Room Conversation
Gaurasundara, Dr. Kapoor
with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
July 26, 1977, Vrndavana

Gaurasundara: …come and see you for a while.

Prabhupada: Why not stay here for some time? (pause) Where is Govinda dasi?

Gaurasundara: She’s in Hawaii.

Prabhupada: So what are your activities now?

Gaurasundara: In Hawaii we have Radha-Krsna Deities and bathing, Deity worship and reading your books.

Prabhupada: Very good.

Gaurasundara: Feast program.

Prabhupada: May Krsna help you. How many inmates are there?

Gaurasundara: Right now there’s about one dozen people in the farm, and on Sundays maybe forty, fifty people coming for feast.

Prabhupada: Very good. You are my old disciple. So I’ll be very pleased if you keep the principles—it doesn’t matter wherever you live—and spread Krsna conscious wherever you feel happy, and do not forget the real business. She is helping you?

Gaurasundara: Yes, very much. She’s doing all the pujari work and taking care of the Deities.

Prabhupada: Very good.

Gaurasundara: Pujari. Making clothes.

Prabhupada: How big the Deities are?

Gaurasundara: Right now we have small brass Deities. But this time I’d like to get marble, marble Deities to bring back.

Prabhupada: From Jaipur? You are going to Jaipur? No.

Gaurasundara: Yes. I think if I can take a few days I’ll go and order Deities.

Prabhupada: How big?

Gaurasundara: I would like to be able to carry them back on the airplane. I don’t know how big I can carry them, but I’ll see.

Prabhupada: I think there is no need of changing Deity.

Gaurasundara: Leave small?

Prabhupada: Huh? You have got?

Gaurasundara: Small.

Prabhupada: Small.

Gaurasundara: Yes.

Prabhupada: Because you are maintaining the temple as private. So make nice clothes, decorations.

Gaurasundara: Yes, we are doing. We have…

Prabhupada: High place. There is no need of big see.(?) Deity is small Krsna or big Krsna, the same thing. When Krsna was child on the lap of His mother, the same Krsna killed Putana. And when He was killing other demons in His young age, the same. Avyaya. He does not change. Acyuta. These are the names of Krsna, you’ll… So it does not make any difference. So you have got small Deity. Very nicely… So you can bathe them nicely, decorate them nicely, give Them… And big Deity will be difficult to handle. Better keep this Deity and increase the devotional. That will be… More time devoted for taking class, for cleansing the… About Srimad-Bhagavatam consider. That is main business.

arcayam eva haraye pujam yah sraddhayehate na tad-bhaktesu canyesu sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah

If you simply worship the Deity in gorgeous way and do not preach, see to the interest of devotees and other common men, then you’ll remain in the prakrta state, material stage. You should go further, see the interest of ordinary people, how they are understanding Krsna consciousness. Tad-bhaktesu. To give worship to the guru and honor them. Simply to worship Deity is material platform. Grhasthas, we want, this preaching. And not like ordinary. Big Deity worship… (indistinct—too much background noise) Govinda dasi is not willing to live with you?

Gaurasundara: No. I think she’s… I have heard that she’s married again. But anyway, she has not been in touch with me.

Prabhupada: Oh. Never mind. These are all material things. It should be more than that. Krsna consciousness means forgetting material things, coming to Krsna. Now forget your past misdeed and take to Krsna consciousness gradually. Deity worship is the first work, step. How many dresses you have prepared for the Deity? What is the name of?

Woman devotee: They each have twenty-two.

Gaurasundara: Twenty-two for Radha, twenty-two for Krsna.

Prabhupada: Very good. Ornaments?

Gaurasundara: Yes.

Prabhupada: You can take supply from…

Gaurasundara: Yes, we are getting more things here.

Prabhupada: From where?

Gaurasundara: In Loi Bazaar. Loi Bazaar.

Prabhupada: No, you can take from…

Tamala Krsna: Dhananjaya.

Prabhupada: He has got also Deity… Our own men. Anyway, in Hawaii where you are living, that is quite comfortable. Eh?

Gaurasundara: It’s in the country.

Prabhupada: Seaside?

Gaurasundara: A few miles up on the side of the mountain. About one thousand feet elevation.

Prabhupada: All the inmates, they are following rules and regu…

Gaurasundara: Oh, yes, yes.

Prabhupada: That’s nice.

Gaurasundara: One other boy came with me.

Prabhupada: He has come here?

Gaurasundara: He has come, yes. Very good boy. They’re all very…

Prabhupada: No intoxication?

Gaurasundara: No, no intoxication.

Prabhupada: (chuckles) Be intoxicated with Krsna. So you have given them a room?

Gaurasundara: Yes. Guesthouse.

Prabhupada: Any other business? Eh?

Bhakti-caru: (indistinct)

Prabhupada: You came here before.

Gaurasundara: Today?

Prabhupada: No, no. Before.

Gaurasundara: Yes. Last November.

Prabhupada: How you like this temple?

Gaurasundara: Very nice. Beautiful. And that school is very nice, gurukula.

Prabhupada: We require a large amount of… If possible, you try to help. What is your source of income?

Gaurasundara: Not so much income. Some donations, and we have a farm. We’re selling produce.

Prabhupada: If you can, try to. Cows you have?

Gaurasundara: Yes.

Prabhupada: What is the news of our Hawaii?

Gaurasundara: I brought some pictures from the Ratha-yatra. Have you seen any?

Prabhupada: No.

Gaurasundara: Ratha-yatra. Yes. In Honolulu. This is near the ocean.

Prabhupada: President, what is the name?

Tamala Krsna: Er, Srutakirti.

Prabhupada: He is doing nice? He has…

Gaurasundara: Some business.

Prabhupada: Only one car?

Gaurasundara: Yes, yes.

Prabhupada: So you also joined?

Gaurasundara: No, I was leaving to come here at that time, but the pictures were given to me to show you. [break]

Prabhupada: …children?

Gaurasundara: Yes. It’s very nice. There are very many people taking part.

Tamala Krsna: Quite a few cities. We figured that ten different Ratha-yatra festivals were held this year all around the world.

Prabhupada: So it was taken from our temple to seaside?

Gaurasundara: Yes.

Prabhupada: A long distance.

Gaurasundara: Yes. All through Waikiki. Very many people are in Waikiki, the tourists and regulars.

Prabhupada: Hm. Very good.

Tamala Krsna: Is Gurukrpa Maharaja there?

Gaurasundara: I didn’t see him.

Prabhupada: Anyway, Ratha-yatra has been performed. This is good news. Thank you. [break] Each standing order is for eight hundred rupees, seventeen books. So four thousand. So how much it becomes?

Dr. Kapoor: These boys are doing very good work. How much enthusiasm they are putting in.

Prabhupada: There is two, three groups working in the Communist country. So we are getting very encouraging report, especially for Bhagavatam and Caitanya-caritamrta. So what is the price of four thousand sets at eight hundred rupees?

Tamala Krsna: I think it’s about thirty-two lakhs’ rupees, four thousand…

Prabhupada: So beyond imagination. (laughter) We printed Caitanya-caritamrta, twenty thousand copies. Out of that, five thousand copies are already sold, and we have collected at least forty lakhs of rupees. And India also we are getting orders even from Bangladesh, Dacca, Dacca University. So by Prabhupada’s asirvada things are going very encouraging. What we have sold in the last one week? The last report?

Tamala Krsna: The last report… This is simply from the American and Western European countries, it was reported in one week, June 27th to July 3rd, they sold 51,000 hardcover books, then 30,000 medium size books, 20,000 small books, and 140,000 magazines in one week.

Dr. Kapoor: Staggering figures.

Prabhupada: Fifty-one thousand, five dollars each. What is the?

Tamala Krsna: It’s about a quarter of a million dollars. Two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

Prabhupada: Two hundred fifty thousand dollars, and if you exchange in rupees?

Tamala Krsna: In rupees? About twenty lakhs, more than twenty lakhs.

Prabhupada: In one week. So unimaginable.

Dr. Kapoor: I don’t think any other publisher…

Prabhupada: No, we are the first publisher in the world. That is already recognized.

Tamala Krsna: At that recent library convention in the United States, four hundred publishers in America participated, every major publisher. And our booth was awarded the first place amongst all of the publishers’ booths.

Dr. Kapoor: Where? In the quality of printing or amount of sales?

Tamala Krsna: No, generally they give it based on different factors. The quality of the printing, the sales, and the booth appearance, presentation.

Dr. Kapoor: This is solid work.

Prabhupada: Now we are going to hold Bhaktivedanta Institute scientific meeting. What is that? Where is that paper? Bombay. Scientifically presenting, among the scientists.

Tamala Krsna: It’s called “The First International Scientific Conference on ‘Life Comes From Life,’ sponsored by Bhaktivedanta Institute, Founder-Acarya His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.” Should I read this?

Prabhupada: Hm.

Tamala Krsna: “Current scientific theory holds that life is a product of molecular interaction.” [break]

Dr. Kapoor: I think they should attack the very basic concept of science.

Prabhupada: Hm?

Dr. Kapoor: The very basic concept of science should be attacked, the molecules and the atoms. They say life comes out of molecules. But what, according to modern science, are molecules themselves? You see, before… [break] …molecules disappear. As a matter of fact, particle disappears, you see. What remains…

Prabhupada: Oh, they knew… They have written… That they have denied. It is not chemical-physical.

Dr. Kapoor: The scientists themselves admit that what remains in the last analysis is something akin to consciousness, and not what we call matter or particle. Even supposing life comes out of molecules…

Prabhupada: So he has met many scientists.

Dr. Kapoor: It is a consciousness, you see. The life after all comes from life. There should be great attack.

Prabhupada: (Hindi) We are inviting.

Dr. Kapoor: Such enthusiasm because you are giving them transcendental injections.

Prabhupada: This boy was stubborn atheist.

Dr. Kapoor: Svarupa Damodara.

Prabhupada: And he was walking with me on the seaside, and I was chastising him, kicking him, and refuting. (laughs) Now he has organized this Bhaktivedanta Institute.

Dr. Kapoor: He came to see me last time in connection with some journal, some new journal that he was going to bring out. What about that journal now?

Tamala Krsna: Sa-vijnanam.

Prabhupada: Sa-vijnanam.

Dr. Kapoor: Sa-vijnanam.

Prabhupada: Jnanam te paramam guhyam, sa-vijnanam. What is the…?

Dr. Kapoor: Sa-vijnanam. Sa-vijnana means…?

Prabhupada:: “With vijnana.” Sa means “with.”

Dr. Kapoor: Why not vijnana alone

Prabhupada: Jnanam is imperfect. Sa-vijnanam. Jnanam me…

Dr. Kapoor: So you want to distinguish it from ordinary science.

Prabhupada: Jnanam te paramam guhyam. Sa-vijnanam. This word is there. Paramam guhyam. Paramam guhyam sa-vijnanam. (Hindi)

Tamala Krsna: Probably it will be held October 28th, around that time.

Prabhupada: So they wanted to hold this conference here, and later on, we decided Bombay… (Hindi) Let them decide.

Dr. Kapoor: (Hindi) …place for this kind of …

Tamala Krsna: Bombay.

Prabhupada: Many… He has met with big, big institute, Bose Institute, head of the, and they are appreciating, “Yes, please go on describing.”

Tamala Krsna: They’ve invited the Bhaktivedanta Institute speakers now in many universities, wherever he went, Delhi…

Prabhupada: Caitanyera dayara katha karaha vicara. (Hindi) No sentimentalist. “Come on, scientist.” Caitanyera dayara katha karaha vicara. Vicara karile citte pabe… Vicara… (Hindi) High court judges. (Hindi) But so far, it is encouraging. (Hindi)

Tamala Krsna: Now you’re going to also get that planetarium in Washington.

Prabhupada: Hm? Yes.

Tamala Krsna: That’s very important.

Dr. Kapoor: What is that?

Tamala Krsna: One of our devotees, Ambarisa dasa, his name is. He’s very wealthy person.

Prabhupada: He is grandson of Ford, great-grandson.

Dr. Kapoor: Yes, I was told. He came here once, I’m told.

Tamala Krsna: So he offered everything he has to Prabhupada. So Srila Prabhupada has requested him to build a large building and put in a Vedic planetarium in Washington, D.C., capital of the United States, right near the White House, with the Vedic planetary system according to the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Fifth Canto. So he has agreed to do this, and now they are choosing the property where they will develop this program right in the heart of Washington, D.C. So it will be very good. And also the dolls will be… Doll exhibit.

Prabhupada: How they are making dolls, show him. How nice dolls.

Dr. Kapoor: Oh.

Prabhupada: I brought them here and kept them in Mayapura.

Dr. Kapoor: Accha, and they got the training there.

Prabhupada: And they have learned now. Now they are making better dolls than the Krishnanagar potters. They are very intelligent. The intelligence was not properly used. Now they have got chance. In Bhagavata it is said, sarasvati jnana-khale yatha sati. This knowledge, why it should be locked up amongst the jnana-khala? In India this knowledge is available, and they should be packed up amongst themselves? Now it is the time to distribute.

Tamala Krsna: These ones I’m showing now, they will be in a temple which has just been built in Fiji. It’s going to be opened in August, and this will be one altar. These dolls are made by our own devotees. These are Deities, murtis, for installation.

Dr. Kapoor: Good doll. Very lifelike, huh? I first thought this was your photo.

Tamala Krsna: Just see how they’ve made these murtis.

Prabhupada: Oh, they have made a statue—I am writing books like this, moving.

Tamala Krsna: Then there’ll be… Central altar is Krsna-Kaliya.

Dr. Kapoor: (laughing) Oh.

Tamala Krsna: These are made from a special material for making Deities. [break]

Prabhupada: Give him.

Tamala Krsna: We won’t have a copy of them. If you don’t mind, it’s all right with me.

Prabhupada: All right, wait.

Tamala Krsna: I’ll wait. I’ll order a copy. These are only four pictures practically I have to show people.

Dr. Kapoor: That’s all right. Later on. [break]

Prabhupada: (Bengali) Prana ache yanra, sei hetu pracara.

Tamala Krsna: Srila Prabhupada, will you be taking your massage this evening?

Prabhupada: Um hm.

Tamala Krsna: It’s about 8:30 now. Maybe we should… We’re about an hour behind. That report was so ecstatic that we forgot the time. [break]

Prabhupada: …without any venue. That is something. “And what is this? This is Vedas?”(?) Sarcastically, humorously… Why people have become so rascal?

Tamala Krsna: Not better than any cockroach.

Prabhupada: Yes. Less than a cockroach.

Tamala Krsna: The cockroach is born in the toilet.

Prabhupada: That is it. And when it has got some wings, it flies.

Tamala Krsna: Doesn’t have to pay any thousand pounds sterling.

Prabhupada: Or meditate. It is humorously liked. Handpaper, it was published by the Times. [break] …for chanting Hare Krsna.

Tamala Krsna: You’ve never demanded any money for it.

Prabhupada: No. And all others, bring the money. And still, they’re ludicrous. And here big, big scholars, professors, universities, they are welcoming our books.

Tamala Krsna: Nobody’s accepting them, no intelligent people. (end)