Devotee: Srila Prabhupada, the other day we were talking about proving different assumptions through archeological findings.

Prabhupada: That is also bogus. Archeological findings is bogus.

Brahmananda: But it seems that big skeletons of all these big dinosaurs.

Prabhupada: That we have already information. We have got timingala. Just like big house. They can swallow up, what is called?

Devotee: Whale. Whale.

Prabhupada: Whale (indistinct).

Tamala Krishna: No but these dinosaurs move on the land. They’re not fish. And they’re very big and we have information.

Prabhupada: So what is to you? You are also a created being. He’s also created being. That’s the (indistinct). You are not creator of the (indistinct).

Tamala Krishna: But you say that there was more intelligent life previously, whereas we see these dinosaurs were previously.

Prabhupada: But you do not see, you simply imagine.

Tamala Krishna: No. We have the skeletons.

Devotee: We have the bones, the bones of animals.

Prabhupada: But that’s all right. There was a big animal, that’s all. Just like you are a foolish animal, so there was a big animal. What is the difference? They are animals.

Tamala Krishna: But we have skeletons showing the men at that time also and their brains were very tiny.

Prabhupada: That you say. But I don’t believe it. I have not seen.

Tamala Krishna: Well, they have skeletons in the museum.

Brahmananda: Very thick skulls and very small brains.

Tamala Krishna: Almost like a ape.

Prabhupada: That’s all right. There was a big animal. So what is the difference? They are animals, big or small. You have seen a skeleton of pygmy man also. So where is that man now? You have seen pygmy man, you don’t require archeological. So where is that man?

Tamala Krishna: No, they don’t live any more. Now we are more intelligent. Previously there were pygmy men, very less intelligent, small, not nice looking. Now we have got morei

Prabhupada: According to our sastra you are going to be pygmy men. That is, there is proof, because you are not as strong as your forefathers. That’s a fact. You are becoming dwarfer, dwarfer. According to our sastra you come to that pygmy, (indistinct) in due course of time. As it was before, so again the time is repeating, history repeating.

Tamala Krishna: Then that means our pygmy men were from a previous Kali-yuga?

Prabhupada: Yes. We say there was Kali-yuga. Four yugas are changing.

Tamala Krishna: Dinosaurs also?

Prabhupada: Yes.

Tamala Krishna: They’re from Kali-yuga?

Prabhupada: Kali-yuga, any yuga. The things are going on by nature’s way, prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmanii [BG 3.27]. They’re going on.

Devotee: But if we have bones from so many yugas ago.

Prabhupada: That’s all right. There are 8,400,000 species of life. You have seen some of them. That’s all.

Ramesvara: They have got so many bones in the museums showing these gigantic animals.

Prabhupada: Not gigantic. There are bones. But that animal is still there, whalefish.

Ramesvara: Whalefish.

Prabhupada: Oh, yes. Very big body.

Ramesvara: Some have become extinct.

Prabhupada: Why they should be extinct?

Hrdayananda: No longer on the earth.

Ramesvara: No longer on this planet.

Prabhupada: (too much noise) Not necessarily. They are within the ocean.

Hari-sauri: No, other animals.

Prabhupada: What other animals?

Ramesvara: Those gigantic, they called them.

Hrdayananda: Brontasaurus.

Ramesvara: Tyrannasaurus. Gigantic animals, they say are meat-eaters.

Hrdayananda: Dinosaurus.

Hari-sauri: Tetrasaurus.

Prabhupada: Another imagination. These are actual facts.(?)

Hari-sauri: They just made up different compositions of bones and then drew some outlines on them.

Prabhupada: Yes. They are imagination.

Hari-sauri: But you said in Hawaii though that there are some animals that are as big as skyscrapers?

Prabhupada: Yes, these are birds. It is far from this earth though. They travel from one planet to another.

Ramesvara: So these bones that they have found of these gigantic animals, they were all living underneath the water.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Ramesvara: Not on the land.

Prabhupada: Maybe. But the list is there: jalaja nava-laksani. There are 900,000 different forms, and how many we have seen? There is information in the sastra. Pasavas trimsal-laksani. Three million different types of animals.

Hari-sauri: We’ve seen a few hundred at most.

Prabhupada: That’s all. (laughs) That is also doubtful.

Conversation with Devotees, Hyderabad, April 14, 1975