701113 - Letter to Rupanuga written from Bombay

Letters by Date, 1970

ISKCON
International Society for Krishna Consciousness Inc.
Acharya-His Divine Grace 108 Sri Srimad A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad
3764 WATSEKA AVENUE - LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA 90034
CAMP: Kailash Seksaria; 74 Marine Drive; Bombay-20; India

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New Vrindaban, West Virginia
November 13th, 1970

My Dear Rupanuga,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your letter dated October 27th, 1970, addressed to Calcutta and now redirected to me here in Bombay. We are just now receiving great publicity and it is reported that Bombay has now got its atmosphere filled with Krsna Consciousness. It is a fact, and the important members of the Bombay community are appreciating our Movement. I am very glad to receive all the enclosures and see that you are forging ahead nicely for spreading Krsna Consciousness on a scale from family to the greater society.
For the present I am more prominent than all swamis. People are appreciating--What are these swamis? They cannot go outside. There is a Bengali saying that a jackal is king in a small forest. The story is that a jackal became king in the forest by fooling the other animals for some time, but he remained always a jackal and his ruse was at last exposed.
I am very glad that you are receiving good promise of help from Mr. Gajjar. Please give him all encouragement in Krsna Consciousness. Regarding Bali Mardan, he has not resigned and until he or some other member does so there shall not be any change in the members of the GBC. If there is such resignation the candidates will be Goursundar, Mukunda and Gurudas for replacement by vote of the remaining members of the GBC. But why have you taken information on this important matter from Gurudas? You should not "understand" from Gurudas; you should understand from me.
Regarding the Sannyasis, they should be independent. Why they should take help from you? They are strong men, so they should manage on their own strength. That is the test of their effective preaching work. I am very glad to learn that the program for distributing our books in the libraries and classrooms is having such outstanding success. I have already assured this and I have personally placed my books formerly in the library of Bombay which they were very glad to accept. So press this matter until every library and school has fully stocked our literatures and that will be a very real success.
You have made it a proposal and plan that each center shall contribute $20 monthly for the improvement of our New Vrndavana Community Project. I have no objection to this, but it has been already the program that every center shall send me maintenance funds of $15 per month and since leaving Japan I have hardly received any. I do not know if they have sent or not sent, but I have not received. So if they cannot even send my maintenance charges, you cannot depend on their sending monthly $20 for the maintenance of New Vrndavana.
I have read over the GBC Memo and you make the following adjustment regarding membership charges. The comparison of India to that of U.S.A. is not the exchange value of rupees and dollars in the bank, but is according to purchasing power or manifest value, so practically one rupee is equal to one dollar by this calculation. Therefore, simply change the sign from Rs. to $$ and set the figure for Life Membership at $1,111, Donor Membership at $555. and Subscriber membership at $222. An Ordinary Member should pay only $5.00, which covers a one year susbscription to our magazine. Another thing is that we welcome life members to participate fully in our Temple programs anywhere they may travel and they may stay in the Temple where they are visiting.
Your plan of the Buffalo Temple is very nice. Please develop it more and more for serving the Lord. It is a very good house. The picture in which your wife and child are engaged in preaching work--it is simply wonderful. You are ideal householder and you are teaching the world who to live with wife and children as a householder. My Guru Maharaj generally used to make a Sannyasi from Householder, but I have created householders for preaching work and your example is proving my attempt successful.
Hope this will meet you all in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS:ds

Sriman Rupanuga Das Adhikary
ISKCON Temple
40 Englewood Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14214
U.S.A.