Came here to give

Speaker: Srila Prabhupada
Source: Gandhari – chaste and faithful

There is a proverb: apanar dhana bilaye diye bhiksa mage parer dvare(?). They have lost their own culture, and they are now beggars. They are going to beg from door to door in the foreign countries. When I was speaking in Berkeley University sometimes in the year 1966, one Indian student stood up and he said, “Swamiji, what this Krsna consciousness movement will do? We require now technology.” So I replied, “Yes. You are after technology. So you are a beggar. I am not a beggar. I have come here to give something. That is the difference. I have come here to give some culture, and you have come to imitate the Western civilization by technology. That is the difference. You’ll remain a beggar, I shall remain a giver. That is the difference.” So still I am maintaining that position of giving, not taking. Before me, so many swamijis went there. They did not give, but they took something and came here and advertised themselves as foreign-returned sannyasi and exploited the people. They lost even their original dress. Everyone knows, I have never changed my dress. Rather, I have given the dress to the foreigners, and they have taken it.