711008 - Letter to Hansadutta written from Nairobi

Letters by Date, 1971

Tridandi Goswami
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Founder-Acharya:
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
CENTER: c/o G.N. Shah; P.O. Box no. 41442
Nairobi, Kenya; E. Africa

DATE .....8th..October,.......19.71..

My Dear Hansadutta,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 30th September, 1971 which is very much encouraging to me. I am very glad that you are now getting strength. So now you have got 1800 books and are getting more. There is good demand. So Krishna has solved all your problems. Print books and sell and get rich; that's all. We have got asset, our books, so where is the question of poverty? So don't be [handwritten] disheartened at any circumstance. Depend on Krishna. After all this is the kingdom of maya. She is always peeping to take the opportunity of attacking us, but if we fix up our attention on the Lotus Feet of Krishna, maya cannot even touch us.
So let Mandali Bhadra be seriously engaged in translating work and recruit some German devotees to help him so that we can print all our books in German language and you can develop the Hamburg center very nicely. You know very well that I went to India this time empty handed but we spent there not less than five lacs Rupees during my 10 month stay and all the money was collected simply on the strength of our books and literatures. So when you have got literature and books, there is no question of poverty in our society. Simply we have to organize things nicely and manage carefully. I hope henceforward you will not feel at all discouraged. All of you there push on this movement in Germany which is the best country in Europe. The most intelligent class of men are there. Try to convince them about our philosophy. The German scholars are especially inclined toward Indian philosophy. There are many learned scholars well versed in Sanskrit. So our books with diacritic marks and original Sanskrit verses must be very much appreciated by all schools, colleges, libraries and the general public. So develop the press there very nicely. The press already has been declared as the greater mridunga.
As far as possible do things by correspondence. In Paris they are doing nicely but when you find it convenient you can go and see how they are doing. They will be encouraged by your presence. So far opening a restaurant in Amsterdam is concerned, unless you have got four men to look after it, it will not be successful. I think our attention should be more concentrated in the matter of making life members and distributing our literature. That is solid work. My idea of opening a restaurant requires sufficient money to decorate it. Things should not be done haphazardly.
Yesterday we had a very successful meeting in the University of Nairobi; the exact words used in the newspaper report as as follows: " ISKCON SWAMI EXPLAINS PHILOSOPHY... Impeccable showmanship was matched with unimpeachable philosophy of Gita at a jampacked Taifa Hall in the University of Nairobi yesterday evening when about 2000 people and undergraduates listened to Acharya Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his disciples who presented the 'Hare Krishna Revolution' " So the African boys are coming to us and appreciating our philosophy. Two Afro-American devotees from N.Y. have come also and joined us. So until now our program [text missing] is going nicely. We have collected 30,000 shillings. One shs = 1 Rs. Shyamasundar is also enthusiastic to hold a similar function like Bombay and Calcutta and arrangement is being made for that.

Hoping this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS/adb