Room Conversation

Prabhupāda:
So, everything is going nice?

Akṣayānanda:
Yes, by your grace only.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
We have a very beautiful garden for you.

Prabhupāda:
Hm. Garden? Oh.

Akṣayānanda:
Guesthouse has improved very much. Now we have about twenty paying guests. And during Śrāvaṇa and Janmāṣṭamī it was completely full. Very, very encouraging.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
Actually, many of our Life Members were turned down. We met some in Delhi. They said they couldn’t get in. The whole thing was full.

Akṣayānanda:
They were fighting to come.

Prabhupāda:
So, they are allowed three days free?

Akṣayānanda:
Only. Also book distribution has improved very much.

Prabhupāda:
Locally?

Akṣayānanda:
Here in the temple specifically. Haihaya has been concentrating. He’s very good.

Prabhupāda:
Hindi?

Akṣayānanda:
Yes, Hindi magazines and what we can get.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
Viśāla alone does about two, three hundred every day.

Akṣayānanda:
Viśāla is…

Prabhupāda:
Where is our Viśvambhara? Viśvambhara is helping nicely?

Akṣayānanda:
Oh, yes. Hundred percent. [break] French.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
That’s the new French Bhāgavatam on the back.

Prabhupāda:
Oh. I think I have seen it.

Hari-śauri:
Yes, that’s the one we got in Paris, Bhagavān.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
It looks very nice.

Prabhupāda:
Oh, yes. Bank is going nice?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
The bank.

Akṣayānanda:
The bank is all right.

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Is everything all right?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Yes.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Is your health okay?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Yes.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Are your neighbours keeping well?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Yes. Yes.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. I left everything on your reliance. These people are cheated by everyone. Hope now they are not cheated as much. Or are people still cheat them?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Sometimes they cheat.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. That’s their habit.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. They don’t cheat in my knowledge. I try my best.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Anyway, whatever the Lord gives.] So, the gurukula building, how far it is?

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Construction on gurukula building is going on in full force. It will be completed by 1977.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. The first floor is done?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. It will take a month to finish all the work.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Work is slow?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. By April it will be finished. During summer work goes slow. Construction was stopped for some time because of rainy season.]

Prabhupāda:
You have got them, the keys?

[devotees look through keys]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
When devotees come for Gaura-Pūrṇimā… [Transl. can they use the ground floor and first floor?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Who knows when will be your festival.]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
[Transl. The festival starts from Rāma-navamī.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Rama-navamī is in…]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
[Transl. Just before Rama-navamī they will come here.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. When they will come they will go back via here.]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
Māyāpur, Delhi, Vṛndāvana, Bombay. From Bombay back to Europe.

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Prabhupāda, my suggestion is that they be here for Nityānanda Jayanti, in Māyāpur for Gaura-Purnima, and in Bombay for Rama-navamī. Then from Bombay they leave.]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
[Transl. Nityānanda Jayanti is when?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. It is in the month of Magha.]

Prabhupāda:
So let them come first of all here from Delhi.

Bhagatjī:
Delhi. They come first here. [Transl. Then go to Māyāpur.]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
Thing is, the whole thing has to be completed in three weeks, because the American GBCs don’t like… They think it is a very big loss financially. [Transl. If the devotees stay here more than three weeks then financially it is a big loss, because all the devotees…] Book distribution stops completely, [Transl. when they come here.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Do all the devotees come here?]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
[Transl. When the leaders of book distribution come then the others stop.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. The whether at that time is very pleasant. It is warm during the daytime and cool at night in February–March. What does Prabhupāda think?]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
Prabhupāda…

Prabhupāda:
Call is Hari-śauri?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
Hari-śauri? Prabhupāda wants you.

Prabhupāda:
Is that correct? Is that correct key? What is that?

Hari-śauri:
This one’s for some of the locks on the doors.

Prabhupāda:
Which door?

Hari-śauri:
Ah, front door. I think it was one on the bedroom originally. They may have taken them off again.

Prabhupāda:
Find out the lock.

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. We have applied for the acquisition of the land locked by the side of the gurukula. As soon as they got the notice they became afraid. They approached me. This was about fifteen days before you came here. It was on your vyāsa-pūjā day. Then he said, whatever you decide I will agree. I told him that if you don’t us the land then somehow or other we will take it either by begging, or by fighting, or by litigation. I must take possession of the land. You are my brother. We won’t spoil our personal relationship. But whether you agree or not I have to have that piece of land.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Two bāṇiyās. He is pakkā-bāṇiyā: first class mercantile, and here is another, more pakkā.] [laughter]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. One day he abused me and went away. Harikeśa Mahārāja was there. I said, okay.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. You are very tolerant. This is your] special quality, very tolerant.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
He’s very cool.

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. I told him, Look, I have full faith in Prabhupāda and ISKCON. I tell you from the core of my heart that whether I am a member or not, I will never compromise with ISKCON even one paisa. Then he said that whatever you will decide I will agree. I will give you the land. As soon as Prabhupāda comes here you write me a letter and whatever you decide I will do. Registration will be done in one day.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Do it then. What have you decided about it?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Me? I thought…I asked everybody. I asked Bishanchand Seth. I talked to one reliable contractor. He is a very good man. He also suggested that it is very good idea.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. We had contractor before, no?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. No. we had great difficulty in removing him. You ask Mahārāja. So much problem for gathering and transfering building materials.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Can you not bring somebody from Bombay?]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
[Transl. Prabhupāda, they took him out from Bombay.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. I said, you should charge us less than the previous rate as the government has already reduced 10 rupees from the previous rate. We have already spent so much. And when you build you have to leave sixty feet of land from the main road according to the master plan. This if you build an asrama, and if you build a residence then you have to leave more space in the front. Besides that, you have to leave out some space from the other road too. Then how much land will remain left? What will you do with that much land then? So as a brother I advice you that if you give us that land then we will make a small play ground for our boys to play, a water tank and so on. And if you give it to us for free then we will put a name plate in your honor. He said, I have no hesitation in giving. Then I said, then you give. But you give us in a lesser price than before. When he bought it, it was 20 rupees per sq. yard. I had someone to measure the whole land and it is 1325 sq. yards. So roughly it costs about 26,500 rupees.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. How?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. According to 20 rupees sq. yard.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Why 20 rupees? Then what is the need of acquision?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Kindly listen to my appeal. I was very much worried because I owed my brother 1,50,000 rupees. He said, I give you money and you donate it to ISKCON. Now I cannot give you any more. Then I thought, Prabhupāda, I must take this land even with my own money. It is his will and your inspiration. I thought I might have to leave Vṛndāvana for this. I have already given you 100,000 rupees. Out of which, 90,000 rupees for this land and 20,000 rupees for me. And Prabhupāda, we received a draft of 18,300 rupees from Ghanaśyāma Dāsa when I talked to him. A draft of 18,300 rupees.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. From where?]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
[Transl. From your brother?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. My brother sent me. The actual cost is 28,000 rupees and Mahāprabhu sent us exactly that much money.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Your brother sent it.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Yes. So you will get the land for 28,000 rupees. Good piece of land. Be happy.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Jaya Gaura-Nitāi! Jaya Viśvambhara! All right.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. So 18,000 rupees is with me and 10,000 rupees I will take from there. If we try through other means, we might get but it will take at least two years.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. So how much does it cost us?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. That same 20 rupees per sq. yard.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. 20 rupees? Then where is the concession.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. We are getting the land that is enough. Besides, that 6 feet extra land located in the front that we will include in our land free of cost.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. As you think good.]

Gopala Kṛṣṇa:
That will be very nice. [Transl. That will be very nice land for us.]

Prabhupāda:
Tit for tat. [Transl. He is also bāṇiyā. Lord Kṛṣṇa is also bāṇiyā.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Yaśoda Maiyā comes from that family.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Nanda Mahārāja was a vaiśya. In Vṛndāvana, the Supreme Lord is a bāṇiyā. Other places He is a kṣatriya. All are Supreme Lords. So what is the plan?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Yes, Saurabh has come today.]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
[Transl. He has come.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Has come.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Just came. And you are also present here. So we will prepare the final plan in front of you. I will send him a letter in Muzaffarnagar. He will also come.]

Prabhupāda:
[to Pālikā:] You have come before? Or with us?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
With you.

Pālikā:
In a bus. I have some fruits ready for you, if you’d like to take.

Prabhupāda:
Yes. You have subjī vadā? No. What you have prepared?

Pālikā:
Fruits and some [indistinct]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. I have calculated already just what we need. Later we will see when the boys will start studying if we need more.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. No. No. Atyāhāraḥ prayāsaś ca. [Śrī Upadeśāmṛta 2] You collect just as much as you require. Not more.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. I was also telling Haṁsadūta Svāmī that I don’t want to take money from Prabhupāda. I was thinking what to do and what not to do because I wanted to buy this land. Three days ago I was talking about it. We have to acquire that land but should I do? I was worried. My brother is not giving me money. Do I have to leave Vṛndāvana? Within three days he finalised the deal.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Brother. He is your brother after all. He has a heart too. Is he the elder brother?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. Yes, elder brother. I sent him a letter a few months ago.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. He has affection for younger brother. “All right. Take it.” He acted as a true elder brother. If a younger brother is adamant for something the elder brother should fulfill it.]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. At the end of his reply letter he wrote “Keep patience. I am not dishonest.”]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. How can be dishonest your family.] Your family is very nice.

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. He writes, I will show you the letter,] “Keep patience. I am not dishonest.”

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Why dishonest?]

Bhagatjī:
[Transl. I had sent him letter by the inspiration of Mahāprabhu.]

Devotee:
Your breakfast has come. Breakfast is here.

Prabhupāda:
I’ll take. This plan is rough. Jaya.

Devotees:
Jaya, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. May Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma keep all of you happy. What else do we want? Everything is His mercy. Balarāma. Nayamātma pravacanena labhya. [Kaṭha Upaniṣad] Bala-hīnena labhya [Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad3.2.4]. Without Balarāma’s mercy self realization is not achived. Nayamātma pravacanena labhya. Nayamātma bala-hīnena. And Vivekānanda interpreted it that one who has no bodily strength he can never attain self realization. One should be strong and stout. Eat plenty of meat and become fat then you will attain self realization. This is his idea.]

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa:
By your mercy, Balarāmajī is giving.

Prabhupāda:
Nitāiyera karuṇā habe braje rādhā-kṛṣṇa pābe: These rascals, they do not know. Nitāi, balarāma haila nitāi: Lord Balarāma has advented as Nityānanda Prabhu. [Prārthanā, song 4, stanza 3] So without the mercy of Balarāma, nobody can appreciate Vṛndāvana life. Jaya.

[end]