Morning Walk — January 20, 1976, Māyāpur

Prabhupāda: Śrīmad bhāgavate kiṁ vā paraiḥ [SB 1.1.2]. There is no other literature required. Everything is perfect, word to word. What is that verse? Kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām? 

Śāstrījī: Eṣa purāṇārko ‘dhunoditaḥ [SB 1.3.43]

Prabhupāda: Simply that is the only light in this age. 

Śāstrījī: Śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ purāṇam amalaṁ yad vaiṣṇavānāṁ priyam [SB 12.13.18]. 

Prabhupāda: Vaiṣṇavānāṁ priyam. [Bengali] So some professor has… [break] …with this authorized literature. Somebody has not said? 

Harikeśa: Yes. 

Prabhupāda: Actually that is the fact. These… Therefore we don’t like to read any books. Dr. Wolfe, he is suggesting. Simply waste of time. Simply waste of time. Except Vedic literature, all this nonsense. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Place for the crows. 

Prabhupāda: Bās. That’s all. Not for the swans. They are admitting. Otherwise how it is selling unless they are admitting the value? Maybe a few, but they are realizing. I told you that one young man, very respectable, he came to me in somewhere airport, maybe Japan or some place. So he said, “Swāmījī, can I talk with you?” And “Yes, why not?” “Where you have got so vast knowledge?” And “This is not my knowledge. I am simply translating. That’s all. It is Vyāsadeva’s knowledge. It is not my knowledge.” Mean… He appreciated the vast stock of knowledge. That is a fact. And this rascal says, even in India, that Bhāgavata is not written by Vyāsadeva; it is latest, within Christian era. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Last thousand years. 

Prabhupāda: Huh? 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Written within the last thousand years. 

Prabhupāda: Yes. You know that? They say like that. So many rascals are there. And this is the only shelter, these our centers, to be protected from all these rascals. These ISKCON centers are the only shelter. So you have to maintain it very nicely. There is no other shelter. All bogus, more or less. All bogus. But you have to, not to… You quote, but the purpose of the verse you present reasonably. If you simply quote, it will not be simply very appealing: “Oh, they are simply…” Sometimes the Westerners criticize that, my that Godbrother, Sadānanda? He was criticizing that “Your presentation…” “Your” means our, this Vaiṣṇava literature. “Simply you quote some Sanskrit verse, that’s all.” So these Sanskrit verses should be explained for understanding of the modern people. If you simply quote, it is not very appealing. In Durban… Durban? We went to that university? You remember? That Ārya-samājī? He was speaking that “This is Hindu conception. Hindu conception.” And what do you mean by Hindu conception? A child grows to become a boy. Is that Hindu conception? It is science. When Kṛṣṇa said, dehino ‘smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā [Bg. 2.13], that’s a fact. It is applicable to the Hindus, to the Muslim, to the Christian—everyone. Why do you say it is Hindu conception? So you have to present in that way. They may not think that it is Hindu conception. Because they are all rascals, unless you explain it, that this is meant for everyone, they will misunderstand that Bhāgavata is for the Hindus or for the Indians. It is for everyone. But one must realize. There is no question of Hindu conception or Muslim conception. [rattling sound] So this will go on whole day, “Cut-cut-cut-cut”? 

Bhavānanda: Morning and evening. [break] 

Prabhupāda: Your party has sold twenty-five thousand big books? 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: After three weeks. 

Prabhupāda: Huh? 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. So far this month. 

Prabhupāda: Twenty-five thousand. I never thought [laughs] that these books will be so well received. It is beyond my imagination. I thought a few copies may be sold. 

Sudāmā: Remember, Śrīla Prabhupāda, Tamāla, he inaugurated in Seattle, Washington, the saṅkīrtana party… 

Prabhupāda: No, he inaugurated from San Francisco. We were printing these Back to Godhead, five hundred. And he was most of the… You were selling? 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Actually it was 3,500, and we were selling 2,700 of them. 

Prabhupāda: Oh. Then Brahmānanda… I asked Brahmānanda. I asked Brahmānanda; he was in charge. I asked him that “Why don’t you print more?” I understood that he has got the potency to sell more. So print in regular way, in that way we arranged. What is that? Press? 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, mimeograph. 

Prabhupāda: Mimeograph. I was printing. Yes. Then he inquired this Dai Nippon… Many place. At last he said that “Unless we print twenty thousand, they will not take up this work.” I said, “Immediately take it.” From three thousand to twenty thousand immediately. At that time they were giving us ten cent or less than that. 

Sudāmā: Ten cent. It was around ten cents. 

Prabhupāda: So in this way. Then how you’ll increase? 

Jayapatākā: Now you can sell whole sets. 

Hari-śauri: Now more than one million. 

Sudāmā: And in the years to come, many millions. 

Prabhupāda: Hmm? 

Sudāmā: Many millions in the years to come. 

Prabhupāda: Yes. There is good pote… 

Jayapatākā: Many people ask for bound volume of the whole year, Back to Godhead. 

Prabhupāda: But there is no remnants; we sell everything. Generally when there is some remaining copies, the publisher bound it up for future sale, reference. [break] …Vedānta-sūtra, that is the topmost philosophy. So that first verse, athāto brahma jijñāsā: in this human form of life there is no other business—simply to inquire about Brahman. This is the fact. If anyone wants to fulfill the human form of life as distinguished from animal life, this is the only business, brahma-jijñāsā. And the whole civilization is on this basis. Therefore first brahmacārī, how to understand Brahman. So the children of human society is trained up, same principle, how to understand Brahman. 

[pause] 

Prabhupāda: So yesterday with that gentleman I told, “Where you got the sand?” Our beginning talk was that. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Where you got the…? 

Prabhupāda: Sand. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Sand. Oh, yes, yes. Yesterday morning. 

Prabhupāda: I knew it, that they were preparing some sand, because Dr. Bose had a bottle factory. So he was melting the sand. Therefore I asked him. You cannot manufacture anything. You simply collect the ingredients given by God, and you can transfer into some other form. You cannot manufacture. This building is also the same way. You have got the cement, the wood, the iron. Wherefrom you have got that? It is Kṛṣṇa’s property. So those who are manufacturing or constructing big, big houses for their living, they are simply eating their sinful activities. Ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt [Bg. 3.13]. We are also… They can say that “You are also con…” But we are not doing it for ourself. It is for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore karma and bhakti apparently looks the same activity, but one is for Kṛṣṇa, another is for one’s personal use. Bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpāḥ. What is that verse? You know? Bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt [Bg. 3.13]. Hmm? What is that book? 

Devotee: [indistinct] 

Prabhupāda: Oh. Today there is no fog, or there is, that side, fog. [break] …all convinced that our only business is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Huh? 

Devotees: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. 

Prabhupāda: That is required. We have no other business. “We” means we human beings. We have no other business. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Prabhupāda, when someone comes to the stage of being convinced like that, that there is no other business, what is that stage called? 

Prabhupāda: That is called svarūpa-siddhi. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa [Cc. Madhya 20.108]. This realization, that “I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa,” this stage. And from here Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s teaching begins. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very exalted. 

Prabhupāda: Hmm? Yes. So you have to preach all over the world that “You are simply wasting time by so many department of knowledge. You are so foolish, rascal.” Śrama eva hi kevalam [SB 1.2.8]. Simply wasting time. I think I explained that to that gentleman last morning? He said in one hour, two hour you should devote… Not two hour. Twenty-four hour. Did I not say? Yes. Because that is the only business. We have no other business. Our Society is practically demonstrating that this is the only business, and no other business. We therefore do not try even to earn our livelihood. That is the natural instinct of every animal. But we do not try even for that. Is it not? 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Transcendental platform. 

Prabhupāda: Yes. Let them see practically. We are not busy how to go to the office, how to the business place. We are not interested. We are simply interested for maṅgala ārati, for class, for chanting, dancing. That’s all. Practically see. We are not going to any office or any business. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yet we’re still living in a palace. 

Prabhupāda: Yes. Let them see it. We are living in such a palace that everyone is envious. They ask in America, “You people, you do not do anything. How do you live so, like this?” Do they not? 

Sudāmā: Yes. 

Prabhupāda: Yes. The storekeeper says. [laughs] 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And when we tell them, “We will also teach you how to do nothing also and live in a palace,” they say, “Oh, no, thank you. That I do not want. I want to work hard.” 

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is called worms of the stool. You see? If you take this worm from the stool, “Why you are living in stool? Come here,” “No, no. I go back there.” You’ll see. The pig eating stool, ask him, “Take halavā. Why you are eating?” “No, no. I like it very much.” This is māyā. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So sometimes when a devotee goes…, joins Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then leaves again and goes back to the material world, it’s just like a pig going back to the stool. 

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The materialism and spiritualism is explained by Rūpa Gosvāmī. There is bird, cātaka. So they drink water when the rain falls, and otherwise they will starve. They will never accept any water from this earth. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: There is actually such a bird. 

Prabhupāda: A devotee will never accept materialism, even if he dies of starvation. You’ll see so many still, they are sticking to this principle. There are still many saintly persons in India, they do that. They don’t care for any bodily care. “Some food comes; I shall eat. Never mind.” Still you’ll find. They are sitting in their place and chanting or meditating without any concern for bodily necessities. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We see, Śrīla Prabhupāda, that you also have no such concern, but just to deliver the whole world you are taking on this concern. 

Prabhupāda: This is for Kṛṣṇa. We are constructing the buildings and begging money or…, and…, only for this purpose: people may become Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is the only idea. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is that bhajanānandī and goṣṭhyānandī? 

Prabhupāda: Bhajanānandī is not so important than goṣṭhyānandī. Bhajanānandī is doing for himself, and goṣṭhyānandī is doing for all living being. If you prepare some rasagullā for you, and if you prepare rasagullā for mass of people, then who is better? Rasagullā is good, but if you prepare for yourself only, then that is also good. But one who is preparing for so many hundreds and thousands is better. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I was just reading a verse in the Bhagavad-gītā this morning. There’s a… I don’t know the Sanskrit, but the English is, “He who works for the welfare of others.” Part of the verse mentions like that: “A liberated soul works for the welfare of others.” 

Bhavānanda: But some people, especially here, they can understand you prepare rasagullās for the mass of people, but they don’t like that you prepare rasagullā for Kṛṣṇa. 

Prabhupāda: Hmm? 

Bhavānanda: They want that you should prepare rasagullā for the mass of people, but they don’t like it if you’re preparing rasagullā to give to Kṛṣṇa. 

Prabhupāda: That is Vivekananda: daridra-nārāyaṇa-sevā. The answer is that if you do not prepare rasagullā for Kṛṣṇa, then there will be no supply of rasagullā. So everything will be finished. Because bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt [Bg. 3.13]. Anyone who is preparing rasagullā for himself or expanded himself, so they simply become implicated with sinful activities. So if you are… Suppose if you prepare rasagullā, stealing from the shopkeeper sugar and…, then how long you will go on? One day you’ll be captured. Stena eva sa ucyate [Bg. 3.12]. What is that verse? Stena eva sa ucyate. [Bengali] Yajña-puruṣa. Real point is to satisfy. You cannot supply rasagullā, but if you supply rasagullā as prasādam, then the rasagullā-eater is benefited, you are benefited, and Kṛṣṇa is pleased. 

Jayapatākā: But some devotees say that “In cooking rasagullā for Kṛṣṇa and the masses, I got my hand burnt. So now I want to practice on my own how to make rasagullā. When I become expert, then again I’ll make for the masses.” 

Prabhupāda: You can prepare for Kṛṣṇa so that your hands will be saved. Because you are thinking in that way, that “Let me prepare for myself,” therefore your hands is burned. [laughter] Bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt [Bg. 3.13]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It’s seven o’clock now, Prabhupāda. 

Prabhupāda: So we have to go down? 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Not have to. Whatever you like. 

Prabhupāda: As you like. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We like what you like. 

Prabhupāda: So there will be rain. And if there is rain now, it is good. For these food grains it is very good. 

Jayapatākā: Good for everything but the masoori. 

Prabhupāda: Well, masoori is not very important. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What is masoori? 

Jayapatākā: Lentils. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But it’s not good for construction. 

Jayapatākā: No, no, it won’t be… 

Prabhupāda: No, it will not continue. A few hours in a day; it will be stopped. Yadi varṣe māghera śeṣa, daṇḍa-rājā puṇya-deśa. This is the month of Māgha. So at the end of Māgha, if there is little rain, then it is to be understood that the king of that country is very pious and blessed. This time a little rain is required. Yadi varṣe māghera śeṣa, daṇḍa-rājā puṇya-deśa. There is a book, Khanāra Vacana, astronomical prediction in this small verses. 

Jayapatākā: Pradyumna Prabhu had a copy of that book. 

Prabhupāda: Khanāra Vacana? 

Jayapatākā: I was looking at it. It was very practical. Even how to… How many feet you should plant the different trees, banana and others. 

Prabhupāda: Khanā was a woman, very intelligent. Wife… I think she was wife of Varāhamihira. He was very great astrologer, and she learned from her husband, and then she explained in common language. That is Khanāra Vacana. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Who? 

Prabhupāda: This Khanāra Vacana. She was… I think so… I don’t know whether… She was the wife of a great, a very big astrologer. 

Jayapatākā: There was nine ṛṣis of one rājā, and then she was the daughter of one of those ṛṣis. 

Prabhupāda: Oh, maybe, daughter or wife. 

Jayapatākā: Wife of a…, also. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It’s amazing how everything is so scientifically analyzed in the Vedas. The Westerners… 

Prabhupāda: Therefore we say “perfect.” Śruti-pramāṇam. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Even to the point of knowing about a certain amount of rain coming at the end of a particular season and how that indicates about the administration. 

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes, everything. Daṇḍa-rājā puṇya-deśa. 

Jayapatākā: [Bengali] [break] 

Prabhupāda: “…whether you have got such buildings, whether you have got such books, whether you have got such disciples, whether you have traveled so…”? Then what they will…, will be reply? Hmm? 

Jayapatākā: But they’ve got the āśīrbād. 

Prabhupāda: Huh? Oh. They say that due to their āśīrbād? 

Jayapatākā: No, he is saying that he is the counterpart, that he’s got the āśīrbād. 

Prabhupāda: No, āśīrbād, but what you have done for the āśīrbād. You are licking up the āśīrbād. 

Child: Jaya Prabhupāda. 

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Jaya. He is also. [break] Vedic conception is that the birds and beasts, they should not be driven away. Let them eat as much as it like. They must eat also. 

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So we shouldn’t do that in our field? 

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the Vedic. 

Jayapatākā: Then we won’t have anything to eat. 

Prabhupāda: No, you produce more. 

Jayapatākā: What ha… In the… Because now this field is the only field that is ripening, so that if he doesn’t scare the bird away, all the bird will come and eat his field. When all the wheat is ripening at the same time, then nobody cares. They let the birds eat. But if one man only is growing one crop at one time, then all the birds come. They will clean out and they’ll get all… 

Prabhupāda: No, therefore everyone should grow seasonal grains. Everyone should take wheat. I think the number of men is more than the number of bricks. [laughter] [break] …rooms will be finished. They are not being finished. This? [break] …Calcutta. So landlords became very perplexed. So one landlord asking, “You don’t go. I shall reduce the rent.” “Yes, that’s all right, but your house is also not very good. There are so many rats.” “All right, you can remain without rent.” “And still, there are rats.” “All right, I shall give you one cat so there will be no dist…” “Ah, who is going to keep a cat? I will require milk also to feed.” “All right, I shall give you half kilo or one kilo milk also.” “All right.” So then he says, “Now no rent and one kilo milk, that’s all right.” This was in 1942. [break] 

Jayapatākā: …minister is coming to the district and… 

Prabhupāda: Which minister? 

Jayapatākā: The Ajit Panja. He’s the health minister. So we didn’t see him… [break] 

Bhavānanda: …that we must take drastic steps for curbing the population. 

Prabhupāda: Why don’t you become brahmacārī? 

Hari-śauri: Too drastic. 

Jayapatākā: We want to present that we’re, by moral training, achieving that. 

Prabhupāda: Yes. We are making them celibate. What is called? Celibacy. 

Jayapatākā: Even our gṛhasthas, they are only having one or two children. [end] 

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