770301 - Conversation B - Mayapur

Conversations by Date, 1977

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

770301R2-MAYAPUR - March 01, 1977 - 13:55 Minutes

Hṛdayānanda: Last night you were preaching that?

Prabhupāda: Yes. My lecture was very nice.

Hṛdayānanda: It seemed that you were answering all the points that man had made.

Prabhupāda: Ha.

Hṛdayānanda: All his mistakes.

Gargamuni: Who spoke? What man?

Hṛdayānanda: The education minister.

Hari-śauri: Mr. Bannerjee. He was talking about Vivekananda, and how our movement is spreading because of our moral strength.

Hṛdayānanda: Prabhupāda answered each of his points.

Hari-śauri: Prabhupāda said afterwards that he smashed him. (laughter)

Yaśomatīnandana: One is Vivekananda. Another is Gandhi.

Prabhupāda: They have spoiled India's culture. All these . . . Rabindranath Tagore. All misleaders. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the real leader, and Kṛṣṇa.

Yaśomatīnandana: And Prabhupāda.

Gargamuni: In the Book Fair there's other . . . Ramakrishna is there; Aurobindo. They have their books, but no one is going. (Prabhupāda chuckles) They have booths, Ramakrishna Mission, Aurobindo, Yogananda.

Prabhupāda: I don't think they have so many books also.

Gargamuni: No, very few books. The stalls are also very small. Our stall is three times as big as theirs . . .

Yaśomatīnandana: They have only one series of Ramakrishna's . . .

Gargamuni: . . . and their books are these cheap paperbacks.

Prabhupāda: Their days are finished.

Gargamuni: Oh, yeah, they're all . . .

Yaśomatīnandana: It seems . . .

Prabhupāda: There is no substance, simply vocabulary jugglery.

Gargamuni: In fact, there are so many people around our stall, the management had to make announcements that people should visit the other stalls also. (laughter)

Prabhupāda: (chuckles) Canvassing.

Gargamuni: Yes. There were thousands watching the movies and coming in, streaming out. And all the other stalls, they were half empty.

Prabhupāda: That's good. They will understand what is their position. Now, what is the signboard, our?

Gargamuni: It says . . . a big signboard with lights around, it says, "The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust," and "Founder of the Trust, Founder-Chairman, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. The largest book publisher of India's culture in the world," And then "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma . . ."

Prabhupāda: Ah. Very good. (chuckling)

Yaśomatīnandana: There is no misunderstanding. It says the Hare Kṛṣṇa, and they'll understand this is the Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Gargamuni: Yes. It's a big sign, about sixteen feet long and four feet wide. Everyone stops there.

Yaśomatīnandana: Where is this?

Gargamuni: Just where the Maidan . . . next to Victoria Memorial, next door.

Prabhupāda: I have seen the camp.

Gargamuni: Of course, we didn't spend as much as the others, but ours was the most attractive because of your books.

Hṛdayānanda: How many . . .? You have all the books there?

Gargamuni: Yes. We have them on display. All of the books.

Hṛdayānanda: In different languages?

Gargamuni: Yes, in all the languages. We sold a Spanish book. Spanish Bhāgavatam someone bought. There's international people there. Some Russians came. We sold Russian book. We had one Russian book, and we sold it.

Prabhupāda: A small book, Easy Journey.

Gargamuni: Yes. That's all they have. They bought a poster also of Kṛṣṇa, a big poster, the Russians.

Hari-śauri: There's a couple of Hungarian books.

Gargamuni: Yes. If we have any, I can use them.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. There is.

Hṛdayānanda: All around the world now people, by Prabhupāda's work, can at least recognize Kṛṣṇa. In all the Western countries, whenever we show a book with Kṛṣṇa's picture, everyone says, "Well, this is Hare Kṛṣṇa." Now everyone knows Kṛṣṇa's form.

Prabhupāda: When the books fair opened?

Gargamuni: It opened on Friday.

Prabhupāda: No, is there any time, every day?

Gargamuni: Yes. It starts . . . they open at one, but everyone comes around four-thirty, five, up through nine. So we get about five hours. In five hours we sold 850 books.

Prabhupāda: Electric? Electricity they supply?

Gargamuni: Yes. They had a loudspeaker next to our stall. So this was hindering the film. And the manager, they wouldn't turn it down, you know, because so many people were being attracted, they wanted to stop us. So I gave some small bribe and made a man climb up and take it down, and now it's all right. (laughter)

Prabhupāda: This is called how to do business, (laughter) natural instinct from his father.

Gargamuni: I had no intelligence till I met you, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Yaśomatīnandana: Even Sanātana Gosvāmī bribed to get out of the . . .

Prabhupāda: Yes. We can do everything for Kṛṣṇa—for Kṛṣṇa, not for personal sake. So your drama is going on.

Gargamuni: Yes, I heard about it.

Prabhupāda: Last night it was very successful.

Hṛdayānanda: I think in India the people never become tired of Rāmāyaṇa. The people here never becomes tired of seeing Rāmāyaṇa.

Gargamuni: No, they never. Even our men at the stall, they were very much appreciative that the people coming were very much . . . they were accepting prasādam without any hesitations. They were taking it very humbly.

Prabhupāda: What prasāda you have?

Gargamuni: Some sabjī and cāpāṭi, mixed, we gave to everyone.

Prabhupāda: Like sandwich.

Gargamuni: Yes, like a sandwich. We wrapped the sabjī in the cāpāṭi, and they took.

Prabhupāda: One. One cāpāṭi.

Gargamuni: Yes. No, half. We cut them in half. But everyone who came, got.

Prabhupāda: They liked?

Gargamuni: Oh, yeah. Especially there, after walking around, people get hungry, so they most enthusiastically took.

Prabhupāda: They take once or twice. (chuckling)

Gargamuni: Yes, sometimes they came in again.

Hṛdayānanda: Everywhere in the world people are liking prasādam very much, if it's nicely prepared.

Gargamuni: We have a letter from Jimmy Carter, of the President who received Bhagavad-gītā. So the people are very enthused to see that the President is reading Bhagavad-gītā. So we have sold many Bhagavad-gītās at the stall.

Prabhupāda: So your GBC meeting?

Hṛdayānanda: They're going quickly.

Prabhupāda: You were not present?

Gargamuni: No. I just came now.

Prabhupāda: When it is going to be held again?

Hṛdayānanda: Yes. We just stopped for lunch break, and then, after lunch, again, around two o'clock.

Prabhupāda: So you attend?

Gargamuni: Yes, I'll attend. I just wanted to stay in Calcutta a few days to get . . .

Prabhupāda: Pick up some fight. (laughs) There was no fight?

Hṛdayānanda: Just little fight.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Don't fight. Then everything will be spoiled.

Hṛdayānanda: Not very much fight this time. It was much more peaceful than before.

Prabhupāda: (chuckling) Yes. For Kṛṣṇa's business why there should be . . .? Even there is fight, it should be mock fight, not real fight. Then it is right.

Gargamuni: Yeah, most of the fights we have aren't personal. They're just difference of opinion. But that, after a while . . .

Prabhupāda: No, that will go on. Then majority vote. Then it's decided. What can be done?

Gargamuni: No one has any personal animosity.

Hṛdayānanda: No. There's no more personal animosity. A chairman was elected, Kīrtanānanda Swami, and vice chairman, Jayatīrtha, and secretary, again Satsvarūpa.

Prabhupāda: That's nice. Who is chairman?

Hṛdayānanda: Kīrtanānanda Swami.

Prabhupāda: He's senior.

Hṛdayānanda: Yes.

Gargamuni: Is Gopāla here? No.

Hṛdayānanda: Yes. Everyone was present except Gargamuni.

Prabhupāda: And he was elected GBC, Svarūpa Dāmodara?

Hṛdayānanda: He was accepted because . . . immediately, because it was said that you had wanted him to be GBC. So he was immediately . . .

Prabhupāda: He is science department.

Hṛdayānanda: Harikeśa Swami and Pañcadraviḍa Swami were accepted as GBC members, and Bali-mardana, since he had gone only recently to Australia, was made for one more year acting GBC, so his activities could be observed. So he accepted that.

Gargamuni: Who else? Pañcadraviḍa and who else?

Hṛdayānanda: And Harikeśa.

Prabhupāda: With great force, preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So your prasādam time is now. Go and take. (devotees offer obeisances) So you find it all right, this Hindi?

Indian devotee (1): Yes.

Hari-śauri: Prabhupāda found one or two mistakes in it.

Prabhupāda: No, that is . . .

Hari-śauri: Small.

Prabhupāda: That is composing mistake.

Yaśomatīnandana: Otherwise it's nice.

Hari-śauri: It's a big breakthrough for our book distribution. Once the Hindi Bhagavad-gītā comes out, then there'll be no stopping.

Prabhupāda: And you are having Gujarati?

Yaśomatīnandana: Gujarati, yes. We are . . . we have started printing the Bhagavad-gītā in Gujarati. It is long due, but it is coming now. In two months it'll be ready.

Hari-śauri: Once your Bhagavad-gītā gets on the Indian market, everybody else will be finished.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes. So many beautiful pictures and . . .

Hari-śauri: But once they read the philosophy they'll immediately understand what nonsense they've been reading for so many years.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes. Anyone who reads it, he is finished. All his nonsense is finished. That's a fact. He must become a devotee.

Hari-śauri: Everybody's telling them that "Whatever you believe, that's all right. It's all the same." You're telling them that "You either accept Kṛṣṇa or you're a demon." (laughs)

Yaśomatīnandana: Just now the political situation in India is so . . .

Prabhupāda: Tense.

Yaśomatīnandana: So tense.

Prabhupāda: Congress position is not good.

Yaśomatīnandana: Not good this time. And therefore we can always expect a big shock at the last moment from Mrs. Gandhi. She's so . . .

Prabhupāda: Emergency.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes. She's such a snakelike . . .

Prabhupāda: She has become unpopular.

Yaśomatīnandana: She has become very unpopular now. (end)