SpiritualBy the middle of the summer of 1974, book distribution in Germany reached unprecedented heights. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s visit fueled the already fiery preaching spirit of his disciples, and books and records went out each week by the thousands.
In a GBC report to his spiritual master, Hansadutta included a blowup of a photograph of Śrīla Prabhupāda that he wanted to use on the front cover of the double album recorded at Schloss Rettershof. Prabhupāda, remembering his visit, encouraged Hansadutta to preach vigorously: The photo you have sent is a nice picture. I am getting it framed. So in Germany, when I was there, I was very, very hopeful. There is good scope for preaching Krishna consciousness. The people there are very intelligent. They are prepared to accept the real truth. Germany was always famous for its intelligent population. You are also appropriately fit to push on this cult in Germany. It will be a great success. Get the German people to take this movement seriously. Utilize the money you are collecting there for printing more and more books in German language, and profusely distribute our books in German language.
Hansadutta also asked Prabhupāda for more instructions about establishing a farm community, but Prabhupāda told him just to follow the example of the already successful rural projects: Regarding the farm, the exhibition is there in New Vrindaban.
Kīrtanānanda Maharaja has organized very nicely. The same principle you can follow and organize it in Germany. Let the people be happy with selfsufficient food grown in the field, with milk products. When I was in Frankfurt round our place, I was so happy so see the farms and the cows. Unfortunately, they will kill the cows. So if we organize a farm without killing any cows, that will be a great example in that country. Instead of killing cows, if we let them live, we can get so many nutritious foodstuffs filled with vitamins. I have seen in New Vrindaban how happily our devotees are living there with free air, fresh vegetables, and ample milk. Simple living in cottages. What you want more? We should not neglect the upkeep of the body, and we should save time to chant Hare Krishna. This mission should be propagated. Save time and chant Hare Krishna.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, aware that Hansadutta collected huge amounts of money, warned him not to act whimsically, as one GBC had done by getting involved in a questionable business: Now you publish in German language all our books and distribute. Krishna will help you in every respect. The BBT collection should be spent 50% for publishing and 50% for construction of temples. At the present moment the Mayapur-Vrindaban projects are going on, so as soon as there is an excess of money it should be utilized here. Not a single farthing should be invested in any business enterprise. Formally it was so done without any sanction. So be careful.
Prabhupāda also told Hansadutta not to overemphasize the distribution of records. Now, with the release of Kṛṣṇa Meditation, seven LPs were being distributed in Germany, but only five books: Regarding record albums, it is something sentimental. They will purchase and hear for some time and throw it and purchase another. A book purchased will remain, and once even one line is read, that will benefit the reader.
Regarding the printing, it does not matter where you print our German books. Never mind the cost whether it is a little more or less. Wherever it is convenient. We are not after profit. The important thing is good printing and binding so that the people will be impressed. A book sold rather than a record will be a solid sale.
But it proved difficult for Hansadutta to cut back record distribution. A major part of the collection came from these sales.
During the annual Māyāpur festival in March, however, he had come up with a scheme to multiply the income beyond all expectations. Śrīla Prabhupāda had told the managers of the Māyāpur temple that no one within a ten-mile radius should go hungry. Thus, ISKCON Food Relief was born, and the devotees were now feeding many thousands of people each month. Hansadutta had asked pictures taken of the devotees holding Indian children. And back in Schloss Rettershof, he designed an ad for the German Back to Godhead. People were asked to contribute five or ten marks, which would feed fifty or a hundred people. Later, the devotees developed the slogan, “Mit fünf Mark sind Sie dabei!” or “With five marks, you’re part of it.”
Hansadutta eventually sent $ 20,000 to construct the food distribution pavilion in Māyāpur, but that was only a drop in the bucket compared to the total collection. Hansadutta had other plans besides printing books and purchasing the Schloss. He planned to buy a remote farm and develop a self-sufficient community based on the varṇāśrama system. He feared a world war and economic chaos in the near future and wanted to be prepared. When Prabhupāda sensed that Hansadutta was diverting too much attention to this direction he cautioned him: Yes, we must invest our money in books and land, but there will be no collapse as you have anticipated. Everything will be adjusted by the grace of Krishna. From my own experience I have seen when first-class rice was selling at 8 np. per kg, and now that is being sold at Rs. 8. That means it is 64 times higher, but still people are eating, and the man who lives in care of the footpath he is also eating. So the man in care of the footpath, and the man on the 30th floor of the skyscraper, they are living, and still the inflation is going on. Man-made laws cannot work any rupture in Krishna’s plan. Better let us remain now under Krishna’s shelter fully dependent, and we shall remain unaffected by all the man-made difficulties.
Farm opening is not very essential, but if you can do it conveniently, then do it. The varnasrama system is for convenience sake in the material world. It has nothing to do with spiritual life. Acceptance of varnasrama means a little easy progress to spiritual life, otherwise it has no importance to us. For example, all my European and American disciples have no varnasrama position, but spiritually, because they have followed the rules and regulations and also my instructions, their advancement spiritually is being appreciated by everyone. Always remember that varnasrama life is a good program for material life, and it helps one in spiritual life, but spiritual life is not dependent upon it».
RAVAṆĀRĪ DĀSA: I was born in Acre, a city north of Haifa on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in 1947. The city had been part of Palestine since 1922 but was taken over by Israeli troops in 1948. Already earlier, there had been strife between the Palestinian and Jewish population, and my parents decided to leave Acre and move to neighboring Lebanon.
In 1967, after graduating from High School, some of my friends wanted to go to Egypt for studying, but I said, “No, I want to go to Europe, there may be something for me.”
So I went by train to England where I stayed for one year, after having received a scholarship for studying English. But then I decided to go back to Beirut. Soon after my arrival, I joined the PLO, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and after some time became commander of the Third Line Defense. Since we were stationed in a quiet area, we never got involved in any direct fighting.
In 1971, I thought about going back to Europe, and when I heard about an offer to fly to East Berlin with Aeroflot for only 300 dollars, I took the opportunity. From there I managed to go to West Berlin and later to West Germany where I settled in Nürnberg and applied for asylum. After a year or so I got married to a German girl and had a daughter.
One day, in the spring of 1973, while sitting in a teahouse, I saw a German BTG, “Zurück zur Gottheit”, lying on one of the tables. I looked through it, and there was an article by Hansadutta who said, “We know God, we know His phone number.” I had never heard this before, that somebody claimed to know God, what to speak of His phone number. My interest was awakened, so I took the magazine home. I wanted to read every word and find out what was God’s phone number. At least, I thought, this writer must know something I don’t know. On the last page was a list of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books in German, and I decided to order all of them. And within a week I received Īśopaniṣad, Jenseits von Zeit und Raum (Easy Journey) and Die Quelle aller Freude (The Reservoir of all Pleasure). Although I had learned basic German by that time, I found it very hard to understand the philosophy. But I was persistent and sat all day with the Īśopaniṣad studying every word. Slowly I began to understand what Prabhupāda was saying, and I felt that everything he said was true. That was my impression, that “Everything that he says here is true.” At the end of the book, there was an article about ISKCON and its activities, and it said that anybody is welcome to join. I was very excited to read this, that anybody, no matter what their background or faith was, could join. Thus I decided to join this group.
In the summer I drove to Berlin and then to Hamburg to get to know the devotees better. They treated me nicely, and when I returned to Nürnberg I explained everything to my wife and proposed to join the temple. She was open to the idea and shortly afterward we went to Berlin, where we became devotees. My wife did not know anything about Kṛṣṇa consciousness but she liked everything about it and fit in very quickly. In April 1974, I was initiated by mail and received the name Rāvaṇārī Dāsa, and my wife was initiated by Prabhupāda during his visit in June as Svakīya Devī Dāsī.
DĪNAŚARAṆA DĀSĪ: When I was 8 years old, I accompanied my father to the Sahara desert. He was an architect and worked on some projects in North Africa. Because my father was busy most of the time, I spent many hours alone, and thus I had a lot of time to think. At one point, the thought came to my mind: “If there is God, I want to know who He is, what He looks like, where He lives and what He does. People talk about God, and if He really exists, I want to know all these things.” In the desert, there is not much water, but where we were staying there was a little pond, and I thought to myself, “I will drink from this water, and if God exists, I will not get sick”. For some reason, I had this challenging mood. So, I drank from the pond and I didn’t get sick. I took it as a sign from the Lord. Many years later, while living with my family in Morocco, I went through an emotionally difficult time which prompted me to think again about the purpose of life. I wrote a letter to my mother saying that I would leave home and search for the Absolute Truth. In a magazine, I had read an article that explained that spiritual wisdom is found in India. Thus I went to India, and for two years I walked by foot all over India in search of the truth. Somehow or other, during all this time, I never encountered any danger which is remarkable considering that for a young woman to travel all alone is not at all advisable.
In Sri Lanka, I entered a Buddhist monastery. I arrived there in the middle of the night, and at first, I was told that women were not admitted, but because it was so late at night I was allowed to stay under the condition that I should leave early in the morning. However, in the morning I was told that the head Lama wanted to see me. He asked me what I was doing, and when I told him that I was searching for the truth, he offered me that he could show me the truth, but that I would have to follow his instructions. Besides the main building, there was a smaller one in the park which had been used in the past for nuns. I was allowed to stay in one of the small rooms, and the instruction was to meditate for 18 hours a day. I wasn’t allowed to read, to speak or to work, only meditate. The meditation consisted in observing my thoughts while breathing in and out. After some time, I thought, “Either I will go mad or I will become enlightened.” Consequently, after a week or so, I just left the place without telling anybody and continued my journey throughout India. I visited many holy places, but without proper guidance, I did not find what I was looking for. Therefore, I decided at one point that it was time to go back to Germany. But before leaving India I felt that I should take a kind of souvenir with me, something to remind me of my visit. Because I did not want to take anything heavy, I ripped off the first page of a calendar that was hanging in my room. Later, back in Germany, I hung that picture on the wall of my bedroom.
After my arrival, I went to Berlin and began an intensive study of yoga, exercising for about 12 hours a day, so much so that I later opened my own yoga school. One day, after sitting down for meditation, I felt restless and could not focus my mind. I tried to force myself, with eyes shut, but this did not work either. Suddenly I felt as if the sun was illuminating the whole room. I opened my eyes and saw that I was sitting right in front of the picture that I had brought from India. It was the picture that was shining as if sunrays were emanating from it. I looked at it and wondered, “This is such a beautiful painting, but why did the artist paint the small boy with blue skin, a golden crown, and a flute in his hand?” Whenever I spoke to somebody about my journey to India and my searching for the truth, I always said that I had not found anything, that I had come back with empty hands. The only thing I had brought back was a page from an Indian calendar, and it happened to be Kṛṣṇa who somehow or other had sneaked Himself into my backpack and accompanied me back to Germany. In early 1974, a friend invited me to accompany her to the Hare Kṛṣṇa temple in Berlin. While listening to the Sunday Feast lecture, everything became clear to me. I felt that I finally had the answers to all the questions that I had been asking since I was 8 years old.
HANSADUTTA DĀSA: Karandhara had left his post as BBT Trustee in early 1974 which created a vacancy on the trust. One day, Prabhupāda called for me and he said, “I want to appoint you as a BBT Trustee.” I understood right away that this was a very confidential service, more confidential than any other service because it had to do with the publication and distribution of his books. It was legally separate from ISKCON, and Prabhupāda was personally part of that Trust. I was really astonished that he would ask me. I said, “But Prabhupāda, you have so many disciples who have an M. A., a B. A or even a Ph. D., they are educated, but I have not finished even High School. Why me?” He replied: “Because you, without being asked, published and distributed my books. You understood the importance of my books.” He was referring to my spontaneous initiative to print and distribute Easy Journey to Other Planets in 1967 in Montreal. Then he added, “The devotees may fail, the temples may fail, but my books will live forever.
*** Hansadutta used to consult Śrīla Prabhupāda about all his moves. But his recent streak of success, plus Prabhupāda’s expressions of unreserved satisfaction with him, seemed to make him overconfident. He now made a series of dubious moves on his own. Later, when Prabhupāda received letters from several concerned devotees, he chastised his disciple: Why did you close Edinburgh without asking me? Don’t do anything whimsically without consulting me.
I made the GBC to give me relief, but if you do like this, then where is relief? It is anxiety for me. This is the difficulty: as soon as one gets power, he becomes whimsical and spoils everything.
I am not in favor of closing even a small temple. It is not a plaything to close a temple or to start a temple. When we open a temple, we are inviting Krishna. So you can’t say to Krishna, “Go away.” You have no feeling what are the ideals of a temple.
It is a great offense. Before opening a temple, it must be considered a hundred times, and after opening, it cannot be closed. It must be maintained.
Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote this letter on September 12, 1974. Two weeks later he received a report from Hansadutta, written before he had received Prabhupāda’s letter, giving the reasons for his actions. Prabhupāda replied immediately: Regarding the closing of the temples, no temple can be closed for any reason. You have done a great mistake. I am sending you a copy of a letter I have written in this connection. We have to consider very carefully before opening a center, and once opened, it cannot be closed. It is disastrous. What you have done is not at all allowed. I am very disappointed that you have done this. Even you did not consult me. Why?
Now you want to purchase a farm, but can you manage? Why are you closing all the temples and then opening a farm? Do you have sufficient men to maintain a farm? Why are you purchasing a farm? Three days later Śrīla Prabhupāda received two apologetic letters from Hansadutta. He then instructed his disciple what to do: Regarding Edinburgh temple, yes it should be re-opened. Worship in the temple means to personally call Krishna, and He personally comes, therefore the arrangement must be there for the temple worship to go on nicely before opening any temple. In Vrindaban there are many dilapidated, important temples started by the Gosvamis, but still they are not closed. They are becoming debtor and debtor, and the temple building is practically falling down, but still the Deity worship is going on somehow or other. This is the principle.
In Germany you have to follow the same principle. Once opened it cannot be closed. Somehow or other you have to manage to continue the temple worship. That is the devotional cult. If they are closed and it is impossible to re-open, then what can be done? If there is no Deity, then it doesn’t matter. If possible, re-open the Hamburg temple and transfer the Deity again and worship. A center without a Deity can be closed, but to close a center with a Deity is a great offense. The Deity is not an idol; it is Krishna. We cannot say to Krishna personally, “Now go away.”
But no matter how disappointed Prabhupāda was, he didn’t forget Hansadutta’s valuable service and thanked him for his efforts.
I am glad to hear about the Gita sales and the publishing of the new books. Therefore I have appointed you as BBT Trustee: to publish the German editions of our books as much as possible. I quite appreciate that one main center may remain there and from there the preaching may go on, but no attempt may be made to open a new center without being confident that it will go on. Strictly this principle should be followed.
The book sales are very encouraging, increasing, increasing. It is very good news. Thank you, I want this. Record selling is temporary. Even George Harrison’s record sales do not continue for a long time. But, a book sold becomes a permanent matter for enjoyment. We read the scriptures again and again, and it is still fresh. When there is time, I go on reading my own books.
Śrīla Prabhupāda praised Hansadutta for expressing feelings of unworthiness and surrender in his letter. And he told him he could remain pure and always protected by Kṛṣṇa if he maintained this attitude. He advised him: “Always follow my instructions and my example. This should be your life and soul».
But another issue had raised the concern of many of Hansadutta’s godbrothers. Especially in Germany, but also in England, Hansadutta had a band of followers who regarded him as almost equal to Prabhupāda. Many accepted him as their sole link to Prabhupāda. Whenever they came into his presence, and again when they left, they offered obeisances to him, a sign of respect generally reserved for the spiritual master. They did his bidding without question. Once, at Schloss Rettershof, Hansadutta walked around for days with dark sunglasses just to test the loyalty of the devotees. His confidants reported anyone who questioned his behavior. When Śrīla Prabhupāda received several letters of complaint, he asked Hansadutta to lower his profile: I have heard that there is some worship of yourself by the other devotees. Of course, it is proper to offer obeisances to a Vaisnava, but not in the presence of the spiritual master. After the departure of the spiritual master, it will come to that stage, but now wait.
After again being corrected, Hansadutta wrote Prabhupāda another letter at the beginning of October. He acknowledged that whatever success he had achieved was due to his serving Prabhupāda’s lotus feet, and he promised to go on working to the best of his ability. He had just returned from the Frankfurt Book Fair, where the devotees had presented Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books for the first time.
BHAKTI GAURAVANI GOSWAMI: Just in time for the book fair we printed The Teachings of Lord Caitanya, the first volume of Kṛṣṇa book, and Leben kommt von Leben (Life Comes From Life). Thus at our booth, we had three hardbound books and four paperbacks.
Leben kommt von Leben was special for me, because at the beginning of 1974 when I had first heard the tapes of Prabhupāda’s conversations with the devotee-scientist Svarūpa Dāmodara about the origin of life, I approached Hansadutta and requested him to ask Prabhupāda whether we could publish those talks in a book entitled Life Comes From Life. Germans are generally scientifically minded, and we felt that such a publication would greatly help the preaching. Śrīla Prabhupāda kindly agreed to have his morning walk conversations turned into a book: Yes, by all means you may print my morning walks speaking about “Life comes from Life” into a small book; this argument should be spread, as any intelligent man will be convinced that our discussion is thoroughly scientific and exposes the so called materialistic scientists as rascals. So go on printing and distributing as many books as possible; this is your real work and your personal success.
When Prabhupāda received copies of the new books and the Kṛṣṇa Meditation LP, he expressed to Hansadutta his unreserved enthusiasm: I am in due receipt of your letter dated October 11, 1974, and also the new German books KRISHNA, TLC, and LIFE COMES FROM LIFE, and also the record Krishna Meditation. I thank you very much. It is all very nice. May Krishna bless you with more and more publishing work. I am always thinking of your Frankfurt Schloss center. The songs which I have recorded there I have heard today on the record, and they are very nice, especially the “Prayers to the Six Goswamis.” It has come out very successful on the whole. I hope the German people will like the Bengali tunes. What is the report of how they are selling?
Whenever you call me for coming there, I shall come. Never quit the Frankfurt palace. It is very nicely situated, in an open place. The landlord is a good gentleman, so keep good relations with him and his wife. The report that the newly published books are all selling like mad is very, very encouraging. Now publish more books. Make more translations. You have not yet published Bhagavatam and also Krishna Book, Second Part. Is this translated or not? And what about “Leben kommt von Leben?” Are they also selling? I have never studied science, but I am challenging them. They may take me as crazy, but I am not crazy. I am right.
One year later, while Prabhupāda was visiting Hawaii, accompanied by Hansadutta as his secretary, he referred to this book during a lecture. Suppose a dead child is born. It will not grow. It will not change. So this is very simple thing, that on this living being the matter grows, not from matter living being comes in. So we have written a small pamphlet, and in German language it is already published. People are very gladly accepting, reading this book. What is the name you have given?
Hansadutta: Life Comes From Life.
Prabhupāda: No, German name?
Hansadutta: Leben kommt von Leben.
Prabhupāda: So, na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate. The demonic people, they do not have the truth. Only on false theory, the Darwin's theory... We have commented upon Darwin's theory also in our book, Scientific Basis of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. Dr. Svarūpa Dāmodara Brahmacārī, he has written a small booklet. He has criticized Darwin very strongly, that he is a speculator. A speculator cannot give you truth. That is not possible. BHAKTI GAURAVANI GOSWAMI: To speed up the book production, in 1973 we had added more translators. Nikhilānanda began work on Kṛṣṇa Book and Vaidyanātha on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and The Hare Kṛṣṇa Cookbook. They also prepared articles for the magazine.
Thus, by late autumn 1974, ten or eleven books were in the final stages of production. When Hansadutta reported to his spiritual master that he had just sent more titles to the printer, Prabhupāda was as amazed as he was pleased.
What six books have you given to the printer? This further publication of books means that you go further to Krishna six steps more. Your news of more publishing after seeing the newly published books is very happy news for me. Thank you. Overflood Europe with German books. I think that the German people are the heart of Europe, and your march will be followed by Bhagavan dasa in French language.
So you have a portion of Caitanya-caritamrta almost translated, achah! Thank you. You are pukkha BBT Trustee.
On receiving the German Hare Kṛṣṇa Cookbook, Prabhupāda commented: Das Hare Krishna Kochbuch is very nicely printed, especially the picture of Krishna and His friends eating. It is very glorious. We wish to join His party, but it requires great tapasya. For many, many lives these boys performed tapasya to join His party and eating with Him. I see that you are charging the equivalent of Dollars 4,00. Yes, they must pay. So concentrate on publishing books as far as possible, and sell, and spend the money accordingly. On the whole, I am very much pleased with your publishing extensively in the German language. It has given me great pleasure.
For Hansadutta, the world seemed to be in order again. Prabhupāda was pleased, more and more books were being published, money was pouring in, and the lucrative Christmas season was just around the corner. Soon he would have enough funds to turn his plans for a varṇāśrama community into a reality.
It was in the first week of December that Hansadutta booked a flight to Los Angeles where he would meet with the BBT trustees in North America. As far as book production and distribution were concerned, he was already the undisputed champion in ISKCON. Now he planned to take some of the best German distributors to the US to train the devotees there. His men had become experts over the last year. Every weekend they held classes in which the best techniques were vividly demonstrated by the top distributors. The slogan about feeding children in India—“With five marks, you’re part of it!”—had produced especially smashing results. In fact, too smashing..