he say?

Satsvarupa: “I can recommend Sri Caitanya-caritamrta as a source of rich insights for every serious student of consciousness.”

Prabhupada: Allen Ginsberg.

Satsvarupa: Sometimes there are professors of English, all different departments, appreciating.

Devotee (1): This man was selected to the World Council of Churches for the representative of Hinduism in their large meeting, and he just recently did a review on your Bhagavatam.

Prabhupada: What he says?

Satsvarupa:Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Indian classic par excellence on bhakti-yoga, attributed to Vyasa, is one of the most important and influential religio-philosophical works within the Vedic tradition. Thanks to the devoted and scholarly endeavors of Sri A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the entire work of twelve cantos will be available in a superb English edition for the benefit of the English-reading peoples. In his impeccable style the author presents each verse in original Sanskrit, followed by roman transliteration, English equivalents, translation, and elaborate commentary. The lucid and cogent exegesis brings into relief the theory and practice of Bhagavata philosophy in relation to contemporary man and his problems of life. I have read the first volume containing First Canto, Part One, Chapter 1-7, with pleasure and profit. A brief account of the life of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu included in this volume illustrates the central theme of the entire text, the loving service of God. A glossary and index to Sanskrit verses and a general index have been added for the convenience of scholars. This monumental work is immensely valuable alike to historians of religion, linguistic scholars, cultural anthropologists, pious devotees, as well as to the general reader interested in spiritual matters. I recommend it highly to every student of Indian philosophy, culture, and religion.”

Devotee (1): Then he ordered two standing orders for the library, and they took it. [break]

Prabhupada: Oh, that Australian…? [break]

Satsvarupa: “It is a work to be treasured. The opportunity to receive the profound teachings of the Srimad-Bhagavatam in the West has been made possible by the devoted labor of Srila Prabhupada. The clarity and precision of his commentaries on the text have rarely been equaled. No one of whatever faith or philosophical persuasion who reads this book with an open mind can fail to be both moved and impressed. The spirit of its message shines brightly from the pages.”

Ramesvara: Jaya!

Ghanasyama: And he’s a psychologist. Usually psychologists, they’re very much sort of against spiritual life. Srila Prabhupada, this one here, this is one of the biggest linguistic schools in the world, and this gentleman was the chairman of the department, so he’s known all over the world for his studies in different kinds of languages.

Prabhupada: Hm. What does he say?

Satsvarupa: “It is axiomatic that no book can be expected entirely to satisfy all its potential readers. Here is one, Srimad-Bhagavatam, however, which can be said to come remarkably close to that ideal. Clearly this book is intended mainly for those who are interested in, or may become so, transcendental science and, more specifically, in Krsna consciousness. For them it could hardly be bettered, since the elaborate purports attached to each text explain elegantly and lucidly and in every possible detail the underlying meaning of the Sanskrit verses and their relevance to this increasingly popular philosophical outlook. The work is at the same time no less impressive to one who is a layman in the context of transcendental science. A student of Sanskrit or a general linguist with only a smattering of the language would gain much from going through this book and others in the set. That this is so is the result of the way the texts are presented. Each text in Devanagari is followed by an exact roman transliteration. This in turn followed by an English transliteration of each separate work. After this comes a translation in flowing English. The result is that with only a modest amount of effort one can succeed in reading and understanding the Sanskrit verses, and the experience is very rewarding. At the end of the book is appended a goodly amount of further helpful material. There is a glossary of important Sanskrit terms, a Sanskrit pronunciation guide, an index of Sanskrit verses in the whole of the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and a general index to the First Canto. In other words, we have here the ideal of what an edition of a Sanskrit text for a Western audience should be.”

Devotees: Jaya! Haribol!

Devotee (1): [break] …in Mexico, and he’s been asked to actually take charge of the Oriental Studies, specifically on Hinduism. And he’s done a review on the Spanish Bhagavad-gita As It Is.

Prabhupada: This is Spanish language?

Devotee (1): No, English.

Ramesvara: Printed in the Spanish Gita.

Satsvarupa: Shall I read it?

Radhavallabha: It’s very nice.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Satsvarupa: “As a native of India now living in the West, it has given me much grief to see so many of my fellow countrymen coming to the West in the role of gurus and spiritual leaders. Just as any ordinary man in the West becomes conscious of Christian culture from his very birth, any ordinary man in India becomes familiar with the principles of meditation and yoga from his very birth. Unfortunately, many unscrupulous persons come from India, exhibit their imperfect and ordinary knowledge of yoga, cheat the people with their wares consisting of mantras, and present themselves as incarnations of God. So many of these cheaters have come, convincing their foolish followers to accept them as God, that those who are actually well versed and learned in Indian culture have become very concerned and troubled. For this reason I am very excited…”

Prabhupada: Send this copy to Indira Gandhi.

Devotee (2): Indira Gandhi.

Prabhupada: Yes, and request him to stop to send, give passport to all these nonsense. Do this. Yes.

Satsvarupa: “For this reason I am very excited to see the publication of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, by Sri A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada, from his very birth, was trained in the strict practice of bhakti-yoga, and he appears in a succession of gurus that traces back to the original speaking of Bhagavad-gita by Sri Krsna. His knowledge of Sanskrit is impeccable. His penetration into the inner meaning of the text is befitting only a fully realized soul who has indeed perfectly understood the meaning of Bhagavad-gita. Personally, I intend to use this book in the courses which I am directing by invitation of the Mexican government on the language, culture, and philosophy of India. This authorized edition of the Gita will serve a double purpose in Spanish-speaking countries. One, it will help to stop the terrible cheating of false and unauthorized gurus and yogis; and two, it will give an opportunity to Spanish-speaking people to understand the actual meaning of Oriental culture.”

Devotees: Jaya!

Ghanasyama: Sometimes… [break] …they say the exact things, you know. It’s so nice that people…

Prabhupada: Sometimes I myself read my reviews.

Devotee (1): This man here, Srila Prabhupada, he has just recently, Dr. Bardwell Smith… He’s a professor. He has just recently written a letter to us that he’s going to bring his students. He’s in charge of an India tour program for students in India. He’s going to bring his students on a regular scheduled program to Vrndavana.

Prabhupada: Yes, invite them.

Radhavallabha: Madhudvisa Maharaja, if you can keep everyone from banging into those… They break very easily.

Prabhupada: So why not make a small booklet of all these, thin paper, so that we can send.

Radhavallabha: We need very much also a permanent display building in Mayapur. This exhibit cost almost four thousand dollars.

Prabhupada: Yes, have immediately.

Radhavallabha: Jaya.

Prabhupada: Immediately ask them to construct a house.

Ghanasyama: Make it like a museum.

Prabhupada: Who is here from mayapura, in-charge? Nobody is here?

Yadubara: Jayapataka went on parikrama.

Yasodanandana: I think maybe that along with that commentary from the professor from the University of Mexico to send to Mrs. Indira Gandhi, if all of these quotations are sent, she will understand that you are being appreciated by everyone.

Prabhupada: No, you can send all the quotations, not only one. (aside:) Hare Krsna. [break] …very enlivening, encouraging, very good. And especially from the Western countries. All classes of academic leaders. It is very good.

Madhudvisa: I think they should be displayed in all our temples all over the world.

Prabhupada: Oh, yes, oh, yes. Oh, yes.

Madhudvisa: Anybody who comes, they will see how authorized your books are.

Ramesvara: That’s our idea, that we can mass produce these, and any temple can order the quotes from any school of their choice.

Radhavallabha: We can make an announcement to temple presidents…

Ramesvara: Every temple can have a room for receiving guests with all the prominent quotes on the wall. (sound of approaching kirtana party)

Tamala Krsna: All they have to do is hear the party. (?)

Devotee (3): Hawaii.

Prabhupada: Oh. Come on.

Devotee (3): Jaya.

Guru-krpa: This boy leads kirtana for two or three hours nonstop by himself, playing the drum.

Prabhupada: Oh. So parikrama party has not come back?

Madhudvisa: No, they didn’t show up yet.

Prabhupada: Oh, that is not good. The class must be attended.

Madhudvisa: They’ll be back by the time class starts, I think, Srila Prabhupada.

Prabhupada: Then they should not go in the morning. They must attend class. That is very important.

Pusta Krsna: You once gave the example of your spiritual master also, how people were invited on parikrama and you stayed back to hear.

Prabhupada: I never went. [break] Otherwise they should not go in the morning. (end)