760609 - Letter to Gopala Krishna written from Los Angeles

Letters by Date, 1976

3764 Watseka Avenue,
Los Angeles, California 90034,
U.S.A.

June 9, 1976

Gopala Krishna das Adhikari,
Krishna Balaram Mandir,
Vrindaban, U.P.,
India

My dear Gopal Krsna das,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge reciept of your two letters dated June 2, and June 3, 1976 with typed copies of book reviews from Russia.

In your letter to me of May 4, 1976 from Vrindaban you said: concerning the Taparia house, "Dhananjaya and his wife and other grhasthas will live on that land (house). . . . Three or four brahmacarinis who are working on the mukhats can also live there." You suggested like this, so if some women can live there, why not all? Somehow or other, the guesthouse must be freed from all encumbrances. It will be absolutely used by guests. I have received reliable reports that on account of the devotees staying there, guests were sometimes refused places because all the rooms were taken up by the devotees there. Also, the fact that the mukat business takes up 8-10 rooms is very bad. The guest house cannot be occupied by anything. It is already spoiled, and they must move. Why there are so many women in Vrindaban? Vrindaban is meant for retirement, elderly persons in Krishna Consciousness can devote all their time to devotional service. Such men are wanted to live in Vrindaban, not women and children. That is a fact, the holy dhamas are meant for the sannyasis and brahmacaris especially. If necessary, the management must be done by sannyasis and brahmacaris, not grhasthas.

The printing should be managed by the BBT. Yasodanandan Swami is printing through the agency of the BBT, simply for convenience sake due to the inefficiency of the order department in Bombay. Even a letter from Fiji was not replied. However, the accounts should be kept by the BBT. The printing of Yasodanandan Swami is only for some small books. The quality of the big books must remain, and so they should not be printed by Yasodanandan Swami independently. So you can keep the account what is being sold, and what is the profit. But what is the wrong if Yasodanandan Swami prints the books on behalf of BBT for convenience. You are accusing him of so many bogus complaints. What is bogus? What is genuine? If all these complaints come to me it is too much taxation for me.

If the Ahmedabad centre is not making progress then if necessary you can decide to close it temporarily or not.

Concerning the reviews which you sent me of the Russian...

[TEXT MISSING]

...dictated the review and did not actually hand you a written review? Then what is the value of such testimonial? Please clear it. Testimonial means it must be written or typed on their official letterhead, and duly signed by them. If it is not so, then what is the value of it?

I hope that this meets you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS/pks