George Harrison & Srila Prabhupada
Bhaktivedanta Manor, August 22, 1973
George: We’ve just been making some music in California and one of the songs which, ah, it's Ravi Shankar’s music. But one of the songs is withVedic, based on the Vedic thing is jaya jagadéça hare, which is the tenavatäras of Viñëu.
Prabhupäda: Oh yes. Keçava dhåta mina çaréra jaya jagadéça hare.
George: Beautiful song. But I was wondering during that song, finding out the ten incarnations as the turtle and the midget and all the different...
Prabhupäda: That is Jayadeva’s.
George: I was trying to figure why there was no, never anything spoken about Kåñëa.
Prabhupäda: Kåñëa is not incarnation.
George: Yes.
Prabhupäda: Kåñëa is not incarnation. Kåñëa is the origin of all incarnations. He is called, incarnations are called avatära.
George: Avatära.
Prabhupäda: Yes. And Kåñëa is avatäri. Avatäri means...
George: Is it with an “i”?
Prabhupäda: From whom all avatäras come.
George: Avatära with an “i” on the end. Is that avatäri or with an “e”?
Prabhupäda: Avatäry, yes, “y”. Avatäry.
George: So does it have a “y” on the end?
Prabhupäda: Yes, avatäry.
George: Because there’s so many times where they say in books...
Prabhupäda: Avatära of, and He is avatäry. This is the difference. Therefore in that song he remarked, keçava dhåta mina çaréra jaya jagadéça hare. It is praying to Kåñëa. Keçava is the name of Kåñëa. "Keçava, You have appeared. You have incarnated as the mina-çaréra”, this varäha-çaréra, nrsimha-çaréra. Keçava dhåta-buddha-çaréra jaya jagadéça hare. Keçava dhåta rama-çaréra jaya jagadéça. Keçava dhåta raghu-vira rüpa jaya jagadéça. Like that.
George: Which... Whereabouts would the words appear? Because...
Prabhupäda: It is composed by one Vaiñëava poet,
George: Yeah.
Prabhupäda: Jayadeva Gosvämé.
George: Yeah. But is there any place where those words have been printed? Where I could see what the words...
Prabhupäda: Oh, we can give you.
George: Do you have it in any of...
Prabhupäda: Oh yes. Can you... Where is Satsvarupa? Call him. I can give you immediately. Ask him give it immediate. That is not difficult. Keçava... pralaya-payodhi-jale dhåtavän asi vedaà.
George: Next time I come I’ll bring these songs for you to hear.
Prabhupäda: Oh yes.
George: Really nice. We did...
Prabhupäda: Who has sung? Ravi Shankar?
George: No, on this one it was actually made a few years ago and we just took... The tape was never released.
Prabhupäda: Sung by whom?
George: It’s sung by... He’s the son of the priest from the temple in... Oh, what’s the place, just south of Bombay on the beach? Goa. Goa.
Prabhupäda: Oh.
George: Some priest in the temple, that’s his son. And the other song is sung by Lakñmé Shankar.
Prabhupäda: Lakñmé Shankar?
George: Lakñmé Shankar. I think she, you met once?
Prabhupäda: Lakñmé Shankar?
George: She is... Remember when you met Ravi Shankar?
Prabhupäda: Oh yes.
George: Lakñmé is Ravi’s elder brother... He’s got another elder brother, Rajendra Shankar, it’s his wife. And she sings the songs.
Prabhupäda: Oh. Can you give in type-writing with diacritic marks thisavatäras, däsa avatära?
Pradyumna: We have already...
Prabhupäda: Pralaya pay... You have got it?
Pradyumna: I have it here. I’ll write it out.
Prabhupäda: It is printed?
Pradyumna: Yes.
Prabhupäda: No, no, that is Bengali.
Pradyumna: Yes, but I can transliterate it and write it out.
Prabhupäda: Yes. Then, so...
George: Could you... Do you remember the record you had on in India that was Kåñëa. Did Prabhupäda hear that?
Çyämasundara: I don’t think so.
George: Because that was Lakñmé singing.
Çyämasundara: Oh. Is it a sister-in-law of Ravi Shankar?
George: Yes.
Prabhupäda: Sister-in-law?
George: She sings really nice. On the record we’ve just been making...
Prabhupäda: The Akash-Ganga, just below our apartment. She was Ravi Shankar’s wife.
George: No, no, no.
Çyämasundara: Former wife.
Prabhupäda: Yes. Yes.
George: She is not... She is a very strange person, the one who lived... But the songs, there’s jaya jagadéça hare, then three more songs all about Kåñëa. One is called, “I am Missing You, Kåñëa, Where Are You?” Which Ravi wrote... The first time he’s written a song for the English language.
Prabhupäda: If Ravi Shankar is interested, we can give so many nice songs about Kåñëa.
George: Well, he, you know... Yes, I’m sure... But he’s... All the time... He has songs, two written in Bengali, this ‘Supani Me’ and ‘Kahe Kaliwa’.
Prabhupäda: Oh, that is Hindi song.
George: Hindi.
Prabhupäda: There is one song by Narottam das Thakur,
hari hari biphale janama goìäinu.
mänuñya-janama päiyä rädhä-kåñëa nä bhajiyä.
I think we have... I sung. Have you got that record? So if he is interested in singing about Kåñëa, oh, he can do it.
George: There’s this one song...
Prabhupäda: And then join together you and he...
George: We’ve been doing that.
Çyämasundara: They’ve been doing that.
Prabhupäda: I can help you.
George: For some time now. But there’s one, this one song which is so simple and the melody and the words are so simple but it’s beautiful.
Prabhupäda: This keçava dhåta jagadéça?
George: No, this other one. It’s in English. “I am Missing You.” It only has three lines. “I am Missing You, Kåñëa, Where Are You?”
Prabhupäda: That is your song?
George: No, it’s Ravi Shankar’s. “I am missing you, Kåñëa, where are you? I am missing you, Kåñëa, where are you? Though I can’t see you, I hear your flute all the while.” Repeats. “Please, come wipe my tears and make me smile.” But it’s so sweet, I’m sure it’s going to be very, very popular song.
Prabhupäda: It is nice song.
Çyämasundara: They are releasing it as a popular recording. George produced it and Ravi wrote it and his sister-in-law sings it.
Prabhupäda: Oh, that woman came, that is his sister-in-law?
Çyämasundara: Lakñmé.
Prabhupäda: His elder brother is Uday Shankar. He is very good dancer.
George: He’s a great dancer, yes.
Prabhupäda: He, I think he is of our age. He is old man.
George: Yes. He’s had... You know, he had a lot of strokes and brain hemorrhage and things all at the same time. But he’s so strong that he just keeps going.
Prabhupäda: Still.
Pradyumna: I can’t find that. I did find jaya jagadéça hare.
Prabhupäda: Oh. Yes, yes.
Çyämasundara: It’s Prabhupäda singing jaya jagadéça hare? I didn’t know how it sounds.
Pradyumna: It’s pretty good.
Prabhupäda: This song is very famous song, Jaya Jagadéça. Yes.
Çyämasundara: Here’s that verse in Bhagavad-gétä where Kåñëa says that “Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin. For in every respect I am the source of the demigods.”
Prabhupäda: Yes.
George: That’s great.
(devotee plays tape of Çréla Prabhupäda singing Jaya Jagadéça hare for a few verses)
Prabhupäda: This is nice speaker.
Pradyumna: Would you prefer it on top? (tape turned off)
George: Yes, we have a different sort of tune. So, I just got a hint of that thing, that the temple in L.A...
Prabhupäda: What is that? Puri?
Mälaté: I think we are giving you... We are spoiling you little tonight.
George: Can I take this one? I've never seen... We buy the Indian version.
Prabhupäda: Yes, take it. Now take prasädam. Prasädam is ready .
George: There’ll be more temples... In the end there’ll be more temples than hotels.
Prabhupäda: Hare Kåñëa. (Laughs) Jaya. First when I entered this room, I said, “All glories to George Harrison.” (Laughs) Yes. You have given us this shelter and Kåñëa will give you shelter at His lotus feet. We shall pray always like that. Yes.
George: Well, maybe in the future this will...
Prabhupäda: Why future? In this life.
George: No, I mean in the future in this life, future. Or maybe...
Prabhupäda: Oh yes. No, it is, Kåñëa is favoring you. You are sincere and Kåñëa has already favored you. So just intelligently utilize your favorable condition. Then everything will go on rightly.
George: Well, everything feels so exciting at the moment, what’s happening. The future is just going to be overwhelming.
Comments