750627 - Departure - Los Angeles

Conversations by Date, 1975

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this Conversation

750627DP-LOS ANGELES - June 27, 1975 - 10:11 Minutes

Rāmeśvara: . . . sketch for you, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Rāmeśvara: It is very basic. But this will be the cover of the Antya-līlā, volume two. It is a scene of all of the devotees at a big feast, and Lord Nityānanda is there, and Lord Caitanya is invisible except to a few devotees.

Prabhupāda: Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī's feast.

Rāmeśvara: Yes. So the questions they have are: While Lord Nityānanda is inducing all the devotees to chant, can some of the devotees be paying their daṇḍavats to Lord Nityānanda at that time? And the other question is: Although Lord Caitanya cannot be seen, except for a few devotees . . .

Prabhupāda: No, only Nityānanda.

Rāmeśvara: Nityānanda only. But can He be shown also with His hand upraised in the air?

Prabhupāda: No. Why?

Rāmeśvara: Well, they want to make Lord Caitanya very prominent, because this will be on the cover of the book.

Prabhupāda: You can make it, visible, invisible. Visible, invisible.

Rāmeśvara: You instructed that they should not paint Lord Caitanya transparent, even though He's invisible. Just like in the Gītā, when Arjuna saw the universal form, it was painted very solid all over.

Prabhupāda: Arjuna saw solid, others did not.

Rāmeśvara: But whenever it says that Lord Caitanya cannot be seen, still, we should paint Him solid?

Prabhupāda: No, no. Cannot be seen is not that.

Rāmeśvara: Well, invisible except to the eyes of Nityānanda Prabhu.

Prabhupāda: Yes. (break)

Rāmeśvara: . . . and nine volumes of Madhya-līlā, and five volumes of Antya-līlā.

Prabhupāda: Oh. Then three . . .

Rāmeśvara: Seventeen volumes just of Caitanya-caritāmṛta. And then about five volumes of Fifth Canto.

Prabhupāda: Twenty-two volumes. So instead of seventeen, you have to print twenty-two.

Rāmeśvara: Four are printed.

Brahmānanda: Four are already printed.

Rāmeśvara: So that leaves eighteen. But we will have it all out to the printers by Janmāṣṭamī.

Prabhupāda: Janmāṣṭamī?

Rāmeśvara: End of August.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Jayatīrtha: And when will it start coming back from the printers, Rāmeśvara?

Rāmeśvara: Well, I think that . . . (break)

Prabhupāda: . . . Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta, anywhere you go, scholarly circle, university man, they will take. They will take. Any part of the world, it will be taken.

Rāmeśvara: Śrīla Prabhupāda, in the Madhya-līlā it describes Lord Caitanya taking His tour in the south of India. So I was thinking that there are so many photographs.

Prabhupāda: You can insert.

Rāmeśvara: In the middle of the book we will have an insert just of the places Lord Caitanya visited.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Rāmeśvara: It will be like a bonus for those books.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Temples in South India, yes. Kṛṣṇa will give you intelligence. As you want to serve, He will give you more intelligence. Buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi taṁ yena mām upayānti te (BG 10.10). Teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānām (BG 9.22). Bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam.

Rāmeśvara: It depends on Nitāi working fast.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Rāmeśvara: With the books coming out at one time, even the devotees cannot afford to buy them all. Seventeen books at one time, Jayatīrtha! Most of the temples don't read Caitanya-caritāmṛta as part of their regular study. They usually read the Bhāgavatam in the morning . . .

Prabhupāda: Let them read whatever they like. Let them read. They must read something.

Brahmānanda: Yes. (break)

Rāmeśvara: . . . story of Choṭa Haridāsa. I was very surprised to find that his talking with that woman was actually for the service of Lord Caitanya. It says that he went to an advanced devotee's house to get some rice.

Prabhupāda: No. It is not that. There was some young woman sitting there, and he glanced over her with lusty desire. Not that old woman.

Rāmeśvara: That was her sister? Or daughter.

Prabhupāda: No. Daughter, granddaughter maybe. She was very old lady.

Rāmeśvara: In that same volume of Antya-līlā there is a very elaborate description of Rūpa Gosvāmī being inspired to write his different plays, and I was thinking that in that book we could print the pictures of the Rādhā-Dāmodara temple which he founded. He established that temple. And also the bhajan-kutir of Rūpa Gosvāmī.

Prabhupāda: You have got the photo?

Rāmeśvara: We have very nice pictures of both those places. Because so much of the book is describing Rūpa Gosvāmī's writings . . .

Prabhupāda: Everything of Rūpa Gosvāmī. We are called rūpānuga, "strictly following the footstep of Rūpa Gosvāmī." Rūpānuga-varāya te. And our Guru Mahārāja was . . . rūpānuga-viruddhāpasiddhānta-dhvānta-hāriṇe: "Anything against the plan of Rūpa Gosvāmī, not accepted." Rūpa-raghunātha-pade yāra āśa, caitanya-caritāmṛta kahe kṛṣṇadāsa (CC Adi 1.110). What are these flags?

Jayatīrtha: They're flags, I think, of different nations. International airport. So they put so many flags, of all friendly countries. Russian flag, Chinese flag are not there. (break)

Prabhupāda: . . . by United? No.

Brahmānanda: Continental. DC 10. (break)

Rāmeśvara: . . . spoke to Ambarīṣa dāsa yesterday, and he said he will make a plan to come and visit Your Divine Grace in Denver, because he is so close by.

Brahmānanda: He's in Wyoming now?

Rāmeśvara: Wyoming, finishing up some business there. (break)

Prabhupāda: . . . parking car?

Jayatīrtha: Yes. In Los Angeles there's one car for every 1.3 people. Seven million cars for ten million people.

Prabhupāda: (chuckles) That is the largest number?

Jayatīrtha: Yes. Biggest car population in the world. Biggest smog problem. (break)

Prabhupāda: Where is your mother?

Nandinī: In Los Angeles.

Prabhupāda: Where is your father?

Nandinī: Agnideva's at New York.

Brahmānanda: What is that?

Nandinī: Agnideva's at New York.

Brahmānanda: He's at New York.

Rāmeśvara: We're going to send Nandinī to Māyāpur, to go to gurukula in Māyāpur.

Prabhupāda: Will you go to Māyāpur?

Devotees: Jaya!

Prabhupāda: With your mother, or alone?

Nandinī: I don't know. I don't know who . . . (break) (end)