October 23, 1966 : New York
Satsvarupa: A country club in Queens was trying to sell its small A. B. Dick press. Prabhupada was interested, and he rode out to Queens in a borrowed van with Gargamuni and Kirtanananda to see the machine. The manager of the country club wanted $250 for it. Prabhupada looked over the machine carefully and talked with the manager, telling him of his spiritual mission. The manager mentioned a second press he had on hand and explained that neither machine was actually of any use to him. So Prabhupada said he would pay $250 for both machines.
Srila Prabhupada gave over the editorship of Back to Godhead magazine to Hayagriva and Raya Rama. For so many years he had taken Back to Godhead as his personal service to his spiritual master, but now he would let young men like Hayagriva, the college English teacher, and Raya Rama, the professional writer, take up Back to Godhead magazine as their service to their spiritual master. In a short time, Hayagriva and Raya Rama had compiled the first issue and were ready to print.
Raya Rama had typed the stencils, and during the printing he had stood nervously over the machine, examining the printing quality of each page, stroking his beard, and murmuring, "Hmmmmm." A few devotees collated and stapled the magazine in an assembly line, walking along the stacks of pages, taking one page under another until they reached the end of the bench and gave the assembled stack of pages to Gargamuni, who stood brushing his long hair out of his eyes, stapling each magazine with the stapler and staples Brahmananda had brought from his Board of Education office.
Suddenly the side door opened, and to their surprise they saw Swamiji looking in at them. They felt an unexpected flush of emotion and love for him, and they dropped down on their knees, bowing their heads to the floor. Prabhupada walked down the row of pages, his hand and wrist extending gracefully from the folds of his shawl as he touched a stack of pages and then a finished magazine. "ISKCON Press," he said.
Raya Rama had typed the stencils, and during the printing he had stood nervously over the machine, examining the printing quality of each page, stroking his beard, and murmuring, "Hmmmmm." A few devotees collated and stapled the magazine in an assembly line, walking along the stacks of pages, taking one page under another until they reached the end of the bench and gave the assembled stack of pages to Gargamuni, who stood brushing his long hair out of his eyes, stapling each magazine with the stapler and staples Brahmananda had brought from his Board of Education office.
Suddenly the side door opened, and to their surprise they saw Swamiji looking in at them. They felt an unexpected flush of emotion and love for him, and they dropped down on their knees, bowing their heads to the floor. Prabhupada walked down the row of pages, his hand and wrist extending gracefully from the folds of his shawl as he touched a stack of pages and then a finished magazine. "ISKCON Press," he said.
Reference: Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta Volume 2 - Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami
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