Room Conversation – December 30, 1976, Bombay

Now I'm very exalted personality. I have become paramahamsa

Giriraja: ...cannot accept anything artificial, but Mr. Bajaj cannot keep up to that standard.

Prabhupada: Vinobha Bhave is also not cent per cent.

Giriraja: Oh, I know. But by chance, on this particular point...

Prabhupada: He has written book, Bhagavad-gita Pravacana. But in his bhasya there is no krsna-bhakti. So what is this Bhagavad-gita Pravacana? Why he has avoided krsna-bhakti? What is the reason?

Giriraja: He's envious.

Prabhupada: Gandhi has... The same thing. Bhagavad-gita..., he is writing essays on Bhagavad-gita and the main principle of Bhagavad-gita, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg 18.65], mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te [Bg 7.14]. What is that?

Caitya-guru: Mam eva satyam te pratijane priyo' si me.

Giriraja: Mam evaisyasi satyam te pratijane priyo 'si me.

Prabhupada: So where is that?

Giriraja: They don't follow.

Prabhupada: This is their defect. Therefore they are failure. Must be failure. They do not take Bhagavad-gita as it is. They mix with their false ideas, and therefore spoil, adulterate. And bhagavad-bhakti is without adulteration. Anyabhilasita-sūnyam [Cc Madhya 19.167]. Anyabhilasita-sūnyam [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.11]. Pure. No adulteration. That is bhakti. Jnana-karmady-anavrtam anukūlyena krsnanusilanam. Sarvopadhi vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc Madhya 19.170]. That is not nirmalam. Sa mala it is. With mala. With mala. Dart. It cannot be. Proportionately. So where she has sent this article?

Giriraja: In some of the newspapers in Wardha, and maybe Nagpur. He's writing for about three or five copies of those original clippings.

Prabhupada: He has written very nicely. Good writer. Picked up the essence of the movement. That was published. [Transl. Hmm. Print this.]

Caitya-guru: This one?

Prabhupada: [Transl. Hmm. And distribute them widely.]

Caitya-guru: [Transl. Since we have started publishing magazines none was better than this.]

Prabhupada: Bhagavata Darsana?

Gopala Krsna: Next issue. This issue is all finished. Next one.

Prabhupada: Just stop this light.

Gopala Krsna: [indistinct conversation with Giriraja] Gujarati.

Giriraja: Then it won't be just for Kumbha-mela. Prabhupada wanted it for Kumbha-mela. [break]

Caitya-guru: Well, I don't know. They said we are making a big program there from Bharat Manava Mission. They've spent four lakhs rupees.

Gopala Krsna: They never... I never thought they had so much money even for their own projects. I don't know how they are going to spend four lakhs.

Indian man: They collect from the big seths [rich businessmen]. Gulzarilal Nanda. He is very influenced. Any of the seths can give for this. For Kumbha Mela, all the Marwari want to wash off their all the sins they did. [laughter]

Prabhupada: Seths give with that purpose. At least, they are sensible.

[break] You cannot give up these four things: yajna, dana, tapasya. So yajna for the brahmacaris, begin yajna. And dana for the grhasthas, and tapasya for the sannyasis. Yajna-dana-tapaḥ-kriyaḥ na tyajyam, Krsna says. Do not give up this. "I have become sannyasi, therefore I'll give up my tapasya also." Sannyasi means the life of tapasya. If you give up tapasya also, then what remains? How you become a sannyasa? Yajna-dana-tapaḥ-kriyaḥ na tyajyam karyam eva tat [Bg 18.5]. It must be continued. And again He stresses, yajno danam tapas krya pavanani manisinam. Even if you think that you have become very great, "Now I'm very exalted personality. I don't require. I have become paramahamsa," no, no, no, no. This yajna-dana-tapaḥ-kriyaḥ, even if you are very exalted, still, it will purify you more, these things. Yajno danam tapas kriyaḥ pavanani manisinam. In any condition of life these things cannot be given up.

So those who are in sense, grhasthas, they must give in charity, at least fifty percent of their income. That was shown by Rūpa Gosvami. He, fifty percent. Danam means not to the daridra-narayana. Danam means to the brahmana, Vaisnava. In our sastra, charity is recommended to be given to the high-class men, brahmanas and Vaisnavas. They know how to spend money. Therefore datavyam iti yad danam tad danam sattvikam ucyate [Bg 17.20]. Just like this Krsna consciousness movement, they are appreciating. So all the charity should come here. Then it is properly utilized. Because we do not use a single paisa for anything of sense gratification. We do not even smoke, we do not take tea, we lie down on the floor. Not a single paisa is spent for our sense gratification. Everything is utilized for Krsna. Therefore all charity should come here. Properly spent. But if we misspend, that is our fault. Single paisa we spend for our sense gratification, that is fault of us. And people should give at least fifty percent of their income to this movement. Twenty-five percent to the family, and twenty-five percent let him keep for himself in case of emergency.

This is the example shown by Rūpa Gosvami. So there was emergency. Everything they showed practically. Sanatana Gosvami was arrested. Whatever money they kept for themselves, that was given as bribe to the jail superintendent and got out of jail. This is example given by Gosvamis, that fifty percent was given to the brahmanas and Vaisnavas, fifty percent they deposited with the local... Formerly, the baniyas were bankers, village bankers. Whatever one has got, extra money, they should deposit, and the baniyas will give him some interest and utilize the money. He will not usurp the money. People believe, just like bank, everywhere, crores of rupees they are collecting daily, because people know, "As soon as I shall want the money, it will be paid." So baniyas were very honest. By others' money they would prosper, and the money is ready. Because they were doing with commodities, even he has no cash money he can immediately sell something and pay. That was the credit. That was the credit. Then people believed them. The village bankers were these grocers, especially the gold merchants. Therefore the gold merchants were bankers and dealers in gold. Suvarna-vanik. They had position. They have got stock of ornaments, gold ornaments, silver utensils. So you can believe in him, that by putting in his custody one hundred, one thousand rupees, he can deliver, at any moment, the bankers. And Rūpa Gosvami did it practically. Some money for emergency, some money... Relatives, they also expect. That is allowed. So they should be given something. Not that cent per cent. At least twenty-five percent to the relatives and twenty-five percent for personal. And fifty percent for Krsna. This is the system.

So this is called danam. Krsna also says, kurusva tad mad-arpanam [Bg 9.27]: "If you want to give in charity, give it to Me." Kurusva tad mad-arpanam. Dadasi yat. "If you have got some capacity to give something, give it to Me." He never said to daridra-narayana. I do not know how they manufacture these things. Krsna says, "Give it to Me." He's not daridra. He's Narayana, but He's not daridra. So the principle is to give to the richest Narayana, not daridra-narayana. But these rascals misinterpret that daridra has become Narayana. How daridra can become Narayana? This is going on. And therefore there is no effect. There is no effect. See from practical what Vivekananda has done? But they have made propaganda, false propaganda-they have got roads. In a city like Bombay, big road, Vivekananda. But they do not care what Vivekananda has done.

Indian devotee: Even they got road, in the road so many nonsense going on.

Prabhupada: That every road is there. We have no such thing. [Transl. But if you recognize him…] But he's not recognized in... Wherefrom he has got the advertisement that in America he has done tremendous work? What they have done?

Giriraja: The government may like to popularize him because he preached the cult of "work hard."

Prabhupada: What "work hard" he has to say? Please come.

Caitya-guru: He can't do anything himself. Other day one man was telling me they bought two of your Bhagavatams, Ramakrishna Mission. He said that one Ranganath Swami from South India, from Hyderabad, he was lecturing there, but he was... When he was lecturing he had your Bhagavatam, First Canto, Part One in his hand, and he was speaking from there. [laughter] I said it is very good.

Prabhupada: [Transl. Where did you come from?]

Indian guest: [Transl. From Mathura-Vrndavana.]

Prabhupada: [Transl. I see.] Give him prasada. [Transl. Take prasada and go.]

Gopala Krsna: [Transl. You have prasada with us at 8:30]

Indian devotee: Many acaryas, they imitate you. They read your books and take some of this part, and what is useful for them they use on their lecture. How we should stop them? [break]

Hari-sauri: At least part of the lecture's going to be all right. [laughs]

Prabhupada: They cannot utilize my writing in their favor.

Indian devotee: No, some of the thing they take for their favor. They glory their own. They read your books and they glorify their own.

Prabhupada: No, that is not...

Indian devotee: So we should stop them like that.

Prabhupada: No, no. Don't stop. They cannot do it.

Gopala Krsna: It means that Prabhupada has influenced them to say what Prabhupada has written.

Prabhupada: Ranganath was speaking from my book?

Caitya-guru: Yes, he was quoting that sloka, I remember, from First Canto, Part One. That one our Life Members... They were all governors... All the big people, they goes there. So he told me when he came, he took a Bhagavatam. He said that "Today Ranganath had read your book." I said that they had bought two books from me. He said that he opened that like this. Then he saw the cover of our book, so he was quoting sloka from that, and he was reading the purport and giving speech on that. Because there is no such edition in English on Bhagavatam except yours. So that I was very much pleased, actually, there to know when I heard that.

Gopala Krsna: Now even the Hindi will be out.

Prabhupada: In the beginning also they purchased. When I published three copies in Delhi they purchased, because such translation is not there. So, that is all.

Devotee: Jaya Srila Prabhupada. [end]