Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor Dr. Suneson Chanting of Ādi-līlā 7.2–59 [05:36] Plus "Hari hari bifale" [46:52]

Prabhupāda: What else?

Śrutakīrti: The vegetable.

Prabhupāda: What type vegetable?

Śrutakīrti: Cauliflower and peas and everything.

Prabhupāda: Oh, they have got cauliflower?

Śrutakīrti: Yes, they have cauliflower and tomatoes.

Prabhupāda: So you can give also two parāṭās to me.

Śrutakīrti: Now, you mean?

Prabhupāda: Yes. And milk you have got?

Śrutakīrti: Yes. They have got. I think there's one other guest coming, isn't there?

Pradyumna: Is the professor coming?

Prabhupāda: Heh?

Devotee: He was supposed to come a half an hour ago.

Śrutakīrti: There was a guest who was supposed to be here one half hour ago.

Pradyumna: He's a little late.

Śrutakīrti: So I'll bring it down.

[break]

Professor: [indistinct]

Prabhupāda: These are our books. You have seen?

Professor: Yes, sir, I've seen... Some of them, I've seen. This one in particular I have seen.

Prabhupāda: Yes. We are... This is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There are sixty volumes, books like this.

Professor: Sixty volumes like this?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Sixty volumes. And you can see how we are doing Sanskrit.

Professor: Transliteration.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Transliteration and word meaning, then translation, then purport.

Professor: Yes, I've studied the text myself.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Professor: I've studied the text myself.

Prabhupāda: I see. You have studied? How do you like it?

Professor: Yes, I like it very much.

Prabhupāda: Thank you.

Professor: I'm very interested in the bhakti.

Prabhupāda: Which one you have studied?

Professor: Oh, well, I haven't read all of the Bhāgavata Purāṅa, but of course, this Tenth Chapter I read.

Prabhupāda: Tenth Canto?

Professor: Yes, the Tenth Canto I read. And other parts, other parts also.

Prabhupāda: Oh. We have begun from the First Canto, janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1].

[aside:] You show him the verse, janmādy asya yataḥ. This is First...

Pradyumna: First volume.

Professor: Yes.

Pradyumna: After introduction. [indistinct]

Professor: Yes, yes, it's...

Prabhupāda: Janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye... Like that.

Professor: You belong to the Caitanya...?

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. We have translated Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Professor: Oh?

Prabhupāda: Yes. This is one chapter only, sample.

Professor: In the Bengali script. That's good.

Prabhupāda: Yes, in... Caitanya-caritāmṛta is in Bengali.

Professor: I've read also. I've read parts of that also.

Prabhupāda: Caitanya... Original Bengali?

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So you know Bengali?

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Oh, thank you. [laughs]

Professor: Yes. Sanskrit and Hindi and Bengali and Tamil.

Prabhupāda: Oh, oh, that's nice.

Professor: So I read lot of the Tamil bhakti scriptures.

Prabhupāda: Oh, I see.

Professor: The Alwars and the Nayanas.

Prabhupāda: I see. Just a..., immediately he came, Damodaran, the Ambassador. He came just now.

Professor: Yes. Oh, he came just now?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Professor: He has left now?

Paramahaṁsa: Yes, Ambassador Damodaran. He was... Just prior to your coming, he was also meeting with Śrīla Prabhupāda, yes.

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Just a half an hour before, he was here.

Professor: I see, I see. I know him well.

Prabhupāda: He's coming from Malayalam.

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So we can see..., you can see how we have done.

Professor: Do you recite this also, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Bengali?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes.

Professor: Do you think you could do a little?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Professor: I would be very interested.

Pradyumna: Glasses.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Shall I read? You want?

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda: All right.

[pause]

This is...

Professor: If you could read some of the Bengali part. Of course, in the beginning there are some Sanskrit.

Prabhupāda: Only one verse.

Professor: Some Sanskrit.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Professor: But the pure Bengali.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

jaya jaya mahāprabhu śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya tāṅhāra caraṅāśrita, sei baḍa dhanya [Cc Ādi 7.2]

You understand Bengali?

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Or shall I explain?

Professor: Oh, well, I understand.

Prabhupāda: All right.

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda:

[chants verses 7.2–59 from Ādi-līlā in Bengali]

[05:36]

TEXT 2

jaya jaya mahāprabhu śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya

tāṅhāra caraṅāśrita, sei baḍa dhanya

TEXT 3

pūrve gurv-ādi chaya tattve kaila namaskāra

guru-tattva kahiyāchi, ebe pāṅcera vicāra

TEXT 4

pañca-tattva avatīrṅa caitanyera saṅge

pañca-tattva lañā karena saṅkīrtana raṅge

TEXT 5

pañca-tattva—eka-vastu, nāhi kichu bheda

rasa āsvādite tabu vividha vibheda

TEXT 6

pañca-tattvātmakaṁ kṛṣṅaṁ

bhakta-rūpa-svarūpakam

bhaktāvatāraṁ bhaktākhyaṁ

namāmi bhakta-śaktikam

TEXT 7

svayaṁ bhagavān kṛṣṅa ekale īśvara

advitīya, nandātmaja, rasika-śekhara

TEXT 8

rāsādi-vilāsī, vrajalalanā-nāgara

āra yata saba dekha,—tāṅra parikara

TEXT 9

sei kṛṣṅa avatīrṅa śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya

sei parikara-gaṅa saṅge saba dhanya

TEXT 10

ekale īśvara-tattva caitanya-īśvara

bhakta-bhāvamaya tāṅra śuddha kalevara

TEXT 11

kṛṣṅa-mādhuryera eka adbhuta svabhāva

āpanā āsvādite kṛṣṅa kare bhakta-bhāva

TEXT 12

ithe bhakta-bhāva dhare caitanya gosāñi

’bhakta-svarūpa’ tāṅra nityānanda-bhāi

TEXT 13

’bhakta-avatāra’ tāṅra ācārya-gosāñi

ei tina tattva sabe prabhu kari’ gāi

TEXT 14

eka mahāprabhu, āra prabhu duijana

dui prabhu seve mahāprabhura caraṅa

TEXT 15

ei tina tattva,—’sarvārādhya’ kari māni

caturtha ye bhakta-tattva,—’ārādhaka’ jāni

TEXT 16

śrīvāsādi yata koṭi koṭi bhakta-gaṅa

’śuddha-bhakta’-tattva-madhye tāṅ-sabāra gaṅana

TEXT 17

gadādhara-paṅḍitādi prabhura ’śakti’-avatāra

’antaraṅga-bhakta’ kari’ gaṅana yāṅhāra

TEXTS 18–19

yāṅ-sabā lañā prabhura nitya vihāra

yāṅ-sabā lañā prabhura kīrtana-pracāra

yāṅ-sabā lañā karena prema āsvādana

yāṅ-sabā lañā dāna kare prema-dhana

TEXTS 20–21

sei pañca-tattva mili’ pṛthivī āsiyā

pūrva-premabhāṅḍārera mudrā ughāḍiyā

pāṅce mili’ luṭe prema, kare āsvādana

yata yata piye, tṛṣṅā bāḍhe anukṣaṅa

TEXT 22

punaḥ punaḥ piyāiyā haya mahāmatta

nāce, kānde, hāse, gāya, yaiche mada-matta

TEXT 23

pātrāpātra-vicāra nāhi, nāhi sthānāsthāna

yei yāṅhā pāya, tāṅhā kare prema-dāna

TEXT 24

luṭiyā, khāiyā, diyā, bhāṅḍāra ujāḍe

āścarya bhāṅḍāra, prema śata-guṅa bāḍe

TEXT 25

uchalila prema-vanyā caudike veḍāya

strī, vṛddha, bālaka, yuvā, sabāre ḍubāya

TEXT 26

saj-jana, durjana, paṅgu, jaḍa, andha-gaṅa

prema-vanyāya ḍubāila jagatera jana

TEXT 27

jagat ḍubila, jīvera haila bīja nāśa

tāhā dekhi’ pāṅca janera parama ullāsa

TEXT 28

yata yata prema-vṛṣṭi kare pañca-jane

tata tata bāḍhe jala, vyāpe tri-bhuvane

TEXTS 29–30

māyāvādī, karma-niṣṭha kutārkika-gaṅa

nindaka, pāsaṅḍī yata paḍuyā adhama

sei saba mahādakṣa dhāñā palāila

sei vanyā tā-sabāre chuṅite nārila

TEXTS 31–32

tāhā dekhi’ mahāprabhu karena cintana

jagat ḍubāite āmi kariluṅ yatana

keha keha eḍāila, pratijñā ha-ila bhaṅga

tā-sabā ḍubāite pātiba kichu raṅga

TEXT 33

eta bali’ mane kichu kariyā vicāra

sannyāsa-āśrama prabhu kailā aṅgīkāra

TEXT 34

cabbiśa vatsara chilā gṛhastha-āśrame

pañca-viṁśati varṣe kaila yati-dharme

TEXT 35

sannyāsa kariyā prabhu kailā ākarṣaṅa

yateka pālāñāchila tārkikādigaṅa

TEXT 36

paḍuyā, pāṣaṅḍī, karmī, nindakādi yata

tārā āsi’ prabhu-pāya haya avanata

TEXT 37

aparādha kṣamāila, ḍubila prema-jale

kebā eḍāibe prabhura prema-mahājāle

TEXT 38

sabā nistārite prabhu kṛpā-avatāra

sabā nistārite kare cāturī apāra

TEXT 39

tabe nija bhakta kaila yata mleccha ādi

sabe eḍāila mātra kāśīra māyāvādī

Prabhupāda: You know kāśīra māyāvādī?

Professor: Just a little.

Prabhupāda: Hmm.

TEXT 40

vṛndāvana yāite prabhu rahilā kāśīte

māyāvādi-gaṅa tāṅre lāgila nindite

TEXT 41

sannyāsī ha-iyā kare gāyana, nācana

nā kare vedānta-pāṭha, kare saṅkīrtana

TEXT 42

mūrkha sannyāsī nija-dharma nāhi jāne

bhāvuka ha-iyā phere bhāvukera sane

TEXT 43

e saba śuniyā prabhu hāse mane mane

upekṣā kariyā kāro nā kaila sambhāṣaṅe

TEXT 44

upekṣā kariyā kaila mathurā gamana

mathurā dekhiyā punaḥ kaila āgamana

TEXT 49

itimadhye candraśekhara, miśra-tapana

duḥkhī hañā prabhu-pāya kaila nivedana

TEXT 50

kateka śuniba prabhu tomāra nindana

nā pāri sahite, ebe chāḍiba jīvana

TEXT 51

tomāre nindaye yata sannyāsīra gaṅa

śunite nā pāri, phāṭe hṛdaya-śravaṅa

TEXT 52

ihā śuni rahe prabhu īṣat hāsiyā

sei kāle eka vipra milila āsiyā

TEXT 53

āsi’ nivedana kare caraṅe dhariyā

eka vastu māgoṅ, deha prasanna ha-iyā

TEXT 54

sakala sannyāsī muñi kainu nimantraṅa

tumi yadi āisa, pūrṅa haya mora mana

TEXT 55

nā yāha sannyāsi-goṣṭhī, ihā āmi jāni

more anugraha kara nimantraṅa māni’

TEXT 56

prabhu hāsi’ nimantraṅa kaila aṅgīkāra

sannyāsīre kṛpā lāgi’ e bhaṅgī tāṅhāra

TEXT 57

se vipra jānena prabhu nā yā’na kā’ra ghare

tāṅhāra preraṅāya tāṅre atyāgraha kare

TEXT 58

āra dine gelā prabhu se vipra-bhavane

dekhilena, vasiyāchena sannyāsīra gaṅe

TEXT 59

sabā namaskari’ gelā pāda-prakṣālane

pāda prakṣālana kari vasilā sei sthāne

[14:51]

You want to hear more?

Professor: No, thank you.

Prabhupāda: So, in this way, we have given Sanskrit, here, the transliteration. Just like

āra dine gelā prabhu se vipra-bhavane dekhilena, vasiyāchena sannyāsīra gaṅe [Cc Ādi 7.58]

Here is the transliteration. Āra, dine, gelā, prabhu, se, vipra, bhavane, dekhilena, vasiyāchena, sannyāsīra, gaṅe.

Professor: Hmm. How many volumes is this one, when it's complete?

Prabhupāda: This is only one chapter.

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda: And you know how many chapters there are.

[aside:] How many chapters?

Pradyumna: Seventeen in the first part, about twenty something in the second part...

Professor: Second part.

Pradyumna: Thirty something in third part.

Professor: Yes, about sixty altogether. A little more than sixty.

Prabhupāda: So how many, all...? Sixty.

Professor: Sixty, sixty-five...

Prabhupāda: So, at least fifty volumes like this.

Professor: Hmm.

Prabhupāda: So why don't you introduce in your university?

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda: You see?

Professor: Yes, yes. I like myself also to acquire this one.

Prabhupāda: Yes. You see how we have translated. I have given transliteration and word-to-word meaning. You are scholar, you can understand. So we want to introduce this literature in the universities.

Professor: Hmm, hmm, yes...

Prabhupāda: Everything, you can see.

Professor: Have you translated also the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Professor: All of it? Or...

Prabhupāda: Yes, all of it. Nectar of Devotion.

Paramahaṁsa: Do you have, Nectar of Devotion?

Professor: And also this Ujjvala-nīlamaṅi.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Professor: Ujjvala-nīlamaṅi?

Prabhupāda: Ujjvala-nīlamaṅi. No, Ujjvala-nīlamaṅi is not for general study.

Professor: No, it's...

Prabhupāda: It is, it is for high, advanced devotee. You have seen our Bhagavad-gītā?

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Just down. You can see.

Paramahaṁsa: Dr. Suneson is also a friend of Dr. Berndhart and Dr. Stahl, Professor Stahl in Berkeley.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Professor: Bernhardt, I know, I know...

Paramahaṁsa: He knows them. And both of these gentlemen have Śrīla Prabhupāda's literature in their universities, in their libraries.

Professor: Hmm. Hmm.

Prabhupāda: This book is recommended in the Temple University as textbook.

Professor: Hmm-hmm. This one.

Prabhupāda: Nectar of Devotion. This is Caitanya-caritā..., I mean to say, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Yes. "The summary study of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī's Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu."

Professor: Hmm-hmm? So it's the complete text?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Complete. You can read from any portion; you'll find so nice description. Anywhere from, you can read. Yes.

Professor: But original text is not given.

Prabhupāda: Then it will be very big volume. Therefore we have given summary study. But if time we get, we shall give the original text also. [break]

Professor: ...is translating this Ṣaṭ-sandarbha. It is very voluminous.

Prabhupāda: Ṣaṭ-sandarbha.

Professor: Yeah.

Prabhupāda: Not yet.

Professor: No, no sense in this...

Prabhupāda: Yes. Jīva Gosvāmī.

Professor: Yes, also his books are very long.

Prabhupāda: I, I am doing alone.

Professor: Also Gopāla-campū.

Prabhupāda: Gopāla-campū, yes, not yet done.

Professor: No. That's what I have.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Professor: I've read part of that.

Prabhupāda: Oh. I see.

Professor: Gopāla-campū.

Prabhupāda: Then you have read many of our Vaiṣṅava literature.

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that's nice.

Professor: Also in Tamil. I'm partic... I'm doing also comparative studies between those in the Sanskrit and Tamil. Do you know Tamil?

Prabhupāda: No.

Professor: No. They have also a big collection.

Prabhupāda: I don't know anything. [laughter]

Professor: What? What?

[pause]

Do you have this, the Tenth Canto of the Bhāgavatam?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Professor: Which? Here. Or...?

Pradyumna: That's Kṛṣṅa book.

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṅa book. [break]

Professor: ...take you to translate?

Prabhupāda: I am doing in my Dictaphone daily one tape.

[aside:] One tape, about how many pages?

Pradyumna: About ten to twelve pages.

Prabhupāda: And he's editing. After typing, he edits, and then it is gone to the press. In this way, our work is going on.

Professor: Do you have the original here of the Bhāgavata Purāṅa?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Professor: Could I see it? Is it any...?

Prabhupāda: Yes. This is only Fifth Canto. We have got... You can bring that book, black bound.

Pradyumna: Here's others.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Pradyumna: Third Canto also.

Prabhupāda: Oh, here is.

[break] ...eight commentaries by different ācāryas. So I read all the commentaries and give my own. In this way, we are doing. Yes.

Professor: Where do you have these eight commentaries? Are they found in this edition, or...?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Vīrarāghava Ācārya, Jīva Gosvāmī, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura. Here is the original text, type. It is in Bengali type. [break]

Professor: ...does this one have?

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Professor: How many commentaries does this one...?

Prabhupāda: Oh, here, only Śrīdhara Svāmī's. One commentary.

Professor: That's the one I have read, Śrīdhara's.

Prabhupāda: Śrīdhara's?

Professor: Yes, only Śrīdhara's. Because it's difficult to get the other commentaries.

Prabhupāda: No, they are available.

Professor: Yes, I'm trying, but... [break]

Prabhupāda: No. Purpose we have not translated, because they are not meant for ordinary reading. They are meant for Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Because there is dealings of Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa, people will misunderstand.

Professor: Yes, but it's very great poems. It's very beautiful, musical.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Professor: But...

Prabhupāda: And we, we have translated pralaya-payodhi-jale. That is Daśāvatāra-stotra of Jayadeva Gosvāmī. We have translated Upadeśāmṛta of Rūpa Gosvāmī, which is useful for general public. [break]

Professor: Yes. And, I think he was ill also. He was quite weak.

Paramahaṁsa: When he died, he... Every year he was going to these trips to visit these Buddhist monasteries.

Prabhupāda: He was a little attached to Buddhism?

Paramahaṁsa: Yes, like Śaṅkarācārya, remember, he was...

Prabhupāda: Impersonalist.

Paramahaṁsa: Yes. He was mentioning to you that he thought Śaṅkara's teachings were much more simpler, much more understandable, he said.

Professor: Than?

Paramahaṁsa: Attractive, he said, than Caitanya Mahāprabhu's. This was his...

Prabhupāda: What is your... [break]

Professor: I do not find Śaṅkara... Well, it's too abstract and it's...

Prabhupāda: Yes, right you are. It is round...

Professor: It's a question of...

Prabhupāda: ...about way.

Professor: Yes, of course, it's difficult to practice, of course, for people in general also. But, of course, he has also written hymns.

Prabhupāda: Yes. About Kṛṣṅa.

Professor: And they are... Yes. And they are, of course, a bit different. So he, Śaṅkara himself, seemed to...

Prabhupāda: That is explained in this Caitanya-caritāmṛta, why Śaṅkara prepared..., presented his Māyāvāda philosophy. It is explained there.

Śrutakīrti: I remember where it was.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Śrutakīrti: I remember where it was...

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes, yes. [break]

Professor: Do you have classes on Caitanya-caritāmṛta?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. Read it.

Pradyumna:

tāṅra doṣa nāhi, teṅho ājñā-kārī dāsa āra yei śune tāra haya sarva-nāśa [Cc Ādi 7.114]

Prabhupāda: ...haya sarva-nāśa. Read the English translation.

Pradyumna: "Śaṅkarācārya, who is an incarnation of Lord Śiva, is faultless because he is a servant carrying out the orders of the Lord, but those who follow his Māyāvādī philosophy are doomed. They will lose all their advancement in spiritual knowledge."

Prabhupāda: This is the opinion of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Anyone who hears Śaṅkara's comment on Vedānta philosophy, he is doomed.

Professor: [laughs] That's about it.

Prabhupāda: What is the purport?

Pradyumna: "Māyāvādī philosophers are very proud of exhibiting their Vedānta knowledge through grammatical jugglery, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa in Bhagavad-gītā certifies that they are māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ [Bg 7.15],

[Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.]

bereft of real knowledge due to māyā. Māyā has two potencies with which to execute her two functions: prakṣepātmikā..."

Prabhupāda: Prakṣepātmikā.

Pradyumna: "...śakti, the power to throw the living entity in the ocean of material existence, and āvaraṅātmikā-śakti, the power to cover the knowledge of the living entity. The function of the āvaraṅātmikā-śakti is explained in Bhagavad-gītā by the word māyayāpahṛta-jñāna. Why the daivī-māyā, or illusory energy of Kṛṣṅa, takes away the knowledge of the Māyāvādī philosophers is also explained in Bhagavad-gītā by the use of the words āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ [Bg 7.15], which refer to a person who does not agree to the existence of the Lord.

The Māyāvādīs, who are not in agreement with the existence of the Lord, can be classed in two groups, exemplified by the impersonalist Śaṅkarites of Vārāṅasī and the Buddhists of Saranātha. Both of them are Māyāvādīs, and Kṛṣṅa takes away their knowledge due to their atheistic philosophies. Neither of them agree to accept the existence of a personal God. The Buddhist philosophers clearly deny..., clearly deny both the soul and God, and although the Śaṅkarites do not openly deny God, they say that the Absolute is nirākāra, or formless. Thus both of them are aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ [SB 10.2.32],

[[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.]

or imperfect and unclean in their knowledge and intelligence."

Prabhupāda: What do you think?

Professor: That's... Of course, in the introduction to Śaṅkara's commentary to Bhagavad-gītā, he does, it seems, if it is for him, which is that...

Prabhupāda: He accepts Kṛṣṅa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Professor: Yes, Kṛṣṅa, yes.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Professor: So Śaṅkara is a bit difficult, because his followers, even he's Māyāvādī, the followers, his followers, they clearly believe in it. But whether, what Śaṅkara himself meant by it...

Prabhupāda: No, that is explained. Śaṅkara is the incarnation of Lord Śiva. He has no fault. He has simply executed the order of the Supreme Lord. But the way in which he has presented the commentary, one should not hear it. That is his warning. Here is the Tenth Canto of Bhāgavatam, two volumes.

Professor: That's also "Not for sale in India." Why?

Prabhupāda: Because...

Professor: Why not in India?

Prabhupāda: India, we make members. We get more price. Because we are, our scheme, Life Member, they pay eleven hundred rupees, and whatever books we can supply, we supply. That's all. That is not even to the amount they pay. So we give our presentation and they contribute. This is the program.

Professor: Do you use any grammar, Sanskrit grammar, when you study Sanskrit?

Prabhupāda: Sanskrit grammar?

Professor: Yes. How do they learn when they learn Sanskrit here?

Paramahaṁsa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: We have given some hints.

Professor: Or do they learn from a text or...?

Prabhupāda: We have given some hints. In the last... You can show him, in the Bhagavad-gītā. Or Īśopaniṣad. The mode, how to read.

Professor: No, Sanskrit is quite difficult...

Prabhupāda: Yes, there...

Professor: Many forms and so forth.

Prabhupāda: Now, these boys, they did not know Sanskrit. By, by following the direction, they read very nicely these diacritic marks.

Professor: [looking at book] Yes. Oh, this is good.

Pradyumna: [indistinct]

Professor: But they don't learn how to inflect forms and so on...

Prabhupāda: Simply they have to learn the alphabet.

Professor: Alphabet, but not, I mean...

Prabhupāda: They write the mark...

Professor: Devaḥ, devam, devena, devāya, and so on.

Prabhupāda: He has given the direction. This is made by him, how to pronounce. And then, by practice, it comes.

Professor: Are you going to have any kīrtana also tonight?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. Why not? You want to hear?

Professor: Yes, very much.

Prabhupāda: Well, all right. Begin.

Pradyumna: With the mṛdaṅga?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Paramahaṁsa: Karatālas?

Prabhupāda: So you are a bhakta. You are a devotee.

Professor: Well... I'm sorry...

Prabhupāda: Now it appears. Very good.

Professor: Well... But...

Prabhupāda: So we have got a...

Professor: ...well I'm studying it and, well, I'm attracted by many things.

Prabhupāda: No, studying, there are many scholars, they are studying, but you are factually bhakta. How you wanted to hear kīrtana? That is the sign of bhakta. Yes. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam [SB 7.5.23].

[Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṅu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṅa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.]

Tan manye 'dhītam uttamam [SB 7.5.24]. Uttamam. He has, he has studied really.

Professor: In India, where is your center? Do you have any headquarters or something like that...?

Prabhupāda: Yes, I have got center in Vṛndāvana.

Professor: Oh?

Prabhupāda: Yes, in Navadvīpa. I was, after my retirement from family, I was staying at Vṛndāvana, from 1956. Then in 1965 I came to America. So... Where is Haṁsadūta?

Paramahaṁsa: He's leading kīrtana downstairs, Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Ācchā. Then? You can, you can lead. Or anyone can lead.

[kīrtana begins, led by Pradyumna] [prema-dhvani]

So you like this kīrtana?

Professor: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Professor: It's very unusual in Sweden.

Prabhupāda: So you are, you are a devotee. Kindly cooperate with us, and overflood Kṛṣṅa consciousness. You are educated. Your word will be accepted more than ours.

Professor: Yeah. How does one order these books?

Devotee: We have them here, or...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Paramahaṁsa: We just received shipment from Germany.

Professor: You stock them here?

Prabhupāda: Yes, all the books are there.

Professor: [indistinct] You have spoken to him?

Paramahaṁsa: I have spoken to him on the phone. He's on a trip, I think.

Professor: Yes, to New York, I think.

Prabhupāda: So what is your full name?

Professor: Karl Suneson. It's quite difficult.

Prabhupāda: Karl Simhasan.

Professor: S-U-N-E-S-O-N.

Prabhupāda: You are this...?

Paramahaṁsa: Swedish.

Professor: Swedish, yes.

Prabhupāda: So he can attend our meeting. He can introduce. That will be nice.

Professor: Yes.

Paramahaṁsa: Yes. We're having a meeting, as you know, tomorrow night at the Stockholm University.

Professor: Yes, I'll probably be coming, yes.

Paramahaṁsa: If you would, would you be kind enough, perhaps, to give an introductory lecture or, you know, to...

Professor: Well...

Paramahaṁsa: ...say, praise, or your appreciation of our movement or Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in front of the audience.

Professor: I, I, I don't know exactly. I hope I can come, but I can't say for sure.

Paramahaṁsa: I understand. I understand. Well, you're kindly invited. That goes without saying.

Professor: Yes, yes, I'll try to come. That will be at the University.

Paramahaṁsa: Yes, tomorrow evening at seven-thirty.

Professor: No, I'll try to come. Do you think, this one, do you think I could...?

Prabhupāda: Yes, this is also available.

Professor: ...have for myself, or...?

Paramahaṁsa: Unfortunately, I think we have to order these.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Śrutakīrti: I don't think they have it here yet in your...

Prabhupāda: We are getting the consignment. Now we have got only one copy.

Professor: This is the only copy you have?

Paramahaṁsa: We'll place an order.

Prabhupāda: Yes. But if you want to read overnight, then you can take. You can return tomorrow.

Professor: Of course, if I don't come...

Paramahaṁsa: Hmm? No, I can return. I can.

Professor: That's all right. I can wait. But then I get a copy of... That will be all right.

Prabhupāda: So give him some prasādam.

Śrutakīrti: Someone went out to get it. [break]

Professor: ...kīrtanas?

Prabhupāda: Eh? Bengali?

Professor: Yes. Yes. Do you sing any hymns, kīrtanas, in Bengali also?

Haṁsadūta: Do we sing in Bengali?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Professor: Or mostly, mostly in Sanskrit?

Prabhupāda: No, in Bengali some also.

hari hari bifale janama goṅāinu manuṣya-janama pāiyā, rādhā-kṛṣṅa nā bhajiyā, jāniyā śuniyā biṣa khāinu [Iṣṭa-deve Vijñapti 1]

[O Lord Hari, I have wasted my life. Although I have taken this rare human birth, like a miser, I have not served Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa, and thus I have knowingly drunk poison.]

[aside:] You have got harmonium here?

Haṁsadūta: Yes.

Śrutakīrti: Haribol.

Professor: I'm not [indistinct] tire you.

Prabhupāda: Give me water.

[46:52]

[Prabhupāda plays harmonium and sings Hari hari bifale]

[58:35]

You can replay this.

Professor: Who has written this kīrtana?

Prabhupāda: Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura.

narottama-dāsa koy, nā ṭheliho rāṅgā pāy, tomā bine ke āche āmāra

Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura's singing, hari hari bifale janama goṅāinu: "My dear Lord, I have simply wasted my time, bifale, without any profit. Because I got this human form of life, but I missed the opportunity for worshiping Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa." Manuṣya-janama pāiyā, rādhā-kṛṣṅa nā bhajiyā." And by doing this, I have taken poison knowingly." Jāniyā śuniyā biṣa khāinu [from Prārthanā].

[O Lord Hari, I have wasted my life. Although I have taken this rare human birth, like a miser, I have not served Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa, and thus I have knowingly drunk poison.]

Then, golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana: "This nāma-saṅkīrtana is not any material thing. It is the ecstatic love of Kṛṣṅa in the Goloka Vṛndāvana."

golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, rati nā janmilo kene tāy

"But I have no attachment for this hari-kīrtana." Biṣaya-biṣānale, dibā-niśi hiyā jwale: "My heart is always burning in material existence," tore bāro na koinu, "but I did not make any means by which I can get out of it." Brajendra-nandana jei, śacī-suta hoilo sei: "Formerly, the same Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṅa, who was, who appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja, He has again appeared as the son of Śacīdevī." And balarāma hoilo nitāi, "And Balarāma has appeared as Nityānanda Prabhu."

So their business is, papī-tāpī jata chilo, hari-nāme uddhārilo: all sorts of sinful men, and materially suffering men, all of them have been delivered by these two brothers, Gaura-Nitāi, by preaching the saṅkīrtana movement. Tāra śākṣī jagāi and mādhāi: "They have delivered all kinds of sinful men.

The evidence is Jagāi and Mādhāi." Hā hā prabhu nanda-suta, vṛṣabhānu-sutā-juta: "My Lord Kṛṣṅa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, You are now standing with Rādhārāṅī, the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu. So it is my appeal," koruṅā karoho ei-bāro, "kindly be kind upon me." Narottama-dāsa koy: "Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, 'Don't kick me out. I have no other shelter. Please take me.' " This is the...

narottama-dāsa koy, nā ṭheliho rāṅgā pāy, tomā bine ke āche āmāra

"I have no other shelter. Don't kick me." There are many very appealing songs in Vaiṣṅava literature.

Professor: How old is this one?

Prabhupāda: Eh? It is about two hundred fifty years ago it was written. There are many songs of Narottama Ṭhākura.

gaurāṅga bolite habe pulaka-śarīra hari hari bolite nayane ba'be nīra

[When will that opportune moment come to me when there will be shivering of the body as soon as I chant Lord Gaurāṅga's name? And after the shivering, while chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa, when will there be tears pouring down from my eyes?]

āra kabe nitāi-cānder koruṅā hoibe saṁsāra-bāsanā mora kabe tuccha ha'be

[And when will Nityānanda bestow His causeless mercy upon me so that my desire for material enjoyment will become very insignificant? When will that time come?]

viṣaya chāḍiyā kabe śuddha ha'be mana kabe hāma herabo śrī-bṛndābana

[When will my mind become free from all material desires and anxieties? Only in that purified state will I be able to understand Vṛndāvana and the conjugal love of Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa. Then my spiritual life will be successful.]

rūpa-raghunātha-pade hoibe ākuti kabe hāma bujhabo se jugala-pīriti [Lālasāmayī Prārthanā]

[When shall I be very much eager to study the books left by the Six Gosvāmīs? One has to learn of the conjugal loving affairs of Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa through the teachings of these Six Gosvamīs.]

There are so many songs.

gaurāṅgera duṭi pada, jār dhana sampada, se jāne bhakati-rasa-sār [Sāvaraṅa-śrī-gaura-mahimā]

Many songs. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's songs, then Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura's songs. Locana dāsa, Locana dāsa's songs.

parama koruṅa, pahuṅ dui jana, nitāi gauracandra saba avatāra-sāra śiromaṅi, kevala ānanda-kanda

bhajo bhajo bhāi, caitanya nitāi, sudṛḍha biśwāsa kori' biṣaya chāḍiyā, se rase majiyā, mukhe bolo hari hari [Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nityānander Dayā]

In this way, there are so many songs. Very simple Bengali. Especially Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura's songs, they have been approved by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura as Vedic evidences. Although it is written in Bengali, they are full of Vedic authority.

anya devāśraya nāi, tomāre kahinu bhāi, ei bhakti parama karaṅa

What is that? Eh? Oh, Śaraṅāgati.

Pradyumna: All. The Mahājana-gīti, by Narottama dāsa.

Prabhupāda: Oh. There are so many songs. So you have devotional tendency. Develop it. Make your life successful. That is my humble suggestion. Manuṣya-janama pāiyā, rādhā-kṛṣṅa nā bhajiyā, jāniyā śuniyā bi... Anyone who has got this human form of life, he does not engage himself in developing Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then he's drinking poison knowingly. Jāniyā śuniyā biṣa khāinu.

[O Lord Hari, I have wasted my life. Although I have taken this rare human birth, like a miser, I have not served Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa, and thus I have knowingly drunk poison.]

Biṣa means poison. A great opportunity, this human life. That is our mission, that this modern civilization, they have created such entanglement that people are rotting, and they are losing the opportunity of this human form of life. Only on the basis of this bodily concept of life.

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma-ijya-dhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13]

[One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth—such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.]

So by order of our superiors, we are trying to introduce. But we are very unhappy seeing these people. They are spoiling their life in the bodily concept of life. He does not know what is going to happen next life. But there is a next life. That's a fact. As we had past life as child, as boy, as young man, similarly, we have past life also. This simple truth they cannot understand. Or there is no attempt in the educational field.

Professor: Are you working all...? In what countries in Europe?

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Professor: In what countries in Europe are you working in, besides Scandinavia?

Haṁsadūta: In Germany, France and England, Holland. Everywhere, in all countries.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Of course, this...

Professor: But East, Eastern Europe's impossible, eh?

Haṁsadūta: Yes, as a matter of fact, we, we have a devotee in East Berlin. But, of course, it's very difficult because the government doesn't allow it. But we just... He keeps a shaved head, and he's chanting. He's reading our books.

Professor: But nobody has interfered with him?

Haṁsadūta: Well, nobody knows.

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Haṁsadūta: I was just telling him about this devotee we have in East Berlin. We have a devotee in East Berlin who's chanting and keeps a shaved head.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Paramahaṁsa: Do you know Professor Kotovsky?

Professor: Kotovsky? No.

Paramahaṁsa: In Moscow. He's a Sanskrit... Head of the Oriental Studies.

Professor: Kotovsky?

Paramahaṁsa: Yes. He's, uh... Śrīla Prabhupāda also met him one time in Moscow.

Haṁsadūta: But he's not a devotee.

Paramahaṁsa: No.

Professor: No, but that's...

Prabhupāda: Now, I, when we were talking, I asked him one question, that "Professor Kotovsky, you are Communist, I am Kṛṣṅite. So where is the difference of philosophy? Because you have to accept one authority, leader. So you have accepted Lenin as leader; we have accepted Kṛṣṅa as leader. So where is the difference on the principle?"

So he could not answer. But he very much appreciated this, that "Where is the difference between these two principle?" But now we have to consider whether the leadership of Lenin is good or the leadership of Kṛṣṅa is good. That is another thing. But you have to accept one leader. You cannot do without leader. That is not possible.

Professor: Well, well, to some extent it's possible.

Prabhupāda: No, every extent. Anyone, anyone calling... So many philosophy or "ism," he has got leader. That you cannot avoid. The Buddhists, they are following Lord Buddha. Christian, they are following Lord Jesus Christ. Muhammadan, they are following Muhammad. Similarly the Communists, they are following Lenin, or Max. What is?

Devotees: Marx.

Paramahaṁsa: Karl Marx.

Prabhupāda: Karl Marx.

Professor: But, of course, in Sweden, most people, they don't..., they don't follow anybody. So it's... I mean...

Prabhupāda: No, they follow. At least, one follows himself. Is it not? "Don't follow anyone" means he follows himself. He has got a particular philosophy, and he's the leader.

Professor: Well, naturally, everybody has some kind of ideas, I mean, how to lead his life.

Prabhupāda: But that will not help us.

Professor: But, uh...

Prabhupāda: Unless we accept the real leader, a perfect personality who can give us perfect knowledge, there is no success. That is our philosophy.

tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet, samit-pāṅiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12]

[To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.]

tad viddhi praṅipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ [Bg 4.34]

[Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.]

We have to approach a person who has seen the truth in reality. Then our life is success. That is the Vedic injunction. And that is fact. Unless we are... Just like you are teacher, a professor. So therefore people are coming to you to learn. How can you say that he can follow his own philosophy? He's coming to school, college. He's taking lesson from the teacher. One has to follow. The selection may be right or wrong; that is another thing. But one has to select.

Professor: Well, one has to acquire knowledge.

Prabhupāda: Eh? Yes. Therefore, if we have to acquire knowledge, we must go to a person who does not commit mistake, who is not illusioned. There are four defects in the conditioned soul: to commit mistake, to become illusioned, to cheat others, and imperfectness of senses. One may declare himself that he's perfect in knowledge, but his senses are imperfect. So how he can call himself that he has got the perfect knowledge by speculative method?

Professor: Hmm.

Prabhupāda: The instrument which he is using for speculation, that instrument itself is imperfect.

Professor: Well, normally our knowledge will be imperfect in some way or...

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Professor: Normally our knowledge is imperfect in one way or another.

Prabhupāda: How it is perfect?

Professor: Im...

Haṁsadūta: Imperfect.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Haṁsadūta: Imperfect.

Professor: That is...

Prabhupāda: So imperfect knowledge, one who has got imperfect knowledge, how he can give lesson perfect?

Professor: No, but you can still give something, even if you...

Prabhupāda: Oh, that's all right, you get something, but that is not perfect.

Professor: No. But of course, there are different kinds of knowledge and...

Prabhupāda: No, our principle is to get perfect knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He's above these defects. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni vartamānāni ca... [Bg 7.26].

[aside:] Find out this verse.

Pradyumna: Bhagavad-gītā.

Prabhupāda: First of all you find out that verse, bahūni me janmāni vyatītāni tava cārjuna.

Pradyumna:

śrī bhagavān uvāca bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna tāny ahaṁ veda sarvāṅi na tvaṁ vettha parantapa [Bg 4.5]

"The Blessed Lord said, 'Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!' "

Prabhupāda: Purport.

Pradyumna: "In the Brahma-saṁhitā we have information of many, many incarnations of the Lord. It is stated there,

advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ purāṅa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.33]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.]

'I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Govinda, or Kṛṣṅa, who is the original person, absolute, infallible, without beginning...' "

Prabhupāda: Infallible. Infallible. This word is used. Acyuta. Hmm.

Pradyumna: " '...without beginning, although expanded into unlimited forms, still, the same original, the oldest and the person always appearing as a fresh youth. Such eternal, blissful, all-knowing forms of the Lord are usually understood by even the best Vedic scholars, but they are always manifest to pure, unalloyed devotees.'

"It is also stated in Brahma-saṁhitā:

rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu kṛṣṅaḥ svayaṁ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.39]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Kṛṣṅa and the different avatāras in the world in the forms of Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Vāmana, etc., as His subjective portions.]

" 'I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Kṛṣṅa], who is always situated in various incarnations such as Rāma, Nṛsiṁha and many subincarnations as well, but who is the original Personality of Godhead known as Kṛṣṅa, and who incarnates personally also.'

"In the Vedas also it is said that the Lord, although one without a second, manifests Himself in innumerable forms. He is like the vaidūrya stone, which changes color yet still remains one. All those multiforms are understood by the pure, unalloyed devotees, but not by a simple study of the Vedas [vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau]. Devotees like Arjuna are constant companions of the Lord, and whenever the Lord incarnates, the associate devotees also incarnate in order to serve the Lord in different capacities.

Arjuna is one of these devotees, and in this verse it is understood that some millions of years ago when Lord Kṛṣṅa spoke the Bhagavad-gītā to the sun-god Vivasvān, Arjuna, in a different capacity, was also present. But the difference between the Lord and Arjuna is that the Lord remembered the incident whereas Arjuna could not remember. That is the difference between the part-and-parcel living entity and the Supreme Lord. Although Arjuna is addressed herein as the mighty hero who could subdue the enemies, he is unable to recall what had happened in his various past births.

"Therefore, a living entity, however great he may be in the material estimation, can never equal the Supreme Lord. Anyone who is a constant companion of the Lord is certainly a liberated person, but he cannot be equal to the Lord. The Lord is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā as infallible [acyuta], which means that He never forgets Himself, even though He is in material contact. Therefore, the Lord and the living entity can never be equal in all respects, even if the living entity is as liberated as Arjuna. Although Arjuna is a devotee of the Lord, he sometimes forgets the nature of the Lord, but by the divine grace a devotee can at once understand the infallible condition of the Lord, whereas a nondevotee or a demon cannot understand this transcendental nature. Consequently these descriptions in the Gītā cannot be understood by demonic brains.

"Kṛṣṅa remembered acts which were performed by Him millions of years before, but Arjuna could not, despite the fact that both Kṛṣṅa and Arjuna are eternal in nature. We may also note herein that a living entity forgets everything due to his change of body, but the Lord remembers because He does not change His sac-cid-ānanda body. He is advaita, which means there is no distinction between His body and Himself. Everything in relation to Him is spirit—whereas the conditioned soul is different from his material body. And because the Lord's body and self are identical, His position is always different from the ordinary living entity, even when He descends to the material platform. The demons cannot adjust themselves to this transcendental nature of the Lord, which the Lord Himself explains in the following verse."

Then the next verse.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Pradyumna: Then the next verse.

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Pradyumna:

ajo 'pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro 'pi san prakṛtiṁ svām adhiṣṭhāya sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā [Bg 4.6]

[Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all sentient beings, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.]

Prabhupāda: That's all. So this Bhagavad-gītā, at least, should be introduced in all colleges. And Professor Dimock has recommended. Just...

Professor: Well, it is quite widely read, the Bhagavad-gītā.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Professor: The Bhagavad-gītā is quite widely read.

Pradyumna: This is an introduction by Professor Dimock.

Professor: Yes, I've seen it. I read it. But it is quite widely read, you know. I mean the translations...

Prabhupāda: But one thing is that other Bhagavad-gītās, they have interpreted in their own pleasure[?], not as it is. That is the difference. Just like you, you must have read Bhagavad-gītā by Radhakrishnan.

Professor: Yah.

Prabhupāda: When the verse, the verse, where it is? In Ninth Chapter: man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 18.65].

[Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.]

Kṛṣṅa says, "Just think of Me, become My devotee, and worship Me, offer Me respect, obeisances." Radhakrishnan comments, "It is not to Kṛṣṅa." Just see. Have you seen it?

Professor: Yes, sir. Radhakrishnan's, yes.

Prabhupāda: Now he says..., he misinterprets that "This is not to the person Kṛṣṅa." Just see.

Professor: No, but Radhakrishnan, his... He has wide knowledge also, but his interpretations...

Prabhupāda: This is his knowledge.

Professor: But his interpretations are...

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṅa says. Why he should interpret in that way? Kṛṣṅa personally says that "You become My devotee." And he says, "It is not to Kṛṣṅa the person." Why? He has no right to say like that. This way, these people mislead. If he is commenting on Bhagavad-gītā, he must present Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Why he gives his own opinion? If I say, "Give me a glass of water," how you can say, "No, it is not to him"? How you can say? Is that very good thing? That Radhakrishnan has done. Kṛṣṅa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. He says, "It is not to Kṛṣṅa person." Just see. Do you think he has got the right to do so?

Professor: No, but I don't think Radhakrishnan's commentaries are...

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes, yes. Just see. It is there.

Professor: They are very incorrect often, and, uh...

Prabhupāda: He has done this. You can see from...

Professor: Yes, but there's a translation by Franklin Edgarton of the Bhagavad-gītā.

Prabhupāda: Translation is all right, but his commentation is wrong. Translation is all right. I know. That's very nice. It is done by some Englishman. Eh?

Professor: Well, that's one. Yes. And also there is Edgarton. He was an American Sanskrit scholar.

Prabhupāda: No, translation is, there is, good translation. But he comments like that. Just like Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. When Caitanya Mahāprabhu was asked that "You are hearing; You do not speak anything," He said, "Yes, I am understanding the original verse of the Vedānta very clearly, but you are trying to cover the meaning. Therefore I am puzzled." This is the business of the Māyāvādīs. They'll simply puzzle. That's all.

Professor: Who? The Māyā...?

Prabhupāda: Māyāvādī.

Professor: Māyāvādī, hmm.

Prabhupāda: Yes. You also told me that it is very difficult to understand the jugglery way of presentation.

[pause]

Professor: Well, I think it's time for me to leave.

Prabhupāda: All right, thank you.

Professor: I have a long way home.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Give him this garland. Hmm. Jaya. [end]