Conversation [partially recorded] – March 16, 1971, Bombay

How you will preach in the villages?

Tamala Krsna: ...[indistinct] let's say our needs. But we know people who will buy it somewhere else. But [indistinct] will change. Perhaps we should have our own place of worship.

Prabhupada: Indians [indistinct] students are from all over the world, through birth. We should, when we see that [indistinct] also try for [indistinct]. It is not like your country, that velvet road and everywhere there is motel, there is supply of gas and this, that.

Tamala Krsna: Then we'll come with you immediately.

Prabhupada: What?

Tamala Krsna: Then we'll all come with you now. The only reason we want to remain in Bombay was to purchase vans, trucks. Now I fear, Prabhupada, is that..., that we know that Your Divine Grace...

Prabhupada: But what..., where you shall remain? This place is not for…

Tamala Krsna: No, we won't remain.

Prabhupada: That man, Jamun, that building, that Sita-Rama...

Tamala Krsna: Oh.

Prabhupada: ...they are welcoming us. They are [indistinct] to help when the building is [indistinct], and they are also prepared to give you transport facilities. But it is very away from Bombay.

Syamasundara: The only reason we were thinking to remain in Bombay for a short time is to get equipment and printing leaflets to pass out in Indian languages along the way while we will travel.

Prabhupada: If you get equipment for traveling, you still you do not know Indian language. How you will preach in the villages?

Tamala Krsna: No, that's right. I think Prabhupada's right. There's no preaching in...

Prabhupada: Villages, you have no scope for preaching...

Tamala Krsna: No, only the major cities.

Prabhupada: Major cities, and amongst the enlightened class. Just like last evening we had, they are all enlightened. So unless we get such support, from the mass of people you cannot.

Tamala Krsna: Prabhupada? Say if we try to establish temples wherever you go now...

Prabhupada: No. Apart from establishing temple, you don't establish.

Tamala Krsna: It's just, the sahkirtana party will be depleted if every time we go and leave the city we try and leave some men there to open a temple. There won't be any men left.

Prabhupada: No.

Tamala Krsna: This should be a tour of the world, I think, trying to give the whole world an idea of Krsna consciousness.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Tamala Krsna: All right. We were thinking that everywhere we go we could take down names and addresses in great detail, as well as make members throughout the world, and then to retrace our steps later on and open temples. For instance, to come back to Bombay...

Prabhupada: Now, in Bombay we are finding difficulty, fourth-class at the present moment. This is temporary. And that place is not good.

Devotee: [indistinct]

Prabhupada: I think it was, that Madanan's place, it is not Madanan's place. It has been wrong place shown. Madanan is very rich man. I think that proprietor... You showed me one house?

Tamala Krsna: Yes.

Prabhupada: That place is right place.

Tamala Krsna: Yes.

Prabhupada: And you are shown a wrong place.

Devotee: Oh. And there's no one in there. He said there was no one home...

Prabhupada: You went to...

Syamasundara: Yes.

Prabhupada: ...bring the…

Syamasundara: There was no one there...

Prabhupada: That place is the right place.

Syamasundara: There were locks on all the doors. Big locks on every door.

Tamala Krsna: Why did they do that?

Prabhupada: That is another cheating?

Tamala Krsna: Yes. It's a cheating.

Prabhupada: Therefore I do not know what is the policy of this...

Tamala Krsna: Lalji.

Prabhupada: Lalji.

Devotee: Tomorrow that gentleman...

Prabhupada: Why don't you call him? He cannot be seen. He cannot..., he did not come. Call...

Devotee: [indistinct]

Prabhupada: Call and let him come. Who is it? Who is it?

Tamala Krsna: It's this man from Agarwal.

Prabhupada: Oh.

Tamala Krsna: He wants the list of men who will come.

Prabhupada: Yes, so...

Tamala Krsna: We're not prepared, though, to do it, unless...

Prabhupada: [Hindi]

Gurudas: [indistinct]

Prabhupada: [Hindi] That Sita-Rama temple, they are very much anxious to receive us.

Gurudas: How long does it take? It doesn't take that long to get there.

Prabhupada: Huh?

Gurudas: How long does it take to get there?

Devotee: Half hour.

Gurudas: If..., if we don't have...

Prabhupada: And they are prepared to give you transport facilities also.

Syamasundara: But do we..., do we need all of this equipment for traveling, then? Amplifiers, microphones, tents?

Prabhupada: Traveling equipments, not for Indian villages.

Syamasundara: No, for towns, for cities.

Gurudas: Why do we need tents in cities?

Syamasundara: Well, if it rains. Camp. Set up camp for big cities? Is that... Is it better to go...

Prabhupada: Yes. You, you can preach in cities. You cannot preach in the villages.

Syamasundara: Because just like here we are at the mercy of so many people. Only if they provide us can we go into their place.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Syamasundara: We shift here, shift there. If we have our tents, we have our own transport, we can find some field or some beach.

Prabhupada: But that is a... That is a big job. You have, if you have to fix your tents, and somebody will have to go find out some place where to fix it.

Gurudas: Also the machinery, repair it.

Prabhupada: Requires at least one hundred men.

Syamasundara: Oh.

Gurudas: So the priority is the printed literature. That is the priority.

Devotee (3): [speaking on phone] Yes, is Lalji there, Shri Lalji?

Prabhupada: Sa..., Sadajitlal.

Devotee (3): Saja, Sadajitwa-lal.

Prabhupada: [on phone] Hello. Ah, Swamiji. Sadajitlalji [Hindi]. Swamiji, Swami Bhaktivedanta. Swami Bhaktivedanta. Bhaktivedanta. Hello. Hello. Boliye? [Hindi] [to devotees] He is not.

Gurudas: Not there.

Tamala Krsna: Call his residence now. That's..., that's his business phone. Should I try his other business phone or... No, they're in the same room I think. It seems to me he should have come to visit you today, Prabhupada.

Prabhupada: Yes. He did not come?

Tamala Krsna: No.

Gurudas: Besides, in Age of Kali-yuga, most of the land is taken up.

Tamala Krsna: [referring to phone] Both are engaged. So, do you like the idea of traveling all over the world, Prabhupada? Having a full kirtana party travel with you?

Prabhupada: That is our original idea.

Tamala Krsna: See, we can open temples later on...

Prabhupada: Temple, that temple, if somebody comes forward to give us temple, then think of temple. We cannot take responsibility opening a temple.

Tamala Krsna: We can... Not for this mission. Later on. Later on we can come back for that purpose specifically. Just like when we sent someone to Berlin to open a temple, we can send men to Bombay, to this place. But for now, if we can travel widely around the world, throughout the Middle East, Africa, South America, go to Europe...

Prabhupada: This man dealing, that was apparatively nice. He did see even the whole day, and for him I stayed. And wherever there is phone he is not there, he is not there. And he is waiting for the list. That is a perplexity. If you want to go out, then give out the names. But this man's dealing is not very satisfactory.

Tamala Krsna: There's no doubt that if...

Prabhupada: Hmm?

Tamala Krsna: You see, if we open up the temples now, on our way around, traveling around, then it limits our ability to travel. But if we stick to our principles, simply traveling and preaching widely and distributing great literature, in great, great quantity, and making many, many members throughout the world, then we'll have many contacts for later on, when we can go back and open temples. There'll be many contacts. Just like Your Divine Grace, Prabhupada, you have made many contacts, so that now, coming back from India, immediately there are many people we can go and see who you already know.

Prabhupada: Oh, that seeing is useless. Now this man is waiting so long. What to do?

Syamasundara: Do you think we should take advantage of being in Bombay to see Mr. Birla, people like that, for some financial help?

Prabhupada: But where you will stay?

Syamasundara: Well, if there are only four, we can stay someplace, any place. Only four men.

Prabhupada: Then give him the names and we will stay...

Gurudas: Also printing.

Tamala Krsna: What is our purpose in staying behind now, Prabhupada? This we don't understand. What... That's our difficulty.

Gurudas: When we need some funds, wasn't the reason that you didn't come from Calcutta to here is because no one arranged for the trip?

Tamala Krsna: It's not funds that are needed. We don't require funds to travel. I am...

Prabhupada: Then let..., let us go out to Amritsar.

Tamala Krsna: It's our program to be out there. That's what is confusing me, Srila Prabhupada.

Prabhupada: Huh?

Tamala Krsna: It's... I don't know if Your Divine Grace would rather travel or to open temples. I, I am confused by that, because I don't know whether I should be thinking about my..., you know, my attention should be on.

Prabhupada: Which?

Tamala Krsna: The three of us would like to work in a very organized way, but we don't know how to place our, our, our efforts together, because we are not certain if we should be thinking in terms of establishing a center or in terms of just widely spreading for a shorter time.

Prabhupada: No, widely spreading, that is our main business. You think in that way.

Tamala Krsna: All right.

Prabhupada: Temple, if you have got sufficient nice men to manage temple, then you will keep it just like Gauḍiya Matha-that getting some money by begging and eating and laying down.

Gurudas: Yes, the men have to step forward. If they don't, it's useless. If they don't step forward... We are preachers, and if they don't step forward seriously enough, it's very difficult. What about printing? That's the thing that's on my mind.

Tamala Krsna: Oh.

Gurudas: I would like to hand out leaflets, if possible. Hand out something. Do you think that is...

Prabhupada: Huh?

Gurudas: ...a worthwhile thing?

Prabhupada: What's that?

Gurudas: To get some printed material that we can hand out?

Prabhupada: Printed materials, thousands, they are giving us so many books. So many people come and gives a… [break] [end]