You may begin translations of Brhad-Bhagavatamrtam, and Laghu-Bhagavatamrtam as requested
A few pieces of mail have come in the last day or two. Balavanta prabhu sent his GBC report for the southeast zone. He thoroughly detailed each temple by size, activity and finances and enclosed beautiful photos of the Gaura-Nitai Deities at the Mississippi farm and some news reports on the Tennessee farm. His assessment of almost every place was optimistic and filled with superlatives, especially when he described the farm projects.
In Tennessee he said the twenty-three devotees are "rapidly progressing toward self-sufficiency." They have produced six thousand pounds of wheat. Corn and vegetables are growing, and rice will be planted soon. He said the cows give milk abundantly, and he predicted that within one or two years only animal-drawn machinery will be used. "Their program is to develop the first completely self-sufficient Vedic village in the Western world." He also said that the devotees were "hankering for a transcendental name for the community."
In New Orleans and the nearby Mississippi farm, another twenty-five devotees are regularly executing devotional service. He gave an enthusiastic description of the New Orleans yatra. "The brahmacary ashram is very strong here. They are like a transcendental army of 15 dedicated men. They do everything together; they eat together, sleep together, rise and attend the morning program together, chant japa together, and go distribute your books daily together. They are regulated, disciplined, humble, and, thus, very happy. I think this should be the standard of brahmacary life in every temple." His only concern was that there were only three brahmanas to worship the seven Deities.
At the farm Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai get a full six aratis despite there being only five brahmanas there. The photos showed that his description of Them as "gorgeous" was accurate. As on the other farms, the devotees have a cow protection program, producing so much milk that he said they had trouble knowing what to do with the excess. He also said that he has studied a little about cows. "I have seen one article that explains that cow killing did not become prominent even in the U.S.A. until about 1880 when there was developed large scale industrialization, which made it feasible. Before that the cows mostly died naturally and were used for milk and leather."
Our Miami center is not exactly rural, neither is it a farm, but his description made it sound like a natural paradise. "The facility here is most wonderful. I have not seen anything outside of perhaps the Bombay project to compare to it. ... Already mango trees abound and the luscious fruit is regularly collected and offered to the deities. The cows are grazing peacefully, yielding an abundance of milk, which is turned into wonderful sweets and offered to Gaura-Nitai. Peacocks roam freely, reminding one of the transcendental land of Vrndavana. Large fields of marigolds are being cultivated to be offered on the altar, and later distributed on sankirtan; and recently planted jasmine bushes promise to fill the entire property with a sweet fragrance, just like Mayapur. Coconut trees are being planted and a large ghat filled by underground streams has been dug, and the devotees bathe there regularly."
He said that great sums of money had gone into developing the project, and Krishna was supplying whatever was needed. The devotees in charge, Narahari dasa and Raghava dasa, were conscious of keeping the overheads down so that book distribution could increase. Even with all the development, each month thirty thousand BTGs are being sold and $36,000.00 per month collected. Balavanta recommended that Srila Prabhupada visit Miami the next time he tours the States.
Other sections of his report covered Atlanta; Charlotte, which he recommended should be moved to a location nearer the city; Houston where many enthusiastic Indian families are coming regularly to our programs and are seriously adopting our principles and chanting; and Gainesville, where he reported a good reception to the visit by Svarupa Damodara and Sadaputa prabhus at the university. Balavanta had formerly headed up the short-lived "In God We Trust" political party, and he compared this experience with the newly-developing scientific arena. "There is definitely a great preaching opportunity for them. It is even better than politics because the forum is not so dirty and they are very respected because of their PHDs. If they go on in this way and write their book, they will very soon have a genuine influence on the intelligent class of men in the West."
Srila Prabhupada was satisfied to hear of the progress of his temples and farms. He gave advice on the type of relationships that should exist between the different spiritual orders. "On the farms we should have mainly grihasthas. Farms are especially meant for the grihasthas. Brahmins and sannyasis are meant for begging food grains from the grihasthas. They depend on the grihasthas and the grihasthas treat them as their children. As the child is not a burden for the parents, so brahmins and sannyasis are not burden for the grihasthas."
He named the Tennessee community "Murari-sevaka," the place where devotional service to Murari, is performed.
He greatly appreciated the photos of the Deities on the Mississippi farm, which he described as "super excellent." "The Deity must be very nicely worshipped, dressed, and fed," he told him, giving a practical suggestion how their excess milk could be utilized. "In so doing you will always be peaceful and enlivened. From the extra ghee, you can contact Boston restaurant. They can perhaps purchase it. Sell ghee and you'll have good income. If possible in the city of New Orleans, open one restaurant. Someone can go to Boston and see how they are organizing things."
He found Balavanta's comments on cows interesting. "You can study the history of how cow-slaughter became prominent in the West and then use for preaching."
He was attracted to the description of the Miami project, especially because when we arrived here in Washington the devotees in Florida sent up a good supply of young coconuts. Prabhupada has been enjoying their juice every afternoon after his nap, just as if he were in India. He had some very practical suggestions on how they could take further advantage of the natural gifts Krishna has supplied. "In Miami there are so many mangos and coconuts. I am enjoying the dobs from Florida. The orange ones especially are very nice. I am taking one each day. From the green mangos you can make pickles. Cut them into pieces with skin intact, and sprinkle with salt and tumeric. Dry them well in the sunshine and put into mustard oil. They will keep for years, and you can enjoy with eating. They are nice and soft and good for digestion. If no vegetable is available, you can eat them with puris, similarly with pickled chilis. When mango pickles and chili pickles are combined, it is very tasteful. The Miami temple sounds to be very nice with bathing place and peacocks, just like Vrindaban. Krishna will supply you everything, don't worry. Just work sincerely." He said the proposal to move the Charlotte preaching center was all right, "but our principle is that people may come or not come, it doesn't matter. We can discuss and chant amongst ourselves."
Nandarani dasi sent a report from Iran, where Srila Prabhupada will be visiting in few weeks time. She and her husband Dayananda now have jobs in Tehran and are preaching with Atreya Rishi prabhu. They have been cultivating the Indian population and some local Iranians are also becoming interested. She is working on getting some of Prabhupada's books translated.
Srila Prabhupada encouraged her. "Try to publish Persian books as many as possible. That will be a big success. Iranians have very much respect especially for the Americans and your dealings with them will be very much appreciated."
Nitai dasa sent a lengthy letter in reply to Srila Prabhupada's inquiry of May 26, about his current engagement. He explained that he had stopped work on editing because he felt that now the BBT publishing has caught up with Srila Prabhupada's writing there was no need for three editors, since Pradyumna is back in action and Jagannatha dasa is also available. Therefore he has taken up service as the head pujari and as a Sanskrit and Hindi teacher at the gurukula. He sounded busy and satisfied with his life in Vrindavana. "I like to rise very early here and relish the wonderful atmosphere of Vrndavana. I get up at twelve every night and perform kirtan in the temple from 12 until 1 in the morning and then bathe and chant all my rounds before mangala arati. I also get some time for reading then. After Arati I go and bathe the deities and perform puja until seven. In the mornings I see to the matters of the Deity worship. In the afternoons I teach the classes. In this way by your mercy I am fully engaged."
He asked permission to continue, making one request. "The only thing is that I miss the nectar of the editing engagement. I remember how you once told me in Mayapur that the book work is the center of our activities. Everything else revolves around the producing of books. Therefore I would like to ask your permission to begin translations of some of the Goswami books that deal with siddhanta such as Sanatana Goswami's Brhad-Bhagatamrtam and Rupa Goswami's Laghu-bhagavatamrtam and others. If I find any difficulty I can consult with Sastriji Ananta dev das or Nrsinghavallabha Goswami. In these ways I would like to render some small service to your lotus feet here in Vrndavana."
He concluded by saying that the atmosphere in our temple was harmonious and that more and more people were coming to stay at the Guesthouse. He also said he was working on improving the standards in the pujari department to eliminate waste and prevent loss through theft and breakage. "The deities here are so beautiful that I would like to see Them get the best of everything. I pray at your lotus feet for the strength and determination to execute these different occupations to the best of my ability."
Srila Prabhupada was glad to hear from him, given the concerns that have arisen recently in Los Angeles. He wrote back giving him full encouragement. "Continue with your program in the temple. It is a good program and it sounds that you are doing very nice! You may begin translations of Brhad-Bhagavatamrtam, and Laghu-Bhagavatamrtam as requested. So you stick to Vrindaban somehow or another. Use the security rooms below the Deities and look after it nicely and I will give you silver plates for the Deities on hearing from you assurance that they will be properly cared for. Previously I haven't introduced because of insecurity. Yes, be attached to the Deity and your life will be successful."
Reference: Transcendental Diary Volume 3 by Hari Sauri Dasa
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