Hari Sauri: Mahamsa Swami arrived today to go over the finalization of the Trust document for the Hyderabad farm land. Some six hundred acres, it was offered to ISKCON by Hari Prasad Badruka in 1975, but due to government regulations and legal requirements, the transfer is only now being completed. The Badrukas also want to be Trustee members but have acceded to Prabhupada’s insistence that the majority Trustees be ISKCON members. Prabhupada discussed the Trust status in detail and told Mahamsa that as soon as we are legally in control, he will come there to inaugurate the development program.
Srila Prabhupada was eager to have self-sustained Krishna conscious farm communities. He suggested the devotees invited local farmers to participate in kirtana, prasadam distribution and to engage them to work on the land. They may keep whatever they require for their maintenance, and the excess production may be traded or sold. The idea was not to develop a competitive farming enterprise for making money, but to become independent of artificial city life of working in factories producing nut and bolts.
Reference: A Transcendental Diary Volume 5 – Hari Sauri Dasa
