a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1972 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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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 |8 June 2007 Thursday, 8 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Acyutananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated June 1, 1972, and I have noted the contents with great pleasure. I am very glad to hear that you are going to take Indian citizenship and passport. Now you be in charge of our Mayapur Center. Practically speaking you were my first disciple, and I think it is Bhaktivinode's desire that my first disciple shall go to Bengal and revive Krishna Consciousness there. So I have heard also from Tamala Krishna that he is going with his party to Bangladesh for preaching among the largely Mohammedan population. So your photos amongst the Mohammedan people of Nadia will also help you as propaganda items.* I am also glad to hear that you are attending all of the meetings of the big Sannyasis and Saintly persons from Navadvipa area and that you are one of the important members of the committee. for protesting against violation of our Vaisnava principles. If your songbook is in English language then you may send it to New York immediately for publishing. You may send to me first and I shall read it and be very happy to write a short introductory note. One thing, if you can secure a nice Bengali typewriter for shipping to USA, there is some large amount of transcribing to be done from all of my tapes in Bengali language and there are persons in Los Angeles who will transcribe the tapes under my supervision and the manuscripts can be sent there to Calcutta for printing. If someone of our life members there in Calcutta might like to render this nice service to Lord Caitanya, he may donate us one Bengali typewriter for transcribing my tapes and making into books, and this will be a very nice service. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda In your song book, poet Jayadeva's high madhurya rasa songs may be avoided because they are meant for highly advanced devotees. Labels: Calcutta, Muslims, Navadvipa letters | 09:53 |16 May 2007 16 May, 1972 Honolulu My dear Acyutananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated May 9, 1972, and you have done very nicely in the meeting at Navadvipa. You have done right, that is the proper spirit. Sometime ago you asked my permission for accepting some disciples, now the time is approaching very soon when you will have many disciples by your strong preaching work. Stick to the line of our strong preaching method and many misguided persons will be blessed by your proper guiding. I have already advised Tamala Krishna Goswami to go to Bangladesh and if you also sometimes join with him and preach this Krishna Consciousness movement amongst the Mohammedans in Bangladesh, it will be a great service. So far the practical side is concerned, as it was possible to attract so many Christians and Jews to this movement in your country, similarly, it is possible to attract the Muslims in Bangladesh by administering the right medicine. So try your best and Krishna will help you. You keep in touch with me like this and I shall try to give you direction as far as possible. But it is a good attempt and we may continue the adventure, praying always Lord Caitanya may bestow His blessings. You have been offered to be secretary of some committee to protest against Jagabandhu and others claiming to be incarnations. So keep that position, it will be a great credit for our institution. I am enclosing the copy of one letter I have sent to Golan Ahmand Murtuza for your consideration. Thank you very much for helping me in this way. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: Mayapur, Muslims, preachers letters | 09:54 |11 May 2007 11 May, 1972 Honolulu My dear Tamala Krishna, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of the photographs of Mayapur project. You have sent pictures of building materials, but I want pictures of buildings. There will be no scarcity of money for the work, so you try to raise fund locally as far as possible. But whenever there is scarcity of money, you will have it in the usual way as you have already got it. So do everything very nicely and quickly, so that next autumn when I go I can enter into my house. Do not destroy that cottage where I stayed last time, that is very dear to me. Actually, Krishna does not require anything from us. He is complete in Himself, but He is most pleased to see that we are very much enthusiastic to serve Him. That much He wants, that is bhakti, that enthusiasm for Krishna's service. So do not lack this enthusiasm, try to do it to the best capacity and that will be recognized by Krishna. You have got now godown for 100 tons cement, so finish it as soon as possible, otherwise there is risk of flood and all the cement will be spoiled. So immediately finish it. But finishing does not mean spoiling: utilize it properly. As you requested me, I have sent many men from U.S.A. to help you, now you engage them properly, utilize them, that is leadership, how to engage everyone in their respective duties and properly utilize their energy. What are your plans for Bangladesh? That is great opportunity, and when Americans will speak about this philosophy, the Muslims in Bangladesh will agree to hear and it will be very convincing. Try to convince upon them the high philosophy we follow. This is the only means to unify the whole world. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: building, Mayapur, Muslims letters | 20:47 |9 May 2007 9 May, 1972 Honolulu My dear Bhavananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 26, 1972, and I have noted the contents with great pleasure. Yes, the attraction should be so made that the Muslims will somehow come to our Mayapur temple, for learning English, for seeing arati, like that. In Bombay, many children are coming and they have all got bead bags and they are chanting, so gradually introduce chanting on beads as well. If they believe in the serving of God, we are also servants of God, why not they should join us. The servant must know what is God, what does He do, how He is satisfied: these things should be preached to them. How one is accepted as God, what are the symptoms: these things they should learn. So far accepting water, no, practically from one who is not initiated we should not accept any eatables or drinkables. This should not be discussed, but you should remember it. But if there is dire necessity, there is not question of prohibition. I want to know, what is the reaction of my godbrothers there in Mayapur. I wanted that at least one story should have been constructed by rainy season. I thought Tamala Krishna has already gone. I have not heard from him. In Bangladesh, we have got very good field. Simply by chanting, dancing and taking a little prasadam. Best thing is to speak among the educated class, like lawyers, professors--the mass of people, they cannot speak English. From Tamala Krishna's letter it is understood that Tamala Krishna has met Mujibar Rehman's son, who is educated. This advantage must be taken. When Mujibar Rehman is seen, he must hear our philosophy, how all peoples of the world can be united under one culture, which will solve all problems of the world. Our culture is faultless, this must be understood. There must be full discussion in the papers, etc. Regarding Radha-Govinda's temple, it is in shabby condition, that I saw in 1967. I stayed there, and it was a great painful experience for me at least. In my childhood, Radha-Govindaji were the source of my enjoyment. I asked my father to give me Radha-Govinda deities and he gave me and I worshiped. And I also asked him to give me ratha, and the ratha was going from my home by the side of Syamasundara.'s house. Our house was later termed to be Govinda Bhawan, 151 Mahatma Gandhi Road. So Syamasundara is just like my younger brother, we call him by nickname Gabu. His elder brother was Siddhesvar Mali and his nickname was Subida, an he was calling me Moti, so we were very intimate friends from the perambulator. We were riding on the same perambulator when we were very small children. We were so intimate that he would not go in perambulator without me. We would not separate even a moment. But he is now dead and gone. Now ask Gabu to help us to hold the Rathayatra Festival for eight days at Radha-Govinda Temple and have one continuous kirtana and distribution of prasadam at the Chadni Hall. It is a big hall, at least 1000 men can be accommodated there, and in front there is a nice veranda and the deities can be kept there for eight days with gorgeous decoration, and in this way establish nice performance. Syamasundara may invite his relatives to partake of prasadam. If you hold every year, each year you can take to different Radha Govinda temples. There are many such temples in Calcutta proper, I shall gradually give you introduction. So far your observation that the Bengalis have been degraded by bogus so-called sadhus, yes, the Bengali's are generally fish-eaters and some are flesh-eaters, so the Ramakrishna Mission gave this concession that there is nothing harmful in eating flesh. The Bengalis got this appetite for eating flesh and fish and at the same time becoming one with God. This foolish theory and fanaticism has killed the Bengali culture. Not all, but a few percentage. So far the deities being worshiped by Mr. Bajoria, if this deity worship is introduced in other respectable families, that will be a great success of our movement. The family members of Mr. Bajoria may also hold kirtana at home before the deities. Try to introduce this. Regarding the women teaching at Mayapur, if there is suspicion by the villagers, then stop it for the time being. But why there should be suspicion of women? Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: Calcutta, Mayapur, Muslims, preachers, Ratha Yatra letters | 20:41 | |
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