Morning Walk Conversation Dr. Patel: She had a very religious background. Prabhupada: Women are generally… Dr. Patel: They’re more religious, yes. My children… My son does not eat, I told you the other day, even tomatoes. He’s going to States for a fellowship, and I don’t know what he’ll do there. Prabhupada: No. If you don’t like to eat tomato, who is going to force? That is not… [break] Dr. Patel: Hindu, that is wrong nomenclature. There is no Hindu dharma. It is a…, Hindu is a way of life. Even Muslims live the same way, even Christians live the same way. The sanatana-dharma is the real word. Just use it and then everyone says. I heard it in a letter to American consul about this matter. In there I mentioned sanatana-dharma. I have said sanatana-dharma, not Hindu dharma. I have mentioned like that. Real (indistinct) is the Vedic religion. Prabhupada: Because the religion actually means the law given by God. Dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam [SB 6.3.19]. Religion is not manufactured. Dr. Patel: One acarya has said, dharmagnira sadacara sruti smrti (?)(indistinct). What is mentioned in the sruti and smrti, that is dharma. Sadacara. Prabhupada: Basic principle is that it is made by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Now there are books, how to carry out the order. And the ultimate understanding, how to become faithful to the (indistinct). Just like good citizen means faithful to the government. Unfortunately these rascals, they do not have any idea, the supreme controller, supreme government. They say anything automatically. Dr. Patel: Vaisnava is a good citizen of the government of God. That is Vaisnava. Prabhupada: Yes. That is dharma. And Krsna teaches that dharma. Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam [Bg. 18.66]. Who will surrender unless he’s a Vaisnava? Palika: Srila Prabhupada? This morning you would like to take your breakfast after the program or after resting? Because I do not want to prepare the idli… Prabhupada: Later. All other dharmas are cheating. Dr. Patel: Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja. Prabhupada: This is dharma. Dr. Patel: Sarva-dharman means all other vocations, I would say. Dharma means whatever vocation… Is one of the interpretations. “All vocations you leave and come to Me only and be My bhakta.” That is… I would… Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66] Prabhupada: Yes. God is great. We are small. The small business is to serve the great. That is going on everywhere. Dr. Patel: And mam ekam saranam vraja means “You do work according to My dictate. That is My saranam.” Prabhupada: This is saranam, not that you remain independent from saranam. No. Dr. Patel: That means you obey the infallible laws of God. Prabhupada: God says man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam. This is dharma. Dr. Patel: They are thinking of psychological, sir. If you think of a particular thing, then you become merge in that. Practically your mind becomes so… That is how the researches are carried out by (indistinct). You become mad on that. You become mad on Krsna. You get… Prabhupada: It is natural to serve God, to remain faithful to Him. This is natural. Artificially you are trying to be independent. This is the Mayavada… Still, they are trying to become God himself. Dr. Patel: Sir, after first I met you, some previous time, I made an extensive study of both the sides of Vaisnavism as well as the (indistinct). I think they are falling short of the final (indistinct). Once they say that they are in Brahman, but there is Parabrahman also. That Brahman is nothing but a jyoti of Parabrahman. That they forget. Prabhupada: That means knowledge. Dr. Patel: And I think, sir, even Sankaracarya has not meant that we must be short of that. He was also worshiping, was he not? He was worshiping Parabrahman. Prabhupada: He has given a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita. In the beginning he says narayanah parah, “Narayana is transcendental.” Dr. Patel: But these fellows are misinterpreting later on. Prabhupada: The whole world is full of demons. And they are demons. Who declare himself, “I am God,” he’s a demon. Dr. Patel: Only one who has actually realized Parabrahman and the, become the real (indistinct) of Brahman, he has got a right to say Brahma… Unless he becomes brahma-bhuta. brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param [Bg. 18.54] Then he becomes brahma-bhuta. Otherwise he cannot become. Brahma-bhuta is the first stage. This they consider the final. I mean, that is my understanding. I don’t know, I may be right or wrong. But I want to be corrected by you. Prabhupada: Brahma-bhuta… Jiva-bhuta, everyone is thinking, “I am this body.” That is jiva-bhuta. And when understands that “I’m not body, I’m within the body,” that is brahma-bhuta. Dr. Patel: That is adya. Perpetually Brahman… Prabhupada: No, this is the beginning of spiritual knowledge. Therefore Krsna begins from this point. “Why you are thinking that you are one of the family members? This is bodily concept.” Dr. Patel: Nobody is your relative, but the soul can never die. This is the body. Body has no value. Lot of mosquitoes, you know? Prabhupada: Mosquito? Here? Hari-sauri: There’s a few. Prabhupada: What is this? Hari-sauri: This is a (indistinct). Dr. Patel: I’m not covered (indistinct) my legs. There’s a lot of mosquitoes in here. Prabhupada: That’s all right. Dr. Patel: If there’s biting, (laughs) here you don’t get malaria but you get elephantitis. Prabhupada: Maybe elephantitis. Dr. Patel: Because the elephantitis, that’s very common in the (indistinct). The mosquitoes are infected by elephantitis and they infect you. These mosquitoes are (indistinct) …carry malaria carry this elephantitis. All these villages on the coastline, right from Ratnagiri up to Dvaraka, whole coast is infected by elephantitis. Everywhere you go you see big, big leg. In fact it is right from Bhubaneshwar. On Bhubaneshwar sea water these mosquitoes breed even in (indistinct). I made a special study of malaria, so I have studied all the types of mosquito, and that particular mosquito on that coast is called (indistinct). Because they came right from Sundar Island. (swamps) Prabhupada: Sundar island, Sundarban, Bengal. Dr. Patel: Sundarban has gone in Pakistan side. Prabhupada: Still in West Bengal. Sundarban is near Calcutta, about fifty miles. Dr. Patel: All water-logged country. Prabhupada: Yes. There are big, big tigers, big, big snakes. That Bengal tiger is famous. That tiger, his tail sometimes ten feet. Dr. Patel: Bengal tigers are very ferocious. They are all man-eaters. Here in Gujarat, lions are only in Gujarat in India. Those lions walk about like dogs in the jungle. They don’t attack any human being. Whole of India only that is the place where lions are found. Prabhupada: Big lions? Dr. Patel: Big lion. They have counted, there are not more than 300 lions now in the jungle. Prabhupada: Why? They were killed? Dr. Patel: That is in, just near (indistinct), that big jungle. Prabhupada: Central India also there are lions. Dr. Patel: There are no lions anywhere, sir. Lions only in Africa and India in this place. Not even South America, anywhere. This Gujarat, this particular jungle, and Africa. Prabhupada: Hare Krsna. Dr. Patel: Africa they have hunted down all the lions on safari. Prabhupada: Killing business. Dr. Patel: They have killed them at random. There is a disease called sleeping Prabhupada: This is only theory; therefore I don’t believe that. Simply theory. Dr. Patel: It’s more common in the Congo, in northern Rhodesia, part of Rhodesia and Uganda. Prabhupada: When they pour water… (end)
with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
January 2, 1977, Bombay