Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: One who understands Kṛṣṇa consciousness should want to finish the business of material life.
Prabhupāda: Yes, therefore he's required to read Bhagavad-gītā thoroughly. It is said clearly, "This is a place of misery." Why do you desire to keep yourself in this.... That means you do not understand what is spiritual life.
Hari-śauri: Still thinking he's this body.
Prabhupāda: Thinking. Thinking, he's under the influence of māyā. māyā is dictating, "Why you are trying to go away? Come on, here, Santa Monica." (laughter) And when you become detestful either this Santa Monica or any Monica, "I am not interested," then your spiritual life is...
Jagannātha-suta: Śrīla Prabhupāda, when I was in New York recently to check the color printing of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 7.2, we were presented with two awards which your books had won for color and design, two awards from the Printing Industries of Metropolitan New York. They gave us big wooden plaques with a certificate of excellence, yes, for Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and for Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
Hṛdayānanda: You should show Prabhupāda, bring him those plaques.
Jagannātha-suta: Yes, we have those plaques hanging up in the Press building now.
Prabhupāda: Hm. Bring it, I shall see.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: (break) ...diminution on this path of devotional service, nehābhikrama-nāśo'sti (BG 2.40). So does that mean that once one enters the material world, there's only progress in going back to Godhead, although it may be slow, over many lifetimes?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. One is going slow, one is finishing very rapidly. If one is serious, he can finish very rapidly. If one is not serious, it will take time.
Rāmeśvara: (break) ...contests and get all sorts of awards and recognition. Because no one has such beautiful books.
Prabhupāda: Yes, that's a fact.
Rāmeśvara: We have also won awards for Back to Godhead, the cover design.
Prabhupāda: Cover designs?
Mahendra: They like the cover, but they're afraid to look inside.
Rādhāvallabha: Śrīla Prabhupāda, at the time of death, when the soul leaves the body, at that time the body is destroyed. So at the time of sleeping, when the soul leaves the body, how is the body maintained?
Prabhupāda: Hmm?
Rādhāvallabha: At the time of sleeping, when the soul leaves the body, why is the body not destroyed at that time?
Prabhupāda: Why? Suppose you have left the car; does that mean it is destroyed? You are going again.
Rādhāvallabha: But at the time of death it is destroyed when you leave it.
Prabhupāda: Death is different. When the car is no more usable, that is death. But we are returning to the car because we know that it is usable. And if we know that it is useless, we don't go to that car. That is death.