a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1973 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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31 December 2007 Monday, 31 December, 1973 Los Angeles My dear Tamala Krsna Goswami, Please accept my blessings. I have recently received one letter from Sridhara das Brahmacari who has left Bombay and gone to Vrindaban. He reports he is disappointed having been removed from his job of managing construction in Bombay. Sridhara is a very good boy and a hard worker. While I was there it was fixed up that he should take the responsibility for construction work. Why was he removed? Now Yasomatinandana is coming to join you and he is a qualified engineer. Between he and Sridhara they can, I think, manage construction affairs without your having to put a karmi professional in charge. We have to manage our men in such a way that they may bend to our will but not break. After all, our work is purely voluntary. If they become angry and leave then our work is defeated. I have directed Sridhara to return to Bombay and work with Giriraja. Please give him some facility so he may work happily. Hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:SDG N.B. Mr. Asnami has phoned that I.T. certificate is obtained. Now what _ further about municipality? Labels: Bombay, construction, management, Vrindavan letters | 17:35 |24 December 2007 Monday, 24 December, 1973 Los Angeles My dear Tamala Krsna Goswami, Please accept my blessings. I am in receipt of your letter dated December 19, 1973 and I have carefully noted the contents. I have received all your previous letters and have replied to each of them. Regarding the rents collected from the apartments at our Juhu Beach property, this money must be kept and spent only for Deity worship and Temple maintenance. It must not be used for any other purpose. Regarding Vrindaban construction, we are trying to make an arrangement with one gentleman here in the U.S.A. for giving him dollars and taking rupees in India at the rate of 22 1/2 rupees per dollar. Presently the Book Trust and Gurukrpa and Yasodanandana Swamis' travelling sankirtana party are collecting the $100,000.00. To date approximately $30,000.00 has been collected. We are waiting to see if the arrangement with this man for three to one rate exchange will actually materialize and at the same time are still collecting the funds. So it may take one to two months so for the time being you will have to stand by for these funds. Meanwhile construction of the Vrindaban Temple should go on with whatever you have there. The Temple construction should go on first and later the residential quarters. You may assure the life members that they will surely get their residential quarters without fail, but first the Temple must be built. The $100,000.00 being transferred is for the Vrindaban project and other arrangements will have to be made for the new kitchen and pavilion in Mayapur. Whether or not the Rs. 30,000 has been repaid to my fixed deposit account from the money I advanced for purchasing our Juhu Beach property? It was supposed to be repaid before my coming back but I do not know if it has been done. Yes you keep the Rs. 2 lakhs reserved for purchasing the Mahatma Gandhi building. One thing is the Rs. 65,000 from the BBT savings account actually belongs to the Mayapur-Vrindaban Trust. This I have discussed fully with Giriraja and Karandhara and Giriraja will explain what is to be done in this connection henceforward. Whatever has been done in the past we shall not try to make up for but I want that now this Mayapur-Vrindaban Trust money to be very carefully managed and deposited into a separate bank account and not be spent under any circumstances without my direct order. Giriraja will explain the details to you in full. Regarding the Mahatma Gandhi building, the price is fixed up at 3 lakhs to be shared into 5 divisions. 3 parties may be paid Rs. 60,000 apiece on the condition that they will take the money and immediately vacate. Then we shall make a trust over the property. When I was last there I discussed this matter with Mr. Chowdry the lawyer so keep ready the 2 lakhs for this transaction and when I return this will be squared up. Yes I am ready to go to Dvaraka. I have never visited there so now I am taking the opportunity. Similarly, Mr. B.R. Mohatta who was recently here in Los Angeles, has promised me accommodations at Allahabad and Haridwar for the Kumba Mela observances in these places next year. Also Mr. Bhogilal Patel who has given Rs 25,000 donation has also promised accommodations at Haridwar. So I have never seen Haridwar also and I am getting older so before my last days I wish to visit the holy places in Northern and Southern India. Mr. Badruka has promised to make arrangements for my accommodations in Southern India so you may fix up the program. I have previously written you that our man Yasomatinandana dasa shall take charge of the construction in Bombay. He is very nice and enthusiastic devotee and a qualified engineer so he shall be the manager of the engineering and construction. Thank you very much for carrying on our work in India so faithfully and responsibly and I pray to Krsna always for your protection and advancement. I hope this meets you well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:Kda N.B. I am only anxious for the municipality sanction and Mrs. Nair's income tax certificate. Please __ this immediately. Gargamuni has written a long letter so many __. When you go to Calcutta see what is the matter. Let me know what you have done. Labels: Bombay, construction, M-V Trust, Vrindavan letters | 17:34 |12 December 2007 13 December, 1973 Los Angeles My dear Tamala Krsna Goswami, Please accept my blessings. I am in receipt of your letters dated December 6th and 7th and have carefully noted the contents. I have already advised Guru das to remain in Vrindaban. There is no need for him to come to the U.S.A. at this time. Regarding our Bombay project: I am sending Yasomatinandana das there. He is a qualified engineer and he may deal with Mr. Shah and others. That will relieve you from this work. He is very competent and intelligent. He will return with Giriraja. He is our man and if he requires, he can take help from Mr. Shah. We should keep them all as friends. This is a very important point. Let our men and Mr. Shah do the needful--we don't require to hire any outside engineers. Regarding Mrs. Thirani, try to please her. She is the grand-daughter of Mr. Birla and the sister of Ashok Birla. She is a very important lady. Regarding the printing press for India: the press at ISKCON Press is too old and not practical to send to India. We are ready to manage a Press in India, but where is the money? We require new offset printing equipment. If we print in India we can get a much cheaper rate. Now, also there is a world-wide paper shortage but I have asked Mukunda in London to investigate exporting paper to India. I am in favor of this scheme but whether or not Mr. Gupta and others will support it and will the government allow? The news of the preaching work in New Delhi is very nice--continue with it. There are many intelligent men in that quarter, mostly European. So far as the Russian correspondent, try to convince him about our philosophy. We want to unit the world on the platform of Krsna Consciousness under one state, one government, one religion and one scripture. It will be successful if we work cautiously and maintain our standards. Just now I was reading Krsna Book. It is very interesting and entertaining and written so even a child can follow. In our childhood days we were reading one book, Folk Tales of Bengal. It was very widely read, especially by children. So why not introduce the Krsna book for the same purpose? You may get some sanction from the Minister of Education. It is a very nice book for student study--they will get our cultural idea and learn to read English. Yes, I approve of the Life Member Committee. for the Temple construction in Hyderabad. You may do the same in Bombay also. Yes, the pandal program in Hyderabad may be cancelled at this time. It is not timely at this point. Concerning our Vrindaban project, along with the residential quarters, the remaining work on my quarters must be finished up immediately for my residence. Now your most important business is to finish with Mrs. Nair all matters, especially the income tax certificate and to get sanction from the Municipality for all our plans. See to these matters above all else. Thank you for appreciating this Krsna Consciousness more and more. Carry on faithfully with Krsna, work with greater and greater enthusiasm and be blessed. I hope this meets you well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:Kda Labels: Bombay, New Delhi, publishing, Vrindavan letters | 11:52 |11 December 2007 11 December, 1973 Los Angeles My dear Guru das, Please accept my blessings. I am in receipt of your letter dated December 3, 1973. You report that although construction has temporarily stopped the expenditure is still Rs. 100 per day. I do not think four masons require so much. Please explain what is the Rs. 100 per day expenditure. Tamala Krsna Goswami has reported that he recently sent you Rs. 25,000 for our Vrindaban project. We are presently making arrangements for a special transfer of funds to India through the U.S.A. State Department. So if possible carry on with the Rs. 25,000 until that can be completed. There is no need for you to come to the U.S.A. Stay there and work on. I hope this meets you well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:Kda N.B. I have written two letters one to Dr. Kapoor and the other Hari Goswami for starting an adult school for learning Hindi & Sanskrit. Please see them in this connection. We want this school in Vrindaban. Labels: construction, management, Vrindavan letters | 11:48 |6 December 2007 6 December, 1973 Los Angeles My Dear Guru das, Please accept my blessings. I have just received a note from the Punjab National Bank, a copy of which is enclosed. The thing is I sent Rs. 676 to my account in Vrindaban at the Punjab National Bank. They have acknowledged receipt but they say my account is closed. Now, last year when I was in India I closed one account and opened another with a deposit of Rs. 2,000. So why do they say my account is closed? My account book is not with me so I cannot give you the details but you kindly inquire there what is the position. I hope this meets you well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:Kda letters | 14:25 | 1 December 2007 1 December, 1973 Los Angeles My Dear Yasodanandana and Gurukrpa Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I have two days ago arrived at our Los Angeles Center after going through London and New York. I have been informed by Karandhara Prabhu that you both are presently traveling and collecting money for our Vrindaban Project. I am very glad to hear this. Just today we have received a letter from Guru das that the construction has stopped there due to lack of funds. Somehow or other we must complete this Vrindaban Temple so in this connection we require at least $10,000 per month from the U.S.A. for one year. Karandhara can manage $5,000 per month for the BBT and M-V Fund so I request that you both remain in America for 1 year further and collect and send a minimum of $5,000 per month to Guru das for the Vrindaban Temple. I understand that you are both anxious to return to India for preaching but at this time our preaching must be to first complete the Temple construction. After that is finished up then you may certainly return to India. You are both my older disciples and Sannyasis so I am dependent on yourselves for helping me push on this Movement in this way. Please send immediately $5,000 to Guru das. If you can send more, that is all the better but at least $5,000 per month must be sent by yourselves for the next 1 year. Please confirm that you agree to this proposal. Pray to Krsna that our humble attempts to spread Krishna Consciousness may be successful and that we may always please the acaryas and Vaisnavas by our service. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/Kda Labels: BBT, collecting, M-V Trust, Vrindavan letters | 18:24 |7 November 2007 7 November, 1973 New Delhi My Dear Tamala Krsna das Goswami: Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 1/11/73 and have noted the contents. So why Mrs. Nair has not given the tax certificate. What is the cause for delay? What answer does her lawyer give you? Regarding the fencing, why depend on others? That there is delay means we cannot depend on Mr. Shetty to do the work. We have to do ourselves. He proposed he would sit down and supervise. If he does so, that's nice. Otherwise we have to arrange for our own men to work. Yes, we want to begin the temple construction immediately, so let them approve the plans. In the meantime finish the fencing, cleansing, and painting the residential quarters. If possible make the privy a little usable. It is not a practical idea of Mr. Birla to first collect half the money and then construct. People will pay as the construction goes on. If they are doubtful, then they can form a temple construction committee. and see that every pie is used for temple construction. At least Mr. Birla must give whatever he has promised for Vrindaban. Vrindaban needs money, but we can't press him for Bombay. If he likes, he will give, but he is such a rich man he can pay for both. I am glad to learn that you are preaching nicely. It is very important business. Unless our men understand thoroughly the philosophy, how will they be able to preach. After fencing, you can make one big electric light post to illuminate the temple ground. So you replace my Rs. 30,000/- personal deposit, and when you've done it, please let me know. Regarding Mohanananda I have already written to Satsvarupa that Mohanananda may remain in Bombay for at least three months. I think you can keep him to assist you so you can go for collecting, and he can manage locally. Gradually he will also collect, but now India is foreign to him. But you should know that Krsna has sent him, so keep him nicely. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: Bombay, construction, legal, preachers, Vrindavan letters | 05:16 |29 October 2007 29 October, 1973 Vrindaban My Dear Tamala Krishna Goswami: Please accept my blessings. So I have arrived here in Vrindaban, but so far the project is concerned, why the money is so irregular? Tejiyas reports that in the past three months you have sent Rs. 5,000/- and since then nothing. How will the project go on? So I think that the 3 lakhs from Birla may be dispatched to Vrindaban either the whole or part. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: Bombay, management, Vrindavan letters | 14:28 |13 September 2007 Thursday, 13 September, 1973 Bhaktivedanta Manor My Dear Guru Das, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated August 29, 1975 and I have noted the contents carefully. You posed 5 questions regarding Radha Damodara temple and I shall answer them one by one. I was not actually living in Vrindaban, but Delhi and when I came to Vrindaban for short periods I would stay at Radha Damodara Temple. I began paying rent in 1960 at that time I was staying in two rooms upstairs then one of the Goswamis asked me if I would like to stay in the two rooms below where one Babaji who was taking care of the tombs was staying. The rooms were very dilapitated so he proposed that I fix the rooms and whatever I pay as rent would be all right. I invested about 1,000 Rs/. and paid him 5 Rs/. monthly, recently I have increased the monthly payment to 10 Rs/. to meet the rise in general standard of living. I do not know anything about any breaking of looks. Regarding the 750 Rs/., when I first rented the rooms there was no Modan Mohan Goswami, he came much later, at that time Gaurachand was in charge of everything, the rooms were given to me by him on verbal lease for life, and from the very beginning there was negotiation for the land behind my rooms. I paid 750 Rs/. to Mr. Banerjee and he agreed to draw up a lease which he never did. We have paid him for the lease of the land, but he has not leased us the land, nor returned our money, he has constructed a building there, so the house should be leased to us, for which I am prepared to pay reasonable rent. I have not had any correspondence with them in all these years. So on the whole we will not go to court, let them go, we will simply reply their letters. We have paid all along, so that is rent. Another point is that there are three shebaiys, so the notice of eviction has to be filed by all three otherwise it is not valid. I don't remember the dates when I came and went there. Anyway I am coming to Bombay by the 14th September so you can come there and meet me there, I shall stay about one week, then we can discuss everything. The pictures of the sculpture appears nice, except for the front part looks a little odd, so you decide. I hope this letter meets you well, more when we meet. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 13:11 | 15 August 2007 Wednesday, 15 August, 1973 Bhaktivedanta Manor My Dear Tejiyas, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated August 1, 1973 and I have noted the contents carefully. If you make some of the big Government officials interested in our movement then our strength will increase. Because we are in the material world sometimes we require that help. Another point is that if a government officer becomes our admirer or member then many others will follow, so try to make them sympathisers. It is good news that you have got the L.I.C. ground for holding our festival, maybe I shall be back in India at that time. Last time the L.I.C. festival was unique and successful many gentlemen wanted to increase the period, so try for the maximum period provided with Prasadm distribution. If possible arrangements should be made so that the kitchen can continue to cook and Prasadm distribution may go on continuously, in Delhi this is not difficult. If you do so the richer section of the public will contribute food grains, flour, Ghee etc. Your Idea to get our men made as official government guides is nice, also if the government agrees to build one or two room in our temple that will be good. If respectable gentlemen become interested in our Krishna Conscious Movement then our temple in Vrindaban will stand first, because all other temples in Vrindaban gather general mass of people without philosophical understanding. Some 50 years ago some Christian priest went to Vrindaban and inquired from many residents why Krishna enjoyed Rasa dance with others wives which is against the Vedic principle, but nobody could satisfy him. On this point my Guru Maharaja said that Vrindaban is inhabited by neophyte devotees. So we wish our temple will be able to reply anyone in the matter of Krishna Consciousness, then many modern philosophers and scientists will come to Vrindaban, that will be very much prestigious. I hope this letter meets you well. Your ever well wisher A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: neophytes, prasadam distribution, Vrindavan letters | 10:46 |2 August 2007 Thursday, 2 August, 1973 Bhaktivedanta Manor My Dear Guru Das, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 23, July, 1973 and I have noted the contents very carefully. Yes! why not? You may write yo the other temples and ask them to contribute something to the program, that is approved by me. I simply want to see that the work is going on vigorously, and the money shall not be used to pay bad bill. The money should simply be used for construction. Another thing is that my living quarters may be finished by this coming October, or at least habitable so it may be used if I go to Vrindaban by Kartika Vrata. What about that front piece of land not yet in our possession? I hope this letter meets you well. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. I have just received your letter of the 28th July, but I have not yet received the photos under separate cover. ACBS/hda Labels: construction, Vrindavan letters | 16:32 |25 July 2007 Wednesday, 25 July, 1973 Bhaktivedanta Manor Dear Gurudasa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated July 20, 1973 and I have carefully considered the contents. I am pleased to hear how you are completely absorbed in the project of our Vrindaban temple and taxing your brain how it can be carried out. I am also always praying to Krsna that He may give you intelligence to carry it out rightly. If you let me know actually how much money will be required to complete the temple, then I can make some financial scheme so that you can quickly get money and finish the project. You and Tamala Krsna das Goswami can make an estimate and send it to me so that I can work on a scheme to arrange for that amount. Regarding Saurabha, I think he can stay with you in Vrindaban designing, and he can also go sometimes to Hyderabad, as required, and then return to you. Yes, I agree that you should construct the temple in sections and first should be the darsana mandap, the deity Garbha Grha etc. In this way if need be you can install the deity without other shelter. Now Madhavananda and his wife have arrived. Kausalya is an expert Deity worshiper and an important hand in our movement, so she and Yamuna, two sisters can be very useful in Deity worship there. Keep Kausalya comfortable and she can be a great help. Madhavananda can be engaged in collections. I think all respectable gentlemen will come and you can arrange for that. Our temple is the only Krsna Balarama temple in Vrindaban and it will be so attractive that people will automatically come and see. That quarter is aristocratic and our temple is unique. From Bombay and Delhi we can rent rooms in the temple. This is called bhetnama. Perhaps you may know. The room is used by the contributor for lifetime then it becomes again the property of the temple. Our new disciple Hrsikesananda Swami has promised to collect money from Punjab for Vrindaban. Let him go to Punjab, leaving Calcutta. In this way all of you, Tejyas, Tamala Krsna etc., combine together collect and finish the project. I may try to help from other sources if I receive an estimate of the cost of the scheme. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: life membership, management, Vrindavan letters | 06:43 |4 July 2007 Wednesday, 4 July, 1973 Calcutta My dear Gurudasa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated June 27 and have carefully studied the contents. Your letter is very welcome news, that all obstacles are cleared in the way of our building our temple at Vrindaban. Similarly in Bombay we have just been victorious over the party who had torn down our temple and the temple has been completely reconstructed in addition to our gaining overwhelming new popular support there. So by your diligent work and devotion, all permission is secured and all materials are on hand. Let us pray to Krsna for speedy progress on the construction of our Krsna Balarama temple. Now many of our American and European devotees are coming to our temple in Mayapur and on completion of the Vrindaban temple we shall be able to give facilities to our ISKCON devotees all over the world to visit these two most holy places in the world. Re. Madan Mohan Goswami, yes, we want to avoid litigation; as you have said the legal system is completely corrupt. But if he goes to the courts we shall be forced to go also. Please offer my obeisances to your good wife Yamuna and thank her for her kind sentiments in Krsna Consciousness. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. Please change the plan of my quarters as suggested by Saurabha & Tamala both of whom just consulted me. I am going to London next Saturday 7th so when I come back next October I may live in Vrindaban in my new quarters. ACBS Labels: Krishna Balarama, Vrindavan letters | 16:58 |14 May 2007 Monday, 14 May, 1973 Los Angeles My Dear Gurudasa, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 6/5/73. I have noted the contents carefully. I have already sent you one letter dated May 11, 1973 as well as a copy of a letter sent to Madan Mohan Goswami by registered post that same day. I trust you have received that letter by now and you are proceeding as per my instructions therein. First of all ask Gaurachand Goswami that he is taking the money on account of two rooms occupied by me, now Madan Mohan Goswami has asked up to vacate, so clearly understand from him what is our position. Whether he is going to accept the money continually or does not like to accept it. So on hearing this statement, if he says that he'll not accept and we must vacate, then it is to be understood that all the Shebaits have combined together to evict us. Then we'll have to take the matter to the rent controller court as I have already advised in my previous letter. In India we have got experience, there are so many cheaters. So be very careful of them and do everything carefully, keeping in touch with all the senior members and do the needful. I am advised by my Calcutta physician that I should go back to India. So I am returning and will reach in Calcutta sometime next week. Ananda Pandu wanted to stay with me, so if he likes he can come to Mayapur where I shall stay. Offer him my dandabats. So far as Mr. Sarkar, our engineer, is concerned, if he becomes too much of a disturbance then you may dismiss him. Hoping this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: health, itinerary, Vrindavan letters | 20:38 |11 May 2007 Friday, 11 May, 1973 Los Angeles My dear Gurudasa, Please accept my blessings. Herewith please find the letter I have replied to Madan Mohan Goswami in response to his letter dated 4/5/73. He refers to your letter dated 26/3/73 which I do not possess. So you send me a copy of your letter as well as a copy of the letter which I issued to him in 1972 when I was in Vrindaban. This man is playing some trick so we shall also play some trick. We shall take all the Shebaits to court and pray to the court to settle the matter. He has mentioned that you are the licensee, but according to the present act the licensee shall be considered as tenant or owner if the licensee has occupied the building or land in February 1973. I think we shall keep this place at Radha Damodara temple as tenant. As Madan Mohan Goswami is trying to play trick we shall not vacate any of the rooms upstairs or downstairs; this should be our policy. The deposit money of Rs. 700/. with the other Shebait has not yet been settled up. We shall file a petition to the rent controller court and fix up a standard rent for all the four rooms up and down. And the rent which will be fixed up for the upper two rooms, we will adjust for one years rent from the Rs. 700/. with interest. When you file the petition we shall bring in all the Shebaits names. In this way we have to deal with these men. Hoping this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: disagreements, Vrindavan letters | 20:38 |11 May, 1973 Los Angeles Madan Mohan Goswami Shebait, Sri Sri Radha Damodaraji Seva Kunja, Vrindaban (Mathura) Dear Sir, Replying your letter of 4/5/73, I beg to inform you that there is no question of vacating the house occupied by me. I am already paying Rs 10/ per month and there is deposit of Rs. 700/. with one of the Shebait. Now all of you together fix up the legal rent after adjusting the deposit money with interest for the last seven years. If we settle up the pending matter amongst ourselves, we save so much legal expenditure, otherwise I will advise Sriman Gurudasa to take the help of the rent court, at your expense. I don't know what is the content of the letter dated 26/3/73 therefore I am asking for a copy of this letter. Yours sincerely, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami cc: Sriman Guru das Adhikari Labels: management, Vrindavan letters | 20:36 |6 May 2007 Sunday, 6 May, 1973 Los Angeles My dear Gurudasa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 25 April, 1973 and I am very much pleased to have the report of activities in Vrndavana. Kindly send me such report at least twice in a month. Both you and your wife desired to go to Vrndavana some four to five years ago while you were in San Francisco and because you were so much sincerely eager, Krsna has given you very good opportunity to stay there and construct a very nice temple for Krsna and Balarama. Take this opportunity seriously, and as you have stated that you are feeling advancement in Krsna Consciousness, I wish both you, husband and wife, will go on increasing such consciousness more and more and thus be benefited. Offer My thanks to Yamuna for her note in your letter under reply. Hoping this meets you both in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami I am very glad to know that Ananda Prabhu is staying with you. Please offer my dandabats. He is my old god brother. Sincere Vaisnava. Please treat him like your father. Do remain in full cooperation. ACBS ACBS/jda Labels: Gaudiya Math, Vrindavan letters | 12:48 |18 February 2007 Friday, 18 February, 1973 Sydney My dear Gurudasa, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated February 6th. and have noted the contents carefully. My heart has become very joyful upon seeing the progress in Vrindaban construction. When this Vrindaban Temple is completed, it will be a great boon to our Krishna Consciousness Movement and devotees from all over the world will come to see Krishna and Balarama. I am very pleased also to see that you are keeping such an orderly account, and as far as further financing is concerned I have arranged with Karandhara das, and he is sending 5000 copies of Bhagavad-gita As It Is to India, and Karatieya Mahadevia in Bombay, one of our life members, has agreed to distribute 3000 of these Gitas at no less than 50 rupees apiece. S o that is one and a half lacs and I am sending one letter to Karatieya informing him that all money collected for these Gitas should be sent on to you in Vrindaban and it is up to you along with the other GBC men in India to arrange the sale of the balance of these 2000 Bhagavad-Gitas and I think this will provide the necessary finances. I will be travelling here in Australasia for a few weeks then I will be returning to Calcutta by March 2nd. So when I return to India we may discuss this matter in more detail. But in the meantime you should work with the senior men there in India to get some concrete plan to finance this program. I have sent you the books and it is up to you to devise a program for distribution. You may also discuss together the question of whether a pandal program in Delhi will detract from our collection of funds for the Vrindaban program. I do not think this will be the case, but it seems the collection field will increase with the pandal program. But you please discuss it with the senior men there in India, and then you may send me your joint decision for approval. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/ms Labels: book distribution, management, Vrindavan letters | 08:59 | |
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