May 27 1974 Rome. Conversations
Bhagavān: But my question is, if the community produces… Some class of men produce vegetables and grains, some class produce cows, some class produce clothes, some class produce necessities for building. How are these things distributed equally?
Prabhupāda: Because we are community, we shall distribute whatever necessity for everyone.
Bhagavān: They will come and say, “I need this much cloth, I need this much milk.”
Prabhupāda: No, this much cloth… But if you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, then you will be satisfied with the minimum necessities of life. That is natural. You won’t demand.
Yogeśvara: So actually such a program can only be successful proportionately with the rise of Kṛṣṇa consciousness of the people.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the main basic principle. Without being Kṛṣṇa conscious, if you arrange like this, that will never be successful.
NOTE-Above Srila Prabhupada explains that we must take to rural life to solve so many problems-but this is only possible if the devotees are Krsna Conscious, not otherwise. If simple living high thinking is actually done, then this rural program will be successful. Its the change in city consciousness to village Krsna consciousness that will make it work and not otherwise.
Yogeśvara: They won’t be satisfied.
Prabhupāda: No.
Bhagavān: The kṣatriyas make sure that people are correct, acting correctly, that no one is taking more than what they need?
Prabhupāda: Naturally he will do. If you make him Kṛṣṇa conscious, if he attends the Kṛṣṇa conscious program, naturally he will do. Svāmin kṛtārtho ‘smi. That is the progress of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He will be satisfied in any condition of life. That is progress of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He doesn’t require anything artificially. His main necessity is how to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. So if his attention is diverted in that way, these things will be not important.
NOTE-So in the above Prabhupada tells us that our life must be streamlined to making our lives successful by adopting simple living-and not just as a slogan but actually have that mindset.
Yogeśvara: So then we should begin our rural communities like New Vrindaban, and then by training up people in the cities, we can send them gradually…
Prabhupāda: There will be no city. We don’t want cities.
Bhagavān: What about our city temples?
Prabhupāda: No, no. For the time it may go on. But as we make progress, there will be no necessity. City means… For the present we have got. Because the city is there, we are there. But suppose the city is closed. We shall be there? If the city is closed, you still will be there?
NOTE-As predicted by Prabhupada the cities will eventually close or made impossible for normal humans to live in as we are seeing today. Homelessness, drug abuse everywhere, crimes up everywhere, and now add the so called covid pandemic to this already nasty situation where more dead bodies will be showing up due to this poison so called –“vax”.
So the best advice, if you can do it, is to get out now before it gets only worse than it is today. Even on the so called mainline news today they showed thousands of protesters and Canadian truckers with their massive trucks, flood into Ottawa the capitol city of Canada, and refuse to leave -blocking the streets there with their trucks. This is huge but shows the volatility of human society today and also around the world. And then we have the Ukraine and that war which is about to begin. This is just the beginning….
Yogeśvara: But we can predict that the cities will go on for quite some time.
Prabhupāda: Yes, it will go on, but when they will see that your ideal community is better than city life, people will take to it. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate [Bg. 9.59]. When one gets a better standard of life, naturally he will give up the lower standard of life.
Dhanañjaya: But won’t the countryside be spoiled if there is an atomic war?
Prabhupāda: Yes. The what is called…?
Dhanañjaya: Radioactivity.
Prabhupāda: By atomic bomb… What is that? The… It says in your country, that you divide the city. I just forget.
Yogeśvara: The result of the bomb?
Prabhupāda: Bomb will be utilized where there are big materialistic persons. Bombs are never thrown in the village.
Bhagavān: The bombs will be thrown in the big cities where the industry is.
Prabhupāda: Yes, yes.
Yogeśvara: The targets will be the cities.
Prabhupāda: Yes. They will be finished first. The bombs are never used at the villages. Downtown, downtown. (laughter) The downtown will be first finished. I have got experience during the last war. The bombs were being thrown in Calcutta and almost all the bombs were thrown in downtown.
NOTE-It only makes common sense that if we live away from cities, we will find a much more pleasant way to serve out our term of imprisonment in this material world. Its coming folks, just like death, so why wait until it gets worse than it is right now?
Bhagavān: They know they don’t want to bomb the countryside or else how can they live?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Bhagavān: The overpopulation is in the city.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Bhagavān: They think that overpopulation occurs in underdeveloped countries, but actually in every city it is overpopulation, people living on top of each other like rats.
Prabhupāda: (loud noises) These are subway trains?
Dhanañjaya: No, these are ordinary trains.
Prabhupāda: So all your problems solved?
Bhagavān: No, not yet.
Prabhupāda: Put problems. I’ll solve.
Yogeśvara: Here’s a problem. The women today want the same rights as men. How can they be satisfied?
Prabhupāda: Everything will be satisfied. Just like our women, Kṛṣṇa conscious, they are working. They don’t want equal rights with men. It is due to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They are cleansing the temple, they are cooking very nicely. They are satisfied. They never say that “I have to go to Japan for preaching like Prabhupāda.” They never say. This is artificial. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness means work in his constitutional position. The women, men, when they remain in their constitutional position, there will be no artificial (indistinct) (loud traffic noises)
NOTE- but today in iskcon we dont find this to be true anymore. Why? Because they are not Krsna Conscious but in body consciousness wanting to be equal to their male counterparts. So we have the females rising up to overthrow their oppressive male dictators by wanting equal status as “guru”. Our position of personal satisfaction is based upon how we perform our ordinary material duties-as husband and wife. But todays iskcon females dont want this. Back in the good old days the female devotees were first class for the most part because they knew their position as women.
Bhagavān: They say that our women are unintelligent because they submit so easily, but…
Prabhupāda: Subway?
Dhanañjaya: No. This is also public transport, other trains.
Bhagavān: But actually, our women are so qualified in so many ways, but these girls who simply work in the city can do nothing. They can’t cook, they can’t clean, they can’t sew.
Prabhupāda: All rubbish, these modern girls, they are all rubbish. Therefore they are simply used for sex satisfaction. Topless, bottomless… (end)
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Some Conclusions– The above conversations with Prabhupada are very instructive. He says that the move to rural life, or simple living high thinking can only be done if one is Krsna Conscious.
Why are not more devotees taking up this business of moving out of cities which are becoming more hellish day by day and taking up this lifestyle of growing our own food and doing what both Krsna and Srila Prabhupada are asking us to do?
Srila Prabhupada says one cannot do this rural life if one is NOT Krsna Conscious.
That’s his conclusion and mine as well.
Hare Krsna
damaghosa das
►740524r2.romConversations …
Prabhupada: Yes, naturally. If this man is fed up with this industry, he can go back to village and produce his own food. But he is attached to this industrial activity because he is thinking that “We are getting more money for wine and woman and meat. Let me enjoy.” That is the perfect, imp… But if he chants Hare Krsna maha-mantra, his consciousness will be purified and he will be made not interested this kind of work. He will go back to village and produce food.
►760912rc.vrn Conversations
Prabhupada: The girls are loitering in the street by dressing. It will become more and more problems, city life. So this is the solution, that they must go back to the village. ….. If he simply becomes little sober that “I want to eat, I have to sleep, I want some sense enjoyment and defense. So if I can get easily in the village, why shall I go three hundred miles away? Just keep in mind the psychology. So that simple life will be possible if one is bhakta. Bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra syat. Only by devotion. Not by otherwise. Not by artificial means, by manufacturing toilet. Only bhakti. If they get little attachment for Krsna the questions will be solved automatically. And they will be happy. Undoubtedly. That is the Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s first instruction. Ceto-darpana.
►740611r2.paris Conversations
Prabhupada: No, we have to make this propaganda because we are servant of Krsna. And Krsna orders, krsi-go-raksya-vanijyam. So we must take to agricultural work to produce food and give protection to the cows. And if there is excess product, we trade. This simple thing we must do. Therefore I’m anxious to take outside Paris this center. Our people should live there peacefully, produce food grains, give protection to the cows, and work hard. And if there is excess product, you can make money also.
