Six hours

Expressions researched:
"six hour" |"six hours" |"six or seven hours" |"six to eight hours" |"six to seven hours"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 6.16, Purport:

There is no need for men to eat animals, because there is an ample supply of grains, vegetables, fruits and milk. Such simple foodstuff is considered to be in the mode of goodness according to the Bhagavad-gītā. Animal food is for those in the mode of ignorance. Therefore, those who indulge in animal food, drinking, smoking and eating food which is not first offered to Kṛṣṇa will suffer sinful reactions because of eating only polluted things. Bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt. Anyone who eats for sense pleasure, or cooks for himself, not offering his food to Kṛṣṇa, eats only sin. One who eats sin and eats more than is allotted to him cannot execute perfect yoga. It is best that one eat only the remnants of foodstuff offered to Kṛṣṇa. A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not eat anything which is not first offered to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, only the Kṛṣṇa conscious person can attain perfection in yoga practice. Nor can one who artificially abstains from eating, manufacturing his own personal process of fasting, practice yoga. The Kṛṣṇa conscious person observes fasting as it is recommended in the scriptures. He does not fast or eat more than is required, and he is thus competent to perform yoga practice. One who eats more than required will dream very much while sleeping, and he must consequently sleep more than is required. One should not sleep more than six hours daily. One who sleeps more than six hours out of twenty-four is certainly influenced by the mode of ignorance. A person in the mode of ignorance is lazy and prone to sleep a great deal. Such a person cannot perform yoga.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 14.8, Purport:

Everyone under the spell of the mode of ignorance becomes mad, and a madman cannot understand what is what. Instead of making advancement, one becomes degraded. The definition of the mode of ignorance is stated in the Vedic literature. Vastu-yāthātmya-jñānāvarakaṁ viparyaya-jñāna-janakaṁ tamaḥ: under the spell of ignorance, one cannot understand a thing as it is. For example, everyone can see that his grandfather has died and therefore he will also die; man is mortal. The children that he conceives will also die. So death is sure. Still, people are madly accumulating money and working very hard all day and night, not caring for the eternal spirit. This is madness. In their madness, they are very reluctant to make advancement in spiritual understanding. Such people are very lazy. When they are invited to associate for spiritual understanding, they are not much interested. They are not even active like the man who is controlled by the mode of passion. Thus another symptom of one embedded in the mode of ignorance is that he sleeps more than is required. Six hours of sleep is sufficient, but a man in the mode of ignorance sleeps at least ten or twelve hours a day. Such a man appears to be always dejected and is addicted to intoxicants and sleeping. These are the symptoms of a person conditioned by the mode of ignorance.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.22.23, Purport:

This is a typical example of materialistic persons. At night they waste their time by sleeping more than six hours or by wasting time in sex indulgence. This is their occupation at night, and in the morning they go to their office or business place just to earn money. As soon as there is some money, they become busy in purchasing things for their children and others. Such persons are never interested in understanding the values of life—what is God, what is the individual soul, what is its relationship with God, etc. Things are degraded to such an extent that those who are supposed to be religious are also at the present moment interested only in sense gratification. The number of materialistic persons in this age of Kali has increased more than in any other age; therefore persons who are interested in going back home, back to Godhead, should not only engage in the service of realized souls but should give up the company of materialistic persons, whose only aim is to earn money and employ it in sense gratification. They should also not accept the objectives of materialistic persons, namely money and sense gratification. Therefore it is stated: bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra ca (SB 11.2.42). To advance in devotional service one should be uninterested in the materialistic way of life. That which is the subject matter of satisfaction for the devotees is of no interest to the nondevotees.

SB 4.22.24, Purport:

Another feature of the devotee is nirīhayā, simple living. Nirīhā means "gentle," "meek" or "simple." A devotee should not live very gorgeously and imitate a materialistic person. Plain living and high thinking are recommended for a devotee. He should accept only so much as he needs to keep the material body fit for the execution of devotional service. He should not eat or sleep more than is required. Simply eating for living, and not living for eating, and sleeping only six to seven hours a day are principles to be followed by devotees. As long as the body is there it is subjected to the influence of climatic changes, disease and natural disturbances, the threefold miseries of material existence. We cannot avoid them. Sometimes we receive letters from neophyte devotees questioning why they have fallen sick, although pursuing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They should learn from this verse that they have to become tolerant (dvandva-titikṣayā). This is the world of duality. One should not think that because he has fallen sick he has fallen from Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness can continue without impediment from any material opposition. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa therefore advises in Bhagavad-gītā (2.14), tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata: "My dear Arjuna, please try to tolerate all these disturbances. Be fixed in your Kṛṣṇa conscious activities."

SB Canto 5

SB 5.21.10, Translation and Purport:

When the sun travels from Devadhānī, the residence of Indra, to Saṁyamanī, the residence of Yamarāja, it travels 23,775,000 yojanas (190,200,000 miles) in fifteen ghaṭikās (six hours).

The distance indicated by the word sādhikāni is pañca-viṁśati-sahasrādhikāni, or 25,000 yojanas. That plus two and a half crores and twelve and a half lakṣa of yojanas is the distance the sun travels between each two cities. This comes to 23,775,000 yojanas, or 190,200,000 miles. The total orbit of the sun is four times that distance, or 95,100,000 yojanas (760,800,000 miles).

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 15.225, Translation:

“This is most uncommon! How was this arrangement of rice and vegetables finished within six hours?

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 4.1-6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1969:

Balabhadra: But in the Bhagavad-gītā it said that He was twenty or twenty-five.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like you see the sun, you say, "Twelve o'clock," or "Sun is older." But sun is the same thing. It is your calculation. Sun at twelve o'clock, midday, is not older than it was in the morning, but it is our calculation that "Sun is now, say, six hours older from His appearance. That is our calculation. So Kṛṣṇa is always sixteen, but we calculate like that.

Devotee: Prabhupāda? Does Lord Jesus Christ appear in the spiritual sky with the body he manifested on the earth?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Otherwise how there can be resurrection? Ordinary body cannot be resurrected. He appeared in his spiritual body, certainly. Jesus Christ told, if I remember, that "Lord, excuse these persons," who were crucifying him. Is it not? He knew that "These rascals, they are killing me, but... They are offending certainly. So they do not know that I cannot be killed, but they are thinking that they are killing." You see? But that was offensive, therefore he begged Lord to be excused because God cannot excuse to the offenders of the devotee. He can excuse one who is offender to God, but if somebody is offender to the devotee, God never excuses. Therefore he prayed for them. That is devotee's qualification. He prays for everyone, even of his enemy. And he could not be killed. That he knew. But those rascals, they thought they were killing Jesus Christ.

That's all. All right. If there is no question, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Bombay, March 31, 1974:

Te..., kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām (BG 12.5). Avyakta means zero, impersonal. If you become attached to simply making zero, or impersonal, that is not possible. Because we are accustomed. We are... As living beings, we want varieties. Variety is the mother of enjoyment. We cannot remain in the zero position.

You have got experience. Just like when you fly on the plane, after some hours, four, five hours, you become disgusted. You want to come down. Everyone has got this experience. Because the sky is zero, we cannot remain there more than four or five hours or six hours. We must come down. In the sea also. We have got all these experience. If you remain on the ocean for three, four days... Because it runs on. When I first went to America, I went by ship. So thirty-five days. So after four, five days, it was disgusting. As soon as we saw one island, then we became relieved. (Laughter) You see?

So the śūnyavāda philosophy will not give you happiness. After śūnya, after making this śūnya... Suppose you are passing through the sky, śūnya, if you get another, if you go the moon planet or other planet, then you become happy. Then you become happy. But if you don't get any planet, then you have to come back again on this planet. Similarly, the śūnyavāda philosophy will not make you happy unless you...

Lecture on BG 13.2 -- Melbourne, April 4, 1972:

Don't think that the animals or living entities other than the human being, they have no soul. No. That's a wrong conception. They have got souls. How you can say there is no soul. The same symptoms of life there.

Just like the symptoms of life means it takes birth at a certain date, then it grows, it stays, it gives some byproducts, then dwindles, then vanishes. Take any. Either you take tree or you take a human body, or you take an animal body or if you take an insect body, or take the demigod's body—any body you take, there is a certain date of birth, everyone, certain date of birth. And then there is a certain duration of life. Somebody lives for ten years. Somebody lives for one year. Somebody lives for six hours, five hours. There are many germs. They live for five hours, six hours, or even less than that. And there are living entities like Brahmā, whose life is millions and millions of years.

There are so many varieties of life. We have no information. There are so many universities, so many educational institutions, but they cannot say exactly how many varieties of life are there. They cannot say. Their education is not perfect. They cannot say. But we can see there are so many varieties of life, and each of them is a living entity. But if you consult Vedic literature, you'll find exactly the number. Just like in the Vedic literature you'll find jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi: "In the water the aquatic living beings are 900,000 different bodies." So I don't think there is any biologist or botanist who can say exactly how many forms of life are there within the water.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.3.10 -- Los Angeles, September 16, 1972:

So we have created a civilization that... We have created a facility for transport by motorcar or by aeroplane, but side by side, we have created another difficulty, that a man has to go to his work three hundred miles away. Side by side. Formerly, a man used to work on his field, a few steps from his house. Now we have created facility of transport; therefore we have to go to work three hundred miles away from home. This is the position. But they have no brain. They're thinking they're advancing. (chuckles) Advancing in this way, that "For my livelihood I have to go three hundred miles, three hours at least, not less than three hours. Or six hours I have to spoil. Then I can go to my office. Then I work there whole day, and again come, again six hours. Then I come at night to sleep along with my family for three hours." Yes. This is our facility. Yes.

One... There is a story. Not story, it is a fact. One day, one grown-up child was asking his mother, "Who is this gentleman?" The father was there. So the mother said, "He is your father, my dear child." So he did not see his father until he grew three years or four years old. Because when he was child, the father was rising early in the morning. At that time, child was sleeping. And he was going to office, and when he comes back, the child was sleeping. So unless the child grew four years old, he could not see his father. Is it not the position of this? It is a story or an instruction, because the man, the gentleman, was going office early in the morning... There are still. They start at six o'clock from home to catch the first train. We have seen in Calcutta. First train is seven o'clock, and they come in Calcutta after two hours, nine o'clock. Then attends office, and again he catches another train, five o'clock. He goes, late at night. In Bombay also, big, big cities. This is the position.

Lecture on SB 1.5.35 -- Vrndavana, August 16, 1974:

Eating is required. If you don't eat nicely, then body cannot be maintained. But anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham. Eating is required, but not eating too much. Not eating to the taste of the tongue, unnecessarily eating meat, fish, eggs. Why? You are human being. For you Kṛṣṇa has given so much varieties of food stuff. Fruits, vegetables, nice rice, ḍāl, milk, ghee. Why should you go to the meat-eating? This is required. You eat like human being, not like cats and dogs. But eating is not prohibited. That is not our philosophy. Don't eat like cats and dogs, but eat like human being.

Similarly, sleeping also. Sleep, you require some rest, but don't sleep twenty-six hours. Not like that. Utmost six hours to eight hours, sufficient for any healthy man. Even the doctor says, if anyone sleeps more than eight hours, he is diseased. He must be weak. Healthy man sleeps at a stretch six hours. That is sufficient. That's all. And those who are tapasvīs, they should reduce sleeping also. Just like the Gosvāmīs did. Only one and a half hour or utmost two hours. That also sometimes not. Actually, we should reduce this. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau **. This is gosvāmī. Gosvāmīs does not mean go-dāsa. Go means senses and dāsa means servant. If we keep the title gosvāmī and become servant of the senses, it is cheating. You must be gosvāmī, means you must be master of the senses. Self-control. So what the Gosvāmīs did? Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau cātyanta-dīnau ca yau. Very humble and... Nidrā means sleeping, āhāra means eating, and vihāra means sense enjoyment, vijitau, they conquered over.

Lecture on SB 1.15.49 -- Los Angeles, December 26, 1973:

This is the science. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, yānti deva-vratā devān pitṟn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ (BG 9.25). People... Just like they are very much anxious to go to the moon planet. And what is this nonsense moon planet? It is also a material planet. Actually if you go moon planet, you can live for ten thousands of years. That is the statement in the śāstra. But after ten thousand of years you have to die. So if you go to any planet, within this material world, the four material, I mean to say, problems, namely birth, death, old age, and disease, will follow you. You may live in one planet. Just like we are allowed to live on this planet utmost hundred years, not more than that. Or the ant is allowed to live for six hours. Or another fly is allowed one moment. There are different varieties of... Or Brahmā is allowed to live for millions of years. So according to the different types of body, we are allowed to live under certain duration of life. But nobody can be immortal here. That is not possible. That is possible when you transfer yourself to the spiritual world, Vaikuṇṭhaloka. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). That is possible. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching, educating people in such a way not only he goes to the spiritual world, but he goes to the highest planet of the spiritual world, Goloka Vṛndāvana, where Kṛṣṇa is there. Where Kṛṣṇa is there.

Lecture on SB 1.16.5 -- Los Angeles, January 2, 1974:

That is also another foolishness, because actually nobody can remain in that. Just like we are feeling happy here because we have got so many friends here, ladies and gentleman, and you are talking. Now, if it was vacant, nobody is here. Sometimes in our temple, That's not very good. Nobody likes to sit. Is it a fact? Every day, because we are so many, it is very pleasing to sit down.

So by nature a living entity wants society. "Society, friendship and love, divinely bestowed upon man." That is required. And if you live in a forlorn place, nobody's there, no society, no friends, then how long can stay there? You cannot stay. Just like if you go on the sky by airplane, after four, five, six hours you, you become disturbed: "When the plane will get down? When the plane will get down?" This is natural. Why...? Why the plane...? You are flying very nicely, huh? There is no turmoil, no noise in the sky. Go nicely. No. Similarly, in the ship also, you travel for many days. So it will be disturbing. People are searching after when we shall land in some place. So living entity by nature, he wants association. Artificially he wants to... Just like some of, some of the devotees, they like that "Now we shall go in a solitary place and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." That is a different position. It is not possible for the ordinary man. So going to the Brahman effulgence, simply realizing that "I am a spirit soul, I have nothing to do," that will not be beneficial. You will again come down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). If you do not get shelter, simply to remain in the impersonal Brahman effulgence will not make you happy.

Lecture on SB 1.16.26-30 -- Hawaii, January 23, 1974:

So those who are getting the chance of becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious by the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they should not lose the opportunity. It will be suicidal. Don't fall down. It is very easy. Simply chanting by Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, not always, twenty-four hours, although Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31), always chant. That is the principle. But we cannot do that because we are so much overwhelmed by the influence of Kali. So at least sixteen rounds. Don't miss this. Don't miss this. What is the difficulty, sixteen rounds? At most it will take two hours. You have got twenty-four hours. You want to sleep; all right, sleep, ten hours sleep. That is not recommended. Don't sleep more than six hours. But they want to sleep. They want to sleep twenty-four hours. That is their desire in Kali-yuga. But, no. Then you'll be wasting time. Minimize eating, sleeping, mating and defending. When it is nil, that is perfection.

Because these are bodily necessities. Eating, sleeping, mating, defending that is bodily necessities. But I am not this body. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāram... (BG 2.13). So that realization takes time. But when we are actually advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we must know our duty. Sleeping not more than six hours. Utmost eight hours. Utmost, those who cannot control. But not ten hours, twelve hours, fifteen hours, no. Then what is the use of...? Somebody went to see one advanced devotee, and at nine o'clock he was sleeping. And he's advanced devotee. Eh? Is not that? So what is...? What kind of devotee he is? Devotee must rise early in the morning, by four o'clock. By five o'clock, he must finish his bathing and other things. Then he takes to chanting and so many... Twenty-four hours' business must be there. So sleeping is not good. The Gosvāmīs used to sleep only two hours.

Lecture on SB 2.1.2 -- Vrndavana, March 17, 1974:

We should save time always to be absorbed in Kṛṣṇa business. The period we sleep, that is wasted. That is wasted. So we shall try to save time. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). Hari is another name of Kṛṣṇa. Sadā, twenty-four hours. Actually, the Gosvāmīs used to do. They are our examples. They were sleeping not more that two hours or utmost, three hours. So nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau **. They conquered over. This is gosvāmī. They conquered over these things. What is that? Nidrāhāra, nidrā, āhāra, vihāra. Vihāra means sense enjoyment, and āhāra means eating or collecting. Generally, eating. And nidrā. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau. Conquered. That is Vaiṣṇava. Not that out of twenty-four hours, thirty-six hours sleeping. (laughter) And at the same time, passing on as gosvāmī. What is this go...? Go-dāsa. They are go-dāsa. Go means senses, and dāsa means servant.

So our policy should be, instead of becoming servant of the senses, we have to become servant of Kṛṣṇa. This is gosvāmī. Because unless you conquer over, senses will always ask you, "Please eat, please sleep, please have sexual intercourse. Please have this, please have this." This is material life. This is material life, subjected to the dictation of the senses. That is material life. And one has to become... (sic:) Go-dāsa means the mind is dictating, "Please eat more, please sleep more, please have sexual more, please have defense fund more..." So this is materialism. Defense fund means to keep money. That is defense fund. So... So this is materialism. The spiritualism means, "No, that is no." Nidrāhāra. The senses dictating, "Do this, do that, do that," and you have to become so strong that you'll rightly reply, "No, this is not." Then gosvāmī. This is gosvāmī. And that gṛhamedhi, gṛhastha-appearing like the same. But gṛhastha means no dictation of the sense. Then you become gosvāmī. Then, as Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, gṛhe vā banete thāke hā gaurāṅga bole ḍāke. Hā gaurāṅga, "Always chanting Nitāi-Gaura, and thinking of Nitāi-Gaura," such person, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says... Gṛhe vā... "He may be a sannyāsī, or he may be a gṛhastha. It doesn't matter. Because he is absorbed in the thought of Nitāi-Gaura."

Lecture on SB 2.9.4 -- Japan, April 22, 1972:

Similarly, in your country also, there are many men coming daily Los Angeles, five hundred miles by plane. This is your civilization. For two meals only, you have to make so much tapasya-fifty miles, hundred miles, five hundred miles, go and come back. There is a story that one gentleman, he was coming to Calcutta early in the morning because he has to go hundred miles, so to catch the first train at six o'clock. Then he will reach at nine o'clock in city. Then he can attend office at ten o'clock. So... And again, going back, the office hour is finished at five o'clock. He was to go to home at ten o'clock. But still, he will go for sleeping six hours. The whole day and night is engaged for earning two meals. So they will undergo so much tapasya only for two meals which is obtained very easily by the cats and dogs. But they are not prepared to undergo any tapasya for understanding God. This is their position. For meals the birds, bees, they are not going to office. There are 8,400,000 forms of life. Only the civilized form of, the so-called civilized men, they are undergoing so much trouble for their meals. But others, they are not going fifty miles. They have got ready food. They sit down on any tree. Oh, there are enough fruits. Little eating, finish their business. Or take the elephants also. They are eating so much. They have got also food. Therefore śāstra says that "Food is already there." So many people say, "Oh, so many people are dying, starving." And where is the man? Show me who is dying for starvation. These are all pleas. They won't take any tapasya for understanding, but they will work hard like asses, like hogs and dogs, for two meals. But we should consider that we are taking so much penances for simply filling our this hungry belly, appetite. Why not little tapasya for Kṛṣṇa, chanting sixteen rounds? But will... That is also very difficult. Then? Tapasya, penance in pure bhakti-yoga.

Lecture on SB 3.26.41 -- Bombay, January 16, 1975:

Whatever already we have got, books, one can read for fifty years continually and get new enlightenment one after another.

So bhāgavata means the complete knowledge. Bhāgavata, from bhagavān it is called bhāgavata. From bhagavat-śabda it is called bhāgavata. So in the association of bhāgavata, devotees, if we read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam... Sajātīya snigdhasya. Sajātīya means people thinking in the same way. So that means devotees who are interested in bhagavad-bhakti, to understand Bhagavān, they should read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the association. We should have regular classes. Just like school and colleges, eight hour, six hour. Be engaged always in reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, discussing amongst yourself. Then you'll make progress. Otherwise, if you take it as an official routine work... You should take as routine work, but with consciousness that "We have to learn something," not simply attending the class, but to learn something. In this way make your life successful. Because after all, everything is being done, daiva-coditāt, impelled by the Supreme Person. The Supreme Person is behind everything. So in the association of devotees, if we read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam regularly, then your, our, material contamination will be dissolved, and our spiritual consciousness will come out, and that will make our life successful.

Lecture on SB 5.6.6 -- Vrndavana, November 28, 1976:

And if we attain Kṛṣṇa, then mām upetya kaunteya duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam, nāpnuvanti (BG 8.15). The two ways.

So our request is that you have taken to this vairāgya-vidyā. So vairāgya-vidyā, we do not say that you starve, don't eat anything, don't sleep at all. No. It should be regulated. Anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārtham upayuñjataḥ. Don't be attached to eating, sleeping. That is not good. But you must eat, you must sleep as little as possible, and try to conquer over it. My mind dictating, "Sleep seventeen hours." No. That is tapasya. Tapasā brahmacaryeṇa (SB 6.1.13). Why shall you sleep more than four hours or five hours, or utmost six hours? That's all, not more than that. That is vairāgya-vidyā. We have to learn it. That is devotional service. Vairāgya-vidyā nija-bhakti-yogam (CC Madhya 6.254). He's teaching. Kṛṣṇa Himself is teaching. Here you see. Ṛṣabhadeva is Kṛṣṇa. Vairāgyā-vidyā. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He taught vairāgya-vidyā. Tyaktvā sudustyaja-surepsita-rājya-lakṣmīṁ dharmiṣṭha ārya-vacasā yad agād araṇyam, māyā-mṛgaṁ dayitayepsitam anvadhāvad vande mahā-puruṣa te caraṇāravindam (SB 11.5.34).

So opulence, even Caitanya Mahāprabhu... Kṛṣṇa appeared in a kṣatriya family, very opulent. Lord Rāmacandra appeared in a kṣatriya family, kingdom, opulence. He also accepted vairāgya-vidyā. Father requested, "My dear son, Your mother likes that You should go to the forest." Immediately accept, "Yes." This śloka is applicable to Lord Rāmacandra. Tyaktvā sudustyaja-surepsita-rājya-lakṣmīm (SB 11.5.34). He was going to be coronated next day king, but immediately, by the order of His father, He left everything. Vairāgya... Tyaktvā sudustyaja-surepsita-rāj... Is there any instance throughout the history of the whole world that a prince was going to be king tomorrow and on the order of father he left everything? This is vairāgya-vidyā. This is called vairāgya-vidyā.

Lecture on SB 6.3.18 -- Gorakhpur, February 11, 1971:

Prabhupāda: Enough sleep. That means you require twenty-four hours sleep. Out of that, if you sleep for ten hours, that is not sufficient. Your business is to sleep only. So ten hours' or eight hours' sleep is not sufficient. Kumbhakarṇa. Kumbhakarṇa. Just like he was sleeping six months.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Hibernation.

Prabhupāda: (chuckling) Six months. We are also sleeping six months in a year because we sleep, generally, ten to twelve hours. So if you half day, means half year. We are also all Kumbhakarṇas. Anyone who sleeps more than six or seven hours, he is a Kumbhakarṇa. Kumbhakarṇa was the brother of Rāvaṇa. He was sleeping six months, and six months he was awake. That means anyone who sleeps half the, out of twenty-four hours, anyone, if he sleeps twelve hours, he's a Kumbhakarṇa. So at least I think that one should not sleep more than seven hours utmost. That is sufficient, sufficient, seven hours. So you can sleep six hours at night and one hour to rest in daytime. That is sufficient. But if you sleep more than that, then you are Kumbhakarṇa. You should adjust things. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau. That's the Gosvāmins.

Lecture on SB 6.3.18 -- Gorakhpur, February 11, 1971:

Prabhupāda: Then you continue fasting?

Devotee (2): Yes. For example, last night I ate very heavily, but this morning, now I'm awake. I'm staying awake.

Prabhupāda: Why you eat heavily?

Devotee (2): I'm saying that incidentally, I ate heavily, and this morning I am not falling asleep.

Prabhupāda: So anyway, that you have to adjust, all of you, that "How I shall not sleep more than seven hours." Six hours, from ten to four, that is six hours, complete. And one hour during daytime. Then no more sleeping unless you are sick. But why you young boys and girls, why should you fall sick? There is no question of falling sick. You have got your now blood running on. You are not old. Your stomach is working nice. So you should adjust. For a devotee, to reduce this is the process, this āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunam. Eating, sleeping, mating and defending, they should be reduced, and come to the point, no sleeping, no eating. That is not possible. But spirit soul, when one... Just like Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. He came to that point, no sleeping, no eating. All the Gosvāmīs, they were not sleeping more than two hours. So why about Gosvāmīs? Even big karmīs, like Subash Bose, Gandhi, they were also not sleeping. I heard that Napoleon Bonaparte, he was not sleeping. He was sleeping... When he was passing from one warfield to another, on his horse he slept. That's all. He never went to the bedroom for sleeping. Gandhi used to do that. He would sleep when he was passing from one station, one... In the motorcar he would sleep. Then again he will begin work.

Lecture on SB 6.3.18 -- Gorakhpur, February 11, 1971:

And Napoleon Bonaparte, he also was not sleeping very much. So there were many instances, even the karmī. That means when one is engaged in some serious business, he sleeps less. When I was in your country and was not attacked by the heart, so at night I was taping, and I was taping still two tapes. Two tapes. Therefore I was able to write so many books. Yes.

So one should be engaged in serious business; then sleeping will be less. If there is no..., if we become lazy, if we have no sufficient engagement, then sleeping will come. And if no sufficient engagement, but sufficient eating, then the next result is sleeping. So we have to adjust things. We should not sleep more than seven hours. Six hours at night and one hour, that is sufficient. From medical point of view, they say six hours sleeping is sufficient, six hours. So suppose if we sleep seven to eight hours, one hour more, then out of twenty-four hours we sleep eight hours. Then sixteen hours. And chanting, two hours. Ten hours. And for taking bath and dressing, another two hours. Then eight hours and four hours, twelve hours. So...

Lecture on SB 6.3.18-19 -- Gorakhpur, February 12, 1971:

That means because... Or whatever it may be, he thought "Because I am king, I can start a religion." So that is not possible. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ na vai vidur ṛṣayo nāpi devāḥ, na siddha-mukhyā asurā manuṣyāḥ (SB 6.3.19). (aside:) If somebody dozes, it gives me too much pain. And I asked you to go and sleep. It disturbs me, too much disturbs me. I tell you frankly. When I speak or when I speak if somebody dozes, better not to sit. Sleep twenty-four hours, but don't make show like that: "I am sitting here and dozing." This is very much disturbing to me. Better frankly sleep. Why this should be? I do not know. What is the reason? You don't have full sleep? And if you don't have sleep, then extend. You make it eight o'clock. But sleep sufficiently. If six hours', seven hours' sleep is not sufficient, sleep thirteen hours, fourteen hours. But don't make dozing like this.

So Yamarāja says, "My dear boys, that..." (reads commentary:) Tam eva dharmam ity aha etavani na ca pramāṇaṁ vaktavyam drstatyady aha nama-sarana iti yenaiva kevalayam sakrd ity aditena.(?) So Yamarāja says that "Nobody can manufacture, even the great sages or demigods, or the chief of the siddhas, who have attained all kinds of perfections, and what to speak of others?" This is very important verse, that any manufactured religion, that is not religion. That is not... The principle of religion is our relationship with God. In any religion where is no such conception, that is not religion. This is bhāgavata-dharma, direct relationship with Kṛṣṇa or the Supreme Personality.

Lecture on SB 7.6.6 -- New Vrindaban, June 22, 1976:

So, anyway, supposing we shall live one hundred years: puṁso varṣa-śataṁ hy āyus tad-ardhaṁ cājitātmanaḥ (SB 7.6.6). Ajitātmanaḥ, ajita means not conquered. One who has not been able to conquer over the sense activities, for them, it is not, even if he lives for one hundred, fifty years immediately minus in sleeping. In our temple in New York, in the beginning when I was having classes in the morning at seven o'clock, still people from here and there they would come and protest and go to the police because we were disturbing their sleep. Yes. They want to sleep as much possible hours. I think that is very great gain in the Western country, to sleep. So to sleep means simply waste of time. You must know it. Either I sleep five hours, six hours, ten hours, twelve hours, it is simply waste of time. The valuable life which you have got, immediately so many hours minus. Sleep is not good. Sleep, if we can do without sleep, that is perfection. Not that "Let me enjoy sleep twelve hours, fourteen hours, whole life." No. That is waste of time:

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 13, 1972:

So, as they are mentioned, the first principle is that every devotee must try to rise early in the morning. That is first business. This practice should be done first. No one should sleep more than six hours. Or, if you want to, sleep more... But you must rise in early in the morning. At four o'clock, attend the ārātrika, maṅgala-ārātrika. Maṅgala-ārātrika means auspicious beginning of your day. If you stand before maṅgala-ārātrika... In Vṛndāvana you see now, every temple, as soon as there is four o'clock, the ding-dong bell immediately begins. People can rise early in the morning, take bath in the Yamunā and visit the Deities in the temple. There is no necessity of passing M.A. examination, taking B.A. degree for devotional service. Simply you have to follow the regulative principles. Then automatically you'll become spiritualized. Very simple method. Vṛndāvana is specially meant for that purpose. Why people come to Vṛndāvana? To take the advantage. Here the atmosphere is surcharged with devotional service. We should take advantage of it. This is called sādhana-bhakti. Sādhana. Sādhana-bhakti means we have to practice it. And it does not require much education. It does not depend on your riches, that you have to become a very rich man to follow the regulative principles, rise early in the morning. Anyone can rise ea... It is simply a practice. You can take bath in the Yamunā. It is simply practice. You can visit the temples early in the morning. It is simply practice. So this is called sādhana-bhakti, practicing. Go on.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.110 -- New York, July 17, 1976:

There is no profit. Suppose if you are placed in the sky, in the sunshine, and if somebody asks, "Now, you remain in the sky," would you agree? Huh? Will anyone agree that "Let me remain in the sky as a small particle of the sunshine"? No. You can agree out of some sentiment, but you cannot stay there. That is not possible. Therefore, those who merge into the existence of Brahman, impersonal Brahman, they again fall down. Just like they are going moon excursion, Mars excursion. "Stay there." They cannot stay. Because, actually, whether they are going or not—that's another thing—but there is no staying place. Simply rotating in the sky is not very pleasant thing. We have got experience in the airplane. If we go five or six hours in the planes, we become suffocated. So it is not possible. Therefore those who merge into the Brahman effulgence, they again fall down, because they have no engagement in Kṛṣṇa's business. They never cultivated such knowledge. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because the Māyāvādīs, they think, "What is this nonsense, serving Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa is māyā. We are not going to serve māyā. We are going to become one with God, with effulgence." That oneness, you can stay within sunshine and be burnt up, but you cannot stay there. After your whims are fulfilled or you become disgusted... But because you have no information of serving Kṛṣṇa, then come down again to this material world and serve māyā—so-called hospitals and other things, philanthropic work. Because they have no information to serve Kṛṣṇa, the result is āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). The Brahman is also paraṁ padam. It is not material; it is spiritual world. But because they have no shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, they fall down again at the shelter of the māyā.

Festival Lectures

His Divine Grace Srila Sac-cid-ananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Appearance Day, Lecture -- London, September 3, 1971:

No. Gurum. And guru means who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa.

So, this Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was gṛhastha, very responsible officer, magistrate. And he was so exalted that he would come from his office generally at five o'clock, then take his supper and immediately go to bed. Immediately. Say at seven o'clock in the evening he goes to bed, and he wakes up at twelve o'clock. So suppose he goes to bed at seven o'clock in the evening and wakes up at twelve o'clock at night; it is sufficient sleep, five hours. One should not sleep more than five to six hours. Minimize as far as possible. The Gosvāmīs used to sleep not more than one and a half hour, or two hours. Sleeping is not very important thing. Even big politicians, they used to sleep for two hours. So especially in spiritual line, they should minimize as far as possible eating, sleeping, mating, defending. Minimize. Gradually it comes to nil. Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, he was eating only a little piece of butter every alternate days, not daily. So this Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, regularly he was coming from his office, and after taking his supper immediately he goes to bed, and wake up at twelve o'clock, and he used to write books. He wrote, he left behind him about one hundred books. And he excavated the birthplace of Lord Caitanya, organized how to develop that birth site, Māyāpur. He had so many business. He used to go to preach about Caitanya's philosophy. He used to sell books to foreign countries. In 1896 he attempted to sell Life and Precepts of Caitanya in the MacGill University in Montreal. So he was busy, ācārya. So one has to adjust things. Not that "Because I am gṛhastha, householder, I cannot become a preacher. It is the business..." (aside:) Give me water. "It is the business of the sannyāsī or brahmacārī." No.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Meeting with Devotees -- June 9, 1969, New Vrindaban:

Kīrtanānanda: We are done ārati and kīrtana by seven o'clock in the morning.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. Then the respective duty can be discharged in two, three hours. That's all. Seven to ten. After taking your breakfast you work up to ten. Then you have got enough time.

Kīrtanānanda: Time for what?

Prabhupāda: Everyone has to make his own routine work, and for chanting and reading and Bhagavad-gītā he requires, say, two to three hours. So we have got twenty-four hours at our disposal. Out of that, six hours or seven hours for sleeping. So still you have got seventeen hours. And three hours devote for chanting and reading. Still you have got fourteen hours.

Kīrtanānanda: But we devote at least five hours to ārati and kīrtana.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Satyabhāmā: Another hour and a half or two hours to prasādam.

Śyāma: Eating?

Satyabhāmā: Yes. To eating prasādam.

Prabhupāda: Two hours for eating?

Paramānanda: Eating and taking rest.

Satyabhāmā: Well, noon prasādam, morning prasādam, milk in the evening.

Paramānanda: Morning and evening, half hour, noon, one hour.

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

Darsana -- June 28, 1971, San Francisco:

Prabhupāda: Sannyāsī should be always preaching. Parivrājakācārya. Four stages of sannyāsa: kuṭīcaka, bahūdaka, parivrājaka, and paramahaṁsa. In the beginning... Because according to Vedic civilization everyone has to take sannyāsa at a certain age. So as a matter of routine if he takes sannyāsa... Just like this old man I was asking that "Now you have children grown up, why don't you take sannyāsa?" But he is hesitating. Nobody likes, because sannyāsa life is difficult. So first there is kuṭīcaka means he gives up the connection of the family life, takes sannyāsa officially, but he is not accustomed to maintain himself independently; therefore, he goes out of the village and makes a cottage and lives there. And the foodstuff, the home supply, that is called kuṭīca. Kuṭī means cottage. Then when he is little practiced, then he says family members that "Don't bring foodstuffs. I shall go to every village man and ask something for my food. I shall depend on them, not on you." That is called bahūdaka. Bahū means many. Not accepting food from one place but from many. Then when he is prac... Because first problem is problem, when he is practiced, "Now Kṛṣṇa is giving us food, so why shall I remain in one place? Let me preach." That is called parivrājakācārya, when he is preaching. Parivrājaka. Parivrājaka means wandering all over. Then when he is experienced, when his preaching is done, he can sit down in one place. At that time, he can chant simply Hare Kṛṣṇa like Haridāsa Ṭhākura. And if he imitates from the very beginning, he will be spoiled, that's all. Because in the beginning, if I take Hare Kṛṣṇa, then it is (indistinct). (laughter) Don't do this. Always be busy. First stage, last stage. When one is paramahaṁsa just like Haridāsa Ṭhākura, three hundred thousand times, no eating unless he finishes his chanting. No eating, no sleeping. That is another thing. "I shall eat so much, I shall sleep so much, and I shall do nothing, simply chanting." No. That is not recommended by my Guru Mahārāja. He says that you are cheating people. (Bengali) There is a song written by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī: "What kind of Vaiṣṇava you are?" (Bengali) "Your chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa in a secluded place," (Bengali) "is simply cheating." What do you know what you are chanting? First of all prepare yourself to come to the stage of perfect chanting. This is sevā. Always be engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service: how to decorate the temple, how to invite people, giving the feast, write books, distribute books and knowledge. In this way don't sit idly. Always be engaged, always. Just like our Karandhara, he has taken so much responsibility. He is doing. I am very pleased. He is prepared to do the masonry work and building work and distribution of book, accounting. In this way, we shall be always busy. Find out some work. I have no work now. Of course, the sixteen rounds must be chanted hundred percent. Rest time, simply find out where is Kṛṣṇa's work. Why sixteen rounds? It only takes two hours, you have got twenty-four hours. What you will do twenty-four hours? You cannot sleep more than six hours, seven hours, that's all. So two hours chanting and seven hours sleeping. Sleeping is a very important thing in your country, but reduce it. As much as you reduce sleeping and eating, you will become advanced.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- April 2, 1972, Sydney:

Prabhupāda: "Oh, it has come automatically by nature." (indistinct) The process is so nice and short. That is real explanation. Process is there. You cannot say that... It appears like miracle because your brain cannot accommodate how quickly all these things come. You have got poor brain, you cannot accommodate. You are thinking, "If I have to..., I have to paint this, simply painting I have to take so much time."

Just like if a man asks you one thousand dollar, he is thinking, "He has to collect and pay me." But if you write a note, give it to Nanda-kumāra, and he keeps it as check, and Nanda-kumāra pays immediately one thousand dollars. So he will be surprised, "How is that? What is this writing, this immediately one thousand dollars came?" Because he is thinking, "If you want one thousand dollars, it will take one thousand days, and Swamiji wrote like this and immediately." The process is there. One thousand dollar collection, I have to do something and it has come there... But the energy is so quick, energy is so perfect, that simply by giving a note and he gets it. You cannot say the process is not there. The process is there. Just like modern scientific method has minimized space and time. For coming to Australia, fifty years ago it would have taken six months. Now we come six hours. The process coming is there. By scientific method, the space and time has been shortened. Similarly, in manufacturing this flower, the process is there; but the system of Kṛṣṇa's energy is so perfect, it has shortened. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva ... svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. Just like... What is that machine, IBM?

Room Conversation -- August 1, 1972, London:

Prabhupāda: No, you can go from Calcutta to Agra, nice road. And from Agra to Bombay.

Devotee: How many days? Two days?

Prabhupāda: No, no. One day, two days, yes. Even if it runs fifty mile per hour, so from morning, early morning to noon, say six hours if we run, it's three hundred miles in the morning and three hundred miles in the evening, and stay at night. And then the next day three hundred miles, three hundred..., six hundred miles. Twelve hundred miles anywhere you go from Calcutta to Bombay, Calcutta to Madras, Calcutta to Delhi, within twelve hundred miles. Within two days from anywhere to anywhere you can go. India's length and breadth is not so wide as in your country. You have got... That is also not good roads, in your... But in Calcutta, to Calcutta-Bombay, Madras, Delhi, there are good roads.

Devotee: Yeah.

Prabhupāda: Good roads. So we can go by road.

Devotee: So we can begin campaigning right away, collecting funds for the vehicle.

Prabhupāda: And you are a good driver. (laughter) Eighty miles. You once at eighty miles, his father's car. His father gave a very nice car for my driving. His father, mother, sister met me in Portland. Very nice gentleman, mother nice, sister very beautiful.

Devotee: But silent.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with David Wynne, Sculptor -- July 9, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: It is very nice. It is, what is called, nonviolent. We ask everyone, "Come and join." You saw our procession yesterday?

David Wynne: No, I didn't. I wasn't there.

Prabhupāda: I see. Many thousand people joined us. From two o'clock up to eight o'clock. Six hours. At last, the police had to ask them to go away. Is it not? Who told me that? Eh?

Mukunda: I didn't know. I know they were...

Prabhupāda: They were not leaving Trafalgar Square. So it is a very nice movement, very serious movement. You are known to so many big, big men. Try to induce them to understand this serious movement. If leading takes something seriously, others follow.

David Wynne: Yeah.

Prabhupāda: Yes. At the present moment, the world situation is not very good. And it will deteriorate more and more if they do not take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness or God consciousness. When I speak "Kṛṣṇa," that means God.

David Wynne: Yeah.

Prabhupāda: What is your idea of God?

David Wynne: Everything.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk 'Varnasrama College' -- March 14, 1974, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is also training, to become obedient. Because people are not obedient. What are these hippies? They are not obedient. So obedience also require training. If you have no intelligence, if you cannot do anything independently, just be obedient to the other, higher three classes. That is śūdra. He must agree to abide by the orders of brāhmaṇa, kṣatriyas, vaiśya. That's all. So that nobody will be unemployed. Everyone should be trained up to sleep six to eight hours and attend meeting, chant, and ārati. And balance—he must work hard. Not that sleeping unlimitedly. There is no limit.

Yaduvara: Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Yaduvara: What class does the arts and crafts come under?

Prabhupāda: Eh? Śūdra.

Yaduvara: Śūdra.

Prabhupāda: They are śūdras. Little arts and crafts can be trained up to the śūdras. They, at the present moment, they have given too much stress on the arts and crafts.

Yaduvara: Hm. Yes.

Prabhupāda: Therefore the whole people, population, is śūdra.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Press Representative -- March 21, 1975, Calcutta:

Prabhupāda: Oh, direct?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: How many hours?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Actual flight time was twenty-three hours, but with the time change, about thirty-six hours.

Prabhupāda: You were in the, thirty-six hours in the plane?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, we were in the plane about twenty-four hours.

Prabhupāda: Three hours extra. We had to come here, twenty-one hours.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, it stopped in London, Rome, Beirut...

Prabhupāda: Indian plane?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, an Air India. We came, altogether, ninety-six devotees.

Prabhupāda: Oh. Where are they? They have gone?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They are in Māyāpur. They have gone. They have been met by a big bus, three buses, and are going on to Māyāpur.

Prabhupāda: (Bengali)

Guest: (Bengali)

Morning Walk -- May 15, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Our next program is to organize farming. Let anyone come. We shall give him free food and employment: "Come on." Not that "I want to work as a clerk in the city." You produce your own food. I give you ingredients. I give you land. And work for five, six hours, and take your food and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee (1): Anybody who comes to the farm has to agree to follow the four regulative principles? These people?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Otherwise you are not coming. Our main business is to make him Kṛṣṇa conscious. Where you have left my that overcoat?

Śrutakīrti: That is in London. (pause)

Prabhupāda: (break) How they will serve? The proposal...(break) that how... (break) ...they have disco... (break) They have discovered so many machine, so many factories, so many... So how they will relieve the mankind? This proposal Vivekananda used, to serve the mankind. How they will serve? In spite of all arrangement there are so many suffering humanity, so many unemployment, so much disease, so much death. So what is the meaning of this serving? Huh? You cannot stop it. That is the nature's way. How you can stop by so-called bluffing that "We are serving the humanity"? You are opening hospital. Does it mean that the suffering is reduced? Because the suffering has increased therefore your number of hospitals have increased. Where is the mitigation? Nature's way, we are feeling pain, this cold wind. Who can stop it? And where is the question of decreasing human's suffering or stopping?

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- July 26, 1976, London:

Prabhupāda: I did not take anything, tablet. Rather, what one I was taking, I have stopped that also.

Jayatīrtha: You do not put very much faith in these doctors.

Prabhupāda: What this medicine will help?

Hari-śauri: Most of the medicine he gave was to dull your senses so much that you wouldn't feel any pain, or would make you sleep for six hours at a time or, like this.

Prabhupāda: So in the village how many devotees are there?

Bhagavān: At the farm? Almost two hundred.

Prabhupāda: Oh, very good.

Bhagavān: They are waiting for you. (laughs)

Prabhupāda: Yes, they must be waiting. So farming is going? Farming?

Bhagavān: Oh, yes, we've just harvested barley and oats, big harvest, and the farm is supplying beans, cauliflower right now, and tomatoes. They have planted three thousand tomato plants, and all the farmers, they are asking how we have done.

Prabhupāda: And milk?

Bhagavān: We have not bought many cows yet. We will.

Conversation with George Harrison -- July 26, 1976, London:

Prabhupāda: He's also Shankar?

George Harrison: Well, he's called L. Shankar. You know that South India they have a funny way around them, they have like a surname. He's just called L. Shankar. His brother is called L. Subhramanyam.

Devotee (1): George says he wants to spend some time in Vṛndāvana.

George Harrison: I was only there for about thirty-six hours last time.

Prabhupāda: We have got now very good centers. Another gentleman, he's offering us a very good place at Mahābaleśvara. That's one of the famous India stations. A very nice climate. So you can come and stay there. We have got now many good centers.

George Harrison: I'll come and see if you're in Bombay, because I'll be near where the temple is.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Bombay is just like garden. As good as your place here. No. Not so big. It is seventeen acres, and Bombay is five. Just go on. (prasādam being served) Give him whatever you have got to give. But don't give much. When he wants something more.... Waste not, want not. Give more, that preparation, you should give more. (laughter) That is called (indistinct). You can bring it, prasāda.

George Harrison: I'll just wash my hands.

Prabhupāda: You can wash here. The sink is there. Here is also water. You can put the bowls outside, here, so that there will be sufficient place. Our Indian system is like this. That's all right. Sit down, you also sit down.

George Harrison: I see you've done new books. You've been so busy, there's so many books.

Room Conversation -- August 3, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Prabhupāda: Marseilles? Oh.

Bhagavān: Many books distributed.

Prabhupāda: How far it is from...?

Bhagavān: From here? About six hours.

Prabhupāda: On the whole, they are appreciating.

Bhagavān: Oh, yes.

Prabhupāda: This man has come means after appreciating. Everything surrendered-money, family, everything.

Bhagavān: Of all the different groups in this country, we have the best reputation. They hardly ever write any bad thing about us.

Prabhupāda: French people are, I think, cultured than other states.

Bhagavān: They like to read. When they distribute the hard-cover books door to door, many people always look at the binding, how the book is made, and they like the pictures.

Prabhupāda: We have got our own mung dāl?

Bhagavān: Mung dāl. This is the first year we're growing. We have a large patch.

Room Conversation -- September 5, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Why one hour? Four hours. Four hours. Four times. Morning, evening, night, morning again.

Akṣayānanda: Already, the rule is made...

Prabhupāda: No, no, already rules we are... Just like to continue kīrtana there must be four batches.

Akṣayānanda: Yes, four men I have...

Prabhupāda: Four batches. That means six hours, four. Three hours. Three hours. Not four hours. So one batch four hours. From morning six to nine. Another batch from nine to twelve. Another batch twelve to three. Another batch three to six. Again the morning batch six to...

Akṣayānanda: Eight different batches, that makes a total of thirty-two.

Prabhupāda: That's all. Not, why thirty-two? Twice one batch. One batch attending once in the morning, once in the evening.

Indian man: Sixteen. (Hindi)

Prabhupāda: So then if there is fifty men, we cannot spare sixteen men?

Akṣayānanda: Very nice.

Prabhupāda: Everything is nice. Only to be managed. Only to be managed. So I am prepared, I'll pay you. Even if you have no money I'll pay you five thousand rupees. Keep fifty men.

Akṣayānanda: I don't think it's necessary for you to pay.

Prabhupāda: So if necessary, I'm prepared. That's all right.

Room Conversation About Gurukula -- November 5, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Jagadīśa: They've been getting up at that time for years.

Prabhupāda: If they are accustomed, that is all right. But otherwise it is not needed, so early. When they go to sleep?

Jagadīśa: At 8:15.

Prabhupāda: Oh, then it is all right. That is all right. At least they must have rest, six hours, complete.

Jagadīśa: Oh, they get more than that.

Prabhupāda: Then it is...

Jagadīśa: Then they get ready, bathed and dressed, by about 4:10. So they chant japa from 4:10 until five o'clock under the supervision of their teacher. Then ārati, tulasī worship. And after tulasī worship they again have japa up until guru-pūjā, greeting the Deities.

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Jagadīśa: From the time tulasī worship is over until the time of greeting the Deities.

Prabhupāda: How long it is?

Jagadīśa: That's an hour and fifteen minutes. Altogether they have japa time amounting to...

Prabhupāda: And who... They will... The small boys, they can devote so much time?

Jagadīśa: Well these are not small boys. These are...

Room Conversation -- December 12, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Haṁsadūta: Long Island.

Prabhupāda: Long Island. They are coming two hours in the ferry, three hours in the bus. They are going to the office. Eight hours there. Then five hours and eight hours, thirteen hours, again five hours. Then thirteen and..., eighteen hours. And for six hours they have got home. "Home sweet home."

Mahāṁśa: I knew people coming from Poona to Bombay to work.

Prabhupāda: Just see.

Mahāṁśa: All the way from Poona.

Prabhupāda: The home attachment is so great. These Delhi passengers, they are coming, hanging, and there are so many accidents daily. And few hours he will live with wife. That is his home. And whole other, out of twenty-four hours, seventeen hours are outside, and maybe seven hours at home. But still, he'll come home. The home attachment is very big. Therefore we have to create attachment for this hari-saṅkīrtana. If you create that attachment, then they will give up home attachment, try life, to live here. Athāsaktiḥ. You have to train them in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in such a way.

Room Conversation -- December 31, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No, no. They can go after the tenth.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: After tenth. Okay.

Prabhupāda: By fourteenth or by thirteenth. It takes only one night from here to Allahabad.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Twenty-six hours. We're thinking of renting a small bus for devotees because coming back would be a problem.

Prabhupāda: I think Allahabad takes twenty-four hours.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Twenty-six hours.

Prabhupāda: Twenty-six hours by train?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: And Calcutta?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Calcutta it is thirty-six hours.

Prabhupāda: Another ten hours.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: About thirty-six hours.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Roof Conversation -- January 5, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Train.

Dr. Patel: You are going also by train? It will be too much strain.

Prabhupāda: No, first-class is all right.

Dr. Patel: Even first-class. Because it takes more than thirty-six hours to reach...

Prabhupāda: No, twenty-four hours.

Dr. Patel: ...by car, by Calcutta from here, no? Or Kashi Express.

Mr. Gupta: Yes, sir. Twenty-four hours.

Dr. Patel: Kashi Express?

Mr. Gupta: Kashi Express. Kashi Express reaches in the morning just at one...

Dr. Patel: I had gone by Kashi Express. It reached... From here it starts in the evening, and there it reaches Allahabad in the evening.

Mr. Gupta: That is Allahabad Mail. That's Calcutta Mail. Kashi Express leaves at 6:45 in the morning with other and reaches at the same time next morning.

Prabhupāda: So we have to get the train from Dadar.

Morning Walk -- January 9, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: They may think anything nonsense, but this is practically going on. The medical men, they make their association. Especially in your country, unless one is member of the medical association he cannot practice.

Rāmeśvara: But the medical association does not take up twenty-four hours.

Prabhupāda: No. Not only twenty-four hours, twenty-six hours.

Rāmeśvara: That is their charge, that it is too extreme. They say we isolate the devotees from the real world. We don't let them read newspapers, we don't let them...

Prabhupāda: That is your real world, but you do not know what is reality. Your real world is this body. But this body is not real. That, you rascal, you cannot understand. Your reality is this body, but body not real.

Rāmeśvara: Even if this world is not real, temporarily it's real.

Prabhupāda: Temporary, yes. So I am eternal. I must associate with eternity. Why shall I..., temporary. Suppose if somebody comes in India, American, that is his temporary residence. Why shall I accept India as everything? Similarly this body is another India or for Indian, American. It is temporary, asann, asat. Asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ (SB 5.5.4). This body is temporary. That you have no knowledge. Why shall I be attached to the temporary things? I am the owner of the body, I am reality, so I must realize myself. Self-realization. This is self-realization, that "I am not this body, I am pure soul, Brahman." Ahaṁ brahmāsmi.

Dr. Patel: Even Jesus said so.

Room Conversation -- January 9, 1977, Bombay:

Rāmeśvara: It could be April. The grand opening, I think...

Prabhupāda: I may go there some time. From London to Los Angeles there is direct plane. Takes about ten hours, eh?

Rāmeśvara: Ten hours at least. Los Angeles to New York is five and a half, and New York to London another five hours, six hours.

Prabhupāda: Or in this way, about twelve hours, via...

Rāmeśvara: Too long a flight, I think. It would be better... It's too long a flight.

Prabhupāda: That directly from London to... That is the same?

Rāmeśvara: Too long.

Prabhupāda: Too long.

Rāmeśvara: Usually stopover in New York.

Prabhupāda: No, another northern flight from Paris and from London it goes directly to Los Angeles.

Rāmeśvara: Yes, it's possible but it's very uncomfortable.

Prabhupāda: (sic:) Unstoppage, eh?

Rāmeśvara: Nonstop. I flew from London to Delhi nonstop.

Prabhupāda: That is eight hours.

Room Conversation -- January 20, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: So they are prepared in Calcutta?

Gargamuni: Yes. They make them there.

Prabhupāda: You can have.

Gargamuni: And we can get a custom-made ship. Your Divine Grace may also want to take. From Māyāpur we can go by boat. It takes only five or six hours by boat if we have an engine, and you may like the nice trip.

Hari-śauri: That'll be very nice.

Prabhupāda: So how you go?

Gargamuni: And we can have cruises...

Prabhupāda: No, how you go? You have to come to the sea? No.

Gargamuni: No. No. We go from Calcutta to Māyāpur by boat.

Prabhupāda: By boat. Then we can pass through this Naihati.

Gargamuni: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Eh? Naihati is the other way?

Hari-śauri: Panihati.

Gargamuni: Panihati, yes.

Prabhupāda: Panihati, ha. Panihati.

Room Conversation -- February 27, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: German language. German language.

Harikeśa: In German language, yes. To bookstores. Bookstores are buying like anything, and people are buying the books in the bookstores. Because we can't sell in the streets, so they're buying in the bookstores. And he's also training up Austrians to sell books, and gradually it's expanding. One day last week—he called me just before I left—he sold 1,200 marks worth of books in six hours. It's simply fantastic.

Prabhupāda: It is all Kṛṣṇa's grace. Let us try our best sincerely, and Kṛṣṇa will give us. Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam (BG 10.10). Otherwise how it is happening? In foreign countries, a system of philosophy which is foreign to them, how they are purchasing? In India, if they purchase one Bhāgavatam, it has got meaning. But in Germany, purchasing Bhāgavatam, it is only Kṛṣṇa's grace. How it is possible? And India, nobody is interested to purchase Bible. So if they purchase Bhāgavatam, that is not surprising, but in Europe and America in Christmas festivities they are purchasing. So it is all Kṛṣṇa's arrangement. We sold more books in Christmas festivals.

Hari-śauri: Oh, yes. Christmas is always big.

Prabhupāda: What business they have got? Christmas festival and purchasing Bhāgavata. What is that?

Brahmānanda: This is wording for the Certificate of Awards. The Certificate of Awards.

Prabhupāda: Ha ha. Ha ha.

Room Conversation with Scientists, Svarupa Damodara, and Dr. Sharma -- March 31, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Artificial heart and this real heart the same thing—it is material. Where is the difference? There is no difference.

Dr. Sharma: Just like they are trying to produce babies in the test-tube. They are never going to be successful. But they can keep on trying. I recently went to Houston, and there I have read that they cannot keep somebody alive even more than five, six hours. So far away from such a thing.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What about this heart transplant?

Dr. Sharma: Well, the heart transplants actually have been given up everywhere except one place, that's in Stanford Medical Center. And they are doing it because they are the one who initially started it, so they are emotionally stable about it. But actually I have gone and seen there, and they do it... The people are, you know, the recipient patient is very unhappy after the heart transplant. He's very restless, and he has nightmares and he is extremely unhappy.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Has Dr. Barnard of South Africa stopped it now?

Dr. Sharma: Well, he has stopped after doing nine, but Stanford people, they have done about almost over a hundred, and they can keep somebody alive another six months or a year or at the most two years. But the man, the man's existence is very miserable. He has to take so many drugs, and he is bloated like a balloon, and he cannot even do the simple duties like taking walks or going to bathroom. He has to be very careful. If he just slips, it will develop the fracture of his ventricle, and that's all. It is very, very unnatural, and I don't think they can solve this problem at all. It is just man's struggle (for) life.(?) And I know they are saying they will do only in people with proper insurance because the hospital bill is $70,000 for a heart transplant.

Room Conversation -- July 19, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: But it does not stop.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No. So I'm saying if it was going direct to Los Angeles it wouldn't have to go down. It could keep going. It would be like this, straight. So you'd save time.

Prabhupāda: Generally from London to New York, six hours. And from...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: New York to LA is about four and a half hours. That's ten and a half hours.

Prabhupāda: Ten hours.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So I think, probably, London to Los Angeles would be about nine hours. That would be my guess.

Prabhupāda: So far I remember, London to Paris from, er, Paris to Los Angeles I went. Took about ten hours.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Ten hours. London might be closer...

Prabhupāda: Than Paris.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: ...than Paris. Say nine to ten hours.

Prabhupāda: And that Nova... What is that?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Nova Scotia?

Prabhupāda: That I have seen from the plane.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: From the plane.

Room Conversation -- August 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: So if I feel little strength, I shall go to Hawaii.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Via Fiji? No. Hong Kong, like that. Hong Kong, Tokyo, Hawaii. We have... In Hong Kong and Tokyo we have both places a house if you should desire to go and stop overnight. Both places we have a house in the countryside. It might be easier to stay overnight in a hotel, because it's more centrally located. Because we don't want to take a flight for very long. Hong Kong flight is not bad, I think maybe six, seven hours. Stay overnight. Then again to Tokyo is a short trip. And then Hawaii, another six hours. We can do like that. And Gurukṛpā knows the way very well there. Śrutakīrti will be coming here. I heard that Madhudviṣa is coming. Someone told me. Rāmeśvara sent him a ticket, and he's expected to come here any day. His wife had a child, a son. So he was saying after this child was born he was going to come to see you, and now that has happened. I don't know what his plan is.

Prabhupāda: That's nice.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's a fact. From the point of view of health, Hawaii is the best place in the world. It's paradise. There's nothing that can compare with it. And you'll get juices there. You can live on the fruit juices.

Prabhupāda: And wherever there are my established Deities, that is Vṛndāvana. Anywhere I have got temple, that is Vṛndāvana. So wherever the health will remain very nice...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: There we should go. I'll talk further with them. Find out what the climate is like, everything. Make sure. Wherever we go, we should pretty much be sure it is just nice. Would you like to hear some reading now, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Room Conversation -- October 28, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Huh? What is...?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, I mean, er, we already said some juices, vegetable juice. You said you have no objection to broth, vegetable broth. So he's proposing some vegetable broth. That's nice. We can try. And... You see, you have to understand, one thing is that Prabhupāda willingly takes fruit juices. You've never experienced a patient like Prabhupāda, who will not take what you prescribe. Everybody that you've worked with, they take whatever you tell them to take. But Śrīla Prabhupāda is not that kind of patient. You tell him to take... You'll make a broth for six hours, and he'll take one spoon and then reject it. And then that's finished. So the point is that if he willingly takes some type of a fruit juice, for example, and we've seen for example how he willingly will take grape juice in big quantities. He may not take the thing which you prescribe in big quantities. Better that he takes some liquid than nothing at all.

Mādhava: This is very true.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So the proposal that he continues to take some fruit juice has certain merit, because at least we've seen that that's one thing that he will take in large quantity. If nothing else... Every single kavirāja and doctor we've consulted, they all insist that one of the most important things is that there be sufficient liquid taken so that the body can be cleansed properly. So although you may be right that by taking one thing in particular and not taking fruit juice may be preferable, if he can't take it, then there's no use in that point.

Mādhava: That's true. If Śrīla Prabhupāda would take nothing but fruit juice, it is much better that he have the fruit juice.

Room Conversation -- October 30, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: I am prepared also. How many hours it will take altogether?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: By plane?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It will take three hours to the Delhi airport. Then it will take..., say, three hours, then one hour before take-off is four hours. Two hours on the flight is six hours, and three hours to Māyāpur, total...

Bhavānanda: No. Four hours to Māyāpur, 'cause we'll go slow.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Anyway, within ten hours from this bed to your bed in Māyāpur.

Prabhupāda: Ten hours?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Maximum.

Prabhupāda: How ten hours?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Three hours from here to the Delhi airport. One hour at the Delhi airport makes four hours.

Prabhupāda: You are going to Delhi airport in three hours. Then?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Then one hour waiting for the plane to take off. That's four hours. Two hours for the plane. That's six hours. And three to four hours to go to Māyāpur. Three hours to go to Māyāpur.

Bhavānanda: It always takes four hours.

Room Conversation -- October 30, 1977, Vrndavana:

Adri-dhāraṇa: Today he's going to go six hours himself and wait for the medicine to be prepared.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He's going to prepare it, I think.

Adri-dhāraṇa: He's going to go and sit and watch it being prepared, six hours, so no mistake is made.

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Adri-dhāraṇa Prabhu says that today the kavirāja is going to Mathurā, and he will sit six hours watching the medicine being distilled. He's personally going to watch to see so that there's absolutely no mistake made. This is required.

Bhavānanda: This man is competent.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I may not be an expert judge, but I have never seen, in my opinion, anyone who seemed to be this good.

Prabhupāda: No, if we have program to go to Māyāpur, he has got that distilled medicine in his dispensary.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, but one thing is this: the more time we can gain in waiting here, the better. In other words, he's not going to stay here indefinitely. That's a fact. He's going to have to go within the next few days.

Room Conversation -- October 31, 1977, Vrndavana:

Bhakti-caru: Bengal is little damp as compared to North India, UP.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: These days here. But unfortunately you cannot stay here. (Bhakti-caru translates, kavirāja answers)

Bhakti-caru: I was telling him that... I mean, he's facing great difficulty preparing the medicines also here. He says that it's been done; dose of medicine for twenty days has been prepared. Like today also he has got to go for six hours.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The main point is that we would very much be glad if he is able to periodically, every day or every other day, whatever the requirement, to check up on Prabhupāda. What we are afraid is that for twenty days he will not be present to check up. This other man is not competent.

Bhakti-caru: No, he didn't say it in that relation also. I told him that medicine is a big problem. (Bengali) He says during the last three days there has been only development.

Kavirāja: Progress.

Bhakti-caru: Only progress.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We haven't seen anything regressive.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: And Prabhupāda is taking rest also.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It appears hopeful.

Kavirāja: (Hindi)

Bhakti-caru: He could have been cured in ten days here, but there it will take twenty days to a month due to the climatic condition.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He says that due to climatic condition, what would take ten days to cure here will take twenty days to thirty days in Māyāpur. The climate is not... (Kavirāja—Hindi) But the real issue is this. The real issue is that although we were sitting here in the best climate, Prabhupāda was getting worse until he came. So the real point is not the climate but the doctor. (Bhakti-caru translates—kavirāja, Hindi—laughter)

Prabhupāda: So you (Hindi) arrange tomorrow?

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Haṁsadūta: He has gone to Mathurā for renting.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He has gone out for renting the bullock cart.

Prabhupāda: Oh. (Hindi)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Lokanātha says that the bullock cart could probably go around Vṛndāvana in about five to six hours, parikramming Vṛndāvana town.

Prabhupāda: Make an experiment. Then we shall decide.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Prabhupāda said, "Make an experiment. Then we shall decide."

Jayapatākā: What is that experiment?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Jayapatākā's asking what that experiment is, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Vṛndāvana parikrama.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Prabhupāda said, "Vṛndāvana parikrama."

Haṁsadūta: Prabhupāda, does it mean with Your Divine Grace, or we should go alone first and see?

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Vṛndāvana parikrama is not risk.

Kavirāja: (Hindi)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, when you went on this parikrama the other day around the temple, you became dizzy just going around the temple four times. That's when you were even able to sit up in bed a lot more. How is it going to be possible to go for four, five or six hours, when you couldn't...

Prabhupāda: Not four, five, six...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That's how long it takes to go around Vṛndāvana by bullock cart. It takes three hours walking at a good pace, and it takes at least five or six hours, Lokanātha says, by bullock cart. How...? We couldn't even go a half hour just around this temple.

Prabhupāda: No, I traveled. It takes two hours in the morning.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Walking.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But not by bullock cart. That's when a man walks very quickly you can do it in two hours, but by bullock cart it will take five hours. We have... You had difficulty even doing a half-hour parikrama around this temple. You became very faint. Whether you think that you can go five hours in a row?

Prabhupāda: From Mādhava Mahārāja's Maṭha, bring Kṛṣṇa dāsa Bābājī.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We should bring Kṛṣṇa dāsa Bābājī here? Okay.

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Govardhana?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Govardhana.

Pañca-draviḍa: That's very far. We went on one parade three years ago in Vṛndāvana, with elephants, that Your Divine Grace went. Maybe we could go on that same route.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Govardhana will take about six hours to reach there.

Lokanātha: No, how many kilometers is that?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, it's very far.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Twenty-eight to thirty kilometers.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It takes one hour by car.

Lokanātha: Take five kilometers an hour.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That's six hours to get there. Six hours to get there, and then three hours around Govardhana. Nine hours.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And six hours back.

Pañca-draviḍa: And the bulls might have to rest.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You have to rest the bulls, don't you?

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Why you are asking me?

Lokanātha: I think we'll have to stay there.

Haṁsadūta: Yeah, definitely.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We definitely have to stay there.

Haṁsadūta: Six hours to go, three hours to go, that's nine. It's not possible to come back. So one night, spending one night in Govardhana.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The devotees are crashing after two hours.

Lokanātha: The devotees should be prepared to stay overnight there. Under the trees. (laughter)

Haṁsadūta: We're supposed to be gosvāmīs. We have to stay under a tree. Different tree every night.

Lokanātha: When we were traveling from Vṛndāvana to Māyāpur we stayed many times. Outside we'd live under the tree. It's nice.

Bhakti-caru: Yes, but if just one window is open at night, Prabhupāda starts feeling cold in spite of the blanket.

Lokanātha: You are making mundane.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: It will be very cold in the early morning hours.

Haṁsadūta: We'll bring the van, and Prabhupāda can stay in the van overnight, or we'll find some place.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: All the āśramas will be overcrowded.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Rudra -- Los Angeles 9 March, 1970:

Regarding sleeping, there is no need of confusion on this subject. At this stage, if we do not take sufficient rest, we shall fall ill. There is no need of forcing the matter. So one should take rest enough to keep in good health. Sleeping two hours out of 24 is a later natural development. For the present, take six hours sleep at night, that is enough; and if necessary, take another hour during the day. If chanting rounds at night is not a disturbance of your daily schedule, then it is alright. But by perseverance at rigid following of devotional service your demands for extra hours sleeping will automatically diminish.

Lord Nityananda is Guru. He can instruct us, but ultimately it depends on the disciple. A doctor may say "Do this, Do not do this," but if the patient does not follow the prescription, what is the result? Similarly, Nityananda Prabhu will hear the prayer of an insincere rascal, if that rascal actually wants to change his condition. One must agree not to be a rascal any more, then his rascaldom can be reformed. Jagai and Madhai begged the Lord for His mercy and they were prototype rascals, drunkards and debauchees. Lord Caitanya told them first you stop your nonsense activities, then I will accept you. So a rascal may be accepted provided he agrees to stop his nonsenses. Otherwise, how can one expect to be reformed if he does not agree or like to be reformed. To be reformed, he must agree to the reforming process.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Los Angeles 5 December, 1973:

Please accept my blessings. I am in receipt of your letters dated November 29th and 30th. Regarding the refusal of my entrance into Nairobi, no reason has yet been disclosed for the denial. I have written one letter, a copy of which is enclosed herewith, but there has been no reply. You may get the letter published in India. After proceeding to London I heard from Brahmananda Maharaja that on account of the denial of entry a commotion was caused amongst the people so the President of Kenya verbally said he was issuing a letter with permission for myself to enter. I waited in London but it did not come so I proceeded on to Los Angeles. The idea is to curtail the Indian influence in Kenya, either political or religious. That I can understand. Brahmananda Maharaja was allowed but not myself or my secretary. It was a great trouble for me. From Bombay to Nairobi took nine hours, then six hours waiting in the airport and then 9 hours to London. It was a great strain. I rested for three days in London.

Regarding our Bombay project: somehow or other the foundation should be dug immediately. Yasomatinandana Prabhu, who has a degree in structural engineering, is here and I have requested him to go to India with Giriraja who is recovering. They will come as soon as possible.

Regarding visas for our American devotees coming to India, I have made arrangements with the Consulate General of India in New York to grant six month student visas, renewable in India, for all our men. The premise is that we want our men to come to India to learn the Sanskrit language so that we can study the Vedic literature. So you must arrange for a teacher to coach these boys in Sanskrit. It will be very nice, they can learn Sanskrit and at the same time allowed visas. The Consulate General was very kind to meet and help us in this way. Also, I met with the High Commissioner of India in London and requested him in the same way. If our schooling is established we will get rid of this visa problem.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Sri Govinda -- Bombay 6 December, 1974:

So you are all intelligent boys, so you should judge the desire of my guru maharaj and help me in that way. Regarding the temple management, one man can be left behind, while the others go out, to take care of the Deity. And, you can come home at night and take prasadam sumptuously. Once eating sumptuously is enough to maintain body and soul together. In the daytime you may not take, and at night you can take. As a matter of fact, a devotee may take only once in a day either in the day or night, and whenever you eat, you must first offer. But I do not mean you should neglect temple life. Do not misunderstand this. But, one man can remain, and so far the other devotees are concerned, they can eat once in the day or night, after having kirtana, then six hours of sound sleep, and this will maintain their health properly.

So on the above statements you must make some compromise. Both Tripurari and yourself are intelligent. Sometimes we may differ, but Krishna is the center. Just like in Vrindaban there is Radharani's party and there is Candravali's party. So Krishna is the center of both parties. So even there there is competition between the parties, but they coincide in Krishna.