740129 - Arrival - Tokyo

Conversations by Date, 1974

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this Lecture

740129AR-TOKYO - January 29, 1974 - 50:33 Minutes

Prabhupāda: The government export, then import . . . karne to deta nahi (. . . is not allowed.)

Indian Man: Kidhar? (Where?)

Prabhupāda: India me. (To India.)

Indian Man: Nahi, India me nahi. Europe me. (No, not to India. They give permission for Europe.)

Prabhupāda: Ācchā. (Okay.)

Indian Man: Europe. Middle East.

Prabhupāda: Yaha se purchase karte hai . . . Europe me apka office hai. (After purchasing from here . . . do you have an office in Europe?)

Indian Man: Nahi. Client hai. (No. I have clients over there.)

Prabhupāda: Oh. (pause) Next have sankirtan.

Have kīrtana. (kīrtana) (chants prema-dhvani)

(Japanese translation throughout)

The child is responsive. The child is responsive.

Devotee: Yes.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) He was seeing this playing of mṛdaṅga. How old?

Devotee: He's five months, Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Five months. So these Japanese boys, they cannot understand English?

Devotee: No, but if you would like to say something, either Mahā-guṇa or Vana can translate. They would like to hear you speak.

Prabhupāda: (devotee translating into Japanese throughout) When I was coming to this temple, I saw Japanese people are very industrious. Industrialism means, karma, and karma means, to work hard for the comfort of this body, but we are not this body, we are spirit soul within this body. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). The real owner of the body is within this.

So, so long our mind will be absorbed in the bodily concept of life, we have to accept another body after death. And to accept another body means great trouble. Just like this child, when he was within the womb of the mother for ten months, packed up . . . of course, by nature's arrangement one can live, but actually it is very troublesome. Then after coming out of the body, the child is helpless. He cannot express these troubles—sometimes cry. If mother is careful, takes care—otherwise he is in great trouble. Suppose some ant is biting, he cannot express; he cries simply, and mother also cannot detect why the child is crying. This is position. In this way, again growing up, no child wants to go to the school—he is forced to go to the school. Then when he is grown up, again family man to take responsibility of family.

So the whole life is struggle for existence, then old age, so many disease, frustration, then again death. Again death means, again enter into the mother's womb, again packed up, again come out, and that is also not sure what kind of body he is going to get next. There are 8,400,000 forms of bodies, and we can get any one of them. So this change of body is not very good job, but people do not know the science. They are ignorant of this transmigration of the soul, and they are working hard, dying, again taking birth—not as human being; maybe human being or more than human being, or cats and dogs, trees, there's so many. So this is our real problem. In ignorance, we accept one kind of body and stay for some time, again we are kicked out—no permanent situation. In this way, we are under threefold miserable conditions offered by the material nature.

So, people are not concerned about the solution of this problem, they are so foolish rascal. There is no education, there is no enlightenment about this transmigration of the soul from one body to another, and suffering, and they are thinking they are very happy. But from Bhagavad-gītā we understand we can get relief from this repetition of birth and death. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). Kṛṣṇa says, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9): anyone who can understand Kṛṣṇa, the result will be na iti, "No more taking birth in the material world" mām eti, "He comes back to Me."

So this is the solution. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching people, how to make a solution of this repetition of birth and death and go back to home, back to Godhead. So why people are reluctant to take this movement very seriously? Any question? Hmm. You don't want to make a solution of this problem? Yes, they are . . . have become so dull, just like animals, they do not know what is the solution of the problem . . . (indistinct)

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke

sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ

yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij

janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ

(SB 10.84.13)

If a person, human being, does not take very seriously this problems of life, he is just like animal, go-kharaḥ. Go means "cow," and kharaḥ means "ass." So those who are not interested, to make a solution of the problems of life, he is no better than an animal, go-kharaḥ.

So this is a civilization of animal education—whole day working like ass. Ass is called mūḍhā. Mūḍhā, he works very hard, a big load of washerman's cloth is laden on his back, and he works, and the washerman gives little grass. He thinks, "He is giving me grass, therefore I must bear this load." He is such a fool that he does not know the grass is available anywhere, free of charges, but he thinks that, "This washerman is giving me grass," therefore he must have this load. Therefore ass is the most foolish animal. Amongst the animals, the most foolish animal.

So we are trying to enlighten people to get them out from this foolish way of life. But, it is very difficult. Māyā is very strong. But still we have to try, because Kṛṣṇa Himself comes to enlighten people on this point, and we are supposed to be servant of Kṛṣṇa, so it is our duty to try to enlighten people. But people also should know the responsibility of human life, but they want to live like animals. So you want to live like this, or wish to go back to home, back to Godhead? Like animal, ass. (laughs)

Prabhupāda: Boliye apka kya ray hai? Ap to Bharatiya hai. Ap ko to Bharatiya . . . Vedic knowledge to thoda malum hona chahiye. Ye jitne sab hai, wo itna parishram karte hai. To shastra kehte hai, ye sab gadhe hai. Aur hai bhi gadhe. Gadha ke jaisa parishram karte hai aur thoda do roti ke liye. Khane ke liye kutta bhedi ko bhi milta hai aur wo bhi wahi khate hai. Baki itna parishram karte hai aur apna jo manushya jivan ka jo kaam hai, wo kuch nahi hota. (So, what is your opinion? You are an Indian, you should have some knowledge of the Vedas. All these people work so hard. As per the scriptures, these people are like asses. And that is quite true. They work hard like donkeys for two pieces of bread which can be obtained so easily even by dogs and sheep. They toil so much that the real business of human life remains neglected forever.)

So the Japanese boys, they have understood? Eh? You have understood? The difficulty is they cannot speak English, I cannot speak Japanese. (laughs) The difficulty is there. Anyway, you are supplying them prasādam. Go on doing that one day, they will also come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Prabhupāda: Ap log roj aate hai, nahi? (Do all of you come everyday or not?)

Indian Man: Sunday.

Prabhupāda: Sunday. Today is . . .?

Devotee: Today is Tuesday.

Prabhupāda: Tuesday. Apka kya bal baccha hai? Bal bacche . . . (Do you have any children? Children . . .)

Indian Man: Bal bacche nahi . . . (I don't have children . . .)

Prabhupāda: Nahi. Apka patni, bhabhi? (None. Is she your wife or sister-in-law?)

Indian Man: Mere bhai ki . . . (My brother's . . .)

Prabhupāda: India se aye hai? Kaha? (Has she come from India? Where?)

Indian Lady: Nahi. Osaka me rehte hai. (No. I'm staying in Osaka.) Osaka.

Devotee: Osaka is another city.

Prabhupāda: Osaka. Oh. Osaka. Ap log Punjabi ho? (Do you belong to the Punjabi community?)

Indian Lady: Nahi. Bhatia hai. (No. We are Bhatia.)

Prabhupāda: Bhatia? Gujarati?

Indian Lady: Karachi.

Indian Man: Karachi.

Prabhupāda: Karachi.

Indian Lady: Sindhi Bhatia.

Prabhupāda: Sindhi?

Indian Lady: Abhi to hum Bombay me rehte hai. (Currently we are staying in Bombay.)

Prabhupāda: Bombay me Sindhi bahut hai. (There are many Sindhis in Bombay.)

Indian Lady: Ji. Humare Bhatia sab . . . Sripad Vallabhacharya hai na, unke marg ke hai. (Oh yes. All our Bhatia . . . you know Sripad Vallabhacharya, we are from that path.)

Prabhupāda: Achha! Tab to ap log Vaishnav ho. (Great. Then you people are Vaiṣṇavas.)

Indian Lady: Ji. Krishna ke hi puja me hai. (Yes. We are Vaiṣṇavas. We worship Lord Kṛṣṇa only.)

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Tabhi to aate hai na. (That is the reason why you come here.)

Indian Lady: Shrinathji jate hai. (We go to Srinathji as well.)

Prabhupāda: Achha. Srinath Gopal ji jo hai wo hum log ka, Gaudiya Vaishnav. Wo Madhavendra Puri . . . wo apka ye jo Vallabhacharya, wo Vishnu Swami sampradaya. Vaishnav log char sampradaya hai. Hum log hai Madhva sampradaya. Wo Madhavendra Puri ko de diya. Wo Gopal ji humara sampradaya, Gaudiya sampradaya. (Okay. Srinath Gopal Ji belongs to our lineage, Gaudiya Vaiṣṇava. It was Madhavendra Puri . . . Vallabhacharya , from the disciplic succession of Visnu Swami. Vaishnavas have four disciplic lineages or sampradayas. Our's is Madhva sampradaya. Madhavendra Puri gave it to him. So Gopal Ji was from our sampradaya, Gaudiya sampradaya.)

Indian Lady: Chote Gopal ji, Srinath ji ke paas me. (The small Gopal Ji who is kept near Srinath-ji.)

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Nahi, wo Nathdwara, wo to bada Gopal. (No, the big Gopal Ji in Nathdwara.)

Indian Lady: Nahi. Chote. Srimad Vallabhacharya jinki puja karte the na. (No. The small one whom Srimad Vallabhacharya used to worship.)

Prabhupāda: Oh! Wo wala. (That one.)

Indian Lady: Unka chota Gopal tha. (He had a small Deity of Gopal.)

Prabhupāda: Wo wala. (That one. Bal Gopal.)

Indian Lady: Ji. (Yes.)

Prabhupāda: Aur ye Nathdwara me jo Gopal ji hai, wo to bada Gopal hai. (And the Gopal Ji in Nathdwara is the bigger one.)

Indian Lady: Ji. (Yes, yes.)

Prabhupāda: Wo Gopal ji Bhagavan Krishna ka jo pota, Bajra . . . unki pratisthit. Phir kuch kuch din baad, kuch gadbad hua to mandir tut gaya tha, Gopal ji jangal me kahi. Phir sapna dete hai, Madhavendra Puri se phir uthaya aur mandir sthapan kiya Govardhan me. Aur unke antim kal me ye Vallabhacharya ko de diya. Wahi Nathdwara. (The Gopal Ji of Nathdwara was installed by Vajranabh, the grandson of Lord Krsna. A few days later, there was some trouble and the temple was destroyed. Gopal Ji was lying in a jungle. Madhavendra Puri, after having a dream, again rescued Gopal from there and installed Him in a temple at Govardhan. And in the final days of his life he had given it to Vallabhacharya. That is Nathdwara.)

Indian Lady: Hmm.

Prabhupāda: Ap log kitne hai sab Bharatiya idhar? (How many Indians are here all together?)

Indian Man: Japan me? Karib teen char hazar. (In Japan? Around three to four thousand.)

Prabhupāda: Char hazar. Kaise idhar to koi Bhagavan ka mandir hai hi nahi. (Four thousand? But there is no temple of the Lord anywhere.)

Indian Man: Tokyo me nahi hai lekin Osaka, Kobe me hai. (There is no temple in Tokyo but in Kobe and Osaka, temples are there.)

Prabhupāda: Kobe me hai? (Is there a temple in Kobe?)

Indian Man: Kobe me hai. Gurudwara hai aur Ramakrishna mission ka bhi . . . (Yes, a temple is there in Kobe. Gurudwara is there and Ramkrishna mission also . . .)

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Indian Man: Ramkrishna mission.

Prabhupāda: Ramakrishna mission kya hai? (laughter) Nastik hai. (It does not matter much, Ramkrishna mission (laughter). They are atheists.)

Indian Man: Bas wahi do hai. (Only those two are there.)

Prabhupāda: Wo to Hindu hi hai nahi. Ye log to Hindu hi hai nahi, Vaishnav to . . . Hindu ka baat nahi hai. Wo Krishna bhakt nahi hai. Idhar ek Krishna Bhagavan ka mandir banao. (These people are not even Hindus, forget about being a Vaiṣṇava. It is not a question of being Hindu. They are not devotees of Lord Krsna. So, build a temple here for the Supreme Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa.)

Indian Lady: Wo to Devi ke upasaka hai, Ramakrishna mission. (They are worshippers of the Goddess, the Ramkrishna mission.)

Prabhupāda: Devi ke ho, Devata ho, jo bhi ho, Bhagavan ka hona chahiye. (You may be followers of different demigods and demi-goddesses but we should be followers of the Supreme Lord.)

Indian lady: Ji ha. (Yes.)

Prabhupāda: Ramakrishna Mission na Devi ka, na Deva ka, wo apna pet ka hai bas. Sab kuch khate hai, sab kuch pite hai. (Ramakrishna Mission people are neither followers of any demigod or demi-goddess, they are followers of their stomach. They eat everything, drink everything.)

Indian Lady: Ji. (Yes.)

Prabhupāda: Ye Hindu dharma ka nash kar rahe hai. (They are destroying the Hindu religion.)

Indian Lady: Hmm.

Prabhupāda: Ap log idhar sab vaishnav banaiye. (You make everyone into a Vaiṣṇava here.)

Indian Lady: Hum bhi to vaishnav hai. (We all are Vaiṣṇavas.)

Prabhupāda: Ha. Ye log janam se sab mamsa khane wala hai. (Yes. These people were meat eaters by birth.)

Indian Lady: Ji. (Yes Sir.)

Prabhupāda: Lekin sab chodh diya. Janam se. Sharab chodh diya, nasha bhang chodh diya, cha bhi nahi pite. Hum log bidi, cigarette, chay kuch nahi. Ap to jante hai. Sab jante hai, sari duniya. Aur wo sab khate hai, mamsa, machli, chay, bidi, sharab aur sab bhi, wo kehne ko nahi kuch, sab kuch. Bada jabardast Ramakrishna mission chalate hai. Kya ap log nahi jante? (But now they have given up completely. Since their birth . . . they have left drinking alcohol, any type of intoxicants and even tea. We don't take tobacco, cigarettes, tea . . . nothing. You know this. Everyone knows this all over the world. But they consume everything - meat, fish, tea, tobacco, alcohol and what not. Not even mentionable, everything. What great work they are doing, this Ramakrishna Mission! Didn't you know about this?)

Indian Man: Jante hai. (We knew.)

Indian Lady: Jante hai. (We knew.)

Prabhupāda: Sab koi jante hai. So . . . (Everyone knows this. So . . .)

Indian Lady: Lekin kya ye bachpan se wo log aisa life ji rahe hai . . . (But the thing is since childhood they are following such a lifestyle so . . .)

Prabhupāda: Kya life me hai, mamsa machli khate hai, kya life? (laughter) Mussulman ka life. Mamsa machli khane wala uska kya life hai. (What lifestyle is this, eating meat and fish, what type of life is this? (laughter) The life of muslims. What life can a person have who eats meat and fish?) Kadaryo bhakhhon kore. (One eats so many dirty things.) A bengali poet . . . nana yoni bhraman kare, Kadaryo bhakhhan kare. Ye mamsa machli khane se kadaryo chiz hai . . . ye log khate nahi. Pashu ka hai to. Ye admi ka nahi. Isko humare shastra me yavana kehte hai. Rakshas kehte hai. Mamsa machli . . . mamsa kaun khata hai, wo kutta khata hai, sher, tiger . . . ye sab jungli log khate hai. Usse kya fayda milega. Tiger ka sharir bada mazboot hota hai. Usse manushya samaj ko kya fayda hoga. Aur ye jo gai hai, wo to mamsa machli nahi khati, uska dudh bina kaam hi nahi chalega. Usko to kat daal te hai. Kya kiya jaye? (One wanders through all the species and eats abominable things. This eating of meat and fish is kadaryo, a dirty thing. Humans do not eat such things. It is for animals, not for human beings. Such people are called yavanas in our scriptures. They are termed as rakshasas. Meat and fish . . . who eats meat? The dogs, lions, tigers . . . all uncivilized men eat such things. What benefit will they get? The tiger's body is very strong. But what benefit can human society have from that? And you see the cow is there, she doesn't eat fish or meat but without her milk, we cannot continue. Now, they are slaughtering her. What can be done?)

Indian Lady: Humare jo vaishnav sampradaya ke hai, to abhi abhi jo bhi bahar gaye, sab ne khana shuru kar diya. (In our Vaiṣṇava sampradaya at present, those who are living outside, they have all started eating meat.)

Prabhupāda: To ho gaya. Jahannum me jayega, aur kya? (laughter) Jahannum me gaya, aur kya? Vaishnav kya . . . sabhi hum London me dekha, jitna Bharatiya hai sab mamsa khate hai. Aur go mamsa bhi khate hai . . . (indistinct) . . . ye uchit nahi hai. Bhagavan ka prasad . . . idhar ap log prasad khate hai kya? (Then it's over. They will go to hell, what to do. (laughter) They are destined to go to hell. And all the Vaiṣṇavas . . . I have seen in London, all the Indians have started eating meat. They are even eating beef . . . (indistinct) . . . this should not have been done. Prasadam of the Lord . . . do you take prasadam here?)

Indian Lady: Ha, ha. Hum kuch bhi nahi khate. Pyaz, lehsun, kuch nahi. (Yes, yes. We don't take anything, no onion, no garlic . . . nothing.)

Prabhupāda: Thik. (That's right.)

Indian Lady: Anda bhi nahi. Kuch nahi. Pyaz bhi nahi khate. Humare ghar ke mard pite bhi nahi hai wo to . . . cigarette wagera (laughter) . . . (We don't eat eggs either. Nothing, not even onions. The men in our family don't even smoke cigarettes etc. (laughter) . . .)

So have kīrtana once more. Ap kitne din yaha rahenge? (How many days will you be staying here?)

Prabhupāda: Kal chale jayenge. (I will go tomorrow.)

Indian Lady: Kal jayenge . . . (Oh you will go tomorrow . . .)

(kīrtana) (chants prema-dhvani)

Prabhupāda: Bahut bhagyavan baccha hai ye. (This child is very fortunate.)

Indian Lady: Ha. Kaise . . . (Yes. How he was . . .)

Prabhupāda: Shuru se nachna . . . (He began dancing from the very beginning . . .)

Indian Lady: . . . nachna shuru karta hai (. . . began to dance.) (laughter) Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee: (devotees offer obeisances) So there is prasādam for everyone.

Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)