Morning Walk Conversation Tamala Krsna: Go ahead, let’s go, just go. Prabhupada: (beak) …in this bus. Kirtanananda: Oh, you traveled in the bus. Yes, it was comfortable. Tamala Krsna: Prabhupada, there’s about two hundred and fifty devotees here now. Prabhupada: That’s nice. Make the whole city your (indistinct). Tamala Krsna: It’s very nice. We can handle all of these devotees, I think, very comfortably. Prabhupada: All facilities are there. Kirtanananda: Krsna is giving all facility. [break] Prabhupada: …distributing free, thirteen hundred or thirteen thousand? Kirtanananda: Thirteen thousand. Prabhupada: Daily. Kirtanananda: That is inconceivable wealth. Prabhupada: Huh? Kirtanananda: That is inconceivable wealth. And they were fully decorated. Ramesvara: We can never imagine where all those cows were able to be situated. Prabhupada: No… The whole world. Ramesvara: Full of cows. Kirtanananda: Yes, a few years ago we couldn’t conceive of distributing twenty thousand Back to Godheads a month. Prabhupada: We started with five hundred. What was that machine? Kirtanananda: Mimeograph. Then I think it went to two thousand then to five thousand. Ramesvara: Now for December we are printing two million copies. Last year we printed one million copies, so this year we must double. Two million copies in one month. Kirtanananda: Wonderful. Prabhupada: It is all Krsna’s mercy. You have seen the first copy? They have brought photograph from which library? Pusta Krsna: Congress Library in Washington. They found the original… Prabhupada: Yes. I do not know how they got my… Ramesvara: Oh, your original, from India. Prabhupada: Yes, 1944, the first copy. I get them from selling. Perhaps they had been, American. Pusta Krsna: Very thick, it was a thick magazine. Prabhupada: In those days I was spending three hundred rupees per month. Tamala Krsna: That was a lot. Prabhupada: Yes, three hundred rupees, nowadays at least ten times. Three hundred ten times? Kirtanananda: Three thousand. Tamala Krsna: At least three thousand. I think even perhaps more, Prabhupada. Prabhupada: Yes, not less than. Kirtanananda: Say five hundred dollars a month? Prabhupada: And I was not getting any return. Tamala Krsna: How were you getting so much money? Prabhupada: My income, poor income, from my business. Tamala Krsna: Oh. (aside:) Prabhupada took us past Seventy-second Street, showed us this place. Ramesvara: He showed us the fruit store where he would buy fruit. Prabhupada: Harer nama [Adi 17.21]. Kirtanananda: Those early days. My best memories are those early days. Especially the morning classes, when you’d be sitting behind the desk… Prabhupada: Yes. Pusta Krsna: …and the sun would just be coming in. Prabhupada would talk for an hour. Prabhupada: Only Hayagriva, you and… Kirtanananda: Umapati. Ramesvara: Mukunda. Prabhupada: Not Mukunda. One, that… Kirtanananda: Sometimes Carl would come, sometimes Jim Green. Not very often, they wouldn’t come. Prabhupada: Brahmananda later on. Kirtanananda: Rayarama would come. Prabhupada: Rayarama. Kirtanananda: Satsvarupa came, started coming, and he would go to work after class. Prabhupada: Ah. Tamala Krsna: Always very responsible. Prabhupada: At that time Kirtanananda Maharaja was taking one capati. Tamala Krsna: Whew! Only? Prabhupada: Yes. Tamala Krsna: Nothing else? Prabhupada: I would offer, he would take one or two, that’s all. Later on, one dozen. (laughter) And that boy? Kirtanananda: Trayadhisa. Prabhupada: He would take at least twenty, capatis. Devotees: Wow! Prabhupada: “Trayadhisa, can I offer you?” “Yes.” I gave four. Again finished, again four. Tamala Krsna: You must have been surprised to see how much they could eat. Prabhupada: Um, I was not surprised. He was young man, very stout and strong. Kirtanananda: Originally, we all ate from Prabhupada’s plate though. There was one plate of prasadam. And Prabhupada would just give little, little to everybody. And everybody would be satisfied. Ramesvara: It is the great weapon, prasadam. Prabhupada: I used to keep some prasadam, anyone would come I would give. Kirtanananda: After class also you always distributed some prasadam. After kirtana and class. Prabhupada: Yes. I was clapping my hand. In meeting, I used to collect not less than six dollars, not more than twenty dollars. And that was… Ramesvara: Daily. Prabhupada: Not daily. Kirtanananda: Three times a week. Prabhupada: Three times. [break] …used to come sometimes. Ramesvara: Prabhupada said he sold his books then; they ordered his books. Prabhupada: Yes, they purchased my books. In Butler also, many churches would purchase. Ramesvara: This month the first volume of the Eighth Canto is going to the printers. Prabhupada: Seventh Canto, last volume you saw. Kirtanananda: Jaya. Ramesvara: That reporter yesterday, he was surprised you had written so many books. Kirtanananda: Any intelligent man would be surprised. It is unbelievable, so many books. Tamala Krsna: Where is there an author who has written so many books? Kirtanananda: In so short time. Tamala Krsna: They don’t know how to control their senses. This is inspirational… Ramesvara: Prabhupada told us yesterday that one Sanskritist was appreciating the Harvard classics very much as being very important in educating people about Indian culture, but Prabhupada’s books are even better. Pusta Krsna: He said “insurpassable.” “Prabhupada’s books are insurpassable.” Tamala Krsna: That man was the chief of the Benares school? Pusta Krsna: Yes, Sanskrit department. Prabhupada: Very learned scholar in Sanskrit. Titles in Sanskrit. Hrdayananda: [break] …Ratha-yatra, “No Parking. Sunday Parade.” Prabhupada: You convince the authorities of America that my logic, andha-pangor nyaya. Who will explain this? Andha-pangor nyaya, lame and blind logic. Hari-sauri: Ah, lame and blind. Bali-mardana: Oh, yes, I told a reporter that just a few days ago. Prabhupada: America is blind by money. Dhana-madandha, when one gets too much money he becomes blind. Dhana-durmadandha. Tasmad bhajanti kavayo dhana-durmadandha. To get too much riches means he becomes fool and blind. He doesn’t care. So this blindness of America… And we Indians, we have no money, but we have got culture. Combine together, then things will be very nicely done for the good of the whole world. Simply money is not the end; there must be culture. Take that culture, Vedic culture, and use it by American money, then the whole world will be paradise, Vaikuntha. In India one paper, Sunday, they have published a nice article about us: “Krsna Consciousness Catches On.” Kirtanananda: Krsna consciousness what? Prabhupada: Catches on. Hari-sauri: It begins by saying that the Krsna consciousness movement has had an amazing cultural impact on India in the last two years. Prabhupada: Stone houses or brick? Bali-mardana: Stone. Prabhupada: Stone? Bali-mardana: Yes. Now they cannot afford to make it like that. Prabhupada: In Jaipur still there are so many nice craftsmen, and they charge very little. Bali-mardana: Jaipur. Prabhupada: Jaipur, yes. Bali-mardana: We should bring some to Mayapura and live there… Prabhupada: Oh, yes. Bali-mardana: …and train others. Prabhupada: [break] Just like New Vrindaban they have a dozen brahmacaris. Kirtanananda: They have an expert teacher, Gopinatha. Prabhupada: Also Los Angeles. [break] …and big, big city like Calcutta, Bombay, there are many, many more pigeons. Why they are so small? Kirtanananda: They kill them. Prabhupada: Kill. Pusta Krsna: They kill them? Devotee: They poison them. Kirtanananda: They put poison feed out. Prabhupada: Ah, killing experts. Kirtanananda: This civilization is that “If you cause a little disturbance to my sense gratification, I will kill you.” Prabhupada: But there is civilization. I saw it practically, that there is no disturbance in our Pennsylvania farm. The cats, the dogs, the cows, the boys, children, they are living like family. In your farm also. Wonderful. The cats are not afraid of the dogs. It is very peaceful. [break] Hrdayananda: They are showing paintings from a museum in Spain. Pusta Krsna: [break] …posters advertising Ratha-yatra. Prabhupada: Hmm? Yes. [break] Tamala Krsna: …pure devotee will also come here and therefore he’s (indistinct) bringing for you. Prabhupada: Yes, Caitanya Mahaprabhu goes with His associates, He does not go alone. Sa-parsadam. Sangopangastra-parsadam. krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah [SB 11.5.32] There is sankirtana-yajna, everything will improve very gradually. [break] Now the government has not given any opposition. That is very good. In India, our own government is giving little opposition. Tamala Krsna: The Constitution of the United States gives great deal of protection for civil rights, religious freedom. Prabhupada: Therefore they are so advanced. Kirtanananda: But there’s a lot of talk now that they aren’t, so far as income tax is concerned. Prabhupada: Huh? Kirtanananda: So far as our collecting money, they are going to maybe change some laws. There’s a lot of talk about that now. Pusta Krsna: They’ve done that in India. Hrdayananda: The religious leaders have become such cheaters that the governments are thinking “Why shouldn’t they pay taxes? They’re just ordinary people.” Prabhupada: Best thing is collect and spend, that’s all. Tamala Krsna: Don’t bank a lot of money. Prabhupada: No. Best buildings are on this Fifth Avenue, huh? Tamala Krsna: Yes, Prabhupada. Stone buildings. They’ll last for many hundreds of years. Kirtanananda: No, they will tear them down. Tamala Krsna: Beautiful buildings, look at them… Kirtanananda: On the lamp post here, green? Right here, on the street side, both sides. Our men went wild last night. We sent out a big party putting up these posters. The thing is nobody will see them today. They’re in the temple. (end)
with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
July 17, 1976, New York