Room Conversation on 1976 Book Scores
Recently at Kumbha- mela we sold about 100,000 literatures at least.
Rāmeśvara:
This is a very bad picture. It makes the devotee look very strange. And they have this elaborate ghee holder.
Prabhupāda:
This is our men?
Rāmeśvara:
Yes. This is at an ārati. You can see the donations that people have put on the tray. But it makes it look very strange, this picture, with the lighting. They have deliberately selected this.
Prabhupāda:
Very big article.
Rāmeśvara:
Yes. Yes. I have just been reading it.
Hari-śauri:
What newspaper is that?
Rāmeśvara:
It’s a very small-time newspaper called the Soho Weekly News.
Prabhupāda:
Bad propaganda is going on.
Gargamuni:
Some good, some bad.
Prabhupāda:
Yes. There are two. Any movement will have such.
Gargamuni:
I have mentioned this morning about Basumati* [Daily Bengali newspaper from Calcutta] sub-editor, Mr. Mukha Suddhi, that he was considering becoming a devotee. So I told him you were here, so he immediately came tonight. He’s waiting now.Prabhupāda:
Oh. So then bring him. That’s all right.
Rāmeśvara:
So I can read this and summarize it…
Prabhupāda:
Later on.
Rāmeśvara:
…if there is anything interesting. But this is something that’s nice.
[break] …this one first. This is the total sales.
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. See, how many books we have sold. This is the report.]
Rāmeśvara:
For the year 1976. It lists… The first section lists all the Caitanya-caritāmṛtas title by title, all seventeen volumes. So last year we sold 55,000 copies of Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
Prabhupāda:
All parts.
Rāmeśvara:
Yes. Then it lists the Bhāgavatams. We sold 7,000 volume one, First Canto; 46,000 First Canto, volume two; 41,000 First Canto, volume three; 6,000 2.1’s; 8,500 5.1’s; 8,500 5.2’s; 17,000 6.1’s; 16,000 6.2’s; 16,000 6.3’s; 45,000 7.1, Prahlāda Mahārāja; 15,000 7.2; 16,000 7.3; 16,000 8.1; and 15,000 8.2. Total Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam sales in English last year, 275,000 hardbound volumes. Then Bhagavad-gītā. Macmillan edition, 5,000; then the abridged edition, paper bound, 11,000. Then the abridged edition, hardbound… [laughter]
Prabhupāda:
Choking.
Rāmeśvara:
606,000 hardbound volumes, for a total sale of Bhagavad-gītā last year in English, not counting what was printed in India, 622,000 hardbound volumes. Then Kṛṣṇa book, hardbound: 28,000 volume one; 12,000 volume two; 12,000 volume three; making a total of Kṛṣṇa book hardbound sold of 51,000 hardbound volumes. Then Kṛṣṇa trilogies, paper bound: 17,000 volume one; 19,000 volume two; 24,000 volume three; making a total of 60,000 Kṛṣṇa trilogies. Then 6,000 Teachings of Lord Caitanya, 7,000 Nectar of Devotion, 160,000 Śrī Īśopaniṣad, 100,000 Nectar of Instruction, 253,000 Easy Journey to Other Planets…
Prabhupāda:
This is the largest sale. [chuckling]
Rāmeśvara:
10,000 cook books, Hare Kṛṣṇa cook books; 4,000 Gopal coloring books; and just under 7,000…, excuse me, 7,000,000 Back to Godhead magazines. Now, the total magazines, almost 7,000,000. Total small books like Perfection of Yoga, Easy Journey is 740,000. Total medium books like Kṛṣṇa trilogy, Śrī Īśopaniṣad is 319,000. Total books like cook books, Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Is Authorized, other titles: 280,000. Then total hardbound books: 1,007,000. So the total literatures sold last year is 9,076,280 literatures. Nine million.
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Can you organize like this here?]
Gargamuni:
It’s only English.
Rāmeśvara:
This is just English.
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Apart from that] French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese. [Transl. In our India…This is India’s treasury. If you can organize to give one book each to every Indian, I am prepared to give you anything you want. If outside India, who are neither Indians nor Hindus, can take so many literaures, then how much potency is there in India.]
News editor:
[Transl. Sure.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. They took. All the universities have taken. All the libraries are taking. They are placing standing orders. So many things can be done. Through the distribution of literature, preaching will expand more. Good people will read and understand how valuable this is.]
News editor:
[Transl. Actually we have to learn a few things like we have a reginal language here apart from English. So the demand for English language is rather less. It’s sixty percent only.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. No, almost all educated people read English.]
News editor:
[Transl. Yes. Educated circle will read. But the number of educated persons are…]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. …less.]
News editor:
[Transl. Much less.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. We have translated them into Hindi. Recently at Kumbha-mela we sold about 100,000 literatures at least. We just made an estimate. Daily we sold about eight to fifteen thousand books. So there are plenty of oppurtunities here to organize. Therefore if you want we will provide you good place or any other facility you want, if you can organize.] We want. [Transl. In foreign countries we are selling five to six lakhs rupees worth of books every day. So here I am planning to sell books five to six lakhs rupees every month. Daily that much is impossible. Not impossible, might also be possible.]
News editor:
[Transl. It won’t be possible. How will it be possible?]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. So we need manpower to organize this.]
News editor:
Okay.
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. We are ready to provide any facility one needs if he wants to do it.]
News editor:
Okay.
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. We have got so much work to do. This is not anything sentimental. Just like Transcendental Meditation, “close your eyes and sit down.” Nobody can understand. Do all nonsense stealthily. We have no such things. Ours is science. Otherwise, are these Europeans and Americans so foolish? They understand that there is substance in it. It not sentimental, or some kind of cheating like producing gold out of nothing.]
News editor:
[Transl. Sentimental means emotional.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Only fools do such things.]
News editor:
[Transl. How to organize this in all India basis?]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. It it already organized. We have the materials, these standard literatures, and we have organizers. They meet] person to person. Huge organization. [Transl. We have got around 300 to 350 salesmen.]
News editor:
[Transl. That we can do from here. That can be done from ISKCON. Either from ISKCON or individually it can be done.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. I am prepared provided there is a competent man to organize.]
News editor:
[Transl. An independent body can be formed to do that as well, as if publishers, book sellers and so on.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Yes. We have our B.B.T.] Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. [Transl. To set up a nice office and organize it. I am trying to look for a house here just to set up an office and do our work like maintaining] stock, distribution, salesmen control. [Transl. Just like any other organization. I am ready to do it.]
News editor:
[Transl. All right.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. And also a Daily Paper. We have to educate people in general. This Russion philosophy, they have nothing concrete, no substance but simply by propaganda they put up something. We have got asset.] We have got substance.
News editor:
[Transl. But to distribute that substance some publicity is necesary. Some kind of propaganda is required.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Yes. All that has to be done. If we get people we will do it.] So it is very encouraging, this report.
Indian guest:
Sure, sure.
Prabhupāda:
What else?
Rāmeśvara:
Now the next two reports. First of all, for the month of December there’s the ratings for the whole Society. So in the top ten, number one was New York, Rādhā-Dāmodara, with $170,000.
News editor:
[Transl. When should I come back again?]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. You inquire from them.]
News editor:
[Transl. I would like to read some of your books.]
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Oh yes.] Give him some book to read.
Gargamuni:
Where’s the Bhagavad-gītā?
Prabhupāda:
Yes.
Indian guest:
I should have some basic knowledge about.
Prabhupāda:
[Transl. Simply by reading] Bhagavad-gītā you will have basic knowledge.
News editor:
[Transl. I take your leave.]
Prabhupāda:
Hmm
Rāmeśvara:
Number two was Los Angeles, with $87,000. Number three was Berkeley with $85,000. Number four was San Diego, $62,000; Caracas, 60,000; Brazil and England tied—$48,000; Germany 33,000; Denver 32,000; and Pittsburgh 30,000. And the medium temples weren’t so outstanding, but the small temple, Houston, little Houston, $25,000. They only have about twelve men. I cannot understand how hard they worked to do this; very hard. Plus it shows Gurukṛpa’s donation, ISKCON food relief donation. Then the outstanding zones for the month. Number one is Tamāla Kṛṣṇa, with $200,000. Number two was my zone. Actually it’s your zone, but you’ve made me manage it a little. $182,000. Very close to beating him. [Prabhupāda chuckles] Actually, I have noticed that if the West Coast was not divided this year into two zones… Formerly it was just one zone. All Berkeley…, it was one zone. Now it is two zones. So I noticed that if it had not been divided, then every month the West Coast would have been number one. [laughs]
Prabhupāda:
Combined together.
Rāmeśvara:
Yes. Then Hṛdayānanda was number three, with $155,000. That is very good for Latin America.
Prabhupāda:
Oh, yes.
Rāmeśvara:
And number four was the northwest West Coast—that’s the other half of the West Coast—with $122,000. Then fifth was Jayatīrtha, with $89,000, which is very good for three temples.
Prabhupāda:
Yes.
Rāmeśvara:
So the next thing is the entire year—the ratings for the whole year. So number one for zones is Tamāla Kṛṣṇa—$1,000,000 for the whole year. Number two was the area that I have: Los Angeles, Denver and San Diego—$762,000. Number three was Balavanta—$476,000. And number four was the other half of the West Coast—$464,000. You can see that if you put the West Coast as one, it would have been $1,200,000 to Tamāla Kṛṣṇa’s $1,000,000. [laughs] But anyway, it’s been divided, so he has won. So he’s also… New York temple is number one among temples, and his zone is number one among zones. So he has set the whole standard for the whole movement in book distribution.
Prabhupāda:
All brahmacārī and sannyāsī.
Rāmeśvara:
My zone is all gṛhasthas, [laughs] with a few brahmacārīs. Anyway, next year we can beat Tamāla Kṛṣṇa. [Prabhupāda chuckles] He has only beaten us by a few hundred thousand dollars.
Prabhupāda:
[laughs] But don’t tell now.
Rāmeśvara:
Or it may be ruined.
Prabhupāda:
He may be very careful.
Rāmeśvara:
I think we should send him a congratulations letter.
Prabhupāda:
[laughing] Yes. You send.
Rāmeśvara:
I’ll send him.
Prabhupāda:
[laughing] Yes. To entice him.
Rāmeśvara:
Because he is… This is his main…
Prabhupāda:
Actually, in the beginning, for increasing the sale, Tamāla Kṛṣṇa gave the impetus. He was selling best in San Francisco. Then went from… What is that? We were printing in the beginning? What is that press called?
Rāmeśvara:
ISKCON Press?
Prabhupāda:
No, no. I purchased some hand press?
Rāmeśvara:
Letterpress?
Prabhupāda:
No that, it has got special name. I forget now. I purchased two presses, $150.
Hari-śauri:
Mimeograph.
Prabhupāda:
Mimeograph. Ha, ha, ha. So we were selling about five hundred copies, and gradually… But still, Tamāla Kṛṣṇa was selling almost major portion. Then I asked Brahmānanda that “Why not print?” So he took quotation from different printers, and Dai Nippon, we gave them, printing, this Teachings of Lord Caitanya. So he took quotation, ten cent per copy. But they want twenty thousand. So we were selling about one thousand, and it is a question of twenty thousand. So I consulted Tamāla in San Francisco. So he gave me some encourage. I asked Brahmānanda, “Yes, print twenty thousand.” So [chuckles] from five hundred to twenty thousand—great jump. Somehow or other, it began like that. Now what we are printing per month?
Rāmeśvara:
What? Hardbound books?
Prabhupāda:
No, no, this Back to Godhead.
Rāmeśvara:
750,000. It is averaging like that.
Prabhupāda:
So the first attempt was only 20,000. I calculated. Anyway, Kṛṣṇa is giving us all facility. Let us utilize it to the best of our capacity. We have no other ambition. We want to see that everyone may accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead and be happy. This is our mission. We have no other ambition, not to make any cost-profit. But when we see that so many people are reading Kṛṣṇa book, that gives us very good encouragement. Otherwise what…? Two chapātis we can get anywhere.
Rāmeśvara:
We wrote in the newsletter to the Society that even though our movement is being attacked in so many ways, the best counterattack is through book distribution.
Prabhupāda:
Yes. That is the best answer to this opposition. And when the case is there, put all the books before the judge: “Now you read and give your judgment. Don’t… You are learned lordship. Please read these books and give your judgment. We have got already judgment from the scholars.” Present like that. “But still, because in your court it is presented, so we pray that you give your judgment after understanding our method of brainwash.” That will make him flat.
Rāmeśvara:
We gave this proof, another proof that our movement is transcendental to all material obstacles and impediments, that this year there was, in America, spiraling inflation and unemployment, and the cost of living was therefore rising like anything, but our books, in defiance of all these material trends, were being printed in larger quantities, but the temples were paying less for the books than ever before. And even though all the major airports were closed for a minimum six months or more, the hardbound book distribution—we just looked at the numbers—actually increased by one hundred percent.
Prabhupāda:
So it is Kṛṣṇa’s mercy. “You can do all kinds of opposition, but we shall go forward. The caravan will pass. You may bark.” So take all these things as Kṛṣṇa’s mercies and engage more enthusiastically. Why should we be defeated? Yuddhyasva mām anusmara [Bg. 8.7]. Just remember Kṛṣṇa and fight. Bās. Fighting is… This material world is fighting. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati [Bg. 15.7]. The karṣati is struggle, but struggle for Kṛṣṇa. That is perfection. That’s all.
Rāmeśvara:
Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda:
Thank you. Work very hard for Kṛṣṇa, one life.
Rāmeśvara:
You may like to see these, so I can leave them here?
Prabhupāda:
I have heard it. Śruta. It is śuśruma. [Īśopaniṣad, Mantra 13]
Rāmeśvara:
When these come out, I frame them on my wall.
Prabhupāda:
Our method is iti śuśruma: “I have heard it.” [end]