True wealth is cows and grains, not paper currency that perishes with governments.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Lecture [partially recorded] — July 27, 1968, Montreal 680727LE-MONTREAL [06:03 Minutes] Prabhupāda: ...caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda [I offer my obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all others in the line of devotion.] pañca-tattvātmakaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ bhakta-rūpa svarūpakam bhaktāvatāraṁ bhaktākhyaṁ namāmi bhakta-śaktikam [Cc. Ādi 1.14] [I offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is nondifferent from His features as a devotee, devotional incarnation, devotional manifestation, pure devotee and devotional energy.] So Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is full representation of Kṛṣṇa in six aspects. That is... In the beginning of Caitanya-caritāmṛta it has been explained, vande 'haṁ gurūn īśam īśāvatārakān īśa-bhaktān, prakāśāṁś ca tac-chaktīḥ [Cc. Ādi 1.1], like that. [I offer my respectful obeisances unto the spiritual masters, the devotees of the Lord, the Lord’s incarnations, His plenary portions, His energies and the primeval Lord Himself, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.] So the Supreme Personality of Godhead is principally not divided, but He is understood under six primary features. The primary, first feature, is guru, because guru gives the initiation to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
That feature is represented by Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. He is the original guru feature, and He is manifested..., first manifested expansion of Kṛṣṇa. There is a prayer of Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura in which it has been established that vrajendra-nandana yei, śacī-suta haila sei, balarāma haila nitāi [Hari Hari Biphale]. [Just to deliver all the sinful persons of this age by propagating the chanting of the holy name, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma have advented as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu. Jagāi and Mādhāi are evidence of Their success.] Vrajendra-nandana means Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mahārāja Nanda. Mahārāja Nanda was very rich man.
He had ninety hundred thousands of cows. He was... Formerly people were considered rich by possession of cows and grains—not by paper. [laughter] [chuckles] At the present moment, we have got bunch of paper.
As soon as the particular government is finished, we are all..., we shall be finished. You simply... Just like in Germany it happened. The mark was selling like anything.
You see? So these are not money. Actually money means... Either you say livestock or grain stock, that is money. So in Sanskrit literature we find dhānyena dhanavān.
One who has got large quantity of paddy, rice, he is rich man. Still in India, in villages, when a daughter is to be offered to a particular house, it is inquired, "How much stock of grains that family has got?" They do not inquire, "How much stock exchange he has got in the bank?" [laughter] No. But factually, if you have got grains at your home, then there is no question of economic problem. If you have simply got grains and cow, then you won't have to go other place.
You are... That was the basic principle of civilization, that you possess some cows and some land so that you can produce foodstuff. That's all. Your whole economic problem is solved.