Morning Walk
My mother became very angry, that \"You are bringing so many, so much vegetable, it is being spoiled.\" But he would purchase like that.
Prabhupāda:
Vaiṣṇava ācāra. [break] …how nice. This kind of building cannot be constructed. It will require crores of money. Yes. [break]
Indian:
…nobody. Only during their annual fair-varṣa melā somebody would come here, they would stay here for a few, couple of hours, and then go back.
Prabhupāda:
The tank is not with water.
Indian:
Yes, they used to have water at both sides of this tank. Now, probably, they are short of water or they have switched on to agriculture. This is also their plot. So many they used to have flowers and tulasī and all that. Now they have come to agriculture—wheat, barley.
Prabhupāda:
Money. Such a nice tank is vacant.
Indian:
I remember my young days. People, young boys, they used to come swim here.
Prabhupāda:
Oh. [break] Just see. So you may pay them, say, 150, 200 rupees each. Then it will be all maintained, and that much money you can spend.
Indian:
And if it’s nicely maintained, possibly you can get some return out of it.
Prabhupāda:
Yes. That way we shall get fruits and flowers.
Jayādvaita:
I was seeing yesterday in Rādhā-Dāmodara Mandira that nothing is nicely maintained except for your rooms.
Prabhupāda:
[chuckles] [Transl. Previously I used to live at Rādhā-Dāmodara Mandir.]
Indian:
[Transl. My father was the principal of [indistinct] college. He is retired now. Now he is the Deputy Registerer at Kanpur University. I went with him to see you two, three times at Rādhā-Dāmodara temple.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Oh. What is your profession?]
Indian:
[Transl. I am a distributor of phermaceutical service.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. I see.]
Indian:
Oldest place in Vṛndāvana. I am not even aspirant of religion or mythology, but I am told people are very much interested in Hinduism there.
Prabhupāda:
[to a new guest] Jaya. [Transl. Is your health all right?]
Indian (2):
[Transl. Hare Kṛṣṇa.] [break]
Gurudāsa:
…should have a nice path all the way around.
Prabhupāda:
Yes.
[Hindi exchange with vendor selling green beans.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. You grow vegetables here?]
Vendor:
[Transl. Yes.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. So what do you do with it?]
Vendor:
[Transl. We cook it.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. For the Lord in the temple?]
Vendor:
[Transl. Yes.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. You don’t sell?]
Vendor:
[Transl. Yes, we sell.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Why don’t you give us. We will take it.]
Vendor:
[Transl. Yes.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Whatever vegetables you give we will take it all to our Rādhā…Balarāma Mandir. You bring it all there and take whatever the cost is.]
Vendor:
[Transl. This your…]
Lokanatha:
Raman reti.
Prabhupāda:
Raman reti.
Vendor:
[Transl. Raman reti. I see.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Otherwise our man will come and take from you.]
Vendor:
[Transl. Yes. You send somebody here.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. So what is the price? How much?]
Lokanātha:
[Transl. Should we buy some now for you Śrīla Prabhupāda?]
Prabhupāda:
Ah? We can buy some now. Hmm? How much…?
Lokanātha:
[Transl. We should buy some for you, Prabhupāda?
Prabhupāda:
No, we can buy the whole thing. [Transl. How much is this?]
Lokanātha:
[Transl. Yes. What is the price of all this?]
Vendor:
[Transl. 5 rupees per dhāḍi]
Lokanātha:
[Transl.5 rupees per what?]
Vendor:
[Transl. Five kilos.]
Lokanātha:
[Transl. Five kilos.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. How many kilos do you have?] I will talk with him. [Transl. How many kilos you have?]
Vendor:
[Transl. After weighing we will know.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. What vegetables are here?]
Vendor:
[Transl. This is all I have.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Only this? Only one kind.]
Vendor:
[Transl. Yes.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Hmm. It grows too much. So how much did you say for five kilos?]
Vendor:
[Transl. Five rupees.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Five rupees. How many kilos are here?]
Vendor:
[Transl. Should I weigh it Mahārājajī?]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Yes.] [aside:] You have got money?
Jayatīrtha:
Yes.
Vendor:
[aside:] [Transl. Go and ask for the weight of this iron. Go quickly and ask. Go.]
Vendor’s daughter: [Transl. O māyi] mother….
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Put that here. That piece of iron you put it on this side of the scale.]
Vendor & his daughter: [Transl. No Mahārājajī, we will weigh with this one kilo of weight only.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Okay. Don’t you grow any other vegetables?]
Vendor:
[Transl. No other vegetables Mahārājajī.]
Akṣayānanda:
[Transl. What is this?]
Vendor:
[Transl. They are all the same. Just leaves are sticking with it.]
Akṣayānanda:
[Transl. I see.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Where will you send it?]
Vendor:
[Transl. Maṇḍi] [wholesale vegetables market]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Delhi?]
Vendor:
[Transl. Yes.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. How much is it?]
Vendor:
[Transl. As you wish, Mahārāja. I sell for one rupee kilo. You give what you want.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. I will give twelve annas] [75 paisa per kilo.]
Vendor’s daughter: [Transl. He will pay, 75 paisa per kilo.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Ah? No? Your daughter is very clever.] [laughter]
Vendor:
[Transl. She spoke straight forward.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. So how much should I pay?]
Vendor:
[Transl. As you like, Mahārājajī.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Like, but your daughter doesn’t agree.]
Vendor:
[Transl. Leave it then if she doesn’t agree.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Your daughter doesn’t agree. Hmm.] [to Jayatīrtha:] So give him two rupees, eight annas: fifty paisa. [Transl. Do you have any money?]
Vendor:
[aside:] [Transl. Do you have any change?]
Vendor’s daughter: [Transl. No, we don’t.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. So we will come daily and take from you.] [aside:] Did you give him two rupees…]
Gurudāsa:
Bargain.
Prabhupāda:
My father used to do that. He’d go to a vegetable vendor. He has got a big basket, and he’ll say, “What do you want for all, the whole basket.” So he is ready, because he’ll sit down so long, so at very cheap rate he’ll give it. And it was not required in the family so much. My mother became very angry, that “You are bringing so many, so much vegetable, it is being spoiled.” But he would purchase like that. If you give him in those days fifty rupees to go to the market, he will spend all the money and bring at home. Hare Kṛṣṇa. [Transl. Where do you all live?]
Indian:
[Transl. We live in Vṛndāvana. We come here whole year for walking.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. It’s a very nice garden.]
Indian:
[Transl. But it is somewhat barren at this time, though.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. It is not properly maintained.]
Indian:
[Transl. Not properly maintained. At present it’s owner…It is being taken care of by a trustee. The government gives very limited money for this. And the trust has no interest in it. Previously this used be a very beautiful garden.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. You require at least twenty gardeners for this.]
Indian:
[Transl. Now the gardener doesn’t get enough money. He has taken it on a contract basis. Poor fellow with children cannot maintain with such little wage.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. It should be maintained.]
Indian:
[Transl. Another thing is the water in this area has become salty.]
Prabhupāda:
Oh.
Indian:
[Transl. Water will be the biggest problem here.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. With salty water you can’t grow anything.]
Indian:
[Transl. Nothing grows. The whole land turned salty. About twenty years ago this place had…]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Good water.]
Indian:
[Transl. …arrangements for sweet water, gardeners, flowers and bushes. Now it is almost desolate.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Desolate.]
Indian:
[Transl. There are lemon trees, guava trees, but at this time guava season is over.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Water…]
Indian (2):
[Transl. Now they have made this garden commercial. No more a flower garden.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. The well water is just salty?]
Indian:
[Transl. Yes, salty. That too they don’t spend money for this. The well is there and water pump is fitted in it, but they don’t make adequate arrangements. Rather Bihārījī’s bāgicā [garden has better facilities.] They have maintained it very well. As a result, they get plenty of flowers and some income too.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. It should be like that for the Lord’s sake. If they hand it over to us we can take care of it nicely.]
Indian:
[Transl. Yes, but the problem is that they have a trust. The government has taken it under its own control.]
Indian (2):
[Transl. You should make a beautiful garden, Svāmījī.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. We are ready to make. You help us to get it.]
Indian:
[Transl. There are other places around here somewhere.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Where?]
Indian:
[Transl. Nearby your āśrama.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Not like this garden. It is very beautiful. Hare Kṛṣṇa. If you have an acquaintance with the trustees we are prepared to spend.]
Indian:
[Transl. No, not special acquaintance.]
Prabhupāda:
Hare Kṛṣṇa. [break] …from saintly person.
Vrajavāsī:
Haribol!
Prabhupāda:
Haribol. Jaya-ho! Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Vrajavāsī:
Jaya Rādhārāṇī ki!
Prabhupāda:
Hare Kṛṣṇa. [Transl. Mahārāja, do you live here somewhere?]
Vrajavāsī:
[Transl. Here.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. I see. You perform bhajan here.]
Vrajavāsī:
[Transl. Rādhārāṇī ki jaya. Please come.] Haribol!
Prabhupāda:
Haribol. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Vrajavāsī:
Haribol. Haribol. Haribol.
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Your health is good?]
Vrajavāsī:
[Transl. Yes. Good. Lord’s mercy. Come this side.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. No, it’s all right. Do you sometimes visit our Mandir?]
Vrajavāsī:
[Transl. Yes, I go.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. So we are going to have festival and you all are invited.] [aside:] Oh, when our festival?
Gurudāsa:
Sixth, seventh and eighth. Tomorrow, next day and the Rāma-navamī.
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Three days. You all come along with your friends. Namaskāra. Hare Kṛṣṇa.]
Vrajavāsī:
[Transl.Śrīman Nārāyaṇa.]
Vrajavāsī:
(2) [Transl. Hare Kṛṣṇa.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. You too come, Mahārājajī.] [break]
Pañcadraviḍa:
In the Bhāgavatam it says that if a person cannot offer a straw mat like that to a saintly person when he visits, he doesn’t live in a house…
Prabhupāda:
But if he hasn’t got extra straw, how can he do?
Pañcadraviḍa:
He may offer obeisances. If he can’t do that, simply cry.
Prabhupāda:
Straw? Straw is offered. [walking through a field] Oh, not taken care of.
Pañcadraviḍa:
You said if he couldn’t…, if he cannot do that, he does not live in a house, but he lives in a tree full of snakes.
Prabhupāda:
Yes. So he has offered seat.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa:
Śrīla Prabhupāda? In the Bhāgavatam it says that although Lord Viṣṇu is the controller of everything, He is particularly in charge with the mode of goodness, and He is associated with maintenance. So is it that in order to maintain something in this material world also, there has to be the touch of the mode of goodness?
Prabhupāda:
Yes.
tato rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ
kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye
ceta etair anāviddhaṁ
sthitaṁ sattve prasīdati
[SB. 1.2.19]
When the heart is cleansed of the dirty things, rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ, the modes of rajaḥ and tamaḥ, ignorance and passion, then he is situated in the sattva-guṇa. There are three guṇas. If you become released from the tamo-guṇa and rajo-guṇa, naturally you are situated in the sattva-guṇa. Sthito sattve prasīdati. Tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye, ceta etair anāviddham. When the heart is not attacked by this rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, then it remains fixed up in sattva-guṇa. Then…
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa:
Evaṁ prasanna-manaso?
Prabhupāda:
Evaṁ prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ [SB. 1.2.20]. Then he becomes prasanna-manasaḥ, happy mood. Then he can cultivate devotional service. Otherwise not possible. Ceta etair anāviddhaṁ sthito sattve prasīdati. Unless one is situated in sattva-guṇa, there is no possibility of peacefulness. [Transl. In the old time it was taught that by the mercy of the Supreme Lord whichever caste you are born in, you gladly remain there and cultivate devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.]
Indian:
[Transl. Cultivate devotional service to the Supreme Lord.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. But nowadays, just bring money.]
Indian:
[Transl. Bring money. You are right.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Money. And as soon as you have money you want to buy a motor. If you have more money you buy four motors. One for the wife, and one for the son. Just to impress others. Then one day death comes and snatches him away by kicking him. Everything remains as they are.]
Indian:
[Transl. Before, people used to be satisfied. They knew that whatever the Supreme Lord has given me, He has given me sufficient for which I was hankering.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. This they don’t understand. Hmm. His main duty was how to re-establish his relationship with the Supreme Lord. This is our Vedic civilisation. Now they have given it all up. Simply sense gratification. Drink wine, eat meat, have illicit sex and so on.]
Indian:
[Transl. Now they are heading towards materialism. Completely given up spiritualism.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Ruined everything. The goal of human life…]
Indian:
[Transl. But Svāmījī, in spite of that majority of people are pious. But the fact is that they are subdued. They don’t believe in the modern way of life.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Nothing can remain subdued. Devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is, according to the śāstra, ahaituky apratihatā [SB. 1.2.6] Nobody can subdue it. It’s just that one is not interested. Nobody can subdue an interested person. No interest only. Interest is gone. And we are trying to revive that interest—this Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. Everything has spoiled. Now see, this Tirupati-Tirumālā has a huge income. But they are investing it in industry. So much so that they even sell the hair of the devotees who sacrifice it there. They sell it. They sell it and collect money and invest in electronic… Should they spread devotional service to the Lord or invest in electronic?]
Indian:
[Transl. Now here also they are trying to do so. The present governor Śrī Gopal Reddy is trying to overhaul the system of the present function of the temples. He is visiting here repeatedly and trying to pass a law to enable him to do something like that.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Gopāl or Cheddy?]
Indian:
[Transl. Gopāl Reddy. No. No. Chenna Reddy.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. He came here for our opening.]
Indian:
[Transl. So his endeavour…He is also thinking like this. He wants to have the same system here as it is followed in Tirupati Bālājī so that the money could be spent like that. Okay. May be his intention is good.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. No. His intention is good in this sense that the Mahāntas, temple authorities are doing like this. Any Mahānta of the temple who has got money, he simply uses it for wine and prostitution. If not all, but some of them are. I know. So better it is used for industry. Government’s advantage. Now there are many big, big Mahāntas who are grossly involved in such māyā and the government captures them.]
[end]