770120rc.bhu
Room Conversation

January 20, 1977, Bhuvanesvara
(someone preaching in Oriyan over loudspeaker in background)
Prabhupada: ...neither they do not know how life becomes possible. They may go on (Imitating the speaker?) "Bhag, bhag," but these two things are absent. You are all scientists? No. You do not know how life becomes possible. They simply theorize in so many ways, but they cannot give us any positive information. (Bengali) "Man is the architect of his own fortune." So we can take the words of the acaryas. (Bengali) (someone preaching in Oriya in background) (Prabhupada speaks in Bengali to guests, tells someone to give them prasada)
Indian boy: I want to read some books published by Swamiji. Can I get?
Prabhupada: Yes, why not? You can have here. We have got forty standing orders from this city in different libraries, colleges. So you can take books from any library, or if you like you can purchase also.
Indian: From libraries?
Prabhupada: Yes. So many libraries, they have ordered. There is a list in Orissan. (aside:) You can give me little, little sample... [break] ...for life that it is a dead body. A dead body. So what is the use of decorating a dead body? So if anyone accepts Christ actually and his instruction, then it proves that he has got a good soul. Otherwise what... He's dead body. That's a fact. If one accepts that Christ says, "Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not do this," if one is actually a person with soul, they must accept this. Otherwise where is the use? Dead body. The same thing, as we say, apranasya hi dehasya mandanam loka-ranjanam. What is the use of decorating a dead body? A dead body means soul-less. When the soul is not there, it is called dead body. So even one has got the soul, but he does not act... They possesses the soul. Then it is dead body. So when we shall hear about the land? One program is suspended. That program is for constructing a house for me.
Gargamuni: Oh, in Mayapura.
Prabhupada: Yes. I have suspended it. So first of all let us see how much land we are going... Then we shall select.
Gargamuni: Well, I feel this land acquisition is not going to take place so soon 'cause... [break]
Prabhupada: Yes. Why should we think?
Gargamuni: That has always been your program.
Prabhupada: Yes. Why should we think Krsna is poor man?
Gargamuni: You used to give us ISKCON bullets when we came.
Prabhupada: (laughs) Yes. You were from the very beginning. Alone, I was preparing. "Give them at least one or two capatis. That's all."
Gargamuni: You were keeping in the corner...
Prabhupada: (laughs) Yes!
Gargamuni: ...in your apartment. We used to ask, "Swamiji, can we take?" And you used to say "Yes."
Prabhupada: And that Stryadisa?
Gargamuni: Yes, Stryadisa. He would eat twenty capatis.
Prabhupada: "Stryadisa, shall I give you more?" "Yes. Four." Then he finished. "Can I give you more?" "Yes." So I was giving him four at a time. So four at a time, I was giving five times, six times.
Gargamuni: Yes, so much. There was always a stock of something.
Prabhupada: That atta, one bag.
Gargamuni: One bag a week.
Prabhupada: And Kirtanananda was preparing at a time at least ten capatis in that oven, very quickly. Yes. And Jadurani was rolling. Everyone was engaged. And on Saturday we prepared so many samosas, puris and sweetballs, kept in stock, and Sunday people were coming. At least seventy-five guests.
Gargamuni: Oh, yes. In that little room...
Prabhupada: Yes.
Gargamuni: ...in 26 Second Avenue.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Gargamuni: It was packed up.
Prabhupada: Acyutananda's mother was coming. Sometimes your mother came? No.
Gargamuni: Not for a feast, but she came.
Prabhupada: No, she used to come. And kissing you. (laughter) He's very pet son of his mother. Sometimes I told her, "Mrs. Bruce, you can give us some money." "I have given my two sons!" And "That's all right." I have met his mother, is very nice lady.
Ramesvara: My family is very much afraid that they may lose another son to this movement. (Prabhupada laughs) They are very afraid of that. They know that this is so good. The books are so convincing.
Prabhupada: But I don't think your mother was any time angry upon me.
Gargamuni: No.
Prabhupada: No. She liked at our...
Gargamuni: She knows we're leading a good life.
Ramesvara: We have one mother in Los Angeles of a girl named Lila-sakti. She's a big book distributor. And her mother, she loves this movement so much that when the deprogrammers start debating us, she stands up and yells at them that "My daughter was on drugs, hippie, before she came to this movement. This movement has saved her. If I had known about this movement when I was a young girl, I would have joined this movement!" On television she's speaking like that, very strongly. "You have no right to criticize! You don't know anything about this movement." She says, "You just come over to my house for lunch and I'll tell you all about this movement, how nice it is." She started this club, "Parents for Krsna."
Prabhupada: Oh, she is very sincere. And her daughter, this Lila...? What is?
Prabhupada: She's wonderful girl. She's expert in everything. Hayagriva's mother, father?
Gargamuni: Yes. They wrote that letter.
Prabhupada: Yes. They personally came. And many fathers came to Los Angeles to give me thanks. "Swamiji, it is our great fortune that you have come." They said like that.
Gargamuni: Srila Prabhupada, there's also another program which I think requires some financial assistance, is this boat program. In one month they sold ten thousand books, a group of ten men. And they go to so many villages. And I think if we can get a mechanized boat, a larger boat, they can go to so many places which usually takes so much time, because generally for them...
Prabhupada: Mechanized means...
Gargamuni: A diesel engine.
Prabhupada: Then you'll require mechanics. You cannot ply or..., independently. If some mechanical wrong is there, then you are...
Gargamuni: No, we have our own men who service our vehicles. They know diesel engine.
Prabhupada: So there is no objection, but too much mechanical means you have to depend. You consider that.
Gargamuni: But then sometimes there's also no wind and they have to sit for three or four days.
Prabhupada: So wind you cannot move. That is not safe.
Gargamuni: No, if there's no wind, then they can't move. And they have to have these men to... They walk on the shore and push the boat, and it takes so long, and there's so many villages that they can do. They can do thirty thousand books in one month if they had a boat which could travel freely.
Prabhupada: Then what will happen to this boat?
Gargamuni: No, we can use both. But we want to expand the program.
Prabhupada: Hm. So I have no objection. Money can be supplied, but it may not be another burden. That's it.
Gargamuni: No, we'll investigate the ship because in Calcutta is a very big center of shipbuilding.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Gargamuni: They build big ships there. And we don't have to limit our traveling simply in the river. We can also go along the coast of Bengal and also Orissa. There's so many villages. And if we have...
Prabhupada: Orissa... That means you have to go by the sea, Bay of Bengal
Gargamuni: Bay of Bengal. And there's so many villages along there.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Gargamuni: You can do so much sankirtana.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Gargamuni: We could come...
Prabhupada: If... The Ganges comes in this way. Then you come to Bengal, Bay of Bengalthis side, Orissa, this side, East Bengal. Is it not?
Gargamuni: Yes. They recently went to Sagar Island, and they did very nice sankirtana there. But this boat is not large enough, and it's also very... It takes so much time.
Prabhupada: So why not another boat like that?
Gargamuni: But you can't get a larger boat than that, and it's too small. Our temple is too small. We need a longer boat with a larger temple for the...
Prabhupada: You require a steamer like?
Gargamuni: A small steam..., a small fishing boat like those fishing boats. They have these big...
Prabhupada: It is run by petrol?
Gargamuni: No. Diesel.
Prabhupada: Diesel.
Gargamuni: Yes. I've seen them in Calcutta. Next time you come, we can walk on the Ganges side. They're about sixty feet long.
Prabhupada: So they are prepared in Calcutta?
Gargamuni: Yes. They make them there.
Prabhupada: You can have.
Gargamuni: And we can get a custom-made ship. Your Divine Grace may also want to take. From Mayapura we can go by boat. It takes only five or six hours by boat if we have an engine, and you may like the nice trip.
Hari-sauri: That'll be very nice.
Prabhupada: So how you go?
Gargamuni: And we can have cruises...
Prabhupada: No, how you go? You have to come to the sea? No.
Gargamuni: No. No. We go from Calcutta to Mayapura by boat.
Prabhupada: By boat. Then we can pass through this Naihati.
Gargamuni: Yes.
Prabhupada: Eh? Naihati is the other way?
Gargamuni: Panihati, yes.
Prabhupada: Panihati, ha. Panihati.
Gargamuni: You pass through... See, by this present boat it takes about ten days from Calcutta to Mayapura. It takes a long time. And if there's no wind, they have to walk on the shore. And the boat is too small now for our program.
Prabhupada: No, then you can take... What is the price?
Gargamuni: Well, I can only estimate. I have not gone deeply into it. But it will cost a few lakhs of rupees.
Prabhupada: Few lakhs?
Gargamuni: Yeah. (Prabhupada laughs) Well, it's a huge boat. But it can go on the sea. And we can do the whole coast of India. We can go all around the coast and do all the villages.
Prabhupada: Why so much? Few lakhs?
Gargamuni: Well, it's a huge thing. It's made of solid teak wood. It's a huge thing.
Ramesvara: It's dangerous, going on the sea.
Gargamuni: No, not if you have proper navigation. And this sea is not so... It's not a rough sea.
Prabhupada: Bay of Bengal is rough.
Gargamuni: I've been on the Bay of Bengal. No, actually I was not on the Bay of Bengal. I was near the mouth, in Bangladesh. It's rough...
Prabhupada: Bay of Bengal is very rough.
Gargamuni: But Sagar Island, isn't that in the Bay?
Prabhupada: Not actually in the bay. It is on the...
Ramesvara: Oh, we saw in Orissa beach, the Jagannatha beach. The waves are coming, very big waves.
Gargamuni: No, but I've seen fishing boats. I've seen them. They're small little boats.
Prabhupada: But they are accustomed. They can...
Ramesvara: We need some pretty good men if you start sailing the...
Gargamuni: Oh, yes, we'll get a good navigator, definitely.
Ramesvara: You'll hire someone?
Gargamuni: No, we'll get a retired man. They'd love the work. Just like we have that engineer. He's a retired engineer. We pay him some small salary...
Prabhupada: Why you want to go by boat to the coast?
Gargamuni: Because you can't get by road. There's no roads. They're dirt roads. Many of the villages you can't get to except along the water routes.
Prabhupada: Hm. But so far I know, it is very rough, Bay of Bengal.
Gargamuni: Well, we can invest... I know these ships in Calcutta. I saw at the pier at least five or six of these ships, these fishing boats, and they go up and down. I know if we take a...
Prabhupada: No, if you get a big boat, that is all right, ferry boat. But if you get a small boat, the sea is very rough.
Gargamuni: Sixty feet. Sixty, seventy feet. My father had a sixty-foot boat, and we went in the Atlantic Ocean, and it wasn't so bad.
Prabhupada: Atlantic Ocean is very rough.
Gargamuni: Yes. But we went there. We had a cruise boat. Actually it was forty-two feet.
Prabhupada: And here it is sixty.
Gargamuni: You can get sixty, seventy. Whatever we want we can custom make. But then we can expand this. They did ten thousand books. We can do more books. And there's so many villages.
Prabhupada: Yes, there are.
Gargamuni: And now in Orissa we have so many books. We could send a boat here and do the whole coast. The coast of Orissa, we could sell so many books in these villages.
Prabhupada: So I have no objection. You consult amongst yourselves. I want expansion, that's all, some way or other. (laughs)
Gargamuni: But you can rest assured that I will investigate and see.
Prabhupada: Don't make it a burden. If it is properly utilized, do it. All right. Take rest. So you want this...? [break] This is the only camp connected with that unfortunate sunhouse? (somehow?)
Indian man (1): That's... I am wondering
Indian man (2): (Bengali)
Prabhupada: Eh?
Indian man (3): (Bengali)
Devotee: It is not the first day that it has happened
Prabhupada: Huh?
Devotee: It is not the first night that it has happened.
Prabhupada: Daily it is going on? Eh?
Devotee: Last night we had electricity, but the nights before that, we had no electricity.
Prabhupada: (Bengali) (end)

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