a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1972 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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16 June 2007 16 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Prajapati, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge your letter of June 6, 1972 and I have noted the contents. It is very nice to hear that all the activities are going on with full enthusiasm there in Boston. Upon your recommendation, enclosed please find one letter for initiates as well as 4 copies of gayatri mantra and 3 sacred threads duly chanted by me. Four beads also duly chanted by me have been sent by separate post. Hold a fire yajna and give gayatri mantra to Brhatratha, Cediraja, Somadasa, and Sarmistha dasi. Rupanuga has got 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. So the fire yajna can be held for all 8 devotees. Regarding your questions, we should not take any stock of rumors which may come, that is not our process to act upon rumors. We hear from the authorized sources, and then our hearing is perfect. So you are the leader of big temple, you should know these things and avoid them, and instruct the other students there to stick to whatever is mentioned in our books and try to understand that subject matter from every angle of vision, without trying to adulterate by adding anything rumor. Our preaching must be based upon the subject matter from books and nothing outside of them. The actual fact is that worshiping the Deity and chanting the glories of the Lord are both within the nine processes of devotional service recommended by Rupa Goswami. Besides chanting and hearing and remembering there are six other recommended activities in devotional service. So if we are able to practice even only one of these activities perfectly, the result will be the same. Or we may execute more than one, we may execute several o even all nine activities in devotional service, but even if we execute one perfectly we shall be completely successful in devotional service. So there is no question that one activity is more important than another or that Deity worship is more important than Sankirtana, but one individual may be able to perform one activity more satisfactorily than another, so to him that activity will be more important. But in general we cannot say that any of the nine processes is more important than the others, except that if hearing, chanting and remembering are there, that is the most vital consideration for the general class of men in this age. Service to the Deities, as you are asking me, begins whenever you remember Them and offer all your services by remembering at the same time. All activities, words, everything should be offered as service to the Deities, and this offering with remembering will gradually increase as you practice it. ACB Labels: initiation, Los Angeles, questions, sankirtan letters | 04:43 |16 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Madhudvisa, Please accept my blessings. I am in receipt of your letter dated June 9, 1972, from Melbourne, and I don't think you have yet got my last letter to you at Sydney. I am very pleased to hear that you are utilizing your good experience for introducing the Ratha Yatra Festival in Australia, I shall be very pleased to see the photos how it is going. I fully approve of your program for traveling, now you combine the sannyasi requirement for traveling extensively, and at the same time as GBC man you shall be my personal secretary for maintaining the highest level of Krishna Consciousness amongst the devotees in your zone. I am very much concerned that the devotees should be given all good instruction and knowledge of Krishna Consciousness, that is the duty of the GBC man. (?) better to utilize time and train the devotees, especially the responsible officers, and they can go out for preaching to non-devotees and making new devotees. But if they do not have any knowledge, how can they go out and preach? So you GBC men are my selected few for insuring that what I am doing will be carried on very nicely for the pleasure of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So now you must all my senior disciples and leaders become very, very much aware of your grave responsibility to the human society for delivering them from the clutches of catastrophe, and be always cool-headed and utilize every moment in the best manner possible. I am successful only because I am following strictly the orders of my Guru Maharaja, and I do not deviate. Therefore people respect what I am saying and they listen because I do not say one thing and do another. So now you are doing my work and you shall be like me and be yourselves the worthy representatives of our disciplic succession. I am very much stressing at this point that all of my students shall be very much conversant with the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness, and that they should read our books very diligently at least one or two hours daily and try to understand the subject matter from varieties of angles. We are holding our morning class here in Los Angeles in the temple and I am speaking from 7 to 8 am. The process is that we are going through some chapters of Srimad-Bhagavatam by taking one sloka each day, and reading the Sanskrit aloud, each word is pronounced by me and repeated by the students and then altogether we chant the sloka several times until we have learned it. And then we discuss the subject matter very minutely and inspect it from all angles of approach and savor the new understandings. So you introduce this system in all of the centers in your zone, and you will discover that everyone becomes very much enlivened by these daily classes. Read one sloka and discuss and then go on to the next sloka on the next day, and so on, and even you discuss one verse each day it will take you 50 years to finish Srimad-Bhagavatam in this way. So we have got ample stock for acquiring knowledge. And if the students get knowledge more and more, they will automatically become convinced and very easily perform their duties for tapasya or renunciation of the material bondage, and that will be their successful advancement in Krishna Consciousness. So I want that advancement amongst all of my students, so your are responsible that the standard will be maintained. If Tusta Krsna is so much anxious to acquire a press for New Zealand, there is no harm. I have written to him to use his better judgement in the matter. If you wish to take the small 12-inch Radha Krsna Deities in the parade, that is all right. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: Australasia, GBC, philosophy, Ratha Yatra, reading letters | 04:42 |16 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Bhagavan, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated June 9, 1972, and I have noted the contents carefully. My money is already invested in a Mayapur Trust Fund, so there is no possibility of lending you any money. Furthermore, in your absence I don't think there is need of very big house. If you make arrangements for purchasing two big, big houses and then go away, then that is not very good proposal. To purchase our own house in Los Angeles, London, these headquarters are required as permanent but we should not be very much anxious after purchasing many houses and properties. In future through out the society, it is better so far as possible that we should rent. Big house means big responsibility. So unless there are many men, and very big propaganda, buying house is risky and unnecessary. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACB/sda n.b. Regarding the cars I am very much anxious to hear what is your progress in this connection. We must have some cars or vans for sending to India, so if you cannot get free we shall pay at 50% reduction or some big concession. And we shall advertise on the cars "donated by such-and-such company." That will be good diplomacy for them in India. ACBS letters | 04:41 | 16 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Jayapataka, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge your letter dated May 29, 1972, from Mayapur and I have noted the contents. You have described the building progress there, but if you can send me photo then I can understand the situation as it is. I have appointed Giriraja to be the GBC zonal secretary for India zone, and I am sure that he meets your requirements of being equipoised and considerate of all the needs of all the branches under his control or jurisdiction. Simply all you leaders there in India must cooperate with him nicely and give him confidence and advice how to manage the things in the best manner. So I suggest you address your ideas for managing to Giriraja and cooperatively make arrangements. Bombay should be the headquarters for India. You send all money there and when you require you take and they sould keep all accounts nicely. Whatever you need, they will supply. Karandhara has sent telegram informing that upon receipt of your jointly signed requisition order, after you have received from Mr. Jayan as per our former transaction, then we shall issue a letter of transfer for the ten Krsna Books as per your requisition order. But do not send the requisition before he has given you the money, first take the money there. If Tamala Krsna is not there he sould be informed. Among you three, including yourself, Tamala Krsna, Bhavananda, two of three must sign. It is better if all three sign. If Tamala Krsna can do some tangible work in Bangledesh it will be advertised all over India and we shall be respected by all classes of men. So it is a crucial point in our progress, so make this Bangledesh program very nicely. My godbrother in Jessore will help him in every respect. His address is known to him. Hoping this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:sda n.b. Composed matter of Gitar Gan should be sent to me as early as possible. ACBS Labels: Bombay, GBC, management, Mayapur, publishing letters | 04:41 |16 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Satsvarupa, Please accept my blessings. I received your letter dated June 15, 1972, and have noted the contents carefully regarding your sannyasi travels. If you require more men and women to teach there at Gurukula, you can send from your jurisdiction as GBC man Central USA zone. You will not be too much involved with local temple management, but for management which will require the larger interests, that will be your responsibility as GBC. So you find out some teachers from your zone and send there. The women are best for teaching small children, especially if they are themselves mothers, and when they become brahmacaris at 5 or 6 years old then they may be instructed by the men. If Stoka Krsna is finding difficulty to manage things then you find out some men to help him from your zone. Let him do all of the organizing and be the authority in charge how everything is running, and let others follow his direction and free him to supervise. You mention you like to speak now very often, but the first business should be to preach to the devotees. It is better to maintain a devotee than to try to convince others to become devotees. It is the duty of the GBC to maintain the devotees, keep them in the highest standard of Krishna Consciousness, and give them all good instruction, and let them go out and preach for making more devotees. Your first job should be to make sure that every one of the devotees in your zone of management is reading regularly our literatures and discussing the subject matter seriously from different angles of seeing, and that they are somehow or other absorbing the knowledge of Krishna Consciousness philosophy. If they are fully educated in our philosophy and if they can get all of the knowledge and study it from every viewpoint, then very easily they will perform tapasya or renunciation and that will be their advancement in Krishna Consciousness. So first thing is to instruct all of your temple presidents and the other devotees to read daily, just as we have done in our morning class in Los Angeles. You may remember that we were reading one sloka each morning in Sanskrit and reciting it altogether and then discussing it thoroughly by seeing different new things. So you introduce this system and train the devotees first. Don't be too much concerned for the time being with nondevotees, now we must fix-up what devotees we have got in the knowledge of Krishna Consciousness, then we will succeed. What good are many, many devotees if none of them are knowledgeable? You mentioned that you are not yet a very bold preacher, but you will become bold, if you have got sincerity. In the beginning also I could not speak. But Krishna is within you, and when you are serving Him sincerely He will give you courage, boldness, everything. We are not going to bluff anyone or cheat others, and we are delivering the message on behalf of the Supreme Lord, so we haven't got anything to fear and we should be always mindful of our topmost position of occupation of life. To be the messenger of the king is practically as good as to be the king, so the king is the most exalted position. I act like a king because no one can defeat me, and similarly, you should take your responsibility very, very seriously as being the representative of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Who is God Himself. Always remember that you are one of the few men I have appointed to carry on my work throughout the world and your mission before you is huge. Therefore, always pray to Krishna to give you strength for accomplishing this mission by doing what I am doing. My first business is to give the devotees the proper knowledge and engage them in devotional service, so that is not very difficult task for you. I have given you everything, so read and speak from the books and so many new lights will come out. We have got so many books, so if we go on preaching from them for the next 1,000 years, there is enough stock. Just like we have spent one day discussing one sloka, so you introduce this system in all of the temples, and very quickly the devotees will make spiritual progress by getting knowledge. So far the children are concerned they should know simply four things: 1. Simply think of Krishna always, 2. become Krishna's devotee, 3. offer Krishna worship, 4. offer Krishna obeisances. These four things should be taught and everything else will follow nicely and they will be learned persons. Give them nice food, let them play. Some can be cowherd boys, some can be cows, like that. Play and take food and be Krishna Conscious. As soon as they begin playing they will be inspired, only one has to direct how to play, that's all. They should attend the regular aratis and dance before the Deities, just like the children are doing in Los Angeles, and there should not be separate special aratis for the children, although they may also learn how to do arati in the class before one picture. They must all go to bed by nine pm and arise at four am for mangala arati, and in day-time a little rest. As for the GBC members, if we study one sloka daily in our classes it will take you more than 50 years to finish Srimad-Bhagavatam alone, so at least 50 years matter is already there minimum. So we can finish Bhagavatam once in our lifetime and the next generation can begin again, like that. From a practical point of view, as I have not yet finished Srimad-Bhagavatam and we have got now 100 branches, so by the time I am finished with Bhagavatam there must be at least 1000 branches. I have worked alone, now you are so many. Our scope is unlimited, resources unlimited, so we must be exceptionally enthusiastic and sober-minded and responsible for working in that spirit. I hope this will meet you in good health, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: GBC, gurukula, preachers, reading letters | 04:39 |15 June 2007 Thursday, 15 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Himavati, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated May 30, 1972, and I have noted the contents. I don't know who has given you this idea of shaving your head and wearing white garments. In India only the widows are allowed to shave head. I have never suggested your husband to take to Sannyas, but we can discuss this matter further when we shall meet again in London for Rathayatra. You remain the beautiful maid servant of Krishna. That is your business, and you should dress yourself always very nicely so that Krishna by seeing you will be pleased. Don't try to be ugly before Krishna. Krishna does not like ugly gopis. We are transcendental artists, musicians, writers, so everything should be beautiful for Krishna. After all we are members of Krishna's family, just like Krishna had 16,000 wives and each wife has thousands of servants and maid-servants and all of them are very beautiful for serving Krishna and His Queens. So the servants of the gopis and queens cannot be ugly, they are as beautiful as the queens. In the Vaikuntha world there is no need of serving anything because everything is already clean and beautiful. It is so clean that just like a mirror when the maid-servants would sweep the floor they could see the reflections of their bodies. So remain always compact in Vaikuntha yajna, simply by thinking of the Glories of the Lord. Don't try to do anything artificially. That is sahajiya, which means a class of men that take everything very cheap. You want to perform sacrifice so continuously read our Vedic scriptures and perform the Vaikuntha yajna. Hoping this will meet you and your good husband in the best of health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACB/sda Labels: Hamburg, sannyasa, Vaikuntha letters | 04:39 |15 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Siddha Svarupananda, Please accept my blessings. Just now I am in receipt of some pamphlets and one booklet entitled Sai Speaks, so I see so many discrepancies from our line of action in devotional service. I do not know if you are again acting upon your old principles on the guise of becoming a Sannyasi from our disciplic succession. This cannot be allowed. If you are sincere to our line of action, please come here to Los Angeles and live with me for some time. If not, then you can disclose your mind frankly what you want to do. I cannot allow you to do all these things which are completely detrimental to our line of disciplic succession. I shall be glad if you come here to stay with me, so I shall expect your reply one way or the other. Meanwhile hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: Laguna Beach, outside books, philosophy letters | 04:37 |14 June 2007 Wednesday, 14 June, 1972 Los Angeles My dear Surasrestha, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated May 25, 1972, and I have noted the contents. The article you have sent which was published in the newsletter there is very nice. The interviewer asked intelligent questions and you have given very nice answers also. It is apparent that you have understood our philosophy nicely so you continue to read our books regularly and preach vigorously, and help to distribute this great transcendental knowledge to all the distressed souls of this Kali yuga. In answer to your questions, the red incarnation who appeared in the Treta-yuga is Yajnapati. Lord Mohammed is accepted by us as Saktyavesa Avatar, but we do not recognize the Bahai faith. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu appears once in the day of Brahma or whenever He is required to come. So far attending pujas at the houses of the Hindus there we can go and hold our kirtana but we should not take prasadam there. We can accept raw materials and take them to our temple but we should not accept any prasadam prepared by them. However, if they insist then we can take fruits and milk and offer them to Krishna. Cocoa and chocolate are not to be taken as they are intoxicants. I am leaving for London on July the 4th and am returning to New Vrndavana for Janmastami celebration and at that time we can make further plans on my coming to Trinadad. In the meantime, continue to distribute this great message of Krsna Consciousness to all the people there and work hard to make the whole country into devotees. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: Hindus, itinerary, Muslims, Trinidad letters | 10:39 |June 14, 1972 Los Angeles Sriman Ram Prashad Dasa 2582 Sector 22-C Chandigarh, INDIA My dear Sriman Ram Prashad Dasa, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated May 1, 1972, and I have noted the contents. We have introduced a Life Membership program there in India, for the purpose of giving the intelligent men in the society an opportunity to help push on this great movement of pure Vedic culture. Our members receive all our books printed to date - Bhagavad-gita (in 1000 page edition), Caitanya-caritamrta, Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Sri Isopanisad, Srimad-Bhagavatam (to be completed in 60 volumes), and other books totalling about 20. They also receive any book which will be printed in the future, as well as a lifetime subscription to Back to Godhead magazine. Any of our life members and their immediate families are permitted to stay in any of our 100 temples anywhere in the world, free of charge, for as long as they like. So my suggestion to you is that you communicate with Sriman Giriraja dasa Brahmacari, the president of our Bombay headquarters, and he will give you more information regarding this membership program. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: Chandigarh, life members letters | 10:38 |13 June 2007 Tuesday, 13 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Stoka Krsna, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated June 5, 1972, and I have noted the contents carefully. Yes, the proof of your teaching method shall be seen in the spiritual improvement and fresh enthusiasm exhibited by the children. If they are allowed to worship the Deity by practicing performing aratrika very seriously, plus always be engaged in different various activities centered around Krsna, then their education will be completely successful. The children should always be instructed by taking advantage of their playful mood and teaching them to play Krsna games like become cowherd boys, cows, peacocks, demons and in this way if they always think of Krsna by playing just like they are actually present in association with Krsna then they will become Krsna Conscious very quickly. In addition, there should be a little ABC, then prasadam, then worshiping the Deity, then more playing Krsna games, some kirtana, a little more ABC, like that. In this way, always keep their minds and bodies engaged in different activities because children are restless by nature so they will want to change often. I am feeling more and more the urge to retire behind the scenes and translate these Vedic literatures for the greatest benefit for mankind in general. So I have given you my all senior disciples and leaders everything so if you will kindly take this matter very seriously and do my work for me I shall be very much thankful to you always. Of course, if there are some questions which are of extreme importance and cannot be answered by the GBC men then I am always very glad to advise and hear from my beloved disciples. So for future questions about the Gurukula activities or any other matters you may refer them all to Satsvarupa and he is able to give you all the proper answers. Hoping this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACB/sda letters | 10:05 | 13 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Sankarasana, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated June 6, 1972, and I have noted the contents. As for your question regarding the children, what can I do? I am not a teacher. You should ask Satsvarupa on all of these matters, he is the GBC, so everything small and big should be referred to Satsvarupa. First, you should ask the president in charge how to answer these questions. I am feeling the inclination for retiring into the background and simply translating my Srimad-Bhagavatam, therefore I have delegated this GBC to manage everything and give me relief. So they shall give you all good guidance, and if there is anything further to know, it is stated that if one is always fully engaged in the devotional service of the Lord with full sincerity of attitude, beginning with the tongue, that Krishna will Himself appear to the devotee and all questions will be answered personally by Him. Of course, if there is some very urgent matter, I am always happy to hear from my beloved disciples. So far your question about jealousy, spiritual jealousy means to think always that the service rendered by such and such devotee is so nice and pleasing to Krishna, so let me try harder to please Krishna than him and then Krishna will notice me also. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACB/sda Labels: Dallas, gurukula, questions letters | 10:04 |13 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Bhargava, Please accept my blessings. I am in receipt of your letter dated May 31, 1972, and I have noted the contents. Our advancement in Krishna Consciousness is made possible in two ways, by Knowledge and renunciation, jnana and tyaga or tapasya. The more we become renounced from this material world, the more we advance in Krishna Consciousness. But we are only able to make such sacrifices and perform tapasya if we have got knowledge. So first thing is to become knowledgeable in Krishna Consciousness, then the tapasya or voluntary life of austerity will result automatically. So I am requesting all of my students to read my books very seriously every day without fail. In this way, if your mind becomes absorbed at least one or two hours daily in the transcendental subject matter of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, and other books then very easily you will make your advancement in Krishna Consciousness. It is not a matter of changing our engagement, adjusting this or that material condition, in order to find our real happiness. Krishna Consciousness is not like that. It is able to be performed under any variety of material conditions or with any type of engagement. Therefore if your duty as a photographer is very much helpful to our propanganda work and for improving our BTG then there is very much need for your remaining in that occupation and doing it to your best capacity. It is a fallacy to say that my present engagement with the press is not the best for my spiritual advancement, and if we think in this way we may go on trying out one engagement after another and always say the same excuse. This restlessness or agitation of the mind cannot be rectified by altering the material circumstances. If we are Krishna Conscious, any type of occupation will suit me and we shall always be satisfied. Therefore, I recommend you to read books more and more and try to understand the subject matter from different angles of vision and be always discussing it with your godbrothers even while you are working at the press, and when you are working and you cannot read, then listen to the tapes of my lectures and hear in that way. And never neglect to chant your 16 rounds of beads daily, rise early without fail, attend mangal arati, take bath, and follow the other regulative principles, and everything will come out very successfully, you can rest assured of that. I am feeling the tendency more and more to retire behind the scenes for translating work, and I want to turn over the management of everything to the GBC and other senior leaders amongst my disciples, so if you have in future any more matters for discussing you may assist me in training these leaders and managers by placing your questions before them. I think Rupanuga will be able to answer all of your questions satisfactorily, so you can be confident that he is giving you all good advice. Hoping this will meet you in good health, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: art, BBT, New York, philosophy letters | 10:03 |13 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Sriman Joshi, Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated June 2, 1972, and I have noted the contents with great pleasure. I am very much encouraged that you are offering your considerable services for helping me to advance this bhakti-yoga system or Krishna Consciousness Movement all over the world. So I shall be very pleased to meet you personally here in Los Angeles at my apartment, as I shall not be gong to San Francisco in the near future because I am attending the Rathayatra Festival in London this year instead. So if you are free to meet me here in Los Angeles, I shall be very pleased to see you at that time. Hoping this meets you in the best of health, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda n.b. by the next autumn I shall be in India (Sept 1972) at that time if you invite me in Punjab, I shall be glad to visit all places there. Labels: Ratha Yatra letters | 10:02 |12 June 2007 Monday, 12 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Guru das, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letters dated May 22 and May 30, 1972, from Delhi and Vrndavana camps respectively. I am very, very pleased to hear that you have accomplished your task for getting the CCP license, it is a very great service. I have instructed Karandhara to always send accompanying cover letter and statements of quantity of books, individual cost of books, total cost of books, in Rs. and dollars for the future shipments to India. I am very glad to hear that the American officers in Delhi are very much favorable to our movement. It is very good news. If you can persuade them to give us foodstuffs directly, then we shall use it properly and America's prestige will be widely spread throughout India. We can organize for distribution of prasadam all over India, in factories, schools, and so on. If we simply have kirtana and distribute nice prasadam, everywhere there will be good respect for us. So I hope you will stick very closely to this matter of acquiring surplus foodstuffs from your government and seeing to it that the food is distributed widely throughout India by our Krishna Consciousness devotees. This is a very great favor to me. As Saurabha has advised, so that was also my plan, that there should be many gardens and courtyards at our Vrndavana center. The condition of the owner Mr. Saraf was that within three months construction work would begin. We have fenced the land but otherwise we have done nothing. So immediately bricks must be bought so they can sit during the rainy season and become soaked. A tube well must be dug immediately. I don't know why it was not done. If needed we can draw up the water by pump and store it in a tank, just like before Vrndavana Station. We shall require much water for construction and for the vegetation. So a water supply must be there. We must have our own well, sweet or salty, it does not matter. So far the land of Mr. Dalmia, first develop what you have got. Or if they will accept a low price, or if we pay him the Rs. 60,000/- whether he will pay us back as donation? Your proposal for a separate asrama for women, that is a very nice proposal, and that must be done. At present, at all of our temples around the world no husband and wife live together. So far your question regarding Bhetnama, the idea is that the man purchases lifetime use of one room or several rooms so that whenever he wishes to come to visit he is always guaranteed that room. But if the person is not present then his room may be utilized somehow or other. But if he comes, the room must be vacated for him immediately. And the room is his for his lifetime only, it is not that anyone coming after him or his sons or family after his demise can use the room. Now I understand that Ksirodakasayi is going to London soon, so in his absence you shall be the president and I think if Tejiyas is there, that he can be treasurer, or I have heard that Vaikunthanatha is there, so if it is better arrangement, then he can be treasurer and your wife Yamuna devi, may act as secretary. I understand from Yamuna that our Gauracand Goswami feels still that we are unfit to render service to the Deity, so let him think like that, we don't care. We are worshiping Deity in 100 places and we become unfit in Radha Damodara? Why we are unfit. If you are beautiful Americans with good education and very pious and pure, and if you have got all qualities of Vaisnava, why you are not fit? We think we are quite fit. When the construction work begins on our temple then we shall repair my rooms simultaneously or before as it is suitable. Hoping this will meet you and your good wife and all of the others in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: deities, life members, prasadam distribution, Vrindavan letters | 10:01 |12 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Madhudvisa, Please accept my blessings. I have received your letter from Sydney dated May 30, 1972. You have expressed some hesitation to become the GBC Secretary for the Pacific zone. Actually you may be misunderstanding the present position or policy of this GBC. I have instructed all of the GBC men to give up their staying in one place and to remain always constantly traveling throughout their zones from temple to temple. Recently, I have given Sannyasa order of life to Rupanuga, Satsvarupa, and Bali Mardan, and I have made Brahmananda the GBC man for Africa, and I wanted that you should be GBC man for South Pacific zone. So being Sannyasi is no hindrance for being also GBC. In fact, the duties of the GBC men are now to be just like the duties of the Sannyasis. I want that the GBC men should leave the management of the individual centers to the local presidents and concentrate themselves upon preaching work. They should be constantly traveling from one center to another center to see how the students are learning and to give whatever advice is necessary for improving the temple standards. In addition, the GBC men will open new centers, distribute literature, and they should always be traveling with a sankirtana party to accompany them. So practically there is no difference between the Sannyasi duty and the GBC duty, and because you are my veteran disciple and you have had very good experience, I think there will be no trouble for you to accept the GBC position, I do not think it will in any way inconvenience you program of traveling. But for the time being, if you prefer, Mohanananda can work conjointly with you for managing. We shall decide finally after some months. I very much approve of your traveling widely throughout South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand zone, now you give all of the temple presidents your expert instructions and train them to become very responsible for saving the whole mankind from gliding gradually down to hell. Now I am feeling more and more inclined for philosophy, so I want to sit down here in Los Angeles and translate my Srimad-Bhagavatam without much interruption. So I am requesting my good disciples as much as possible to consult the senior disciples in matter of management, philosophy, and personal problems. Of course, I always welcome to get letters from my beloved disciples, but unless there is some urgent matter it is better if all of the students will address their questions from South Pacific and Australia zone to you. You may inform them. I have got some letters from Tusta Krishna from Auckland and he is inquiring about printing press and other matters so I am advising him to consult with you and I think, cooperatively along with Mohanananda and others, you, senior members, can manage everything there very nicely and relieve me of such questions. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: GBC, management, sannyasa letters | 10:00 |12 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Bali-mardana, Please accept my blessings. I have received your letter dated June 4, 1972, along with the copy of our latest book, The Perfection of Yoga, and the article from Publisher's Weekly magazine. I am very much pleased that you are publishing these small booklets. They are so much attractive that any man will purchase one without hesitation. Many of these small booklets should also be dispatched to India, but I think for that Dai Nippon may be able to supply in large quantities. I am happy to learn from you that both the Press and the New York temple are running along very smoothly and that all our programs there are increasing. That should be, I expect that. It should not be too difficult for our New York center to be the leading book distributor of the movement. Now I am feeling inclination for philosophy, and I want to retire into the background for translating my Srimad-Bhagavatam more and more. I am always glad to hear from my beloved disciples, but I am finding difficulty to reply so many letters daily, so I want to encourage the disciples to refer their questions as much as possible to the GBC men and other senior students. So if you will encourage them in that way, I shall get some relief, but if anyone has got any important or personal questions I do not mind if they write to me, I shall be always glad to hear from them. I am enclosing one article written by one man in Bombay, Mr. Vachista, who is highly impressed by our movement. If you publish this article, will that be a good proposal? At least I think in India there would be good market for such booklet, but I do not know what is the possibility of distributing this article in your country. You may advise me in this respect. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 10:00 | 12 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Tejiyas, Please accept my blessings. I am in due reciept of your letter dated June 2, 1972, and I have noted the contents. I am very pleased to hear from you and from Guru das that your preaching work in Delhi is continuing on very nicely and that you are meeting with very good success by making many life members. Actually, this making life members is the certain sign that our preaching work is successful. If somebody pays us, that is almost the same as converting him. So the more life members that you make in Delhi, the more I can understand that your preaching work is very pleasing to Krishna. Krishna is most pleased by His servant who preaches by canvassing others on His behalf. So far Mr. Iswar Puri of Atmaram Book Store, let him make a concrete contract to publish our MacMillan version of Bhagavad-gita in cheap edition. You can send one copy of the contract to me and one copy to Bali Mardan at ISKCON Press in New York. I do not know if we are covered by copyright in India or not. You may inquire into this matter.* I am very pleased to hear that the collecting work for Vrndavana project is going on by cooperative endeavor amongst yourselves there. ___ to interest the life members and richer class of men to purchase rooms in our Vrndavana Temple on the Bhetnama system for staying with us on weekends. Many high class gentlemen in Delhi who are also devotees would relish the chance to live with us on weekends and it will be for them just like Vaikuntha. I very much appreciate your courageous preaching work and I can understand that Krishna is giving you all facilities for making your spiritual advancement. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: Delhi, life members, publishing, Vrindavan letters | 09:58 |12 June, 1972 India Tejiyas das Adhikari, *For the time being, until we have seen the original contract with MacMillan Co., you may wait on this matter. I shall contact you further when I have seen if it is Possible. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: MacMillan letters | 09:57 |12 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Acyutananda, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter from Calcutta dated June 12, 1972, and have appreciated the contents. I am especially pleased that you have stayed some days and got the tapes of Lalita Prashad Thakura for posterity. If you send them to Syamasundara immediately he has all facilities here to transcribe them, and get them printed immediately. As for the manuscripts, you can call Satchidananda from Vrndavana, he can write in Bengali very nicely and can type also with Bengali typewriter. Tell him to bring the Bengali typewriter with him and type everything on good paper. But best thing is, I have asked Yadubara to come there to Birnagar from Bombay for photographing all of the manuscripts in the possession of Lalita Prashad Thakura page by page very completely before it is too late. The pages are in very decrepit condition, so best thing is to request Lalita Prashad if we may take care of them by treating them against insects and storing them in a tight, dry storage place where they may be preserved for future generations of Vaisnavas to see the actual handwriting and words of such great saintly persons. Treat this matter very seriously and thoroughly, and take all precautions to protect this wonderful boon of literatures forever. Yadubara may photograph every page, never mind Bengali or English or any other language, and later we shall see where to send the copies to different places. You also write to Yadubara at Bombay in this connection and request him to join you in Birnagar immediately. I have also written him. These items are very, very priceless and are a great treasure house of Vaisnava lore, so be very careful in the matter and take all precautions to guard them. Regarding your questions, no, the descendants from Advaita are to be considered as dvijabandhu, that is, unless they are like brahmanas, that is, very highly qualified to know the higher values of life in the Vedic traditional way, so in that way even he is long descended from Advaita, unless he is qualified he cannot be worshipable. Nityananda has no seminal descendants, his son Birbhadra was never married. If someone said he is descended from Nityananda, that means from one of his disciples. These persons may be given some respect, but they are not equal to Advaita. Dvijabandhu means son of a brahmana father but without the qualifications. Similarly, there are Advaita-bandhus. So far the Mayapur construction work, kindly send me some photos of the current progress. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: Lalita Prasad, questions letters | 09:57 |12 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Amarendra, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 5-30-72, along with newsclippings about your attempt to get the political post in Gainesville, Florida. I am very glad to hear from you that you are enthusiastically pushing forward with our Krishna Consciousness programs there. I was very pleased to see in the newspaper clippings that you were voicing our Krishna Consciousness platform very nicely and that the public was given opportunity to understand something. As you are so much eager for this political activity in Krishna Consciousness, you may go on endeavoring to utilize this activity for preaching to the public. If Satsvarupa and others have encouraged you to make settlement in the Gainesville city and thus become well known as a political figure, that is a good proposal but you may do as you see fit in this matter. You are correct in thinking that simply by this full-time preaching activity all other problems will be solved very easily in the matter of financial and other problems. What is that financial security? Real security is only there at the Lotus Feet of Krishna, and Krishna is most pleased of all upon His devotee who is always preaching His message. It is recommended in Srimad-Bhagavatam that simply by engaging your tongue in the service of Krishna that He becomes revealed unto you, so in this way we can understand that all of your questions will be answered more and more as the preaching work progresses. I was also at one time interested in politics and Gandhi's non-cooperation movement. But now-a-days I am not too much familiar with the politics of your country, so whatever you consider the best thing, do it very nicely and always remember Krishna. In this way by your sincere preaching and engaging of the tongue all of the right answers for your questions will come out. It is a fact that Krishna desires to have His own men in the top posts. That is why after so much fighting in the Battle of Kuruksetra, only the five Pandavas remained, because they are devotees of Krishna and He likes it when His own men are serving in the top positions of leadership. So gradually we shall also try to influence the leaders of this country and other countries to base their political activities upon a God-conscious platform. It is the duty of the brahminical class to advise the leaders, not that they shall themselves serve as leaders. So more and more I am urging my students to recognize the grave responsibility which is theirs for saving this fallen human society from gliding down into hell. Actually, it is the fault of the rascal leaders that the conditions in the world today are so topsy-turvy. In your country many fools elect the biggest fool to be their leader, it is like one blind man leading so many other blind men. But for the most part, the ordinary citizens of the society are innocent enough, they simply require good leaders and everything can be rectified. So it is our great responsibility to become very serious in the matter of executing Krishna Consciousness, and if we are sincere and go on expanding this movement all over the world, gradually we shall induce the leaders to accept our philosophy more and more. You are the pioneer in this matter amongst the devotees in your country, so whatever experience you have gained you may pass on to the others who may also attempt to engage in political activities. I am very thankful to you for your bold attempts, may Krishna give you His all blessings. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACB/sda Labels: brahmanas, Gainesville, politicians, preachers letters | 09:56 |12 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Caturbhuja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated June 8, 1972, and I have well appreciated your sentiments. Your father has indicated to me that he shall be returning to London very shortly, so I have encouraged him to meet me there when I shall arrive there by July 5th. So you may be assured, and your mother may be assured, that your father will be returning to your home in London very shortly. I am very glad to hear that Krishna has protected you from the physical injury to your left eye. Just like Prahlada Maharaja always remembered Krishna and that saved Him from the most difficult situations. If we constantly remember to take shelter only at Krishna's Lotus Feet, then we shall always be saved from all sorts of dangers. I shall be meeting you and your good family in London. Meanwhile, hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever will-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: London letters | 09:55 |12 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Sivananda, Please accept my blessings. I have received your letter dated 1st June, 1972. Upon your recommendation I am glad to accept Peter Brinkmann as my duly initiated disciple. His letter follows. Yes, I shall be glad to meet with you in London during Rathayatra in a few weeks, and at that time I shall be very glad to give you the Sannyas order of life, so you may prepare for that. Meanwhile, Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: initiation, sannyasa letters | 09:55 |11 June 2007 11 June, 1972 Bombay, India My Dear Narayani, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you very much for your letter dated 27th May, 1971. You will be glad to know that, upon the recommendation of Sriman Janmanjaya Prabhu, that I have accepted you as my duly initiated disciple. Your spiritual name is Narayani Devi Dasi. Narayani means the energy of Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I have also chanted on your beads and they are enclosed herewith. Yes, now that you have come to Krishna Consciousness, your spiritual life, the real life, has begun. First birth is from your parents but real birth, real life, begins when one accepts a bona fide spiritual master and renders service onto him. Then the path is open for going back to home, back to Godhead, to live eternally in full knowledge and full bliss and in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, Lord Krishna. That is the goal, and the means to attain it are simple. You should strictly follow the regulative principles, chant at least 16 rounds of beads daily, read and study all our books, attend aratis and go for street Sankirtana, etc. In this way be engaged in Krishna's business 24 hours and your rapid advancement in Krishna Consciousness will be certain. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: initiation letters | 09:54 | |
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