Room Conversation

Bhakti-cāru:
[Transl. Śrīla Prabhupāda, Pisimā has come. She is asking would you like to eat anything now?]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. What I will eat?]

Bhakti-cāru:
[Transl. Pisimā, Śrīla Prabhupāda is asking what will he eat?]

Pisimā:
[Transl. Will you eat some puffed rice mixed with milk cream? It will be tasty with little sugar.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Yes.]

Pisimā:
[Transl. Then? Then you say what would you like to eat?]

Bhakti-cāru:
[Transl. That’s good. That same thing puffed rice with milk cream]

Pisimā:
[Transl. Yes, I was saying it will be tasteful with sugar. Is there milk already boiled?]

Bhakti-cāru:
[Transl. Let me go and see.]

Pisimā:
[Transl. Let me get puffed rice. Will he eat now? You bring and I will mix it and give. See if the milk is already boiled.] [kīrtana] [break]

Purī Mahārāja:
Dandavat Praṇām.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Purī Mahārāja.

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Ah. Who else?]

Bhakti Vaibhava Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. And Āśrama Mahārāja, our Viśākhapattanam Maṭha’s Puruṣottama Brahmacārī whose sannyāsa name is Tīrtha Mahārāja. And Ānanda Prabhu has also come.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Where is he?]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Ānanda Prabhu, come here.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
Dandavat Mahārāja.

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. There was some offense committed at your feet…]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. No, no you have always been an instructor.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Please forgive all offense.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. You will always instruct and correct us. You preached all over the world like an undisputed emperor. You spread the Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahāmantra everywhere. What could be more important than this? This is all by the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda and Mahāprabhu.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Whatever offenses I committed against each and every of you, kindly forgive all my offenses. Because of such *Vaiṣṇava aparādha…*due to opulence, I became a little proud.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. No proud at all.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. You are all my godbrothers. In order to preach, often one has to speak many unpleasant words which is unavoidable. In the course of that sometimes unfavorable words are used.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. In the preaching of Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahāmantra apparent opulence follows automatically. That is all Kṛṣṇa’s property. You are a devotee. You propagated the teachings of Mahāprabhu and Śrīla Prabhupāda by their desire. This is the most important thing. Where is the question of your offense? This is all auspicious. There is no question of any offense.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. According to my horoscope there is no duration of life left. All finished. But I don’t know why the Supreme Lord has kept me alive?]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. Mahārāja, you are alive simply by the mercy of Guru and Gaurāṅga. The wheel of saṁsāra has gone, now the wheel of bhakti is on. The wheel of bhakti is all auspicious. *sevā-sukha-duḥkha, parama sampada nāśaye avidyā-duḥkha. [Śaraṇāgati, Song-16] When service is rendered, ignorance becomes destroyed and when one feels distressed it also removes a devotee’s ignorance. You brought about auspiciousness to so many people. You have purified many fallen souls. By the will of Śrīla Prabhupāda and Mahāprabhu you have done it. what could be more cherished object than this?]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. In the Śāstra distress has been defined as austerity.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. Yes, yes.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Distress acts like austerity by which one becomes purified. Now all of you kindly forgive me. I am helpless. Purī Mahārāja? Will you forgive me? [godbrothers laugh] So all of you take prasāda before leaving.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. We have also brought some prasāda here. There was a festival at Mādhava Mahārāja’s place and we have brought some Mahāprasāda from there.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Mādhava Mahārāja is not in town?]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Mādhava Mahārāja is not here. He is in Chandigarh now.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. He sent me a telegram.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. His health is also not very good.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Everyone’s health is gradually going down.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Those who are senior and still alive, they are around 80 years old. Some of them may be more than eighty years of age. All of them are in the same health condition. Your health has now become weaker than what I saw in Mayāpur.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. He has crossed 81 years of age.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Mahārāja, Are you able to eat something?]

Bhakti-cāru:
[Transl. He has taken little rice today. Otherwise from last two months he didn’t eat anything except some milk.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Sit down Ānanda Prabhu.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Ānanda Prabhu, sit down.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. Yes, I sit down.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Who is in the back?]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. Śacinandana is in the back.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Where do you stay?]

Śacinandana:
[Transl. I stay here Mahārāja.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Bhakti…]

Bhakti-cāru:
[Transl. Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Arrange for them…]

Bhakti-cāru:
[Transl. Yes, I am going to arrange for them.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Let them do little kīrtana then give them prasāda. Find out how many of them are here.]

Bhakti-cāru:
[Transl. How many of you have come?]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. About twelve persons.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. First let us do kīrtana. Mahārāja asked us to do kīrtana.]

Bhakti-cāru:
[Transl. You can do here.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. For prasāda, some purīs, halwa and some subjī that’s all.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. No need of all that Mahārāja. It’s okay.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Please do not say no.]

Bhakti-cāru:
[Transl. Since he is requesting, you all kindly take.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Even if you eat one purī each it will be nice.] [kīrtana led by Purī Mahārāja: bhaja śrī kṛṣṇa caitanya prabhu nityānanda śrī advaita…]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Bābājī Mahārāja didn’t come?]

Purī Mahārāja & Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. No. He came in the morning.]

Purī Mahārāja:
…śrī advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi gaura bhakta vṛṇda

rādhā-kunḍa-taṭa-kuñja-kuṭīra
govardhana-parvata, yamuna-tīra

The cottage in the grove on the bank of Rādhā Kunḍa, the great Govardhana Hill, the banks of the Yamunā river…

kusuma-sarovara, mānasa-gaṅgā
kalinda-nandinī vipula-taraṅga

…the Kusuma Sarovara lake, the Manasa Gaṅgā stream, the daughter of Mt. Kalinda (the Yamunā river) with her many waves…

vaṁśī-vaṭa, gokula, dhīra-samīra
vṛndāvana-taru-latikā-vānīra

…the Vaṁśī Vaṭ banyan tree, the town of Gokula, the holy place Dhīra Samīra, the trees and creepers and reeds of Vṛndāvana…

khaga-mṛga-kula, malaya-vātāsa
mayūra, bhramara, muralī-vilāsa

…the different varieties of birds and deer, the cooling breeze from the Malaya mountains, the peacocks, the bumblebees, the pastimes of the low-pitched muralī flute…

venu, śṛṅga, pada-cihna, megha-mālā
vasanta, śaśāṅka, śaṅkha, karatāla

…the high-pitched venu flute, the buffalo horn bugle, the footprints of the Lord and His consort in the dust of Vraja, the wreaths of blackish rain clouds, springtime, the moon, the conchshell, and the karatālas

yugala-vilāse anukūla jāni
līlā-vilāse-uddīpaka māni

…all these I know to be very favorable for the blissful pastimes of the Divine Couple, Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. I recognize them as transcendental stimulants (uddīpaka) for intensifying the Lord’s charming pastimes.

e saba choḍata kāṅhā nāhi yāuṅ
e saba choḍata parāṇa hārāuṅ

I refuse to go anywhere if these stimulants of devotional service are not there, for to abandon them is to abandon life itself.

bhakativinoda kahe, śuna kāna!
tuvā uddīpaka hāmāra parāṇa

Bhaktivinoda says, “Please hear me, O Kāna! All the things that stimulate remembrance of You are the very source of my life!“Song by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī:

jaya rādhe, jaya kṛṣṇa jaya vṛṇdāvana
śrī govinda gopīnātha madana-mohana
śyāma-kuṇḍa, rādhā-kuṇḍa, giri-govardhana
kālindi yamunā jaya, jaya mahāvana
keśī-ghāṭa, vaṁśi-vaṭa, dvādaśa-kānana
yāṅā saba līlā kaila śrī-nanda-nandana
śrī-nanda-yaśodā jaya, jaya gopa-gaṇa
śrīdāmādi jaya, jaya dhenu-vatsa-gaṇa
jaya vṛṣabhānu, jaya kīrtidā sundarī
jaya paurṇamāsī, jaya ābhīra-nagarī
jaya jaya gopīśvara vṛndāvana-mājha
jaya jaya kṛṣṇa-sakhā baṭu dvija-rāja
jaya rāma-ghāta, jaya rohiṇī-nandana
jaya jaya vṛndāvana-vāsī yata jana
jaya dvija-patnī, jaya nāga-kanyā-gaṇa
bhaktite yāhārā pāila govinda-caraṇa
śrī-rāsa-maṇḍala jaya, jaya rādhā-śyāma
jaya jaya rāsa-līlā sarva-manorama
jaya jayojjvala-rasa sarva-rasa-sāra
parakīyā-bhāve yāhā brajete pracāra
śrī-jāhnavā-pāda-padma kariyā smaraṇa
dīna kṛṣṇa-dāsa kahe nāma-saṅkīrtana

[Sings Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahāmantra 9 times]

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Mahārāja? Why are you again and again…]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. Mahārāja, what forgive? dharma artha kāma gatayā samaya pratikṣā [Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, verse 107] The way you have preached, you have fulfilled the desire of Śrīla Prabhupāda. You have fulfilled the desire of Mahāprabhu. Whatever opulence comes you accept for the service of the Lord, without any attachment. You have purified everyone.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. I became proud.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. How did you become proud, Mahārāja? It was Mahāprabhu’s desire to preach everywhere. Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura has said—white complexioned persons and dark complexioned persons will together sing “hā nitāi, hā gaurāṅga” and embrace each other. They will float in the waves of ecstasy and roll on the ground. This is the desire of Mahāprabhu and you fulfilled His prediction. So where is the question of false pride? This is real pride. This is the greatest thing you have done. In Śrī Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta, page eleven, this is written. Śrīla Prabhupāda started it thinly and you have completed it in a massive way. This is Historic. This is the perfect History.]

Purī Maharaja:
[Transl. What Maharaja has done, that is, na bhūta na bhaviṣyati, neither happened in the past nor will happen in the future. Nobody has preached like that in such a short time.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. Even in every town and village of Orissa, in every house, even in the hilly areas I have heard about your preaching of Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahāmantra. Everyone says, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Sāheb Maṭha or The Maṭha of the Foreigner & Sāheb vaiṣṇava or foreign vaiṣṇava. We give example, you are Indians, born in brāhmaṇa family, educated, you are accepting the temporary objects of sense gratification which foreigners have rejected as stool and urine. You could not give up taking tea and smoking *bīḍī even now. What kind of Indians are you? You all are spies? You all are secret sinners. Come with us and we will show you what they are.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Let anyone say whatever he wants.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. They are good people and I am greatly sinful.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. You are Mahā Patīta Pāvana. You have delivered the fallen souls. Therefore you are Mahā Patīta Pāvana.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Actually they are all very good.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. You are right. Everyone says so. From a fool to a learned person, everyone says like that. You purified them. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, we are real Harijana. Who is harijana? Ordinary harijanas cleanse stool, urine etc. But we cleanse the contamination of fruitive activity and mental speculation. Therefore who is better harijana than me in the world? Only me. You are also the only Harijana. You also cleansed all material contamination and purified everyone. As fire purifies contaminated gold, you are also like fire; you have purified the contaminated heart. This is the greatest exhibition of compassion. They have tilaka on the forehead, tulasī bead in the neck, chanting the holy name of Hari and they don’t eat anything other than prasāda. This fact is known to everyone in every place. But they don’t want to reveal it. What could be more important than this? Where is your offense? Whatever opulence is coming, that is coming without your wish. Rushing towards you.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Yes. That’s coming.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. So? These are the statements of Mahāprabhu, of the scriptures, of the devotees and of Kṛṣṇa. Not everyone can do it. It is not easy to find jewel from the depth of water. One who knows, knows the value of it.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Hindi books have been printed in large quantity. Hindi…]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Is Bhāgavatam completed? Or something is left?]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Something is left.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. To write or to print?]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Something is left to write. Eleventh canto and twelfth canto. A Maṭha is being built in Bhuvaneswar.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. It came in the newspaper that you are building a Maṭha in Bhuvaneswar.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. What?]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. All the newspapers in Orissa published this news. Mahārāja is constructing a Maṭha with two and half crores of rupees.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. You can go and help.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[laughs] [Transl. What can I help? I am a fool. I have no experience.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Gaur-govinda is there.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. He is very enthusiastic and a competent person. He is working hard.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. The land which was donated by Kānonga…]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Nityānanda Kānonga donated it.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. …is a very nice land. When I performed the foundation ceremony, many distinguished persons of Orissa had come. Nityānanda Kānonga and many others came.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Nityānanda Kānonga is a well known person in Orissa. He must have been present there. Also the Governor of Orissa was there.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. All polished persons.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. They are all spiritually inclined.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Also in other places of Orissa people are contributing.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. There were many Kings in Orissa and they used to extend financial help. But now they themselves are in poor condition, so they are unable to extend any help nowadays. Only the rich persons are able to help financially.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Anyway I did whatever I could to my best ability.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. More than enough.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. So much you have done in ten, twelve years. Nobody has done before nor anybody can do in future. Let anybody say whatever he wants. But we must admit and appreciate your work.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. How long my heart beat will go on?]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. Mahārāja, you are alive simply by the will of Kṛṣṇa. Whatever is your physical condition you are living by the mercy of the Lord. He is watching everything.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. The benefit people are deriving by your presence in this world, that will continue to go on. This fact was revealed by Mahāprabhu to Haridāsa Ṭhākura.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. You are a Kavirāja. So check my pulse.] [everyone laughs]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Now there is no connection with pulse or physical science, now by the will of the Lord, your spiritual body, as long as the Lord keeps you in this world, it will be beneficial for everyone. If the Supreme Lord takes you away it will be a great loss for the world. Mahāprabhu said to Haridāsa Ṭhākura, you are a jewel. So if you depart from this world then this planet will be bereft of a jewel like personality. Similarly you have also brought about a great deal of auspiciousness to the world. If you leave then the world will be at a great loss. If Kṛṣṇa wants to keep you some more time in this world then it is good.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. My pulse beat has stopped.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. No, Pulse is beating and not stopped yet. Still beating.] [everyone laughs]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. No, it is steady.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. See, before leaving his body Tīrtha Mahārāja remained unconscious for 15 days. 15 days no sense. But you are fully conscious. This is the spiritual symptom clearly visible. Fully cognizant. There is no illusion or ignorance at all. No sleepiness, no illusion. Our Vaikhānasa Mahārāja was in bewildered condition for two years. But Mahārāja, you are same as you were before. The bodily changes etc which are destined to happen are happening. The body is doing it’s own work. But you are fully conscious.]

Guest Devotee:
[Transl. The condition is very favorable. It is the great mercy of the Lord.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. The duration of life is over, Kṛṣṇa is still keeping me alive.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Mahārāja, We hear the topics of sage Mārkaṇḍeya that he lived for seven kalpas. By the desire of the Supreme Lord the duration of life increases. Our Śrīdhara Mahārāja used to say, I will live for forty years according to my horoscope. But he is more than eighty years old. These things happen by the will of the Lord. This has nothing to do with age or horoscope.]

[break]

Prabhupāda:
Nārāyana Mahārāja?

Purī Mahārāja:
Nārāyana Mahārāja? [Transl. Of Keśavajī Gauḍīya Maṭha? He also came.]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
He’s in Mathurā.

Purī Mahārāja:
Yes. He came today.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
He came yesterday as well.

Purī Mahārāja:
Well, he came here today, during feasting. Just now he left. He told me also, you should go there, yesterday, day before yesterday.

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Who is in this side?]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. That side? Two brahmacārī devotees have come from Andhra Pradesh. They live in the Maṭha.]

Ananda Prabhu:
[Transl. Here is Kumāri Devī, the daughter of the king of Jaipur, who donated the Madras Matha.]

Puri Maharaja:
[Transl. And this one is the daughter of Vikram Dev Verman, who is the King of Jaipur and who donated Madras Maṭha. She has come for your darśana.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. Come this side.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. And the Queen?]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. She is the daughter of Vikram Dev Verman who donated Madras Maṭha in Gaṅjām. You have seen her in Visakhapattnam. She is offering obeisances to you with folded hands.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. I am very glad that you have come.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Maharaja says, he is very happy that you have come.]

Guest devotee:
[Transl. It’s my good fortune. Now that I got your darśana, my visit to the holy place is successful.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Please sit down.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Sit down. Sit on the floor.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. I think she is your disciple.]

Ānanda Prabhu:
[Transl. Yes, his disciple.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. How many devotees are there in your Maṭha now?]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. 4/5 devotees are there in Visakhapattanam and 4/5 devotees have come with me. And in Rajamahendry Maṭha 4/5 devotees live.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Which Maṭha did I visit?]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. You visited both Visakhapattnam Matha and Rajamahendry Matha. You came for the Rajamahendry temple opening. Then you also came to our Visakhapattnam Maṭha. At that time Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī and about twenty others came. Then that,who is that? He is in charge of Colombo. Where…?]Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Brahmānanda Mahārāja?

Purī Mahārāja:
Not Brahmānanda Mahārāja.

Hari-śauri:
Hṛdayānanda. South America?

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. I am forgetting his name. That Haimavati’s husband?]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Haṁsadūta. Here he is.

Purī Mahārāja:
Haṁsadūta. [laughs]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
He took sannyāsa.

Purī Mahārāja:
Ha. I have seen him, but I could not able to… Haṁsadūta. He sings well. Last parikrama I saw him.

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. He preached very nicely in Ceylon.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Good preaching.]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
He captured a very big scientist.

Purī Mahārāja:
Scientist.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
One Dr. Kovoor.

Purī Mahārāja:
Sinhali.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Yes, in Ceylon. And this Dr. Kovoor was saying that life comes from chemicals. So Haṁsadūta Mahārāja challenged him that “If life comes from chemicals, then I will give you ten lakhs’ rupees if you come to this hall and you make chemicals into life.”

Purī Mahārāja:
Life. [laughs]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
So he challenged him to a big thing, and in the newspapers every day for two or three months there was discussion between Haṁsadūta Mahārāja on behalf of the belief that life comes from life, not from chemicals—life comes from Kṛṣṇa. So he defeated this man, big scientist.

Purī Mahārāja:
Ācchā. Ah, good.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
And the man did not come.

Prabhupāda:
You can read one newspaper article.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
One of the articles?

Prabhupāda:
Yes. [Transl. Heavy arguments and counter arguments. I told him to challenge that] “Prepare one mosquito.”* [Purī Mahārāja laughs] [Transl. There will be some discussions about this subject matter here tomorrow. Big, big Chemists are coming.]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Shall I read, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda:
Yes. [break]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
“…the appropriate chemical into himself to check death…” Let him make himself deathless. “And restore his old and worn-out body with youthful luster and beauty. He may find this task too difficult, so perhaps he could just produce a simple form of life like a mosquito or a bedbug. Better still, let him recombine the chemicals of the praying mantis he decapitated, as described in his article, and bring it back to life. Or, is the science of Dr. Kovoor only a one-way road of destruction of life? But it may be that science is not yet ready to produce a finished product of life, so he could make a plastic egg and inject into it the yellow and white chemical substances, incubate such an artificial egg and thereby produce one chicken, which could then go on laying eggs and producing more and more chickens. Even this task may be a little too difficult for Dr. Kovoor, so perhaps he could simply produce a drop of milk or a grain of rice or an ounce of gold by chemical combination. Then we could begin to take him seriously. However, everyone knows that these are impossible tasks for even the most powerful so-called scientist. Dr. Kovoor will undoubtedly give the reader in his next exposition a long-winded barrage of words to cover up his bluff. The sum and substance of it will be, ‘We will do it in the future. We are trying.’ In any language, this is just a bluff.”

Purī Mahārāja:
Bluff.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Haṁsadūta Swami was preaching.

Purī Mahārāja:
Yes. He’s a Sinhalese… I don’t think he’s a Sinhalese.

Haṁsadūta:
No. He’s a Tamil.

Purī Mahārāja:
His name…

Haṁsadūta:
He’s a Tamil from South India.

Purī Mahārāja:
Christian.

Haṁsadūta:
His father was a minister.

Purī Mahārāja:
Yes. Proper dose you have given. Kṛṣṇa must bless him.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Then he gave him big challenge: “Rupees five lakhs’ challenge to Dr. Kovoor.”

Purī Mahārāja:
[laughs] Dr. Kovoor.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
And then later on he gave ten lakhs.

Purī Mahārāja:
He cannot be called as “doctor.” How could he be a doctor?

Haṁsadūta:
Quack. Quack doctor.

Prabhupāda:
There is a story. A bridegroom was selected. So, the other party, bride’s party, they inquired how the bridegroom was quite qualified. So they said, “He’s a doctor.” Then they inquired, “What kind of doctor? Doctor of philosophy, doctor of medicine or…?”

Purī Mahārāja:
Doctor of which way?

Prabhupāda:
So he said, “No, no, no. He’s not all these nonsense. He’s a big doctor.” “What is that?” “Conductor.” [laughter]

Purī Mahārāja:
He’s a big superior doctor, con-doctor. [laughs]

Prabhupāda:
…con-doctor. [pause] Bhakti-caru?

Brahmānanda:
Bhakti-caru is where? Kitchen? Call him. Can you call him?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Just calling him. He’s in the kitchen, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

[pause] Here he is, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. How long more?]

Bhakti-cāru:
[Transl. About 10 minutes Śrīla Prabhupāda.] [break]Purī Mahārāja:[Transl. No, let it be Mahārāja. Just give us some fruits. That’s enough. We had plenty of prasāda.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Sit down and take at least one purī each. You will have little difficulty. But we will be very happy. There are so many types of doctors in the world. In America one can purchase a title.]*Purī Mahārāja: [laughs] [Transl. By paying money.] [break] [Transl. His age is around 80 years now?]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Hmm. He is younger than me. He also had one…]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. He also wrote. He wrote about what the American Government is doing. He also wrote something about entering Lord Jagannātha’s temple.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Actually this is very surprising that the wheel of Jagannātha’s cart broke down.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Yes, Very surprising. Five wheels of Baladeva’s cart broke down and not of Jagannātha. That day the Pahaṇḍi Vijaya ceremony could not be held till the evening. On the previous day they collected five rupees each from all the pilgrims. To collect money the Pahaṇḍi vijaya ceremony was delayed. Only if the pilgrims pay five rupees can they have darśana of Jagannātha. If pilgrims have free darśana of Jagannātha then they would not be able to collect any money. That’s why they postponed the ceremony till the evening. It was held in the evening. The wheels of Baladeva’s ratha broke down and the carts were halted for three days. This is due to grave offense. Also this year Jagannātha had Nava Kalevara.]

Guest Devotee:
[Transl. The wheels broke down on the second day.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Oh, wheel broke on the second day? Did the cart not reach?]

Guest Devotee:
[Transl. No, The first day the ratha did not move at all. When the ratha started to move on the second day it went forward about 50 yards and stopped near a shop against a light post. The electric supply board people came and uprooted the light post and the ratha began to move, seven of it’s wheels broke down. [break] The procedure is no machine parts can be added. The same old wheels should be repaired and used. So they repaired all the wheels and on the third day at about eleven o’clock the carts moved on.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. This never happened before.]

Purī Mahārāja & Guest Devotee:
[Transl. Never happened before. First time.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. It is very inauspicious for the country. This is the plan of the Government just to make money. Anyway it is Jagannātha’s wish.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. They are not allowing the devotees of Jagannātha to enter into the temple.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. They are not allowing to enter in the temple. This is very injustice. The topic of allowing the non Hindu-devotees to enter into the temple was brought up for discussion in the Mukti Maṇḍapa. One party is saying ‘yes’, and another party is saying ‘no our predecessors did not do so’. The discussion was undecided. Now the administration has changed. Who knows what will happen? Now they should try for it.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. In Calcutta it is done very pompously. In the newspaper they wrote “Puri’s Ratha-yātrā is now in Calcutta”. Someone was saying. Do you know Mahārāja? It has come in the newspaper, “Puri’s Ratha-yātrā is now in Calcutta”.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Happening?]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Yes.]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Śrīla Prabhupāda? Maybe Purī Mahārāja would like to see the pictures from the Los Angeles Ratha-yātrā. Remember those pictures I showed you in London?

Prabhupāda:
Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
I have a photo album. This is the Ratha-yātrā we celebrated in Los Angeles, California. This is Jagannātha. We call it New Dvārakā. Los Angeles we call New Dvārakā. And this is the Jagannātha mūrtis, Gaura-Nitāi, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. This is in the temple. And Rukmiṇī-Dvārakādhīśa. So this is…, they are constructing the rathas, very big. This was a paṇḍāl we are constructing. Many of the little children, they helped to make the garlands, mālā. And the artists, they did the paintings.

Purī Mahārāja:
Paintings. These are artists. Artists. Artists.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Then they made so many signs, preparations. This was the vyāsāsana in the ratha, and Jagannātha Swami was carried.

Purī Mahārāja:
Yes. Carried, yes, being carried.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Yes, here you can start to see.

Jayatīrtha:
Each cart is fifty feet high.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Fifty foot high.

Purī Mahārāja:
Ācchā? Jagannātha’s ratha is only forty-five feet.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
But here it’s fifty feet.

Purī Mahārāja:
In Purī the Jagannātha ratha is forty-five.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
But this is Los Angeles. Everything is big there. You see Jagannātha. You see Him?

Purī Mahārāja:
Yes. Jagannātha, yes. Dark eyes. [laughs]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Very good eyes. And such a crowd. Two lakhs’ people attended. So many people came.

Purī Mahārāja:
Jagannātha’s Ratha-yātrā. [Transl. Jagannātha Ratha is being pulled in Los Angeles. So many people have come. Jagannātha Ratha Yātrā in Los Angeles, America.]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Lord Jagannātha is all-attractive. You cannot keep Him here. He’s going out the door. This is… One of the sannyāsīs was giving a big lecture. We had some elephants. The children were riding on them. See, “Free Love Feast.” “Prasādam distributed.” You can see these people are…

Purī Mahārāja:
Free Love Feast.

Jayatīrtha:
They served full prasādam to fifty thousand people.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Fifty thousand people took full prasādam free of charge. You can see all the people. [break]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Is Ratha cart being build again?]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Jagannath Ratha? It is built every year.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. What about the broken one?]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. The broken one was repaired and used again. Afterwards they will take out all the carts. They will make new carts again. The building of Ratha carts starts on Akṣaya-trtiyā day in the month of Vaiśakha. And these are built in two full months and completed just before the Ratha-yatra day. Every year new wood is collected and from that wood new carts are prepared.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. And in Bhuvaneswar Ratha is built throughout the year.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. In Bhuvaneswar? Ratha in Bhuvaneswar, I don’t know exactly. Whole year?]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Who bears all the expense? Ah? Government gives.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Government. They also have land and money.]

[pause]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Where will they sit?]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. We are already sitting.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. No, to take prasāda.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. We will take prasāda and leave.]

Purī Mahārāja:
Prasādam.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
I just sent Hari-śauri to…

Purī Mahārāja:
Yes, yes. They are preparing.

Hari-śauri:
The prasādam will be ready in about five minutes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. They’re just cooking the purīs now. The halavā is done, and the sabjī is almost ready.

[break]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Because they don’t allow these devotees, I also didn’t go.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. That’s right.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. I saw in Sākṣi-gopāla they are selling prasāda and also selling fish in the market. I felt very sad after seeing that.]

Purī Mahārāja:
Laughs. [Transl. Very strange.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. And the service in Sākṣi-gopāla…]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. No rice bhoga is offered. Rice is not offered there in Sākṣi-gopāla. Only sweets are offered.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Then what do they sell in clay pots?]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. In clay pots? They don’t sell rice. They sell other items. They sell in clay pots in Puri and in Bhuvaneswar. There is no usage of clay pots in Sākṣi-gopāla.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. I saw big clay pitchers.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Those they sell in Bhuvaneswar.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. No.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Here also they sell?]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. In Sākṣi-gopāla.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. I have not seen. I don’t know. But I know they don’t sell rice prasāda. May be now they are bringing from somewhere and selling as prasāda.]

Prabhupāda:
[to guest devotee:] [Transl. You might know it.]

Guest devotee:
[Transl. I have not seen offering rice bhoga at Sākṣi-gopāla or selling rice prasāda.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. I have not seen rice bhoga at Sākṣi-gopāla. They offer sweets and they sell them. I think they allow these devotees to enter into Sākṣi-gopāla temple. They allow in Sākṣi-gopāla no?]

Guest devotee:
[Transl. Yes.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. While in Purī I took them to Sākṣi-gopāla. They didn’t say anything. I took them to Siṁhāchalam and they didn’t say anything. In Bhuvaneswara they were objecting saying this temple is under the control of Jagannātha Temple. So you cannot go in.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Inside the temple it is very dirty.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Bhuvaneswara?]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. No. Sākṣi-gopāla]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Usually they keep it clean. May be sometimes it was dirty. Also if lot of pilgrims come then naturally it becomes dirty.]

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
The prasādam is here, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Purī Mahārāja:
[laughs] There is so much prasādam.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
No, not so much.

Prabhupāda:
What you have given?

Purī Mahārāja:
Purī, halavā and gulābjāmun. You have prepared very costly feast.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:
Because you are our most valuable guests.

[break]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Bless us. We take your leave. We will go to Mathura tonight at 8 o’clock. I have some guest with me. We have to depart tomorrow morning from Mathurā.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. All of you take prasāda nicely.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. All of us already took prasāda.]

Guest Devotee:
[Transl. All of us had plenty of prasāda.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Forgive my offense.]

Purī Mahārāja:
[Transl. Please don’t say that again Mahārāja.]

Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Kṣamyatām*[let it be forgiven]] Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Purī Mahārāja:
Hare Kṛṣṇa.

[guests take leave] [kīrtana] [break] [end]