a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1971 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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Mar 25, 2006 Thursday, March 25, 1971 Bombay My Dear Citsukhananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 3d March, 1971 and have noted the contents. I am so glad to hear that you are now in L.A. discussing final plans for opening one center in Mexico City. That is very encouraging news. I am anxious that we establish centers in major cities all over the globe and Mexico City is certainly an important landmark. Both you and your good wife Candrabali can speak Spanish language nicely, so you are certainly qualified for such a mission. I am also glad to note that you have begun working on BTG Spanish edition. Actually we want that BTG be printed in every major language and distributed all over the world so that there is no language barrier in taking to our movement. So go there, husband and wife, and make our Mexico City branch a grand success, and Krishna will certainly bestow upon you all blessings. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 10:32 | March 25, 1971 Bombay Officer Department of Visa and Foreign Registration (Immigration) Suva, Fiji Dear Sir: I hereby certify that my initiated disciple, Sriman Upendra Das Adhikari, having successfully completed his course of divinity studies in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has been awarded the degree of Bhakti-sastri (Minister). Sincerely, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:ds letters | 10:31 | March 25, 1971 Bombay My Dear Rsabhadeva, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 9th February, 1971 and have noted the contents. I am so glad to note how nicely your Sankirtana activities are going on there in Laguna Beach center. You write to say that you are considering the possibility of celebrating feast days with festivals on the street. That is very good program, so do it nicely. Aratik ceremony may be done also, if possible. Otherwise, it is not necessary. So long as there is Guru-Gauranga worship, Yamuna Prabhu may act as pujari. Otherwise, one must be initiated to tend the Deity. It is also encouraging to note how you are arranging formal parties at professional people's homes and presenting our life membership program. That has been our program in India and it has been met with great success. So continue this program with enthusiasm and determination. We want to distribute our books as far as possible to all classes of men, because anyone who reads them is sure to become Krishna Conscious, they are so nice. Also you should distribute the books to schools, colleges, libraries, bookstores, and wherever else you can imagine that they will be received. Also continue your program of door-to-door Sankirtana. That is certainly Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's movement and he will bestow upon you all blessings. Please offer my blessings to Yamuna,* Kapiladeva, Madhumangala, Austin, and Robbie Prabhus as well as all the other boys and girls there in Laguna Beach. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami *When & how she was given this name? Send my maintenance checks regularly. ACB ACBS/adb letters | 10:31 | March 25, 1971 Bombay My Dear Sukadeva, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 27th February, 1971 and have noted the contents. It is very encouraging to note that you have been distributing 150 BTGs daily there in our newly established Tucson center. Actually we want that every American have a copy of BTG in his hand. You should collect at least 25 cents per copy of BTG. We have to do in that way. Otherwise we will become debtor to Dai Nippon. Other instructions in this matter may be gotten from Karandhara, whom I have recently written. Also you should be very enthusiastic for distributing our books to schools, colleges, libraries, bookstores, and wherever else you can imagine that they will be well received. These books are so nice that anyone who reads them is sure to become Krishna Conscious. You can show them Krsna books and ask them to read any part and if they like what they have read they should purchase, and if not you will walk away. Who could resist? Krsna book is so nice that everyone will like it, either as a story book or history or philosophy or whatever, they are sure to be attracted. Simply it depends on your presentation. So do it nicely and Krsna will help you. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. Yes, if Karandhara has recommended it, both you and Narada Muni Das may get yourselves married. I have no objection. But you must be sure that you can meet all the responsibilities of household life; then it is all right. Yes, when I go to L.A. I may visit your temple. ACBS/adb letters | 10:30 | March 25, 1971 Bombay My Dear Vamanadeva, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your ISKCON St. Louis Newsletter with enclosed note, dated 9th February, 1971 and have noted the contents. I am so glad to hear your program is steadily expanding in St. Louis and how you are regularly making university engagements and are being so well received. Actually these college students have all been misguided. Without Krishna Consciousness, all their book learning amounts to zero. Simply if they will add Krishna Consciousness to their curriculum all their endeavors will know perfection. So it is so important that we distribute our books, especially in the schools and colleges, because anyone who reads them is sure to become Krishna Conscious. So make your program in that way and Krishna will surely help you. You have got so many Tulasi plants there. Very nice. So you can grow more. Is the climate suitable for growing? Hawaii is undoubtedly suitable but St. Louis also? Anyway, it is growing, and that is mother Tulasi's great favor. Please offer my blessings to the others there. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 10:29 | Mar 24, 2006 Wednesday, March 24, 1971 Bombay My Dear John Milner, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter undated and have noted the contents. I am so glad to hear how both yourself and Harold Kanter have been working so nicely under the guidance of Gargamuni Maharaja, to push on Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's Sankirtana Movement there in Tallahassee, Florida. Now I have word that both Gargamuni Maharaja as well as Brahmananda Maharaja, have gone to Pakistan, as to my request. So who is now in charge of Tallahassee center? If there are any questions which may arise, you may correspond with Satsvarupa, the governing body representative for Southern U.S.A. and he will be able to help you. Your preaching program there sounds very encouraging and I am glad to note how you are approaching university officials, etc. with our philosophy. Go on in this way and Krishna will surely help you. The more you preach in schools and universities and distribute our books, that will be the success of our missionary propoganda. So far as your taking initiation from Brahmananda Maharaja, I have no objection, but it is the etiquette that in the presence of one's Spiritual Master, one does not accept disciples. In this connection, Swami Brahmananda may write me and I will instruct him. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 03:37 | March 24, 1971 Bombay My Dear Bhagavan das, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 16th March along with the enclosure of the letter received from Detroit City Municipality. It is very encouraging. Regarding the drug-addicted young boys and girls in your country, we can give them the best service as it is already evident from our practical movement. Most of my students were drug addicted formerly and now having taken to Krsna Consciousness, they have given up everything and rapidly progressed toward spiritual realization. There is a Vedic injunction that one has to realize Krishna nicely and then he becomes perfectly wise. Here is a good opportunity to get cooperation from the government in the matter of our Hare Krishna Movement. Our process of helping the misguided youth should remain the same. Namely, they should join the different services in the temple; chanting, dancing in ecstasy with Hare Krishna Mantra. They must be cleanly shaved, with tilak, have saffron robes, take prasadam, attend classes, chant 16 rounds of beads daily, etc. We are sure anyone who joins us will be free of all material disease including craziness and madness. Actually everyone in this material world is a crazy fellow; he doesn't know the aim of life. Even the erudite scholar doesn't know what is God or how the material world was created; so many things they do not know. So if the government officials want to take our help they must arrange for giving a nice place so we can accommodate the students concerned, according to our method. Such centers should be well equipped with temple, lecture room, sleeping quarters, kitchen, etc. as we have got everywhere. So try to convince the authorities that everyone will come to Krishna Consciousness, following our method, which is pure. Then craziness and madness will automatically disappear. This is practical welfare. So our movement should be very vigorously pushed on. But those who push must be pure; then it will be effective. I am very glad you are getting many private home kirtana engagements. That is very encouraging. If each home adopts our method, they will be happy. There is no sectarian consideration. Everyone should be interested in what is God. The more one understands about God, the more he becomes wise and ultimately he achieves the goal of his life. Here in Bombay we have arranged a weeks meeting as Sankirtana Festival and the expenditure will be nearly Rs. 100,000, but the boys who are present here are doing nicely. Probably this festival will be very successful for drawing Indians about the importance of the Sankirtana Movement. Regarding the automobile factory, that is very important news. In each and every factory if you can open a center with cooperation of the workers and the proprietor then certainly we shall make circumstances favorable for them that there will be no strike or dissension. So if you can introduce this program in factories, it will be a great achievement for our movement. Regarding BTG, I have given a loan of $20,000 by check to Dai Nippon. I have given the information to Karandhara how to liquidate the Dai Nippon debt of $52,000. So follow this principle so that we shall not give chance for damaging our credit with them. I hope that the GBC members will see to this. I am thinking of returning to U.S.A. as soon as possible. Now everything depends on Krishna. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 03:36 | March 24, 1971 Bombay My Dear Bhavananda, Please accept my blessings. The enclosed letter may be handed over to Mr. J. Mukherjee which speaks for itself. In any case we are not able to help him with passage money for returning to India. Please offer my blessings to the others. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 03:35 | March 24, 1971 Bombay My Dear Jayapataka Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. Since I have come back from Calcutta to Bombay, I have not received any letter from you, so I am very much anxious to hear from you. Here the program begins from the 25th instant and goes on until the 4th of April. After that I do not know whether I shall have to go back to Calcutta. Whether there has been any negotiation with Jabed Ali and some other man for purchasing the Mayapur land or whether you have selected any other land nearby? Mr. Mohta wanted to send me a letter regarding negotiations for purchasing his brother's house. So these things are pending. Another thing, I wrote a letter to Mr. K. K. Birla, the copy of which is enclosed herewith. If you have received any reply from him? I am awaiting your reply to the above points immediately by return of post with a report of your activities there. Acyutananda Maharaja wanted to come to Bombay during the ceremony and I think you also thought like that. I have no objection if you come here to join this ceremony, only thing is whether in your absence Calcutta work will suffer? If you come here, you can bring our dandas and umbrella which are left there with the books in storage. Another thing is that I requested Mr. Singh Roy's son to give us the whole first floor on long lease and at reduced rent. If they do so, then we shall give up the idea of purchasing a house in Calcutta. Two big apartments will be sufficient for our preaching work. We can occupy both the flats if they agree to accept Rs. 1,500 per month. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:ds letters | 03:35 | March 24, 1971 Bombay My Dear Satsvarupa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 12th February, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. It is very encouraging news to hear that we have one new center in Amherst, Mass. amidst so many prominent colleges. So the devotees there should be very actively engaged in preaching at these schools and especially introducing our literatures, as well as teaching any classes, if that is possible. We have got so many centers. Now we should concentrate on developing the existing centers nicely rather than randomly opening new ones. If a temple has to close down it is a great discredit. So we should work in such a way that all our centers may prosper. According to your letter, you should have received the new Deities by now. These big Dieties should be installed in a big throne and then the small Deities may be transferred to a smaller temple if you wish. I shall be going to _____ and if you want I shall go to Boston, also. Why not? In the meantime you can have several sets of very nice dresses prepared, ornaments, etc. and keep them ready. So far as Citsukhananda going to replace Brahmananda Maharaja (whose last report was from London, where he is raising funds for going to Karachi), I have just received one letter from him dated 3rd March, 1971 saying that he is in L.A. making final arrangements for opening Mexico City branch. So who shall go to Tallahassee? Please offer my blessings to the others. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 03:34 | Mar 23, 2006 March 23, 1971 Bombay My Dear Candanacarya, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 30th November, 1970. Please forgive this late reply but due to my travelling, much of my mail has been delayed. I have received the enclosed copies of BTG, numbers 36-38 and they are very nice. The layout made by you and the others are completely satisfactory. Thank you very much. I have again begun speaking on the tapes and very soon you will get transcribed copies of my dictaphoning for being edited and laid out for printing, chapter-wise, the fourth canto. Let the second and third cantos be finished quickly so that the fourth canto can be started. Henceforward I shall be supplying material for all cantos and you must do the rest; editing, layout, printing, etc. Such chapter-wise printing of Srimad-Bhagavatam is very suitable and convenient, so you may continue it. Also, you say that you are now distributing BTG no. 35, but I have never received an English copy, so you can send me one. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 08:16 | 23rd March, 1971 Bombay Sriman Jananivasa Das Brahmachary 318 E. Twentieth Avenue Columbus, Ohio My Dear Jananivasa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 19th February, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. I am so glad to note how things are steadily improving there in Columbus center, with new devotees coming, and that you are about to acquire a new temple in the busiest quarter of town. That is very encouraging. Maitahili Devi is coming from L.A. to act as poojari. So make the Deities and temple gorgeously situated so that the people will sure to be attracted. Because you are sincerely working, Krishna is giving you facility for improvement. So develop the temple nicely. I am glad to hear how you are lecturing in college classes also. That is very good program. Take as many such college classes as possible. You write to say that there is some difficulty in distriuting books because religious teachings are unlawful in public schools. How is that? In every university there is a department of religion. Unless they understand religion in elementary schools, what they will understand in college? Our philosophy and teachings should be studied in childhood, just after reaching five years of age. So the public is somewhat conservative and still there is some police harrassment, but you are "going on with work undaunted." That should be followed. Haridas Thakur was harassed even by corporal punishment. Jesus Christ was killed. Nityananda Prabhu was injured by Jagai and Madai. But still preaching never stopped. We are delivering the genuine goods to the human society on behalf of God, Krishna. If someone wants to check us, it is for the time being only and not permanent situation because no material circumstances can permanently hamper devotional service. Please offer my blessings to the others there. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 08:08 | Mar 21, 2006 March 21, 1971 Bombay My Dear Upendra, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 10th February and 3rd March, 1971 respectively and have noted the contents carefully. I am so glad to learn that you are having success in preaching to the younger people there in Fiji, save for the language barrier, and that by Amrtananda going there, he will ``break the ice'' with the Hindi-speaking youth. So as soon as you acquire funds, you can send his ticket to Calcutta. 3 Albert Road; Calcutta 16, INDIA. The ticket can be made out in the name of Amitava Cakravarti. So you can immediately write him in Calcutta for securing passport and whatever other papers he needs. I am also glad to hear that the tape recording in Hindi is being appreciated. If you want, I can send you more. Regarding Hindu songs, none have been recorded by me here. About the ``guru'' living next door, as well as other so-called sadhus in Fiji, why be disturbed by them? Simply go on with your preaching work with determination. Sincere people will be attracted by the purity of your message. And if that man insists on chanting Hare Rama first, what harm is there? I have received the nice photos, sent by your wife in a separate letter. Please thank her and offer her my blessings. Regarding Krishna puja, the murti may be cared for the same as other Deities, including offering of foodstuffs. All Visnu Murtis are worshipped the same. You have already got the mantra to sing: namaste nrsinghaya . . . Presently I am in Bombay. If I return to U.S.A. from here then I won't be able to come to Fiji for some time, but if I return to U.S.A. from Calcutta, surely I shall stop in Fiji first. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 08:15 | Mar 20, 2006 Saturday, March 20, 1971 Bombay My Dear Karandhara, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 13rd March, 1971, along with the invitation letters from the World Conference of Spiritual Enlightenment. It is not a very important meeting, so you can send one Sankirtana Party there. You and Dayananda can speak something also. But by that time I may be in Los Angeles. Yes, the big Deities are already shipped to Los Angeles. We must have in L.A. immediately the installation of these big Deities. As soon as I arrive, I shall install Them. Devananda has received the package with a charging cable and earphones for the Uher. Thank you very much for these. I am sorry to know that my old Uher was stolen from your office. You must always be very careful about such things. Anyway, another Uher was purchased and brought to me by Rsikumara Das. When I was in L.A. last time, I gave some instructions for the simple observation of the different kinds of holidays found in our Vaisnava calendar. Srimati Silavati had a copy at that time. So you may ask her to make a copy and send it to Srimate Maithili Dasi who has inquired how we are to observe these auspicious days in Krsna consciousness. We are now making the list of holidays for the new year of 485 Caitanya Era and when I return I can give some further hints how to observe them. Hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:ds letters | 11:30 | March 20, 1971 Bombay Sriman Madhusudana Das Bhakti Vilas (Ms Chaterjee) Vandana, 3rd Floor Flat No. 16 9th Road, T.P.S. IV Bandoa, Bombay My Dear Madusudana, Chaterjee Please accept my humble obeisances. I am so glad to receive your letter dated 15th March, 1971. I am so glad to learn that you are in Bombay and are eager to see me. I have therefore fixed up time on Tuesday at 9:00 A.M. It will be very pleasant to see you from 9:00 A.M. to 10 A.M. on the 23rd March. Thanking you once again for your kind letter. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:ds letters | 11:29 | March 20, 1971 Bombay Central Bank of India Bombay Dear Sir: With reference to your letter number 20/84, dated 2nd March, 1971, addressed to Gorakhpur, I beg to inform you that I have come back to Bombay and I am travelling all over the country. I shall therefore require to transfer money from anywhere, especially Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi, Gorakhpur, etc. Please also open an H.S.S. Account ``A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami'' and credit Rs. 229.00. Thanking you for your usual cooperation. I am, Yours faithfully, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:ds letters | 11:28 | |
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