a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
|
|
| Prabhupada Letters :: 1971 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
|
|
Jun 17, 2006 Thursday, 17 June, 1971 Bombay Delhi [To Gurudasa] STOPPING TWO HOURS DELHI EN ROUTE MOSCOW ALL DEVOTEES MEET AIRPORT SUNDAY MORNING 20TH 730 AI 515 TRY BRING KARAN SINGH OTHER VIPS TO MEET ME NOTIFY SUBAL DAS --BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI letters | 18:52 | 17 June, 1971 Bombay Sri V.D. Ravel Esqr. Calcutta My Dear Sri Ravelji, Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your three letters dated 30th May, 8th and 9th June, 1971 respectively and have noted the contents. It appears from your writings that you are a true devotee of the Lord and you have respect for other devotees. That is a very good sign of a devotee. I am very much obliged to you for your appreciation. I want your blessings also for the task taken up by me to spread this Krishna Consciousness movement all over the world. On the 20th instant I will be going to Moscow for five days, and then on to Paris and London. From there I will go directly to U.S.A. and hope to be back in Calcutta by the middle of August for opening our Mayapur temple. In the mean time you can visit our temple there at 3, Albert Road, talk with the devotees, read all our books and when I return to Calcutta, we shall talk of further enlightenment. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 18:51 | 17 June, 1971 Bombay My Dear Tamala Krishna, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 11th June, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. I am so glad to note how you are so much enthusiastic for developing the Mayapur program. So do it nicely; Caitanya Mahaprabhu will give you all facility. And surely I will go there for the function in August. I have also received word from Karandhara about the book distribution program. It is very encouraging. So our books will have to be produced in great numbers. On our own press, they can do so, provided it is economically sound proposal. They have cited the cost for maintenance at $1,500 per month. That is all right. Whatever it may be, but that amount must be covered by the originally proposed 10% of the total costs. So they must be able to produce at least $15,000 worth of books per month, and that $15,000 is at our cost, and not at face value. If they can do so each month, then economically the press operation is a sound proposal. So far as more men coming here, I have asked that Dayananda, who is desiring to come to India, lead a party of 50 to 60 men to come to India for increasing our propaganda work. So when I go there, I shall arrange for them to come. But what about their visas? Rsi Kumar has sent the information requested by you on the 11th instant. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 18:50 | 17 June, 1971 Bombay My Dear Ksirodakasayi, Please accept my blessings. Since you have left for London because of your wife's illness, I have not heard anything from you. How is your wife doing? What has been your program also? Please let me know. You will be glad to know that I will be in London to participate there in Rathayatra festival. On the 20th instant I am going to Moscow for five days and then on to Paris to visit their new temple. From there I will go directly to London, by the end of the month. So while you are there, please see to it that Rathayatra festival is nicely performed and sure to be a grand success. Please offer my blessings to your wife. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 18:45 | 17 June, 1971 Bombay My Dear Prahladananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 14th May, 1971 and have noted the contents. I am so glad to note how ISKCON Houston is making steady progress for becoming a grand success. And Sankirtana is being well received, especially at the schools and university. That is very nice. Try especially to distribute our literatures there and lecture also. These books are so much potent that anyone who reads them is sure to become Krishna Conscious. They are so nice. So we want to make propaganda in that way. And if you are enthusiastic and sincere in your efforts, then Krishna will give you all facility. So far as your questions: parching the body unnecessarily is not the desire of the Supreme Lord. So one who goes against the rules and regulations of scriptures is causing pain to the supersoul. Therefore, parching the body means parching the supersoul.; generally it is the process to simply chant and hear, but if Krishna's lila comes into remembrance, that is very good. It should come automatically. Not that you are remembering artificially. 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 | 17:52 | 17 June, 1971 Bombay My Dear Bhakta Das, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 19th May, 1971 and have noted the contents with pleasure. It is so much encouraging to note how nicely your program is going on there. In all aspects of temple life you seem to be doing so nicely and Sankirtana is being well received also. So continue your program with all enthusiasm for making ISKCON San Diego a grand success. It appears that Krishna has His blessings upon you, so continue as you are doing and you will get more blessings from Krishna. Thank you very much. And Krishna will supply you everything. If the prescribed rules and regulations are followed, then there will be no scarcity. Presently I am in Bombay and on the 20th of this month I will be going to Moscow for five days. Thereafter I will be going to Paris and London. I was wanting to go to Rathayatra festival in San Francisco, but I don't think that is possible because there are no direct flights from Moscow to California. But after the London program, I will go directly to U.S.A.; N.Y. and then L.A. Please offer my blessings to all the others. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 17:45 | Jun 16, 2006 16 June, 1971 Bombay My Dear Karandhara, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 9th June, 1971 addressed to Bombay as well as a copy of the letter addressed 3d June, 1971. Still I am here in Bombay and have not yet gone to London. My program is that on the 20th instant I will go to Moscow for five days and from there I will be going to Paris and London. I have inquired, but it doesn't seem that there are any direct flights available from Moscow to Los Angeles, so it may not be possible for me to reach San Francisco in time for Rathayatra festival. Still, if it is at all possible, I shall try my best. Otherwise I shall participate in the festival in London. You will be glad to know that I have written one letter to Dai Nippon asking that they suspend printing of Penguin series KRSNA book for the time being. And so far as the $6,000 saved up for repaying the loan of $20,000 for BTG, it may be sent to the Press for printing of Bhagavad-gita. So if the book distribution program is going so nicely, then we should produce books on our own press in great quantity. I have written Rupanuga one letter, the essence of which is that $15,000 worth of books, at our cost and not at face value, should be printed each month and distributed. Since it was formerly agreed that the press would charge 10% of the total costs for maintenance, so if $15,000 worth of books are printed then the $1,500 per month maintenance cost is taken care of. Other than that, our press operation is not economically sound proposal. But if books can be produced to the extent of $15,000 per month, then it is all right. There is no need of sending more checks. Hold on to them. What you have sent to London, I will get when I arrive there. I have received no duplicate deposit slip receipt for $660 in my account at Bank of America. It was not enclosed. You needn't come to N.Y. since I will be going directly to Los Angeles from N.Y. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 18:49 | Jun 15, 2006 Tuesday, 15 June, 1971 Bombay My Dear Citralekha, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter undated and have noted the contents. I am so glad to hear how nicely you are attending the Deity. Please continue this activity along with your other godsisters. The more you beautify the Deities, the more your heart will be beautiful and you will understand Krishna Consciousness very distinctly. Yes, the bumblebee is very much favored by Krishna and Radharani. Sometimes the bumblebee is taken as a messenger by Radharani and she rebukes the bumblebee because the bumblebee is blackish and Krishna is also blackish. Still, in spite of all rebuking, the bumblebee tried always to touch the Lotus Feet of Radharani. Therefore the bumblebee is to be offered our all reverence and respect. So please try to attract always the bumblebee by sufficiently decorating the Deity with flowers. 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 | 08:51 | 15 June, 1971 Bombay My Dear Rupanuga, Bhagavan das, and Satsvarupa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 1st June, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. The preface to the enlarged edition of Bhagavad-gita As It Is was sent to you long ago, from Australia. It was sent on 12th May, 1971 and you should have received it by now. I do not know why it is missing. So I am enclosing a second copy herewith. Regarding press matters, whatever you GBC men decide amongst yourselves I have no objection, but economically the press operation must be sound. Formerly it was contemplated that the press would charge 10% of the total costs for maintenance of the press. Maintenance cost is $1,500 per month. So that means $15,000 worth of books must be produced each month. And this $15,000 is our cost, not the face value of the books. So if you can produce books in this manner, then it is all right. But past experience has proved otherwise. It appears that Dai Nippon quoted for Bhagavad-gita $23,000. and ISKCON Press quoted $20,000. So $3000 difference. But if the book fund has to maintain the press expenditure by $1,500 per month and the printing takes two years, then what becomes the total cost of Bhagavad-gita As It Is? I think the book fund can maintain only 10% of the books produced. That will be economical. Otherwise, whatever GBC members decide, I have nothing to disagree with. But economically the existing proposal is not very sound. Books must be produced to the extent of $15,000 per month and then it is all right. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 08:50 | 15 June, 1971 Bombay My Dear Svarupa, Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your letter dated 8th June, 1971 and very generous contribution of $50 on the event of your marriage to Susan O'Neil. So now you are married in Krishna Consciousness; that is very nice. But sometimes married life is risky business because being attracted by the wife, one forgets Krishna. But if both the husband and wife remember Krishna, then their householder life becomes Vaikuntha. Our acharya Bhaktivinode Thakura was the perfect householder and we should take his example. How nice a householder he was and how nice children he produced; one of them is my Guru Maharaja. That is the example. So follow it and become successful in Krishna Consciousness. Please offer my blessings to your good wife Susan. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACS/adb letters | 08:48 | Jun 12, 2006 Saturday, June 12, 1971 Bombay TO: Mukunda, Nara Narayana, Jeffrey, Lan, Mandakini, Aditi, Tribhuvanatha, Jaya Hari, Sananda Kumara, Vivienne, Neville, Nicolas, Charlie, Serena, Rancor, Pratajas, Phillip, Jill, Nigel, James, Devadatta, Draupadi, Dhruvananda, Devaki, John, Jim, Greg, Jaya Jagadisa, John. My Dear Sons and Daughters, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you very much for your very kind letters post dated 2nd June, 1971. You will be glad to know that very soon I am coming to London, and will be there for participating in the Rathayatra festival also. On the 20th June I will be going to Moscow for five days. From there I will go to Paris to see their new temple and from Paris I am going directly to London, by the end of this month. You write to say that you are expecting 50,000 people to participate in the festival this year. That is very encouraging. So all of you work very fervently to make the festival a grand success and Krishna will surely bless each and every one of you. I am going there to London and Syamasundara. and Aravinda are going with me and probably Hamsaduta and his wife will also come. Hoping this will meet you all in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 08:49 | June 12, 1971 Bombay My Dear Yogesvara, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 27th June, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. Very soon I shall be coming to Europe. On the 20th June I will be going to Moscow for five days and from there I will go to Paris and then London. At that time I may come and see your press also. You write to describe me as a loving servant of the Lord. If you believe me so, then kindly help me in my service. That will help both of us. I want your cooperation fully. Lord Caitanya, although Krishna Himself, appealed to His friends and helpers to help Him in His mission and what to speak of me; I am just an ordinary human being. So I need your help. I have just received a very favorable report from Mandali Bhadra. He is a very nice boy, so work cooperatively with him and let us all serve Krishna. Very soon I shall see you all and give you further instructions. Yes, these children's books are very important because our next program is to start children's schools in all our centers. We want to train all children from the beginning of life in Krishna Consciousness. In Bombay there is very good prospect for such children's school. So many children come to arati, take prasadam and are liking to look at our books also. So it is a good opportunity for preaching our mission. So we have to adjust things. Everything is important. Not that we have to do something at the expense of something else. I cannot say from here what is to be given preference. That depends on your management capacity. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 08:48 | June 12, 1971 Bombay My Dear Sudama, Please accept my blessings. Just recently I have received one very interesting letter from Damari Toshio Inove and the reply to his letter is enclosed herewith. His letter I am sending to Satsvarupa and he may publish it in Back To Godhead. Here is a boy who was about to commit suicide, but he came to Krishna instead and now he is perfecting his life. That is most encouraging news. So now this boy is working with you cooperatively; train him up nicely and give him all guidance. Any questions that you cannot answer may be referred to me. Krishna has sent you a sincere soul to help out there. So together work very hard to develop New Gaya and more devotees will come. Simply you must be patient and depend on Krishna, and He will give you all facility. Presently I am in Bombay and on the 20th of this month I will go to Moscow for five days. From there I go to Paris and then London for Rathayatra festival. After the festival I will return to U.S.A.; N.Y. and then L.A. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 08:47 | June 12, 1971 Bombay My Dear Satsvarupa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you very much for your letter dated 28th May, 1971 and have noted the contents. You should know that you are always with me. I am always thinking of you and your service. So there is no question of you being separated from me at any time. And you will be glad to know that very soon I am coming to Boston for installing the Deities. Recently I am in Bombay and will be leaving for Moscow on the 20th instant. I shall remain there for five days and from there go Paris and London, where I will participate in the Rathayatra festival. Yes, Dr. Bigelow has appreciated my article and admitted in his letter that ``You people in India are so much further ahead in matters of this kind then those of us in the Western world.'' (letter dated 16th February, 1971) There has been no further correspondence with him in this regards. So if you wish you may publish my letter and his short reply is given above. So far as publishing songs in BTG, I have translated two or three songs of Narottama Dasa Thakura only but if you like, I can send you more songs and ideas. I have sent some poems by our disciples here along the line of Narottama Dasa Thakura's songs. Do you like them enough to publish? I have not received any check for beads for the ten devotees recommended by you for initiation, but they may be initiated when I go there personally. Concerning Brahmananda, I have received one telegram from Karachi and he has asked my permission to come here and I have consented. So he should be coming to Bombay very soon. Just recently I have received one letter from Jadurani and she is doing nicely. I have seen the pictures printed by her and her assistants and they are very nice. She is serious about you being fully engaged in Krishna Consciousness and I have given her advice in this connection. I am enclosing one letter from a new boy in Japan. He was going to commit suicide but came to Krishna instead. This may make an interesting topic for BTG in the new type of article you described in your last letter. Please offer my blessings to the others there. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 08:46 | Jun 11, 2006 Friday, June 11 , 1971 Bombay My Dear Gurudasa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your two letters dated 31st May; and 2nd June respectively and have noted the contents. So far as Gorakhpur business is concerned, I think that you are in touch with Tamala about this matter. Anyway, Dr. Rao has agreed to give up his administrative position. So Adipurusa (Govinda Banka) or Durdaivanasana (Mr. Chopra) may be given charge of the administrative business to develop that center. Dr. Rao should be given wholly for translating work. The Vrindaban press affair does not sound very encouraging so you should not try to open press in Vrindaban; it is a losing concern. Better try to open a center in Delhi because the dharmasala is already open to us and can be permanently gotten if we open a center there. Sada Jiwat Lal saw me the other day and he said that on some nominal condition of say Rs 1/- per year, they will give the dharmasala for a Radha Krishna temple. Hansaraj Gupta, the mayor of Delhi, is friendly and he can help also, so take this dharmasala and open a center there. Also I heard that Dalmia is willing to give us his place in Vrindaban. Take it. Recently I have asked Karandhara to send another 50 to 60 men here, under the leadership of Dayananda. So we want to keep at least 100 men here in India for preaching. The people are appreciating our movement, so there is great potential. Bombay life membership program is very encouraging. Just yesterday they made eight life members and are averaging three daily. So if we make all over India the example that the leading persons in Bombay are becoming our life members, then all the influential and important people will become our life members, all over the country. Millions of life members can be made. And they are liking our books. So it is a good program. Besides that, these festivals are also very good programs. So if we do so in every city and distribute our books also, this movement will be top in India. So consider the fact and do the needful. Regarding Dr. Sharma's point that the books are not for sale in India, the reply is that we brought thousands of books here and they have already been distributed to our members and it is still going on. So the excess can be sold to government institutions for helping our movement here in India. If necessary, you may take permission for this. So far as Indira Gandhi attending the function, we shall accept a day according to her convenience and we shall hold the function on her arrival. That is my desire. I think your wife and Giriraja have already gone to Delhi to help you in this connection. Please offer them my blessings. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 08:45 | June 11 , 1971 Bombay, India My Dear Kanupriya, Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your letter dated 26 Madhusudana, 485 Caitanya Era and I have noted the contents carefully. It is so much encouraging to hear how nicely things are going on there in Trinidad and Guyana also. And the people are appreciating the purity of our teachings. Gradually they will appreciate such teachings more and more, simply if we stick to our principles. Still there is much demigod puja, but you should quote from Bhagavad-gita that Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, says that less intelligent men worship the demigods and the result of such worship is not permanent. Krishna Consciousness is permanent, and the living entities are also permanent. So instead of wasting their time worshipping the demigods, everyone should take to Krishna Consciousness. Your plan for not remaining in one place, but rotating every two weeks for engagements is very good idea, so do it nicely. And Krishna is giving you so much facility. So you can immediately open a very nice center there in Trinidad in that newly donated building and I may go there personally with Deities for installation also. So if they are donating the house and land, I am prepared to go there to accept the donation. Petambar Dindayal and Dr. Balwant Singh have both invited me to go there, so if you have been donated house and land, then I can go there without hesitation. Yes, you should get ISKCON registered as an official religious organization. Do it seriously. Then we will be eligible for government assistance. That is very nice. So you organize it and make a very first class center there and very soon I will come and install Deity. You will be glad to know that I have consented to accept your good wife as my duly initiated disciple and have given her the name Caitanya Devi Dasi. Her beads and letter are enclosed herewith. So now both of you, husband and wife, work cooperatively and make ISKCON Trinidad a grand success. Please offer my blessings to Vaikunthanatha and Saradia and ask them to write me and let me know of their activities in Guyana. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 08:45 | June 11 , 1971 Bombay, India My Dear Caitanya Dasi, Please accept my blessings. Upon the recommendation of your good husband Kanupriya Prabhu, I have gladly accepted you as my duly initiated disciple. I have given you the spiritual name Caitanya Devi Dasi. Please find your beads, enclosed herewith and duly changed on by me. I am so pleased to hear how you, husband and wife, are doing so nicely in Trinidad. I can see that the response to your preaching work has been very good. You will be glad to know that I have told Kanupriya that if they are willing to make a donation of that house and land, then I'm prepared to go there with Deity and make the installation. So you should see to it that the trinidad center becomes a grand success. So you must give your good husband all assistance so that he can do things nicely. that is you duty. As his wife, you are his better half and it is your duty to help him in every way possible. So first of all you must keep yourself fit in Krishna Consciousness. the means are simple. Strictly follow the regulative principles, regularly chant at least 16 rounds of beads daily, and without fail; read all our books and discuss them with your husband; go out for preaching regularly. In this way always keep engaged in Krishna's service with enthusiasm and faith in Krishna, and He will give you all facility for developing Trinidad center very nicely. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 08:44 | |
|
|
