My dear Nityananda das,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated April 17, 1976, and I have noted the contents with care. You can call your farm, Talavana. Concerning constructing a temple at the farm, it is feasible only if you have sufficient brahmanas to take nice care otherwise no. You have seen our Vrndavana temple, also the temple in Melbourne and Los Angeles. So things must be at this standard in order to have a temple. The standard must be very high. Neatness and cleanliness are the first business of temple worship. I shall see later on whether or not that Krishna Balarama can be installed there. You cannot paint the Deity with paint to make bluish. Don't manufacture ideas. What is standard you must follow. Don't make it a farce.
On your recommendation I am accepting the following devotees for initiation:
Lee Sutton—Kuruksetra das
Ernie Courey—Vidyapati das
Barbara Sutton—Parijata dasi
Padavja das Brahmacari (second initiation)
Hold a yajna and instruct the initiates that they must follow the 4 regulative principles: no intoxication, no meat-eating, no gambling, and no illicit sex-life, and chanting minimum 16 rounds of Hare Krishna Mahamantra daily. The brahmanas must cultivate the brahminical qualities as mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita and in the other literatures. They must keep clean externally by bathing regularly each day, and internally clean by always chanting Hare Krishna. The beads of the first initiates can be chanted on by one of the sannyasis and the thread for brahmana initiation is herein enclosed. After the fire yajna you can play a recording of the gayatri mantra played into the right ear of the brahmana initiate.
I hope that this meets you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/pks