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Pusta Krsna: His last questions are like this. He's asking about proselytizing in the Western countries, preaching. Is there any hope for preaching? He says Hindu dharma, like this. I think everything is arising because of the Hare Krsna movement and your Divine Grace's preaching work. Otherwise, they were all sleeping.

Hari-sauri: Ten years ago, if they'd have asked these questions before you came to the West, they wouldn't even have thought about going to the West. They are only asking that now because they can see in the last ten years we've been so much successful.

Prabhupada: They do not know what is bhakti, what is Vedanta. They do not know. Simply aspiring, all after women and money, that's all. First-class rogues. I know all of them, all first-class rogues, after money and women, beginning from Vivekananda. But they are so popular, if you say openly...

Pusta Krsna: That's a fact.

Prabhupada: Satyam bruyat priyam bruyat ma bruyat satyam apriyam [Sanskrit Proverb]. "You can speak truth, but don't speak which is unpalatable." But we speak in a different way. And directly we don't speak. People will be angry. They're already fools and rascals.

Pusta Krsna: All of the others are trying to make some compromise.

Prabhupada: That is also bad. How we can make compromise? Here is gold, here is iron. How you can compromise? Can we accept iron as gold? "All right, let us accept." [laughs] Where is the possibility?

Hari-sauri: They don't see that clearly. They are looking at their iron and thinking it's gold.

Prabhupada: They are seeing... They're tested. I don't make any compromise. All my speaking is also no compromise. Here is guru, here is Krsna, here is God, here is Vedanta. Real version they neglect, and they stick to the rascal's version, Saṅkara's version, Sariraka-bhasya. All over India, they are reading Sariraka-bhasya.

Hari-sauri: Ramanujacarya is very well known in India, so why don't they read his commentary?

Prabhupada: They hate Ramanujacarya, because he's Vaisnava.

Hari-sauri: Because he doesn't allow them to speculate.

Prabhupada: He is very strict. He is a stubborn enemy of Saṅkaracarya. All the Vaisnava acaryas. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, declare it: mayavadi-bhasya sunile haya sarva-nasa [Cc Madhya 6.169]. "If you hear the interpretation of Mayavadis, then you are doomed. You have no hope for spiritual advancement." This is the statement. Mayavadi-bhasya sunile haya sarva-nasa. Finished. Your spiritual life is finished. You can write this also, that Caitanya Mahaprabhu's instruction is strictly to avoid the so-called Vedantists.

[indistinct background discussion as devotees look for pen]

Hari-sauri: All these impersonalists, they always represent themselves as being big Vedantists. They don't know anything. That, erm...

Prabhupada: And people, leaders of India, they are thinking, "Where is this Vedantist?" In foreign countries, what is their position?

Hari-sauri: Somehow or another, they seem to think that the Vedanta is something better than any of the other sastra. Srimad-Bhagavatam doesn't seem to be so popular in India as Vedanta or something like that.

Prabhupada: It is very popular amongst the Mayavada people. You speak also... Now the so-called Vedantists, they are speaking on Srimad-Bhagavatam, distorting. Akhoyananda..., Akandananda, Karpatri, the rascals. Because they have no subject matter to speak, they are distorting the meaning of Bhagavata.

[pause]

Prabhupada: This boy [referring to Mike Darby] appears to be nice, this fat boy.

Pusta Krsna: Yes. Kirtanananda said he's the only local boy that has taken interest. He's from hereabouts.

Prabhupada: He said that "I've wanted to see you since a long time." So, keep friendship with. Giving them prasadam?

Pusta Krsna: Yes, he took. They distributed... Kirtanananda Swami cut up some watermelon, and we distributed it to the guests.

[pause]

Pusta Krsna: Srila Prabhupada, shall I lock this up?

Prabhupada: Hmm. [end]