A Transcendental Diary: Travels with His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada: Volume Two: April 1976 - June 1976

By Hari Sauri Dasa

The second book describing Hari Sauri Dasa's time as Srila Prabhupada's servant. An insider's look into the life of a pure devotee of the Lord. Seen through the eyes of his personal servant, Srila Prabhupada comes alive in this transcendental diary of his travels through the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lotus Imprints
• Release date: Nov 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9788196561567

Book preview

Dedication

He built a house in which the whole world can live.

"Everyone is eligible for the supreme destination. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.4.18) it is stated that even the lowest, who are called caṇḍālas (dog-eaters), can be purified by association with a pure devotee. Therefore devotional service and the guidance of a pure devotee are so strong that there is no discrimination between the lower and higher classes of men; anyone can take to it. The most simple man taking shelter of the pure devotee can be purified by proper guidance."

Bhagavad-gītā 9.32; Bhaktivedanta purport

Acknowledgments

To produce a book of this size requires the help of many. I feel fortunate to have been supported materially and spiritually by many selfless and eager devotees in the course of writing and producing this volume.

In particular the financial support provided by Balabhadra dāsa (Scotland), Īśa dāsa, Mathureśa dāsa and Vanamālī dāsa (Dr. V. Mody) ensured the completion of the work, and it is with gratitude that I offer them my sincere thanks.

I thank Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins, a longtime admirer of Śrīla Prabhupāda, for taking time out from his busy schedule to read volume one and the manuscript for this volume, and then write an erudite and perceptive Foreword.

I am grateful also to Ātmarāma dāsa, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa dāsa, Bindu-mādhava dāsa, Bṛghupati dāsa, Carolyn Mobley, Gokularañjana dāsa, Kānti dāsī and Jack, Mādrī dāsī (NZ), Madhusevita dāsa, Matsya Avatāra dāsa, Palace Press, Rādhā Vinoda dāsa and Indranīlamāṇī dāsī, Śyāmasundara dāsa, and Viṣṇu-mūrti dāsa for their valuable help in the form of money, advice and encouragement.

I am once again deeply indebted to Riktānanda dāsa and Sita dāsī, who worked many long hours editing the manuscript to make it fit for publication. Babhru dāsa and Nāgarāja dāsa also deserve my thanks for helping with the editing.

Prāṇadā dāsī and Snkanta dasa did excellent jobs of copy editing, as did Keśihanta dāsa on the final proofreading. Grahila dāsa made a thorough index and, along with Gadādhara Paṇḍita dāsa, also helped with the proofreading at short notice. Gopīparāṇadhana dāsa did the Sanskrit editing.

Śakṣī Gopāla dāsa (UK) was responsible for the beautiful cover. Yamarāja dāsa lent his expertise for the color inserts and provided much practical advice on the layout of the text. Locana dāsa made everything complete with his beautiful drawing for the end covers andJahnava dāsī also worked on the maps.

Thanks also to Bhadra dāsa for providing English translations of Hindi tapes. Mādhava dāsa, a gurukula graduate, wrote an excellent program, which, along with special fonts, made the entering of Sanskrit diacritics quick and painless.

We cannot go without thanking the devotees at the Bhaktivedanta Archives—Parama-rūpa dāsa, Ekanātha dāsa, Raṇajit dāsa, Dulāl Candra dāsa and Pūrṇānanda dāsa—for their provision of good advice and materials that were essential to this publication.

Several devotees went out of their way to provide never—before-seen photos—Advaita dāsa (New Zealand), Maitreya Muni dāsa (Hawaii), Ugraśravā dāsa and Kūrma dāsa (Melbourne). Guru Daksina dāsa did similarly with volume one. I sincerely thank them all.

Sarva-satya dāsa and Kuntī dāsī at ISKCON World Review donated the use of their printer for the final output.

The unswerving support of my wife Śītala dāsī, her patience, encouragement and provision of suitable backup facilities such as hot meals and a stable, peaceful, home environment, was the major factor in the successful completion of this book.

I ask the forgiveness of anyone I have inadvertently omitted from these credits. Good works never go unnoticed nor unappreciated; it is only my own imperfections that make it seem so.

Foreword

Hari Śauri Dāsa's choice of the term Transcendental to describe this account is very apt. The Diaryis a remarkably candid and inspiring depiction of a spiritual master at work, interacting with his disciples and the public and trying to implant devotion to Krishna in the minds and hearts of often all too human followers. Thejourney so vividly portrayed in these pages is given a physical immediacy with careful attention to the sights and sounds of each country and setting, but it was primarily a spiritual journey for both Prabhupāda as master and Hari Śauri Dasa as disciple/diarist, the whole played out in the context of a worldwide religious movement in the midst of an explosive expansion that had given newly gathered and mostly young followers enormous responsibilities to convey a message and live by standards that they themselves had not yet fully comprehended or internalized.

Holding all of this activity together is Prabhupāda, an 80-year-old Indian guru with declining physical strength but unbounded spiritual and intellectual energy, summoning his resources—or, as he would say, Krishna's resources—to meet the daily needs of his disciples and, more broadly, the needs of a world in spiritual crisis. Prabhupāda is clearly the focus of this Diary,and he is brought wonderfully to life in Hari Śauri Dāsa's careful transmission of his speech and his style of discourse. Those who knew Prabhupāda can hear his voice behind the printed words of the Diary,can remember with pleasure his keen arguments laced with Indian English idioms and Sanskrit quotations, and feel again the force of his brusque objections to arguments that missed the point of Krishna's message or actions that betrayed an undeveloped Krishna consciousness among his disciples. Those who did not know him can nonetheless sense the power of his personality as he taught, challenged, chastised, praised, and inspired his young followers, singing devotional songs, overseeing the installation of deities and procedures of worship, clarifying philosophical issues, and demonstrating by his example how a true devotee of Krishna should live and work.

This is an intimate portrait of the spiritual master, not a history of the Krishna consciousness movement. The greatest value of the Diary isprecisely in the succession of details it presents of Prabhupāda himself, the guru at the center of the movement as the lineal representative of Krishna, Caitanya, and the saints and teachers who preceded him. The movement is always there in the background, of course, but it enters the narrative only as the topic of discussions between Prabhupāda and his disciples that reveal in a succession of sharply focused vignettes both his overall plans for expansion and his attention to the smallest details of financial management, book editing, architectural design, iconography, and ritual practice. Running through all of these discussions, moreover, no matter how practical or seemingly routine the topic may be, is always his central motif. the spiritual development of his disciples in Krishna consciousness. Without Krishna consciousness, he constantly repeats, nothing else matters. The success of ISKCON is not to be judged by the standards of worldly success in terms of numbers, buildings, or money; it is successful only if it conveys the pure message of Krishna through the medium of pure devotees whose motives and goals are those of Krishna and not of their own egos.

Some of the most interesting material in the Diaryconcerns Prabhupāda's attempts to get this latter point across to his disciples, whose cultural background had not prepared them for the discipline and obedience to a spiritual master that he demanded. What Prabhupāda was doing was really quite extraordinary and unprecedented. Previous Indian or other Asian religious teachers had either accommodated their teachings and practices to Western culture or had limited their effort to a small group of close-knit personal disciples who could be trained to a more rigorous standard. Prabhupāda, however, had tried from the beginning to involve as many people as possible in the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra and then, as he gradually gathered a group of disciples around him, had begun to train them to follow the strict standards of his own Caitanya tradition: to become vegetarians, to maintain personal purity, to study the texts and teachings of the tradition, to practice systematic devotional chanting, to learn the proper ways of deity worship, and—for those who accepted initiation as formal disciples or śiṣyas—to shave their heads and wear the traditional clothing of Indian devotees.

These standards were not only maintained but were in fact continually upgraded as the movement expanded first in North America and then throughout the world. No matter what the cultural background of the disciples, all were expected to obey their new spiritual master and follow the strict religious lifestyle that he demanded; they were expected, in other words, to become traditional Caitanya devotees in every way possible even as they were engaged in establishing new centers and recruiting new followers in Europe, Africa, Central and South America,the Far East, and even in India itself There were of course tensions and misunderstandings created by these demands, and at times serious splits within the organization; not everyone understood what was expected of them, and there were mistakes made as a result of over-enthusiasm, inexperience, misinterpretation, and sometimes willful resistance to Prabhupāda's requirements. What is astonishing is that there were not more problems than there were, at least during Prabhupāda's lifetime, given the overall youthfulness of his followers and the fact that they were being faced with requirements and given responsibilities that would have been unimaginable a few years earlier.

The credit for this must clearly go to Prabhupāda, whose role at the center of all of these developments was crucial to their initial success. We know this in general, of course, from the history of the Krishna consciousness movement, but few accounts give us the details that we find in the Diaryof how this was brought about in the daily instruction and inspiration that Prabhupāda gave to his disciples. What we find in these pages is the serene energy source of the movement's whirlwind of activity, the pure devotee of Krishna who brings the transcendental wisdom and power of Krishna to the task at hand, certain that He will ensure success. No details escape his attention, and no disciple is left without his loving concern even when he or she has failed or fallen short of expectations. He is at times brutally frank in criticism, but never rejects the person criticized; he asks only that everyone remember whom they all serve, and do the job right.

The great strength of the Diary isthat it lets us into the immediate presence of Prabhupāda as he deals with his disciples, with correspondence from abroad, with curious and mainly uninformed reporters, with visiting scholars, with fellow Indians, and with a succession of issues and problems that emerge from day to day. It is greatly to Hari Sauri Dāsa's credit that he does not idealize his account, but presents both Prabhupāda and his disciples as they were and as they revealed themselves in intimate discussions. This is not a hagiography from which all awkward personal traits are removed, but something much more valuable: the honest account of a remarkable—and remarkably human-leader trying to bring out the best in others on the basis of his own devotional commitment to his Lord.

The account would be far less persuasive if it gave us an idealized portrait of Prabhupāda instead of presenting him as he was; we need to see the whole man, operating within human limitations, to understand the measure of his achievements, and Hari Śauri Dāsa has given us this kind of honest report. It is this human devotee that we see so clearly in Hari Śauri Dāsa's account, succeeding, in the midst of Kali-yuga, to a degree that still inspires our awe.

It is easy to forget as we read the Diarythat Prabhupāda was eighty years old at the time and in frail health. The number and variety of issues that he had to deal with even in the two months covered in this volume would challenge the stamina and skills of the most vigorous young executive, and executive decisions were not even his primary activity. His main task, as he saw it, was serving as spiritual mentor to his young disciples, a task made urgent because of his age and difficult because of the lack of continual contact with devotees spread literally around the world.

Prabhupāda started his first temple in New York City on his own at the age of seventy with a handful of informal disciples. Not quite ten years later, when this Diarybegins, he was head of an international organization that was almost entirely his own creation, not just in practical terms but in conception. He was of course deeply informed about the Caitanya tradition and Krishna devotion from his Indian background, but no Indian tradition had ever expanded outside India in this way—not, at least, since Buddhism some 2,000 years earlier, and that process had taken centuries. An entire institutional structure had to be created from scratch to make the ISKCON expansion possible and sustain its orderly growth. In the midst of such rapid growth and development some of the disciples—including some of the designated leaders—failed to meet the exacting standards that Prabhupāda set for his followers. The wonder is that so few mistakes were made and that so many disciples were raised to a level of purity and performance that they could never have imagined for themselves before Prabhupāda. inspired them by his example.

We have all too few detailed accounts of spiritual masters that have escaped the correcting hand of pious editors. Prabhupāda is fortunate indeed to have a devoted disciple who respects his master enough to respect his wholeness as a human being and lets us see that wholeness and humanness for ourselves. Prabhupāda does not need an apologist, but an accurate and honest reporter; his qualities speak for themselves. He was, as he appears afresh in this Diary, a truly remarkable man who understood that his role as a devotee of Krishna transcended his own human capabilities and limitations, and who was willing to let Krishna use him for His purposes until his own mortal frame was used up. We can be grateful to Hari Śauri Dāsa for giving us such an honest and intimate account of how Prabhupāda carried out this service.

Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins

Dept. of Religion

Franklin and Marshall College

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Author, The Hindu Religious Tradition

Preface

This volume of A Transcendental Diary traces the pastimes of His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda during the first half of his last world tour. I had originally planned to present the entire tour in one volume, from Śrīla Prabhupāda's arrival in Melbourne on April 19th, 1976 to his departure from Tehran on August 13th, 1976. But the amount of material available was so great it became clear that to make a presentation with the same kind of detail found in Volume One, I would have to split the material into two parts.

The reason for this is easy to fathom. The number of recorded conversations and lectures for 1976 surpasses any other year of Śrīla Prabhupāda's preaching. Prabhupāda's servants acquired a cassette recorder in early June making it quick and convenient to record His Divine Grace's spoken words, and we were increasingly attentive to the task. Still, the material presented here represents only a fraction of the total. It is not possible to present everything in a book of this nature, nor is it necessary.

I have attempted to bring the reader into the daily life of the most powerful proponent of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in recorded history. As Dr. Hopkins has noted in his Foreword, no religious tradition since Buddhism 2,000 years ago has spread so far, so fast and to so many without losing any of its authenticity of both spirit and practice. And one person was solely responsible for this—His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.

In this volume we glimpse the international scale of Śrīla Prabhupāda's traveling and preaching, as he visits Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii, mainland America and Canada. In many ways he was concerned with consolidating the gains of the explosive expansion of ISKCON in the early 1970s. He purposefully chose to visit major new acquisitions of property in Detroit and Toronto (and Washington D. C. and New York, as we will see in Volume Three). Yet at the same time he continued to relentlessly push himself and his disciples to increase the influence of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement on broader and broader scales. While traveling, he remained intimately involved through the mail with every detail of the development of his society in India, and he advised and encouraged his disciples to penetrate the iron curtain of communist Eastern Europe and China.

For me personally, as Śrīla Prabhupāda's servant of five months, the time continued to be exciting and eventful, with His Divine Grace very much at the epicenter of events. By this presentation I hope the readers of this diary will also feel the potency and power of his person and preaching. If only one person feels an increase in appreciation of his divine characteristics, and a deepening of his or her relationship with Śrīla Prabhupāda, then I can consider this humble effort a success.

Chapter One

Melbourne

April 19th, 1976

Our plane landed in Sydney at 10:00 A.M., three hours late. Jayadharma dāsa, the president of the Sydney temple, was waiting in the transit lounge to join our flight to Melbourne. Together with a new devotee who works for the airlines, he offered Śrīla Prabhupāda a flower garland and a large silver platter of sweets and cut fruits. Śrīla Prabhupāda took a few bites of prasādam, and we distributed the rest to the other passengers. Most were happy to accept, and within a few minutes the plate was empty. We left at 11:00 A.M. and arrived in Melbourne just after noon.

Before landing we filled out the customary landing cards, which also required a list of baggage. Without thinking carefully, we filled out Prabhupāda's card indicating that he had one suitcase. Once off the plane we passed through immigration without difficulty and entered the baggage hall. We decided that Śrīla Prabhupāda and I should go directly through customs carrying only his red attache case, and Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa Swami would bring the suitcases. However, the customs officer insisted that Prabhupāda wait for the suitcase indicated on his form. I pleaded strongly with the man to please allow Śrīla Prabhupāda to go through immediately. I assured him that I would wait and take full responsibility for the suitcase. I pointed out that there were no chairs for Prabhupāda to sit down on and it would take at least a half an hour more for the bags to come off the plane; Prabhupāda was over eighty years old, had been traveling for so many hours, and it was unnecessary to make him wait; and I had packed his bag for him anyway.

Despite my best attempts, the customs official was utterly uncooperative and refused to allow Śrīla Prabhupāda to go through. The discussion became heated as my temper rose. A small crowd of passengers gathered around us to see what the disturbance was. Śrīla Prabhupāda just walked away and stood quietly to the side. The official was obdurate; he returned to his post, leaving me standing there fuming.

Two minutes later an airport policeman approached me to ask what was going on. I explained that we simply wanted Prabhupāda to be allowed to go straight through customs without his bag. He asked, "Is all that going on because of him?" That was the loud roar of a tremendous hari-nāma kīrtana coming through the doors leading into the arrival hall. The kīrtana could be clearly heard above all the airport noise and public-address announcements. Gurukṛpa Swami and a large number of devotees were excitedly banging karatālas, beating mṛdaṅgas, and chanting so loudly that airport officials had moved them away from the main greeting area—but still the sound drowned out everything else. With every opening and closing of the doors the intense chanting boomed louder and then receded. The sounds of the holy names uplifted us, and when Prabhupāda heard it he inquired innocently, This is our men?

The airport security personnel were somewhat bewildered as to how to handle the situation. Will they stop if he goes through? the policeman asked. I assured him Yes, they will. And within seconds Prabhupāda was allowed to pass through, leaving Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa and myself to wait for the bags. As Prabhupāda disappeared through the door and was spotted by the devotees, the kīrtana reached a terrific crescendo with loud shouts of "Jaya Prabhupāda!" The noise stopped abruptly, and Prabhupāda was taken into the VIP lounge, where devotees had arranged a press conference.

While Prabhupāda conversed amiably with a host of news reporters, I experienced another dramatic episode. As I brought Prabhupāda's suitcase to the customs check, the officer (a different one this time), not wanting another scene, smiled and said that it would take but a moment. Ah, could you just open the case? he asked.

I obliged, and he gave a cursory squint under the lid. He was just about to close it when a huge, two-inch cockroach leaped out. It must have taken shelter inside Prabhupāda's winter coat in Bombay and obviously decided that Australia was a better home. But this was not to be. The customs officer reacted instantly. Quarantine! Quarantine! he shouted, and hit a big red button.

My heart froze as a loud buzzer went off and a big red light began flashing. Someone rushed over with two large cans of bug spray, and I had visions of being stuck there for hours. But the man simply smiled reassuringly—it was all under control. Whap! The poor bug was summarily executed on the desk top. The contents of the two cans were emptied into the case and the lid slammed shut. It took hardly a minute, and then I was on my way at last, the customs offical offering me a smile and best wishes for my stay in Australia.

Meanwhile, Prabhupāda was winning over the reporters with his friendliness and sincerity. Even though he had been traveling for almost twenty-two hours, Prabhupāda was happy to honor the arrangements made by the enthusiastic devotees for the interview. At the end of the conference he gave a reporter his flower garland, distributed prasādam to the others, and then left by car for the temple.

Though tired, during the forty-minute drive Prabhupāda chatted continuously with Gurukṛpa Swami, the new GBC for Australia, and Balarāma dāsa, the president of the Melbourne temple. During the course of their discussion, Gurukṛpa Mahārāja gave a glowing report of the progress of the Australian yātrā, yet he hinted that there was something he wished to bring up later in private.

ISKCON Melbourne Mahāprabhu Mandira, 197 Danks Street, Albert Park

Upon arrival, although it was 2:30 P.M., Prabhupāda went straight into the temple room and had a special darśana of the Deities: Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Vallabha, and Śrī Śrī Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā. He then gave a ten-minute lecture to the packed devotee audience.

"Oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā/ cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ. Now the time is too late. I wish to take my bath. I'll not speak very much now. But this much I must express, my obligation that you are worshiping the Deity so nicely. That is my great happiness, and that is your happiness also. The more gloriously you worship the Deity, decorate the Deity as gorgeously as possible, the more gorgeous you will be. That is the secret. The materialistic, they are trying to dress themselves very gorgeously, and gradually their dress is being taken away by māyā, and voluntarily they are becoming hippies. Because they did not try to dress Kṛṣṇa, therefore māyā is taking their dresses. So the secret of success is that everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. Simply you have to collect them and offer for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa."

He stressed that the secret of success is to offer everything to Kṛṣṇa. He told the eager young devotees that he has given a glimpse of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in the Western countries, and it is now up to them to take it.

After leaving the temple room he went up to his rooms. Still thinking of the Deities, he told us that the worship here is as good a standard as in New York and Los Angeles, even though there isn't as much expenditure. Last May, when Prabhupāda officially opened this temple and installed the large, four-foot-high brass Deities of Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi, he referred to the temple as Melbourne Mahāprabhu Mandir. Now, after seeing the beautiful Deities, his thoughts turned once again to the merciful nature of the two divine brothers, and he commented that Gaura-Nitāi worship is so nice that They can be worshiped merely by performing kīrtana.

* * *

The temple property here—nearly an acre of land—consists of two large buildings and some small, well-tended gardens. The temple room is on the ground floor of a two-story red brick structure that formerly contained four schoolrooms. It has a split-level marble floor, carved marble altars from Jaipur, custom-built fancy columns and arches, and large glass chandeliers imported from India. The other building is a large mansion: ornate, stately, and listed by the National Trust for its historical importance. The devotees renamed it Prabhupāda House and fitted out two rooms for him on the upper floor—a large one for work and darśana, with an attached bathroom, and an adjoining bedroom. Before ISKCON purchased the place the main room was a private chapel for the priests who ran the school. It looks impressive with its polished parquet floor, large ornamental ceiling roses, architraves, and stained-glass windows. Prabhupāda likes his quarters here.

Prabhupāda took his massage immediately in the center of his darśana room; he bathed and then, at 4:30 P.M., honored prasādam prepared by the local devotees. Then he retired to his bedroom for about an hour.

Shortly after Prabhupāda got up, Gurukṛpa and Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa mahārājas had the private meeting with him that Gurukṛpa Swami had asked for on the drive from the airport. Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa wouldn't disclose to me what it was about, but it appears connected to local affairs.

* * *

After resting, Prabhupāda came down into the temple at 7:30 P.M. The devotees have arranged to have a temple program each evening during his visit, so Prabhupāda will speak at that time rather than in the morning. Tonight he delivered a dynamic lecture on Bhagavad-gītā 9.1, elaborately explaining how to understand God as the Supreme Being. Nearly one hundred devotees from all over Australia, plus some twenty guests, listened attentively and asked thoughtful questions at the end.

One young Christian man had a lengthy exchange with Prabhupāda. He first pointed out that in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we say, I am not this body, but as a Christian, he would say, This is my body, and this is my blood. In other words he felt there was something wrong with our apparent rejection of the body, because the body is in fact the self.

Prabhupāda took his statement and gave it a different interpretation. "To say 'my body' or 'my blood' means the body or blood is not me. The blood belongs to me, so 'me' is different."

Despite Prabhupāda's obvious logic, the boy's thinking was shrouded in dogma, and he had difficulty understanding the concept. The point is that it makes it one. It makes body and soul one if one says, 'This is my body and this is my blood.'

Prabhupāda disagreed. No. It requires a little intelligence. Just like you are breathing. So when the breathing is stopped, you say, 'The man is dead.' But what is this breathing? This breathing is nothing but a little portion of air passing. So you can artificially make that arrangement, air passing, but does it mean that it will bring life? So therefore breathing is not life. Life is different from breathing. You have to study scientifically.

He gave the example of the bellows, making everyone laugh as he imitated its mechanical 'breathing.' "Hans, phans, hans, phans. Does it mean life? No. Therefore you have to study every part of your body. You'll find there is no life. Therefore life is different from this combination of matter. This is intelligence. Analyze your body part by part, then you come to understand. Don't jump over. Your question was, 'The body's not different from the life.' So it is different. You analyze this body. Take this and you study it; you'll find no living force there. So how the living force is equal or identical with the body?"

Finally the youth conceded, All right, I agree. I ...

Then you accept the soul is different from the body? Prabhupāda inquired.

Yes, I understand. But no sooner had he accepted than he launched into another faulty premise, So you call that Kṛṣṇa. But God is God. God's name is God, not Kṛṣṇa. You may call Him Kṛṣṇa if you want.

Although the devotees were becoming a bit restless with the boy's questioning, Śrīla Prabhupāda dealt with him patiently, challenging him to state the name of God if he knew it.

As we expected, he couldn't. All he could reply was, God is God.

So man is man, Prabhupāda told him. But who is that man, you do not know.

The point I'm trying to make is that you call God 'Kṛṣṇa'. Christians call God by whatever name they call God. A few of the devotees were laughing, but Prabhupāda patiently tried to lead him with simple logic.

Suppose you have heard there is a president. But if you hear from somebody the president's name is this, so what is the harm? Prabhupāda asked. You become advanced in knowledge. Suppose you go to a country. You know that that government has got a president. But if somebody says the president's name is this, then where is the wrong there?

Nothing wrong, the boy admitted.

Prabhupāda challenged, Then? You do not know the name of God, but if I give you the name of God, what is the wrong there?

Well, the point is, as I said before, that there is one God and that I suggest ...

Yes, one God is there, but you do not know what is His name. That is the difficulty.

I un ... I know, all right.

That you say. What is that name? You say me.

The point is that I would like to suggest ...

No, no suggestion, Prabhupāda told him. God's names cannot be suggested. Then He is not God. You cannot suggest God's name.

The boy finally got out what he wanted to say, revealing a common misunderstanding. Well, then you make God into a person called Kṛṣṇa.

"God is a person, Prabhupāda told him. I have already said. It is described in the dictionary, 'the Supreme Being.' You are being, I am being, but He is the Supreme Being. You are not supreme; I am not supreme."

It was getting late and Prabhupāda called a halt to the discussion. Signaling for kīrtana to begin, he gracefully stepped down from his vyāsāsana and walked across the connecting courtyard to his rooms in the mansion.

Pleased with the turn out, Prabhupāda became even happier when informed that there will be a big feast for the devotees and guests to enjoy after his lecture each evening.

He took rest around 10:45 P.M., his stamina seemingly undiminished, and then rose after an hour or so to spend the rest of the night translating and commenting on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa and I are both exhausted and suffering from jet lag, but Prabhupāda seems completely unaffected. He is amazing.

April 20th, 1976

Śrīla Prabhupāda took his morning walk around Melbourne's Botanical Gardens. Since it is the beginning of winter and quite cold he wore his heavy winter coat. He spoke little during the walk. He returned to greet the Deities and receive guru-pūjā before going up to his room for breakfast. In addition to the fruits and fried cashews the local devotees prepared for him, Prabhupāda asked me to make two additional preparations: bora (soaked dāl mashed to a paste and then deep fried) and chīra (spicy, fried flat rice mixed with deep-fried peas and potato cubes).

For convenience I cooked in the Australian TSKP bus. The second of three talented devotee brothers, Bhāskara dāsa, made the handsome brass Gaura-Nitāi Deities that are installed inside the bus, right here on the temple premises. Prabhupāda was very pleased to hear they had been fashioned locally, but when I told him that they had hollow cores to make them lighter and therefore easier to travel with, he said that this was not so nice.

* * *

Kīrtanas in Melbourne are enthusiastic; all the devotees dance with great vigor. Prabhupāda commented favorably about this and is very pleased with the way everything is developing here.

* * *

A favorable news article appeared in the main Melbourne daily, The Age, displaying a large picture of Prabhupāda smiling. The headline read, H.D.G. Is Here to Hound Us. It reported accurately Prabhupāda's comments from his arrival interview at the airport: "His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, is here to save us from a dog's life.

"For unless we cultivate some spiritual knowledge, warns HDG, we are left with 'the dog mentality'.

"By this, he means a life in which people are conscious only of the needs of their bodies—eating, sleeping, sex.

"'The defect of modern civilization,' he said at Tullamarine yesterday, 'is that everyone thinks of his body, which is only a lump of matter. The person is the living pulse within the body. But we are giving more value to the lump of matter without any knowledge of the living pulse.

"His Divine Grace said the 'dog mentality' was a barrier to knowing God—and also a barrier to peace.

'As a dog is thinking I'm a dog, you are thinking that I'm an American or I'm an Australian or I'm an Indian. That is gross ignorance. The dog is barking at things in the street and you are barking at things in the United Nations.'

The article went on to say that judging by the spiritual fervor of the devotees at the airport, his message had come through. While waiting for him to go through Customs, they danced and chanted at an ever-increasing decibel level outside the door. ...

Prabhupāda was so pleased with the article he asked Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa Swami to send a copy to Jayapatākā Swami in Māyāpur to help with his preaching. He also had it put it in the traveling file.

* * *

At 11:00 A.M. reporters from two television stations filmed interviews. The first reporter was Mike Barron. He seemed sympathetic and interested. He asked intelligent questions and quickly grasped Prabhupāda's meaning.

But the second interviewer, Carol Jarvis, although polite and respectful, was superficial and a little skeptical. Her questions reflected the general, shallow, materialistic views of the uninformed. Noting the youthfulness of the devotees, she wondered whether we really understood what we were getting into when we joined and why we were forced to live such Spartan lives. She asked, Why is the temple decorated with rich material things? And why does the Movement have such great financial resources if you are supposed to be spiritual?

Prabhupāda answered her questions adeptly. He said that the devotees are intelligent young men and women with good education, coming from respectable families. Why would we follow him unless we were receiving something substantial? As for our way of life, he explained that the goal of life is to be happy, but birth, old age, disease, and death will check that. So just as one takes out life insurance, similarly Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the insurance to check these things—therefore it is the prime necessity of life. Anyone who wants to be happy has to accept some dos and don'ts, just as a diseased person has to agree to follow the regulations of the doctor.

Prabhupāda asked what was her definition of material and spiritual. Then he said that everything in the temple is actually spiritual, but she did not have the eyes to see.

Obviously preoccupied with our financial condition, Ms. Jarvis wondered about all the money we make begging in the streets. So Prabhupāda explained that we collect thousands of dollars a day selling books, not by begging.

But she asked why we sell the books and make money from them.

Otherwise you'll not read it, Prabhupāda told her. If I give you free, then you'll think, 'Ah, this is something nonsense. They are giving free.' So when they pay for it they will try to see 'What these books are saying? Let me see.' And if you get free, then you may keep it in your rack for hundreds of years. So that is not the. ... But after all, we have to print these books, so who will pay for that? We have no money.

But Ms. Jarvis wanted to know what happens to the rest of the money that is collected in the streets.

Prabhupāda answered, We are increasing our movement; we are opening centers; we are printing more books. These are my books. I have made a Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. That is my Will, and I have given in my Will that fifty percent of the collection should be spent for reprinting the books and fifty percent should be spent for spreading the movement. So there is no question of material profit.

Even after the filming had finished, Prabhupāda continued preaching to Ms. Jarvis, explaining that nature will not allow anyone to be happy. But it was hard getting through; Ms. Jarvis was not convinced.

I'm saying I think I can be happy by working within nature's laws rather than trying to fight them, she told Śrīla Prabhupāda. I am not unhappy.

You are not happy, Prabhupāda told her.

No, I'm not unhappy. I'm perfectly happy, she declared, determined not to agree.

No, Prabhupāda said, even more determined, that is your ignorance. Nobody is happy. Then that is the happiness of the dog. He is also thinking 'happy.' The hog is also thinking happy. That is another illusion. The dog may be a very big dog, and he can bark very nicely, but he is not happy, because he has got a master. As soon as the master says, 'Come here!' 'Yes.' Chain.

But all of these people have a mouth, and you do the same to them, she replied. You call them, and they jump. That's the same as a dog coming to its master.

Prabhupāda said, Yes. But to have a real master and to have a false master—just like a physician. A physician is also with the knife, and the rogue is also with the knife. When the physician says, 'You lie down. I shall have some surgical operation,' he agrees to ply on his body the knife. But he'll never agree if he knows that he is a rogue. He'll simply cut my throat. That is the difference. But superficially you see both of them are with knife—but one for real happiness, one for false thing.

Ms. Jarvis remained unconvinced despite the logic of Śrīla Prabhupāda's argument. I find it hard to see the difference, she said sceptically.

Yes, Prabhupāda assured her, you find out how to go to a physician, agree to his proposal. Then you'll be cured. Otherwise you'll have to suffer with that boil, always burning, burning, burning, burning.

As the film crews packed up, Prabhupāda made sure that the devotees gave them some prasādam before they left.

Once Ms. Jarvis left, Prabhupāda commented that the real problem is that these people do not know what is spiritual and what is material. She saw the temple and heard how we are collecting large amounts of money by selling books, but she couldn't understand that everything used in Kṛṣṇa's service is spiritual.

This philosophy, Prabhupāda said, "it is little difficult to understand by the dull men; that nothing is without Kṛṣṇa. Īśāvāsyamidaṁsarvam. 'Sarvam,' when we say sarvam, how we can exclude this and that? Everything is in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Sarvam means everything. So how can you discriminate, 'This is material; this is spiritual'? The discrimination is that when it is not used for Kṛṣṇa, that is material, and when it is used for Kṛṣṇa, that is spiritual. That is the explanation of sarvam.

Just like a thief has stolen my money. The money will be utilized: He'll spend it, I am spending. Then why he's criminal? If you present this plea that, 'money's for spending, so either you spend or I spend.' But that is not the idea. My money means the money should be spent for my purpose, and because you have taken the money and spend it for your purpose, therefore you are criminal. That is the distinction between material and spiritual. Money, or everything, belongs to Kṛṣṇa. When it is utilized for Kṛṣṇa, this is spiritual, and when it is not utilized for Kṛṣṇa, that is material. Where is the difficulty to understand?

The main evening news program showed the Carol Jarvis interview, and the devotees set up a television in Prabhupāda's room for him to watch it. Although very little of what Prabhupāda said was actually used, Prabhupāda was still pleased because throughout the segment the producers inserted brief intervals of the devotees chanting.

* * *

Tuṣṭa Kṛṣṇa Swami, the leader of Siddha Svarūpānanda's followers in New Zealand, arrived this afternoon. He gave a glowing report of the activities on their farm at Muriwai and in Auckland, inviting Śrīla Prabhupāda to visit. Prabhupāda was happy to hear his account and accepted the invitation.

Gurukṛpa Mahārāja has had to deal with them for several years in Hawaii, and now he is in charge here in Australia and New Zealand, where they have established their own centers as alternatives to ISKCON's. Relations between him and Tuṣṭa Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja are strained because Tuṣṭa worships Siddha Svarūpa as a pure devotee, and this doesn't sit well with Gurukṛpa. Outside Śrīla Prabhupāda's room, I saw Tuṣṭa Kṛṣṇa Swami walk off angrily with his hands over his ears when Gurukṛpa Mahārāja told him that although he accepts Siddha Svarūpa as a devotee, Tuṣṭa shouldn't try claim he is a pure devotee.

* * *

In the evening Prabhupāda continued with the lecture series, delivering a lengthy exposition of Bhagavad-gītā 9.2, stressing that all miseries of life can be overcome by understanding the knowledge given in this chapter of the Gītā.

Gurukṛpa Mahārāja, well known for his powerful kīrtanas, led the exuberant chanting and dancing preceding and following the lecture. In private Prabhupāda told us that he is deeply satisfied to see the Australian devotees so enthusiastically engaged in devotional service. This yātrā appears vibrant and healthy.

April 21st 1976

Prabhupāda's walk was a little more lively this morning. Tuṣṭa Kṛṣṇa, Gurukṛpa, and Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa mahārājas, Balarāma dāsa, and about ten other devotees accompanied him around the perimeter of the Botanical Gardens. During a discussion about the attitude of western religionists, Gurukṛpa told Śrīla Prabhupāda that his father, although a sinful man, always used to say that the good Lord is protecting me.

Prabhupāda questioned why he would be protected and not others? Why doesn't God protect when there is the atomic bomb? In Europe they are very, very much afraid of the next war. They are very much frightened. They have suffered two big world wars. So why does God not protect them? Simply your father's term has not yet come.

To illustrate his point, Prabhupāda explained, One cow dung is just passed through, and the other cow dung is being burned. So this cow dung is laughing, 'Oh, you are burned.' He does not know he will be dried up and he will be burned. So your father's logic is like that, 'I am protected,' laughing at the death of others.

On the way back in the car Śrīla Prabhupāda told Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja to have the BBT in Los Angeles correct an editor's mistake in the Bhagavad-gītā he had detected during a conversation in his room yesterday. While talking about cow protection, he had asked Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa to look up verse 18.44. When Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa read the verse aloud, Prabhupāda noted a mistranslation of an important word. So today he told him, "Immediately inform Rāmeśvara. In the Bhagavad-gītā yesterday they have edited 'cattle-raising.' But it is not cattle raising. Cattle raising means to grow and killing. That means the rascals, they have edited. Hayagrīva edited. He thought, 'cattle-raising.' Not 'cattle-raising.' It is mistranslation. It is go-rakṣya, 'giving protection to the cows.' It is especially mentioned, go-rakṣya, not otherwise. The animal-eaters may take other animals, but not cow. They can take the pig, goats, lambs, rabbits, so many others, if they want to eat meat, birds, there are so many. There is no such mention that animals should be protected. No-cows should be protected. That is Kṛṣṇa's order. They have decided to kill the cow. They have decided, 'No brain. Eat.' And our prayer is go-brāhmaṇa-hitāyaca, 'to do good to the brāhmaṇas and the cows.' Actually it is revolutionary to the modern age. But how is it possible we can say otherwise?"

The revolutionary instinct is one of the characteristics that has made Prabhupāda so successful in his preaching. He tells things as it is. It also separates him from some of his Godbrothers. He recalled a recent report that his Godbrother Bon Mahārāja, who had been the first to come to the West to preach in the 1930s, was telling our devotees not to say such controversial things in public. Prabhupāda dismissed him in strong terms as a self-interested person who was simply after some following.

This prompted Gurukṛpa Swami to question Prabhupāda about Siddha Svarūpānanda Mahārāja's group and their motives. They also criticize ISKCON devotees for strong preaching tactics and have their own approach, which is designed to avoid generating controversy with the public. Being aware of their activities in the South Seas area, Gurukṛpa said he felt that they were suffering from the same disease. They were not following what Prabhupāda was doing but have created their own way to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and Prabhupāda affirmed this. Yes, that idea is there. Although he always encourages them to chant and maintain the regulative principles, Śrīla Prabhupāda frankly analyzed Siddha Svarūpa and his followers. "They are thinking of their own way. That is bad. We have got so much, so many literatures. They are printing their own literature, and that is disturbing, yes. What he'll prepare? He's not a liberated person. He's thinking—somebody said—that, 'I'll give my interpretation on Bhāgavata.' If these things are going, they are against our principles."

Expressing faith in Prabhupāda's direction, Gurukṛpa Mahārāja said, "You know how to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore I follow. I don't even know