In the beginning, when my Guru Maharaja ordered me, I thought it that “I shall first of all become very rich man; then I shall preach.” [laughs] So I was doing very nice in business. In the business circle, I got very good name, and with whom I was dealing business, they were very satisfied. But Krsna made so trick that He broke everything, and He obliged me to take sannyasa. So that is Hari. So that I had to come to your country with only seven dollars.

So they are criticizing, “The Swami came here with no money. Now he’s so opulent.” [chuckles] So they are taking the back side, black side, you see? Of course, I have become profited, profitable, or I have acquired profit. I left my home, my children and everything. I came here as a pauper, with seven dollars. That is no money. But I have got now big properties, hundreds of children. [laughter] And I haven’t got to think for their provision; they are thinking of me. So that is Krsna’s favor.

In the beginning, it appears to be very bitter. When I took sannyasa, when I was living alone, I was feeling very bitter. Sometimes I was thinking, “Whether I have done wrong by accepting?” So when I was publishing this Back to Godhead from Delhi, one day one bull thrashed me, and I fell down on the footpath and I got severe injury. I was alone. So I was thinking, “What is this?” So I had many days of very tribulations, but it was all meant for good.

So don’t be afraid of tribulations. Go forward. Krsna will give you protection.

Srila Prabhupada, lecture — April 17, 1969, New York