Genuine bhakti and Krishna's protection transcend legal battles; maintain spiritual purity while strategically securing devotee safety.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Ādi-keśava: ...about the handling of this case in New York. We've been talking a lot about the general issues, but there's some specific points. Some are very practical, have come up. For instance... Prabhupāda: If you feel alone, you take some other with you whom you like. Ādi-keśava: Excuse me? Prabhupāda: If you are feeling alone, you must take somebody else, one or two, with you. Ādi-keśava: I always have Tripurāri Swami with me. Prabhupāda: Gosvāmī is...
That's all right. Ādi-keśava: We're together a lot. But one thing is, when we are fighting this case, there's a lot of legal expense, because although we are fighting the atheists in the courtroom, the lawyers who are working for us, they are also atheists, but they are the best materially. Our one lawyer, for instance, in New York, he is considered one of the best lawyers in the country. But he is charging us so much money, and although we do as much work as we can ourselves...
Prabhupāda: Why we appoint lawyer? Ādi-keśava: Well, in the court there are certain things that only the lawyer may argue. We're not allowed to argue ourselves. Now, one thing is that Hari-śauri has just told me that Guru-kṛpā Mahārāja has one man on his party who was a lawyer, a member of the bar in Australia. So I'm thinking to ask Guru-kṛpā Mahārāja if he can come with us to New York and get admitted to the bar in New York and become our attorney. Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.
It will be very nice. Ādi-keśava: Because otherwise it is costing so much money. Prabhupāda: Yes. Immediately. Ādi-keśava: One other thing that is sometimes arising is that when we are arguing the case in the court... Prabhupāda: Why not get help from some Indian lawyer? Ādi-keśava: Some are willing to help us. This one man Din Agnihotri from Southern University Law School, he helped us make the basis of the case. But most of the Indian lawyers, they will not help us. Prabhupāda: Why? Ādi-keśava: They are afraid of their own status.
They are worried that... Because they work in those courts every day, and this is an unpopular issue, so they are afraid, because their position is not so secure. So they will not help us in that way. They will come and talk to me and give some advice, but they don't want their name in the courtroom.
So sometimes this is difficult, because we need expert lawyers, but these lawyers are atheists, so sometimes they argue with me. They say, "Why are you always trying to preach in the court when we are trying to present your case?" I said, "That is my business, and I am paying you." So sometimes they are arguing, "No, if you want to win this case, then we have to argue in this way." Just like when we were... They were questioning on the stand, and our one devotee was reading Bhagavad-gītā for the answers, and they were objecting, our lawyers, saying, "No, we shouldn't do this." But I was saying, "No, this is the way that they will see that we are genuine." In the end it proved it was right. The judge respected that. Prabhupāda: Yes, we must argue from our books.
Therefore I say without any lawyer. Keep one lawyer to present, but our arguments should be from the books. Ādi-keśava: Right. Another thing is that this group, they are very organized. Prabhupāda: Yes. They have got money. Ādi-keśava: They have big money.