771013 - Conversation C - Vrndavana

Conversations by Date, 1977

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

771013R3-VRNDAVAN - October 13, 1977 - 38:03 Minutes

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This . . . at noontime you seemed to be getting a little taste. Did you have a little? You said gradually.

Prabhupāda: And now . . . just now, I have no taste.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So I don't think there is any problem. I mean, what you ate today was more than I saw you eat in three months, Śrīla Prabhupāda. You ate a Love Feast today. So whenever we eat a Love Feast, we never have much appetite in the evening. Usually we simply chant.

Prabhupāda: So I am trying to drink a little fruit juice.

Bhakti-caru: Prabhupāda wanted to drink some of this sweet lemon juice.

Prabhupāda: What do you think?

Bhakti-caru: Tobe Śrīla Prabhupāda kalke oi rasta khaoar pore kintu apnar ektu cough hoyechilo. (But Śrīla Prabhupāda, after taking that juice you had a cough.)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Maybe your sister can suggest some good drink.

Bhakti-caru: Mosambi? Pomegranate. Hya, bedanar ras kore dile kemon hoy Śrīla Prabhupāda? (Yes, how about pomegranate juice Śrīla Prabhupāda?)

Prabhupāda: Bedana ache? (There is pomegranate?)

Bhakti-caru: Hya, bedana ache. (Yes, there is pomegranate.)

Prabhupāda: Na, na ektu khanik oi misr . . . (No, no, a little . . .)

Bhakti-caru: Hya. (Yes.)

Prabhupāda: Lebu. (Lemon.)

Bhakti-caru: Accha! (Okay.)

Prabhupāda: Dao dekhi ektu. (Give me a little.)

Bhakti-caru: Accha! Śrīla Prabhupāda ami kore anchi. Kathi ta lagbe apnar? (Okay. Śrīla Prabhupāda, I will bring it after preparing. Do you need this stick?)

Prabhupāda: Little, that sweet juice.

Bhakti-caru: Sweet lemon. What Ātreya Ṛṣi Prabhu brought.

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Bhakti-caru: The sweet lemon. I'll just get it, yes.

Prabhupāda: Hmm? What is that?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I'm suggesting that it should be sweet.

Prabhupāda: That is sweet, that sweet . . .

Ātreya Ṛṣi: It's very sweet.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It is?

Ātreya Ṛṣi: It's very, very sweet.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Sweet is nice.

Prabhupāda: So keep it. When I require, give me little.

Upendra: So you don't want any now?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Bhakti-caru? Make it, and then keep it ready, and as Prabhupāda wants it . . .

Prabhupāda: No, no.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: It has to be made very fresh. It cannot be . . .

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh. Ātreya Ṛṣi says it should be made fresh.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That lemon should be preserved, not otherwise.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Utilized. Okay. Keep the lemon. Don't use it for anything else. That's what you have to tell him. Preserve it only for this purpose. That was a very funny joke you told, Śrīla Prabhupāda, about the doctor, con-doctor? Everybody was relishing it.

Prabhupāda: Where is Kīrtanānanda? He is avoiding? (Tamāla Kṛṣṇa laughs)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Upendra said because he has a night shift, sometimes he rests at this time. You wanted to see him?

Prabhupāda: No.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Just wondering.

Prabhupāda: Where is Hari-śauri?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Hari-śauri? He's bathing, Śrīla Prabhupāda. (break) . . . comfortably, Śrīla Prabhupāda? (pause) Śrīla Prabhupāda? We . . . in order to finish the Bombay temple, we're making a . . . we're sending some money to them for completion. So we have a committee called the Māyāpur-Vṛndāvana committee. Persons on the committee are Jayapatākā Swami, Girirāja, Gopāla Kṛṣṇa, Ātreya Ṛṣi, Rāmeśvara Mahārāja, Gurukṛpā Mahārāja and myself. That committee was formed by the GBC last Māyāpur festival. So they decided that they would give a loan. Because the BBT was a little short of money . . . the BBT sends the money to Bombay. So the BBT wants to loan some money from the Māyāpur-Vṛndāvana account in Los Angeles, and they'll pay it back with the same bank interest.

Prabhupāda: Make me centered. (break)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Make a loan from Los Angeles to the BBT, and the BBT will repay it with the regular bank interest. Is that all right? Had you given power of attorney, now that the MV trust has approved it, Girirāja and I can sign on your behalf. See, we'll never sign on our own. We only sign after we get authority from the respective committee or from Your Divine Grace.

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We're only mechanical signers.

Prabhupāda: Very good. Make the body centered.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Make the body centered? Which place is not centered, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: (moves Prabhupāda) More.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is that all right? You said you were . . . to the devotees who came to came to see you from the Gauḍīya Maṭha, you said you were mahā-patita. But they said: "Mahā-patita-pāvana." We all appreciated that, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Actually, Śrīla Prabhupāda, I don't think that your Godbrothers really have any bad feelings. If, as you describe, because you had to preach amongst such fallen persons as us, the offense is really on our part, not on yours. I think actually they know that. Of course, they're a little sorry that they could not do what you did, but actually the offense is ours. We are not very trained up. It is not your fault. It is just that we are so fallen that we are only now beginning to learn a little etiquette. So sometimes, not purposely, but because we're very fallen, we sometimes make mistakes and offenses. And because we've taken shelter of Your Divine Grace, you are always giving us protection. (pause) (Yaśodānandana chants Brahma-saṁhitā) (break)

Prabhupāda: . . . they will appreciate tomorrow.

Yaśodānandana: Yes. I'm training the boys. There's three boys I'm training especially in the morning—Dvārakādhīśa, Ekendra and Kātyāyana. I'm training to chant the Brahma-saṁhitā and Bhagavad-gītā every day. Tomorrow we have arranged that for the beginning of the conference the boys will chant namaḥ oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya, namaste narasiṁhāya, namo mahā-vadānyāya namo brahmaṇya-devāya, and four verses from Brahma-saṁhitā, tomorrow at ten-thirty. And every day I'm training some of these boys to chant Brahma-saṁhitā and Bhagavad-gītā. Is that all right, Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Somebody, important man was to come this evening?

Haṁsadūta: An important man was to come this evening? You mean for the conference, Śrīla Prabhupāda? I don't think any men have come yet, Prabhupāda. Svarūpa Dāmodara is here, but I think they're planning to come tomorrow and the following days.

Bhavānanda: Dr. Mishra, I think, is going to inaugurate the conference, and his friend, Dr. Chowdury, have just arrived. We've checked them into their room. They're taking a little prasādam. Svarūpa Dāmodara is with them.

Prabhupāda: Somebody has . . .

Haṁsadūta: Yes, some men have come.

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Haṁsadūta: Jaya. All glories to Prabhupāda. (break)

Paramānanda: We've worked very hard to follow your . . . (indistinct) . . . we're very much encouraged how it's working out. We've been discussing it for many hours here, and it seems like it's going to work out very nicely.

Prabhupāda: The program is there. If you follow, immediately success. You are leaving?

Paramānanda: Tomorrow morning.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Vāmanadeva is going to go to Māyāpur before he goes back to America. He's going to go to Māyāpur for a week or so with his family.

Prabhupāda: Very good.

Paramānanda: Also, I would like to offer you the obeisances of Gaura Hari Prabhu and Bhūrijana, who may not be able to come and see you. They're also working very dedicatedly to developing this project, and they wanted very much to come and see you.

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Dhṛṣṭadyumna Mahārāja is here also, and his brother is here, Śrīla Prabhupāda. His brother's name is Bill. I think you remember meeting Dhṛṣṭadyumna Mahārāja's parents in New York.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So Dhṛṣṭadyumna is, I think, the elder.

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: His brother is here.

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: My brother is an architect, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and he's helping us to design the community plan for the small village and the temple. He's working very hard to help set up an ideal Vedic community. So . . .

Prabhupāda: Keep always engaged yourself in Kṛṣṇa activity. That is wanted. Jaya.

Devotees: Thank you very much, Śrīla Prabhupāda. (break) (kīrtana) . . . yad yad ācarati . . . (BG 3.21). You can give me two teaspoon glucose.

Brahmānanda: Two teaspoons . . .?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Glucose.

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I was just . . . everything you say is important to us, so I was just explaining to Jayādvaita Prabhu to make sure that if you speak about these . . . what would you like? Turning over? Okay.

Prabhupāda: Turn me over occasionally this way and that way, even I do not say.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh. Of course, we'll ask you first, but we'll do it.

Prabhupāda: Yes. (break) . . . has offered place in Delhi. Is it not?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: For the Institute?

Prabhupāda: Some place in Delhi for Institute.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: No. They haven't offered that place. Did they? No.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No. It was what you told Prabhupāda earlier.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: No, they didn't offer a place, but they wanted to help to establish a center for the Bhaktivedanta Institute.

Prabhupāda: How to help?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Various ways—money and supporting us. They said it's very essential.

Prabhupāda: Who supported with money? Will they helpful with money, or what sort of support?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Actually, he was speaking in general terms. This Professor Malsanda, he's the head of the Physiology Department in the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences. He's a very religious man. He's also a very well known scholar. He's medical doctor by profession. Also he belongs to many different scientific worldwide organizations, and he feels very strongly that we should have a center in Delhi for the Bhaktivedanta Institute.

Prabhupāda: So money is required.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: So he didn't say anything specifically, but he said he would be very happy to help us in establishing a center there. He's very favorable to our philosophy, and he invited me to his own home, and we discussed at great length about the philosophy that we are trying to present in the scientific community, and he feels that it's very genuine and we should . . . they should help us to push forward.

Prabhupāda: So with this cooperation, this Institution will be very prestigious. So if it is possible, organize. But don't overburden.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What is that overburden?

Prabhupāda: Other business may not suffer.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Hmm. Publishing books should not suffer, and lecturing, like that.

Prabhupāda: We have already place in Bombay.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So if Bombay is sufficient, don't bother in Delhi.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. I will do it slowly, first of all to make sure that whatever we have done is going on nicely; then we can expand later on. But in India it is true that everybody I met, very respectful to Śrīla Prabhupāda's movement and to what we are trying to do.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That much we want to keep. The people may not think of it as bogus.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Our chief guest for tomorrow has already arrived. And he's very impressed. I took a tour of our temples, also the gurukula. And they're very impressed with the whole building and the whole program that we have here. Very nice. He brought also an architect. He's a retired engineer, Chowdury from . . . together. Also we already have a mathematician from Delhi University for tomorrow. So I took three of them tour of our temple and gave them nice prasāda. They were very impressed.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This has never happened before, Śrīla Prabhupāda. You are the real ācārya for this age, Śrīla Prabhupāda. You perfectly know how to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You're making people who would ordinarily never take interest in Kṛṣṇa consciousness become devotees.

Prabhupāda: In the beginning, when I was selling Back to Godhead alone, one practical businessman, Mr. Bande I think, he said: "Swāmījī, why you have made Vṛndāvana headquarter? (laughs) It is not a place for . . ." (break)

Svarūpa Dāmodara: . . . conference place in Vṛndāvana, they said the selection is ideal. Said this type of conference should start from Vṛndāvana. They feel that way, many of them. Yesterday Mishra, Dr. Mishra . . . he's the head of the Biophysics Department in the All-India Institute, Medical Sciences. He called me to his home, and I went and we had about half an hour discussion. He told me that he wanted to do this by himself for a long time several years ago. Then somehow, when he saw our flyer, his wife told him that, "You've been trying to do like this for so many years, but somebody has started doing it." So she told him, "You must join them." So actually he wanted to come from tomorrow, but some people are coming from Germany, 'cause he has a big grant. He's actually internationally well known scientist. But he's coming on Sunday, and he's also going to speak about half an hour.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is he bringing his German friends?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: No. His German friends are busy touring all over India to make sure that when they get grant, everything goes okay.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It sounds like this Bhaktivedanta Institute might get a . . . maybe get some grant sometime, eh?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. Once we get incorporated in Bombay, then we can also get some grants from the government, also in the United States when we get it properly established. And the word bhakti-vedānta is so important that it seems that everybody knows what it means, at least in India. When they say bhakti, "Oh," they say: "Oh, that's different from Maharishi Yogi. That's different from anybody else. You have to start with bhakti." So the word is so nice also.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And Prabhupāda is very famous also. So people think about Prabhupāda and Hare Kṛṣṇa movement when they hear it also.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: When they hear "Bhaktivedanta," they immediately know that this is Prabhupāda. Many of them told me that, "Oh, I have heard Swāmījīs lecture in Delhi. It's very nice and very impressive and very convincing." Many of them told me like that.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Your lectures in Delhi drew the most intelligent class of people, Śrīla Prabhupāda. The other svāmīs, when they would lecture, they would get just the typical pious Indian people, but yours also drew very intelligent group of people, sophisticated people. (break)

Prabhupāda: They danced. (laughter) With coat-pant, I have seen.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Especially there's one Dr. Murti. He's the Professor of Chemistry, Delhi University. He told me that Prabhupāda is a very good speaker. He said he heard Swāmījī's lectures. He said, "Very good speaker." And he's coming early in the morning tomorrow. Whole chemistry group are coming from Delhi University. (break)

Prabhupāda: What is the time?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's 9:30 now, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Śrīla Prabhupāda? Your glucose is here.

Prabhupāda: Give me.

Upendra: Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: A little ladle.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Have Kīrtanānanda Mahārāja give it.

Kīrtanānanda: Is there a spoon here? Get the spoon.

Prabhupāda: I'll not sit up.

Kīrtanānanda: No. I'm getting a spoon so I can give you this. You don't want to take those pills the other doctor gave you? You don't want to take those pills for your urine?

Prabhupāda: No. , warm glucose. That much, and nothing more possible. You don't increase. And decrease. Little in that ladle. That's all. And preserve those sweet lemon.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Preserve those sweet lemons. Prabhupāda wants sometimes sweet lemons for drinking, so you should preserve.

Prabhupāda: And chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Kīrtanānanda: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Should we have some chanting now, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Yes, chanting twenty-four hours.

Upendra: Śrīla Prabhupādajī? I would like to change your dhotī. It won't take but five minutes. I have everything.

Prabhupāda: What happened?

Upendra: Well, you have passed liquid stool.

Prabhupāda: Stool?

Upendra: Yes, Prabhupāda. And by morning it will be too dry. It's not that much, so it's very easy. You're already on your side, so that's good. (break)

Bhavānanda: And you could take little bit spoon, half spoonful, every half an hour or twenty minutes, I think.

Prabhupāda: Very good suggestion.

Bhakti-caru: Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He said: "Very good suggestion."

Devotee: Ganga jal ya Yamuna jal le kar aao. (Get water from the Ganges or Yamuna.)

Prabhupāda: Yamuna jal. (Water from the Yamuna.)

Devotee: Yamuna jal. (Water of the Yamuna.) Śrīla Prabhupāda, aaj meine sab santo ko, yaha ke sanyasiyo ko, GBCs ko, presidents ko. Sabko aaj meine invite kiya hai apne ghar pe bhojan paane ke liye. Apko prasad bhijwa du? Dekhene ke liye keval . . . bahut din ki meri ichha thi pehle se . . . (indistinct) . . . sab sanyasi yaha aa gaye hai. Sabko prasad khilwa du? (Śrīla Prabhupāda, today i've called all the saints, persons belonging to this place who are in the renounced order of life, GBC members, presidents. Everyone has been invited to my house to accept food. Shall I send you the prasadam? Only, so that you can see it. I had this old desire for many days . . . (indistinct) . . . all those in the renounced order have arrived here. Shall I make them eat the offered food?)

Prabhupāda: Kaha Khayega? (Where will they eat?)

Devotee: Humarei yaha sab intezaam kiye hai. Humarei ghar ke upar. (All arrangements have been made at our place. Above our house.)

Prabhupāda: Hmm . . . theek hai tumhari ichha. (Alright, as you please.)

Devotee: (laughs softly) . . . accepted . . . (indistinct) . . . (end)