The Bowery — Summary

Beginning with the first meetings at the Bowery loft, more people attend the classes. Śrīla Prabhupāda maintains contact with Dr. Mishra and occasionally visits Ananda Ashram on weekends. Harvey Cohen loans Śrīla Prabhupāda his typewriter, and Paul Murray supplies a tape recorder for the classes. Paul expresses seriousness about becoming a Vaiṣṇava and runs daily errands for Śrīla Prabhupāda. Śrīla Prabhupāda attempts unsuccessfully to get free passage for Paul to go to India on the Scindia shipping line. At the end of April Śrīla Prabhupāda vacates the room on Seventy-second Street. Around the beginning of May, Carl Yeargens, later to be initiated as Karlāpati dāsa, begins attending the meetings and donates a tape recorder. At the request of some students, Śrīla Prabhupāda begins teaching Sanskrit. On May 9 fourteen men and women attend the class.

Śrīla Prabhupāda begins the process of incorporating a society and gives Carl a copy of the Memorandum of Association of the League of Devotees, which he had used years ago in India, so he can consult with a lawyer. Śrīla Prabhupāda discusses with Carl the use of the drug LSD and convinces him that it is unnecessary for spiritual revelation. Śrīla Prabhupāda receives a letter from Mangalniloy Brahmacari in India, who offers to come to America to help in the mission.

On May 25 Śrīla Prabhupāda holds consultations about incorporating the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Some days later, Śrīla Prabhupāda meets with Stephen Goldsmith, a lawyer. This effort continues until July, when the society is registered.

At the end of May Paul's behavior becomes erratic due to intoxication. Śrīla Prabhupāda looks for a new place.

In June the weather becomes very hot and attendance at the classes increases. On June 9 Śrīla Prabhupāda receives the final letter from Sir Padampat Singhania refusing to help with purchasing a temple building. On Sunday June 12, Śrīla Prabhupāda holds the first feast for the members of his fledgling society and cooks twelve different preparations. Sixteen people attend. On June 23 Mike, later to become Mukunda dāsa, asks to become a Vaiṣṇava and tells Śrīla Prabhupāda that he will marry his girlfriend. Later on in September, at Śrīla Prabhupāda's apartment on 26 Second Avenue, Mukunda and Janakī are married in the first wedding ceremony to take place in ISKCON presided over by Śrīla Prabhupāda, although this event is not mentioned by Śrīla Prabhupāda in the journal.