770110 - Conversation - Bombay

Conversations by Date, 1977

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this Conversation

770110R1-BOMBAY - January 10, 1977 - 29:54 Minutes

Prabhupāda: . . . at a time. Simply the sense must be there. Jñānavan. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyante (BG 7.19). To surrender to Kṛṣṇa is not easy, but if one is jñānavān, he can do it. So make your country jñānavān, not these rascals, unnecessarily wasting time by opposing us. They are rascals. So you have to turn these rascals into sense. Then it will take. Give them prasādam; let them chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Time will come, ours. Do it. I'll die, but you shall remain. You are all young men. (break)

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: After meeting with Mr. Narayana tomorrow I feel that what I . . . what we first asked him for was some free advertisement, free advertising space that sometimes he gets. And he says we'll have to write to Madras, to the head office.

Prabhupāda: That you do . . . if we get free, you send.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No, so if they just tell me that will take a week for them to get the answer, then should I wait for a week before starting the advertising campaign?

Prabhupāda: No, the free, that is consideration. Let them give freely. You take advantage.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Okay.

Prabhupāda: So where is Jagadīśa?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: He's in his room.

Prabhupāda: I called him. Where is that . . . I made the . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Advertisement.

Prabhupāda: Advertisement, yes. So just exactly do that . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Simply I have not added the name.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. And the list of books.

Prabhupāda: List of . . . yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Just update it.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Here are the spaces.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, for the addresses.

Prabhupāda: Addresses. You can write. What is the address of the Vrinda Book Company?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I have it with me in my office.

Prabhupāda: So write it there.

Rāmeśvara: This paper circulates more than the Times.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Combined. But not individually by city.

Rāmeśvara: But it's very close. Just in this city, Bombay, only twenty thousand papers' difference. In Delhi, bigger circulation than Times.

Prabhupāda: Competition.

Rāmeśvara: Very competitive. And it's overall much more.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, it's a fine paper. Therefore we decided.

Prabhupāda: Please see that there is no printing mistake.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No, we won't.

Prabhupāda: That is . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. I'm giving Bombay address; Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Hare Kṛṣṇa Land, Juhu, Bombay; Bhaktivedanta Book Trust; and the Delhi address. Delhi temple also.

Prabhupāda: No.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No?

Prabhupāda: Why Delhi temple? They are not executing?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Okay. Because we have a good stock of books over there also.

Prabhupāda: No, that is another thing. But they have no department for executing. They will be embarrassed when they receive order.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Okay, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Bombay, and Vrinda

Prabhupāda: Give the full address.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. I'm waiting for Jagadīśa to bring. Including the telephone number on the bottom.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Very often people just call up.

Rāmeśvara: In India when they have ads like this, Gopāla, do they have coupons?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Couponing is just introduced, being introduced in India. They'll not take.

Prabhupāda: Telephone number, I think, Vrinda has also.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, he just got a phone. Lever Brothers, they've been experimenting with couponing in India. Not very . . .

Rāmeśvara: This man invited us to have the books reviewed.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I saw that. We're going to work on that now, even get these books reviewed by Times of India and all . . . so this is free publicity, and this is respected publicity. They also have a telephone number now. I have seen in the news. I have it in my office.

Prabhupāda: Telephone number?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: I think I have got. Yes, 617796

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: 617796. If we give their address, then is postbox address then necessary?

Prabhupāda: Postbox? Why?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It is not necessary. Yes, that's what I'm asking. It's not.

Prabhupāda: What is the address?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: 30/1B College Row, Calcutta 70009.

Prabhupāda: Or Calcutta 9 is . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Now they have the Pin Code, Zip Code, so . . .

Prabhupāda: Phone number.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, I have that. Telephone 617796. Now one question on pricing. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we are selling it to the libraries for forty-five rupees.

Prabhupāda: No, no. It is not the question of library. What is the general price?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The general price is . . .

Rāmeśvara: Lower.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No. The general price is higher. What's the U.S. registered price? They're just asking that . . . it comes about seventy rupees.

Prabhupāda: Don't make duplicity pricing.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Exactly. That is why I'm discussing with you right now, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Our pricing will be consistent. So I think forty-five rupees is reasonable. Above that, in India people will hesitate on buying. I'd like to get everyone to think it is available at . . .

Prabhupāda: Why forty-five? We can reduce more even, do you think.

Jagadīśa: . . . (indistinct)

Rāmeśvara: He's already charging the libraries forty-five rupees.

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: So we can't go below that . . .

Prabhupāda: No.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: . . . because then they . . .

Prabhupāda: That's nice.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Śrīla Prabhupāda . . . (break) What do you think?

Rāmeśvara: Lower the better.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. That is what I'm saying. Because . . .

Rāmeśvara: We are selling so many Gītās in America because we lowered the price.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So you consult and do it.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: (indistinct to Rāmeśvara)

Rāmeśvara: Did you mention about the loans for Bhūṣaṇa? Another thing.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I had spoken to you earlier that we can expand our printing, especially in India . . .

Prabhupāda: So now you have received nine lakhs' worth books. So how you'll pay it?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Nine lakhs' worth of books?

Prabhupāda: From America.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. As we sell these, this money can be paid into construction.

Prabhupāda: First you'll have to inform them. He'll send less.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. I'll work that arrangement out with him before he goes back.

Prabhupāda: So you should do that.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. I have told Rāmeśvara Mahārāja that before he goes back to America he should spend a day with me so we can work all these things out. So after he leaves you, he will spend . . .

Prabhupāda: Everything should be done businesslike.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. We don't want anything free.

Prabhupāda: All first class.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We can pay for things now. I'm just addressing Rāmeśvara Mahārāja's help in getting our exports done. Once . . .

Prabhupāda: He will help you, and then you can, you also, big business. You . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Definitely. These exports will give India a very good income.

Prabhupāda: Or you can exchange. Whatever money you have received, you supply books.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, the . . .

Rāmeśvara: The government will insist on.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No, the government will insist that we get foreign exchange, and . . .

Prabhupāda: Anyway, if credit builds, you send less money.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I got a letter from Bali-mardana Mahārāja. He's ordered four thousand . . . today I got a letter. He says . . . he's ordered the Bhāgavatams also. Four thousand copies of First Canto, Part Two, he ordered already. So this one is four thousand copies, Śrīla Prabhupāda . . .

Prabhupāda: This is Indian printed?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No, I'm printing that.

Prabhupāda: Very good.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Right on that, there's already a profit of more than twenty thousand rupees. So just with export . . .

Prabhupāda: So you can return that twenty thousand rupees I have given you for . . . (indistinct) . . . (laughter) Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Actually, we will invest that as further expansion, but if you want . . .

Prabhupāda: Then you should also take it as loan.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: This all, advertisement?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Certainly. It is business.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Okay. (laughs) It's all your money.

Rāmeśvara: From one pocket to another.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Okay. So Bali-mardana says . . . he's given sixty . . . I just got his letter today.

Prabhupāda: I had one . . . when I was doing medical business I had one very nice customer. He was my patron also, one Muhammadan doctor, Sirajuddin. He was very kind to me. He was just like a father to me. So his system was that in his pharmacy, patent medicine, drugs, medicine, surgical instruments, like that, different headings. So suppose, at the sales time, sells some patent medicine. So he has got a box. So he puts the price in the patent medicine. And if he sells some surgical, he puts the price in the surgical pot. In this way, when they want to purchase again, so he would consult his pot, whether there is money. Then he'll allow to purchase. Otherwise not. So he told me, "This is my account. This is my account. When they want to purchase, they consign us something. I shall allow them to purchase so much as I have got in the box." This is . . . I have seen that gentleman. And in Calcutta there was a . . . in our young time there was a cinema, Mr. Maddar, J. F. Maddar. He's a Parsee. So for some . . . business, he was tenant of mine. One of my tenants. So in his room there were boxes. So I asked Mr. Maddar, "What is this box at home?" And "This is the counter . . . containing counter part of ticket in my cinema house. So these are sent to me. I count the counter part. Then I can calculate, 'This is the calculation.' I don't keep an account. Now let them do whatever they like. I understand that so many counter parts, so much money."

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Bali-mardana writes to me that he even wants to order 7.2 and 7.3 from India. So one thing is the demand is there for our books. Because we are selling the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for $1.45, same quality with plastic cover and two or three ribbon.

Prabhupāda: No, one thing is that if you export, you will come to the light of the government. They want. And then you will get a good supply of paper.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. We can import paper also.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: (to Rāmeśvara) So that's why I want you to spend a day or two with me. We have so many things I want to cover with you.

Prabhupāda: Yes. He can send paper?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. What I had earlier written to him was we can import paper and I can give the money into construction. And because I have . . . I know the Joint Chief Control of Imports and Exports in Delhi, and he told me he would give me a license to import paper duty free. So we can import paper which you can pay for in Singapore, you follow? I'll give you the dealer, everything. And the paper will come. We'll print . . .

Prabhupāda: You supplied paper to Japan, I think.

Rāmeśvara: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So you can supply the paper.

Rāmeśvara: And now, whenever we print books in America, we supply paper. It's much cheaper if we buy it.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We do the same thing. I buy all the . . .

Rāmeśvara: The printer will mark it up if he has to spend his money for paper.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. In India also we buy the paper ourselves. We buy the paper and give it.

Prabhupāda: That is good. Supply paper.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We're dealing with all the paper mills directly.

Rāmeśvara: You take good savings that way.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. And also the printer likes it, because it doesn't enter his account.

Rāmeśvara: Printer loves it. The printer doesn't have to spend his money on paper.

Prabhupāda: Not only that, if he makes bill for the paper, then he has to pay sales tax.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Also the income tax will say: "Your sales were so high," so he doesn't want the paper account to come under that. So what I'm saying, Śrīla Prabhupāda . . . the demand for our books is there. And like BBT Los Angeles sells a Bhāgavatam to the temples for $3.50, and we are selling it for $1.45. And that includes our profit already. Our real cost is 90 cents, 95 cents. So we can expand our printing capacity here. As I discussed with you last week, there's one machine from England that Usha Printers wants to import. And if we give him a loan . . . it will be his machine. He'll give us documents, and he'll pay back interest every month. In two years he'll pay back the whole money plus interest, which will be higher than what the bank gives us.

Prabhupāda: Is that all right?

Rāmeśvara: What is the bank rate?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The bank rate's about 12%. He'll do higher than the bank rate.

Prabhupāda: No, no, no.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No.

Prabhupāda: Bank rate is not less than 16%.

Rāmeśvara: He is only offering 12% a year.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No, he'll give us more than the bank rate. Whatever rate the bank lends at, we'll get more than that. That's understood.

Prabhupāda: He may mean "More than bank rate" means bank allows to their customer not more than 10%. But if you take loan from bank . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. I know he will give more. That loan . . .

Prabhupāda: Take loan, the interest is more.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, the borrowing loan. He will give more than that.

Prabhupāda: The borrowing loan is not less than 16%.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: 15% . . . yes. He's offered 25%.

Rāmeśvara: I think this is a good idea, because the printer will be indebted to us.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And now we also need his help to make . . . I went all over India looking for printers.

Prabhupāda: So do it immediately.

Rāmeśvara: This is a good opportunity for us to have a very solid relationship with the printer.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. That's nice.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Also, if we can give these Bhāgavatams for a dollar to America, they can import it from here also. And as I told Rāmeśvara Mahārāja, we can give a plastic cover plus two or three ribbons. Insured, it will cost nothing extra.

Prabhupāda: You decide for . . . (indistinct) . . . why not?

Rāmeśvara: We're going to discuss it at the Māyāpur Festival with Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Swami, because he's in charge of distribution.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Rāmeśvara: He has to approve the quality.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The quality's only a little inferior.

Prabhupāda: I don't think India can make such quality.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: But the Gītā we did came very close, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: It may come to close, but not to . . . then that's all right. If it is possible, we can.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Like Jayatīrtha wrote to me. He prefers the Indian Gītā to the American because it is economical.

Rāmeśvara: Because it is . . . yes, because of the price.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. We all have to be realistic. The price is a good . . .

Prabhupāda: Now Jayatīrtha is going first in selling, more than anyone.

Rāmeśvara: During the . . . during one week of Christmas he defeated Los Angeles. (Prabhupāda chuckles)

Jagadīśa: He's taking . . . (indistinct)

Rāmeśvara: Oh, yes, he did.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: He was third on that list.

Rāmeśvara: His one temple defeated any other temple. His one temple was the number one temple, but as a whole zone . . .

Prabhupāda: Jayatīrtha is also good business. (chuckles) He has got good business brain. So do it nicely, and Kṛṣṇa . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: This will be very good.

Prabhupāda: More work; more use your intelligence. Prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā: with life, with money, with intelligence, with words to serve Kṛṣṇa. Etāvaj janma-sa-phala tvam. This is the perfection of life. How? Etāvaj janma-sal . . . janma-sa-phala tvam dehinām iha dehiṣu (SB 10.22.35). Iha dehi . . . this, in human body . . . those who have got body as dog, cats, they have got body. But iha dehiṣu, this human form is for perfection. And how that perfection is achieved? Prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā śreya ācaraṇaṁ sadā: "With your life, with your money, with your intelligence, with your words, serve." That is successful life.

Trivikrama: Today we have an engagement at the Gujarati . . . what was that?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Nathdwar?

Prabhupāda: Here?

Trivikrama: In Bombay. In the city we have a . . .

Prabhupāda: So books are selling?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Which ones selling?

Trivikrama: Well, they want mostly in Gujarati. They didn't read Hindi. There is magazines and Īśopaniṣad.

Prabhupāda: This magazine you have got?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. We have stock of Gujarati books also.

Prabhupāda: No, this magazine.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh. Not this one. This one hasn't arrived.

Trivikrama: This is a rupee and a half.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: These covers I did in Bombay. These are books from the other covers. They came out very good. Ādi-rasa was telling me, in a week we'll also do the black and white in Bombay, because the quality is going to be better.

Prabhupāda: You make expert, on quality expert.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We are doing all the Gujarati covers in Bombay now, and I wrote to Jayapatāka. We can even do the Bengali printing here.

Prabhupāda: In India, Bombay is best.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I found out . . .

Prabhupāda: There are many offset printing houses.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Like in the Bengali Back to Godhead they did in Calcutta, they spent eight paisa more per copy printing than Bombay, and the quality was much inferior. So now I said: "You compose over there . . ."

Prabhupāda: Typeset is Delhi good, but offset—Bombay.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: So what I've told them, Śrīla Prabhupāda, is they can get the composing done in Bengal, Calcutta, then send it to me, like I get the Hindi composing done in Vṛndāvana and mail it to Bombay for printing. So it is cheaper and good quality, plus we have the whole department set up. One boy, Pippalai, he just takes care of technical aspects. And we have a shipping department all set up now. Two boys work just on the shipping.

Prabhupāda: So supply department keep in one place.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. And we have very good . . .

Prabhupāda: In other places it is . . .

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: They don't have the men, and we have good . . .

Prabhupāda: No. They supply all supplies. The orders should be supplied from one place.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We're getting up to two months' credit on printing bills. Everything is nicely set up.

Prabhupāda: But keep your credit.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. I have very good credit, even with the paper manufacturers. They just give us the paper right away. We have very good credit at the moment because many . . .

Prabhupāda: What is that? You want to ask me something?

Rāmeśvara: No, I was just taking notes. Bali-mardana has ordered forty thousand Bhagavad-gītās for Australia.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: From India.

Rāmeśvara: From India, forty thousand.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I got an order from Jayatīrtha for sixty thousand. (Prabhupāda chuckles) And this is just . . .

Prabhupāda: His wife is good businesswoman.

Rāmeśvara: Bali-mardana's.

Prabhupāda: Bali-mardana.

Rāmeśvara: Yes.

Prabhupāda: She can do very good business. Is it not?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah. First they were hesitating, Śrīla Prabhupāda. So what I did is I told Jayatīrtha that Australia has already ordered, so he said: "Okay, I'll order sixty thousand." I told Australia that, "England's already ordered," so he said: "I'll order forty thousand." (chuckling) We had to get the thing started at once.

Prabhupāda: No, Australia, from India it is nearer . . . (indistinct)

Rāmeśvara: What is your printing cost on Bhagavad-gītā?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: About eleven thirty, eleven rupees, fifty paisa. But the export edition is going to be cheaper because when you export, you get a lot of duties, so the . . .

Prabhupāda: Now, in export and exchange with paper, good paper.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We can import paper. The government will let us import paper for exporting without any problem. But I'm just saying that the export edition of Gītā is going to cost us about two rupees less than the Indian edition for Indian market because . . .

Prabhupāda: So why not import paper? It will be very nice.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Because on paper now there's high duty, but if it is for export, the government . . .

Prabhupāda: Then America can order from you also.

Rāmeśvara: On the Gītā, his price is not better than America.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: That is because of the . . .

Rāmeśvara: America, the printing is better and the price is better on the Gītā, because we are printing so many copies.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: On the Bhāgavatam the prices are better here.

Prabhupāda: It is a quantity. They are giving nice price for large quantity.

Rāmeśvara: But he is . . . even though the price is better in America, he is getting the market because he is selling it for less.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And we are going to order few small extras. We're going to offer a few small extras like small ribbons with plastic cover.

Rāmeśvara: Has Prabhupāda told you how much profit you should make? Because in America you have always said it should be marked up one hundred percent. If a book costs us one dollar, we should sell to the temple at two dollars. So your book is costing over one dollar, and you are only selling it for $1.45.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No, no. The Bhāgavatam's costing less. The Gītās we are selling for $1.50.

Rāmeśvara: Oh.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The Bhāgavatams . . . also the freight from here is less. That's another feeling that we have. Prabhupāda told me England, Australia, Africa should get books from India, and America, Canada, from America.

Prabhupāda: There is no consideration of big profit. Simply we want big number, distribution. That's all.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Also this will increase our prestige as a movement.

Prabhupāda: Big number—as big as possible. My Guru Mahārāja, he had magazines in six languages: English, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, and one Bengali daily. So if our men complained that, "Such and such men are not giving their subscription, so what we can do? Stop the supply?" Oh, he would become very angry. He asked them, "Are you commercial-hired fools? No. Supply free!" He used to say like that. He was asking, "Whether we shall stop supply? The subscription is not coming." So immediately he became angry, "Are you commercial-hired? If he's not giving price, supply him free." That was his policy. So less profit or . . . try to see how many numbers of books.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Because once BBT India starts making profit, then the burden on BBT America will also be lessened. BBT India can start giving money for construction and other things. I foresee that if BBT India goes on, next, in 1977 we should make a profit of at least twenty-five lakhs rupees, twenty-five to thirty lakhs.

Prabhupāda: That's nice. And open center village to village, town to town. Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma (CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126). See first printing is very first class and it is distributed very wide.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Not shabby thing. No. Just like our Godbrothers, they printed . . . they have no printing; still, whatever they print, all shabby.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Full of mistakes.

Prabhupāda: Full of mistakes. Full of mistakes, the get-up is not good, but they will sell. And they print only in Bengali.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: That's all.

Rāmeśvara: Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)