Letter to Russian

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes, of course if the Russian government...

Prabhupāda: You can reprint this for distribution here, Russian ships[?].

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Russian ship... Yes. The only danger to this will be that if the Russian government finds out that we are translating Russian literature... Because hearing "propaganda"—this is what the Christians do—then they will crack down very hard on our disciples there.

Prabhupāda: Where is my disciple there?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Well, only a few you have, Ananta-śānti. And they won't let us go there at all in the future.

Prabhupāda: That doesn't mean we shall not do that.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Then they will think...

Prabhupāda: "They'll think." It is. Why shall I not do it?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Okay.

Prabhupāda: All thinking, actually. We must do it. So where is that card? Bring it. I shall dictate.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: That card?

Prabhupāda: Your card is...

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes, that's on my side. You don't want that card, do you?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Jagadīśa: Yes. He wants to see it.

Prabhupāda: It is addressed to you?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. I'll show it to you. It just says "Happy New Year." That's all.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. Still, we have to reply them with this copy.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Okay, very good. So I should take a dictation?

Prabhupāda: Hmm.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Okay.

Prabhupāda: Who has signed that?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: That's from Mr. Yekinova. I had met him in Moscow. He's now in Delhi with the Russian...

Prabhupāda: What he is?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: He is a chief of the Russian agency that imports books into Russia.

Prabhupāda: Well, so address him.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. "Dear Mr. Yekinova."

Prabhupāda: So it has come from Delhi?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So give the Delhi address, embassy.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. I will... I have told them that we don't have any Bhaktivedanta Book Trust offices in Bombay, because I did not want them to visit our... I told them our Bhaktivedanta Book Trust office is in Bombay, because then he would have said, "I'll come and visit you in your office," and then he would have come to the temple. So we don't want to show any connection with ISKCON for Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

Prabhupāda: Why?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Because then they'll find out it's a religion and they will stop it at once.

Prabhupāda: As soon as he reads the book, he will find, according to the books.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Well, what I told the Russians was that ISKCON buys all the books from Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

Prabhupāda: So just keep that position. What is...?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. I mean we have to keep it...

Prabhupāda: But we have got pictures of God, and with every page there is Kṛṣṅa, and how you can hide it? This is another foolishness. Every page, there is Kṛṣṅa, and there is nothing but Kṛṣṅa.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: But by the time they find out, we are already in the country. For example, if I would have told them about ISKCON before, when I was applying for my visa...

Prabhupāda: No, no... Anyway, they may find, early or later. But how you can stop them finding? It is simply impossible[?].

Hari-śauri: Anyway, they expect that something coming from India is going to have something to do with God.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: We are saying... What I said that Bhaktivedanta Book Trust is dedicated to publishing books on ancient Indian culture.

Prabhupāda: You say like that. Whatever you like, you can say. But when they read the book it is simply...

Jagadīśa: Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa.

Prabhupāda: ...Kṛṣṅa. That's all. [chuckles]

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes, but the scholars, the Russian scholars, know... [break]

Prabhupāda: They have published their photograph in the paper. They take it, whatever... But the things are already there. So "Dear Mr. such and such, I thank you very much for your greetings card received recently. This cultural movement is depending in future on Russian intelligence and Indian culture. On this cultural movement, recently our Stockholm center has published one book..." What it is written here?

Jagadīśa: Easy Journey to Other Planets.

Prabhupāda: In Russian language?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes.

Jagadīśa: I don't know if I can...

Prabhupāda: "Easy Journey to Other Planets. So this is a different culture, how to go to other planetary system, how to transfer the soul from one body to another. In other planets there are also living entities. One can transfer himself, after giving up this body, to anywhere he likes without any help of the sputnik...

Hari-śauri: [dictating to Gopāla Kṛṣṅa] "...himself, after giving up this body..."

Prabhupāda: "...and without the help of the sputnik or any flying machine. This is the mystic system unknown to the world, but it is authorized in the Vedas, original culture of the human civilization."

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: "...is authorized in the Vedas..."

Hari-śauri: It's on the tape. I'm recording it too.

Prabhupāda: So, "A preliminary booklet is presented herewith to your good self. Kindly read it carefully and let me know your reaction. We are prepared to answer all intricate questions in this ques..., in this subject." In this way present.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Fine. I have made a lot of friends in Russia. I was going to send them. Only problem... Actually, I'll tell you what's happening with my correspondence with Russia. The Russian spying agency is so strong, they're not letting my letters get through, because...

Prabhupāda: Then don't send. What is the use of sending?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. Actually what I was thinking of was, in my letters...

Prabhupāda: First of all see one man. Test.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. I was going to mention to him in my letter that I'm surprised how I'm not getting replies to my letters from the people I visited in Russia.

Prabhupāda: Why? Why you should inquire from him? If you know that there is difficulty, why should you inquire?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Well, he can then have his Moscow address office get me the replies.

Prabhupāda: Why? Why you are anxious to get their reply? Their country is like that. Why? Yes. Why should you bother and strain your brain unnecessarily?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Okay.

Prabhupāda: You should know they are all rascals. That's all. But here we get an opportunity. You can write, present that to...

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Where is the other book?

Jagadīśa: Have we got two? Which ones?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Oh. So I can take one. And I can order some more from Stockholm and send them to these people as gift.

Prabhupāda: No, they can send directly. They can write under instruction.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Okay. Okay. That's okay. That's why I got... I got a letter from Rajiv Gupta today.

Prabhupāda: I have read that letter.

Jagadīśa: Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: He's... I told him to do the Gītā because he was very, very anxious, and I found that he was the most enthusiastic. So he's already completed... He promises me by February it will be completed.

Prabhupāda: If he's enthusiastic, let him do.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. He knew that we gave it to Dr. Paliwal, so he said, "I will do it. Don't let her do it." So at the present moment three people are doing the Gītā. There's another professor in Lucknow who I told to do also. We don't know whose will be perfect. But I think Rajiv is most enthusiastic to do it. I think Paliwal will be little slow. And then we can see whose Hindi was the best.

Prabhupāda: That you do not know very much.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: No, I was going to present it to some scholar and then to you. This man I brought today, that assistant editor, I think he will help. I can gradually give him work, and he's in Bombay. His Hindi is very good. He's assistant editor, so...

Prabhupāda: So you do that. Get the help of composition and monotype.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. This is the biggest... The Teachings of Lord Caitanya I gave for composing four months ago, and still they're going so slow.

Prabhupāda: The hand set-up is not...?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes, but in Delhi I could not find any. The only one in Delhi who has mono is Times of India, and it's very difficult to get it done. And so that I had no alternative.

Prabhupāda: In Calcutta there are many.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: I found out that in Allahabad there are a lot for Hindi. But then we have to have somebody over there.

Prabhupāda: Allahabad.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes, I mean, one devotee or someone who will supervise it. I suspect Bombay will be much more expensive, but I want to check. Tomorrow I'll check it.

Prabhupāda: Allahabad, we are going.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. But right now is Kumbha-melā in Allahabad. Everything's going to be in so much rush, it's going to be hard to do any business.

Prabhupāda: No, businessmen are there all right. I was doing that business. So in my shop they..., visitors used to come there.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: That's all. [pause] Śrīla Prabhupāda, this morning Rāmeśvara Mahārāja and Hṛdayānanda Mahārāja spoke to me.

Prabhupāda: I have heard that. That's good idea.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: That's good idea? So Hṛdayānanda Swami and Kīrtanānanda Swami are going to Africa. And on the 9th they told me to send a telegram signed by you saying you are sick and you want Brahmānanda to come immediately. So then Kīrtanānanda Swami will personally bring Brahmānanda Swami to India. But they want him to become your permanent secretary again.

Prabhupāda: I have no objection. I have no objection.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: You have no objection. Okay. And Hṛdayānanda Swami is ready to manage Africa till the festival.

Prabhupāda: He was experienced, Brahmānanda, in Africa. Where is that Cyavana? He is gone?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Cyavana?

Jagadīśa: He is a big mess.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Cyavana Swami? [break] I think they're going to have war in Africa pretty soon. They're going to have war.

Prabhupāda: War. Civil war?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: No, between... Not where Kenya is, but between Rhodesia and Zambia, in that area.

Hari-śauri: Whites and blacks.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes, Rhodesia.

Hari-śauri: Whites and blacks.

Prabhupāda: That is inevitable. The whites cannot...

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Rhodesia has rejected...

Prabhupāda: ...cannot kill them, repress any more. That is not possible. The other blacks will join.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: And it appears that even President Carter of America is more soft on the blacks now. He is more sympathetic. So if they get American support...

Prabhupāda: Nowadays you cannot be a suppressor of any particular foreigner. That is not possible.

Jagadīśa: Except the religious community.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Jagadīśa: Except the religious community.

Prabhupāda: Yes. They will suffer, both of them, because this is not civilization. This is assembly of dogs. That's all. So there trouble must be there. You cannot keep the dogs peaceful. That is my final... If you keep them animals, how you can expect?

Jagadīśa: That's not only between nation to nation.

Prabhupāda: Everywhere. Everywhere. If the men are kept as animals, you cannot expect them peaceful citizens. That is not possible. The fighting will go on, on one plea or another. You cannot stop. [pause] Was it...? You have...? Pālikā?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Mahārāja got the income tax today. The income tax also, and our auditor and our... Their interpretation of the law is so rigid, Śrīla Prabhupāda. We have to say so many lies. For example...

Prabhupāda: That you may not bother me.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: No.

Prabhupāda: So you can make idli? What is called? Is it called?

Pālikā: Tonight?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Pālikā: No. Because I have to grind... It has to soak, then I have to grind it. Then it has to sit for six or eight hours.

Prabhupāda: Ohhh.

Pālikā: I can prepare it now for tomorrow night.

Prabhupāda: All right, for tomorrow night.

Pālikā: Anything else you would like tonight?

Prabhupāda: No. I wanted to take that idli, one or two cakes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: So Prabhupāda, I can go to Santa Cruz and get you very nice idlis. They have a very nice Madras cafe there.

Prabhupāda: I think some of our men, they make. Mr. Menon?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes, his wife is sick. So I don't know if he would make it right away. You want to eat it right away, tonight, isn't it? There's a nice Madras cafe near Santa Cruz station on Willard Furrough[?]. I can go and get you from there.

Prabhupāda: If you can get, bring.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. Shall I bring that coconut chutney also?

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is essential.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Okay. I'll bring four... I'll bring about six or eight.

Prabhupāda: You can bring. I'll take, utmost, one or two.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Okay. I'll go and bring it now.

Prabhupāda: So I have decided to construct a temple in Bhubaneswar.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: You have? Okay.

Prabhupāda: The condition is that I'll invest money for Oriya language books, and you'll sell—half the collection for temple, and half the collection for printing again, the same principle.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: They won't be able to collect one crore by selling books.

Prabhupāda: No, no, if they can, I have no objection. [laughter] I can give them ten crores.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: [laughs] But they'll never be able to...

Prabhupāda: No, that you cannot say. It is all in the hands of Kṛṣṅa. Not one crore; say a few lakhs. He's ready to go town to town, village, in Orissa. He wants that in my absence somebody must be there to look after the construction. That is quite reasonable.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Oh, yes, definitely.

Prabhupāda: So I have told them, "Any amount I can invest. You print book and sell."

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Very good.

Prabhupāda: That is my open secret: print books and distribute, and spend half in whichever life you do, and half, again. That is my ambition. I want to see our philosophy is widely spread by different literatures. That I want to do.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. That will be very good. There are a few people here, like Vijeta, who is Saurabha's assistant, he could probably go to Bhubaneswar and supervise the construction.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So arrange.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: There are too many people here. We don't need that many in Bombay for the Bombay construction.

Prabhupāda: So let him come to Bhubaneswar. I am going after Kumbha-melā. And begin the work immediately.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: We already have...

Prabhupāda: And we have got one gentleman, professor. He is good learned scholar. I can engage him for translating.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Oriya. Very nice.

Prabhupāda: He is writing like machine. I can see the manuscript. In this way, arrangement make.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Very good. We just printed two books in Oriya: Topmost Yoga and one more.

Prabhupāda: He likes Oriya language.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Who? Gaura-Govinda Swami? He is very sincere devotee.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. Undoubtedly.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Very sincere.

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṅa sent him. He... In Vṛndāvana, he said that "Please give me shelter." I thought that "There are so many Indian comes and go." So when he insisted, "All right, you stay." [chuckles]

Hari-śauri: Yeah. He took sannyāsa at the opening of the temple. I remember that.

Prabhupāda: He's a good boy.

Hari-śauri: He's stuck it out for a long time in Orissa. He's been there a long time, by himself a lot of the time too.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. He's organizing nicely.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: He's very sincere. He follows all the regulations very rigidly. He gets up in the morning. Ideal example.

Jagadīśa: He understands the philosophy quite well.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. And he is educated. He is B.Sc.

Hari-śauri: He is B.Mc[?].

Prabhupāda: Huh? He knows Hindi also.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: He worked on Hindi translation for some time.

Prabhupāda: Where is that Hindi typewriter?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: I never saw that typewriter.

Prabhupāda: Ask Yaśodānandana, Yaśomatī-nandana.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes, I will do that. Okay.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Immediately. You ask him for my brāhmaṅa... Yes. So very steadily do everything. Opposition will come. We have to face.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: So I'll arrange for your idlis, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Idlis, and if dosa... Dosa?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. There's two types of dosas. One is masālā; one is sada. Masālā has got potatoes inside.

Prabhupāda: Potatoes?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes, inside. What they do is they put some... Inside it's like...

Prabhupāda: Which one is better?

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Sada is without.

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: Sada? Or I'll get masālā if there are no onions in it. Sometimes they put onions.

Prabhupāda: No, no, no.

Gopāla Kṛṣṅa: If there's no onions, I'll get one masālā also. Okay.

Prabhupāda: [japa] Except in few provinces, everyone eats onion, all over the world. And garlic. In Western countries I think onion and garlic, cent per cent they eat.

Hari-śauri: Not so much garlic, but onions anyway. Onions they love. Pickled ones.

Prabhupāda: [japa] Sell books and this principle follow: half construct temple, half print books. No income tax. "We have spent everything." That's all. [japa] In Vṛndāvana, he was suggesting, that Set..., Sethiji, that "You make some will. Otherwise, after your... In your absence the government will..."

And I'll not keep a single farthing. I shall spend all before I die. [chuckles] Invest in book, that's all. I am insisting on this. But I am simply afraid if we have got enough stock, it may not be stolen and misused. Otherwise I want to immediately invest in books all the money that I have got.

Hari-śauri: I don't think there'll be any problem there.

Prabhupāda: So arrange like that. We want. Then I'll print all books, keep in stock. Never mind. Why use the bank?

Hari-śauri: Rāmeśvara's coming soon. I can...

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Keep in stock. It will be sold. There is no doubt.

Hari-śauri: And now we have so many different languages coming out, these...

Prabhupāda: Yes. And here, if we make closet or on the wall, we can keep anywhere, all the verandas, all these rooms, four walls, keeping books, book stock. Make vigorous propaganda by advertising, "Read Hare Kṛṣṅa literature. Hare Kṛṣṅa is wonderful." In this way advertise: Hindi, English, Bengali. I can give suggestion; you do it. [japa]

We are getting paper now, government paper. Money is there. Now we have to print very intelligently, and even it is not immediately sold, we can keep stock. [pause] [break] "Cultivate seriously spiritual life. Welcome. Come here, live with us. We have got enough place." They want that sense gratification in the old age, when the senses are no more capable, still. [end]