770727 - Conversation - Vrndavana

Conversations by Date, 1977

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

770727R1-VRNDAVAN - July 27-28, 1977 - 45:49 Minutes

Prabhupāda: So everything all right?

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So you are . . .

Yaśomatīnandana: How are you feeling?

Prabhupāda: Not very good. Old man's disease. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said: "Vṛddha kāla āola saba sukha bhāgala": "When a man becomes old, all bodily comforts . . ." So it is not very good to live like an old man. It is troublesome. Body will be weakened, and all kinds of disease will be strong. Unless one is very strong in body, old age means suffering. So whatever Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma desire. Now it is up to you to maintain the Society very nicely. There is framework. There is idea. There is facility of everything. If you like, you can maintain work.

Yaśomatīnandana: They're having a very nice farm in Ahmedabad.

Prabhupāda: That's nice.

Yaśomatīnandana: One hundred acres. All very nice level land, and we have planted crops in 150 bighās. That is about . . .

Prabhupāda: So you give some . . . we are getting many other land. If your becomes ideal, you can teach them. People are coming for chanting?

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes. One gṛhastha is there, and the first week he went there, every night three hundred people were coming.

Prabhupāda: Just see.

Yaśomatīnandana: And that was in the middle of a desert. Not desert; in the middle of like jungle, you know.

Prabhupāda: That I want.

Yaśomatīnandana: It's fifteen minutes away from the . . .

Prabhupāda: We don't want any profit. We don't want any profit. You produce, you eat, you chant. Organize. Don't go outside.

Yaśomatīnandana: Don't go to the cities.

Prabhupāda: No. Be man of character. No illicit sex, no intoxication. Vaiṣṇava. Eat sufficiently, dress sufficiently. Live very comfortably. Whatever profit is there, it should be invested again for books. That's . . . because we are investing money, our land . . . therefore we are not profited. Beneficiary, you. It is a cooperative society. You produce your needs, live comfortably, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Our only interest is that you are taking interest in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, working. Otherwise we don't want to exploit you. That is not . . . if there is no sufficient, you can . . . we help you manage it. You manage your own affair. We give you direction. Live happily, chant. This should be . . . will not they agree?

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes, they will very much agree.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Yaśomatīnandana: They already like our program of chanting and dancing.

Prabhupāda: That's all.

Yaśomatīnandana: Very much they love it. People come from distant villages in groups.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Make them . . . in Gujarat it is very good. So you show an example, that other camp will . . .

Yaśomatīnandana: This year we are taking some cash crops just to develop the farm.

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Yaśomatīnandana: But then, once we have developed, then we can have rice and wheat and then distribute free prasāda to everyone. Because every inch of the land is cultivatable.

Prabhupāda: I have given so much for . . . try to repay.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Prabhupāda wants you to engage the local people in farming that land. Can you do that?

Yaśomatīnandana: Well, we are doing it as . . .

Prabhupāda: Gradually.

Yaśomatīnandana: Gradually.

Prabhupāda: Gradually.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Who's doing the cultivating now?

Yaśomatīnandana: We are doing it, and we are hiring it. Because if we just give them away, they will spoil it.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No, you can't do that.

Prabhupāda: No.

Yaśomatīnandana: What we'll do is we'll grow the food and then distribute the food. And if someone is ready to come and live on the farm, then we'll give him the facility. Because Bhogilal's farm is just next door, and he's getting fifty mounds of rice in every bighā. Fifty mounds.

Prabhupāda: Why not our farm?

Yaśomatīnandana: Just now this is first year, and it has not been used for three, four . . . it is not that fertile. It is not too much fertile. For rice you have to prepare the ground. It is not . . . some part of it is there. Once we develop, then we can develop it for rice. That area is doing maximum rice. Bhogilal's men grows fifteen lakhs' worth of crops every year. He has thousand acres, and most of it is even unfertile. Only in certain part of it, fifteen lakhs.

Prabhupāda: So why not our farm?

Yaśomatīnandana: We cannot get that much, it's just . . . we can easily go up to two lakhs.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Per year.

Yaśomatīnandana: Per year. This is at least.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And he donated it free. You said that . . . Yaśomatīnandana said Bhogilal will be coming here for Janmāṣṭamī to be with you.

Yaśomatīnandana: We invited him for Janmāṣṭamī. So he said: "If you come, I'll go." He wants me to accompany him.

Prabhupāda: He's godly man. And he's religious, honest, ideal man.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You like to talk to him also, you said. You wrote . . .

Prabhupāda: I talk with him as my brother.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You're always joking with him, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Yaśomatīnandana: Only one thing is that the government has this Agricultural Land Selling Act, which prohibits any . . .

Prabhupāda: Our Society . . .

Yaśomatīnandana: No, even the societies are not exempt. Only one gośālā trust is exempt. So they're registering as a gośālā trust, but there are some limitations because it had to be registered before. So we are now moving in that way at least, to show that . . .

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I was showing Prabhupāda about that member of Parliament.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes. So there is one member of Parliament in Gujarat who belongs to the party of the Home Minister. He was the chairman of party Lok Dal. It was Charan Singh's party. And he . . . I met him, and I explained to him that we wanted some citizenship for some devotees or something like that, and he mentioned it to Charan Singh when he came back from Delhi. And Charan Singh said that if it was . . . there's discussion, then definitely . . . I mean if there's no legal hitch, he will certainly help. Then I said: "But they want to come and meet you also." So he said: "Yes, you can bring them." So tomorrow . . . when I came this week, and tomorrow the member says that we can meet him. Now I just heard that there was some news yesterday? So that might . . . we will have to make two applications, one to clear up that incident . . .

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So the member will come here to Vṛndāvana to see Prabhupāda?

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes, if I bring him he'll come.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is that nice, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Not bad.

Yaśomatīnandana: But he might not come immediately.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He said he wanted to meet Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: No, no. Don't go to him. This Māyāpur incident is a handling of the Communists.

Yaśomatīnandana: Now there is Communist government there.

Prabhupāda: Please try to . . . just try to understand. There is a story that a thief entered in a room, and proprietor, he was in the other room. As soon as there was some sound, he inquired, "Who is there in that room?" The man said: "No, no, I am not stealing." You see? That means he is thief. So this Jyotir Basu raised the question, "How they are getting visa?" In the Parliament also they are raising the same question. That means it is Communist manipulation, the Māyāpur affair. They put forward some Muhammadans because there are many Muhammadan Communist also. They wanted to give a communal color. But the whole thing is Communist plan. And their aim is to wipe out any religious movement. That is their open declaration in other Communist . . .

Yaśomatīnandana: This prabhu, Rāma-Krishna Prabhu, he is very respectable gentleman. So if I take him to see the Home Minister . . .

Prabhupāda: Nice.

Yaśomatīnandana: That will be very nice.

Prabhupāda: Why not? Let him.

Yaśomatīnandana: Because he can say he has five companies . . . (indistinct) . . . now he has given his life to Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: But I am sure this Māyāpur incident is a Communist plan. That is . . .

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes, that is sure.

Prabhupāda: There is no doubt.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda? Gopāla Kṛṣṇa has come.

Prabhupāda: Has he brought some books?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I don't know. I just got word that he was here.

Yaśomatīnandana: I think he has brought First Canto, Part Two, Hindi.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Part Two.

Prabhupāda: He is very slow, printing.

Abhirāma: Śrīla Prabhupāda? If this point was raised in Parliament, then that man could not be Jyotir Basu. That would be Jyotirmoy Basu. He is M.P. from West Bengal.

Prabhupāda: So whatever it may be, it is Communist plan.

Abhirāma: But he is expected to make such statements. He is always making so many statements, and no one listens, again and again and again. It is his style. They expect him to . . .

Prabhupāda: So they are their party men.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But we should take advantage of this and say: "Oh, there is an issue there? Then let us investigate." We should take advantage of this.

Prabhupāda: Yes. The party should take very serious investigation, and if possible, suspend government for the time being.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Suspend the West Bengal government.

Prabhupāda: So that will be nice step.

Abhirāma: So we should challenge these Communists.

Prabhupāda: What you'll challenge? They will challenge. Don't talk of . . .

(indistinct background comments by devotees)

Prabhupāda: They say also, "Close this temple."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah. One of the things they raised was they should close this . . . "This is said to be a temple of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but actually it is the base of the CIA, American CIA in India, and now it should be closed." And in one newspaper we read that they're proposing that if it's closed, they could use it as a hospital and school. Prabhupāda said actually this is their intention, to drive us away and to take the buildings and use it as hospital and school. So they want to kill religion in Bengal. The Janata party is for religion. At least they say so.

Yaśomatīnandana: And this Prabhudas Patwaria is just now in Delhi. I can go today. He already told me that he will take me to the Prime Minister, because he has very good relation with Prime Minister. And he was reading your books in the jail. Prabhudas Patwaria was framed by Indira Gandhi in the dynamite case of George Pramanas. And that George Pramanas was also in same room with him, and he was also reading books.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Wow! These men are important men now in the government.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes, George Pramanas is Minister of Railway. And he was with Prabhudas. So Prabhudas Patwaria can be a great help now. He's coming here on 30th.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You'll come with him?

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes. I'll come with him.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So you won't go back to Ahmedabad till afterwards.

Yaśomatīnandana: No, I won't go back. (indistinct comments by Tamāla Kṛṣṇa) But I think we should move on these matters. We should do something.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda? It seems like there's three things that we're . . . I'm just wondering . . . here's Gopāla.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) So I thought that, "Unless he brings some book, he won't come." Because every time I criticize him, "Where is the book? Where is the book?"

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We've got the First Canto, Part Two, this time, in Hindi.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Very nice. So you are being recognized. (indistinct comments by devotees) You are doing good, as he's doing good.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: He's doing good.

Yaśomatīnandana: I have got four or five books in Gujarati ready for printing.

Prabhupāda: Why not print them?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We're printing them. I was in Ahmedabad last week, and we finalized plans to print those.

Prabhupāda: Print.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We are purposely using government paper on this to keep the prices low.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Oh, yes. Use government paper.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Because in India . . .

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What's the price for this book?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We are going to sell it for sixteen rupees or twenty rupees at most. Actually, our Life Members love these books.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I was in Calcutta. Adri-dhāraṇa Prabhu told me that the Marwaris love it, even in Bombay.

Prabhupāda: Yes, the ladies can read at home.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Also, Śrīla Prabhupāda, the cover for First Canto, Part Three, is already printed. I'm going to take 1.3 now, but we've already printed the cover. This is 1.3.

Prabhupāda: This I want. Books are coming.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And 1.3 will be ready before the end of August. The cover is already done. The inside end leaf is done. I just have to send . . .

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What is the quantity you've printed of these?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Two thousand. Next, from 1.3, we're increasing it to three thousand.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Prabhupāda was hoping you could print in larger quantities.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, there's no need at the moment, because we print these by offset. If we need more we can . . .

Prabhupāda: All right. Whatever manuscript you have ready, print.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Because it blocked up too much money otherwise. Because we don't have much money, and we're going to print five books in Gujarati now, so we just invest the minimum.

Prabhupāda: I want to see, whatever manuscript is ready, they should be printed.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Also, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we've come out with Diwali cards this year. These are going to be very, very big. Inside is a message. We are selling hundreds of these. On this BBT will make a very big profit, plus the temples will make a profit. There's a message inside. We are selling these exclusively to our Life Members. And on the back is the mahā-mantra. Big orders. (indistinct aside to devotees) I brought you a package with me. This is another sample.

Yaśomatīnandana: This is going to be very profitable business.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: In the shop it sells for four rupees, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Yaśomatīnandana: We'll sell it for two rupees to our men.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: One-fifty. I will sent you a memo, a newsletter to all the temples.

Yaśomatīnandana: We'll sell for two rupees.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We want bulk orders.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: How much they cost?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The BBT cost I'll tell you later.

Prabhupāda: Thank you very much.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: This is another . . . these are all from your books, and this also advertises your books because on the back it's written, "Painting from . . ."

Prabhupāda: Such and such book.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. I thought that by coming out with these Diwali cards, each temple will make an extra thirty, forty thousand per year, because the BBT will make about a lakh a year extra. It's new income. This is a little start.

Prabhupāda: Yaśomatīnandana will order that set. You can sell.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, each temple I've given them a quota of one lakh cards. I wrote a newsletter to all the temples, and they must do minimum one lakh cards. Plus we're going to export these to New York, London, Los Angeles. They're all interested in these.

Prabhupāda: The printing is first class.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. It's like American standard.

Prabhupāda: I think the Diwali greeting card dealers also will accept.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, but we are keeping it . . . Śrīla Prabhupāda, I studied the whole market. It is to our advantage to restrict the sale, because when we deal with dealers or distributors—I talked to them—we have to sell them at half the price and allow them to keep their profit. But we want to make this exclusive for Life Members. Otherwise, if anyone can buy it in a market, then it's not such a great prestige.

Prabhupāda: No, no, no. You keep.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: So this we are showing, as if we are doing the Life Members a favor. Just see, Śrīla Prabhupāda. These are just some advanced samples that are printed just to get orders. And plus, anyone who orders more than hundred cards, we will print their name and message inside. And plus, there's a mahā-mantra on the back of every . . . hundred cards is the minimum order.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: A hundred's nothing. They'll all do that.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So both consulting, you can see.

Yaśomatīnandana: Oh, yes, I can sell. I think this will be very successful.

Prabhupāda: So far the printing is concerned, there is no question. First class. Very nice.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, this is costing the BBT only . . .

Prabhupāda: Whatever it costs, I don't mind. You make some profit. That's all.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, and actually, all these books that I'm now printing in Hindi, I'm printing all these from the profit of the export order. Even though I have . . .

Prabhupāda: So you have sent the export books?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. I shipped 26,000 books this month. That's why I got delayed. We shipped 20,000 books to Australia—21,000, sorry—and 11,000 to England.

Prabhupāda: Bhagavad-gītā is . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: All . . . they've all gone. Plus, we shipped a big order to Africa, to Fiji . . .

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Africa said they never got theirs.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: They got it, and I have a bill of lading. That was a completely bogus letter. I have all the evidence with me. Yes, I've got a bill of lading to show you. Fiji, Mauritius, they've all gone. Plus, I also wrote up a small catalog. This is a very cheap catalog, not like the American. A lot of people write to BBT for brochure or catalog. So this is costing us only about twenty-five paisa but advertises all your books.

Prabhupāda: Hindi?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It's in English. Yes. Because lot of people write to Bhaktivedanta Book Trust to "Send us your catalog," and if we do a big one, American one, that's very expensive; we can't give it out free. So I wrote a small sixteen . . . this is for free distribution.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very nice. Yes, it serves the purpose. (background comments by devotees)

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. It advertises all your books. Plus, Śrīla Prabhupāda, I had signed a contract with the biggest mail-order house in India, called Mail Order Sales. And this week their full-page advertisement on the Bhagavad-gītā is reaching 25,000 households. Their ad wasn't ready, but they are sending it to me in few days. It's a very beautiful ad. They have a monthly newspaper called Mail Order News, and that they've given a whole page. But they pay for it. We give them a straight commission on sales. Just like in America you have Book of the Month Club and selling books by mail. This is very big. Plus we are now doing the Bhaktivedanta Encyclopedia of Vedic Knowledge. This will also . . . we are preparing a brochure just like this. This is a Brittanica Encyclopedia advertisement. So we're going to have your nineteen or twenty Bhāgavatams here. The artists are working on it, in a small . . . (indistinct) . . . and this is going to be sent to about thirty thousand households. These are just for households, not libraries or anyone, just as selling to businessmen and executives.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Who's going to do this?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Mail Order Sales. It's a company that specializes in mail orders. This will be very good.

Prabhupāda: Everything you do, it is . . . now, utilize. So one book has come only.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I've got three books. Two you can keep. One I'll give one to Prem Yogi, Bhakti-prema Mahārāja.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is his name in there?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, as the translator.

Prabhupāda: Jara padho. (Read it.) Translator? Anyway, it is the . . . (indistinct)

Yaśomatīnandana: (reads Sanskrit verse, Hindi synonyms, translation and purport)

Prabhupāda: Very nice.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Plus, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we're getting ready to print the Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil Gītās. We're going to do the color plates together.

Prabhupāda: Next you make Gujarati.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Pardon?

Prabhupāda: Gujarati.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, we're doing the Gujarati Gītā. We have five books ready, and London has already ordered five thousand copies.

Prabhupāda: So why not print?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We are.

Yaśomatīnandana: Just we have to . . . you know the titles are being printed in Bombay. Inside I am already . . . (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: That's all right . . . (indistinct) . . . and Bombay is not far away.

Yaśomatīnandana: We have Teachings of Lord Caitanya ready, Nectar of Devotion is being ready. Perfection of Yoga is ready.

Prabhupāda: Gujarati books will sell very nice all over the world.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Who translated it?

Prabhupāda: All over the world. Gujarati people are all over the world.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, yes. I told England to take five thousand.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: America also there are Gujaratis. Africa also.

Prabhupāda: Everywhere they have made colonies.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes, Bhavānanda Mahārāja was ready to . . . because I wasn't finished. He says that . . .

Prabhupāda: So I am getting very good news, book distribution, from Europe and America.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Rāmeśvara Swami told me that book distribution has doubled in America.

Prabhupāda: And Communist country wonderfully.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes I'll show you that letter that I got from Russia inviting us to come to the . . .

Prabhupāda: Caitanya-caritāmṛta. They have sold at least thirty to forty lakhs worth of Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Yaśomatīnandana: Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma (CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126) .

Prabhupāda: Bengali's . . . (indistinct) . . . still, they are purchasing. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It's been raining very, very heavily in Bombay. Because of this, all the ships, everything, have been getting delayed. Very heavy rainfall. Last seven days it's raining continuously, day and night.

Prabhupāda: That is Bombay. Three days, four days raining continually, that is not unusual in Bombay.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We are now printing the small books for Australia also. Hari-śauri just sent me an order for twenty thousand Rāja-vidyās . . .

Prabhupāda: Just see.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: . . . which I'm going to ship by third week of August. August we'll ship thirty thousand small books to Australia.

Prabhupāda: So, give first attention to the question, printing.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, I'm doing that.

Prabhupāda: Other things you can do, but you . . . this your only main business. Now do it very pleasingly so that you can . . . so whatever you have done, it is very pleasing.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Also we are now going to have big distributors who are ready to take on our books, and we're going to have them distribute our Hindi, Gujarati books all over India. Plus, you know, those railway stands? What we're going to do, we're going to come out with a plastic, small bag type, with six pockets in it, and it's going to say: "Bhaktivedanta Yoga Library," "Bhaktivedanta Library of Yoga Books." And then we're going to have Beyond Birth and Death, Perfection of Yoga, in Hindi, and in Gujarati areas, Gujarati books. We'll have a complete selection of yoga books, because I've been speaking to many distributors, and yoga books are very popular in India. So I was also thinking, I have this book all ready, The Scientific Basis of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. I wanted to change the name to The Scientific Basis of Bhakti-yoga in Hindi. Just by replacing "Kṛṣṇa Consciousness" with "Bhakti-yoga," the appeal will broaden, because people are buying books just . . .

Prabhupāda: You can.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Can I do it?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I have it all ready. So all I have to do is just change the front page, The Scientific Basis of Bhakti . . .

Prabhupāda: You consult among you. So I want to see simply distribution of books in any language. That I want.

Yaśomatīnandana: I'm still printing one Bhāgavata Darśana every month. Every month I do one.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We just sent fifteen hundred of the last three issues to England—Gujarati.

Prabhupāda: Gujarati.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Also, in about ten days . . .

Prabhupāda: Gujarati you can send anywhere. It will be . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Even in Bombay there's lot of Gujaratis. Actually . . .

Prabhupāda: Any outside, in outside India, any country, Gujaratis are there—Africa, Europe, America. Africa is Gujarati country.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: From South Africa we have been request . . .

Prabhupāda: England. England also. All the guests we receive from pandals.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Patels.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: San Francisco too.

Prabhupāda: Eighty percent, they're Gujarati.

Yaśomatīnandana: One boy just came from Toronto, and he said that now they will have a team of Indian people. They get on the phone. They have one festival every month. And these five or six Indian people call up all the Indian people, and one thousand people gather every festival. And it is just one little town. So Life Members, you can at least take one thousand . . .

Prabhupāda: They have got life now. The Indians, on account of this movement, they have got life. They were forlorn, completely cut off from Indian culture. Now they have got it.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, I was in Ahmedabad last week. The farm that Bhogilal Patel gave, it's beautiful.

Prabhupāda: Yes, he has made this.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Very beautiful. I think it's even more beautiful than Hyderabad. It's hundred acres compared to six hundred acres, but all hundred acres is cultivable. And secondly, it is not far from the city. It is only like from Juhu to Churchgate. It's even less than that.

Yaśomatīnandana: Eight miles.

Prabhupāda: It is nothing.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Nothing. It took us fifteen minutes by scooter to get there. So I suggested to Yaśo that we should make that farm like New Vrindaban. Let us build a temple there . . .

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: . . . instead of in the city.

Prabhupāda: No, city should be . . . make there.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And this will be a very unique project in India then.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. There is no need of . . . city there are many temples. If there is a good temple fifteen miles, that is . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. And then we can sell cottages to big Life Members. They can make cottages . . .

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: . . . in our land and come there for the weekend.

Prabhupāda: Yes. They will pay for that.

Yaśomatīnandana: Two, three members already told me.

Prabhupāda: Three, four rooms, one cottage. They will come and live comfortably.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It's very beautiful land, all green, all hundred acres cultivable.

Prabhupāda: So Kṛṣṇa has given this facility.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: That I thought can be the best project. I mean, and it's not far from the city.

Prabhupāda: It is not at all. It is within city. Eight miles is within.

Yaśomatīnandana: City bus goes . . .

Prabhupāda: If you go to see some friend, we have to go eight miles.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And I told them they could buy scooters. Just like from Juhu we go to Churchgate it takes us one hour to reach. But from there to city we can, less than half an hour.

Prabhupāda: This farm . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: So you like the idea also . . .

Prabhupāda: Very good.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: . . . having a temple and a farm?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma (CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126). There is no distinction that you have to make in the city. Nagarādi grāma. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's . . .

Yaśomatīnandana: And it is our experience that in the city hardly fifteen, twenty people come. But in the village, about hundred fifty, two hundred come, even though the temple is . . .

Prabhupāda: You can make an ideal place. Very good.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. It will be very good temple. And actually the farm is worth five or six lakhs' rupees. All surroundings all good. And another good thing I found was in Hyderabad the neighboring villagers were against us when we went there, but here they're all favorable. They all say: "Hare Kṛṣṇa." When you walk, they greet you enthusiastically.

Prabhupāda: Gujarati people are Vaiṣṇava by nature.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes. There is one boy that is there, they invite him for prasādam , and then they fan him. They invite him for prasādam, they give him, they fan him, and then they're making . . . (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Do it nicely. All facilities will come.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: They can make small houses for the gṛhasthas, small cottages.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And then they'll be happy there.

Prabhupāda: Weekly visitors. Two-rooms cottage.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: This will attract a lot of people.

Prabhupāda: And it will cost not more than fifteen thousand, two-room cottage.

Yaśomatīnandana: Now we will organize. Just now we had to rush everything.

Prabhupāda: No. No, no. Don't make it a rush.

Yaśomatīnandana: Because we had no facilities there, but now there's one couple . . .

Prabhupāda: No, you can prepare bricks. By brick. Make in such a way that we get local supplies.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Prabhupāda said we can make the bricks also.

Prabhupāda: Bricks and tiles. Local potter can make that round tile. Make a brick that . . . and you have got bamboo. Take local supply as far as possible.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Only thing is if we put some electricity there. But after this year's crops they're going to do it, because . . .

Yaśomatīnandana: . . . (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Government will help you.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Gujarat is very pious.

Prabhupāda: No. It is complete government. Where is that book? Very nicely done.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Very nice.

Prabhupāda: Nobody can say it is Indian.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: You can't say it's printed in India. Actually, even our export quality now is very, very good. Actually there's a plastic coating on the top.

Prabhupāda: You cannot imagine that India has published.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The First Canto Bhāgavatam which you printed in India were . . . also, we are keeping the cost low. This is very, very important. Like this whole book, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we've done within eight rupees, fifty paisa, which is quite reasonable. It's very good.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Did you see the book they printed in Germany for . . . (indistinct) . . . (break) (end)