760720cr.ny
Car Ride

July 20, 1976, New York
Prabhupada: When another came?
Ramesvara: Not in the same way. This city has so many, they have so many different groups, religious groups and minority groups from other parts of the world, they call it a melting pot. So they accept us because they've accepted so many others, the Puerto Ricans, the blacks, so similarly they are accepting us.
Prabhupada: Who?
Ramesvara: This city, the people of this city.
Prabhupada: America.
Ramesvara: New York.
Prabhupada: New York.
Ramesvara: In other places they consider us to be very foreign, alien. But here there are so many foreigners, so it fits right in.
Prabhupada: This is the Tenth Street? No.
Tamala Krsna: This is Amsterdam Avenue.
Prabhupada: Oh.
Tamala Krsna: Ninth Avenue turns into Amsterdam Avenue.
Ramesvara: Next year at the Ratha-yatra they are planning to have a press box, so that the newspapermen and television cameras can come and film the activities on stage also. They can film your lecture, they can film the play.
Tamala Krsna: We're also thinking to have a press box along the parade route, so that they can stay in an elevated position and take photos. We collected a total of about seven thousand dollars, Prabhupada.
Prabhupada: And what you spent?
Tamala Krsna: Spent ten thousand. But we also collected another fifteen thousand in advertisements. So total collection was about twenty, over twenty thousand, and expenditure was under ten.
Prabhupada: Good business. (laughter)
Tamala Krsna: And that was the first year.
Ramesvara: (chants japa)
Tamala Krsna: Next year we will collect sixty to seventy thousand dollars...
Devotee: Whew!
Tamala Krsna: Easily, I'm sure, with advertisements.
Prabhupada: Where the profit is going?
Tamala Krsna: Where is the profit? Into distributing more books.
Prabhupada: That's nice, very good.
Tamala Krsna: That is our only business. [break] ...completely cleansed all of the grounds throughout the night, Prabhupada.
Prabhupada: Where?
Tamala Krsna: Last night all night long we were cleaning up the grounds.
Ramesvara: At the park.
Tamala Krsna: At the park. One woman who lives next to the park said "In all my years of living here I've never seen such a wonderful festival held." And one..., the official of the park, who's in charge of the park, was on CBS television, and he said that "You see? Spiritual life is still present in Washington Square Park." He made that comment. He said "We are very proud to be able to say that in our... This park was founded hundreds of years ago, when America was religious." And he said "Spiritual life is still present in Washington Square Park."
Prabhupada: So why not ask the mayor to construct a temple there? (laughter)
Tamala Krsna: I don't think they'd...
Prabhupada: People will come.
Tamala Krsna: Maybe, but, ah, I don't think they will agree to that. They're not that spiritual.
Ramesvara: No, in America you have to raise your own money for temples. You cannot get the city to build it.
Tamala Krsna: No, you can't get their land either, not for a building like that. You can put a hospital maybe. Thing is, park space is so short in that area of the city that they..., I don't think they'd give it up for a building. Prabhupada told us yesterday that we should rent a small building downtown in that area and call it Gundica, so that Lord Jagannatha will stay down there.
Prabhupada: For one week.
Tamala Krsna: For one week. And we'll keep a restaurant there.
Prabhupada: And then they'll again come in procession.
Ramesvara: Wow!
Tamala Krsna: Yes, two festivals.
Gurudasa: I was told there was another procession last night bringing the car back, and all the night persons-there's a different whole segment of the city, people who come at night...
Devotee: Bums.
Gurudasa: ...who stay up all night. And they were there, hundreds of people following the car back in the nighttime.
Tamala Krsna: It took about seven hours to bring the carts back. All night they worked. Jayananda was slaving out there, and Adi-kesava Swami. Adi-kesava finally got back at five in the morning, collapsed on the carts, he was exhausted.
Prabhupada: They should be given some recommendations(?) in writing.
Tamala Krsna: Give Adi-kesava a recommendation. This will be gigantic, Srila Prabhupada. I'll tell you one thing, that the first way we go, next year when we go one way, it will get huge publicity, and that will be the publicity for the going return trip. Because it will be so publicized, even more people will come on the return ride.
Ramesvara: On the return you simply go to the temple and drop the Deities off?
Tamala Krsna: Yes. We'll go to Fifty-ninth Street and have another feast at the park.
Ramesvara: Yes, there has to be another feast.
Tamala Krsna: We'll have the feast, we may have buses, we'll have all our buses, and we'll bus the people to the temple. We could rent buses, Ramesvara.
Prabhupada: Return Ratha-yatra. Ulta-ratha.
Tamala Krsna: What is it called?
Prabhupada: Ulta-ratha.
Ramesvara: Should the actors perform the Hera Pancami ceremony?
Prabhupada: That is in the middle.
Ramesvara: In the middle.
Prabhupada: Do that(?).
Ramesvara: So they can do that? [break] ...Pancami, where they carry the goddess of fortune on an opulent palanquin.
Tamala Krsna: Actually, New York doesn't have a name. We have to give it some name. We call Los Angeles as New Dvaraka. Here it's just New York. [break]
Ramesvara: (whispering) Radhavallabha.
Ramesvara: Radhavallabha.
Tamala Krsna: ...monkey.
Prabhupada: What is that?
Ramesvara: Radhavallabha is your faithful servant.
Tamala Krsna: Guarding you. [break] (outside car)
Ghanasyama: We were talking about the pictures, the paintings in the books. We were mentioning how professors liked the paintings and how sometimes they actually buy the books because of the nice paintings. Sometimes when we go back to see a professor or librarian a year later, we'll notice that they'll have a catalogue up on the bulletin board. Sometimes they'll take the cover of the jacket of the book and they'll put it on display. And now we're getting recognized when we go to some of the colleges. They say, "Oh, you're the man with the nice colorful books. We've seen your catalogue, we got one in the mail, we've seen your books, and they're very attractive books." And our men are getting known now that because we've been to most of the schools in America once, and they say "You're the men who don't leave until your books are in the library." Even if the school is closed, our men, now, they'll go to the professor's home and they'll get him out of bed to come to see the librarian or to write a notice or to call the librarian. So even if the school is closed, the books are still being placed, and when the students come the books are in the library. [break] (in car)
Prabhupada: Yes.
Satsvarupa: Is that what you want?
Prabhupada: Yes. Gurudasa Maharaja can speak very nice.
Satsvarupa: The speaking starts in the fall, especially. That's when we could work together.
Prabhupada: No, in our temple.(?)
Satsvarupa: In the temples also.
Gurudasa: Should I not go to the London zone at this time? I've been invited. They say they need a sannyasi in that zone, for years, so I've been invited. Do you think I should go now with Satsvarupa Maharaja, or go to London?
Prabhupada: That you decide among the all of you.
Gurudasa: All right. Very good. [break]
Prabhupada: Yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah [SB 5.18.12]. As soon as one becomes devotee, all the good qualification immediately manifest. Harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-gunah.
Tamala Krsna: (whispering) ...all these people hanging out and making noise.
Prabhupada: Hare Krsna. (end)

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