a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1971 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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Sep 2, 2006 Thursday, 2 September, 1971 London My Dear Sivananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 29th August, 1971 and have noted the contents. Vanaprastha asrama can be taken even in the presence of the wife. Not that because your wife has left you have to take vanaprastha. That depends on your choice. In one sense if your wife has actually left you it is a blessing. Better to prepare yourself for sannyasa rather than vanaprastha. Nara Narayana Rsi is there but you will not be able to find him. If there is the possibility of regular worship then you can install Jagannatha Deity. Otherwise don't do it. Not that there should be a repeat of the situation in Hamburg that the Deities were taken away. Unless there is solid temple arrangement I don't advise you to install the Deity. Deity installation means regular worship without fail and for good. Just like in Jagannatha Puri. That temple was established over thousand of years ago and it is still going on. Always they have prasadam ready for at least a thousand people and bhoga is offered 56 times in a day. Please offer my blessings to the others. Hoping this will meet you all in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 08:45 | 2 September, 1971 London My Dear Madhudvisa Swami, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 22nd August, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. There is some contemplation for my going to Africa on my way to India so if that settlement is made then I shall go there for a few days and then come to Bombay. If no settlement is made then I am coming directly to Bombay and I shall let you know the date later on. Regarding the Amersey house, whether they want some money under the table? If so, that money will be paid here. We cannot pay anything under the table in India because we have to keep proper accounts. When I saw Mrs. Amersey, she said that her son is in London. So is it a fact? If so, why not her son sees me here? Jayapataka Swami has made a trial balance and balance sheet of Calcutta branch. So whether you are also doing like that? Why don't you take the opinion of our life members whether we should go outside Bombay like Chembur or Santa Cruz? In Santa Cruz there is a nice house for sale. Similarly we can get a place in Chembur for a nominal price only. But I do not think that outside Bombay city will be acceptable by you all. I also think in that way, that outside Bombay it will be not so gorgeous. The Nepeansy Road apartment is also good, so if possible why not send me a descriptive chart of the apartment. Yes, make the arrangement for attracting the younger section. They will like to hear logical philosophy. But generally the younger section in India are spoiled. They still hope to improve their economic condition. So far going to Madras, I have already sent my decision on the 24th August along with a copy of the letter I wrote to Dr. Bali. I hope you have received it by now. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 07:48 | 2 September, 1971 London My Dear Gargamuni Swami, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 25th August, 1971 and have noted the contents. I hope you have received my last letter dated 27th August, 1971 and Bali Mardan and Madhavananda should have arrived there by now. Also I have asked that Jayapataka send at least 25 complete sets of books there immediately so you should be receiving them soon. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 07:47 | 2 September, 1971 London My Dear Jagadisa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 27th August, 1971 and I thank you very much for the same. It is very much encouraging to hear that you have opened one center in Ottawa and soon will start another in London, Ontario. You have got complete capacity to spread this Krishna Consciousness movement. That is a fact. So work enthusiastically and with patience and your attempt will be successful by the grace of Krishna. And continue this door to door program. It is very nice. Lord Nityananda used to do that; Haridasa Thakura used to do that; all of Lord Caitanya's close associates used to do that. So we must follow in their footprints. Please offer my blessings to the others there. Hoping this will meet you all in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 07:47 | 2 September, 1971 London My Dear Jayapataka Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 25th August, 1971 along with trial balance and balance sheet but I do not follow the debit and credit side. Generally debit side means receiver's side and credit side means payer's side. Apart from that I could not follow what are the following accounts: Temple maintenance a/c (Does this include purchasing of flowers and incense?); Devotee maintenance account; Typewriter a/c; O.P.P.S a/c; B.D.D. Expenses a/c. So I will be glad to know if you will kindly explain what are these accounts. For purchasing the Mayapur land I issued one check from the building fund for Rs 18,000/- as well as one for Rs 3,000/- and also for the fencing I issued one check for Rs 5,000/-. I don't see any mention of that Rs 26,000/- in the trial balance. So what does it mean? Regarding the Mayapur flood you have not mentioned what is the depth of the water on our land and what is the condition of our cottage there. Please let me know. And keep Rahul there in Calcutta and affectionately so that he may not go away again. Gargamuni Swami has written from Kathmandu (c/o American Consulate General Kathmandu, Nepal) as follows: "Recently I have also taken orders for your books from Indian and American libraries and also stores, 10 sets combined. So I need to have books sent immediately." Therefore you should immediately send at least 25 sets complete of books to Gargamuni at the above-given address. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. Whenever our men go to visit Lalita Prasad Thakura they must take some presentation, cash or kind, worth not less than Rs. 50/- at least. Some nice presentation should be always given. Not that you go empty handed. It is customary to make a presentation to the Deity and Spiritual Master. Lalita Prasad Thakura is son of Bhaktivinode Thakura and younger brother of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati so he is considered my spiritual master. ACBS/adb letters | 07:46 | Sep 1, 2006 Wednesday, 1 September, 1971 London My Dear Damodara, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 28th August, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. It is good news that Ocean City temple, started by Baltimore and Washington centers as a summer project, has succeeded and even one devotee has come from there also. And BTG distribution is solving all financial difficulties there in Washington. So go on selling them vigorously. Sankirtana and BTG distribution are our backbone for preaching and all other things are secondary. If you can distribute one BTG you go forward one step for our preaching advancement, what to speak of distributing our books also. So do it enthusiastically and Krishna will bless you more and more. So far your film projects are concerned, the one consideration is that the management of Washington temple doesn't suffer, but rather is actually improving its position. If that is the case and you can somehow or other find the time, then I have no objection if you take up this film-making business. No doubt there could be some positive propaganda work done in this direction. But you are in charge of that center, so do not neglect your duty. Please offer my blessings to your good wife Mriganetri and child Gulab Dasi as well as Tosana Krishna and all the others there. Hoping this will meet you all in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 07:45 | 1 September, 1971 London My Dear Gurudasa, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 26th August, 1971 and have noted the contents. So far Indira Gandhi is concerned, I have replied that point in Tamala's letter enclosed. If you can arrange one meeting between her and myself that will be very nice. Regarding Regent's Park, if Dr. K. Singh is a friend of Lord Mountbatten, he should write him one letter that we are a bona fide society, etc. and that we shall be calling upon him in the near future to help us in locating some land in London, and that he should please assist us in every way possible. His address is as follows: Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbatten of Burma; c/o Mrs. Bachmann; Broadlands; Romsey; Hampshire 505 920/England Ksirodakasayi will be reaching there by the middle of September. Your attempt for a pandal program sounds very encouraging. You are experienced now so I know that you will do it expertly. Thank you very much. Radio and television appearances are very nice. Also you can arrange for local house to house meetings for all your party. That will be nice program. Please offer my blessings to Yamuna and all the others there. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 07:44 | 1 September, 1971 London My Dear Sukhada Devi Dasi, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 26th August, 1971 and I thank you very much for your kindly appreciations. Also I have received your generous check for $50 as daksina. You are such a sincere and intelligent girl and if you will just stick to our principles you are sure to make rapid advancement in this Krishna Consciousness. So work cooperatively with Satsvarupa and the others and help to make all of Boston city Krishna Conscious. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 07:44 | 1 September, 1971 London My Dear Vrindaban Candra, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 28th August, 1971 and have noted the contents. I am very much anxious to know about your wife. I hope that she is doing well after that accident. Please offer her my blessings. Regarding your returning to college, I have sent the case to Karandhara Prabhu and he will decide on the matter locally. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 07:43 | 1 September, 1971 London My Dear Tamala Krishna, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 26th August, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. I am glad that you have admitted about the GBC members not very appropriately discharging their duty. I do not mind this discrepancy but you should be alert; you and all GBC members. We are now growing in volume all over the world dealing with public money. People have respect for our movement. Now it is time for GBC members to be very very careful so that people may not point out any black spot in the behavior of our society. I have issued a letter to all the GBC members only for this purpose that each one of you should always think how to improve the cause and advance our society and as soon as there is some good point you can communicate with your colleagues and give some decision and put it before me so that I can give my final approval. So you should not remain for a moment without thought of improving ISKCON activity. So far you are concerned, being the zonal secretary of that quarter of the world, your duty is to see that all our different centers within your jurisdiction must be going very accurately. The accounts are not being kept very scientifically and if there is extravagant spending that should be changed. We should simply accept the bare necessities of life. The balance money and energy should be employed for pushing forward Krishna's mission. I have seen the rough trial balance in which it is stated that about Rs 13,000/- was spent for travelling expenditure. Of course you are all sons of big rich Americans so it may not be very big amount for you but we poor Indians, to us it is a shocking amount. In our childhood with my father I used to walk 10 miles to save a ticket of 5 paise on the tram car. So we are trained up in that way. Of course it was a very pleasant morning walk. So I wish to know how this big amount was spent for travelling expenditure. You must be very careful in the future. If we have spent Rs 13,000/- for local travelling in Calcutta, then why not purchase a car? One can be gotten for Rs 20,000/- only. So how these things happen? It is your responsibility as zonal secretary. Besides that you are supposed to be one of the members of the book trust but in your presence the book fund money is being eaten up. So we have to rectify all these processes. I know it very well that you are all sincere workers but still it is my duty to point out the discrepancies. In Delhi however I hope you will do things very nicely from the very beginning. Whatever mistakes you have committee. in other centers may not be repeated in Delhi. Regarding Indira Gandhi, I have already pointed out to you all that she cannot attend the function on political reasons. Anyway I am very glad to learn that she is sympathetic at least about our movement and she is inquiring about me also; that is very nice. You are planning now for a meeting between ourselves. That is also very good and if Indira Gandhi gives me a little time for giving a patient hearing to the importance of our movement and tries to understand the philosophy of this movement you can immediately fix up some date for an appointment according to her convenience and I shall keep that appointment at any rate. Our movement is not any local movement. It is for the total human society. It is most authorized on the principles of Bhagavad-gita and affirmed by Lord Caitanya and all the big acaryas. So we have got every confidence on this movement for the peaceful situation of the whole world. Our aim is one God, one religion, one people, one activity, everything one. Practically it is happening also, so we can help the leaders of the society if they are sincere in the attempt to unify all the nations under the name of United Nations. So you can try to fix up an appointment time for this important meeting. Yes, arrange for Hindi BTG. I am expecting your quotation. The following are going to Delhi from here: Tejyas and his wife Madira; Palika and Dinadayadri have gone there yesterday. So far Mayapur is concerned, as soon as the rains stop then we shall start our work. Regarding collections, all this collection must go to the building fund. Now we have got good beginning. R.D. Birla has given Rs 25,000/; B.M. Birla another Rs 25,000/ and Bajoria will contribute also. In this way if you simply catch 100 contributors each paying Rs 25,000/ then immediately our Mayapur scheme is successful. To find out such 100 men will not be at all difficult because it is headed by Birla and others will follow. So we have to pick them out throughout India--Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi and Madras. If we spend 25 to 30 lakhs Rupees then our Mayapur program will be a great success. So we have to do it. It will be a world center for teaching spiritual life. Students from all over the world will come and we shall revolutionize the atheistic and communistic tendency of rascal philosophers. So we must be responsible for this great task. Not for a single moment shall we be without ISKCON thought. That is my request to you all. So far maintenance, we should make some monthly subscribers of cash or goods. Just like Goenka is giving foodstuffs, so many others can do the same. A little pocket expenditure can be collected by holding meetings. All the Gaudiya math people collect rice from house to house. Actually the temple should be provided by the local contribution of cash and kind. So far Mr. Jayan, I met him in Calcutta and he appears to be bona fide and we shall get money exchanged through him. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 07:42 | Aug 31, 2006 Tuesday, 31 August, 1971 London My Dear Vamanadeva, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 24th August, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. Your program of travelling in a van from town to town and distributing our books and literatures and having street Sankirtana sounds very encouraging, so you can go ahead and do it with my full approval. So if the management of St. Louis temple will be maintained nicely then you can go ahead. The small Deity of Caitanya Mahaprabhu can go with you on tour. That will be nice. This touring program, going from town to town with Sankirtana party and distributing our literatures is our real program. So do it enthusiastically and with determination and surely Caitanya Mahaprabhu will bless you more and more. Please offer my blessings to your wife Indira and son Jagannatha. Hoping this will meet you all in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 15:32 | 31 August, 1971 London My Dear Ekayani, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 20th August, 1971 and have noted the contents. In spite of all your faults you will go to Vaikuntha because you are a great devotee. Don't create some abnormal condition. Please go back to your husband and live peacefully and execute Krishna Consciousness together. He will also not take sannyasa order out of frustration. You are an intelligent girl and an advanced student. You should know that our main business is Krishna Consciousness. So fighting between husband and wife is not to be taken very seriously. So if you have any respect for me, I request you not to quarrel with your husband. Live peacefully, chant Hare Krishna and try to serve the cause as best as possible. I am very glad that your mother is also taking interest in Krishna Consciousness. That is very good. As you have to leave Boston very soon it is better that you go immediately to N.Y. and live peacefully with your husband. That is my order. I hope you will not disobey me. So far your questions: Any tune can be used. When it is in relationship with Krishna, that makes it bona fide; Some precautionary measure should be taken to keep bugs from the altar and Deity. You cannot allow them to disturb the Deity. Best is that you try and catch them and throw them out rather than kill them but if killing them is the only alternative, what can be done? Tulasi plants are liberated souls who want to serve Krishna in that way. Anyone who even desires to serve Krishna is liberated, what to speak of one who is actually engaged in devotional service; expansion means remains in Goloka Vrindaban and at the same time expands all over the universe. Krishna can expand, so his devotee can also expand. Vallabhacaryas teachings are bona fide. This difference of opinion is there always. Just like you differ with your husband, but that doesn't mean that you and your husband are not devotees. In the spiritual sky there is no birth, so where is the question of baby? Krishna is there eternally as Kisora, a 16 year old youth. His childhood pastimes exhibited in the material universes. Best thing is if you chant Hare Krishna and go to Krishna Loka and find out the answers to all these questions yourself. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 15:31 | 31 August, 1971 London My Dear Abhirama, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 27th August, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. Your proposal to open centers in South America by your "floating ISKCON temple"* is very much encouraging to me, so if it is possible then certainly you have my blessings. You must make sure, though, that the management of our Baltimore temple is going on very nicely. Once that has been settled up you can make plans accordingly. Hayagriva Prabhu is the GBC representative for that part of the globe so you can consult with him and others in this connection. I once had a dream like this; that we would have a moving temple on the water, going from town to town. So you are making that dream come true. Thank you very much. Do it nicely and maybe I will come and join you also. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami *wherefrom you propose to purchase this boat? P.S. The boat should be purchased new rather than used. ACBS/adb letters | 15:30 | 31 August, 1971 London My Dear Hamsaduta, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your two letters dated 27th and 28th August, 1971 respectively and have noted the contents. In one letter you decide to close Hamburg center and in the next letter you change your decision. So my decision is that, at any cost, Hamburg center must be maintained and you cannot go to nightclubs. Going to nightclubs will deteriorate the quality of our transcendental chanting. Please do not do this. Stick to Hamburg temple and maintain it somehow or other. Of course touring from city to city is nice program, but not in the clubs. Our only program should be having Sankirtana on the streets and if somebody calls then at the home, and we should distribute our literatures. You say that there is a very good demand for Isopanisad, German edition, so why not stress on selling this book and maintain in that way? And if it is a burden that the rent of the temple is too high then you can reduce the size of the temple and Himavati may be fixed up for worshiping the Deity. So make your plans accordingly. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 15:29 | Aug 30, 2006 30 August, 1971 London To Whom It May Concern: This is to certify that Sriman Bhagavan das Adhikari is an ordained minister in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, of the title Bhakti-sastri, and fully qualified to instruct on Krishna Consciousness and Vedic literature in general. He has been studying under me for many years and is one of my foremost disciples. Yours sincerely, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 15:29 | Aug 27, 2006 Friday, 27 August, 1971 London My Dear Himavati, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 26th August, 1971 and have noted the contents. Please don't be worried at all. I shall never give your husband sannyasa order. There is no special meaning for giving your husband sannyasa order because I know that both of you are more than sannyasi. So don't be worried at all. Live peacefully, husband and wife and develop our Hamburg center very nicely. Always be engaged in serving the Deity; nice dress, nice jewelry, nice prasadam. Let Hamsaduta go for Sankirtana and take care of him. Your husband is one of my most foremost disciples. His life is very important, so take care of him nicely; that is your duty. He should live healthfully and peacefully, so see to it. That is my request. And together you should develop Hamburg center very nicely. There is certainly enough work there now. For your hair you can try a little castor oil. So far the milk fast, if possible you can observe it. But these things are not so important. For preaching work we have to make so many adjustments. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 15:28 | 27 August, 1971 London My Dear Gurudasa, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 23d August, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. Anyway you have got some shelter in the dharmasala. In the meantime if you can find some good place in Delhi that will be nice. But you should organize Delhi center very nicely. Do not bother about Indira Gandhi. I think that for some political reason she cannot join our movement. I have already written Tamala that I shall find some nice Vaisnava to do it, or else myself. So now your duty is to organize Delhi center and if possible hold a meeting there like in Bombay and Calcutta at the Gandhi maidan. So far London temple is concerned, things are going on here very nicely under the supervision of Dayananda Prabhu who is appointed treasurer and Tribhuvanatha as president. I may go to Africa and then come back to India. You are in India so do not think of coming back here. Also there will be no GBC meeting. It is not necessary. So stay there and develop things nicely. Tamala said that there is so much potential for preaching in India and that is a fact. Later on we can send more men there also. So you remain as president of Delhi and Ksirodakasayi when he goes there, can be the treasurer and Subala Maharaja as secretary. When Ksirodakasayi goes there I shall send one letter with him to you and you can do accordingly. So work combinedly to push on this movement. At the present please see Dalmia about the two pairs of Deities that are long overdue from them. The fact is that Birla from Calcutta donated four pair brass Deities and Dalmia one pair brass Deity. Out of that, three pair we have received and two are still due. So these Deities should be immediately collected and delivered to Bombay for dispatching to Paris and other places. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 15:27 | 27 August, 1971 London My Dear Gargamuni Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 18th August, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. As per your request I have immediately sent one brahmacari, Madhavananda Das, there to assist you. He is just now on his way to Delhi and then will go on to Nepal immediately. So he should be reaching there very soon. Please receive him at the air station. He is going via Delhi and also in Delhi there is Bali Mardan, so I have asked Bali Mardan to go to Nepal along with Madhavananda for some time also. If things are going on nicely there then we can send some more men later on but first of all try with these two men. Hold kirtanas, distribute prasadam and hold discourses and I am sure that this process will soften the hard stone. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. Brahmananda Maharaja's address is as follows: c/o ISKCON (c/o B. Pankaj) P.O. Box no. 81265 Mombassa, Kenya East Africa ACBS/adb letters | 15:26 | 27 August, 1971 London My Dear Satsvarupa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 24th August, 1971 and have noted the contents. So far your travelling throughout the south, particularly Atlanta center, I have no objection. Just so long there is someone competent to look after Boston temple. If you think Harer Nama can manage all right, that is nice. Yes, you should try and develop a headquarters there in the Southern zone, just like L.A. in the West or N.Y. in the East. That will be very nice. I have just received one letter from Mohanananda in Dallas and he wants to purchase a very large property very much suitable for our purpose. He also proposes to have an acredited school there for the society children. All this he wants to develop in conjunction with the country asrama there. He is very enthusiastic for it. So you should encourage him and if his plans are feasible then perhaps Dallas would be the most suitable headquarters for the Southern zone. So you can discuss the matter with Mohanananda, Karandhara and the others and do the needful. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 15:25 | |
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