a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1972 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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5 May 2007 Friday, 5 May, 1972 Honolulu My dear Rsabhadeva, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 26, 1972 and I have noted the contents. I am glad to know that you are now managing the activities of our San Francisco temple. Kesava has done a very nice job there, so you try to continue with the same enthusiastic spirit and Krishna will give you unlimited opportunities for serving Him. Thank you very much for your invitation to the Rathayatra Festival. Perhaps I can come, but I may go to London this year as I have not yet seen it there, and I have promised since one year. In India, we had many pandal programs and they were very successful, so you try to have one there also. Hoping this will meet you in good health and happy mood. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/nkd Labels: Ratha Yatra, San Francisco letters | 13:03 |5 May, 1972 Honolulu My dear Sridama, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 26, 1972 and I have noted the contents. Always there will be obstacles placed in our path by the demons and atheists, but if we can remain pure, nothing will be able to stop this great transcendental movement from spreading God consciousness all over the world. So as president, you must make sure that all the students are regularly chanting 16 rounds, taking bath, attending mangal aratrik, reading our books, and following the regulative principles. If everyone keeps strictly these principles then success is assured. So far South Africa, I think it is not possible for go there now. Better you concentrate your efforts to organize Miami center nicely. I am enclosing three copies of Gayatri mantra and two sacred threads, and you can hold a fire yajna for Dharma, Rohini, and Ragavendu. Satsvarupa has a tape of me reciting Gayatri mantra so you can get this from him. One thing is that the tape should be heard through earphones into the right ear. Hoping this will meet you in good health and happy mood. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/nkd Labels: initiation, Miami letters | 13:02 |5 May, 1972 Hawaii My Dear Trai, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 19, 1972 and I have noted the contents. I am pleased to know that all of you are enthusiastically engaged in distributing our books. In this modern Godless civilization, everyone is greatly suffering due to lack of the real knowledge of Krishna consciousness, and our task is very great and very important. We must deliver this pure science of God to everyone and give them the chance to make their lives successful. So you continue this book distribution program very nicely, and at the same time take advantage of these books yourselves. Not that you just distribute but neglect reading them yourself. Always read them, especially Krsna book. Every time you have a spare moment, you should read. This will help you to advance in Krishna consciousness, and will give you the ability to convince others also. Hoping this will meet you in good health and happy mood. Your ever well-wisher A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: book distribution letters | 13:02 |5 May, 1972 Honolulu My dear Nityananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 18, 1972 and I have noted the contents. Thank you very much for your kind invitation, and when I return to the U.S., I will seriously consider the proposal. So far your concern about management, the solution is to be always thinking of Krishna and the Spiritual Master, then maya cannot touch you. If you very strictly follow the regulative principles and chant 16 rounds minimum, there is no question of ever falling down. Krishna has given you very nice facility there, so you continue to serve Him with great faith and enthusiasm, and He will give you all blessings. Please offer my blessings to the others there. Hoping this will meet you in good health and happy mood. Your ever well-wisher A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/nkd Labels: management, New Orleans, regulative principles letters | 13:01 |5 May, 1972 Honolulu My dear Danavir, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated April 20, 1972 and I have noted the contents. I am pleased to know that our Portland center is having good success in pushing on Lord Caitanya's great sankirtana movement. Who God is can be summed up in only five words. Krsna is the Supreme controller. If you become convinced of this, and preach it enthusiastically, success is assured, and you will be doing the greatest service for all living entities. So you continue more and more to serve Krsna, and He will help you. Hoping this will meet you in good health and happy mood. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/nkd Labels: Portland letters | 13:00 |May 5, 1972 Honolulu My dear Niranjan, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 21, 1972 and I have noted the contents. I am glad to know that your confusion has been cleared up, and you have understood the reasons for my scolding you. This is the duty of the father or spiritual master, to simply chastise. By this chastisement, the disciple can realize his mistakes, and become strong and fixed up in devotional service. In the verse that you refer to, Krishna says to Arjuna, "Give up all varieties of religiousness, and just surrender unto Me; and in return I shall protect you from all sinful reactions. Therefore, you have nothing to fear." This verse is actually the essence of the whole Bhagavad Gita. Throughout the Gita, Krishna describes the different processes of spiritual realization to Arjuna - karma yoga, jnana yoga, samkhya yoga - but at the end He says to give up all the different religious systems and just surrender to Him. This is the topmost yoga system, and is the goal of all the others. So this is our process. We don't perform any ritualistic ceremonies for some material gain or economic development, nor do we waste our time in mental speculation to try to find out the Lord with our tiny brain, nor do we perform so many difficult penances and austerities or gymnastic exercises for becoming one with God. We simply surrender to Krishna and His representative, and serve Him with the consciousness that "My Lod, I am Yours. Please always keep me engaged in Your service and protect me from maya." This is real religion, and is the natural position of the living being. I hope this will answer your questions. Hoping this will meet you in good health and happy mood. Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/nkd letters | 11:49 | May 5, 1972 Honolulu [text missing] .., for Krishna's service. This can be dovetailed when we are actually very sincere servant of Lord Krishna. So always try to follow this principle and there will be no scarcity in your campaign of Krishna Consciousness. Try to manage affairs at the Temple and Sankirtana Party to the best of your capacity with the help of Bhavananda. Hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami [To Rishikumar] letters | 11:00 | 4 May 2007 Thursday, 4 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Gurudasa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 4/24/72, and I have noted the contents with pleasure. The Life Member meeting in Delhi is very important, so do it nicely. Also, about 20 men have come from U.S. to Bombay, so I think some of them may come there to help you. You may request Giriraja to send four or five men to help you, I fully approve. I have already written to Gargamuni, and he will not bother to become president. So combinedly you do everything nicely, he will supply money, but you can supply accounts and vouchers to Gargamuni for checking. Statements should be supplied regularly by you both, you both sign them, so he'll be encouraged to send you money. Your description of the temple sounds well. My only idea is that it should be just like Govindaji's Temple, but with further improvements. You are going to Kanpur, that is a good place, you can raise lakhs, many lakhs, for your Vrindaban scheme. Sighania himself can build. When I was in New York, Padampat Singhania promised me a temple in New York, but the government did not allow exchange. So he is a nice man, if you can convince him, simply he may require little attention, then he alone can build Vrindaban. Next to Calcutta and Bombay, Kanpur is the most important industrial center, so there are many rich men there, they require only some careful handling. I have forgotten the name of our panda there, but he lives somewhere in Kisora Pura, you can find him there. Purusottama Brahmacari can inform you, he lives in Gopinatha Ghera. Syamasundara has given instructions for making layout of Hindi BTG, as he has met with Dai Nippon today. Yamunamayi may help to make the layout. Hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: life members, printing, Vrindaban letters | 12:59 |4 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Ksirodakasayi, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 26th April, 1972, and I have noted the contents carefully. It is good news that you have come to your senses that nothing should be done by contractor. Everything should be done by ourselves. Mr. Saraf is experienced, so take his help. So go on raising funds, constructing, and send me the plans as soon as possible. I have got some idea from Gurudasa' letter, and it sounds very, very nice. So far Gargamuni is concerned, he'll not become president, I am requesting him to forget this idea. So do not become agitated in your mind. As Gargamuni supplies the money, you supply him with a full accounting. As things will be done by yourself and Gurudasa, you give him purchase bills and statements of account. I am asking him, he will send you money, and that money, along with whatever you raise, will be used for materials and constructing, you keep good accounts and send him regularly. Full instructions for Hindi BTG is given herewith by Syamasundara, as we have gone to Dai Nippon personally today, so you read it carefully and do the needful. So far whatever BTG's you have printed in India, whatever has been issued to the centers, they must now pay you, you send them bills. I shall notify Calcutta and Bombay to pay you. 4,000, 5,000 copies each issue printed, where they have been distributed and how the money is being collected? There was some money with Radha Raman Goswami, whether he has paid it? So collect wherever you have given BTG's. I have given you Rs. 4000/- on BTG account. This must be returned and deposited in the Book Fund Account in Bombay. Hoping this will meet you in good health and happy mood. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: accounting, building, printing, Vrindaban letters | 12:58 |4 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Karandhara, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 28, 1972, and I have noted the contents. I have no objection if Kesava tours the USA and gives instruction how to sell books, then when he is finished USA he can go to London. But one thing is, there is vast possibility for selling our books in England, I think more than in your country, and they have got program for buying a big, big church in London, so I want they should sell many books by buying cost-price from you and in this way pay for that church. I shall see when I go there for Rathayatra this summer. I have already replied concerning purchasing that convent school and asrama. What about my Bank of America Card? I have sent for it from you some time back because it has expired. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami n.b. I think it is best thing if the GBC members always travel on Sankirtana Party in their zone and go from one village to another and visit the temples to see how the students are learning and do my work. In this way, they will avoid the propensity to sit down and plot and scheme how to eat and sleep. So you can advise them all to travel extensively on Sankirtana all over their zone. ACBS Labels: book distribution, GBC, Los Angeles, sankirtan letters | 12:58 |4 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Hrdayananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 30, 1972, and I have noted the contents. I was ready to send some threads and gayatri mantras to Houston, but now you have moved, so I shall send them to Pusta Krishna instead. I am going to Los Angeles soon, you can stay there, and we shall speak some. Hoping this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: initiation, Los Angeles letters | 12:57 |3 May 2007 Wednesday, 3 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Rupanuga, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letters dated April 11 and April 26, 1972, along with tape of three revelations. The tape is nice, a good advertisement. Now similar tapes should be made. Another revelation is that the needle, when put into the water, it goes down quickly to the bottom. But a big, big log, weighing one ton, does not go down. Who has made this law? If the law of gravity is there, why does it not apply to the big log? We can understand that Lord Ramacandra was able to make a bridge by causing the big stones to float n the water, so counteracting the law of gravitation is the law of the Supreme. Gravitation is caused by the Supreme Lord, so He is also able to remove that law or do anything and everything at His will. If you know something like swimming, then the law of gravitation will not work, and who knows better than Krishna how to do everything, so Krishna can change anything, therefore we worship Him as the greatest Scientist. If a man knows swimming he can stay up. So if this much power has a man, what to speak of God. So we see that Ramacandra has the art how to make stones float. It is a question of knowing the art. Art means the display of intellectual energy. Everywhere we can see intelligence in everything, so the Lord knows the art of everything, so He can change anything, we cannot. The atheists and scientists are trying to get God out of things, we are doing just the opposite, trying to put God into everything. They are God-less, nonsense - we are God-full, God-sense or God-conscious. Your idea to recruit many brahmacaris is nice. We need a class of men purely brahmanas. The whole world is full of sudras. The Krishna Consciousness movement is meant for re-establishing the system of four varnas and asramas, then there will be progress of civilization. We have got such a nice process that even from the base sudras we can create brahmanas of highest calibre. All the presidents of our centers should see that all the members are strictly observing the brahminical standards, such as rising early, cleansing at least twice daily, reading profusely, attending arati, like that. You begin immediately this process. That is the main work of GBC. Sometimes we see that even they do not wash hands after eating. Even after drinking water we should wash hands. That is suci. Suchi means purest. Everyone should join the mangal arati. Gradually, we should become more regulated and strict for following the rules and regulations. Otherwise we shall fall down. You have got nice deities, now you make a nice silver throne like Los Angeles. Rukmini devi wants to install Caitanya Mahaprabhu, so Caitanya Mahaprabhu can be installed on the right side of Krishna, as you have seen in pictures from our Gaudiya Math temples. Nityananda there is no need. Simply three compartments, Gauranga and Spiritual masters in the first compartment, Radha and Krishna in the central compartment, and Lord Jagannatha in the third compartment. But if there is no room for three, then Radha-Krishna with Lord Caitanya on the right side with them, pictures of Spiritual Masters below. So far merging of temples, do the needful. If there is waste of time they may be merged, I have no objection. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: brahmanas, deities, New York, philosophy letters | 12:56 |3 May, 1972 Tokyo My Dear Citsukhananda, Please accept my blessings. We have received your letter dated April 26 1972, and noted the contents. I do not think I shall require special visa for going there for one or two weeks, an ordinary tourist visa will suffice. I shall be reaching Los Angeles about the 20th of May, 1972, and from there we shall make further plans and get visas for going to Mexico later. The prospect there is very nice. I have read your progress report. As many Spanish-speaking devotees can go there as possible and help you, and you can expand into South America from there. The Mexican public is very sympathetic, so produce voluminously Spanish language literature. You can correspond with Karandhara in this respect of producing many, many Spanish books and magazines. Hoping this will meet you in good health and happy mood. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: Mexico City, publishing letters | 12:55 |3 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Patita Uddharana, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 27, 1972, along with sample of your booklet. It is very nice, I have enjoyed it very much. But there are some direct criticisms and that we are not going to do. These men are not so important than our institution, so we shall not give them unnecessary publicity by criticizing. We shall consider it later after reading more carefully. Thank you very much. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 12:55 | 3 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Bhagavan, Please accept my blessings. I am anxious to know what has happened to Aravinda since he left me in India. I think his parents live there in Detroit, his other name is Arthur Friedman, so kindly search them out and ask them where he is. I have given him his return ticket to Los Angeles, so I think he has returned to your country. Hoping this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: Detroit letters | 12:54 |2 May 2007 Tuesday, 2 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Karandhara, Please accept my blessings. I am just now in receipt of your special-delivery letters dated April 29, 1972. I am very much encouraged by the contents. The newspaper article is especially nice, it means that the citizens are beginning to look behind our dress to find out our nice philosophy. This is a very good sign. So far Madhudvisa is concerned, I am presently making a scheme for assigning GBC men to those new zones and for re-distributing the sannyasis, so do not encourage Madhudvisa to come there until I have decided where he shall go. I am very much in favor of your plan to get that place in Laurel Canyon, so begin immediately. $150,000 is not so much for such a place, especially if we can get for low down-payment, then it is a very good scheme. So this place and the skyscraper, you try for both of them immediately. I am also very much pleased to hear from you that you have sold 100 sets of paperback Krishna Book in one day, and that you have re-ordered from Dai Nippon. Gradually, we shall replace the literatures which are currently popular with our own style of transcendental literature. I have tried it: any page you open, that is wonderful reading matter. My ambition is to spread these books far and wide all over the world so that everyone shall read at least one of our books and that will change his life. If only 1% become devotees, that will change the world. I think that eventually we can print TLC in paperback also. In the skyscraper building, that can be a guest house for receiving tourists, so they can see how practical spiritual life is developing. If just 1% of these tourists become devotees, if they adopt this process, then our effort is successful. So far moving the Press to Los Angeles, that is for you to consult with Bali Mardan. You are Book Trust now, you discuss with him and do the needful, that's all. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami n.b. Initiation letter under separate post. n.b. The idea is that all the devotees must attend arati, prasada, and other temple services. If they miss they will be deviated. So if they are living far away, like in Laurel Canyon, then another temple should be started. Unless there is arrangement for another temple, it will be not a nice proposal. Temple worship and prasada must be partaken, otherwise it will be ordinary residential quarters like karmis. A.C.B.S. ACBS/sda Labels: BBT, book distribution, building, GBC, Los Angeles letters | 12:53 |2 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Jagadisa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letters dated April 17, and 12, 1972, and I have noted the contents. Let us forget past incidents and let us look forward to rectify our defects. So far you are concerned, I am very much convinced of your sincere service. Go on with your work, and other instructions will follow. Simply become more concerned with increasing the spiritual content of our lives, and in this way all other problems like management will be easily solved, not that they can be solved by making some legal formula and having big big meetings and talks. The politicians have been holding such meetings and talks for some time now and the world is no better place for it, and they have only made things worse. We should not follow their example. The world is in a very precarious condition simply for lack of God-consciousness, so this should be our point of stressing, that we should revive this emphasis on God-consciousness everywhere in the world and that will be our contribution. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: GBC, management, politicians, purity, Toronto letters | 12:53 |2 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Giriraja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 20, 1972, and I have noted the contents. So you have paid Mr. Bhuther Rs. 10,000, but you have built a temporary pandal for Rs. 1500/-, and all of the materials can be re-used so just see how much money you have wasted on this pandal. No one followed my instructions in this matter, as I repeatedly advised to build a semi-permanent pandal from corrugated iron sheets, and now so much money has been lost. I have got some reports that the deities in Bombay are being much neglected. This is most abominable affair. Radha and Krishna should not ever be neglected or left unprotected, so I am wondering what you have done to rectify this situation. I have heard that Madhudvisa intervened to get the deities better place, so he has done nicely. Also I have got complaint from Nara Narayana that he is not being allowed to work on his gardening as I instructed him to do it. So you let him go on with that work of gardening; sometimes he may be difficult to live with, but good manager means he is able to satisfy everyone and live in cooperative manner with all the devotees, so if you manage things nicely he can do tremendous work. Practically no one has more energy than Visvakarma. So let him do gardening work and if Bhavananda needs his help to build Rathayatra car he can go to Calcutta for some time to work there. I have not got any plans from Saurabha, though I requested him many times, only I have got two sketches from the architects in Cyavana's letters Saurabha was going to sketch the interior of Govindaji's temple and make plans for Vrindaban also, but he has not sent, so I do not think he is yet very reliable. I am very much pleased about the children's classes. These are very, very important program, so let it go on nicely, even if Madhudvisa leaves there. I have heard that some men have come from USA, so if Gurudasa needs some help, some can go there to help him. Also, Gargamuni wants to form a travelling party for raising funds, so some men can be given him, not more than four. You may offer my thanks to Sumati Morarji for giving us some sofas and chairs. So far books are concerned, don't reduce the price on hardback Krishna Book unless there is vast increase in sales by making cheaper. But I do not think that if you reduce the price for Krishna Book hardbound that more people will buy it. You can send report if making cheaper has sold many more books. But if someone wants Krishna Book cheap, they can purchase our paperback edition which has been sent to India from Japan recently. Mr. Deewanji has done very nice service for Krishna, please offer him my heartfelt thanks. Always consult with him on these matters before doing anything. You can form the Hare Krishna Cooperative so we shall avoid the stamp tax, that's all right. So far CCP permission is concerned you should be more in correspondence with Gurudasa in this matter, as I have sent him all the details and he has assured me that getting the license will not be at all difficult from Delhi. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: Bombay, book distribution, building, children, deities, management letters | 12:52 |2 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Hamsaduta, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 21 April, 1972, along with photos of busses. I do not know about these things, but I think a double-decker bus may not pass all the road obstacles such as bridges and tunnels between Germany and India, so I think a single-decker bus may be more practical for driving there. So far Germany, you can purchase one bus and let us develop that program gradually, if we see it is successful. You can report to me how the bus is running, and you may correspond with Kirtanananda Maharaja in Boston as he has got many such busses. He can give you best advice. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda letters | 12:51 | 2 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Satsvarupa, Please accept my blessings. I beg acknowledge receipt of your letters dated April 10 and April 18, 1972, and I have noted the contents. It is better to forget past incidents, whatever is done is done. Let us look forward to correcting our mistakes. So far you are concerned, I am very much convinced of your sincere service. I am especially glad that the school Gurukula is improving more and more in its standard under your management. That is our real work, to educate people in spiritual life by giving them the practical example, so I wanted that the GBC would be a chosen body of men for that purpose, to see how the students are learning and reporting to me as my secretaries. I do not know how you could have missed these points, as they are clearly spelled out in my original constitution. Anyway, whatever is done, is done. So I am very glad that you are leading all others in book distribution, so you go on with your work in this way and Krishna will give you all the clear idea of how to do everything. Now Kirtanananda has bought me one bus, so now I am taking with me wherever I go three assistants, so my translating work is not stopped even while traveling, so I may continue to tour sometimes and my work will go on, therefore I shall certainly come to Dallas sometime after my coming back to USA. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: buses, Dallas, GBC, gurukula letters | 12:50 |2 May, 1972 Tokyo My dear Kirtanananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 25 April, 1972, and I was expecting your check for a long time. I have been dreaming for a long time that you ___ send something but I didn't get. So now I am coming to Los Angeles by 20th May, and you must come there to meet me. You are the first sannyasi of my institution so I expect greater things from you than the others. Lord Krishna has given you the chance, so do this preaching work very nicely. He will continue to give us all opportunity if we remain sincere and serious. Yes, that is a nice proposal if you speak like a learned scholar. Everything is there in our books; so learn it and put in your own way by reproducing. You are also materially well-educated so reproduce what I have taught in your own language. These things are new thoughts in your western countries, everyone will be interested. Writing is also required. Let it be published first in our BTG, then sometimes they may be printed into books also. So far threads and beads, you were moving around, but so far I know everything was sent to Atlanta center but if someone has taken there, or if they were lost in mailing, I do not know. I am coming there soon, so we can adjust it then. I shall not be able to come to your programs in early May as I am in Hawaii, but you are my representative, you can do it. I am very much pleased that you have got me also one bus for my travelling there. That was my ambition. Now you are all fulfilling all of the ambitions. At the present moment I take with me three assistants, so my books writing is going on, so that is not stopped by my travelling. So now I can go on touring and my writing will go on. So if we have got our own bus that will be very nice. I very much appreciate the photos you have sent, they should be published in our BTG. Sometimes after if you take a bus in India, it will be very very greatly appreciated. My blessings to Visnujan, Silavati and all others. I am very much pleased with all these activities. This is carrying out the order of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. One thing, is prasadam being distributed profusely on this travelling party? Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: Boston, buses, prasadam distribution, sannyasa, writing letters | 12:50 | |
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