Prof. Gombrich: You don't have the Bengali paṇḍitas teaching Sanskrit?
Prabhupāda: At least, at the present moment, we haven't got. They're . . . generally, in India, they want to learn English. So, as soon as they learn English, they can read our books. And Sanskrit is also . . . you have seen? We have given each word meaning, Sanskrit, the pronunciation. Oh, yes. Here is the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.
Prof. Gombrich: So in your uni . . . in Navadvīpa, will the instruction be in English or in Bengali?
Prabhupāda: These boys, they do not know Bengali.
Prof. Gombrich: Oh, I see. So it's really for English-speaking devotees.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Not English-speaking. They are Bengalis, the students. But they want to learn English. Therefore we are teaching English.
Prof. Gombrich: I see. Is this a government-recognized college now?
Prabhupāda: No. Government recognition means we have to abide by the orders of government. We cannot teach Bhagavad-gītā only or Bhāgavata. But our aim is to teach . . . we have got another school, in Dallas, for small children. There we are Sanskrit, teaching Sanskrit and English. Yes.
Prof. Gombrich: Yes. But did you yourself study Sanskrit at Vṛndāvana or . . .?
Prabhupāda: No. We had studied Sanskrit in school, colleges. In our time, Sanskrit was compulsory. In our days. Nowadays, I don't think so . . .
Indian man: I, I also had compulsory up to . . .
Prabhupāda: Sanskrit compulsory, and additional there was Sanskrit. So I took both, compulsory and additional.
Prof. Gombrich: I see.
Prabhupāda: Up to my I.A., I regularly studied Sanskrit, and in my B.A., I gave up Sanskrit. I read history. (laughs) No. Not in B.A. B.A., my combination was economics and philosophy. In I.A., I.A. was intermediate. I.A. I had history and Sanskrit.