Room Conversation Prabhupada: This is one (indistinct). Bharadvaja: No, just a sample. The total height is forty inches. Krsna is twenty and Kaliya is another twenty inches. Prabhupada: That’s nice. Bharadvaja: So I think we could try casting it in bronze. Prabhupada: Bronze. Bronze will not be polished? Bharadvaja: It is the American or the Western version of the asta-dhatu. Prabhupada: Oh, that is all right. Bharadvaja: Or, not asta-dhatu, but bell metal. Prabhupada: It will be polished? Bharadvaja: Yes, you can polish very nicely. Kirtanananda: I’ve never seen bronze polished. Bharadvaja: It depends on the quality, grade. Generally they don’t use a very high percentage of brass. Kirtanananda: You think it’s better than brass? Bharadvaja: It’s a little cheaper. Prabhupada: Bronze is very good. Kirtanananda: I’ve never seen it highly polished. Prabhupada: Yes, that is the problem. Why not make brass? Bharadvaja: Out of brass? Bronze is harder. Bronze is harder. Prabhupada: No, why harder? You can make softer. Metal… Kirtanananda: Gold is softer still. It will be much more brilliant in brass than bronze. Bharadvaja: Generally… Prabhupada: Brass, just like our Radha-Krsna Deities in Mayapura, how dazzling. Here also, in Boston. Bharadvaja: I think Krsna is German silver. Prabhupada: No. Maybe. Bharadvaja: Not so much brass casting going on in this country, mostly bronze casting. Prabhupada: Bronze, but it will not be polished. We want polished. Bharadvaja: I have to investigate it. Prabhupada: Bright face. Hari-sauri: There’s a boy that was in New York who cast some brass Gaura-Nitai Deities in Australia. They came out very nice. You could talk to him. He might give you some good information. His name is Bhaskara. Prabhupada: Brass is best, next to gold or silver. Bharadvaja: But I think the other Deities we shall just do in concrete, Radha-Krsna and Lalita, Visakha. Either concrete or hard plaster. Prabhupada: Hm? Bharadvaja: Hard plaster, tempered plaster, hydrostone. Prabhupada: Yes. Bharadvaja: They will pay for the casting in Fiji? Prabhupada: Hm? Bharadvaja: The Indians in Fiji will pay for the casting if we decide to cast in brass here? Prabhupada: Anyone will pay. (laughs) Krsna will pay. What will be the cost, let me know. It will be paid by somebody. Bharadvaja: I will have to investigate. Kirtanananda: You will have it cast or you will cast it? Bharadvaja: We’ll have it cast here. Actually, one boy is working with me now from Hawaii… Prabhupada: But one thing, you can send one copy of this to Vrndavana to take casting cost there. They’re also doing. Bharadvaja: Estimate. Perhaps they’ll be able to do it cheaper in India. Prabhupada: Hm? Bharadvaja: They’ll definitely be able to do it cheaper in India. Prabhupada: Then if they can do cheaper, why not cast there? Bharadvaja: The transport. Prabhupada: Transport is the same. You have to transport from here, they will have to transport from… Bharadvaja: Hm. Nanda-kisora, or someone else? Prabhupada: You send to Aksayananda. (long pause) Prahlada Maharaja said there is no necessity for endeavoring for economic development. Very difficult to understand this philosophy. Hari-sauri: People don’t know how they’ll survive if they don’t get money. Prabhupada: No. We are actual examples. We are not after economic development, but we are after following Krsna’s instructions. Nalinikantha: People criticize us sometimes because they always see… Prabhupada: No, what do we care for them? We go on with our own business. Bharadvaja: Actually, they are all envious because they see that without working we are getting such nice facility. Prabhupada: No, we are working, but working for Krsna. Bharadvaja: Yes. Prabhupada: That is the difference. Radhavallabha: I went to the bank the other day to take out some money for the Press, and I took out a few thousand dollars. I had to take it in small bills, and there were karmis there, and they were yelling, “They should be thrown out of town!” Prabhupada: They said? Radhavallabha: Yes, and they were very angry because they don’t make that much money in over two months. Prabhupada: The Communists also, they are envious of these capitalists. Hari-sauri: The rich. “Make the rich pay,” that’s their slogan. Radhavallabha: But the leaders of the Communists are rich. Prabhupada: Hm? Radhavallabha: The leaders of the Communists are all rich, and the people don’t notice. Hari-sauri: Andha, blind. Prabhupada: Russia, that, what is that, Communist leader? Devotees: Nikolien? Lenin? Breshnev? Kruschev? Prabhupada: Kruschev. Kruschev. He was making money, therefore he was driven out. His son-in-law, his sons were being employed, neopolism, what is called? Kirtanananda: Nepotism. Prabhupada: Nepotism. That is human nature. Hari-sauri: They said he was becoming too friendly with the West, getting too many Western ideas. Prabhupada: Who? Hari-sauri: Kruschev. So they kicked him out. (knock at the door) Prabhupada: Yes? Radhavallabha: Answer the door. Hari-sauri: In England, their whole difficulty with the labor…. (several people talk at once, door is open, kirtana going on) Prabhupada: Let him in. Radhavallabha: It’s Govinda dasi. Tell her to come in. Hari-sauri: But the union problem they have in England, that’s why the whole country now is in disruption because the labor is always on strike. They did a survey, and they found out that all the major union leaders are Communists. Prabhupada: And they’re making money. Hari-sauri: When I was there I remember every month there would be a major strike in the car industry, in the shipping industry, all the major industries there was always a major strike every…. And it would completely devastate the economy. Hrdayananda: The foreign businesses no longer have confidence in England, because if they make some order maybe it will not be fulfilled. Prabhupada: Hm? Hrdayananda: The foreign business no longer has confidence. I heard that England had sold military weapons to Israel, and when Israel was fighting the war they called England, “Immediately send replacements for the weapons.” “No, I’m sorry, we are on strike, there’s no…, we cannot send replacements.” So in this way there is no longer confidence in England for business, international business. Radhavallabha: Now in South America it has been fashionable…. There are many, many wealthy businessmen living there. So terrorists will kidnap a businessman, and then send a letter to the company in the United States or in that country, stating that “If you do not give us such and such million dollars, we will kill him.” So in this way the terrorists are getting millions of dollars by kidnapping big men. Hrdayananda: Businessmen. Radhavallabha: It’s happening quite often in South America now. Hari-sauri: Yes. That’s going on everywhere. There was a, John Paul Getty’s nephew in Italy, he was taken by kidnappers, and they petitioned Getty, “Give us so many millions of dollars, otherwise we’ll kill your nephew.” So he refused. So after a long, long time the nephew was returned somehow or other, and one of the times when they demanded a ransom, they chopped off his right ear and put it in an envelope and sent it through the post: “This is proof that we have your nephew, now give us money.” And still he refused. And then eventually the boy was returned minus his ear. Hrdayananda: And you were saying, Prabhupada, that even when they have so much money they want more. This man is one of the richest men in the world, and for his own family member he would not pay some money to save him. Prabhupada: Who was that man? Hari-sauri: Getty. He just died. Hrdayananda: Just a few days ago he died. Radhavallabha: In England. One of the richest men in the world. Hrdayananda: Two of the richest Americans have just died. Radhavallabha: Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes was considered the richest man in the country, and they found him dying in a hotel room of malnutrition. Hrdayananda: He had become so afraid of death that he would wear a mask over his face to avoid germs, and he would be changing his clothes constantly, and he was living terrified of dying and losing his money. So in this way, in his last several years he became mad, just with the fear that he was going to die. [break] Prabhupada: What is your next publication? Hrdayananda: Mine? Prabhupada: Portuguese and Spanish? Hrdayananda: In a few days we will be sending to the printer a complete Portuguese Bhagavad-gita and Spanish Krsna book. I think within one week perhaps we will, in one or two weeks, we will send both to the printer. Prabhupada: Where is the editorial department? Hrdayananda: Here. That’s why I’m here. For Spanish and also Portuguese. I just received information that in Caracas they were selling every day one thousand Bhagavatams. Devotees: Wow! Prabhupada: What is the price? Hrdayananda: Each book about two and a half dollars. Prabhupada: That means about three thousand dollars daily? Radhavallabha: That’s very big. Hrdayananda: And they have been defeated by Mexico. Prabhupada: (laughs) Mexico is selling more? Hrdayananda: Yes. This month, last month in Mexico they sent in for a month, $23,000 for a month. Now the, all of South America combined this month has almost defeated Radha-Damodara. (Prabhupada laughs) Almost on the same level now, South America. Prabhupada: This competition must go on. (laughter) That is…. (end)
with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
June 10, 1976, Los Angeles