Audio

Prabhupada: You haven't got to think over, "What shall I do now?" Never forget. So our first business is preaching. You should always remember. This is the education. These rascals, they have no father-mother-orphans. They may think as well-educated how to earn money. We have no such... We are rich man's son. Economic problem is already solved. That is already taken. Tal labhyate yad anyatah sukham. We don't care for all this so-called improvement. That is already settled up. Tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovidah [SB 1.5.18]. Just see how to become a man of character like Narada, Vyasa. That is our goal. Tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovidah. Not for any other. And what about your material problems? That is already taken. Tal labhyate duhkhavad anyatah sukham kalena sarvatra gabhira-ramhasa. This is krsna-bhakta. Don't care for maintaining this body. "What Krsna will give, I take. If He does not give, don't mind." [hums] So discussing all this twenty-four hours, and death takes place. Death, it takes place, then where is the wrong? Where is the lamentation? There is nothing. You are not permanent. You have to die. But if you die discussing all these things, that is your glorious death. Death is sure. You cannot avoid it, today or tomorrow or hundred years after. But die a glorious death. Yatantas ca drdha-vratah. Satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha-vratah [Bg 9.14]. That is wanted. It is not difficult. So I have called you for that purpose. So if death is to take place, let me die in your association and chant Hare Krsna. There is no harm. That is glorious. Now it is very important point, Narada's qualification.

Ramesvara: Purport: "These are the necessary qualifications of a person..." [break]

Prabhupada: This Nitai, as soon as he mixed with some pseudo devotee, fell down. Rascal. He's searching after guru. And where is now?

Ramesvara: In America.

Prabhupada: What does he do?

Ramesvara: Some karmi job to get money.

Prabhupada: Just see. [laughs] And he's asking my blessings for a guru. He's a fanatic. [break] ...know that story, punar musiko bhava? [laughter]

Jayatirtha: Yes. That's a very suitable story for this case.

Prabhupada: "Again become a mouse." That's all. "I made you tiger. Now you want to eat me? All right, you become again a mouse."

[break] That is called drdha-vrata, firm determination. Hmm. Go on.

[break] Doesn't create any... That is bhakti life. Yare dekha tare kaha krsna-upadesa [Cc Madhya 7.128]. Bas. So where is the difficulty? The things are already there. I have to repeat it only. Why shall I create, make hodgepodge everything? But that they do not know. Bhaktivedanta has no difficulty. The things are already there. Simply you have to present them as it is. That's all. You become Vaisnava. Where is the difficulty? And as soon as you change, become over-intelligent, spoiled, everything spoiled. That is the...

[recording grows very faint, then indistinct]

[break] What arrangement is...? What arrangement is made?

[break] And if they do not repeat, they fell down[?]. You have to bring. You cannot satisfy everyone. That is not possible. Here Narada Muni is blaming Vyasadeva, "You have not repeated." And here is a scholar, and he has repeated. The actual position is repetition. Kirtaniyah sada harih . That is the position. So we shall go on doing that. Yes.

Ramesvara: Jaya. "Purport..." [break]

Prabhupada: [Transl. The body has broken down, going on.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. Atul Krsna Gosvami from Radha-ramana temple: Going on. Have compassion on this fallen soul. May Sri Radha-ramana and Sriman Mahaprabhu bless you with a long and healthy life for the benefit of people. This we pray day and night. I told the boys at night that we have no power. There is only Govinda's name, Gauraṅga's name.]

Prabhupada:

Indian man (1): [Transl. It is stated in the sastra, acyutananda govinda namoccarana bhasita, nasyanti sakala rogah satyam satyam vadamyaham "One who chants the holy name of Acyutananda, Govinda, all his sinful reactions are vanquished. I am telling you the truth". You have become extremely weak.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. Yes. There is no strength left in the body. Who knows what will happen when?]

Indian man (1): [Transl. All the devotees are feeling distress. They are praying at the lotus feet of Govinda.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. They have come from all over the world. I have taught them everything. They have understood.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. Everyone's eyes are filled with tears.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. Now I have come to Vrndavana. Now either live or die it is good.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. No. You cannot die. You have become immortal. In unlimited voice, unlimited eyes, and unlimited lives, you will remain immortal. It is not possible. This body is very dependent.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. Little work is still left. I have a desire to fulfill that. God is one. God is neither Hindu, nor Muslim nor Christian. This has to be proved.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. You will do. We have arranged tulsi and rice in the eyes of Radha-ramana. Gopala mantra also.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. Just like this person Atreya-rsi, he is an Iranian. I have many Muslim disciples.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. No, no. By the Lord's mercy you have preached all over the world within ten years. This is Govinda's will.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. The Supreme Lord Himself is saying, bhoktaram yajna-tapasam Why do you say Hindu, Muslim? Krsna says…. you understand English? I am the owner of all the planets. sarva-loka-mahesvaram.]

Indian man (2): [Transl. Aren't you feeling trouble in speaking?]

Prabhupada: [Transl. No. I have no problem in speaking this.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. Yesterday he told me about you at night. I thought you are in Haridvara-Rsikesa.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. I went there, but there was not much improvement.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. Here is good. Take rest here for some time.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. So I decided if I have to die then I should die in Vrndavana.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. Treatment?] Any treatment?

Bhakti-caru: Treatment.

Prabhupada: [Transl. Treatment is this.]

Indian man (2): [Transl. This is real treatment. Best remedy.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. This is the highest treatment. There is no other treatment above this.]

Prabhupada: They are always reading.

Bhakti-caru: Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Prabhupada: Srimad-Bhagavatam and they are always…..

Indian man (1): Reciting nama-saṅkirtana. They are doing all the best and most proper thing.

Prabhupada: [Transl. People of the whole world like and appreciate this very much.] And Tamala Krsna?

Tamala Krsna: Yes?

Prabhupada: Where is that magistrate's...?

Tamala Krsna: The one from London?

Prabhupada: Yes. How the magistrate has... We are getting good judgment in so many big, big cases.

Tamala Krsna: The London one we won.

Prabhupada: We have owned one case, very important case, in the Supreme Court of New York. I have translated into Hindi.

Indian man (1): The case has been decided in your favor.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Indian man (2): Yes, that he told me and he...

Indian man (1): [Transl. I have not seen it.]

Prabhupada: I, I... A very learned judge has translated it. Because there are so many technical... And the Indians...

Indian man (1): [Transl. See, in our country at present there are so many disputes, but you alone posses the complete inconceivable power and you are the topmost Guru of the age.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. No. I am nothing.]

Indian man (2): [Transl. You are the Guru of all people whether they accept or not. Even if they do not accept verbly, their eyes, their lives will one day come and boldly accept that you are the only Guru of this century.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. There the Indians are saying like that. In the foreign country.]

Indian man (3): He is the greatest guru of the age.

Devotees: Jaya! Hari bol.

Atreya Rsi: In Iran, in the court, the prince and the princess are chanting Hare Krsna...

Indian man (1): [Transl. Wonderful. Great.]

Atreya Rsi: ..in the court, in the palace.

Indian man (3): Sri Gauraṅga's incarnation on his tongue.

Tamala Krsna: Srila Prabhupada, I have both-that one from London and New York.

Prabhupada: That London is shorter.

Tamala Krsna: London is a lot shorter. This happened in London, England. It says, "Next morning in the court we pleaded not guilty to the charges laid against us." This is... "Our men were doing nagara-saṅkirtana, so some constable, police officer, said that 'You are blocking the footpath with your nagara-saṅkirtana, and I must arrest you.' " So they were taken to court. "The next morning in court we pleaded not guilty to the charges laid against us. The judge, therefore, deferred our case to a later time, the 2nd of February at two p.m. It was not until the day before the hearing that we realized the actual significance of the appointment. The second day of February was the appearance day of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. After ending a morning of fasting and chanting with a blissful arati and splendid prasada, we set off for the Great Marlborough Street magistrate's court in a confident mood, sure that Lord Nityananda would protect us. We were accompanied by a new and enthusiastic visitor to the temple, the Reverend Norman Morehouse, second only to the Bishop of Norwich, who came to observe the proceedings."

Prabhupada: He's our great friend.

Tamala Krsna: This man is very big man in Christian church. He's a very good friend of ours.

Prabhupada: He's very big man.

Tamala Krsna: He came with us to the court.

Prabhupada: Impressed.

Tamala Krsna: "We arrived at the courthouse and waited in the big hallway while the Reverend went through to the public gallery. The plainclothesman who arrested us soon turned up, now dressed in uniform. It took a little persuasion before they cautiously took some of Lord Nityananda's prasada in the form of cookies while we waited for our case to turn up." The devotees brought prasadam with them to the courtroom and were distributing. "A stir went... At last we were beckoned into the courthouse itself and ushered into the dock. A stir went around the assembly in the court. Shaven heads and saffron robes were the last thing anyone expected to see in Her Majesty's court on a Tuesday afternoon. The magistrate, a balding, portly man in his late middle age, a red nose in his dank grey suit, surveyed us over the top of his gold-rimmed spectacles. We affirmed our plea of not guilty to the clerk of the court, and one of the constables, who was sworn in at the witness box, proceeded to report the supposed conditions of our arrest. The actual number of the chanting nagara-saṅkirtana party miraculously grew from the original five first of all to seven when he started his account, and later to eight persons when he described how three devotees ran off and escaped arrest. According to his description, it seemed that many more people had been using Oxford Street than we had been aware of. Indeed, unlimited numbers of pedestrians had been obstructed and forced into the road at the grave risk of being run over by the almost nonexistent traffic. The judge listened impartially and then, since we had no advocate to speak on our behalf, he asked us if we would like to cross-examine the evidence of the policeman. When we humbly pointed out that the constable, like everyone else, had imperfect senses, that he had contradicted himself in assessing the actual number of devotees, the judge politely suggested that it was a mathematical error. A titter of laughter rippled around the courtroom at his remark, while the police constable shuffled his feet and looked embarrassed. We were asked if we ourselves would like to speak for our defense, so having been previously chosen as a spokesman, I volunteered to be sworn in at the witness box. Surprised when the usher asked me to hold a copy of Bhagavad-gita in my right hand, I read out the words of the card presented before me." He didn't swear on the Bible; he swore on the Bhagavad-gita. " 'I swear by almighty Sri Krsna that the evidence I give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.' Encouraged by smiles from the devotees in the dock, I began to describe the circumstances of our arrest, this time as they actually had happened. The magistrate listened as I went on to say, 'We understand that the police have a duty to perform, sir, but we also have a duty. We have been instructed by our spiritual master. Indeed, we are instructed by all the principal scriptures of the world-the Koran, the Torah, the Bible, and in the Vedas-that we should glorify God by chanting His holy names. Whether you know the Lord by the name of Allah, Jehovah, Rama, Govinda or Krsna, God is one.' 'Oh, quite so, quite so,' affirmed the magistrate. Encouraged, I went on. 'It is said in the Vedic scriptures, in the Brhad Naradiya Purana, harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam .'

'In English. What does it mean in English?' the magistrate asked. 'Kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha. This is written in the Sanskrit language five thousand years ago. It means, "In the Age of Kali, the present age of materialism and quarrel, there is no alternative, there is no alternative, there is no alternative for making positive spiritual advancement but the chanting of the holy name, the holy name, the holy name of the Lord." ' The judge, in fact the whole courtroom, sat there fascinated. I remembered Srila Prabhupada's introduction..."

Prabhupada: [aside:] Bring some fruits.

Tamala Krsna: "I remembered Srila Prabhupada's introduction to the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and I began to speak further. 'Although mankind has made great material advancement in so many spheres, we can factually say that there is a fault in the social body at large. People are not happy with their day-to-day activities, and there is an increasing disturbance of drug addiction, prostitution, violence and crime. The root of the problem is lack of God consciousness. People are unaware of the actual purpose of life.' The judge, intrigued by this sound philosophy coming from the witness box, relaxed his judicial appearance, sat back, and took a sip of water from his glass. Encouraged, I asked, 'Your Honor, with your permission I would like to read a short passage which appeared in the London Observer in October, 1972. It is an excerpt from an article written by the eminent English historian Sir Arnold Toynbee. "The cause of it, the world's malady, is spiritual. We are suffering from having sold our souls to the pursuit of an objective which is both spiritually wrong and practically unattainable. We have to reconsider our objective and change it, and until we do this, we shall not have peace either amongst ourselves or within each of us." ' " Then the devotee continued. " 'As devotees of the Lord, we strictly follow four principles, cultivating the qualities of human life: mercifulness, truthfulness, cleanliness and austerity. The absence of these qualities means the degradation of society. So the spreading of spiritual understanding amongst humanity at large is the highest welfare work, and an essential part of this program is the distribution of literature and the congregational chanting in the street of the holy names of God.' 'Is that all?' inquired the judge. 'Yes, sir,' was the reply. 'Then you may step down,' he instructed. Adjusting his spectacles and regarding the devotees, who were once more assembled in the dock, he said in a very firm yet amicable manner, 'In legal terms you are guilty of obstruction, although it is of a very minor degree. Taking this into consideration, and because of your obvious sincerity, I have decided to dismiss the case.' We smiled jubilantly and, thanking the magistrate, were about to step down when Krsna prompted me to say, 'Sir, we were wondering if you had a court library here, in which case we would like to present a book for addition to the collection.' 'Thank you,' replied the judge. 'I am quite sure we can accommodate it.' Giving a copy of Srila Prabhupada's Sri Isopanisad to one of the clerks, who promised to pass it on to the judge, we left the courtroom, thanking Lord Nityananda for His mercy." Jaya Srila Prabhupada.

Indian man (1): [Transl. Great. Have it translated in Hindi so that it will be benefitted to all people.]

Indian man (2): [Transl. The judgment has been written in a very dramatic way.]

Prabhupada: And that judgment is still in order.

Tamala Krsna: This was written by one Saksi Gopala dasa brahmacari. Named Saksi Gopala dasa.

Indian man (2): [Transl. I see.]

Tamala Krsna: He's one of Prabhupada's English disciples.

Indian man (3): [Transl. In that how nicely you have written that they are charging us for brainwashing, but it is us who are giving them brain. When there is no brain then where is the question of brainwashing?]

Prabhupada: [Transl. I always tell them, where is your brain? First of all show your brain then we will wash it.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. Right. Govinda will bestow mercy and you will regain your health. By Govinda's mercy and by the blessings of all you will become alright.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. If all of you bless, it will happen.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. We will pray to Sri Radha-ramana. When you become fully well then one day please come and have darsana of Sri Radha Ramanaji]

Prabhupada: [Transl. Surely I will come. Surely I will come and also honor Radha-ramana's prasadam. I have this desire for a long time.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. May I send you tomorrow some special Sri Radha-ramana's prasada available in small clay cups?]

Prabhupada: [Transl. No. No. I will come there and honor it.]

Indian man (2): [Transl. A few small clay cups…]

Prabhupada: [Transl. No. I will come there and eat. Otherwise I won't eat.]

Indian man (2): [Transl. How nice.]

Tamala Krsna: Jaya.

Prabhupada: [Transl. When I lived at Kesi ghata, I used to go there every day for darsana.]

Indian man (2): [Transl. How nice. Give in a leaf cup.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. Leaf cup.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. Or in a paper.]

Bhakti-caru: Okay.

Indian man (2): [Transl. Some improvement is there.] He will be all right in due course of time. He is a special soul.

Prabhupada: No, I am confident when I am in Vrndavana I'm all right.

Indian man (1): [Transl. There is one more point, ordinary people enjoy the fruits of their respective karma for which they are destined to. But on your head you have taken the karmic load of thousands of people.] So many people are committing crimes. They are doing sins. They have got their own fortunes. And you are affected by all that. Therefore you are... [Transl. by your mercy all their sinful reactions will be eradicated. Who did you appoint as the director for this temple? For this holy place of Vrndavan?]

Prabhupada: [Transl. No. They all came from abroad.]

Indian man: (2): [Transl. No, No. For this place who did you choose as the permanent authority to manage?]

Prabhupada: [Transl. Permanent arrangements are already made.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. Already made.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. These people are there.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. This person lives here.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. He is a GBC-Governing body. And there is President.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. Your Bombay temple is completed?]

Prabhupada: [Transl. You go and see our Bombay temple.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. It was under construction. Now I am going there.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. Very nice. There is no other temple like that in Bombay.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. I am going there on 11th june.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. I see. You kindly come.] You just receive him very well.

Bhakti-caru: [Transl. He is the president of Bombay temple. Giriraja.]

Prabhupada: He is the president.

Indian man (1): [to Giriraja: I am coming on llth June, so some day from 11am to 3pm I will be there.

Giriraja: You can stay with us if you like.

Indian man (1): [Transl. I will be staying at Marine Drive. There is a program, but I will come there.]

[pause]

Prabhupada: He is useless.

Indian man (2): [Transl. I asked him to give some points about the life history of Maharaji from ISKCON, so that we can write a life sketch.]

Prabhupada: Whole thing. We have no hope for...[?]

Bhakti-caru: Will provide you all the points..

Indian man (1): I have asked this boy to give me some necessary points about your life.

Indian man (2): Biography.

Indian man (1): Biography. He's my brother-in-law.

Bhavananda: Last year, when you came to Mayapur... This is the model of the mandira we're going to build.

Indian man (1): Mayapur? Navadvipa?

Bhavananda: You were there last year?

Indian man (1): I have been there for three or four days in temple block.

Indian man (2): [Transl. Wonderful.]

Bhakti-caru: [Transl. This will be the biggest in Asia.]

Indian man (1): He's M.A. from Oxford. Very learned.

Prabhupada: Oh.

Indian man (1): Or he was the chief editor of Sarasvati and Bharata Daily paper.

Prabhupada: Sarasvati, Bharata Daily.

Indian man (1): In Allahabad. He's here from Allahabad.

Prabhupada: [aside:] So you just take his address and go and see him. He'll help you.

Gopala Krsna: Yes.

Prabhupada: [Transl. In Allahabad, is there any arrangement for [indistinct]? Kindly help us to arrange.]

Indian man (3): [Transl. Whatever service you say.]

Prabhupada: Take his address immediately.

Gopala Krsna: Yes.

Prabhupada: "Yes," what means? You take now his address. Hmm. Sarasvati... [Transl. Paper belongs to Allahabad.] It was started by some woman?

Indian man (1): It was a monthly paper, periodical

Prabhupada: [Transl. It is a famous paper.]

Indian man (1): And he had been one of the chief editors, and he...

Prabhupada: [Transl. Where is your office?]

Indian man (2): Colonel Ganj.

Prabhupada: Han?

Indian man (2): Colonel Ganj.

Indian man (1): [Transl. Colonel Ganj.]

Prabhupada: Colonel Ganj, oh. [Transl. Near Nehru's house?]

Indian man (2): [Transl. Yes.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. He has great respect for you. He wanted to have your darsana. As soon as he came to know you are here, he came for your darsana.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. It's very kind of you. He is learned.

[pause] vidvan sarvatra pujyate. sva-dese pujyate raja-vidvan sarvatra pujyate.

Indian man (1): [Transl. So now I take your leave.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. Please forgive me.]

Indian man (1): [Transl. Please don't say that. I will be at your service. I will pray to Radha-ramana for you day and night.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. If you wish it will happen.]

Indian man (2): [Transl. In January Sajjanasraya, Padambuja, they stayed with me for four days in Allahabad. They went to... [break]

Prabhupada: Because in India, I can understand, there is an undercurrent. Is it not?

Tamala Krsna: Undercurrent is the right word.

Prabhupada: Undercurrent going on, but after my demise it may be taken away from your hand.

Tamala Krsna: Phew! You understood that from this discussion here with this man?

Prabhupada: I understood it long ago. It has been stayed, Bombay, Vrndavana. So how you are going to guard yourself? That is the problem.

Tamala Krsna: I... Your order that we form..., that it be a trust property with lifetime trustees...

Prabhupada: So now you are all here. Very cautiously and everything agree.

Tamala Krsna: That will protect it. At least the property will be protected.

Prabhupada: You should be very much determined, strong-minded. Otherwise it will slip. Such huge property...

Tamala Krsna: Actually these properties are the envy of all of India. They're the best properties in each place.

Prabhupada: Not only property. Our prestige, our position... Everything is envied. Everywhere we are first class.

Tamala Krsna: Yes. There's no rival.

Bhavananda: There will be men, I know. There will be men who will want to try and pose themselves as guru.

Tamala Krsna: That was going on many years ago. Your Godbrothers were thinking like that. Madhava Maharaja.

Bhavananda: Oh, yes. Oh, ready to jump.

Prabhupada: Very strong management required, and vigilant observation. [indistinct background whispering, Tamala Krsna and Bhavananda] So you are foreign...

Gopala Krsna: Beg your pardon?

Prabhupada: You are foreign trained up. And you also have idea how to protect our interest.

Gopala Krsna: Yes, Srila Prabhupada, I'm always...

Prabhupada: There is very great undercurrent.

Gopala Krsna: I never trusted them much. I know those things. [indistinct background whispering, Bhavananda]

Prabhupada: Make it... [end]