Room Conversation
with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
November 4, 1976, Vrndavana

Prabhupada: …one hour.

Pradyumna: Just after it gets dark.

Prabhupada: Huh?

Pradyumna: Just after sun does down it gets a little dark.

Prabhupada: Then at what time it should be happened? You can inquire from other temple.

Aksayananda: Last winter we had, 6:30.

Pradyumna: With the season it changes little.

Prabhupada: So is there any regulation given in the panjika, when?

Pradyumna: Just… Only regulation given for timing is that for Deity going to rest at noon. The Deity should take rest at noon, two yamas after sunrise, and take rest in evening, one yama after sunset. But it didn’t say anything about the other aratis.

Prabhupada: The arati, it is called sandhya arati. Sandhya arati means just in the evening. So when evening time is there… After sunset it is not evening. What is the time of sunset nowadays? Bring panjika.

Aksayananda: Around 5:30, isn’t it?

Prabhupada: What is the time of sunset?

Hari-sauri: It’s about 5:30.

Prabhupada: 5:30, then one hour after. Then 6:30 is all right. 6:30 is all right.

Aksayananda: Okay. So in that case, when would you like to come and visit?

Prabhupada: No, 6:30.

Aksayananda: Now you’re coming six till seven.

Hari-sauri: 5:30 to 6:30?

Prabhupada: We shall come… 6:30-7:00, arati will go on. So we can come half an hour before.

Hari-sauri: 5:30.

Prabhupada: 5:30. 5:30. Instead of coming there at six, I come there 5:30. And one hour, then 6:30 begins. Make that like that. That will be nice. So why you were not present in the meeting?

Pradyumna: I was there, Srila Prabhupada.

Prabhupada: Jaya. That’s all right. I think you can understand Hindi? No.

Pradyumna: I am trying to. I can understand little bit. I am practicing.

Prabhupada: You should learn Hindi, Bengali. You are learning?

Pradyumna: He talks… When he talks, he talks a little fast, when he reads the anuvada.

Prabhupada: Who?

Pradyumna: Ah, Prema-yogi.

Prabhupada: Ah, he is… But I am studying. He is translating nice. He is learned.

Hari-sauri: We wanted to ask you about… He was training up Prema- yogi to do the editing, but there’s no one to do the transcribing. We’ll have to send the tapes…

Prabhupada: Transcribing? No, why?

Pradyumna: Why can’t Palika do?

Hari-sauri: She can do it? I don’t know.

Prabhupada: Yes, she can do.

Hari-sauri: Palika can do it? That will be all right, then.

Prabhupada: You also learn.

Hari-sauri: Typing.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Hari-sauri: Yes.

Prabhupada: In case there is none, you should do.

Pradyumna: Palika’s done it before.

Prabhupada: No, Palika can do. I know that.

Aksayananda: She is expert.

Prabhupada: She is expert in typing. Amongst the women, she is expert typist. She is expert in so many things. Only defect is that she is woman. But Krsna says, striyah sudras tatha vaisyah: “Never mind woman. If she is devotee, she also comes to Me.” Striyah sudras tatha, “no one barred.” Especially naming, striyah sudras tatha vaisya te ’pi yanti param. Everyone is to be…. Krsna is so kind. There is no restriction. Everyone is open to Krsna consciousness. Jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—nitya krsna dasa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109]. This is open to all living entities. There is no restriction. And so long this body is there, material, there is distinction between this and that. Otherwise, when you come to the platform of spiritual understanding, panditah sama-darsinah [Bg. 5.18], then there is no restriction. Higher, lower, this, that, so many. Gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah. So any newspaper propaganda against us? No. One complaint is standing, that with our life members and others, subscriber, they always complain they are not getting paper, they are not getting book. That is the general complaint.

Aksayananda: They send regularly. We are sending. But many times the mail is stolen, magazines, Back to Godhead.

Prabhupada: That is a fact.

Aksayananda: Yes, it is very difficult.

Prabhupada: Because there are so many nice picture. I have seen. When I was printing my books in a Delhi press, so one peon was coming there to work part time as compositor. So his mailbag he will put somewhere in the press and he will being composing. And all other compositors, they’ll check the mail bag and if something is attractive, they will take. I have seen it. Our magazine is so…

Aksayananda: It’s so beautiful.

Prabhupada: …full of pictures, so naturally, as soon as they, the picture and…, they take it.

Aksayananda: Yes, that’s the trouble. So we have a system in some towns. We find one member who is very much liking us, and we send all the magazines to him, and he goes, sends his, given by hand, to all the other members in that city.

Prabhupada: That is not possible.

Aksayananda: We are doing that in some cities but we don’t have in all cities such a system. That system works.

Prabhupada: How it is possible? Some are living ten miles from him. It is not possible. No, that is happening in India, not in other countries. In your country the peons are very responsible.

Aksayananda: Yes, the post office is also very good.

Prabhupada: Here they never satisfied. This is the modern mentality. Nobody is satisfied with his income. He wants more money. And for that purpose he can do anything rascal. I have seen it. This peon puts his bag without any responsibility. Letters are strewn and maybe some letters stolen. Who can say? And he came to earn some money. For some time he’ll compose and get some labor. And in Calcutta I have seen all the office peons, they are sleeping in Dalhousie Square, the peon book as the pillow, for hours together. And when they, after distributing, when they return to the office it is going to be closed. And if they are asked explanation, “Why you are so late?” “Oh, he was not there. I had to wait three hours,” and so on, so on, so on. Everyone is dishonest. Nobody is working honestly. Especially in India, because poverty-stricken. If they can sleep two hours he thinks that he has made some profit. Formerly people were God conscious. They did not like to cheat, that “God will be displeased.” Now they don’t believe in God, so they can do anything.

Aksayananda: Now that we’ve become devotee.

Prabhupada: “Everyone is God.”

Aksayananda: If we sleep for two hours we think we have wasted two hours.

Prabhupada: That should be. Sleeping is waste of time. Nidrahara-viharakadi-vijitau, we have to conquer over eating and sleeping and mating.

Hari-sauri: Just the opposite to the karmis. They want to increase their eating. [break]

Prabhupada: Formerly, when I was in Radha-Damodara temple, there was a khol manufacturer here. Is he here still? He supplied me khol very nice, very big. This khol was taken to Germany or…

Aksayananda: What was his name?

Prabhupada: I forgot.

Aksayananda: There is one man here.

Prabhupada: In here?

Aksayananda: One man is here, but I don’t know if it’s the same one.

Prabhupada: Can you call him?

Aksayananda: Yes. I think he’s just a repairman though.

Prabhupada: Whatever he may be. Yes. We must have very good khol. You have no good khol.

Aksayananda: I had one under repair. I had two under repair with him. But he takes a long time. I am waiting now for repair.

Prabhupada: So you can call him.

Aksayananda: Okay. You’d like to meet him?

Prabhupada: Yes. If the same man, then I can ask him to prepare some khol.

Aksayananda: Ours get damaged.

Hari-sauri: The shells or…?

Aksayananda: They break them so easily. They cannot control them. The shell, the skin, anything, always break.

Hari-sauri: You should make some padded covers for them.

Prabhupada: Who is doing that? Everyone is irresponsible.

Aksayananda: Even with that, they break.

Hari-sauri: But at least it helps the chances they’ll survive.

Prabhupada: The one thing is that they neglect that rings. That ring and the strap, if it is… That will never do. As soon as they khol, some rope, bas.

Hari-sauri: Usually what breaks is that little leather loop, you know, the small loop on each end. That’s what usually breaks. If you want to…

Prabhupada: No, if you make it nicely with chain.

Aksayananda: I have made it even nicely with a cord, with a ring, and the proper straps. But they put it like this and like this and they bang it the wrong way. This is my problem. I can’t stop it, no matter what we do.

Hari-sauri: You just bring them out for arati and then have somebody take them back and they won’t get broken. Hamsaduta was doing that with his mrdangas.

Aksayananda: I was also doing that.

Hari-sauri: The mrdangas are in there all day long. Any karmi that comes in, they beat the drum and mess around. The little kids go in and they do the same thing. I’ve seen them. You should take them out of the temple. Let them be there for kirtana and then take them away and store them in your room. There’s no kartalas now either because everybody steals them.

Prabhupada: These two rooms can be used for keeping.

Aksayananda: Kartalas are locked away every time and the drums were done… That was done until they were broken.

Hari-sauri: Or you can just put them in that tourist room. Or in the pujari room.

Aksayananda: Yeah, I’ll arrange for that.

Prabhupada: Everything depends on organized management. Give some…

Aksayananda: Shall I put… Some gentlemen, some babajis, are coming now, some metas.

Prabhupada: Aiye, aiye. Betiye.

Aksayananda: May I help bota? (?)

Prabhupada: Yes. Betiye. (end)