19820730 Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta

(Disclaimer: The following is a machine-generated transcript and may contain errors or inaccuracies. It will be reviewed and verified against the original audio soon.)

The following is a lecture on Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, based on the diary of His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja, given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on July 30, 1982 – in New York, USA.

Sa Ra damage. So we will continue from yesterday. Where were we? Actually? So this is continuing then. January 27th. So in the morning Śrīla Prabhupāda was speaking with Satsarut Ma, Gagani Ma and myself and a couple of others. We were discussing about the court fight in America. Gurkhri Kumaraj mentioned to Śrīla Prabhupāda that the Kamis comply because we asked them to surrender $5 for a book. But actually Kṛṣṇa is asking everyone to give up everything and surrender completely. So Rla Prabhupāda took up this point and he said yes, when we go out into the court we should begin with this point. Sabadamam Tritjagna Mamik Everything should be based on the books. From this point. Gradually the whole philosophy will come out. We’re not just asking for something for the book. Everything should be surrendered. Then from that point, why surrender?

And then explain who we are and then explain what is this world and who is God. In this way, from this one point the whole philosophy can be expanded and all our books can be presented to the court as our defense statement. I am saying give them 80 books. This is our defence statement. And a Śrīla Prabhupāda motioned with his hands about one yard apart with his palms open wide facing each other. Here this is our defense statement. 80 books. And in this way he said all of our books should be read out in the court. So according to what Shad said here, Seth Root Mahre sends a letter to New York informing Andy Casey that Rla Prabhupāda wants all of his books written out in the court as the defence statement.

Also one letter arrived today from Gopal Kṛṣṇapur informing Rla Prabhupāda that finally permission had been given to change the name of Chattikara Road to Bhaktivedanta Swami Road and permission has been given to build the two proposed gates in Vrindavan. So therefore they are now attempting to raise the money so that the gates will be finished by March 15 when Rla Prabhupāda comes for the festival. Rla Prabhupāda was very pleased by this news. Previously when Bhagatji and Ekayananda Maharaj had attended the council meetings they went to one meeting and when they put the suggestion forward one man jumped up who was the ex mayor of Vrindavan. And he objected very strongly as to having the name changed. So they did not take the matter further and they let it drop.

The man had protested why Bhakti Vidanta Swami’s Name why not Indira Gandhi or Sanjay Gandhi? So they countered that by saying well, they are politicians but Vrindavan is a spiritual place. So then he said well then why not the name of the owner of Bunkie B. Harry Temple or such and such a Goswami. And in this way the man created a disturbance. So our men dropped the issue. However, at the next meeting the man was not present and they were able to explain their point. The Śrīla Prabhupāda has done more than anyone for spreading the name of fame of Śrī Bridam Dam all over the world. So finally the permission has been granted.

Gopal Kṛṣṇa also mentioned that RMA Bhāgavatam 11 is now in print in Hindi and that he has list and he listed also some recently received orders from the Russian book agency. Jula Prabhupāda said that this was very important news and he was very much pleased that Gopal Kṛṣṇa has organized his Indian printing. Later in the day also Rla Prabhupāda talked enthusiastically about having some Śānta in Jagannath Purī if we can build a big temple and guest house there. He thinks that this will be very successful and that more people will come to our temple. Then they will go to the main Jagannath Purī Temple.

January 28 they’re building in temple that’s going on pages there and go Swami across the Stilna Rla Prabhupāda is following his usual program and in the morning after receiving a letter from Hari Kaiswami Shila Prabhupāda said that immediately he should have the Śrī Japan translated into Russian because the philosophy of the Isha penetrate is coincidental with the communist philosophy and he feels that the Russian people will appreciate this book very much. In the morning I was talking to Śrīla Prabhupāda about Jagannath Purī and Prabhupāda noted how many of the temples there are becoming more and more depleted. Not just in Purī but all around India.

Actually he said we are the only people who are building new temples now apart from the Beelas and who goes to the Beelas temples anyway in Purī we have noted that Apache that many places are ill kept and are becoming old and decrepit and breaking down. Rla Prabhupāda told me that eventually many temples will be offered to our society because we are the only ones to manage such places. And he told me that eventually they would also even offer the Jagannath Purī temple to us to manage. Then I asked Rla Prabhupāda, why is it that even the Gaudi maps are becoming run down? Because we see practically that the same men who had previously worked hard and collected money to build and then establish such temples, they are still living there. But now they cannot even maintain the places that they formally built.

So RLA Prabhupāda replied, because they do not preach. So I said, well, they have the same facility as us, we are successful, but they are not. So Prabhupāda looked at me and said very sharply, what is that facility? So I replied, well, at least they have the same philosophy. So Prabhupāda said, yes, they have the same philosophy, but they do not know the philosophy well enough to preach it. They are all third class men. They establish their centers simply by begging from rich men, but actually they do not know how to preach. So in this way Prabhupāda gave us a severe warning for our own men that we should learn the philosophy very thoroughly because that will be the success of the, of this movement, not simply our ability to collect money.

Because that was the point that these men, they were experts in collecting money and they built the buildings. But because they couldn’t preach and didn’t know the philosophy, they couldn’t fill them up with any new devices. As a result, the same old men are there now, they’re all old men and they still have no young followers to take up the mission and continue imprisonment because they couldn’t convince anyone. Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is a nice way of life only on the basis of some money, that’s all offering. They get a few poor villages, nowhere else to go, so they come and they take shelter with some ashram like the Golly there because it’s an easy life. They don’t have to do anything, just do a little kīrtana and eat and sleep. That’s basically their business. In this way Phrapago is very strong on this point.

We have to, we have to learn the philosophy. Because if we don’t know the philosophy then in a few years we will have no new followers. We may be able to collect a little bit of money now, but then gradually everything will dwindle. Unless you can preach the philosophy and convince people and change their hearts, then you’re not going to be successful. You have to only expand on the basis of being able to convince people about Kṛṣṇa Consciousness that they should take it up with their life and soul. Then you will get everything else automatically. January 29, Shula Prabhupāda is now going to one pack in the middle of Bhubaneswar for his walk. As we walked around this morning, one man came and was asking Rla Prabhupāda questions.

He’s a Sanskritist and he’s become friendly with Pradunya since we have been here in Bhubaneswar and discussed with Pradunya about translating different kinds of books. Previously, Shila Prabhupāda met him yesterday afternoon and encouraged him to help us translate how ishetanishet. So the man was enthused and he came out in a morning walk with Prabhupāda. He explained to Prabhupāda that he could translate all kinds of books into Aryan Sanskrit, etc. As they discussed, he very proudly mentioned to RLA Prabhupāda that he had already done a comparison of different Navayanas. Śrīla Prabhupāda immediately interjected, what is that comparison? There is only one Ramian. And he explained to him how there is only actually one original Ramayana. There cannot be more than one. So then later on the man mentioned that Prudhumi was studying a book that he was also interested in.

So Prabhupāda replied very sharply, that is his hobby. Do nothing all day, collect lots of books and carry them around the world like an ass. Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is forbidden us to read many books. He says simply read two or three and become very well versed in them. But he will collect many books and read one line from each and then advertise how many books he has read. This is the position of the so called scholars. But this way Prabhupāda very sharply rebuked Prydumiya, although he was not personally present there on the walk. Śrīla Prabhupāda has often been critical of Prudunya’s smarter Brahmin tendency as he calls it, simply to read and know so many rules and regulations, but nothing practical.

And also he is always agītāted because Purdue seems to be quite some distance behind Rla Prabhupāda when actually there is no need to do. When we returned in the morning Sat Srup Maharaj was asking Prabhupāda that he had been speaking a lot just lately about how the whole of America can become Kṛṣṇa conscious. And although he accepted that because Prabhupāda said it and it must come true, but still he could not quite see how Kṛṣṇa consciousness could spread on a big scale and become self powerful. After all, we are only a few thousand men and the country has 220 million populations. So explain how it will be. Granted that it will be gradual, but right now he said, I have planted the seed and now it is up to us to protect that seed and enable it to.

That protection is Sravanam kiranum and Sravanam kirstenum means book distribution and preaching on a wide scale. What is in the books that will protect the seed and then we will see it grow into a big tree which will cover the whole of America. And then when the tree is grown, we shall be able to enjoy the fruits this way. Rla Prabhupāda gave a nice analogy of how Kṛṣṇa consciousness was spread in country wide scale. He told us how a Kṛṣṇa conscious person is an opportunist. Any little opportunity there is, he immediately takes for preaching. And I thought that practically speaking, Śrīla Prabhupāda has made opportunities practically even when there was no opportunity for preaching. Still Prabhupāda has found some means for spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

When Prabhupāda was hearing a letter from Hari Keshe Maharaj, he recalled how Harry Keshe had thought that he was being punished when Prabhupāda had sent him away to look after the Eastern European program. But now the good results were coming and that actually he was not rebuking him, but that he was engaging him in his proper service. And he told me that actually this was his credit that although he thought that Prabhupāda was punishing him, still he had gone out and performed the service required of him. Actually, Prabhupāda said, unless a man is advanced, he cannot be chast gods. During the massage, Rla Prabhupāda did not say very much, but he was very silent and meditated. As he often says sometimes during the massage, he will not speak at all, just simply remain with his eyes closed, thinking very deeply.

And all of a sudden the sound of the gulp bleating in the field next to us came and Prabhupāda opened his eyes and smiled. And then he narrated to me a story of how one goes. He went to see Lord Brahman and he pleaded to Lord Brahma that we goats are always the prey for so many types of animals. We’re used in sacrifices and bigger animals, they’re also attacking us. So you are the creator of this universe, kindly do something about it. So after remaining silent for some time, Lord Brahma looked very gravely at the dogs and replied, yes, my advice is that you had better leave this place immediately because I am also thinking to Egypt. And Prabhupāda laughed and said thus the position of the goat is not very good.

And he described to me the Kali Ghat, this big Kali temple in Calcutta where hundreds of young goats a so called sacrificed daily. He said it is almost like a slaughterhouse. Persons who are meat eaters but who are still a little religious, they go there once or twice a month and they have a goat slaughtered by sacrifice for eating. If the sacrifice is done correctly, then the goat gets the benefit by getting a human form in its next life and it has the right to kill the person who kills him. And the man who performs this sacrifice runs the risk of getting a goat swarm and being sacrificed himself in the next life. Prithaputra Swami also arrived from the Kandamila in Allabad and he reported that over 30,000 rupees worth of books have been sold there at one roof of Prabhu.

He also mentioned to Rla Prabhupāda that one man had approached them who is the manager of the Bindu Manava temple where Lord Caitanya had once visited and danced for this death in Alabama. This man was very much attracted by our movement and was interested to turn over the temple to Iskcon in the future. So Rla Prabhupāda instructed him that he should try to arrange a meeting and have the man come to my forth to see Shul Prabhupāda there at the time of Godpuning the festival. He was also very glad to hear the report about the books. Well then they will just deteriorate and finally go just like there’s so many temples that were established in Lord Chaitanya stone. But gradually over the course of time have become degraded.

The people that look after them and adopted them means of livelihood is simply advertising the disease and living off like in Vrindana. So many temples have become like one. So that may also happen to you. But unless there’s an upsurge in preaching and expansion of the purity then there will be inevitable. They have so many. Well, the pūjā is still going on some kind of fashion and some temples are still nice so you gotta rather remember look after and a lot of other temples. But in some temples it’s become very love standing. No, everything is falling very old place. But they. Because they have no money. No, I wouldn’t think that it’d be very bright to see his hair swollen down and see the pajamas smoking babies. But they’re all divided across. We don’t want to speak badly about them.

But at the same time the high standard has been Lost and this idea of cash God Swammers or even the best temples, they have that idea that just like Vishnu Prada went to Rādhāraman temple. So then one of the Pugaris came out and he was very enthusiastic. So he said, oh, he said, you Western devotees are so nice. He said, make Rādhāraman bless you so that in your next life you can take birth in a Hindu family and become Rādhāramans. When they came back and they told Prabhupāda what he said, then Prabhupāda said, yeah. He said, so what did you reply to? They said, well, Prabhupāda said you should have told him. And yes, may Rādhā Raman bless you that in your next life you can take birth in the west and do some preaching for Lord Jay Panda. So that was.

This is the attitude that’s come about in a lot of these temples. Although they’re actually followers of Lord Caitanya, these are all established by Lord Caitanya’s father. So this idea of caste Goswamis, this is directly opposite to what Lord Chaitanya was originally preaching. But they have fallen back to that bodily concept of love. They’re devotees, but they’re third place. They’re not second place or first class. That’s the problem allowed these bodily constructs to come back into them. Western devotees, Indian devotees. A devotees are devoted. It doesn’t matter what his body’s like anyway. You can see what will happen. And even there are some places in the garden, you know, even now where they think like that.

But also, even though their followers of the Baptist of Anthesia is writing his whole preaching was to smash this idea past those ones and that kind of idea, Samaratha, Brahman idea. But they’re slipping back into the same mentality themselves. It’s very strong, the bodily concept of life. And even in our own temples we will see this tendency that unless you’re born in the west, you’re not really a devotee. That if you’re an Indian, you’re not really a devotee. Only the Westerners are really the devotees. They’re the only ones that are really successful. That tendency is also the bodily concept of life. We have to also be careful. We should proper says and reasons. We should not think that it’s the criteria for being a devout is observed in the West. The Hindus are also devotees, although we condemn that Hindu attitude.

But that doesn’t mean that they have all got it. And neither we take it that, you know, we have to be a Westerner. To be a real devotee. So, January 30, at 2:50am this morning, RLA Prabhupāda completed the 9th Cantal and began the summarization of the chapter of the 10th cantal. For the 10th cantal, Pradhumi was so excited that he stayed up all night and recorded down the time. Today is a but it is observed tomorrow because of his mahadwaitasana. After the normal day, Suruk Dhammadaprabhu came in. Rla Prabhupāda was very glad to hear that he’d come and called him into his room straight away and began to converse with him about his science program, etc.

Suruk Damodar told RLA Prabhupda how they had done some programs in Atlanta at universities, and he showed Rla Prabhupāda some slides that they had used in their lectures dealing with the origin of life. They had a seminar at Lancer University which was attended by many important men. And he told Rla Prabhupāda that when they had finished their presentation, then at the end of the meeting, all of them were completely silent because the philosophy was so strong that they could not refute it. Rla Prabhupāda was very greatly pleasured to hear it. Then Surup Damodar Prabhu went on to explain to Praupath how modern science explains that the action and reaction of the living being is simply a series of chemical pushes and pulls. One chemical reacts with another, which produces a particular kind of action or reaction.

However, he showed Proudhard a picture of a crocodile taken in a Life magazine. In a natural Life magazine, the crocodile had its mouth open and it had an egg in its mouth, and it was gently rolling the egg backwards and forwards under its tongue. And in this way, the young crocodile was hatched out. Then, still with its mouth open, it allows the young crocodile to jump out of its mouth and swim ashore. So they were using this as definite proof that there is a feeling of love and affection and that it’s not just a question of impersonal mechanical pushes and pulls. Prabhupāda liked this example very much, and he also quoted the example that we had seen the other day of the lions in the cage and how they were living together as a family unit without any fighting.

So that this consciousness of relationship is definitely there in this way. The conversation went on for some time, and then they also touched on the subject of Manipur. Sula Prabhupāda has decided that he will go to Manipur immediately. After Gopurnima last year we supposed to go there but the arrangement fell through. Now again Rla Prabhupāda wants to go there. And he has said that even he will not go to Vrindavan but he will go straight from Mayfur to Manipur to begin to centre there. He explained that it is a very strong chatty background and everyone in Manipur is a Vaishnava. Arjuna married the king’s daughter there and their son had become the king there. He is convinced that Manipur can become the first Vaishnav state in the world. I haven’t got the notes. You have to look in the mail bar.

His son’s name was Boo or something. I can’t remember exactly. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s grat affection for Suruk Dhammadara gives very much importance to his science project. And he said that if we can simply defeat these scientists then the whole world will be changed. Today also Prabhupāda had a visit from the man who has given us the land here in Bhubaneswar. His name is Nitinanda Kanango who is the former Chief minister of Gujarat. And he’s a very big important man. And Śrīla Prabhupāda treated him very coldly. He is due to come to the inauguration of our temple foundation of our temple in the lane of the foundation stone. Also January 31st. Today is Lord Varāha’s appearance and also Mahadwarasa. So we had a half day fast and then observed the Cadasu feasting in the morning.

Rla Prabhupāda decided that he will travel to Katak to see Nityānanda Kananga who has his place there. And also he wants to visit one ashram, Nichananda Ashram where he says he formally spent five days in 1958 when he visited Yaganath Purī. We are going there on chance because Mr. Kanangal does not know that Prabhupāda is coming this morning. As we set out on the way there, Prabhupāda looked out on all the uncultivated land and commented that arisens are very lazy people and are not utilizing the land properly. Actually he said no land is bad simply because there is no Jagya. Then there is no rain and if you give some water then everything will become green. When we finally arrived in Katak at Nityānanda Kananga’s house we found that he had already left that place and gone to Bhubaneswar.

So we kind of crossed over. We’d gone from Bhubaneswarvaneshwar so we missed him. So we had to return disappointed. The house servant who came out to speak with us was a cripple, like a spastic. He could hardly speak properly except with great difficulty, and his hands went uncontrollably in the air. He kind of just shaken. Guru Kripa Maharaj and Gaga Muni swamis were making some sarcastic remarks to each other when they saw the man. But even they were moved when the man got down on his hands and knees and offered his obeisances after his social apparel pack. It was a tremendous difficulty for him and it took two or three minutes for him to get down and then to get back up again. And Rla Prabhai was very much touched by his show of devotion. Actually, India is an amazing country.

People here are so much pious, even despite so many suffering conditions. Still they offer respects to the saintly persons. And it is very easy to see why Lord Caitani Mahāprabhu has glorified a birth india as being the highest in the universe. Anyway, as we travel back, when we got nearer to Bhubaneswar, a few miles on the outskirts, we saw at the roadside one group of people and they were holding a woman who was crying and screaming and foaming at the nest.

They actually delay instead of speed. They’re using Rla Prabhupāda’s books both as textbooks and for their thirst for just reading Rla Prabhupāda books. And I think that this idea of, you know, this format of producing the. Of introducing Prabhupāda books is basically sound. But I am not convinced that this is the right thing to start with after let’s read and that the end result may be discouragement than reading Prabhupāda’s books. And rather than encouragement and reading them. Just let me clarify. There seems to be two different proposals, more or less. One is to have something, some books that will bridge the gap between let’s read and one year. Well, that’s one proposal in one year. This is what Mukhtaroopa is saying. Until they can actually read Prabhupāda’s books. Even the captions under the pictures, which you said one year. And there’s another proposal.

Okay, roughly one year. And there’s another proposal is to bridge the gap by tripling the amount of doubling or tripling the amount of Nandarani type of readers introducing the vocabulary.

(Side B of the Cassette)

I didn’t explain that point actually properly. What I meant to say, as far as a thirst for reading, is that we want their minds to be absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in this movement. The primary method of absorbing the mind in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is by sound vibration, and that we should do everything possible to encourage them to take part in that process. And I am not very confident that this will achieve that end, nor I am not also not confident that it will achieve the end of introducing Prabhupda’s books as a textbook as soon as possible. Another additional point, and Prabhupda did authorize the simplification of the stories for the children to read. What I say is the body.

Was lying in the middle of the road outside, all the clothes had been ripped off and the head, one arm and one leg had been squashed flat by a truck and simply the trunk of the body was left. It was a very ghastly sight. Sula Prabhupāda, however, was fortunately asleep and did not see it. Later on in the morning in his room I was speaking with Prabhupāda, and Prabhupāda was telling me about how people are in illusion and are therefore suffering because they identify with the body. So I mentioned the incident of the dead body on the road, and I told him how the man had been killed just a minute before we had arrived. RLA Prabhupāda immediately opened his eyes wide and said Achya.

And sounded a little surprised, but then immediately said, but still the sight of such a dead body, this is not really any different from seeing any other lump of matter. Simply because we identify the living being with that matter, then it becomes a shock to see it all squashed. And I agreed that actually it was just the same as seeing any other combination of material elements, and that for such that body there was no longer any value. On account of that, you know, Tupper was interested to hear, but his first reaction was Acha, like this. But then immediately he said, anyway, it’s just a bag of chemicals, that’s all. So why all the lamentations? But because we identified as simply living, therefore we have some feeling. But now the living thing’s gone.

On account of there being no breakfast this morning Śrīla Prabhupāda called in Surup Damada and Yogeshwara Prabhu, who had just arrived from Bangkok, and he preached to them for about three quarters of an hour about how rascal the scientists are that they can claim to help people and relieve suffering. Actually suffering is preordained the experiment and cannot be avoided. Therefore, the devotee accepts anything as mercy and thinks of Kṛṣṇa but the Kaoris simply bemoan their fate and foolishly try to make adjustments. Therefore, in the Bhagavad Gītā, Kṛṣṇa says tolerate happiness and distress. After he explains that we are actually spirit soul and not affected by material conditions. Rla Prabhupāda told us a story to illustrate the foolishness of the scientists about how one devotee of Durga Devī was worshipping and as he worshiped, she appeared before him and asked him if everything was alright.

So he replied, oh yes, everything is very nice, wonderful. Just two difficulties. There is no food and no cloth. So in the same way the scientists are claiming that everything is wonderful and that everything is going on nicely, but still they cannot solve Jerem Ritu, Yarub Yaddin, that was an example the man was worshipping and when Durga comes before him, how is everything? Oh, everything’s great. Just two difficulties. I have no food and I have got no cloth to wear. So that’s like your basic necessities. So he’s saying everything’s nice, but he doesn’t even have his basics. The same way the scientists are saying, oh, everything is nice, everything’s going on, we’re making progress, but the basics are still unsolved. Birth, death, disease and old age.

February 1, Rilla Prabhupāda in the morning was talking about Harry Keshe’s report how everything in Eastern Europe is going on nicely. He reported that they are having successes everywhere and now in Poland and Romania. Also people in Russia, Poland and Romania are very agītāted due to having not sufficient food, etc. And in Russia, he reported, subversive activities are going on, blowing up subways, etc. Rilla Prabhupāda said, yes, the human intellect cannot be artificially suppressed very long. These things, no food, no rain, heavy taxation, they will be punished in this way. He was very pleased, he was very pleased to hear the report and he stressed that chanting and prasadam was the main program and philosophy could come a little later. Also, one man had written to Rla Prabhupāda asking him to publish an article that he had written.

The man was a follower of Aurobindo, so it was all impersonal as we skip through it. At one point he gave a comparison between Buddha, Christ and Kṛṣṇa. His main theme was that the Godhead descends in order to experience what he called divine pain. Rla Prabhupāda said, this is all bogus. Kṛṣṇa is Thatchered and Vigrihan. And he never experiences pain. His pain is only in his compassion to see the fallen conditioned soul in such horrible condition of life. And anyway, he said, as far as comparisons go, we don’t generally do this, at least not for preaching. Except for our own understanding. We can both Buddha and Christ preach Thou shalt not kill or Ahimsa. But the people could not follow. Prabhupāda went on to glorify Christ as being a great devotee. And he said, we have no differences with Christ.

Actually it is Jesus of the Christ. Christ is the root expression of Kṛṣṇa. And Prabhupāda recalled how once in Melbourne he had told some Christian monks that yes, we accept Jesus as our guru. And he told me actually that is the fact. So I brought up how even though Christ had only preached for three years, his fame has gone on for 2000. So Prabhupāda said, yes, that is the proof that when Kṛṣṇa makes one famous, everybody knows now that Suruk Damodar is here. The morning walks have become very lively with Prabhupāda Talking about science etc. As we drove out to the pack this morning, we passed by many hundreds of soldiers who were en route march. Prabhupāda did not say anything as we drove down between the two lines of soldiers as they route marched on either side of the road.

But after we got past them, he commented, just as Kṛṣṇa brought all the demons together on the battle of Kurukshatra and killed them in the same way, all these demons will be killed. And he told us that then that will be our best time for preaching. Because we don’t want that there be a fight. But because they’re demons, they will create so many difficulties in our preaching work. Therefore they will be removed by Kṛṣṇa. He will erase them war and then all these demons will be killed. And he said that will be a very good thing because then that will enable us to do our preaching. And the innocent people will see that war is the result of so many infighters activities and sinful life. And therefore they will become so disgusted that they will never want it to happen again.

And if we preach, they will appreciate what we’re saying and they will take us off. So he said, in this way a war will be very good. February 2nd. Today is Lord Nityānanda’s appearance day. After walking in the park rla Prabhupāda came back to the land and he gave a very nice lecture on Nityānanda’s Prabhu’s appearance. And this was after having Guru Kripa Maharaj Singh Nitāi Pada Kamalam. The theme of the lecture was how our movement is going on because we are surrendering to Nityānanda Balaram who is the original Guru. Of course, today was a half day fast and at 11am RLA Prabhupda came out to the pandal at the back of our land. One very large pandal has been set up and they have dug one hole next to this stage where the cornerstone lane ceremony will take place.

Pradumna Prabhu has set up the fire sacrifice and Rla Prabhupāda is invited as chief speaker. The chief Sham Pandit from the Jagannath temple. That was the man from the Panda previous few evenings ago. The chief guest is Nichenanda Kanango and his whole family have come for the ceremony. Actually it was his daughter who gave us the land. So Rla Prabhupāda went at 11 and sat on the stage and Pradumna performed a fire sacrifice in foundation stone lane ceremony. Only a small crowd attended. But throughout the day at least 1000 people came and took Prashad. So RLA Prabhupāda was pleased by this. He stayed for about an hour and then he went back to his regular routine of massage, prashad rest, etc. Then again in the evening there was a program at the pandal when now he’s named Savashiva. Anyway, whoever Shiv Shamra Savvashiva attended.

So Prabhupāda let Savarshiv speak or rather sorry rather than speak himself. So the man went on and on for at least three quarters of an hour before he desisted. And then we had Kīrtana. By the end of the man’s lecture, Guru Kripa Maharaj and his men who were all sat on the stage were becoming agītāted that he was speaking so long and everybody was becoming very bored. So they all began to chant Japa very loudly as they hint to the man that he should finish up and let us do Kīrtana. Prabhupāda did not comment on this. And in his room afterwards, Guru Kripa Maharaj asked Śrīla Prabhupāda if that was the etiquette. Prabhupāda said, well, it is better to let them speak. After all he is a learned scholar. He spoke so many things, but actually there was no conclusion.

He is a householder after all. So that was Prabhupāda’s comments. Well, you should have let him continue. It wasn’t very good, but he said anyway. Still the man was speaking with no conclusion. He said, after all, anyone is a household, so what can you expect? So in other words, Prabhupāda indicated that these men are professionals. He has to support his household so simply. He can speak so many things from Shastra but that they don’t really know what the real conclusion of the Shastra is. And they go from one place to another earning their livelihood from this speaking business. Bhāgavata Das also came at night time and he announced to Prabhupāda some news that there was a chance to get one half completed temple in Bhubaneswar given to us as a donation.

Apparently in the middle of Bhubaneswar there is one temple which some businessmen began to build three or four years ago and they spent eight lakhs of rupees on it so far. But now they are having difficulty in finishing it. So we will find out in more details. Prabhupāda quoted a Bengali verse to the effect never refuse a gift. He also preached to Smrut Damodar a lot about going to Māyāpur and preaching there. He was just in Manipur before he came here to see Rla Prabhupāda. And Prabhupāda is keen for him to take up the mission. He told him that he should spend six months in Manipur and six months in America. He said Manipur is Kshatriya Vaishnav state and he is a scientist so he should make it Kṛṣṇa conscious.

He also instructed him that he should travel throughout India and give talks and seminars with all big scientists and scholars and try to recruit them into Kṛṣṇa service and then go out and preach all over the world. He said, go out and challenge all big men and except expose them. Suruk Damodar is becoming more and more confident that he can do this as we get more material to work with. He told Prabhupāda that actually there are so many things that the scientists cannot explain. So therefore they tactfully put them to one side because they do not fit in with their scientific theories that life comes from matter. Therefore he and others are compiling as many of these facts as they can and they are using it to expose the fallacies of the modern scientific theories and prove that Kṛṣṇa exists.

He showed Śrīla Prabhupāda a copy of the intended Bhaktivedanta Institute journal, the first issue of which will be printed here india by Gopal Kṛṣṇaprabhu who Also arrived late last night. It is intended to be quarterly and the unedited version that they showed to RLA Prabhupda was 300 pages thick. But this will be cut down somewhat this morning on the morning watch. Prabhupāda also told Surup Damodar that he should be made to GBC for science at Mypur this year. And he repeated it several times. He is very enlivened at the thought of having Kṛṣṇa conscious scientists go out and preach using all their know how for Kṛṣṇa. One complaint that was brought up was that the recent science articles in the BTG was about the recent science articles in the btg.

Surup Damada complained that these were not so accurate and Prabhupāda agreed with him that the BTG should be more accurate. And he said in future it will be taken as evidence so it must be correct. It should be just like the books. Any little defect, they will pick it out. So everything must be done very nicely. As Prabhupāda preached about the scientists, he said any man, whether he has a PhD etc. Or not, if he has no knowledge of the soul then he is considered mad and therefore he has no credit. A madman has no credit no matter who he is. If a man is a High court judge. But if he becomes a madman then who will accept his decisions? And he recalled in his early days one big scholar who was known to Prabhupāda’s family had become mad.

He said that the man had many titles, PhD etc. But he became so mad that he was running in the streets naked. So he said, who cares for him? Therefore he said it is the same with these atheistic scientists. He tells Surup Damodar that if we can simply get the scientists to admit that there is a soul then we will succeed. February 3rd. This afternoon four men came from the committee that is building this temple in Bhubaneswar. And they took lunch with Rla Prabhupāda and discussed with him whether they should hand over their temple to us. They want a committee to run the place. But Rla Prabhupāda will only take it if it is a straight gift and if Rla Prabhupāda is accepted as the only authority. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is autocracy. He said there is no democracy. I call it demon crisis.

Sorry, he said I call it democracy or actually demon crazy. A bunch of demons together. What good they can do? Anyway, the men will have a full meeting with the other members of their board and Bhagat will report to Śrīla Prabhupāda on this matter when he comes to my fort. Śrīla Prabhupāda has been very pleased with the work that Bhagavad has been doing in Orissa, and therefore he’s appointed him as a temple president in Dubaneshwar so that Gaga Vindaswami can concentrate on translation work. He has also told Nandikaman that he should also remain here and help Bhagwat, who was praising Bhagwat by commenting, by calling him Baguat Maharaj. And then he said a little seriously, well, do you still want to send? Yes. So Baguat said, because at that time he was asking.

So then Baguat replied, well, Śrīla Prabhupāda, I think I will wait for a little while. I am not sure whether I am properly qualified to take sannyas just yet. Shalla Prabhupāda smiled. Yes, one should not take Sennyas unless he is firmly convinced. One should wait until he is 50 years. We are giving so many young men for the sake of preaching, but that has not proved to turn out so well. So Prabhupāda was glad that he was a little honest, that he wanted to wait because he said, we have had so many problems and we’re doing it for preaching work. You have to have some yeses to go out and preach. But at the same time it’s been a little problematic.

Well, we get a lot offers of gifts of Lent, but Prabhupāda never used to accept them unless they were unconditional because that’s charity and the multi goodness. And Prabhupāda would only accept charity if there were strings attached. Prabhupāda would never have anything to do with it. Well, we’re just not people who have land. We’re just not that pious that they want to give it to us. In India, it’s the traditional thing. Everybody, they and their families, it’s traditional india. Everybody is a landowner. That was the Indian system. Everybody must have acre or 2 acres or whatever it is. And that was considered wealth. People didn’t have this artificial wealth. It was just simply money. The property is wealth. So because they’re triads, they like to give land that they have for some good cause.

See if you build a temple because they know they will get some money from there. In the late afternoon we got everything packed up and then in the evening we all went into Rla Prabhupāda’s room to hear him speak until it was time to leave to catch the train which goes at 10:55pm were there for about an hour or so and many different topics came up for discussion. We were all talking about how we had so many bad habits before we came to India. And Gagamuni Maharaj told rla Prabhupāda that it was not until he actually came to India that he realized just how bad habits they had in the West. He said he had heard how rla Prabhupāda condemned dog life when he was preaching in the West.

But he could never understand why he was so critical of the dog until he came to India. At home his parents dog used to come and eat at the same table as them. When they used to take their meal, their dog used to come and eat from the same table. So they were thinking he couldn’t understand. You know, Prabhupāda was so heavy about dogs and it’s difficult you tell people that the dog is the lowest of animals in the west and get very offended. They think it’s the most glorious pet. So Bhagwat also mentioned even how the hogs in the west are not thought of as being very low. In fact the cameras feed them on milk and grains to fatten them up for eating.

So at this point I told proud how as a youth I once worked in a neighbor’s piggery cleaning out the pig sties to erson pocket money. So Prabhupāda immediately replied so now you have come from pigsizer to Kṛṣṇa Seizar. So his yuma was always, as always was very sharp. So then gradually he got on to speaking about the Indian national army. This Indian national army and how Subhash Chandra Bose had formed it by escaping from India disguised as a Mohammedan. And then he went to Germany and with Hitler’s cooperation he began the Indian national army. He went through to Manipur to enter into India. Surup Damadar mentioned how in Manipur many Japanese soldiers were also there and had been killed. And now just recently there was some move to have their bones taken back to Japan.

So Prabhupāda explained that yes, Tojo also cooperated with Sebastian to bows. But his plan was to enter India with him and then kill him and capture India. Hitler however actually gave some real help. Any Indian that was captured was given to boss by Bose to form the Indian army. So many Sikhs and Gurkhas who were the mainstay of the British Indian army they voluntarily surrendered when they heard about the Indian national army so that they could join Sebastian Rabos. Then they actually trained up in Singapore and at one point they even bombed Calcutta. So when the British saw that the army was not now cooperating with them then they knew that everything india was finished for them. And a short while after the war they gave up India and allowed them independence. Actually they were never worried by Gandhi.

They let him go on for 30 years without being disturbed by him. Prabhupāda Śrīla Prabhupāda always shout and criticizes Gandhi. Although he does give credit that Gandhi had actually diagnosed the real trouble that the British were only ruling India due to the Indians cooperation with them. However he said non violence in politics is simply nonsense. Gaga Muniswami mentioned how Lolita Bose, who is Sebastianra Bose’s granddaughter had once commented that rla Prabhupāda was just like Netherjeet because he went sideways, went outside of India and organized an army of Vaiavas. And now he was returning to take over India. Prabhupāda said yes, now we have to organize. Now we have organized an army. It is in the right hands. You Americans are resourceful and you can do it. The framework is there now organized. This mission is Parau Upakan. We don’t want to exploit anyone.

Today’s so called civilization keeps people in the clutches of Māyā. They have been misled. Lusty demons. We are all against this. It is really Paraupaka to help the people and you will be recognized by Kṛṣṇa. Simply go on working for this movement. Take all strategic points for fighting. There is declaration by us against Māyā. Actually not against Māyā. She is a servant of Kṛṣṇa. It is against the demons she would relinquish. But because they want to be demons she cannot. So actually we are not fighting with Māyā but we are fighting with the demons. Now in America the demons are feeling our presence. It is a fight and we have to defend. A fight is a fight. My Guru Maharaj used to say if there is a fight we must expect some of our soldiers will go down. Still we must fight much more.

Fight like brave soldiers. Kṛṣṇa will help no truce with the demons. The Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is our weapon. They are afraid of the Astra Sangopang Astra Parshadam. Go and fight him. We are not like the Vrindavan Babajis who proudly claim oh, I never go outside of Vrindavan and at the same time keep three dozen widows. In this way he encourages us to preach more and more. He told Surup Damadar in connection with Manipur being the Khatria State that it is a chatria’s duty to go out and kill wherever there is whatever is artificial and protect whatever is genuine. Gradually the conversation changed and Prabhupāda began to talk about his diet. And he told us how he must avoid ghee, although actually he does not like to eat without it.

Gaga Muniswami told Śrīla Prabhupāda of one man he had met who was 90 years old and who was eating only fruit and nuts twice a day. And he suggested that Prabhupāda could try that program. So Śrīla Prabhupāda agreed that he would try it. He told us that his Guru Maharaj only ate very little, but not just fruits. He would like very salty things. And also his favorite preparation was made from chickpea flour and peanuts fried in ghee. And generally he ate twice a day. Then when the time came we left Bhubaneswar and got to the railway station. And after a half hour wait at the station we boarded the train for Calcutta.

Some men who had come from Jagannath Purī were also there and they were all intoxicated and they came up and asked us a few questions about Māyāpur before we boarded the carriage. Prabhupāda, Satsaroop, Maharaj and myself are in a first class compartment and Gagamuni Surup Damodar are going by road in Rla Prabhupāda’s car. And Pradumna and his wife and Palika and Praduna’s child are all traveling in the second class carriage as well as Akshaya who is our guide. Unfortunately the drunks were all in first class cabin next to ours and until 2 o’clock in the morning the men were shouting and making a disturbance. They were all intoxicated and calling out to each other, oh Dr. Banerjee, oh Dr. Mukherjee. Like this. So it was evident.

Rla Prabhupāda explained that these men were all from respectable Brahmin families, but now by their modern education they have become ruined. He complained that nowadays people go to Jagannath Purī simply for sense gratification but not for spiritual life. And this was a great apparatus. Śrīla Prabhupāda rested on and off throughout the night. First of all we took rest at 12:30am and then again he was up at 3 and then again he took a short rest at 5:30. Then after we took bath and began chanting Japan. Rla Prabhupāda was talking to us about these kamis or sense enjoys. He told us there is A verse that says that it is better to be in an iron cage surrounded by blazing fire than to even see the face of a non devotee. Actually to see their face is a pollution.

And he pulled a very sour look. It is painful to see them. But he added that for preaching it is not so. He talked for a little while also about farming communities and said that if we could produce our own food, our own cloth and our own medicine, then that will make us self sufficient and that we should introduce Ayurvedic medicine and grow herbs and drugs on our farms for this purpose. We finally arrived in Calcutta at 8.20am in the morning. On arrival at the temple, Prabhupāda gave a nice lecture about how worship of the deities is one of our main businesses along with following the Brahminical principles. He always likes the deity worship here in Calcutta and is always very pleased to see it.

And he mentioned how people in general are becoming more and more degraded due to giving up these processes of deity worship and Brahminical life. And he gave the example of the drunken men on the train. Then after about 15 or 20 minutes Prabhupāda went into his room and took rest right away and missed his breakfast altogether. His health, although in Bhubaneswar was a little improved, is still not good actually in Bhubaneswar he was going on walks regularly for the first time for months and months since had become ill when we left New York in the summer. Because it’s very dangerous in the car.

And to our discretion. And it’s.

I think.

There was some ahead of me over there. I just wanted to get my hand up. So I eventually got around here.

I wanted to say that again.

To.

The Bible because the Bible is not at all like the Christian, but the Bible is mainly historic. It must be much easier to go from little readers to the Bible which is very much studying hardly in Theosophy and to go from the reader to the books, which I think not the.

Pork books, much more. Why, you know, we’re not going from the. Let’s read to the poor poets which are extremely philosophical, especially going to stories, massive stories.

So that might be the answer.

And through Prabhupāda too.

That doesn’t fit the category of Prabhupāda’s books.

One assumption Gurjan primarily is writing that the child won’t be afraid of the blank page or afraid to write if he has a lot of experience writing. So the same application can be made for reading practically. I have seen and I know that if the child writes, then he will be more interested in writing and able to write, especially if you give him the skills carefully give him the skills and train him up how to write. So it’s the same for reading. If a child reads and regularly reads and is trained in reading skills, then he will be very much more interested in reading when he’s older. It’s the same principle for reading as for writing. And I found that our program does lack after Dr. Let’s read and teaching reading skills and teaching comprehension.

There’s so many things we can teach that relate to reading that we teachers don’t know about. And it could be incorporated in a nice program which would assist the children in their reading.

I’d like to offer kind of semi alternative proposal to. I don’t know if we’re ready for. Well, it might bring. Well, you were out.

I already explained that were going to do that redo, by the way, we would already redo those readers and do the same things that were mentioned.

I think it might be timely in the conversation because it might solve some of the problems on both ends and then maybe it could be discussed on its own merits. If you will allow me.

I see that.

There’S two basic principles. One is that we have Prabhupāda’s obvious order that he wants his books used as textbooks as soon as possible in our school system. I don’t think there’s anybody in this room that will disagree or be confused about that principle. So therefore it becomes a question of how to do it most effectively and most efficiently, how to actually carry out Prabhupāda’s order in a way that works. And Prabhupda gave many orders, but he also expected his disciples to use their intelligence to try and figure out the ways to execute the order of the spiritual master. I don’t think that we should make kind of subtle accusations at each other that we’re not trying to all achieve the same purpose. Everybody wants Prabhupda’s books to be used at the earliest possible time.

But there’s differences of agreement about what is the most effective way to do it. So that’s just my comment on.