|
770701r5.vrn
Prabhupada: Then we began to... I used to call his wife didi, as my sister, eldest sister. That man was old. At that time he was at least seventy years old. And his wife died, so he had no children, so he married again. Old husband, young wife, but the relationship was so nice, great devotee and the wife devoted.
Prabhupada: Formerly even eighty years old, they used to marry.
Prabhupada: Eighty years old.
Prabhupada: Eighty.
Prabhupada: There were many cases.
Prabhupada: If he had no family member, he would marry again. (pause) But it was subject of criticism.
Prabhupada: Oh, yes. But the custom was that.
Prabhupada: In Bhagavata there are many instances, very old man married. Anyway, this gentleman was such a nice devotee. Oh.
Prabhupada: Hm?
Prabhupada: Because later on he retiredhe was a pleaderso whole day and night, simply devotee. Sometimes he would offer obeisances to the Deity. Actually he was old man. He'll fall asleep by... And he would remain in that two, three hours.
Prabhupada: Oh, yes. And daily he would go to the Ganges.
Prabhupada: His name was Nanda Dulal Phaini(?). So yesterday I was thinking of him, and I said it in my... I am being purified by thinking of him. All of a sudden.
Prabhupada: Similarly, the whole atmosphere... Because we were children, we were going here and there, the neighboring hoods (neighborhoods), all houses... Everyone devotee.
Prabhupada: Wonderful. We do not find such atmosphere now. Even maidservant, servant. Their character was not very goodstill devotee(?). And this was the opportunity.
Prabhupada: Radha-Govinda Mandir. And the center was that Mulliks Radha-Krsna. This Mulliks, some of them were capitalist. Capitalist means rich men, they kept prostitute. But are still devotee. In the morning they would, after taking bath and everything, changing clothes, they must go to see Radha-Govinda.
Prabhupada: Oh, at that time.
Prabhupada: Dress, jewelry, and foodstuff, oh... Would offer kacuris, very big, first-class, and luci, all very crispy.
Prabhupada: Yes. And ghee and rabri and similarly other... In the plate, you see?
Prabhupada: And it was the custom of the Mulliks, daily prasadam, they should not eat all of them. Keep something as a balancesome neighborhood men, they will sell. This was...
Prabhupada: Distribution.
Prabhupada: Hm. Hm.
Prabhupada: Yes, that was the training in the childhood. This Ratha-yatra, Radha-Govinda seva, prasada distribution. Only the new thing I am doing-writing of books by the order of Guru Maharaja. Otherwise, whatever I have introduced, I was trained up in childhood. I simply imitated. I am simply surprised. Now nowadays, even a low class... Formerly all our maidservant and neighborhood maidservant, they had two business, one prostitute and one maidservant. Otherwise they could not maintain. Simply by becoming maidservant, no sufficient income. We were paying them for not whole time three rupees.
Prabhupada: Per month. So one house, three rupees, another house, three rupees, another house... In this way their income was ten to twelve rupees. Well that was not sufficient.
Prabhupada: So they had to allow the prostitution. But they were happy. But in that income in those men, they had a guru. The guru would come.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Prabhupada: In Bengal there was professional guru. They travel from one house to another. Our paternal guru was coming like that.
Prabhupada: Hm?
Prabhupada: Yes. I was initiated by that professional guru at the age of twelve years. Later on I rejected him.
Tamala Krsna: I wonder if he had any thought that his disciple, Your Divine Grace, would be one day such a devotee all over the world. You always said that's the perfection of a guru, if he has good disciple. So your professional guru had a best disciple.
Prabhupada: Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami later on, when I was young man, manager in Dr. Bose's laboratory... That my friend, Narend Mullik, he took me. There is direction. For real guru one can give up this professional guru.
Prabhupada: So all of a sudden I remember this Nanda Dulal Gosai. I was thinking of him. What a great devotee he was. He was observing some of the festivals, I think, Janmastami or Nandotsava, something, inviting friends, offering good prasadam. And he was living in a quarter full of Muhammadans.
Prabhupada: Muhammadans.
Prabhupada: Low-class Muhammadans.
Prabhupada: No, at that time they were so friendly.
Prabhupada: Muhammadans were also religious.
Prabhupada: One Muhammadan gentleman, Dinuniya, he was formerly Hindu, but when there was some famine... [break] He also made so many charitable institutions. He had a majheev(?), one etimakhana. Etimakhana means orphan house.
Prabhupada: Orphan house. He was cutting throat of the chicken on the street.
Prabhupada: We were accustomed. His servant, they would do. But we have seen it.
Prabhupada: Hm?
Prabhupada: All of a sudden they were cutting. Nowadays this Hindus are cutting.
Prabhupada: Chicken-eating has become very common thing. This Tarun Kanti and Tishar Kanti, they eat daily.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Prabhupada: Without chicken, this prasada, Kanti Ghosh cannot eat. And one Cinmayananda Swami... They are maintaining that sadhu. So he was giving prasadam with Tarun Kanti, er, yeah...
Prabhupada: Tishar Kanti. So he was taking. This Tarun Kanti said to..., "So you want to kill my father? He is not eating." He stopped giving him prasadam.
Prabhupada: He could not eat little.
Prabhupada: Hm?
Prabhupada: I think he is drinking also.
Prabhupada: Yes. Nowadays among the gentlemen, the chicken and cake(?).
Prabhupada: Wine cake(?). If you don't receive your friend with chicken and wine cake, then that reception is not good.
Prabhupada: The Sikhs, they invariably eat. The Marathis, low class, invariably eat.
Prabhupada: South Indians, low class, they eat.
Prabhupada: Chicken is very cheap food. You haven't got to maintain.
Prabhupada: Yes. And they produce egg.
Prabhupada: Eggs. And the chicken-eater cut throat.
Prabhupada: Fish. Fish as well. Fish also like that. You haven't got to maintain. They'll grow.
Tamala Krsna: But then, if you cut the chicken's throat, then one day you have to have your throat cut.
Prabhupada: That is not in the lawbook.
Prabhupada: Karma-bandhana. Yajnarthe karmanah anyatra loko 'yam karma-bandhanah [Bg. 3.9]. And Western countries regularly cultivate chicken producing.
Prabhupada: Big, big chicken within very short time.
Prabhupada: That is their staple food, chicken and beef and wine.
Prabhupada: No. Here they eat meat very secretive, some.
Prabhupada: Yes. Openly they'll never.
Prabhupada: No, no, no. In Mathura there is slaughterhouse.
Prabhupada: I do not know whether it is stopped or not, but formerly. In Bangladesh, fish you can get very cheap. It is... It is water. You can... Rivers.
Prabhupada: And especially for (indistinct), the branch of Ganges, it is full of fish, hilsa fish, very famous. You know hilsa fish?
Prabhupada: It is full of oil.
Tamala Krsna: Yeah. Very palatable for the fish-eaters. Bengalis, they are too much fond of fish-eating. They don't even... Sometimes people say, "Fish-eating is nonvegetarian."
Prabhupada: Non... Yes, "Fish is a vegetable, water vegetable."
Tamala Krsna: Yeah, that's what they say, "water vegetable." I noticed that these banana trees, they don't seem to have any bananas on them. Growing in your garden?
Prabhupada: Hm, why?
Tamala Krsna: My guess is that in order for bananas to grow... Like I have not seen normally banana trees growing in this side, you know what I mean, Vrndavana. I suspect it has something to do with the soil. You can't just take a tree and plant it wherever you want. Soil has to be such that it can give the proper nutrition for bananas to grow. It looks good, but it's not banana. [break]
Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/conversations/1977/jul/conversation_about_old_days_in_calcutta/vrndavana/july/01/1977 
|