a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1972 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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6 January 2007 Wednesday, 6 January, 1972 Bombay His Holiness Tridandi Goswami B.V. Puri Maharaj, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Maith, Sri Krishna Nagar, Visakhapatnam-2. My dear Sripad Puri Maharaj, Kindly accept my respectful obeisances at your lotus feet. I have received your telegram. The Madras Program appears to be uncertain. I am going to Jaipur to attend a function from the 15th to 23rd. Then I am going to Africa to hold a function there. If you think I must go to Visakhapatan, then I will come back from Africa and go to your place. If so arrange for our reception from Bombay 5th to 12th February, 1972. Yours affectionately, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: Gaudiya Math letters | 08:40 |6 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Govinda dasi, Please accept my blessings and offer the same to your good husband Gaurasundara. How are your Tulasi plants in Hawaii? How are they feeling? I am always thinking of them and you. Please let me know how they are growing and how you are taking care of them. This time when I go to Hawaii I shall sit down in the forest of Tulasi plants and chant Hare Krishna. I hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: tulasi letters | 08:38 |6 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Radhaballabah das, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your first and second copies of your letter dated December 18th, 1971 which were sent to Bombay and Madras respectively. I am very glad to know that you are seriously taking to Srimati Tulasi Devi worship. Tulasi Devi is a pure devotee of Krishna and she should be treated with the same respect given to all Krishna's pure devotees. Simply by worshipping her faithfully, a devotee can get himself free of from all material miseries. In the Nectar of Devotion I have given two verses from the Skanda Purana, one of which is: "Tulasi is auspicious in all respects. Simply by seeing, simply by touching, simply by remembering, simply by praying to, simply by bowing before, simply by hearing about, or simply by sowing the tree, there is always auspiciousness. Anyone who comes in touch with the Tulasi tree in the above mentioned ways lives eternally in the Vaikuntha world." So from this verse we can understand how pure is the service which Tulasi offers to Sri Krishna. So we should always endeavor after becoming servant of Tulasi Devi. I do not know who has taught you that part of a Tulasi plant may be cut off and then replanted? From the Tulasi plant you can cut off only leaves for offering them to Krishna, never for cutting and planting. That is an offense. The manjaris (seeds) can be offered in water and it makes the water fragrant and tasteful. And the manjaris can be planted for growing new Tulasi plants. Yes, the prayer you have enclosed is bona fide. Tulasi Devi never goes back to Godhead, she is always with Godhead. She is a pure devotee and thus she has appeared on this planet to render service to Krishna by being offered in all temples throughout the world by being offered up to the lotus feet of Krishna. Chanting japa should be done early in the morning with full concentration preferably during the Brahma Muhurta time. Concentrate fully on the sound vibration of the mantra, pronouncing each name distinctly and gradually your speed in chanting will increase naturally. Do not worry so much about chanting fast, most important is the hearing. A devotee should always be grave and silent which means that he only discusses topics relating to Krishna Consciousness. Yes, spend your time chanting and reading and taking Krishna Prasadam and automatically your tongue will come under control. If you sincerely engage 24 hours daily in devotional service according to the instructions of the Spiritual Master, chant daily 16 rounds, attend the arati ceremony of Lord Krishna, associate with the devotees and adhere strictly to the regulative principles then Krishna will reveal Himself personally to you. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd letters | 08:38 | 6 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Bhavananda, Please accept my blessings. Just now Syamasundara. has gone to Delhi for some meetings with important government ministers. So presently I cannot send the airline ticket for Aravinda, because Syamasundara. has kept it somewhere. So as soon as he returns which should be within a few days, then the ticket will be immediately sent to Calcutta. I am very anxious for Lord Caitanya's Appearance Day to be celebrated by all of our devotees in Mayapur in February. There is no reason why the government will not let 20 or 25 of our men come there for two weeks. We have got our own land and we must celebrate this occasion as an important part of our religious beliefs. We will go there on the 15th February and by the end of the month we shall all return to Calcutta leaving only six or so men to stay there in Mayapur. So do everything with great determination as I want very much that this occasion shall be observed by all of our members. Write me and tell me what is your progress. I hope this finds you well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. Whether a duplicate of my yellow fever card can be obtained. I will be going to Nairobi by the 24th of January and shall require it again when I return. Acyutananda knows the hospital where it can be obtained. ___ many times for the duplicate sufficient. letters | 08:37 | 6 January, 1972 Bombay [To Hrdayananda] And you must all study very scrutinizingly all of the books so that when the need arises you can repeat in your own words their purport. Also I will be very pleased if you contribute articles to BTG. By writing regularly, what you read will become realized. As much as possible read, chant, and preach. This is our life and soul. If we keep to this simple formula then there is no doubt that we will be victorious wherever we go and very soon we shall become the only religion in the world. [Text missing] Labels: writing letters | 08:35 |5 January 2007 Wednesday, 5 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Ranadhira, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 12-22-71 the original of which you have sent to Madras and has not reached me yet. I can understand there is some disagreement with Hayagriva. From your letter the indication is like that. Under the circumstances, you may go with Kirtanananda Maharaja with his touring party. Your idea for utilizing video tape recording systems to broadcast our activities is very nice. It will be very good if you can convince the television stations to carry our program on a regular basis and this equipment if it can be used for this purpose will be very useful. So discuss this matter with the GBC how it can be practically implemented. So far Bill's letter which was sent to Madras, I have not yet received it. So first let it come. If Kirtanananda Maharaja has recommended their initiation, then when his letter comes I will initiate them. Now that you are going to joining the touring party, Krishna is giving you a nice opportunity to do some preaching. So please be engaged fully in reading and chanting and try to impart Krishna Consciousness to whomever you meet. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd letters | 09:56 | 5 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Niranjana, Please accept my blessings. I thank you for your letter dated 1st January, 1972 and am glad that you have received my letter. The four sinful activities which one must avoid if there is to be any hope for spiritual advancement are the eating of meat, fish and eggs, the use of intoxicants, illicit connection with women, and gambling. So these are the first four sins which I ask all of my students to strictly avoid committing. Practically the entire population of the world is entrapped by these four sinful activities. In our Krishna Consciousness Society we are training our students up to the standard of brahminical culture. So the great respect we are getting here in India and throughout the rest of the world is due to these restrictions. Actually our students have surpassed the category of brahmana because they are Vaisnavas which means they are transcendental to any material position, and brahmana is a material order of life, part of the Varna Ashrama system. Many times I have been told by other so-called holy men that I should not expect that foreigners will be able to avoid these sinful activities. But I have never compromised in any way and as a result of our sticking strictly to our principles our position is unique. So I hope that very soon you will be coming to Bombay to receive your second initiation. I will be going to Jaipur from the 12th to the 23rd January. I hope this finds you well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: purity, regulative principles letters | 09:54 |5 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Sudama, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your recent air-letter, part II, which has been redirected to me from Madras. I have not yet received the first part to your letter so I am replying anyway so that you may not be too anxious. I thank you for being so sincere in helping me to spread this great mission of Krishna Consciousness. You have always served me very faithfully, so I pray that Krishna may bless you with a long life with which to open many temples and that in this very lifetime you may return back to home, back to Godhead. I am planning to leave India just after the appearance day of Lord Caitanya, in the beginning of March. First I shall go to Hong Kong for a few days, and from there I will go to Australia and perhaps New Zealand. Three devotees are leaving here shortly to open a center in New Zealand. So after that, say by the end of April, I will come to Japan. It would be very nice if you can organize a pandal program as they have organized here in India. There are so many people in Tokyo, that a pandal program will attract thousands of Japanese people. So if you can organize such a program that will be very excellent. Perhaps the Indian community would be able to help you. Try and arrange as many engagements as possible at places like universities where English is understood. I am very glad that you are all attending Japanese school full time. That is most important now. The Japanese people will make very excellent devotees, once you can explain to them our philosophy in their own language. I have seen the last time I was in Japan that the people have great respect still for spiritual persons. And the people are very intelligent. If you remain patient and determined, then it will not be too long before we start to have real success in Tokyo. Now learn the language, that is of first importance. We have received the 50 sets of tapes you have sent and are recording on them daily. I have written Bhanu instructing him to go immediately to Japan, so very soon he will be coming. Is it true that Karatieya Swami has returned to Japan? I hope this meets you all in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: Australasia, Japan letters | 09:54 |5 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Gargamuni Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 1-3 January, 1972? Regarding the Agra house, I thought it was nice and I therefore requested you to go and see it. But from your report that house appears useless. So we can stop the idea of purchasing a house in Agra. So immediately get land in Vrindaban and make a nice Temple. I will be going to Jaipur for our program which begins the 15th January and lasts through the 23rd January. So when I am there you may both come for two or three days. So far the Radha Damodara Temple, they have occupied the verandah illegally. So we must have the entrance to the verandah. So I am trying to take some action in this matter and the result I shall let you know in a few days. So far Gauracand Goswami, don't bother him. Simply go and come and see that no interruption on my rooms is made. Very soon we shall take steps against Madan Mohan Goswami who has usurped my verandah and entrance. Most likely you will have to fight a case against him with the District Magistrate of Mathura. I hope this meets you both well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd N.B. I have received one letter from the __ Ksirodakasayi Prabhu, agreeing to give __ ACB Labels: land, legal, Vrindavan letters | 09:53 |5 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Jagadisa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 20th, 1971. The reports of your activities are most encouraging. From all over the Society, I am getting similar reports. People are very eager for Krishna consciousness. Especially the youth of the world are taking very serious interest, because they are not at all satisfied with the standards of happiness their parents have accepted. Neither their teachers, parents, nor anyone can offer them the solution to what this human form of life is meant for. So we have got a great responsibility to distribute this knowledge of Bhagavata Dharma to the whole world. If we remain very sincere and pure in following the line laid down by the previous great acaryas, this Krishna Consciousness Movement will undoubtedly be accepted throughout the world as the only religion. This has already been foretold in one newspaper here by a Japanese philosopher who has predicted that our Krishna Consciousness Movement will become the world religion by 1981. You should always think of new outlets for distributing my books. The book distribution totals you have shown for Toronto Temple are very encouraging, so continue to improve and increase on the distribution. Krishna Consciousness has got scope to be preached everywhere. Just now two boys are leaving to go to Red China and three other students are leaving for New Zealand to open a center there. Brahmananda is doing very well in Africa and most likely Rsi Kumar will join him and be deputed to open a center in South Africa. So we have got a great mission, we should be very vigilant that the strong foundation remain solid. Encourage all the boys and girls to adhere to the regulative principles and chant daily at least sixteen rounds. And as much as possible all of my students should become very well versed in all the philosophy presented in our books. Please offer my blessings to all of my beloved disciples at ISKCON Toronto. I hope this finds you all well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: Australasia, prediction letters | 09:52 |5 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Satsvarupa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 27, 1971 and I have read its contents carefully. As you say there are some serious delays in the negotiations for purchasing the large buildings, I think you must immediately return the $15,000 loan to Karandhara and the $8,000 loan from San Diego. I believe there was some agreement on your part that the money should be repaid within six months, so nearly four or five months have already passed. You first fix up the contract definitely and when everything is settled beyond any doubt, then you should think of again getting the money. In the meantime, your school at Turtlecreek Boulevard can continue functioning. I have been getting good reports that you are all serious to develop this program, so I am sure that Krishna will bless you with the desired building. Good things do not come so easily; you know the difficulties that I encountered in my first year in your country. Sometimes I did not even know where I was to live, neither when I came did I have any friends. But I was always determined that somehow I would do everything possible to fulfill the desire of my Guru Maharaja, and despite all difficulties I always remained enthusiastic. So do not diminish your program in any way now. Continue the school project enthusiastically and expect Krishna's mercy at all times. Everything will come out alright. Regarding the land called New Naimisaranya, unless the land is signed over to us with proper documents, we should not invest any money in it. As you think best some of our devotees may stay there and even keep cows if this is feasible, but there should not be any money invested from our side until we are the legal owners. I have seen the All-India BTG issue No. 43 only in its dummy form, so I eagerly am awaiting the final copy. I received one letter from Hayagriva in which he says he is not getting any material for editing. Is there some some reason for this? I hope this meets you in the best of health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: bhaktisiddhanta, building, land letters | 09:50 |5 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Jayapataka Maharaja, Please accept my blessings, I beg to thank you for your letter dated 1st January, 1971. I am very encouraged by your enthusiasm for preaching. Your proposal to go for preaching to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ceylon, and China is very good. So immediately arrange for your Canadian citizenship, if it will give you more facility to preach widely. You are Sannyasi so preach in this ways and become parivrajakacarya. It may be that very soon I will ask you and Tamala to go to Bangladesh for preaching. They must be preached that this thinking "I am Hindu" or "I am Mohammedan" is not any solution. We want unification of Hindu and Muslim. unification of all faiths and peoples and the method is being done by our Krishna Consciousness Movement. The intelligentsia and leaders of Bangladesh must be preached to, and informed of the activities of our Society. Kirtana will soften their hearts. So this proposal of yours for preaching is very good. Please take quotation for the printing of a Bengali book--page 5" x 3 1/2", with very nice paper and softbound, about 100 pages long. When I receive the quotation I will send you a Bengali poem that I have written on the Bhagavad-gita called Gitargan. All of the pamphlets and small books which you mention you would like to print you may go ahead and do so. Try to collect cent percent of the funds needed for printing, but I will pay up to 50% of the printing costs. So print these books immediately. Send me quotations and descriptions of what you want to print. I am prepared to pay you up to 50% from the Book Fund. I am very anxious to know whether we are going to have our Mayapur function. I want very much to hold this function this year with all of my students, and I ask you to kindly serve me by making this possible. It is a very important day and it will be a great service to Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura and to His son Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. So please arrange for this program. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. Tamala has gotten one letter from Birharilal that there are four mrdangas and twelve pairs of karatalas ready for shipment to Madras. We are going to hold a very large function in Jaipur and are leaving Bombay for Jaipur by the 12th instant. So I think these instruments will be required for this program. So please immediately dispatch this shipment to Bombay so that we may take the instruments with us to Jaipur. PPS The Rs. 3200/- requested for the purchase of the two bighas of land in Mayapur has been sent by wire to your American Express Banking Corporation account no. 090031 in calcutta. Please acknowledge receiving it. ACB Bhanu must return to Japan immediately. He is needed there very much. Please allow him to go there. Labels: India, printing, sannyasa letters | 07:59 |4 January 2007 Tuesday, 4 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Spiritual children Vamanadeva and Indira dasi, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 17th, 1971. I am very glad to hear that our Krishna Consciousness Movement is meeting with good success already in Oklahoma City. That is predicted by Lord Caitanya, that in every town and village Hare Nama Sankirtana will be well received. It is now an established fact that wherever we go, we will be well received. People are appreciating how pure are our devotees that they are able to abide by the regulative restrictions. Even in your country where sinful activities are the common practice, never the less people are respecting the fact that we are able to follow these principles, while they themselves cannot. So stick very strictly to these principles and chant regularly daily sixteen rounds and you will always remain the topmost position. Have nice Deity program, always have lots of Kirtana, serve ample Prasadam very sumptuously and speak something from my books. If this is done in every center our movement will very soon become the world religion as has now been predicted by one prominent Japanese philosopher in a newspaper here. I have been very encouraged by reports of how the books are being sold so how is the book distribution going on in Oklahoma City? Actually, we have opened our centers to facilitate the spreading of our literatures to as many people as possible, so please give emphasis to this program and try and introduce my books into all the schools, colleges, libraries, and bookstores. Just now Karandhara has gone to Japan to negotiate for the printing of so many books including softback Krsna Book. Bhagavad-gita will also be out soon. So let us try and see that everyone we meet must go away with at least some Krishna Conscious literature and our movement will spread very quickly. I hope this meets you both very well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: prediction, purity letters | 08:54 |4 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Krsna Bhamini devi dasi, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your letter dated December 11th, 1971. I always receive your letters with great pleasure. I am glad that you are appreciating so much this Krishna Consciousness Movement. Lord Krishna extends His mercy to all living entities, but He is particularly attentive to the needs of His devotees. You are blessed with an advanced devotee husband, you have now two nice devotee children, and by Krishna's grace you have taken a genuine Spiritual Master. So you are the most fortunate of women because you have been given every opportunity to attain the highest goal Krishna consciousness in this very lifetime. I offer my blessings to your new child Manjari devi dasi. Have a feast, perform fire yajna, and Bhagavan may offer her a garland and announce "Our Spiritual Master has given her this nice name." So now your first duty should be to see your children develop nicely. There is no doubt they are advanced souls, so simply being in the association of their parents and other devotees they will very quickly make advancement. I am glad to know that you are continuing on work on the children's version of Isopanisad. We will require such books for use in our Dallas, Texas school. Please do this work very thoughtfully; Krishna will give you good direction in how to do it. I have seen today the slides of the paintings from our Bhagavad-gita. Many of them are super-excellent. If we introduce these books in all the bookstores, schools, colleges, libraries and everyone's home our religion will be the only religion in the world very soon. This prediction has been made publicly here in one newspaper, by a Japanese philosopher, that within ten years Krishna Consciousness will be the world religion. If you all keep preaching in such a pure way this will undoubtedly prove true. So as the wife of a GBC member you have got the responsibility to help your husband to maintain the highest standard of Krishna Consciousness both in yourselves and in all the other devotees in the Temple. Please offer my blessings to Bhagavan das and to your nice son and daughter and to all my beloved disciples in the Detroit ISKCON. I hope this will meet you all very well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: children, husband, wife letters | 08:53 |4 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Ajita, Please accept my blessing. I am in due receipt of your letter from Sydney dated December 24, 1971. I am very, very happy to note that you want to go back to your native place of Sweden, along with your good wife and some other Swedish boys, devotees, from Germany and other places, for opening our center there. That is a very good proposal. I think Krsna das tried to start something before in Stockholm, but he could not do anything. His wife is Swedish girl, and she has got two sisters who are also our disciples in London, so you may correspond with them whether they can assist you in some way. I think Vegavan is there also in Australia, he is also Swedish boy, whether he can assist you as well? If you go there through India, overland, of course that will be cheaper for you, but it will also be a very, very difficult journey with many unfortunate or disturbing incidents. There may be chance for becoming sick also, or you may be sometimes robbed or cheated, like that. It will not be very pleasant thing. I think once before Hamsaduta and Himavati had gone to Europe from India that way, and they were telling me how much difficulty they had. Besides that, you will be taking so much time, I think at least one month, so why not utilize the time better for preaching work? So you are both young and adventurous, that I can appreciate, and you have got the energy for it, and you may go there in that way, I have no objection, but if you collect money in Australia, that is a rich country, I think there must be some charter flights or cheap airline flights from Australia to London, why not go to Europe the easy way and save time? Anyway I am coming to Australia by 1st of February, so we may discuss it further when I shall come there. Or if you have got plans for immediately going to Sweden, then you may go, I shall be very happy if you will open one center there on behalf of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Thank you for desiring to help me in this way. Hoping this finds you in good health., Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 08:53 | 4 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Hanuman and Amogha, Please accept my blessings. I have only just now received your letter dated October 19th, 1971, which was forwarded to me from Calcutta. You are the real representatives of Lord Caitanya. Without caring for any stable home, without any thought of personal gain, you are travelling distributing Krishna Consciousness everywhere you go. I am very grateful to you both for assisting me so energetically. And I pray to Krishna that you both live for at least 100 years so that you may spread Krishna consciousness to the full extent. I have read the translation of the pamphlet published for distribution in Djakarta. It is very nicely done. And I have also appreciated the photos showing you distributing Prasadam and performing Kirtana. Southeast Asia is a very good field for our activities, so you should continue vigorously in the same way you have been. So far your request for a couple to come and teach school in Djakarta, from here in India there are no available men as we have got the very big tasks of developing Mayapur and Vrindaban. Best thing will be that you write to Bali Mardan in New York and ask him that he should arrange for a mature householder couple to come from the U.S. Since the principal is offering kindly this chance to us, we must take it, so please inform Bali Mardan that someone should go. In the meantime, I am sending three devotees to open a temple in New Zealand, and I have instructed them to go by way of Malaysia and Indonesia and that they should preach along the way. So if you have fixed up your program you can inform Tusta Krishna Prabhu here in Bombay and it may be that you can meet each other and preach together, in Indonesia or Malaysia while they are on their way to New Zealand. I expect to be going to Hong Kong by the first week of March, and from there to Australia and perhaps New Zealand. Then I will go to Tokyo, Hawaii and return to the U.S. Now I will be staying in Bombay for this month, so you may send the daksina to me here. I will post the beads and new spiritual name for Mark Coira, in a few days. Again I thank you both for helping to spread this Krishna Consciousness Movement. May Krishna bless you. I hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: Australasia, preachers letters | 08:52 |4 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Giriraja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 31st, 1971. From your letter it appears that you are doing nicely distributing books and if you say that with help you could make at least one life member daily, then why not continue on in Madras for a month as you suggest or until there is no more field. But now we have received a telegram from you saying you are going to Calcutta. Now that two men have gone to join you and books have just been sent today what is the need to leave so soon? It is not good that every time there is need of a collector that you are the only one who can go. The best thing will be that you remain in Madras as long as there is a good field for distributing books and making members. When the field is dry then you can go to Calcutta. So I have sent you a telegram reading: "Your letter December 31. If Madras business is going on nicely disregard Tamalas telegram Remain Madras Letter follows." I hope this meets you well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: India, life members letters | 08:51 |4 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Bhavananda, Please accept my blessings. I hope that Mayapur festival preparations are going on and I am awaiting news from you. Just now Tamala has received one telegram from you reading: "Plans underway Mayapur pandal Absolutely imperative Giriraja return immediately Calcutta for collecting." In Madras Giriraja reports that there is good field. He is expecting to make at least one life member daily and distribute many books to bookstores. Two men have already joined him from Delhi. So as long as there is good field he should remain there. Thereafter he may return to Calcutta. Here in Bombay there is a big program planned for the 10th January for which they are selling tickets for admission, and again on the 22nd January the premier showing of the movie "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" has been donated to us. So both are good opportunities to raise funds. In between these two functions I am most likely going to Jaipur for a seven day pandal program. So I shall be pleased to hear from you how things are progressing with Mayapur program. Hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: India, life members letters | 08:49 |3 January 2007 Monday, 3 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Giriraja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 30th, 1971. I am not surprised that Mr. Rathanam Iyer has decided to cancel the program you were planning. I was not eager to accept his proposal in the beginning because it has been our experience that it is never good to have to depend upon others for our preaching. I am sorry that now that it has been advertised in the newspapers that I am coming to Madras, if I do not come our prestige may suffer. Anyway what is done is done. The fact is that I am the only one in India who is openly criticizing, not only demigod worship and impersonalism, but everything that falls short of complete surrender to Krishna. My Guru Maharaja never compromised in His preaching, nor will I nor should any of my students. We are firmly convinced that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all other are His part and parcel servants. This we must declare boldly to the whole world, that they should not foolishly dream of world peace unless they are prepared to surrender fully to Krishna as Supreme Lord. I have read the text of your speech delivered to the Rotary Club and it is very thoughtfully prepared. Try to arrange as many speaking engagements like that, and simply repeat what you have heard me say in lectures and in our books, and the spiritual effect will be very potent. I am very pleased with your preaching attitude. Now you can finish up making members and distributing the books you have and then you can come and join here in Bombay. On about the 11th of this month we will be going to Jaipur most likely. Srimate and Kausalya devi are trying to arrange a five day pandal there. They are preaching very nicely also, making engagements and potential members. So if we go there there will be a good field or making many life members. As you have asked, the books are being dispatched to you today and Tamala informs me that Dinanath and Pancajanya have gone to Madras to assist you. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami N.B. It may be that the Governor of Madras will invite me as his guest. If this happens I will come to Madras. So far the time being you may remain in Madras making members, and by my next letter I shall let you know definitely whether I am coming. If I come you can arrange lectures in all the prominent halls and all over the city you can advertise "A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada speaks." A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: bhaktisiddhanta, life members letters | 08:47 |3 January, 1972 Bombay Sri Visvanatha Das Chief Minister of Orissa, Bhubaneswar Personal My dear Visvanatha Babu, Kindly accept my greetings. Since I met you last at Radha Damodara Temple Vrindaban sometimes in 1963-64, I left India for preaching the message of Lord Caitanya abroad in U.S.A., I could not meet you but always think of you how much you love to hear Sankirtana. At present I have established 70 centers all over the world and if by chance you go to Europe, America, Australia, Canada, Japan, Africa, etc. where I have got many thousands of disciples in all those continents. I invite you to visit my temples, a list of which is enclosed herewith. I have five branches in India also; and in Bombay at present I am staying at my above temple. You will be glad to know that I am introducing Rathayatra and other important Vaisnava festivals in Europe and America and probably it is known to you that in San Francisco, California and in London we are having the festivals in grand scale for the last five years continually. Every year the local people are taking more and more interest and I am enclosing herewith a pamphlet in this connection which I hope you will read with interest. At present I am here in India till the time of Lord Caitanya's birthday and then I shall again return to the United States or a South East Asian countries. If you so desire I can go to Bhubaneswar for holding Sankirtana festivals along with my foreign students maximum for ten days continually as we have already held in other large cities like Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi, Allahabad, etc. We last held this festival in Delhi in Connaught Place from 12th November to 21st November and it was very, very successful as you may know it from the newspapers. Recently I had been in Vrindaban and the whole Vrindaban city appreciated my service in the foreign countries. Both the Municipality Chairman officially as well as the Vrajavasi public gave me address of welcome in great meetings. But I had some difficulty in staying in my rooms at Radha Damodara Temple. They want me to go away and are now picking up some quarrel with me to get me out of my possession. A copy of a registered letter from one of the Sevaits Madan Mohan Goswami is enclosed and he has already taken possession in my absence of the verandah of my entrance door. You know very well and all residents of Vrindaban know it that my residence is there at Radha Damodara Temple but they are now trying to get me out, although I am paying the rent regularly and there is some advance payment also. Will you kindly ask the local District Magistrate to give me protection in this connection? When you visited two or three times Radha Damodara Temple as Governor of U.P. at my request, at that time Mr. Tewary was the District Magistrate but I don't know if he is still there. Anyway kindly help me in this connection and oblige. Copy of the recent letter received from Madan Mohan Goswami is enclosed herewith. Hope this will meet you in good health and awaiting your early reply and thanking you in anticipation. Yours faithfully, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: festivals, India, legal letters | 08:46 |3 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Ksirodakasayi, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 1st January, 1972. The program for publishing as you have outlined is very nice with a few corrections. We do not need to publish in English either BTG or books, since these we will import from either Dai Nippon or ISKCON Press. But if you can arrange for Hindi and Bengali BTG and Hindi books as you suggest, that will be excellent. The idea is that by the profit out of BTG and Book Sales if you can maintain the establishment and meet the expenses, then I have no objection. From Book sales at least 50% of the face value of the book has to go to the book fund. And from the sales of the BTG at least one rupee per magazine should be paid to the book fund. So whatever remains after this can be utilized by you to do the publishing. But I cannot pay you Rs. 1000/- per month from here, that is not possible. So somehow arrange for the publishing of all our literatures. I have got full faith in you, I know you are sincere and a hard worker, so I have got confidence in you to do this. Ramananda is our Hindi editor, one man here, Mr. Chakravorty, I am training in Bengali translation and he may be the Bengali editor, you are in charge of publication, and Rohininandan and Sunil can assist in the Hindi and Bengali work respectively. So with full faith in Krishna and Spiritual Master, push on this work with full force. We have got a great mission to fulfill, and these books and magazines are the torchbearers of Truth which can save the world. If you can find a suitable place, then I have no objection to Rohininandan coming to assist you. The Delhi municipality has promised to give us land, so why they are not giving? Secure the land in Delhi which the municipality has promised and you immediately save the Rs. 500/- from rent. And from the Building Fund we can immediately construct a building also. Somehow or other secure the land and in the beginning pitch camp and then later on we can build. I hope this meets you in the best of health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: India, land, publishing, translating letters | 08:43 |2 January 2007 Sunday, 2 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Von Paul Reed, Please accept my blessings. I thank you for your letter dated 15th December, 1971. I am very pleased that you and your family have decided to join our Krishna consciousness movement seriously, and I thank you also for the daksina you have sent. Your proposal for establishing a Krishna Consciousness community on the land which you have is very good. Whenever we get some land available we should take the opportunity to develop it into an ideal community as envisioned for New Vrindaban. We can have a great many such communities all over the world so that people everywhere can see how by leading a pure and simple life of Krishna consciousness, all one's needs in life can be satisfied. Actually, the so-called civilization of the Kali yuga with its over industrialization, has not been able to give to man the happiness he is seeking. So as you say that your land is very suitable for cow protection and for Tulsi to grow, then Krishna is giving you the opportunity to develop this program. Protect some cows, grow crops, and if possible provide fresh milk and butter for the Temples near by. And the rest of the time chant Hare Krishna and read my books. In this way you can live very peacefully without any disturbances from anyone. Please offer my blessings to your good wife and son and to the other devotees at ISKCON Seattle. I hope this meets you in the best of health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. Sometimes it so happens that we have to suffer for our past sinful activities. But because we have taken to Krishna Consciousness and serving Krishna, we should know that any suffering we have to bear have been far reduced by the mercy of the Lord. Suffering must be there so long as we are conditioned in this material world, but for the devotees the suffering is minimized compared to that of the nondevotees. We have to tolerate any difficulties which come up, and somehow go on with our chanting, reading and routine work. ACBS:tkd Labels: ideal community, Kali yuga letters | 08:43 |2 January, 1972 Bombay My dear Kirtiraja dasa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 23, 1971. Regarding the list of my Godbrothers, you do not any longer need to send them issues of BTG or other books. That we will do from here in India. Similarly whenever you get requests for BTG subscriptions or other literature, you can forward these requests to Bombay ISKCON to the Secretary and he will deal with the requests. You do not need to approach Gaudiya Math for films or photos of my Guru Maharaja. I do not think they have such films. Whatever photos we now have already of Guru Maharaja can be used. Neither is it necessary to send the Indian life members circulars, since this will be very costly and they are not very much interested in our circulars. I thank you very much for taking so seriously to helping me fulfill the order of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati to distribute Krishna consciousness literature to the whole world masses. What strength our Movement has now got is due in large part to the enthusiasm we have had to distribute our literatures profusely throughout the world. I have got very, very encouraging reports how my books are being distributed vigorously in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Our New York Temple has got the most devotees so rightfully, they should also lead our Society in book distribution. You have got a very important duty to see that all the branches are kept with a full stock of all my books. And I know that we are getting many mail-orders daily, so you must see that these orders are all filled promptly. If we take the public's money, and then delay too long in filling the orders, this will give us a bad reputation. So be very conscientious and hard-working and Krishna will give you the ability to do everything nicely. There is no difference between chanting Hare Krishna or Sankirtana and doing one's assigned work in Krishna Consciousness. Sometimes we have to do so much managerial or office work, but Lord Caitanya promises us that because in the Kali yuga this is required for carrying on our preaching mission. He gives assurance that we will not become entangled by such work. When the work has to be done, do it first, then chant. But you must fulfill at least 16 rounds daily. So if necessary sleep less but you have to finish your minimum number of rounds. Regarding Mr. Kallman, the matter is very simple. If he says he will do whatever I ask, then let him give us the rights. Then only shall I understand that he has got some feelings for me. We cannot pay him any money. The difference between competition and Maya. Here, competition is for sense gratification. How much I can enjoy, my sense, and the other person sees how much he can enjoy his senses. In the spiritual world the competition is how to satisfy Krishna. There the center is one. If you draw innumerable circles they will not overlap. But here the circles will overlap. Even a small circle can overlap a large circle. This is because in the material world there are many centers, whereas in the spiritual world there is only one center. In the spiritual world whether the circles are big or small they will never overlap. In the spiritual world similarly, whatever or whoever is rendering the service, there is never competition of maliciousness. I hope this finds you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd Labels: bhaktisiddhanta, Gaudiya Math, spiritual world letters | 08:42 |2 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Bali Mardan, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 28th, 1971. I think I have received all of your letters as all of the mail is always forwarded to me. Sometimes there is a delay when the mail is redirected due to the slowness of Indian postal system, so if you are awaiting reply to any of your previous letters, when they reach me I shall reply all the important points. Yes, I have very much appreciated the new covers to Easy Journey and Topmost Yoga. As much as possible go on reprinting all the books and distributing them profusely. Your idea for issuing a series of Transcendental Teachings is good. We want to flood the market with Krishna consciousness publications. Here in Bombay I have resumed my translating of Bhagavatam. Every day I am translating and Syamasundara is transcribing them from the dictaphone tapes. But the best place where I can do my translation work is in Los Angeles and New York. If in both places there is facility that as soon as I translate, the matter can be composed and if ISKCON PRESS can actually run efficiently so that they can print Bhagavatam chapter by chapter as it is composed, then this arrangement will be very favorable. Try and arrange for this. It will be a great credit to you if you can organize everything so nicely that my Bhagavatam can be published very regularly chapter by chapter. Yes, Pradyumna must work quickly enough so that there is no lag from his side. The best thing is that he trains up someone as an assistant, and then the work will move very smoothly. Syamasundara is taping all my lectures, but I think it will be too costly to send them by post. He will bring them to the U.S. when I return and then they can all be handed over to you for transcribing. I have been receiving very good and encouraging reports from Upananda Prabhu and Mohanananda Prabhu, so I will certainly visit Australia on my return to U.S. I expect to be leaving for Hong Kong by the beginning of March. In the second half of February all of us in India will go to Mayapur for Lord Caitanya's Appearance Day and we will lay down the Cornerstone. Then I will leave for Hong Kong, Australia, Tokyo, Hawaii, and then Los Angeles. Now we are sending two devotees, Sudama Vipra Maharaja and his assistant, to Red China and they are leaving within a few days. Also Rsi Kumar will be joining Brahmananda Maharaja and will most likely be deputed to preach in South Africa. So everywhere there is a great chance to give this Krishna consciousness movement a great push, and if we do everything very carefully there is no reason why we cannot save the world. Now do everything within your ability to develop ISKCON press into a very strong tool for spreading our preaching. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: India, publishing, translating letters | 08:41 |2 January, 1972 Bombay [To Yajnesvara] Regarding your questions, your first question was should the devotee always speak the truth to everyone in all circumstances? The answer is yes, one should always speak the truth, but qualified devotee will be able to speak the truth always very palatable to everyone so that it will sound pleasing even to his enemy, that is the art of speaking truth. It is certainly so that we must speak the truth to all people, but how you say it that is another thing: satyam bruyat, priyam briya. When you become yourself little more experienced in Krishna Consciousness by preaching work and if you are sincere and serious to make progress in spiritual understanding, you need not have to worry yourself further because the truth will always be spoken by you in the proper manner. Krishna will give you that intelligence, you need not be concerned for it. Simply try to please Him always by your sincere service and chanting, that's all. Of course, for doing business with businessmen you have to lie business. Just like Krishna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sometimes He also had to also fabricate something in emergency situations. Although He made promise not to interfere in the Battle of Kuruksetra, He was forced to break His promise just to save His pure devotee. So there is no prohibition one shall never tell lie, because for business of carrying our propaganda work sometimes it may be necessary. Krishna Consciousness means practical living, not something utopian or idealistic and vague. We simply do the needful, whatever pleases Krishna most, that's all. Gradually you will understand what it means to please Krishna and what it means to displease Krishna. That you will learn by studying our books and by yourself engaging in practical devotional service. In the material dealings there is always there is always something undesirable, but even so you cannot give up your occupation. Just like fire is very pure, still there is some smoke. You cannot avoid it. All these things can be rectified when the result is offered to Krishna. Otherwise even though you may do very honest business it has no utility whatsoever. Your question if a devotee has no appreciation for God but he has little appreciation for pure devotee, than what kind of devotee is this? If he has appreciation for pure devotee, than he must have appreciation for God. It is just like "Love me, love my dog." If he simply loves the dog and not the master, then what kind of love is that? I have remarked that in your country when friends met, one friend has one dog beside him, the other friend always bends down to pat the dog first, then he is very much appreciated by the dog's master and the friendly discussions can begin. It is something like that. Your next question was regarding the neophyte devotee who is unable to comprehend even the existence of God, how he shall ever become lover of God? Therefore he has to be engaged in deity worship, and gradually you will have that sense. It is obligatory for the neophyte devotees to be engaged in deity worship. Even if he has no love of God, by following the regulative principles and worshiping the deity he will awaken that dormant love, and if you have got some faith in your spiritual master, by engaging in serving your spiritual master you will also come to the point of love of God: yasya prasadad bhagavata-prasadao yasya prasadanna-gatih kuto 'pi dhyayam stuvams tasya yasas trisandhyam vande guroh sri caranaravindam If one has appreciation for the spiritual master then he must follow the instructions of the spiritual master, and that means he is supposed to worship the deity in a certain way, like that. It is not possible to love the spiritual master without loving God. Your next question was about the free will, whether we have it or not? If one is not intelligent enough for making for making decisions, then all decisions shall be sanctioned by the spiritual master. Neophyte means no independent decisions, no free will, that means surrender. But when he is trained up then automatically he gets his freedom. Just like a small child can only eat such things which are sanctioned by his parents, not by his own discretion. Free will is that when the controller says do this, you can use your free will to do it or not to do it. You have got the power to not do: iti te jnanam akhyatam guhyad guhyataram maya vimrsyaited asesena yathecchasi tatha kuru "Thus I have explained to you the most confidential of all knowledge. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do." (Bg. 18.65) Krishna asks, "Have you decided to fight?" "Yes, I have decided to follow Your order." This is free will. You will find mentioned in many Vedic scriptures that maha-mantra is especially recommended for understanding God in this age of Kali Yuga, such as Agni Purana, Kali-Santaram Upanisad, Brhan Naradiya Puranam, and many others. Haridasa Thakura chanted 3 lakhs of names each day, that means 16 names in the mantra, 108 x16 or 1,728 names in each round of mala, dividing 300,000 by 1,728 comes to roundabout 175 rounds on beads daily. And for us it is even difficult to chant 16 rounds! That is why Haridasa Thakura is namacarya. We find in Caitanya Caritamrta information that both Lord Caitanya and Haridasa Thakura were constantly absorbed in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. [PAGE MISSING] letters | 08:40 | 1 January 2007 Saturday, 1 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Sucandra, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter undated. Krishna has been very kind to you that as soon as you have gone to Munich to open a new center, He has helped you with a very suitable accommodation. Now develop everything very nicely there and build a fine, strong Krishna Consciousness center. Be very enthusiastic and determined to teach everyone the message of Lord Caitanya. We must follow strictly the four regulative principles and always chant at least 16 rounds daily and this will keep us pure. Lord Caitanya wants that this movement be spread to every nook and corner of the earth, so we require so many hundreds of thousands of sincere young men like yourself to take it up. I wish that it will be noted down in history that this Krishna Consciousness Movement is responsible for saving the world. Practically, our Movement is the only hope for saving the world from complete disaster. So you have got all good opportunity now, do everything very nicely. Krishna will soon bless you with a nice child and as soon as it is born you may inform me and I will be pleased to give it a name. Please offer my blessings to your good wife Bhusakti and to the other devotees in Munich. I hope you are all well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:tkd letters | 08:37 | 1 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Kesava das, Please accept my blessings. I have received your two letters, one dated December 15, 1971 and the other without date, requesting initiation and sacred threads for many boys. So as you have recommended them I will be sending their new names, beads, and threads in a few days. I have been receiving so many reports about how my disciples of the San Francisco Temple cannot be surpassed by anyone in distributing my books. Sometimes they are selling as many as 70 Krishna Books daily. So if this is true then certainly when I return to the U.S. I must come and stay in your Temple. By distributing my books profusely you are giving me great encouragement to translate. And you are all helping me to fulfill the order which Guru Maharaja gave me. So I am so much grateful to you, and I am sure Krishna will bless you a million times over, for doing this work. I hope that you and all my beloved disciples in San Francisco Temple are in strong health and jolly mood. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. My itinerary is tentatively that by the 12th January I am going to Jaipur for a five day festival, then I will return to Bombay and leave for Nairobi by the 25th January. Then I have to return to India to go to Mayapur for the celebration of Lord Caitanya's Appearance Day. From there I am planning to go to Hong Kong, Sydney, Tokyo, Hawaii, and then return to the U.S. ACBS:tkd Labels: book distribution, itinerary letters | 08:36 |1 January, 1972 Bombay My Dear Gargamuni Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I thank you for your letter dated 28th December, 1971 and have read it carefully. Yes, take the Doc Bungalow property. As soon as you get it we will begin construction immediately. We should prefer to construct our institution by Mayor's gift land. So work very fervently to get it. I think you are very expert. But if you need someone to help you I can send someone. But I think you are very strong. We can take Radha Damodara as hopeless, but the two rooms should be maintained as my right. For the time being make Vrindaban your headquarters. Maintain Radha Damodara Temple two rooms and verandah. Don't fight with Gauracandra.* Offer respects to Radha Damodara. Every day go and see that my rooms are kept nicely. We require Radha Damodara and Brahma Kunda rooms, because if we do something gorgeous some of our men must live there and oversee the work. Whatever letter you send I immediately reply. But whether you have received my telegram and letter telling you to go to Agra. We have received one letter from Cox and Kings who are very big tourist guides and they have asked that they would like our Society to help them in meeting the increasing demand of tourists to India who come to India for spiritual and religious reasons. So Agra is a very big tourist center. There is one man Mr. Bansal, you may remember that he came to Delhi and Vrindaban trying to arrange for a pandal program in Agra. He has one house in mind which he says will be very suitable for our needs. So I want you to go to Agra immediately to see this house and give me your report. If your report is favorable we can purchase that house. You may also see the Maharaja of Bharatapur and try and convince him to give us the house. Mr. Banasal or his manager are expecting you and they will take you to see the house and the maharaj. Mr. L. D. Bansal, Bansal Building, Subhash Bazar, Agra-3. So as soon as you see this house report to me what is your opinions. I think if it is possible you should get a Post Office Box or if that is not possible then make a letter box. Then we will be sure to receive all mail properly. Eat sufficient vegetables, little milk, curd and ___ Don't overload. And not much rice. That kind of diet will ___ you healthy. I hope this letter finds you well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami *Pay him Rs 5/- per month and take a receipt always ACBS:tkd letters | 08:35 | January, 1972 India My dear Svati dasi, Please accept my blessings. I have duly received your letter undated and have noted the contents carefully. Best way to maintain enthusiasm is by regular chanting with the devotees together in the temple and by having festivals. So you should immediately have one festival then everyone will be busily engaged. There are so many festivals that I can give you one for every day. Regarding your other questions: Children may be recommended for initiation when they are twelve years old. We should avoid as far as possible any physical punishment to train children. It is better to use sweet words or if it is absolutely necessary to punish then you may bind with ropes in one place or show the cane, but do not use--like that. I have recently explained to Aniruddha in Dallas school and you may write to him for details. The most important thing however is to see that somehow or other the children are always engaged in some kind of Krsna conscious activity, then they will naturally develop a taste for it and think it great fun even to work very hard for Krsna's pleasure. So in this way you as mother and father must take responsibility to deliver these nice children and that will be a very great service for Krsna. Hoping this meets you in good health and happy mood, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 02:57 | January, 1972 India My Dear Svati devi, Please accept my blessings. I have duly received your letter dated January and I may inform you that I wrote you c/o your husband's parents in Berlin. So your husband has gone but you should not be too much worried, your husband will come back to Krsna consciousness, if not now then later. Anyone who has tasted the bliss of Krsna consciousness he cannot stay away for a very long time. So you should not be too much concerned. Do not be too much worried--forget the past, do not be attached to it for we are only thinking of how we may now please the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the devotees are always optimistic for the advancement of their spiritual progress. So in the meantime there is no question of any more marriage by you so you will become freed from the entangling grip of maya which means sex life. Just see, so many people are suffering so much just for a little sex life. I am so much disturbed by problems caused by sex life that I am not going to sanction any more marriages. Our devotees must do it at their own risk from now on and they must provide their own income for living together outside the temple or if they live in the temple they must live separately. So far as the other two children are concerned, they are not begotten by you but still it is important to save them for Krsna but if it appears impossible to get them back from the authorities never mind, that is Krsna's plan. So now you have one son and you should see very carefully that he is raised and educated nicely in Krsna consciousness. If you are eligible for financial help from the government you may take it as it is not desirous to keep baby children in the temple. I thank you for your statement. "I beg to always be of sound mind so that I may serve you unconditionally." And to answer your last question, where will I go at the time of death if I am thinking of my spiritual master? You will go to Him just as Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita chapter 8-9 that whatever we are thinking about at the time of death--we shall attain to that nature without fail. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 02:55 | Technorati Profile letters | 01:21 | |
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