Export

Expressions researched:
"export" |"exported" |"exporters" |"exporting" |"exports"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Melbourne, April 22, 1976:

The land is enough land. In Australia you have got enough land. In Africa you have enough land, uncultivated. No. They'll not produce food. They will produce coffee and tea and slaughter animals. This is their business. I understand that in your country animals are slaughtered and exported for trade. Why export? You produce your own food and be satisfied. Why you are after that piece of hundred dollars paper? Produce your own food and eat sumptuously, be healthy and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is civilization. This is civilization.

So therefore Kṛṣṇa said that "One who does not take care of My instruction," aśraddadhānāḥ, "no faith..." Aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣāḥ (BG 9.3). Puruṣa means any man, any human being, living being, but a human being because otherwise who will hear Kṛṣṇa? The cats and dogs will not hear. That is not possible. They have no capacity. But you are all human being.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 5.5.1-8 -- Stockholm, September 6, 1973:

Within our life we see in our childhood, our boyhood we have seen rice was selling at three rupees four annas, first class rice. My father used to purchase, fifteen mounds of rice at a time, and the cost was three rupees four annas. Just like cumin seeds, so fine. First-class rice. Now that first-class rice, at least in India, no more available, because all first-class rice is exported. Indian government wants exchange, they want to get machine. So in exchange of machine, they are sending all nice foodstuff outside. Even killing the cows, they are sending meat, skin. With Russia, they have got agreement.

So Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī's father's income was one hundred thousand rupees per month. Now, I have heard that sometimes in one rupee, they were selling nine mounds of rice. So anyway, Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, the point is, Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī was very, very rich man's son, only son, and had very beautiful wife.

Lecture on SB 7.5.30 -- Mauritius, October 2, 1975:

So I see in your this Mauritius land, you have got enough land to produce food grains. You produce food grain. I understand that instead of growing food grains, you are growing sugar cane for exporting. Why? And you are dependent on food grains, on rice, wheat, dahl. Why? Why this attempt? You first of all grow your own eatables. And if there is time and if your population has got sufficient food grains, then you can try to grow other fruits and vegetables for exporting. The first necessity is that you should be self-sufficient. That is God's arrangement. Everywhere there is sufficient land to produce food grains, not only in your country. I have traveled all over the world—Africa, Australia, and other, in America also. There are so much land vacant that if we produce food grains, then we can feed ten times as much population as at the present moment. There is no question of scarcity.

Lecture on SB 7.9.9 -- Montreal, July 6, 1968:

So how there can be any population problem if God is supplying everything?

But there is restriction. How there is restriction? When people become godless, there is restriction of supply. Just like practical experience. I am saying from my practical experience that in my childhood I saw that India was exporting millions of tons of rice and wheat and other grains also, oil seed grains, huge export business. That India is now begging grains from other countries. You see. Why? Because they are gradually becoming godless. The population theory I don't believe, because if Kṛṣṇa is supplying, eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān... And actually we find that there is no population problem. Amongst the animals, amongst the birds, there is no contraceptive method. They are increasing their population, and they are being fed by God. So why in the human society the population theory is so acute?

Lecture on SB 7.9.24 -- Mayapur, March 2, 1976:

That is the intention. Nobody wants to die. But still... They cannot do anything. Still, they are trying. One Marwari gentleman, at the age of seventy or eighty years old, he went to somewhere in Germany for undergoing surgical operation of the gland so that he can continue his sex life. Many monkeys are exported from India to Western countries for taking away the sexual glands, they know, hormone or something like, and replace it to man so that in old age they can enjoy sex. Perhaps you know all these things. So this attempt is going on, how to keep young and how to enjoy life. But nature will not allow. You may try your best. Nature's law is there. They forget that. And nature will not allow us to live here or to remain as young for all the years of life. It is not possible. But they're trying for that.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- April 30, 1969, Boston:

Prabhupāda: These four things, namely birth, death, old age, and disease will accompany you. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that mad-dhāma gatvā punar janma na vidyate. "If you reach My abode in the spiritual sky, then you'll have no more birth." So this male-female question is everywhere. The only difference is that in spiritual world there is no need of sex life, or there is no impelling sex life, although there is attraction between man and woman. That is... Just like Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. There is attraction, of Rādhā for Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa for Rādhā, but there is no sex life. So male-female, conception of male-female, as we have got here, there is concomitant factor of sex life, but that should not be exported to the spiritual world, that idea. There is also male-female, but there is no sex life attraction. That's all right. Yes?

1970 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- December 21, 1970, Surat:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. To the members, not to the public. It is very difficult for import-export, and sales tax, this, that, so many botherations government has created. Therefore our proposal is that... Thank you. We don't sell. No. Simply who becomes a member, we give him. You give us something, and whatever we have got, we give you. Business finished. Not finished, but business established. (laughs) Then if you read our books, if you inquire, then we get opportunity to explain. And our distribution of books means that is indirectly propagating our mission. Yes. So therefore we have adopted this way, that only to the members. That's all. We have printed that "These books are not for sale in India." Yes. Because the government machine is so implicated-sale tax, this tax, that tax...

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- February 13, 1974, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: That's impossible. So this is a wrong theory. Because I am a living entity, I have got my activities. I can remain void for few seconds, for few minutes. (Guests enter and pay obeisances) Very glad to see you. (indistinct—break)

Dr. Kapoor: As I understand (indistinct). The export minister (indistinct). (indistinct) C. D. Gupta, the old chief minister, you see. He is coming and I take they have arranged a program in his honor. I don't know how they will make this program fit in. I don't think..., huh? (break)

Prabhupāda: In the road they are announcing that Śrī Bhaktivedanta Swami American śiṣyas...

Room Conversation -- March 20, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: :...disciple has read it that from government side there is an article that in Iranian country they want meat, so all these skinny cows should be killed and meat should be exported so that you can get oil economically. So one should not think of this religious sentiment. They should be practical. They should not object. Government is going to open many slaughterhouse to get oil, and kill these loitering, mischief loitering cows, no food. Like that. So government policy is that religious (indistinct) is an opiate of the (indistinct). It is a sentiment. It has no value. That is government conclusion. So therefore their decision is not to encourage these temples and this bhajana. To their point of view, it is useless. So indirectly or directly, they will patronize this. So under the circumstances, we have to make vigorous propaganda, public opinion. You see?

Morning Walk -- March 27, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: If they were bad enough, we are now worst enough. We are now introducing meat-eating and drinking and... We are worst.

Devotee: Prabhupāda, in the newspaper the other day it said that the India government wants to start exporting beef.

Dr. Patel: Beef! Because they want to... Yes, we read it. They want to be..., slaughter the surplus cows because they are not yielding enough milk. There was very big article I read wherein they said that not only the milk is important, but the cow dung is as fertilizer in the fields much more than the modern day... (break) No? (break)

Prabhupāda: Why it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, go-rakṣya? Why not another animal-rakṣya?

Room Conversation with Richard Webster, chairman, Societa Filosofica Italiana -- May 24, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: No, it is going on. In India I know. They are selling sugar at two annas, four annas a pound, or seer, outside, and India, it is four rupees. What is this nonsense? This is going on. They want to import some war materials or something else, therefore they want export exchange. So they are sacrificing the convenience of the local people for export exchange. These things are going on. These politicians, they create an atmo... Therefore I say the head of the state, they must be clean. But they are all motivated. Therefore the whole world is in chaotic condition. Generally politician has got a particular motive behind him. And when he cannot pull on they declare war. That Pakistan. Pakistan, since the beginning of Pakistan they could not make any economic condition very sound. But when the people are too much agitated, they declare war with India. The whole attention is... And they have been educated in such a way that India is their strongest enemy. Anything Indian, they dislike in Pakistan. So this is going on by the politicians. They are creating situation because they are not honest, they are not clean.

Room Conversation with Richard Webster, chairman, Societa Filosofica Italiana -- May 24, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: In Africa and Australia, they are killing the animals and exporting. So in other countries they are getting meat to eat, and so they are very free to produce bolts and nuts by industry. They don't require to produce food because from Africa and Australia they are getting meat. This is going on. Instead of producing food, people are interested in producing motor car bolts and nuts. So why there should not be food scarcity? After all, you require to eat. But instead of starting industries, why don't you produce foodstuff? What is this civilization? Produce foodstuff. The animals will be nicely fed, and the men will be nicely fed.

Richard Webster: What civilization there is comes chiefly from the television, I'm afraid. I mean the public opinion is made by the television.

Atreya Ṛṣi: The television today is setting up the standard for the civilization, for today's civilization.

Morning Walk -- June 2, 1974, Geneva:

Prabhupāda: So if they had sense, they should have exported where there is necessity of this milk, butter, grain. Then the world will be happy.

Yogeśvara: That was my question. If there is necessity for exporting, then there is necessity for maintaining ships and trains and means of communication, employing workers, electrical dynamos for running...

Prabhupāda: No, point is if in one place you can produce food grains, butter and milk, why not other place? That is my point. The land is everywhere the same. If one place... Now here, in Europe and America, there is enough production because the population is less. So the whole America is bigger than India, at least four times. And the population is not even half. What is the population whole America?

Room Conversation -- June 5, 1974, Geneva:

Prabhupāda: So far I have studied... I am traveling all over the world. It is my calculation that we can produce food to give food ten times of the population if we properly utilize the whole planet according to this-produce food. Why because the milk is produced more, the cows should be slaughtered when there is a need of milk? It is so nice foodstuff. So on account of this false nationalism, "This is my land, this is my land, this is my land..." And why not take it as God's land and produce enough foodstuff. There will be no scarcity. There will be no skeleton. And distribute it. Where is that consciousness? There is so much land uncultivated all over the world, especially in America, in Australia, and in Africa, so much, huge land, no cultivation. They are keeping some cows and slaughtering them and exporting. What is this? Why don't you produce food?

Room Conversation -- June 11, 1974, Paris:

Yogeśvara: Because there's so much business that depends on the slaughter and the sale of animal flesh. Just like in India now, there is such a low economy that in some of the communist states, they've decided to export meat because it's good...

Prabhupāda: You can export after death. What is the wrong? You can export. Immediately, you take the cows after death, take the skin and take the meat also, skin and flesh, and put it into refrigerator and make export. We simply say that until the death of the cow, don't kill. Let us take the milk. That is our appeal only. What is the wrong there?

Puṣṭa-kṛṣṇa: Also, the other day, Śrīla Prabhupāda, you were telling us in Geneva that in India it was, at least until the present day forbidden to eat cows, and that those who would eat animals, they would eat dogs or goats, like this.

Room Conversation with Scientists -- July 2, 1974, Melbourne:

Dr. Harrap: This is a variety of cheese that, what we call a gouda cheese which comes originally from Holland. But it is very much liked in Asian countries and Australia has quite a large export market to many of the Asian countries, and more particularly to Japan. It seems to appeal very much to the taste of cheese-loving people in these countries, and this is a product which is becoming more and more popular in these countries.

Prabhupāda: From milk you can prepare hundreds and thousands of preparations.

Dr. Harrap: Oh, yes. Yes. Even in cheeses there are probably hundreds of varieties.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. We make. We actually make. At least ten, twenty kinds of sweet preparation we make from the cheese. Therefore our, as recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyam (BG 18.44). Kṛṣi-go-rakṣya. People... A class of men should be trained up for agriculture, producing food grain, and cow protection. Cow protection means you get the milk, sufficient quantity, and from milk you get so many nutritious, full of vitamin food.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- May 29, 1975, Honolulu:

Gurukṛpa: They have this type of gas now that they freeze it, and it shrinks five hundred times. And they put it in these big tanks, and they bring it across the ocean, and then when they get it to port, they again heat it up into the big tanks and it expands. So they freeze it and it becomes smaller and they can export more.

Prabhupāda: Oh, it becomes solid?

Devotee: Just like liquid oxygen, they cool it and yes, it comes to the liquid state.

Prabhupāda: There are so many living entities living within this sand, and on unfortunate moon there is no living entities. And we have to believe it. Hm? What is that?

Gurukṛpa: I was telling them we should come pick these flowers every day, this jasmine. Nobody is picking.

Prabhupāda: Oh. No, no, they will fine.

Room Conversation -- October 5, 1975, Mauritius:

Prabhupāda: Hindi. (Hindi) You read it thoroughly and you explain it either in English or Hindi, as you think befitting to your friends. So we have got so many literatures in French language. We are also asking some men from Europe. That will create some impression. Yes. White elephant. (laughter) Dancing. Everyone will purchase ticket. Yes. (Hindi) Bring some white elephant. So literature is there. But one thing is that you must be placed in sadācāra, well behaved. So you have to sacrifice, especially your long hair. And if you sacrifice your hair, we can export it and get some money. (laughter) Because in Western countries they want these hairs to make wigs. Yes. So just... (Hindi) As they have been trained up to rise early in the morning, this will give you spiritual strength. If you simply becomes a gramophone speaker, then it will not be effective. Gramophone or tape record speaker, that will not be. You must be live speaker. Your living condition should be spiritually, what is called, surcharged. So that means you must be trained up how to rise early in the morning, take your bath, cleanse yourself, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Then you will be spiritually strong. When you are spiritually strong, if you speak something on spiritual subject matter, then it will be effective. Otherwise it will be just like tape record playing. So this is required. And you should... You are asking something?

Morning Walk -- Durban, October 13, 1975 :

Prabhupāda: Yes. Nobody would drink tea, no family. We have seen it. And for drinking, for drinking tea, drinking wine, regular propaganda was done. There was a tea assess(?) (tea sets?) committee. Men these foreigners, they began to grow tea in India in the beginning for exporting to Europe and America… Later on, they began to pay some tax to the government. That was known as "tea assess(?) committee." The tea assess(?) committee, in order to popularize drinking tea, they used to hold stall, just like here in park and public places, and they would prepare very tasty tea and distribute free.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Free.

Morning Walk -- Durban, October 13, 1975 :

Prabhupāda: For drawing raw materials from villages and bring it to the Calcutta, Bombay port and export to their country because their country does not produce anything. They’re starving. Still England, London, is maintained by importing goods from Africa, India, here, there. They have no food there. They can grow some potato, maybe… Potato only, That was the reason of expanding their empire. They had no food at home, England. They were manufacturing cotton cloth. That cotton was not grown in their country. It was brought from Egypt. They manipulated things in such a way. In America also they wanted to do that, but Americans, just understanding, separated, George Washington. In America I have heard that each family was to maintain a British soldier. You know that?

Morning Walk -- November 19, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Bharatpur. Oh, yes. (break)

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: India exports to Africa and Middle East countries.

Brahmānanda: The bogies.

Prabhupāda: How they dispatch? By ship?

Brahmānanda: Yes, I think so. I remember reading once, in Tanzania they received twelve bogies.

Prabhupāda: Twelve bogies at a time?

Brahmānanda: This one shipment.

Prabhupāda: (aside:) Jaya. (break) ...has good trade with Africa in so many things.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 15, 1976, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. You are going for export and import. We want to export books, import incense. On this plea, exchange.

Hṛdayānanda: That is how the Westerners originally entered China.

Prabhupāda: Yes. And similarly, you have got already some inquiries from booksellers from Russia. On that plea—he is also sales organization—do something there. We have got philosophy, books, approved by learned circles. There is good chance. Our Trivikrama Mahārāja reported. He went to that Formosa? Trivikrama?

Guru-kṛpā: Taiwan.

Prabhupāda: You went there.

Conversation with News Reporters -- March 25, 1976, Delhi:

Reporter (2): Swamiji, I believe you'll be having certain industries for export also in Māyāpura. May I know if they will be manned by disciples, and if so, do you think that they would be in a much better position to look after these big gośālās and other things than, say, other, people would be?

Prabhupāda: If you follow Bhagavad-gītā, then everything will be followed very nicely. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyam (BG 18.44). And go-rakṣya, this is recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā. So if you follow Bhagavad-gītā, then naturally go-rakṣya will be there. And if you read Bhagavad-gītā for some political reason, then slaughterhouse go on. That's all. Instead of go-rakṣya, go-killing. This is going on. Every politician is reading Bhagavad-gītā, but go-rakṣya... Instead of go-rakṣya, go-hatya. This is going on, no go-rakṣya but go-hatya. This is going on. Who cares for Kṛṣṇa? This is the misfortune of India. Kṛṣṇa spoke in India, in Kurukṣetra. Kṛṣṇa appeared in India, but Indian people are neglecting. Therefore I say it is a misfortune. It is your own thing. You are neglecting it.

Room Conversation -- May 7, 1976, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: First business, how to get our books. (indistinct) For Russia export from India will be favorable. So government paper we are printing seven, eight rupees price. Make that addition, all the books. Ask them to take paper from the government, huge quantity, and all these books should be published immediately, 5,000 books.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: 5,000 copies each.

Prabhupāda: Yes, if possible, minimum 1,000.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Last time we were speaking, I was mentioning to you that in Russia they are particularly inclined towards an exchange program of books, where we give our books and they will give some useless books.

Prabhupāda: (indistinct), why should we do this?

Room Conversation -- June 29, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Hari-śauri: Even they're exporting beef from India.

Prabhupāda: Yes. They can do anything, take the dead cows. I do not know if there is any chemical composition change. They are eating so many dead animals. Take for fish. The fish is never killed alive, because as soon as you take it out from water, it is dead, after few minutes.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: And they don't consider whether it's a young fish or an old fish.

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: If that was the system, people will not get sick. They will not get sick from eating old animals.

Prabhupāda: No, no. This is all wrong conception.

Room Conversation -- June 29, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: No, that is, apart from that, they import lobster from India, Cochin. They are exporting lobster alive. I have seen. The same ship, they load it with lobster fat, and black creepers, and cashews, they exported. The big, big business firms are exporting. So these lobster, although they are kept in ice and so on, so on, they become decomposed. I've seen in the port, that Commonwealth Pier. There is store of lobster, and the lobster has become yellow and almost melted by decomposing. They are selling that.

Hari-śauri: When it starts to fall apart, that's when they consider it's the best.

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Room Conversation -- July 4, 1976, Washington D.C.:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: They have one cultural organization, they want to export yogis and teachers who they approve of, the Indian government approves of as being bona fide. Because the American government, so many people are complaining, about misrepresentation by these Indian swamis and so-called yogis that are coming over. So they put Guru...., the Divine Light Society...

Hari-śauri: They said that once this is established there won't be no room for the Divine Lightists, the Hare Kṛṣṇa cultists and like this.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: TM. (indistinct)

Rūpānuga: Really.

Devotees: Yeah. (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: And they're spending...

Room Conversation -- August 12, 1976, Tehran:

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Nim leaves from Vṛndāvana is unique, nobody can imitate us.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Nim leaves we can export from India. In the United Provinces there is ample nim trees. That time I shall give you instruction also.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: We will start, Śrīla Prabhupāda. This is better than..., this is easier than restaurant.

Prabhupāda: Now you consider amongst yourselves. I have no difficulty, I have given direction, "Do like that." Now what you'll do, that is up to you. So far giving help and directions, that you will get perfect, there is no doubt about it. That you will get. How to manage, how to get ingredients, everything you'll get. Because I have to say only, you have to do. That's all. So that will be all right. Now decide. That will be very nice or very effective. Whatever we shall prepare, it will be very effective. So if there is market, why not? Introduce. I think there will be market because this country is undeveloped.

Room Conversation -- August 12, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Mustard seed also can be exported from India. In the Mathurā district there is sufficient mustard seed.

Hari-śauri: Yellow mustard seeds.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Mustard seeds and instead of chalk powder we mix nim powder. Mustard seed, nim powder.

Harikeśa: Calcium carbonate.

Prabhupāda: And salt. Calcium carbonate means...? Oh, calcium, instead of calcium carbonate, let it be nim. It will be very effective.

Harikeśa: I think the taste will be horrible.

Prabhupāda: Yes, taste will be... (laughter)

Arrival Conversation -- August 13, 1976, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, I gave him some books. I meet him regularly now when I meet him. He'll come to see you in Delhi he said. He's the Joint Chief Controller of Imports and Exports, very high position. So he has the final authority for giving licenses up to one lakh. He said he could give it to us.

Prabhupāda: What is the political position here? (break)

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: ...big celebration here starting tomorrow to the 18th. P. K. Savant, he came to see you last year, the president of Maharastra Pradesh Congress Committee, he was the chief guest. Mr. Pagay, another he is the minister from Maharastra, he's also coming. Very big program. It's being advertised all over Bombay.

Prabhupāda: So raining stopped here?

Driver: For three days stopped, sir. Otherwise, it was very heavy.

Evening Darsana -- August 14, 1976, Bombay:

Kartikeya Mahadevia: I am thinking of going again on a world tour for my business, because we want to start some export business. So I'll start with Iran, then some other countries in Middle East, then Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mauritius, and Seychelles. I've got friends all over the places, so they will come here, and we have some export business, cloth...

Prabhupāda: Mauritius is not developed. Fiji is good. Mauritius a poor country. Fiji well-to-do, more business, many Gujaratis. Mostly Gujaratis.

Kartikeya Mahadevia: I've got somebody in New Zealand also. They are...

Prabhupāda: Fiji and New Zealand...

Room Conversation About Blitz News Clipping -- August 21, 1976, Hyderabad:

Pradyumna: "The Indian government has been rather slow in picking up the ISKCON signals. One reason being that the genuine Kṛṣṇa devotees in the administration had been mighty pleased in the beginning with the idea of exporting Kṛṣṇa consciousness to America."

Prabhupāda: Genuine?

Hari-śauri: That means the genuine ones are here in India, and they were pleased with the idea of exporting Kṛṣṇa to America. So that means that the ones in America are not genuine.

Prabhupāda: So "You are not genuine. Therefore we are not appreciating." Genuine they appreciate. "But you are not genuine. Therefore we are criticizing you."

Pradyumna: "As far back as 1971 the Maharastra government had taken action against the foreign devotees who had chosen to overstay in Bombay and elsewhere."

Meeting With Member of Parliament, Mr. Krishna Modi -- August 31, 1976, Delhi:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Prabhupāda is bringing in more foreign exchange than even big business export concerns.

Prabhupāda: I'm bringing regularly not less than ten lakhs of rupees per month.

Krishna Modi: Sending to India. We must tell them all these things.

Prabhupāda: You tell.

Krishna Modi: That is the thing. This is the Brahmānanda... I already told yesterday that some members must be briefed and they must tell something so that my hands may be strengthened and so that I may...

Prabhupāda: It is a great credit that I am selling my books and bringing ten lakhs of rupees from foreign country in India.

Room Conversation -- September 16, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Eggplant. And this banana. So whatever he's grown he takes in a basket, goes to the market, immediately sold. And they're all fresh. Collected in the morning, and it is sold by eight o'clock. All fresh vegetables. There was no export, there was no facility of transport. These rascals introduced transport. Big scale transport, this railway. There was no railway. So transport means this villager, instead of selling locally or one mile away, he will dispatch in Calcutta. The Calcutta people, they are sitting on table and smoking and printing paper money and exploit.

Room Conversation -- September 16, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: And from Vṛndāvana, we have seen, they are exporting that drumbeats? Vṛndāvana?

Hari-śauri: Drumsticks.

Prabhupāda: Huh? Drumstick. So the transport is a dangerous thing.

Haṁsadūta: Yes, this is a scheme.

Prabhupāda: A local man cannot get. He's starving. And the man in big cities, he's doing nothing, he simply has got paper to sign and paper money he's attracting. All production. And they are starving. This is modern civilization. Everything, milk, vegetables, fish, everything, this chānā. Otherwise, within the village you can get everything. Village economy. Everything very cheap. And as soon as they got these transport facilities, the local men, they could not eat, and these lazy rascals, they are getting everything. Big, big cities like Calcutta, Bombay, they (have) millions of population. They are not producing anything. The producer is different man. They are simply artificially cheating them by paper money and they take. This is modern civilization.

Press Interview -- October 16, 1976, Chandigarh:

Prabhupāda: So that is your interpretation. But we are trying to present Bhagavad-gītā as it is. That is our mission. That you produce food grains sufficiently and give protection to the cows so that food grains and milk will give you all benefits of economic question. You'll be satisfied. That's all. Not only that, I have practically seen that by God's arrangement there are so much land on this planet that you can produce ten times food stuff of the whole population. But they are not doing that. They are utilizing land... Just like in Africa I have seen, enough land is there, but what they are doing? They are keeping some cows and bulls, and when they are grown up... They are not given anything to eat. There is enough grass. And as soon as they are fatty, they are taken to the slaughterhouse. Not for their own eating, but exporting.

Room Conversation with Life Member, Mr. Malhotra -- December 22, 1976, Poona:

Mr. Malhotra: Mr. Biani, Biani. He is just Birla's tea (indistinct) looking after tea. Last time I was in Delhi about two months back, so I just talked about you that I had to meet you and we could go to Vṛndāvana. Because at that time I was told that you were there. So he knew you very well, he had been to your discourses, Mr. Biani. He's Marwari. They are in Calcutta. Tea business, export tea business. We agreed on one thing, that it is very easy, rather, to make Indians understand the spiritual teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa, because in homes, in houses, forefathers, grandmothers, mothers, they are doing, I mean, always. But to, I mean, impart this knowledge to the...

Prabhupāda: Foreigners.

Room Conversation -- December 31, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: There was prejudice because it was brought from... Even potato. Strict Hindus would not take potato. Potato was imported from England. It was not produced... Just like Tulasī. Tulasī plant we have imported, exported. Similarly, so many things...

Dr. Patel: They have not allowed tulasī to be grown in America.

Prabhupāda: Oh no? Who said?

Dr. Patel: Mr. Shaheb, (indistinct) tulasī plant for his daughter.

Prabhupāda: No, we have got so many tulasī plants.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Conversation with Yogi Amrit Desai of Kripalu Ashram (PA USA) -- January 2, 1977, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. But Bhagavad-gītā, we're doing one lakh copies now, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is our first experiment with the paper manufacturer here. He's making paper for us exactly like American, especially for us. So I've given Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto, Part Two. We are printing ten thousand. Four thousand we'll print on this government paper, softbound, for cheap distribution, and six thousand on expensive American paper, hardbound, for export, because we will be able to export it for a dollar forty, which is two dollars below what Los Angeles charges. Substantial... So as an experiment, I only wanted to... I've ordered paper for six thousand expensive hardbound. Let's see how the paper is. If it's good, then we'll use the same paper for one lakh. Before taking a risk on one lakh, I wanted to experiment on a smaller run.

Trivikrama: So I'm also thinking about printing again. Now we have just enough...

Prabhupāda: We can print here.

Conversation with Yogi Amrit Desai of Kripalu Ashram (PA USA) -- January 2, 1977, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And if it is for export, it will be even cheaper.

Prabhupāda: We can take quotation.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. How many color plates do you have? Hm, 298, 300. Well, we can take a quotation and see.

Prabhupāda: Here it must be cheaper.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Have you seen the Gītās we printed in India? Here are our samples. They're very good. Actually, I mean I'm not trying to be rude... Because I was negotiating the prices for the Chinese Gītā when... You know that time. Sevānanda was telling me all the prices of the worst of Hong Kong for that time. It was above a dollar.

Conversation with Yogi Amrit Desai of Kripalu Ashram (PA USA) -- January 2, 1977, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Only thing I've told Jayatīrtha and Bali-mardana Prabhus to do is to open a letter of credit now because we are going to be exporting these Gītās at export price. And the bank is giving our printer a loan of ten lakhs. So he has to show the bank a letter of credit, so I hope they send it, and then this will start rolling. End of February is our first shipment. We're going to ship ten thousand Gītās.

Prabhupāda: Letter of credit you can get.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, I hope they give it.

Prabhupāda: Bank of America will give.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: What, Śrīla Prabhupāda? (break)

Prabhupāda: (referring to Kumbhamela?) When I was in midst of the crowd, the crowd was so big that I was afraid: "If there is any rush, this child will be finished." Because if there is little rush, you cannot go back; you cannot go forward.

Conversation with Yogi Amrit Desai of Kripalu Ashram (PA USA) -- January 2, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Factories and industry and export and import and then slaughterhouse, drinking, prostitute—these are all British contribution. In India, before that, they did not know, although there was Muhammadan kingdom. Muhammadans were happy as ruler. They did not... They thought that "Let them execute their own religion, and let us our religion." That was the relation. And Hindus, they took it that "Somebody must be government..." (break) ...policy that "If the Indians remain as Indian, it will be impossible to govern. Give them education and condemn everything Indian." And they engaged their own men, engaged our men, and gradually they developed the industry. Naturally people became very much astonished: "Oh, they are making such a nice bridge. We have now laid down the railway. We have got facilities, so on, so on..." They gave them, for developing these enterprises, a little knowledge in English, ABCD, they would get good job. In this way they established. Money and export, import...

Morning Discussion about Kumbhamela -- January 8, 1977, Bombay:

Dr. Patel: No, you can't. You have in the market. No, I cannot eat even this much because I can't bring it here to Bombay. There is a barrier. You can't export from one place to another. This is the government. And our rice is just like the (indistinct) quality.

Prabhupāda: (Hindi)

Dr. Patel: (Hindi)

Prabhupāda: You go and eat there. (laughter)

Dr. Patel: But I don't go there to eat it. These government regulations are very bad. I don't think they would be able to...

Gurudāsa: It's your own right to...

Morning Discussion about Kumbhamela -- January 8, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: I am simply surprised when I compare British days and nowadays. My practical experience—one of my maternal uncles, he's a very big, rich man. He was; he is not existing. So he was doing business, rice exporting. So in Calcutta, Chetra side, he had big, big godown full of rice. Not only he, other merchants also. But now they are empty. Similarly, from Bombay the oil seeds are being exported.

Dr. Patel: Yes. Last year they exported so much of this groundnut. Groundnut oil is costlier than ghee. (talks on for few minutes)

Prabhupāda: So we can go? (end)

Room Conversation -- January 9, 1977, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I'll return it by March, because on this export order, it's very high profit just on the...

Rāmeśvara: When you borrow, do you give Śrīla Prabhupāda interest on it?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We can give. I have never borrowed so far money. I haven't borrowed a penny so far except once when I came...

Prabhupāda: "That I did not pay." (laughs) When he takes money, he says, "No, it is not to be paid." Therefore it is no borrowing. Several times I have given you money.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, I've never borrowed... Just once, Jayapatāka's loan, right when I came to India.

Prabhupāda: All right. Now if he recommends, I'll give.

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

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. These exports will give India a very good income.

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

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.

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

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 Jayapataka. (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.

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

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: So that's why I want you to spend a day or two. 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...

Room Conversation -- January 10, 1977, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: About 11.50, eleven rupees, fifty paisa. But the export edition is going to be cheaper because when you export, you get a lot of duties, so...

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.

Room Conversation -- January 19, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: When I was going to your country at Cochin, they loaded in the ship cashews, black pepper, and lobster, big, big cases. There are many American firms. They are export business. Lobster is very favorite food in USA. Although it is rotten, still, they take it.

Gargamuni: My father used to take at least once a week.

Prabhupāda: Lobster juice.

Gargamuni: Lobster and everything, the juice... He used to eat many lobster, King lobster.

Rāmeśvara: That's a big business. In the state of Maine, that is one of their main sources of income, lobster. Famous, Maine... That state...

Prabhupāda: They get lobster locally or...

Room Conversation -- January 22, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Brahmānanda: We only have twelve devotees there and two temples. It's very less.

Prabhupāda: You cannot export from America?

Rāmeśvara: Yes, we have to. We have to.

Prabhupāda: It is your missionary activities, American.

Brahmānanda: So far for the Africans, we're giving them prasādam and kīrtana. But anything more than that, we cannot expect. If we give them that, they are satisfied.

Prabhupāda: They're hearing kīrtana?

Brahmānanda: Oh, yes.

Morning Walk -- January 31, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: Yes. What is desert? Desert means no water. There is no rain.

Gargamuni: In Israel, which is a desert, they are exporting food all over the world.

Prabhupāda: Every land will be fertile and usable if there is water. That's all. They are making scientific research.

Satsvarūpa: So if they can bring water by pipe, then they don't need yajña.

Prabhupāda: That is also another foolishness. How much water he'll carry by pipe? (aside:) Where is pole. Take water from God. That is sufficient. Navadit tarims ca.(?) When there is water supplied by God, where there is no need of water there will be water. Just like on the hills, on the mountains, there is no need of water. In the ocean there is no need of water. But the God... "All right, take water here also." That is God's gift. You rascal, how much water you have got that you transport by pipe and this and that...? All rascals. Mūḍha. They can simply address as rascals. That's all. They can simply address as rascals. That's all.

Evening Darsana -- February 15, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Oh, I think about 1928, long ago, because about twenty years ago there was centenary, hundred years. So the local produce was not exported. Everything was cheap in the village because you have to consume. Whatever is produced in the village you have to consume. And these Britishers, they introduced railway and drew everything in the village to the town. And they would not sell in the village because they would get good price in the city. Otherwise in the village, everything was very cheap, very, very cheap-milk, vegetables, rice, dāl, everything. And the Britishers, they had no food. They have got only the potato. In England what they produce? No food. So everything was exported. Their policy was to supply manufactured goods and take raw materials from India. So they supplied cotton goods. They saw that all Indians are using cotton cloth. Iron they introduced. They introduced railway line, all iron, the carriage, the wheel, the road. Everything was... In this way they became prosperous. And the Indian people, they saw... They were educated because they are fond of going to pilgrimage by walking.

Evening Darsana -- February 15, 1977, Mayapura:

Brahmānanda: And export all over the world.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I've seen that they eat beef in the morning, noon and evening. I personally saw in South America that in these South American countries they eat meat sometimes three meals in a day. Of course, in America they do it also. I remember in restaurants in Mexico they were doing that. Very big meat-eaters.

Prabhupāda: In Russia also, simply eating meat.

Brahmānanda: Meat and vodka.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Brahmānanda: They have no vegetables available. I read in the newspapers here in India now that Poland, they are putting up a vodka factory. Punjab.

Prabhupāda: What is that vodka?

Evening Darsana -- February 15, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: So government has allowed.

Brahmānanda: Oh, yes. So they will make vodka here for exporting to Poland because the Polish people like vodka very much. So now they will produce in India.

Prabhupāda: The Polish Embassy is there near our Calcutta for seeing this business going on.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Side by side, we are on the opposite business.

Prabhupāda: (chuckles) Things are deteriorating everywhere.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very quickly.

Evening Darsana -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Bali-mardana: But this... The export... The Australian ghee in Australia is cheaper. This is export quality, is much higher quality. Higher...

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Bali-mardana: ...price.

Prabhupāda: Higher.

Bali-mardana: But now they are going to cut down the amount of ghee they make, because not many countries are buying ghee.

Prabhupāda: India is not buying?

Bali-mardana: Not so much.

Prabhupāda: They have learned to eat meat. Meat-eaters, they don't like ghee. Meat-eaters, they say (Hindi). (laughter) "A dog cannot digest ghee." Because they are meat-eaters.

Room Conversation -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Bali-mardana: There's no difficulty. They will be glad to export ghee.

Prabhupāda: So wherever we have got center in India, just like this Mahesh Pandit, if we supply them the chānā dāl and puri and halavā and nice, what is called, puṣpānna, his great-grandfather will come to eat.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Wow. They'll give up all their fish-eating, that whole community.

Prabhupāda: So from this milk powder we can make this chānā and dahi, and ghee is there.

Bali-mardana: Chānā.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Cheese.

Prabhupāda: Cheese. And you produce in the farm milk and utilize and give the cows protection.

Room Conversation -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Bali-mardana: Yes. A boy's had experience. There is no problem. New Zealand also. We can either export from Australia or New Zealand. New Zealand is also very..., maybe even a little cheaper, but the shipping might be...

Hari-śauri: New Zealand milk products are...

Prabhupāda: Oh, very cheap.

Bali-mardana: Where should we send? To one center?

Prabhupāda: Send in Bombay.

Bali-mardana: Send to Bombay, and they can stock and then supply everywhere.

Hari-śauri: Balarāma already knows about sending ghee.

Bali-mardana: Yes. I was just investigating it. They wanted some ghee in Hawaii.

Hari-śauri: They've already done two or three shipments to India before, so that's already established.

Room Conversation 'GBC Resolutions' -- March 1, 1977, Mayapura:

Gargamuni: He's generally engaged in export of the cloth of Māyāpura and business work, which actually he's more suitable for, whereas Śatadhanya...

Prabhupāda: So you have all agreed?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. If you have agreed, I have no objection.

Rāmeśvara: We didn't discuss it with him, though, to see what his personal feeling...

Prabhupāda: So do. So do that. Do that.

Room Conversation 'GBC Resolutions' -- March 1, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: You cannot make depressed. No, that is not good.

Gargamuni: But he admits that he likes to do business work and export.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. You discuss.

Satsvarūpa: Then Haṁsadūta Mahārāja will retain responsibility for the South, Hyderabad.

Rāmeśvara: Including Hyderabad.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: All of South India.

Prabhupāda: Hyderabad is in the South. And further South, Ceylon? That's nice. Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Śrī Laṅkā. Today we're going to see the Hanumān, Song of Hanumān.

Kīrtanānanda: You have a note there about Prabhupāda's letter, that we're to be guided by that.

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Room Conversation -- March 22, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: That is my mission. I am doing that. I am bringing money from America. Nobody's paying me. It is not joke, ten lakhs of rupees. Who brings?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Even big export companies don't bring so much.

Prabhupāda: And they'll be glad. They have got money and they are getting culture. I am trying for United Nations. That is real attempt of United Nation, not this United Nation; all rogues and thieves and cheaters, barking dogs. I am trying for the United Nations. Help me. This is real United Nation. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām (BG 18.54). It is United Nation. So I began this movement very humbly, loitering on the street of New York. Now it has come to this stage. Let us cooperate together nicely.

Morning Conversation -- April 11, 1977, Bombay:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. "6) Hṛdayānanda Mahārāja will settle the Portuguese money through Satsvarūpa Gosvāmī." I don't exactly know the meaning of that. "7) Sa-vijñānam Journal"—that's the Bhaktivedanta Institute Journal, Śrīla Prabhupāda, the scientist journal—"will be printed and paid for by BBT India and exported to the Bhaktivedanta Institute." So that monthly journal or quarter, you know four times a year journal, will be printed here in India, because we felt the printing could be done much less expensively. And it will be sent from here.

Prabhupāda: But he was going to print it at Los Angeles.

Morning Conversation -- April 11, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: ...Hayagrīva. But he is doing nothing and taking money.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, they stopped his salary now. "18) The US BBT will experiment with importation of books from India as soon as practical. Gopāla Kṛṣṇa will make further efforts to increase the quality."

Prabhupāda: Yes, quality must be there. It is not yet standard. Unless quality is improved, it cannot be exported and spoil the market.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Hm. So those were the resolutions we passed, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Room Conversation with Ratan Singh Rajda M.P. 'Nationalism and Cheating' -- April 15, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: And your enemy country, they're actually happy. They print exactly money like this. They come and purchase goods and give you fortune, anybody. I know. Then what is the difficulty? Suppose this American dollar, is it very difficult to print? So the Chinese, they are America's enemy, they can print, bring millions of dollars and purchase from your country and export to his country and give you some paper. You are... What you can do?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, we can only hope that we'll catch them. We hope that we'll catch them.

Conversation with Bhakti-caitanya Swami-New GBC -- June 30, 1977, Vrindaban:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I was surprised. In Bombay this one life member, very wealthy man... I thought, "Oh, this man must have many businesses." And I found that he only had one business. He simply exports cardamom. And he's a very wealthy man, and he simply exports little cardamom seeds, but such quantities, and it fetches a very good price abroad.

Prabhupāda: Yes, there are many merchants. They deal in quantity and stock huge. Nobody can compete with him.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, they buy everybody out.

Prabhupāda: He can give so cheap one lakh. Somebody gives you a black, what is called...? Berries, berries.

Room Conversation With Son (Vrindavan De) -- July 5, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: The lobsters, I do not know. They take it from Indian foods. It is from Cochin. Cochin, South India. I do not know... Huge quantity of lobsters are there, and they are exported to America.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, they also have them in America, Prabhupāda. There's a lot of them in the whole eastern seaboard.

Prabhupāda: But in India, they take fresh, lobster.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They do that in America sometimes in the so-called high-class restaurants. You choose your lobster, and then you sit down and they boil it alive.

Prabhupāda: Fresh.

Room Conversation about Grhasthas -- July 17, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: In India. No, world. It is a very important city. Export, import, local. Tremendous business possibility there. Many poor men goes and becomes very rich men. Bombay is very important center. You have to get a place by giving bribe, fifty thousand, sixty thousand, to stay there.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They call that huṇḍi.

Prabhupāda: Not huṇḍi.

Bhakti-caru: Pagri.(?)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Pagri, I mean.

Room Conversation -- July 19, 1977, Vrndavana:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: But that we are using for the export order.

Prabhupāda: If they take money, that, and use it. Then...

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, as we get money. Like the first shipment has just gone and we... Till it comes back, we are... But one point is clear. There's no book that we're printing in India that is out of stock. There's no book out of stock. Sometimes devotees misinform you for selfish reasons that we are out of stock, but there's no book out of stock that we are printing in India.

Prabhupāda: This paper is nice.

Yaśomatīnandana: We will have a few at least a few books ready in a few months.

Prabhupāda: No, the manuscript you take. I want to see at least manuscript is not left idle. That is...

Room Conversation -- July 27-28, 1977, Vrndavana:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, each temple I've given them a quota of one lakh cards. I wrote a newsletter to all the temples, and they must do minimum one lakh cards. Plus we're going to export these to New York, London, Los Angeles. They're all interested in these.

Prabhupāda: The printing is first class.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. It's like American standard.

Prabhupāda: I think the Diwali greeting card dealers also will accept.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, but we are keeping it... Śrīla Prabhupāda, I studied the whole market. It is to our advantage to restrict the sale, because when we deal with dealers or distributors we have to sell them at half the price and allow them to keep their profit. But we want to make this exclusive for life members. Otherwise, if anyone can buy it in a market, it's not such a great prestige.

Prabhupāda: No, no, no. You keep...

Room Conversation -- July 27-28, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Whatever it costs, I don't mind. You make some profit. That's all.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, and actually, all these books that I'm now printing in Hindi, I'm all printing these from the profit of this export order. Even though I have...

Prabhupāda: So you have sent the export books?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. I shipped 26,000 books this month. That's why I got delayed. We shipped 21,000 books to Australia and 11,000 to England.

Prabhupāda: Bhagavad-gītā is...

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: They've all gone. Plus, we shipped a big order to Africa, to Fiji...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Africa said they never got theirs.

Room Conversation -- July 27-28, 1977, Vrndavana:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Very nice.

Prabhupāda: Nobody can say it is Indian.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: You can't say it's printed in India. Actually even our export quality now is very good. Actually there's a plastic coating on the top.

Prabhupāda: You cannot imagine that India has published.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: The First Canto Bhāgavatam which you printed in India were... Also we are keeping the cost low. This is very, very important. This whole book, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we've done within eight rupees, fifty paisa, which is quite reasonable. (end)

Room Conversation -- August 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: The best thing is that in Bangladesh you get foreign exchange. You print books there. It think it is cheaper there. Never mind for the quality, but you'll get good number of books. The government will be pleased.

Prabhaviṣṇu: Yes. Then we can export the books also into West Bengal.

Prabhupāda: Yes. In this way organize these two places with the courage of an Englishman and the heart of a Bengali mother. And we should ventilate in the papers that this Indian investment of American money is not American money. It is my money. I have written books, laboring whole night. The American boys have cooperated with me by printing, by distributing, and the money was received by selling the books. So the books are mine. I have given to the society. So I have done business, regular, in foreign countries. I have earned money and spending the same money in my country. It is not American money. It is my money. I have done business. That's all. It is a credit for Indian son so to do such tremendous business and bring money for investing in his own country, from the national point of view... Why the...? The Americans are not claiming that this is their money. They are my disciples; they are cooperating with me.

Room Conversation -- October 9, 1977, Vrndavana:

Rāmeśvara: Actually the princess is very eager to come to India to meet you. She's been planning to do this with her husband. Her husband is the most powerful prince in the country. He's involved with the oil exporting and buying weapons and so many matters. And they're both very eager to have your darśana.

Prabhupāda: They have got money. Now if they follow little our instruction, it will be an ideal country.

Jayatīrtha: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. You used to say "American money and Indian knowledge." But now all the money is in the Arab countries. So we have to get it from them. (break)

Rāmeśvara: We sent the second volume of Tenth Canto to the printers two weeks ago, so within one more week the advanced copies will be ready to send.

Room Conversation -- October 27, 1977, Vrndavana:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: ...printing books and exporting these books, and this way we're earning so much foreign exchange for the Indian economy. They liked it.

Prabhupāda: Did you show them the invoice of what book already we have got?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I told him the amount. I told him this year we have orders for Rs. twenty-five lakhs, and I said, "This is just the first year, and worldwide we print over eight crores. So this is just the beginning." So they liked it. And I also gave him the Hindi Bhāgavatam like you had told me. And he turned out... This man who is handling our case is a Marwari, Mr. Pandy. So Marwaris are very pious. They're better than these others. So he liked the Hindi Bhāgavatam very much. So I gave him the Hindi Bhāgavatam and the English. (break)

Prabhupāda: You are not to be gagged anymore?

1967 Correspondence

Letter to Brahmananda -- Calcutta 22 October, 1967:

I am very much appreciate your lecturing arrangements in different educational institutions & I have full confidence in both you and Rayarama. Indian things may be exported but I do not know the varieties of goods that would be saleable there. For the time being I have arranged for musical instruments with Dvaraka & sons, & so also I am arranging for incense. If Indian Saris are required, that also can be arranged. But unless I definitely hear from Mr. Kallman what particular things he wants I can not guess what is to be done. The most important thing is that you let me know immediately whether or not I should start on the visitors visa. Visitors visa I've already got. I could start without delay but if you want me to apply for permanent visa it will take some time. So I shall await your immediate reply. Hope you are well.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Brahmananda -- Los Angeles 1 March, 1968:

There must have been some mistake. I think $395.00 is the total shipping charges for all the cases. These are some of the difficulties of Export-Import business. So you have to go to the shipping office and see the real things. I have not yet received your copy of the letter received from them. Anyway, you have to clear the goods and do it at your discretion. Because how can I know things from such a distant place.

Remind the Brijabasi Co. in reply to their last letter.

Letter to Brahmananda -- Los Angeles 4 March, 1968:

I see that United Shipping Corp. has explained in their letter, dated Feb. 22, a copy of which you have sent me, that they have not been able to pay the ocean fare for this consignment, and the money is with them, and they submit account for that. So, after clearing the books, we will see to the account. In the meantime, if possible you can see the American Export Isbrandtsen Lines, Inc., whose office is situated at 26 Broadway, New York, N.Y., 10004. I think you can see the manager of this carrying company and try to get some concessional rates for things we import from India. Here in San Francisco, there is one carrying company, American Mail Lines, and they have agreed to give us 10% concession on the freight. When I go to S.F., I shall see that they may grant some more concession.

Letter to Brahmananda -- Los Angeles 4 March, 1968:

When I go to S.F., I shall see that they may grant some more concession. You have to convince the carrying company that our this world wide Krishna Consciousness movement, so everything required is for the help of this society. Government gives us all facility of exemptions from the tax, and as we have got to import so many articles from India, and maybe we may export also so many things from America to India for maintaining the status of the institution, they may give us some concessional rates. You may mention that Scindia Steam Navigation Co. of Bombay was giving us concession all free, but recently, might be due to their internal dissension, they have stopped this concession. So we can claim some concessional rate from everyone because our society is for public welfare activities.

Letter to United Shipping Corporation -- San Francisco 23 March, 1968:

Please let me know exactly what is the procedure for exporting books from India, because I have to do it periodically. And unfortunately, due to ignorance of the procedure, both on your part and on our part, so much botheration is undergone. For want of knowing the procedure, we had to pay the freight charges here also, in spite of sending you in advance $500, (Ref: Your letter F/38/I-14, of January 11, 1968.) Kindly therefore let me know the exact procedure to be followed in future, because books are being printed in Delhi and shortly, we shall have to get them here in New York. Kindly therefore send the exact procedure, and on hearing from you, we shall ask our Delhi agent to book further goods.

Letter to Brahmananda -- Montreal 21 June, 1968:

I have not heard anything from you since you left from Montreal. I think everything is all right with you, and shall be glad to hear from you how far the Dai Nippon Printing work is going on. In the meantime, as I have already informed you, a boy, Ranjit Mullick, is prepared to export goods from India, on the following terms:

1) If letter of credit is open, he is prepared to export goods for the present, up to $1000.00.

Letter to Brahmananda -- Montreal 21 June, 1968:

Regarding the former consignment of 15 cases, Swamiji has already written you that you make prima face invoice and send it and we will return to you. Otherwise, he has sent you several times the invoice and each time there was some defect pointed out by the bank or by you. So, we are fed up in this business. We are quite unaware of the Indian government export business; you should have let us know beforehand. But we do not feel such difficulty with other shippers. We are very much perplexed in these transactions."

Letter to Brahmananda -- Montreal 21 June, 1968:

You can write them the letter as dictated above and I do not know if you have already asked them to deposit the balance money with Dwarkin. The best thing will be to get your goods exported through a purchasing agent like Ranjit Mullick. We can avoid so many botherations. I am also returning herewith the letter of the UNITED SHIPPING CORPORATION, which was sent by you. Did you write any letter to Dwarkin?

Letter to Brahmananda -- Montreal 21 June, 1968:

Regarding the 1000 records: Please do not dispatch them until you hear from me. I have written several letters to Mr. Dalmia, Acyutananda, and Jaya Govinda, but I have heard nothing from them still. So, unless I hear from them, do not export the records. Please write to Acyutananda and Jaya Govinda whether they can distribute the records free to respectable Indian gentlemen, and collect some contributions for purchasing Deities, to be installed in our several temples. For the last 2 weeks I have received no reply from them. I do not know what they are doing there. I thought Jaya Govinda would be intelligent enough to cooperate with Acyutananda, but he is also silent. I do not know what to do with them.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Seattle 29 September, 1968:

Regarding the Deities: the quotation by Overseas Exporters appears to be very high. I have enquired several other places also, so let us wait. Don't put any order just now unless you hear from me. Harivilasa brought two pairs of small Deities from Vrindaban. One pair is with me, so they are also very nice. So you can ask Harivilasa and he will give information where to get, and what was the price. In that case, you can immediately write to Acyutananda and Jaya Govinda who are now in Delhi at the following address: c/o Indraprastha Gaudiya Math; Dina-ka-Galab, Malkaganj; Subjimandi; Delhi 7, India. And arrange to take supply from Vrindaban directly, not only one pair but a few pairs.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Manager of The Bank of Baroda -- Los Angeles 8 August, 1969:

I am enclosing herewith another formal advice on behalf of The League of Devotees for transferring the balance to my account #1452. Please do the needful.

Regarding Indian exporters, I beg to request you to send me some addresses of musical instrument dealers in Delhi. Most probably some of them might be your clients, and if you kindly advise them to send their catalogs or price lists, it will be very appreciated.

Letter to Manager of Punjab National Bank -- London 15 December, 1969:

Is that not sufficient documentary evidence? Otherwise, what do you want me to do?

I am experiencing so much inconvenience in this matter of exporting from India, although the price is already transferred from the States. So if you kindly give me your direction what to do in this connection, then I shall do it. I am always in tour, and I took it simply that the goods were dispatched against the money transferred already. That is sufficient documentary evidence in my opinion. I hope to hear from you soon.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Radharamana Sharanji -- Los Angeles 25 June, 1970:

So I am expecting your reply on this point after due investigation.

Regarding exporting Vrndavana articles, you may kindly let me know what will be the charges for sending 100 pieces of japa mala, ordinary, by surface mail parcel. So far I have calculated the price of 100 pieces of japa mala will not be more than Rs. 50, and for dispatching by surface post parcel maybe almost the same amount. So kindly let me know if this is correct. I have got my account with Punjab National Bank of Vrndavana, and as such, whenever you supply some goods you will be able to take payment from the bank without any difficulty. Similarly, if your friend supplies Benaras dhoti and sari that will be very nice arrangement.

Letter to M. L. Chand -- Tokyo 17 August, 1970:

Kindly refer to my letter dated 24th June, 1970.

I did not receive any reply from you, but on the contrary I have received a copy of letter addressed to the Chief Controller of Import and Export by the Sri Caitanya Research Institute in which it is said that this letter has got reference to my letter addressed to you.

I do not know how the matter has gone to Sri Caitanya Research Institute who has falsely declared that the Murtis were donated by them. Actually it is not the fact. Five pairs of Murtis were collected by Hit Sharanji, one pair donated by Dalmia Trust and four pairs donated by Birla Trust.

Letter to Sri Trivediji -- Tokyo 17 August, 1970:

The matter appears to be very complicated because I do not know why Sri Caitanya Research Institute has falsely declared to the Chief Controller of Import and Export that the Murtis were donated by them while that is not a fact. There were five pairs of Murtis, one pair being donated by Dalmia-Jayan Trust and the other four pairs being donated by the Birla Trust.

Anyway, it is practically near about one year the matter is being dragged. You will kindly therefore let me know by return mail what is the actual position and whether there is possibility of carrying the Murtis as previously arranged. If not, please let me know and I shall depute some of my representatives to take delivery of the Murtis and do the needful.

Letter to Nayanabhirama -- Bombay 1 December, 1970:

Someday when the opportunity comes for film-making you can do so. If you can make bona fide films it is welcome. Then I can help you by directing. So far as exporting films that is not possible.

Letter to Gurudasa -- Indore 5 December, 1970:

You might have received by this time a letter from Tamala. So you must go immediately to see the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports and make the necessary arrangements for getting the clearance permission for our shipment of books.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Ksirodakasayi -- Bombay 17 April, 1971:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 13.4.71, along with letters from Subala Maharaja and Suryakumarji, whom please thank. I have also seen the copy of letter to the Controller, Imports and Exports.

Regarding the Deities, I am enclosing a copy of the letter from Sri Hitsaran Sharma in this connection. Four pairs of Deities were said to be donated by the Birla Trust and another two pairs by the Dalmia-Jayan Trust. So far, four sets have been dispatched, but where are the other two pairs? You should arrange for them to be sent to New York from where they will be distributed to the appropriate centers. In New Vrndavana we will require seven pairs of Deities for the proposed seven temples.

Letter to Jayapataka -- Brooklyn 28 July, 1971:

Regarding exporting of mrdangas, I am very glad that you are in charge of this department. It is so nice that you are taking care of temple affairs and exporting of instruments, beads, etc.

I am very glad to know that Yasodanandana has arrived there from Berkeley. I shall be glad to know how he is engaged in Calcutta activities.

Letter to Jayapataka -- Delhi 3 December, 1971:

For payment for the other things Tamala Krishna will pay. You may please assist our Madras party by arranging these items for Biharilal to bring.

I am also sending Mani Bandha Prabhu to Calcutta to relieve you of export business. I think now we may only export drums, karatalas, japa malas and arati articles. You may now devote your full time to preaching work and making members.

Karandhara has sent me one telegram inquiring about Krishna Book. Whether you have sent the shipping document to him?

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Isho Kumar -- Los Angeles 26 May, 1972:

Now our society is well known both in India and around the world and in India we have got our headquarters in Bombay, Vrndavana, Calcutta, Mayapur and very soon we shall have our center in Delhi also. Besides that we are exporting our Hindi books especially to Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong and other places where there are Hindu communities in the world. So if you get opportunity to see any of our places either in India or we have got over 100 centers in other parts of the world, I cordially invite you to stay with us and see how the things are going on.

Letter to Giriraja -- Vrindaban 1 November, 1972:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated October 22, 1972, regarding the supply of deity for Chicago centre. I am told that the Bharatapur deity is more than 200 years old and is made of solid silver, and therefore it will be very difficult to get government permission to export it from India. It will be too much trouble, so if nice deities can be gotten from Jaipur as we have done before, that is better.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Jayapataka, Bhavananda -- Los Angeles 9 May, 1973:

Such small scale industries are also supported by the Bengal Government. Tarundada is in charge of such industry. I have consulted with Karandhara that we can purchase the saris and the government will be glad to cooperate with us for exporting Indian goods to outside of India. Similarly we can import nice dolls here. Gradually as our men become expert they can manufacture the same thing here. So Mayapur inhabitants can be engaged in such a small manufacturing enterprise as well as farming to become self sufficient. Side by side increase our spiritual consciousness by attending to the temple routine work, Deity worship sankirtana, attending class. The idea is we must have the necessities of our life as far as possible independently. But we should not be business minded. Our main business is to develop our dormant Krsna Consciousness. Side by side we may take to such enterprises as will maintain us very nicely.

Letter to Tejiyas -- Los Angeles 3 December, 1973:

The price should not exceed Rs. 2 per book. The size may be reduced a little to meet this budget if necessary. We want to sell for Rs. 3 at most. This edition is especially meant for the student class. We can print and distribute in India but cannot export them. It will be better not to sell them through bookstores but rather direct to the consumer. The stock should be kept in our custody at our own warehouse.

How things are going on at our Delhi Center? There is a good opportunity for cultural discussion to be held there, especially amongst the foreigners, so try to arrange some programs.

Letter to Makhanlal -- Los Angeles 11 December, 1973:

The conch shell is place on the altar and used for blowing. It is pleasing to the Deity and a bona fide item of worship. Never mind all the rumors you have heard.

Yes, if you are able to acquire some farm land and produce grains that will be nice. Especially we want to export grains to India. Do not, however, change or disrupt the existing Temple program. The economic situation is always precarious but we are dependent on Krsna only.

Thank you very much for your endeavors in book distribution and please offer your good wife my blessings for her service in this connection. Our preaching work will be measured by the quantity of books we distribute so continue ever-increasingly.

Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Los Angeles 13 December, 1973:

We are ready to manage a Press in India, but where is the money? We require new offset printing equipment. If we print in India we can get a much cheaper rate. Now, also there is a world-wide paper shortage but I have asked Mukunda in London to investigate exporting paper to India. I am in favor of this scheme but whether or not Mr. Gupta and others will support it and will the government allow?

The news of the preaching work in New Delhi is very nice—continue with it. There are many intelligent men in that quarter, mostly European. So far as the Russian correspondent, try to convince him about our philosophy. We want to unit the world on the platform of Krsna Consciousness under one state, one government, one religion and one scripture. It will be successful if we work cautiously and maintain our standards.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Kirtanananda -- Mayapur 25 October, 1974:

In India ghee is needed in our temples. I want to know if you can supply ghee by exporting it from USA. The quantity is 100 lbs. for Mayapur and 100 lbs. for Vrindaban per month. I am prepared to pay you for it in dollars at the fair market price.

Letter to Rupanuga -- Bombay 18 December, 1974:

The two men you have appointed, Paramananda and Devakinandana Prabhus, are both capable and experienced men from New Vrndavana and I am sure they will manage everything very nicely there.

What do you think of exporting nice United States cows such as the ones you have there and in New Vrndavana to India so we can raise them in our Vrndavana and Mayapur projects and provide nice milk? Is it possible?

This isolation that has been imposed on the New York temple that you speak of is not good and it should be dissolved. Your program of travelling to the nearest temples is a good program. You should continue that. Our GBC members should always visit the different temples to see that everything goes on well, and to see that the management is being done very nicely.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Tejiyas -- Philadelphia 13 July, 1975:

You should check with the authorities that we can get an import license for importing printing paper in an equivalent amount to all the foreign exchange we have sent to India. We can print the books there, and many will be exported to Africa, U.K., Fiji, etc.

Letter to Tejiyas -- Bombay 15 August, 1975:

So following the same principle we want permission to purchase printing paper up to the amount of foreign exchange that we have sent into the country.

In this connection you can find out in the Import/Export Department on e Mr. Mukherjee who is the son-in-law of the late Mr. N.C. Chatterjee. Mr. Chatterjee was my personal friend, and some 10 years ago promised to help me. So if you find Mr. Mukherjee, he can help you.

Letter to Pusta Krsna -- New Delhi 2 December, 1975:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated November 17, 1975. Regarding the car, you just register it in your name in Germany. Hamsaduta Prabhu has agreed to give the 11% tax until export. Then drive it here and when it is here we will see how to manage.

1976 Correspondence

Letter to Gopala Krsna -- Honolulu 20 May, 1976:

We can do it ourselves and save the commission that they would take; also we will not be bound to Thompson Press if we have our own paper. Gurukrpa Swami can send the paper from Japan. In that way he can get money out of Japan in the form of paper, for printing books. Why through Thompson Press we must purchase paper, and then export our books? We can purchase paper and export books ourselves. Simply we pay the printing costs, that's all. First thing you will have to take license of import-export. If we are going to get the Delhi land, we can do the whole business in Delhi, importing through Bombay and Calcutta. If the whole thing turns out cheaper and efficient, then we can print all our books there, so long the quality is not diminished. There is law that what you export, to that value, you can import, so part of the payment can be in paper from Japan, so we get as much as possible paper in profit, in addition to payment for the books.