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In the evening, three close associates of the Melbourne temple visited Srila Prabhupada: Raymond Lopez, a prominent Melbourne criminal barrister, and Wally Strauss, a solicitor, had both defended the devotees in many legal cases; Bob Bourne, a professional photographer, who had taken many beautiful photographs of the Deities, had taken the group photograph in the temple the previous day. Madhudvisa introduced them all as they took their seats before Srila Prabhupada who sat wrapped in a soft woollen chaddar on his chaise longue.

"In 1973," Madhudvisa began, "the night before the Ratha-yatra chariot festival, devotees stole a whole glass-house full of carnations to decorate the Ratha-yatra carts, and somehow Raymond successfully defended the devotees, avoiding prosecution."

Prabhupada smiled and proceeded to tell an amusing story: "There was a great devotee in South India who stole money from the treasury of the Mohammedan king and constructed a very nice temple. Later on he was caught by the king, the Nawab, and put into jail. That night, two beautiful boys came to the Nawab in a dream. One of them spoke to him. 'Whatever money he has taken you can take from me. But please release him.'

"The Nawab replied in the dream, 'If I get my money back, I'll release him'. The Nawab's dream broke and he saw on the floor all the money, but the room was empty. Then he could immediately understand that he had wrongly imprisoned a great devotee. He immediately had the devotee brought to the palace.

"'You are released. Whatever you have already taken, that's all right. Please take all this money, and spend it as you like'."

The guests relaxed as Prabhupada continued. "So devotees sometimes do like that. Actually, nothing is private property. That is our philosophy. Isavasyam idam sarvam: Everything belongs to God. That's a fact. Under the influence of maya, we are thinking that 'This is my property'."

Prabhupada pointed to the blue chaise longue on which he sat. "Just like suppose this cushion. Wherefrom the wood has come? Has anybody produced wood? Who has produced? It is God's property. Rather we have stolen God's property and claiming, 'My property'. Then Australia. The Englishmen came here, but is that the property of the Englishmen? It was there. America was there. And, when everything will be finished, it will still be there. In the middle we come and claim, 'It is my property', and fight. Is it not?"

Prabhupada smiled at Raymond. "You are a barrister. You can judge better." Raymond and the others laughed.

"Originally, everything belongs to God. So why we are claiming, 'It is my property'? Suppose you have come here. You sit down for one hour, two hours, and if you claim, 'It is my property', is that very good judgment? You have come from outside, you are allowed to sit down here for two hours and if you claim 'This is my property'. Similarly we come here. We take birth either in America or in Australia or in India and remain for fifty, sixty or a hundred years. Why shall I claim, 'It is my property'?"

Raymond suggested that it would be reasonable to argue that if we owned some property we could claim possession of it. Prabhupada agreed, but added, "For a time you have got possession of the chair -- that does not mean your property."

Raymond, applying his legal logic, continued. "But I suppose if somebody came and took the chair while I've got it in my possession, I'd be terribly upset about it."

Prabhupada stuck to the original point. "No, that is another thing. Nobody will disturb you. You remain in your chair. That does not mean that because you have sat down on this chair for two hours you become proprietor."

Wally spoke out jokingly. "One gets attached to the chair. I like the chair. It's a nice chair."

"No, that's all right," Prabhupada continued. "You like, you sit down and you go when it is finished. But how do you claim that it is your property?"

Prabhupada gave the Krsna conscious perspective: "The conclusion is 'It is God's property. God has given us to live. Let us thank God, feel obliged to Him and glorify Him.' That is our vision. That is the Krsna consciousness movement. You accept the real position, that nothing belongs to you, everything belongs to God. You also belong to God, your body, your self, everything belongs to God. This body is material body. That material energy, earth, water, air, fire -- everything belongs to God. This sea belongs to God. Water, vast water. You have not created, neither your forefather has created. So this body is made of earth, water, air, fire, ether, five elements. So your body is also God's. So far I am soul, I am also part and parcel of God. So everything belongs to God. This is Krsna consciousness."

cont'd


- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu