Prabhupada writes Tripurari declaring him the incarnation of book distribution
In 1974 the US airports are opened for book distribution and devotees distribute in ever greater quantities. Tripurari's BBT party focuses on distributing books in airports. When Ramesvara writes in his BBT Newsletter that one penny collected in America buys one brick for Prabhupada's projects in India, book distribution increases to greater heights. Prabhupada has already written Ramesvara that Tripurari was "doing more than any sannyasi by his personally distributing hundreds of books day after day and inspiring others to follow." Now Prabhupada writes Tripurari declaring him the incarnation of book distribution and giving full support for his program. "This book selling is the real preaching of our culture, especially when you sell Chaitanya-Charitamrta and Srimad-Bhagavatam. They will understand what we mean by reading these books. So you organize freely. You are the incarnation of book distribution. So take the leadership and do the needful." [Letter to Tripurari Das - November 12, 1974]
The year ends with a furious Christmas marathon. Record numbers of books are distributed. Out of 28 temples reporting, Los Angeles tops New York with 12,694 points to 12,035. LA sets world records for points and for distributing 22,450 small books. Tripurari's BBT party distributes 1,662 big books, another record, to finish third. San Francisco and Chicago complete the top five. For the five days, December 20-24, LA temple distributes 47,601 books. New York 38,289 books, Toronto 23,205 books, and Chicago 18,310 books. Five Dallas Gurukula girls (aged 10-13) plus two teachers do 277 books in 2.5 hours. Gajahanta Das is the top distributor with 1,197 points including 227 big books distributed in Atlanta. Among the GBC men, His Holiness Hridayananda Goswami did 80 points to lead in that category. In all, 133,586 pieces of transcendental literature were distributed before Christmas.
Not to be outdone by his disciples, Prabhupada finishes his commentary and translation of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita in 1974, even while traveling around the world, managing the Society, troubleshooting various crises, and suffering a near-fatal illness in Vrindavan. The BBT report is published in Back to Godhead. Literature Distribution More Than Doubles In One Year. The members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness made 1974 an outstanding year for the distribution of transcendental literature. Following the request of their spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, to "distribute my books profusely," in 1974 the devotees distributed more than 6-1/2 million pieces of literature - from small pamphlets to 1,000-page Bhagavad-gitas. More people than ever before - some 400,000 of them - took large, 400-page Krishna conscious books. In only one year's time the annual distribution of Back to Godhead magazine (described by Srila Prabhupada as "the backbone of the Krishna consciousness movement") almost doubled to four million copies. Has the distribution of Krishna conscious books reached its peak? "This is only the beginning," said Ramesvara Das, the devotee in charge of the Society's central book warehouse in Los Angeles. "Krishna is unlimited. There's no end in sight."