720614 - Letter to Gerald J. Gross written from Los Angeles

Letters by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

June 14, 1972

Mr. Gerald J. Gross

Senior Vice-President

The Macmillan Company 866 Third Avenue New York, New York 10022

Dear Sir,

Please allow me to introduce myself as Mr. Karandhar dasa Adhikary, Trustee and Treasurer for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

On the 29th of May 1972, A. C. Bhaktivedanta, the author of numerous books, of which The Macmillan Company has connection as Publisher with three, namely The Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Easy Journey to Other Planets, and The Topmost Yoga System, formulated a body of Trustees to manage and control the printing, publishing, copyrighting, and all other related affairs of all His literary works. Enclosed please find a copy of this agreement termed The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust Agreement. The position of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust now supersedes that of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness in all matters relating to the books of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. This is fully explained in The Agreement. If, from your standpoint, the existing contracts between The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. and The Macmillan Company need to be adjusted to allow for this supercision, then rest assured that there is no problem. Whatever arrangements have been made to date in the name of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. will be completely honored by The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, but in the future The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust will act independently of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness with sole authority in matters pertaining to the books and publications of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. It has occurred to me that it is necessary to establish a formal line of communication and exchange between The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and The Macmillan Company in order to carry out all business and other relations for the present time as well as the future. Therefore I am writing to you to establish this medium.

Henceforward all dealings in the matter of signing of contracts, assigning publishing rights, fulfilling contracts, payments of royalties, and all related items of business as arises in the relationship of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and The Macmillan Company shall be carried out and supervised by the following three individuals acting together on behalf of the Trust:

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

3764 Watseka Avenue

Los Angeles, California 90034

Karandhar dasa Adhikary (Kelly G. Smith)

3764 Watseka Avenue

Los Angeles, California 90034

Bali Mardan dasa Goswami (William Berke)

32 Tiffany Place

Brooklyn, New York 11231

In particular reference to the payment of royalties and exchange of money, that shall be done through myself, acting as the Treasurer for the Trust. All royalty checks, commission payments, and statements should be sent in care of me, to the above mentioned Los Angeles address.

If you require any further information in these regards, please do not hesitate to contact myself or any member of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

There is one other item that perhaps you could help us with. We wish to see distributed in India a small, very inexpensive (say, one rupee or approximately 8 to 10 cents) abridged edition of The Bhagavad Gita As It Is by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. Such important knowledge as contained in The Bhagavad Gita As It Is is vitally needed by all of humanity, and it is our fervent desire to disseminate the same. This edition would be mainly for the common people of India, and therefore it would require to be simple and inexpensive. According to the publishing agreement we have made concerning The Bhagavad Gita As It Is, The Macmillan Company has the exclusive right to publish and market the work throughout the world. I am inquiring therefore whether or not The Macmillan Company would be interested in producing the above mentioned edition for India and If not, would you grant us the permission to do it ourselves. I shall await to hear from you on the matter.

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

Approved: Sincerely yours,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Karandhar dasa Adhikary

The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

Founder-Acharya of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness

c.c. Mr. Mark Toby

Special Accounts Manager for The Macmillan Company

Bali Mardan Dasa Goswami (William Berke)

encl.: 1