Who has requested you to give them money? What is this nonsense?

There was already some mail awaiting Prabhupada when he arrived, most all of it from India, and he answered it during his massage yesterday and today. As Pushta Krishna Maharaja read out each letter Prabhupada replied point by point, speaking in his apostrophic style, as if the sender was personally before him. Gopala Krishna prabhu sent a three page report on his west and south Indian zone. He wrote most about Delhi, which still has problems. A feud developed between the head pujari, Omkara dasa, and Tejiyas, the president. It resulted in Tejiyas moving out for a while. After Gopala spoke with him, he moved back in, but he wants a change in service. He would like to distribute books and do some limited amount of fund raising. Gopala therefore proposed to Srila Prabhupada that Jagat-purusha dasa from Bombay, who is an American married to an Indian, become the new temple president. Despite the internal problems, Gopala's description of the Delhi temple was filled with hope. "The new Delhi temple is a big hit. Every day at least 50 to 60 people come for Sundar Artiks. Even for Mangal Artik few people come. The neighbours just love us. Women bring us food. They even want to cook for us. No one is complaining about our Kirtans. In Artiks, the Temple room is completely full. People are standing in the lawn. We have a very big front lawn. I have spoken to the landlord and he has allowed us to put a Shamiana on the top. In the lawn 30 to 40 people come for the evening lecture. ... All the people who come are from Lajpat Nagar. There are three other temples nearby, but they still like us the most. Our Deity worship is top class, and the visitors admit never seeing such beautiful deities." He told Prabhupada he is having two new vyasasanas made and he was planning to spend five thousand rupees to fix up a guest room for life members and his letter was full of enthusiastic plans to develop Delhi. "Tejiyas sometimes tells devotees that you did not want Delhi to be big. I will never disobey you but my understanding is that if we can make it big, you will be pleased." He had a question about the local women cooking. "Few of the women who come are strict Vaishnavas at home. They have offered to cook for the devotees in our kitchen. Is this O.K?" He also proposed a new scheme for supporting the temple whereby one thousand individuals will be made members at eleven rupees per month payment. The members will get a BTG and a newsletter each month plus a membership card. Gopala also gave an update on Hyderabad. He approved a loan of two lakhs, and Mahamsa Swami has promised to collect the remaining one and a half lakhs needed to complete the temple. Gopala felt it would now be ready for opening on Janmashtami, and he suggested a schedule for Prabhupada's approval. He said that the BBT library party had continued to do well, taking fifty more standing orders in the South in one week. Gargamuni Maharaja's party also gained thirty in Punjab and Hariyana. Mahabuddhi dasa was still due to leave on July 6th, and Bhugarbha will stay until the end of July. Gopala said he was trying to start another local party to complement Prabhavishnu and Mahavishnu prabhus' team. Prabhupada replied at length. He was glad to hear that many people are attracted in Delhi and he told him to keep the standard of Deity worship up. He was, however, not at all in favor of spending any money on the building's facilities. "Why should we invest money in a guest room for the New Delhi Temple? After all the house is rented and is someone else's property, so why we should invest money in the house? We cannot receive guests in the New Delhi Temple. It is not possible. Only our own workers should remain. Unpaid guests should be discouraged in New Delhi. This should be discussed in the GBC meetings. No investment should be made. In a rented house we should not spend unreasonable amounts for alterations. To be 'big' you must have a dhamsalla. One room guest house does not make Delhi 'big.' So far as possible, guests should be avoided in New Delhi and only workers should remain." Similarly he did not like the idea of moving Jagat-purusha. "This change of Presidents is to be made in the GBC meeting. In the middle of the year there is no question of change. Tejyas can continue as President. Three times changing president is not good. It should first be conjointly considered by the GBC." And he was equally negative in his reply about the local women cooking. "Unless one is initiated they cannot cook. They must be regular disciples then they can do Deity worship. So there is no question of the outsiders cooking in the New Delhi temple." Gopala had spoken of developing Delhi into a big project, but Prabhupada was more cautious in sharing his enthusiasm. "Let us continue in the rented house and see how things develop. If local people come and join and take initiation, then we can consider developing. Simply lip?sympathy will not do. They must be regular disciple, follow the regulative principles, and they will develop it themselves. Besides that book distribution and preaching is our most important activity. Opening temples is subordinate. We have to see how books are being distributed and how people are joining wholeheartedly. That is actual development." Prabhupada was equally unenthusiastic about Gopala's new membership scheme. "The Rs. 11-membership is imagination. What is that membership card? And how will you regularly collect such a small sum from the members? It will engage so much money just to collect this. In any case, this is to be discussed with the GBC. Don't discuss anything new haphazardly. I have no experience of the idea." As far as Hyderabad was concerned, Prabhupada approved of the main ceremonies being held on Janmashtami, August 18th, and said that the opening should be at noon, followed by the regular Janmashtami program up to the midnight arati. Prabhupada had already received a telegram from Gargamuni complaining that five library parties were idle all over India because Gopala would not supply them books. So he told Gopala he must immediately supply them. He also wrote to Gargamuni asking him to gradually pay off his BBT debt. Finally, Gopala had asked whether Sridhara Swami, whom Prabhupada told to go preach with Trivikrama Maharaja in China, could return to Bombay. He said it was likely Sridhara could not stay more than two weeks in China and he was badly needed in Bombay. Srila Prabhupada replied in favor of him staying in the Far East. He is very keen on the China preaching attempt now that the Chinese Gita, is out, having me carry copies of it when we travel. He told Gopala,"Sridhar Maharaj, if he is in Hong Kong, there is great need of introducing our Chinese literature. Chinese people are interested in India, and Vedic literatures. It is understood that they are purchasing other editions of Bhagavatam from India ... why not approach the Chinese representative in Bombay for introducing our books. They are establishing good relations with India. In case Sridhar Maharaj cannot stay long in China, that will have to be discussed with Trivikrama Maharaj. But the Chinese Distribution is required." There was a letter from Bhagatji, Sri Visvambhar Dayal, bringing Srila Prabhupada up to date with the Vrindavana temple affairs. Srila Prabhupada is extremely pleased he has come forward to help us. Srila Prabhupada has gradually induced him to take a more active role in the temple affairs, telling him, "So kindly help the management as Krishna Balaram is your worshipable Deity." He spoke very encouragingly to him, revealing a glimpse of his own intimate relationship with Sri Sri Krishna and Balarama. "Kindly guide our foreign disciples to manage nicely and increasingly you will be able to please Their Lordships Krishna and Balaram. Although I've established Their temple, Their Lordships want me to keep outside the temple for touring. So in my absence you kindly manage nicely. Akshayananda Maharaj and yourself are tested devotees and I fully depend on you. I always think of how you are selflessly working for the temple. Please see that the accounts are kept and that no money is wasted. That's my only request. After all money is collected with great hardship. Not a single paise should be wasted." Yasomatinandana prabhu wrote describing a highly successful Ratha-yatra in Ahmedabad. The local temples organized it and the Mahant of the Jagannatha temple presided over it. The devotees had a kirtana on the back of a truck during the parade, which the whole city populace witnessed. By simply leaning over the truck's side, they sold fifteen hundred of the newly printed Gujarati magazine Bhagavat Darshana, without even getting off the truck. Yasomatinandana said he felt it was a record for Indian book distribution. However, because they aimed at making sure everyone got one, they charged only one rupee a piece; they only made twenty paisa profit per magazine. Yasomatinandana's description of how they got to participate was interesting. "It was by Your direct mercy that we got a place on the truck because when we met the Mahant of Jagannath temple, he refused to see us because he thought we were hippies. Then there was another 'sadhu' standing there and he knew Your Divine Grace very well. So he said, 'You are disciples of Bhaktivedanta Swami?' We said 'Yes,' so he went to the Mahant and introduced us. Then Mahant said 'O.K. they can come Tuesday and join in the temple truck with a few other sadhus of their own.' That is how we got in. This sadhu's name was Narayan das and he is a Mahant of Nilkanth Mahadev (Ranji Mandir) in Vadigam. He said that Your Divine Grace had stayed with him for almost six months in his ashrama fifteen twenty years ago. He was nice and said that 'swamiji was a great scholar and was giving lectures in the ashrama everyday. All day he was writing on Bhagavatam. He was eating only once and in the evening just taking milk.' " Yasomatinandana has collected over four hundred subscriptions for their new magazine. They have printed five thousand copies and will publish it bimonthly, increasing to a monthly periodical when the subscribers increase. His only concern was that Bombay BBT had not fulfilled any overseas orders for Gujarati literature, even though there is potential for thousands of sales. Yasomatinandana also mentioned that there is a chance to get land from the government at one-sixth the market price. He wanted to know if Srila Prabhupada wanted him to try to purchase some. Srila Prabhupada was pleased with the news. He didn't respond to the meeting with Narayana dasa, but concentrated on the preaching activities. Despite what he had recently told Gopala Krishna about having Yasomatinandana base himself in Bombay, he now encouraged Yasomatinandana to go on with his preaching. "Your program in Ahmedabad is very encouraging. Do it. Why not take the government land immediately. If you can publish these magazines you will get many supporters and sympathizers. If the order department in Bombay is not despatching the orders on literature to the foreign temples then you can sometimes go to Bombay and organize things. You are one of the trustees. You can organize or have some professional shipping agent do it. Ahmedabad is such a big city. Aren't there any shipping agents there? Why from Bombay, why not from Ahmedabad? The distribution results from the Rathayatra are very nice. There is no question of profit. Distribution is the first consideration." Caitya-guru dasa wrote from Chandigarh, where they are staying at the house of Mr. P. L. Sethi, one of our earliest life members in Bombay. Many local people attend the early morning classes, and sixty or seventy students and others come in the evenings. Caitya-guru told Srila Prabhupada that he had complied with his instruction to write a letter of apology to the member in Africa who had complained about his behavior there. However, he felt Brahmananda Maharaja had exaggerated things. Prabhupada replied positively, telling him, "Do everything conscientiously and my blessings are always with you." Despite his denial of wrongdoing, Prabhupada still cautioned him. "However, don't create any awkward situation that may be criticized. Caesar's wife must be above criticism. Up to now as I have got respectable situation, I wish that all my disciples will have similar respectable position in society. That will keep my name good. Like father, like son." Yasodanandana Maharaja sent a one page letter from Bangalore?another headache of conflict between preachers. Yasodanandana complained about Gopala Krishna prabhu's arrangements with Bhavabhuti dasa, the Madras temple president. He said that previously all collections in South India went to help the construction in Hyderabad. But Gopala had allowed Madras to keep the greater portion of their collections over the last year, even though there are only two devotees there. They have saved fifty thousand rupees for a temple project, but there is no prospect of doing anything as yet. Therefore, Yasodanandana asked Bhavabhuti to release his funds for the completion of Hyderabad temple, volunteering the services of Hyderabad's collectors for the construction of a Madras temple once the Hyderabad project was finished. He asked for Prabhupada's advice on the matter. Prabhupada's reply was two sentences long: "It is a good idea to use the money which had been collected in Madras to complete the Hyderabad Temple. The immediate necessity must be met first." The only letter he received from outside India was a heartfelt plea from Ambarisha prabhu who is now back in Boston. He politely expressed a dilemma, asking Srila Prabhupada to resolve it. Since he has been in Boston many devotees have asked him for money, and being generous, he doesn't like to refuse. Yet at the same time, he said he is beginning to feel "more like a bank than a bhakta." He explained that if he is not asked he is more inclined to give where it is needed. But he explained that repeated requests were not having a good effect on his spiritual life. "The result is that sometimes I am hesitant to go to the temple and my heart has become a little bit hardened. This is not good at all, and I am not sure how to handle this matter without being offensive. I am sorry to trouble you with this matter, but you are expert at resolving all problems, and you are my only shelter." Srila Prabhupada wasn't happy to hear that Ambarisha was being pestered for money. His reply was calculated to remove any ambiguity Ambarisha might be feeling and to relieve him of any disturbance. "You should not pay anything without my permission. Who has requested you to give them money? What is this nonsense? Now, you don't give a single paise without first asking my permission."