After five busy days of preaching in Sydney, Srila Prabhupada flew to Melbourne, the capital of the State of Victoria. As the Ansett Airlines flight landed at Melbourne's Tullamarine airport, about 20 devotees chanted loudly near Arrival Bay Three, despite objections from airport officials.
This was Prabhupada's first visit to Melbourne. For many of the devotees who lived in the fledgling temple, it was to be their premier chance for personal association with their spiritual master, about whom they had heard so much. The kirtana reached a climax, then abruptly ended. As Prabhupada emerged, devotees showered him with marigolds and purple dahlias, and prostrated themselves on the floor. Prabhupada walked briskly to the VIP lounge for a pre-arranged press conference as the chanting resumed.
While press and television news crews rushed to set up their lights and cameras, Prabhupada sat down cross-legged on a soft chair and accompanied the chanting with karatals. He sat gravely, covered in garlands, surveying the small band of devotees that sat before him. Behind him on the wall, the devotees had mounted a bright red poster advertising Prabhupada's speaking engagements over the next few days.
The questions came quickly: "What is your purpose in coming to Australia?" asked one reporter.
"My purpose in coming is to broadcast the message of love of God, achievable through the chanting of the holy names, Hare Krsna. By chanting the maha-mantra, the heart becomes cleansed of all dirty things."
"Aren't you withdrawing from life?"
"No, we are also working, we are also eating, we are also sleeping; but while other people are concerned with the material necessities of life, we are concerned with the spiritual necessities."
There was a great need, he explained, for God consciousness everywhere. Therefore, he said, he travelled everywhere, just as a salesman travels everywhere. A salesman, he said, looks for customers wherever he can find them. Similarly, he was travelling, searching for anyone intelligent enough to accept his message.
"There is no difference in coming to Australia," he said. "The governments have made a demarcation, "This is Australia", but we see everywhere as the land of Krsna."
- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu
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