Brahmānanda: Recently one famous author came to America. He was a freedom fighter, freedom author.
Satsvarūpa: Prabhupāda knows about him.
Jagadīśa: Solzhenitsyn.
Brahmānanda: Solzhenitsyn. Did you see him when you went to Moscow? Śyāmasundara was saying.
Prabhupāda: No. There was proposal.
Brahmānanda: He talks so much, Śyāmasundara. He told a whole story, that you went outside Moscow to some colony, artist colony. He was living there.
Prabhupāda: I think Śyāmasundara went to see him.
Brahmānanda: Oh. Anyway, he came to America, but President Ford refused to see him.
Prabhupāda: Ācchā?
Brahmānanda: Because he was afraid. He was advised by Kissinger that "If you see him, then the Russian leaders, they will become angry upon you." So he refused to see him. So this received a great deal of criticism in America, that "We are for freedom and here he is coming, freedom fighter, and you refused to see him simply to pacify the Russian leaders." (break)
Prabhupāda: ...was a fault?
Satsvarūpa: His fault is that he spoke out against the whole Russian...
Brahmānanda: He speaks very strongly, condemns the Russian system.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Russian, it is terrorism.
Brahmānanda: Yes. And he says that America should not become, try to become friendly, but should try to defeat them.
Prabhupāda: So Russian government did not take any step against him?
Brahmānanda: They exiled him. He was too famous to... If they persecuted him, he was too famous. It would have brought a lot of criticism against them, so they exiled.
Prabhupāda: Asked him to go out.
Brahmānanda: Yes.
Satsvarūpa: He is officially a nonperson in Russia.
Brahmānanda: He has no longer any existence.
Jagadīśa: The Americans are playing right into their hands because now the Americans won't meet the man.
Prabhupāda: Eh?
Jagadīśa: The Americans should have taken advantage and given the man a great welcome, but they refused to see him. (break)
Prabhupāda: ...God conscious or he is another edition?
Brahmānanda: He has some leanings toward some mysticism.
Satsvarūpa: Yes. His philosophy is... Dr. Wolf sent you a clipping on it when you were in Bombay. He wants that people should just live on the land and raise crops and live in a simple way like that and, yeah, worship God.
Brahmānanda: There is even some talk that he was wanting to join a monastery and live a life of austerity and contemplation.
Jagadīśa: He also favors a monarchy, a religious monarchy.
Prabhupāda: That is my philosophy.
Brahmānanda: Mahendra in Philadelphia was trying to arrange a meeting with Your Divine Grace and him. There wasn't time. (break)
Prabhupāda: He is American?
Jagadīśa: I don't know. (break)
Brahmānanda: Switzerland is his home. (break) ...in this agreement that they signed in Finland was that Russia has pledged to make it easier for granting visas for families, members who are outside of Russia so that they can come to Russia and visit their family members.
Prabhupāda: Oh.
Brahmānanda: So this will be good for our, what is her name? That devotee?
Jagadīśa: Mālatī? Himāvatī?
Brahmānanda: No. That girl devotee.
Prabhupāda: Mandakini.
Brahmānanda: Mandakini. (break)