Life is spiritual and eternal, not merely chemical—Vedic knowledge must challenge modern scientific materialism with rigorous scholarship.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Svarūpa Dāmodara: ...Calcutta yesterday all day. I was stranded for several hours. Prabhupāda: So this can be given to the Deities, these flowers. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They're very nice. Are they scented? Svarūpa Dāmodara: Some scent. We have another one.
It has 108 petals exactly. It's white when full bloomed. Just started, this monsoon. The full season will come sometime in August, August and September.
Lotus are everywhere, these flowers, on either side of the road, and all lakes full of lotuses. Prabhupāda: Pineapple. Your country is famous for pineapple. Svarūpa Dāmodara: Pineapple is very sweet. This is another season, but in about three weeks the larger variety will come. This is a little smaller type.
The bigger ones, big. And it is green outside, but it's very sweet, full of juice. The hillsides all covered with pineapples, and it's very cheap. Prabhupāda: So Calcutta, there was rain. Svarūpa Dāmodara: Oh, yes. The farming is very good this time in our side, Bengal and in Assam and in Manipur.
So much rain from the south. And I saw from the plane that everything is already green. Prabhupāda: [aside:] Why you are bringing? Is it necessary? [break] Svarūpa Dāmodara: But he doesn't want to speak. Prabhupāda: You have asked him already? Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes, I said, "We are coming in September," so he's... We'll be giving lectures there.
And the Atul Sāhā personally told me that he never saw these ideas before. He said this is the first time that he's seeing such things, that science can be utilized in understanding the nature of the self or life from Bhagavad-gītā. Then I also went to Bose Institute. I wanted to talk with the dir... Prabhupāda: Oh, Bose Institute. Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes.
The director wasn't there, but there was very leading professor. His name was Amitābha Sen. He's the..., just next to the... Prabhupāda: Woman? Woman? Svarūpa Dāmodara: No, no, Amitābha Sen is the name.