The man seemed to understand and respectfully accepted the answer. He was about to ask another question when a well-dressed but somewhat drunken passenger came up to them and spoke. Śrīla Prabhupāda looked up at the man and asked, “Are you afraid of death?” The intoxicated man stammered, sobered, and walked away.

The flight supervisor inquired again, taking his meeting with Śrīla Prabhupāda as a rare opportunity. “Can you tell me how one can become peaceful?” he asked.

Śrīla Prabhupāda began quoting Bhagavad-gītā, bhoktāraṁ yajña tapasām, and, signaling Viśākhā, asked for a copy of the Gītā. The devotees quickly consulted, but no one had a Bhagavad-gītā.

When Prabhupāda heard this he became angry, although containing his feelings in the presence of his guest. He then explained to the man that one had to have knowledge of God as the supreme controller, the supreme enjoyer, and the best friend of everyone; only then could one have peace. “Out of foolishness,” Prabhupāda said, “we are claiming the land is our property. Therefore there is no peace. But actually, God is the proprietor.”

Both Śrīla Prabhupāda and the flight supervisor enjoyed their talk, and as the fight supervisor excused himself, he heartily shook Prabhupāda’s hand.

Prabhupāda called for Pradyumna. His eyes glowing in transcendental anger, he reprimanded Upendra and Pradyumna for not having a copy of Bhagavad-gītā; they should have one with them at all times. Pradyumna offered that although he didn’t have Prabhupāda’s Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, he just happened to be carrying an edition by another author. This infuriated Prabhupāda even more. He then ordered Upendra never to travel again without carrying three books: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, and the first volume of Caitanya-caritāmṛta and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Berkeley
July 15, 1975
Within less than two weeks Prabhupāda had traveled from west coast to east coast and back. This was his first visit to ISKCON Berkeley’s recently acquired headquarters, a large church complex, and as usual, hundreds of devotees from many Western centers had converged to meet him.

His arrival address specifically dealt with the position of the guru. Only unto one with unflinching faith in Kṛṣṇa and guru, he explained, is the essence of Vedic wisdom revealed. “Outsiders may think that the guru is very puffed up,” said Prabhupāda, “and he is sitting and taking respect from the disciple. But the fact is that they are to be taught like that, how to offer respect to the spiritual master.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly encountered this misunderstanding. A year ago in Paris he had been heckled by radical students who envied his sitting on an elevated seat. And in America the reporters often portrayed him as enjoying material comforts provided by his disciples. But Prabhupāda maintained that despite a plethora of charlatans bringing disrepute to the word guru, anyone sincerely desiring to learn transcendental science had to go to a bona fide guru, the representative of God.

“A guru’s business,” said Śrīla Prabhupāda, “is to protect the subordinate disciples from falldown. Just like I am traveling all over the world, twice, thrice in a year. My duty is to see that my disciples, who have accepted me as guru, may not fall down. That is my anxiety.

“Now how can one become guru and representative of Kṛṣṇa? Everyone will say, ‘I am representative of Kṛṣṇa. I am guru.’ No. The real thing is enunciated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who says, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa: ‘You just become guru on My order.’ So guru means he who is carrying out the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu – not self-made guru.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda said that sometimes people gave him much credit for having done a wonderful thing for the whole world. “But,” he confessed, “I do not know that I am a wonderful man. But I know one thing: that I am speaking what Kṛṣṇa has spoken – that’s all. I am not making any addition or alteration. I am presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. This credit I can take.”

Prabhupāda continued to stress that the guru must repeat the message of Kṛṣṇa. If a so-called guru wanted to be a cheater, that was a different thing. There would always be cheaters and people who wanted to be cheated. Usually such “gurus”cheated by accepting disciples without ordering them to stop sinful acts. “If I say that you can do all nonsense,” Prabhupāda said, “simply take this mantra and give me $125, they will like. So I would have collected millions of dollars if I would have cheated like that. But I do not want that. I want one student who follows my instructions. I don’t want millions. Ekaś candras tamo hanti na ca tārāḥ sahasraśaḥ. If there is one moon in the sky, that is sufficient for illumination. There is no need of millions of stars. My position is that I want to see that at least one disciple has become a pure devotee. Of course, I have got many sincere and pure devotees. That is my good luck. But I would have been satisfied if I could find out only one. There is no need of millions of stars.”

Due to zoning restrictions, the devotees were not allowed to use the Berkeley temple as a residence. But since no suitable rooms were immediately available in the neighborhood, the devotees decided to accommodate Śrīla Prabhupāda and his personal staff in the temple for the few days of his visit, hoping the authorities wouldn’t find out.

But on the first night, at two A.M., the police came by to check. Śrīla Prabhupāda was already up, working at his Bhāgavatam translation, when the police knocked loudly on the outside door near his room. Young Mike, who was to receive initiation in a few days, had been posted as a guard. He opened the door, and three flashlights shone into his face. The officers entered and showed their credentials. “You’re not supposed to be sleeping in here,” one of them said roughly.

“I wasn’t,” said Mike.

“Come on, we saw you in your sleeping bag.”

“No,” Mike protested. “I was just lying there because I’m guarding my spiritual master.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda could easily hear the disturbance just outside his room. Other devotees who were spending the night in the building with Prabhupāda came out of their rooms and tried reasoning with the officers about the special occasion of the spiritual master’s visit. One of the policemen began roaming around, checking in corners with his flashlight, opening doors. Now all the devotees in the building, about half a dozen, were standing with the policemen in the hall outside Prabhupāda’s room.

“Where’s the old man?” one of the policemen asked.

Bahulāśva, the temple president, requested them not to disturb Śrīla Prabhupāda. But the policemen made no attempt at politeness; they were, in fact, overtly nasty. One policeman banged on the window to Prabhupāda’s room.

“Don’t disturb him,” Bahulāśva requested. “He’s a very elderly man. He’s not sleeping. These are the hours in which he writes, and all these men are his personal entourage. They’re staying here to help him. We are not violating the rules.”

Suddenly one of the policemen opened Prabhupāda’s door and shone his light in on Prabhupāda’s face. All three policemen peered in, while Śrīla Prabhupāda looked up at them, concerned, yet detached. The policeman shone his flashlight into the corners of Prabhupāda’s simple, dimly lit room. No one said anything, and after about ten seconds they shut the door.

The police officers and the devotees continued arguing, the devotees contending that they were not using the building as a residence, the police citing infractions and taking down notes. Warning that they would be back, they finally left.

The incident had constituted about a half-hour interruption of Prabhupāda’s work. But as the building became quiet again, Prabhupāda continued translating the verses of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and speaking his purports into the dictating machine.

Prabhupāda agreed to hold a press conference. He welcomed regular opportunities to address the press, because even though their stories were often negative or dwelt on controversies, whatever truth the paper printed generally outweighed the damaging reports. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa always appeared, and usually there would be mention of Prabhupāda’s preaching or of Bhagavad-gītā. Personal details about Prabhupāda were generally not offensive. He no longer expected the press to print much of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness philosophy, although occasionally some philosophy appeared. He would often request reporters to please report accurately and not misrepresent or skip over what he had said.

The reporters, however, seemed to have a fascination for the trivial. In 1968, a reporter in Montreal had dwelt on Prabhupāda’s casual shoes – “Hush-Puppied High Priest.” Nevertheless, for Prabhupāda, press interviews and press conferences were a way of preaching.

The press conference was held in the temple and was attended by about a dozen reporters and photographers. Brahmānanda Swami had the reporters write their questions on a piece of paper, so that one of the devotees could read them to Prabhupāda. Prabhupāda asked the photographers not to take pictures during the conference, since it would divert people’s attention.

Devotee: “Śrīla Prabhupāda, would you comment on opposition to the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement in this country?”

Prabhupāda: “Why should they oppose? What is the reason? If they are Christian or Jewish religious men, so we are advocating you chant the holy name of God. So why should there be objection? Is there any reason for such objection? What is the objection?”

Devotee: “Some of the objections are that the followers of the Hare Kṛṣṇa sect are on the streets or in the airports bothering people.”

Prabhupāda: “The airport itself is a botheration. So much sound, so much accident. So why this little botheration they cannot tolerate? That means intolerance. It is full of botheration, and because we are chanting they are very much disturbed. We don’t chant in the airport, but we ask people that, ‘Here is a very good book – you will benefit. If you like, you can take.’ So what is the wrong there? Tell me, what is the wrong? If I give you something very nice, is that wrong? You read any book – we have got fifty books – and you find out any fault in that. If we are distributing some bad literature which is against the social welfare, then you can object. But you see. Bring all our books here and you will see. Any page you open you will find something good. Why are you denying to distribute such literature for the benefit of the people in general? What is the wrong there?”

Devotee: “One of the things that people say is that the devotees are asking for donations, not just distributing books but asking for money. That’s a bother.”

Prabhupāda: “But he pays. If he feels botheration, why does he pay? One who feels botheration does not pay. But one who thinks that here is a nice book, then he says, ‘All right, let me take it.’ Why you take this botheration? If it is botheration, how they are purchasing? They are paying their money, hard-earned money. Do you think they are bothered and at the same time they pay?”

Prabhupāda’s sensible remark made the reporters laugh. Now they began questioning him directly.

Reporter: “What will happen to the movement in the United States when you die?”

Prabhupāda: “I will never die.”

Devotees: “Jaya! Haribol!”

Prabhupāda: “I shall live from my books, and you will utilize.”

Reporter: “Why does the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement not engage in social protest?”

Prabhupāda: “We are the best social workers. People are fools and rascals, and we are teaching them nice idea of God consciousness. We are the best social workers. We will stop all crimes. What is your social work? Producing hippies and criminals – that is not social work. Social work means the population must be very peaceful, wise, intelligent, and God conscious – first-class men. That is social work. If you produce some fourth-class, fifth-class, tenth-class of men, what is social work? We are not producing that. Just see, here is a first-class man. They do not have any bad habit – illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating, and gambling. They are all young men. They are not addicted to all these things. This is social work.”

When a reporter asked about the political effects of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, Prabhupāda said, “If this God consciousness is spread, then everyone will be brilliantly qualified.” Recalling a discussion from his morning walk on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, he added, “The students are studying psychology, but the result is that they are falling down from the tower in disappointment. And they have protected with glass.”

Bahulāśva explained further what Prabhupāda meant: “In the bell tower on the Berkeley campus, students in the sixties would jump from that tower to kill themselves. So they put glass there to stop the students from jumping. So Prabhupāda was explaining that this is their education, that after getting their education they have to commit suicide.”

Brahmānanda: “Śrīla Prabhupāda, one press man wanted to know what is this Ratha-yātrā festival. Why is it going on over here in the Western world?”

Prabhupāda: “If God is the proprietor of everything, He is also the proprietor of the Western world. Is there any dispute? If you say God is the proprietor of the Western world, what is wrong there? So if the Western world has forgotten God, and He comes to remind them, what is the wrong?”

Reporter: “But what is the purpose of the large carts and other things you use?”

Prabhupāda: “Large cart means God is very great. He requires very great car. [The devotees laugh.] Why should He go in a small car?”

Prabhupāda continued speaking until all questions were answered. Now whatever the reporters would write was up to them, but Prabhupāda had used the occasion for glorifying Lord Kṛṣṇa and explaining His movement. Whether press conference, public festival, private conversation, or translating, his purpose was the same.

During a morning walk on the Berkeley campus, Prabhupāda pronounced that nuclear war was inevitable. Devotees had brought up the topic of proliferation of atomic weapons: “Russia has so many weapons, China has so many weapons, the United States has so much …”

Prabhupāda: “Everyone now. India also.”

Devotee: “They are all afraid of using them.”

Prabhupāda: “They must use it. That is nature’s arrangement. [Chuckling.] That you all die – that is nature’s arrangement.”

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami: “When someone gets some power, he wants to try it out. Just like there was that demon, Lord Śiva gave him power so that anyone’s head he touched would fall off.”

Prabhupāda: “Yes, just like in your country there are so many cars, so that a poor man like me has car always – not an inch move on leg. But because there are so many cars, naturally they must be used. Similarly, there are so many weapons now that must be used. That is the natural sequence. They must use it.”

Bahulāśva: “That is why they have wars, just to use up the weapons.”

Prabhupāda: “Oh, yes.”

Devotee: “The only difficulty is that for one person to use the atomic weapon, that means it would be the entire waste of mankind. So everyone is afraid of using the ultimate.”

Prabhupāda: “Anyway, they must be used. There’s no doubt about it. Therefore we can say there will be war. This is no astrology. It is a natural conclusion.”

Devotee: “That will be total destruction.”

Prabhupāda: “Well, total or partial, that we shall see. But they must be used.”

Devotee: “Under the threat of nuclear war, wouldn’t Kṛṣṇa consciousness be more easy to spread?”

Prabhupāda: “No. Threat is already there. But they are such fools that they are not afraid of the threat. Threat is already there. Everyone will die – that is the problem. But who is caring for this? They are avoiding this. They cannot take any antimeasures.”

Yadubara: “So it will take a war to bring them to their senses a bit?”

Prabhupāda: “No, war is already going on. But they are so senseless that they will not come to this. They are so rascal. Therefore they are described as mūḍha – all rascals.”

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: “It is very hard to preach to these fools, Prabhupāda.”

Prabhupāda: “No, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That will be sufficient.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda had rarely been so conclusive about nuclear war. Earlier in the year, on a walk in Māyāpur, he had discussed how there would be a World War III, and that talk had become a sensation throughout ISKCON. But before, he had always offered the alternative: if the people of the world could take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then the cumulative karma could be reversed. But now he said it was inevitable.

While in Berkeley, Śrīla Prabhupāda received a visit from Yogi Bhajan, founder of the HHH Foundation, Swami Chidananda, president of the Divine Life Society, and Jain leader Swami Sushill Muni, president of the World Fellowship of Religion. Swami Sushill wore a white turban and, across his mouth, a white mask, in the tradition of the nonviolent Jains, who try to avoid killing even airborne microbes. Yogi Bhajan, dressed in typical Sikh fashion of white turban and white loose-fitting garments, was accompanied by a few of his Western disciples, similarly attired. Visits from various swamis and yogīs were not uncommon for Śrīla Prabhupāda. Even when he did not agree with a particular philosophy, he was always the cordial host, pleasantly receiving guests in his simple quarters.

In Hawaii Yogi Bhajan had also visited Śrīla Prabhupāda to invite him to his Unity of Man Conference, which many sādhus were already scheduled to attend. Śrīla Prabhupāda had spoken sternly, pointing out that simply gathering people at a meeting was not unity. Real unity could be achieved only if the participants of the meeting agreed to accept the authorized science of God in the revealed scriptures. Now they had come to invite him to a second Unity of Man conference.

Swami Sushill and Swami Chidananda were particularly enthusiastic in praising Śrīla Prabhupāda and his ISKCON. “Your movement is something different,” said Swami Chidananda. “It’s all over the world, and you have so many thousands of people all over the world. We can’t describe it. It’s so amazing, and in this age how wonderfully it has been done! Without God’s mercy nothing could have been done. That six lakhs of magazines have come out and been distributed in one month – it’s amazing!”

Swami Sushill added, “You have established the same principles without any change here in a modern way. In Bengal, without your āśrama we couldn’t have done anything. When we know there is an āśrama of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, we don’t need to worry about anything, where to stay. What strikes me is that you don’t compromise anywhere.”

They mentioned the horrible sin of cow slaughter, and Śrīla Prabhupāda told how his movement was protecting cows in New Vrindaban. When Swami Sushill asked how Prabhupāda interested the young people in God, Prabhupāda gave the example that the most popular sweet shop in Delhi was the one where everything was made with pure ghee. “If the thing is good,” Prabhupāda said, “then there won’t be a shortage of customers.” He further pointed out that his teachings were based purely on Bhagavad-gītā, surrender to Kṛṣṇa.

When Swami Sushill asked how Prabhupāda got his followers to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa, Prabhupāda replied, “It’s God who did it. God says, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. So that is our duty – just to take shelter of Him. Lord Caitanya says, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa. That is, whoever you meet, just preach the teachings of Kṛṣṇa as in the Bhagavad-gītā. I don’t have any upadeśa [instructions]. It’s just Kṛṣṇa’s upadeśa. We are all foolish. We can’t have any upadeśa. So what are the teachings of Kṛṣṇa? We just keep on saying them. Kṛṣṇa says do like that, and that’s what we do. So this is our secret. I do this, and that’s what I teach to all these people. I am totally against manufactured religion. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam – just as Kṛṣṇa says.”

In reply to Swami Sushill’s question of how people could be brought together, Prabhupāda quoted a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that lists many races of the world and explains that all of them can be purified by taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa’s pure devotee.

Prabhupāda’s guests again invited him to their conference, and Swami Sushill added, “We were very glad to meet you today. We would like to call you sometime in our meeting of yoga-dharma.”

“We’ll come,” said Prabhupāda. “What about your fellowship?”

“It’s called World Fellowship of Religion,” said Swami Chidananda. “Yogiji has made this Unity of Man Conference.”

“But we invited him,” said Yogi Bhajan, referring to the previous invitation.

Swami Chidananda: “But now you are having the second one.”

Yogi Bhajan: “Yes, the second meeting is in Mexico. We will call him then as well.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda smiled and said, “I told you before, there is not going to be any unity.” This candid remark made them laugh.

“You say,” said Swami Chidananda, remembering Prabhupāda’s analysis, “that until everyone is God-minded, until then… ”

“When God will desire,” said Yogi Bhajan, “then everyone will become God-minded. What’s the great deal about it?”

“God Himself says,” said Śrīla Prabhupāda, “duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam – there is suffering. You cannot stay in this world. You have to leave. The main problem is birth, old age, disease, and death. So we are not anxious to adjust these things here, but these are the real problems.”

“What can we do about birth, old age, disease, and death?” asked Swami Chidananda.

Śrīla Prabhupāda continued preaching Bhagavad-gītā. Without overtly disagreeing, Prabhupāda’s guests inquired and listened with respect, considering him a great spiritual leader, potent in spreading Hindu dharma.

“He is great,” said Yogi Bhajan. “That’s what I want to learn – how he can do that.”

The conversation turned, and Prabhupāda mentioned that Yogi Bhajan was from the Sikh community, which is famous for its brave fighters. “When the British people were defeated,” said Śrīla Prabhupāda, “it was by the Sikh people. I have seen it. It is due to the Sikhs only. The Sikhs are kṣatriyas. Some of them are brāhmaṇas, brāhmaṇa-kṣatriyas.”

Swami Sushill: “Yes, I said to some of my students that you go to Prabhupādajī, and he’ll make you brāhmaṇa-kṣatriyas.”

Prabhupāda: “Yes, let us cooperate like that. You take the work of kṣatriyas, and we take the work of brāhmaṇas. For brāhmaṇas we need brain, and for kṣatriyas we need strength.”

As they spoke about nonviolence, Śrīla Prabhupāda argued that if one does not become God conscious, then he will undoubtedly be committing hiṁsā, or violence.

Yogi Bhajan: “Yes, when they come to their senses, then they remember God.”

Prabhupāda (laughing): “Here in the West there is only hiṁsā, nothing else.” Prabhupāda’s guests laughed with him.

Afterward, they took some photographs, and Śrīla Prabhupāda invited them, along with some of his disciples, to sit and take kṛṣṇa-prasādam together. Śrīla Prabhupāda requested his guests to attend the San Francisco Ratha-yātrā, to be held the next day, and they agreed.

July 20, 1975
This was not only the largest ISKCON Ratha-yātrā ever but also the largest gathering of devotees to date, larger even than the international gathering at Māyāpur earlier that year. Preparations at the festival site had expanded to include prasādam booths, Deity paraphernalia displays, souvenirs, and Prabhupāda’s books. Thousands joined the more than eight hundred devotees in the procession through Golden Gate Park.

Because the builders of the carts had decided to make steel wheels instead of the usual wooden ones, difficulty arose. Śrīla Prabhupāda had warned them, “This is your American disease – always changing. Do not change the old design.” But they had already done it. Riding in Subhadrā’s cart, which had wooden wheels, Śrīla Prabhupāda experienced no personal inconvenience. The other two carts, however, did not fare so well; they began to vibrate so severely that support beams had to be added to the spokes during the procession. Soon the wheels became misshapen, and they creaked and rattled as though about to collapse. But somehow, after much difficulty, all three carts completed the course.

In the midst of the Ratha-yātrā activities, one of the devotees asked Śrīla Prabhupāda if he had ever attended the Ratha-yātrā festival in Jagannātha Purī. “No,” Prabhupāda replied, “I was having my own Ratha-yātrā.”