720909 - Conversation - Pittsburgh

Conversations by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

720909R!-PITTSBURGH - September 09, 1972 - 08:53 Minutes

Yaśomatīnandana: We got garlanded every block, so many garlands were there it was hard to redistribute again.

Devotee: If you need help. (laughter)

Svarūpa Dāmodara: How many people live in Surat, approximately?

Yaśomatīnandana: Seven, seven I mean (break) . . . five . . . but it is getting bigger and its bigger than Baroda. It's larger than Baroda in population.

Prabhupāda: . . . so it is bigger than in population? Than Baroda.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes.

Prabhupāda: And I like that river.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes.

Prabhupāda: What is that river?

Yaśomatīnandana: Tāpi.

Prabhupāda: Tāpi

Yaśomatīnandana: Tāpi. Tāpi.

Prabhupāda: Very nice river.

Yaśomatīnandana: It's very nice river.

Prabhupāda: By the riverside there are so many lands.

Yaśomatīnandana: Uhu, yea, but the thing is that Prabhupāda that this river is sometimes very dangerous.

Prabhupāda: Ah, over flooding?

Yaśomatīnandana: Now I think, I don’t think it will over flood because they have got so many projects, dams and things like that but it used to over-flood very often. Every five or six years . . . (indistinct) . . . but that over flooding would affect the whole city, so it doesn’t matt . . . head out the other bank of the city . . . that the waters would rush into the whole city and.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: How many miles away from Bombay?

Yaśomatīnandana: 150.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: 150 miles?

Yaśomatīnandana: 150 miles.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: It's far.

Yaśomatīnandana: Surat is developing also, in other ways also like aerodromic industries.

Prabhupāda: It is a rich city.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes . . . actually.

Prabhupāda: We went to Bardoli.

Yaśomatīnandana: Bardoli?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Yaśomatīnandana: Oh, my, actually my native place belongs to Chaltan. It is only 5 miles from Bardoli.

Prabhupāda: Bardoli is also very nice place.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes . . . I have always felt that the people of Surat district have . . . (indistinct) . . . than most of the people, you know I have seen . . . they have been very friendly and simple mostly.

Prabhupāda: I think that in Gujarat there are two or three cities, Baroda, Surat, Ahmadābād. Is that?

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes these are the three major cities . . . Rājkot, Dvārakā, Porbandar, Jāmnagar . . . but they are not very big cities . . . in Śaurāṣṭra.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: There are a lot of Gujarati's here in this country.

Prabhupāda: Oh yea, all over over.

Yaśomatīnandana: Now all over . . . (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Gujaratis and Sindhis first, first Sindhis.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Then Gujaratis, then Punjabis and then all others. Bengalis . . . (indistinct) . . . Sindhis they can go any part of the world.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes, they have become more adventurous now. (laughter)

Prabhupāda: Not all . . . but all are allowed. There are.

Yaśomatīnandana: . . . (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Therefore they are very rich communities.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yeah.

Prabhupāda: Next to Sindhi, I think Gujarati.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Next Punjabi.

Yaśomatīnandana: . . . (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Sindhi's and Gujarati's they go mostly for business.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Punjabis they go. Part, part . . . partly for business partly for working.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes. Have you ever been to London ghettos? London Indian ghettos? Near London. They say they are living very bad, in London, near London.

Prabhupāda: Yes, London there are many Indians, although they are in London they live like Indians. (laughter)

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes, very similar. In Russell Square there is one hostel called, "Indian Students Hostel".

Prabhupāda: You have been in London?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. And there, (laughter) Oh, we stayed about, about a couple of nights called, "Indian Students Hostel". That is for transit passengers who just stopped by in London for a couple of days, and then. So we stayed there for. And we were served the . . . all the our Indian reception.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: It was very nice.

Yaśomatīnandana: But.

Prabhupāda: There are many Indian hostels, many.

Yaśomatīnandana: It is so surprising, that I met a girl in . . . who was married to an Indian boy. She stayed there for 17 years, and she did not know a word of English. She was.

Prabhupāda: Yes there are many.

Yaśomatīnandana: So.

Prabhupāda: I know one Maharashtrian lady she is running one hotel for the last 22 years, no 22 years was in 1968, must be 25 years. She invited me I went to her house, she is running one Maharashtrian hotel. She does not know English, she does not know. A little, little." . . . "Yes . . . yes no, very good." That's all. (laughter).

Devotee (2): Śrīla Prabhupāda, excuse me what would you like for lunch?

Prabhupāda: Dal and capātīs, would be nice.

Devotee: You will be going back to India soon?

Yaśomatīnandana: Uh? (laughter) if Prabhupāda wants me to go . . . I want to work for a while so that I can have enough money, to start.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes get some money.

Devotee: If he needs a sannyāsī, I will go.

Prabhupāda: No.

(laughter)

Yaśomatīnandana: . . . (indistinct)

Devotee: To Surat?

Prabhupāda: We require many men.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Hundreds and thousands to make this propaganda all over the world.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Unlimited number we want. It is so important moment. Any number of men we cannot imagine.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: We should take over the world . . .

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Yaśomatīnandana: Jaya.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Amader desher brahmana gulo shobai bole Sharma ar baki gulo shob Singh. Ek jon ache Nagalok. Oi pahade. Ota mane shob Christian hoye geche karon oi missionary onek gulo ashe. Assam e ar amader oi . . . (indistinct) . . . districte. (The brāhmaṇas in our land have the title, Sharma and others have the title Singh. There is also one Nagalok, in the hills. They have all become Christians because many missionaries used to visit there. In Assam, in our . . . (indistinct) . . . district.)

Prabhupāda: Tar mane . . . taderke ghenna koreche. Tomader jat. (That means . . . they had been treated with disgust. By your people.)

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Amader mane Swami khub bodo mistake hoye geche. Bodo mane . . . (Swāmī, we have made a big mistake actually. By big I mean . . .)

Prabhupāda: Tader ghenna koreche . . . (indistinct) . . . Vaishnava der kriparthe (They had been treated with disgust . . . (indistinct) . . . Vaiśnava's mercy) . . . (indistinct Hindi)

Svarūpa Dāmodara: There was a mistake in our dealing with the our leaders. They did not even allowed to come to the house, such a mistake. So they became all Christians.

Prabhupāda: No, they may not be allowed to enter the house but why they should not be elevated?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. This was a mistake done by the . . . our leaders.

Yaśomatīnandana: Śrīla Prabhupāda, I heard that in south India the Christian missionaries, even the brāhmins are converted into Christians and how, you know, that the Christian priest would go into the house of a brāhmin and put a block of bread into his well and then the brāhmin would be debarred from his caste because the brāhmins were, you know.

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) . . . also.

Yaśomatīnandana: So that is why he was forced to accept Christianity because he would not have any position in his camp. (cut) (end)