a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1971 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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Dec 22, 2006 Wednesday, 22 December, 1971 Bombay My Dear Yamuna devi & Palika devi dasis, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of Dec. 9, 1971 & of your letters hand-delivered by Dravida das from Vrindaban. I am very glad to learn that you are both recovering your physical health & enjoying the transcendental atmosphere of Vrindaban city. I've now come to Bombay, so wherever you remain you don't forget our routine work and hold kirtana at least twice daily, morning & evening. Kirtana is our life & soul, so we must be very concerned to have it no matter where we are and no matter what circumstances are there. So far that land, the Mayor has promised, so you both also try for it & let me know what is their program. That P. Saraf who also lives in Vrindaban ___ can be given. I've already instructed Gargamuni & Subala in this matter, so you see them & help try to secure some land. Lalita Prasad says that I have ordered 20 sets of deities, but I wanted him to show me & he didn't show me. So I did not order. Do not confirm this order. I think that Palika dasi may join her husband, Bhavananda, in Calcutta as soon as she recovers her health, & she may help him there organize things very nicely for celebrating our festival in Mayapur from middle Feb. to end Feb, & she may help organize Calcutta center as nicely as they have done in New York. As for Yamuna, she may rejoin her good husband, Gurudasa, in Delhi for pushing on our program there & making many life-members. I shall be very pleased to hear that you have gotten well & that you have both returned to your duties. It is only because Krishna has somehow or other given me such assistants as yourselves that I have got any success I appreciate your helping me in this way, you are more dear to me than my own daughters. Here in Bombay we have got good prospects to purchase very large land in Juhu for even, cheap price, just in the middle of a neighborhood. We shall build our camp there & begin constructing temple immediately, & later on we shall develop large hotel & school. There is also chance for getting a nice bungalow in Bombay city also. So in general we shall make our headquarters in Bombay, & build up Vrindaban and Mayapur, that's all. I will take care of everything, you just give me two life-members daily in India, & I shall do the rest. I hope this will meet you both in good health & cheerful mood. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 06:16 | 22 December, 1971 Bombay My Dear Upendra, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of December 12, 1971, and I am pleased to hear from you. I have received yesterday one phone call from Mohanananda in Sydney, inviting me to come there when I leave from here in March. I shall be very glad to come there, via Hong Kong. You should make arrangements for two tickets from Hong Kong to Australia and then to Tokyo. I am encouraged to hear from you that Melbourne Temple is even better than Sydney Temple, so I must surely come there to see it. Go on like this, transcendental rivalry, just like San Francisco and Los Angeles, this pleases me very much. But it is not that we are envious! No, material envy is not like that. Even the gopis, they were envious of one another, in a transcendental sense. They were thinking, Oh, she has attracted Krishna more than me, that is very nice, she has given Him more pleasure than me, now let me try more to please Him. That is the process, how to improve in Krishna Consciousness. I shall be glad to install the murtis when I shall come there. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your wife, Citralekha, is in Vrindaban recovering her health, but I think that she will be returning there soon. Her address is c/o Saraf Bhawan, opp. Vidya Pith College Vrindaban, (Dist. Mathura), U.P. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda letters | 06:15 | 22 December, 1971 Bombay My Dear Sridama, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 10, 1971, and I have noted the contents with great pleasure. I am especially very very pleased that you are getting that large church for our Miami center. All over the world we are getting more respectable and we are getting big big houses for our Radha Krishna Temples, but if yours is the biggest, then I must certainly come there and see it. If the weather is good, then why I should come there and spend some time for my translating work? I think this will be my last tour--now let me go on translating, that is my real work. I am so much encouraged by reports everywhere that our Movement is getting good results, especially that MacMillan Co. has agreed to print our Bhagavad-gita As It Is, so I think my work is now finished, let me write. I have built the skyscraper skeleton, now you all intelligent American and European boys and girls fill in the spaces nicely in good taste. Do not deviate from our high standard. That will mean great dishonor to me. Push on in your preaching work as I have shown you, remain pure, enthusiastic, and optimistic, and Krishna will favor you with all good results and benedictions. I am very much encouraged by your considerable efforts in Miami center, especially that you have even converted the lawyer who is helping you! This is a good sign. If everything goes nicely, then I can come there by late Spring to see your wonderful new place. I hope this will meet you in good health and lively mood, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda letters | 06:15 | 22 December, 1971 Bombay My Dear Nayanabhirama, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of December 8, 1971, and I have noted the contents with pleasure. I am especially pleased to hear that our KC drama program is being developed by you nicely. We have got unlimited stock for such dramas, so go on in this way, improving more and more, and Krishna will give you direction so that one day, very soon, your all dreams will come true and you will be acting our KC dramas on the Broadway. Everyone enjoys play-acting, only there is at present a dearth of proper material for elevating the general mass of people to the proper standards. Practically, the whole world is going to hell. There is no decency, no gentleman anywhere. So we have to portray to the people of this fallen Age of Kali-yuga what is the right standard for their behavior. When they see that, Oh, here is such nice activity, such nice people, they will automatically become changed, simply we have to engage their senses in the right taste. So this drama-playing is very good presentation for attracting their attention and displaying Krishna Consciousness very beautifully. Make everything very simple, without too much fancy costumes, and the real message will come out very nicely. I am encouraged to hear from you that our Delhi pandal festival was seen on TV in America and other places. We can become famous for such shows, and at the same time utilize them for giving people good information about what is the real goal of life and how to achieve it. So in combination with the others you go on thinking how to improve these KC plays and dramas and how to give the public more and more of Krishna Consciousness. That is real preaching work. I hope this will meet you in good health, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda letters | 06:14 | 22 December, 1971 Bombay My dear Balavanta, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your two letters dated September 24, 1971, and November 22, 1971, and I have noted the contents with great pleasure. I am especially pleased that you are infiltrating the schools and colleges with improved programs, how to encourage the student class to participate in Krishna Consciousness. I completely approve of this program. I am also glad to hear from you how the distribution of literatures is also improving. That is the real meaning of improvement. The material scientists are fond of always improving this or that, but factually we see there is no real improvement. As soon as one trouble is eliminated, another is there. If we have cars to go faster and faster, then where are the roads for it, and so many people are killed. But real improvement means how to please Krishna more and more. That is real advancement, real progress. Actually, because you have surrendered to Krishna, you are already perfect. But it is just like the ocean; we can swim forever and never reach the shore. Similarly, there is no limit to perfection--we may go on improving more and more, and still there is no limit to how much we may please Krishna, just like for the materialist there is no limit to how much Maya can kick us! We should always be enthusiastic to try for shooting the rhinoceros. That way, if we fail, everybody will say Never mind, nobody can shoot a rhinoceros anyway, and if we succeed, then everyone will say, Just see, what a wonderful thing they have done. So if you are determined in this way to expand the Atlanta Temple, then you can try for it by begging for the protection of Krishna. Consult Satsvarupa your GBC man in this regard. Yes, it is a very good proposal that you should run for Mayor in Atlanta. I very much approve of this plan. We should always set the perfect example of Krishna Conscious person in all fields of activities, why not in politics? Let the people see you as the ideal politician engaged in real programs for the [TEXT MISSING] February. Somehow or other Krishna has given me all good assistants like yourself to carry on this preaching movement, and for this reason there is some success. I thank you very much for helping me in this way. I hope this will meet you in good health and cheerful mood. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda letters | 06:09 | 22 December, 1971 Bombay Sri Gauracandra Goswami and others Sri Sri Radha Damodara Temple, Seva Kunj, Vrindaban, Dist. Mathura. Dear sirs, With reference to our conversation of the 27th November, 1971, I beg to inform you that when I visited India in 1967, our account was settled up until the month of August, 1967. Since then I have paid you as follows: 1) By hand not executed by you dated 26/8/67: Rs. 100/-. 2) By cash paid to Nripendra Babu on 18th May, 1967, as deposit money or advance payment on account of proposed leasehold land surrounding Sri Sri Radha Damodara Temple: Rs. 750/-. 3) On 27/11/71 I have paid you: Rs. 101/-. TOTAL AMOUNT PAID: Rs. 951/-. Now since September, 1967, up to November, 1971, even I don't charge any interest on the above-mentioned amount, and deducting your dues at Rs. 5/- per month for 51 months or Rs. 225/-, the balance due from you is Rs. 725/-. So kindly arrange to pay me this Rs. 725/- balance, along with interest. Regarding management of Sri Sri Radha Damodara Temple, I beg to inform you that the two rooms and the entry veranda in front of the gate are sufficient for me alone, but because I have now thousands of disciples, it is natural that when I am there at least 25 to 50 students will live with me. So please give me facilities for living there with my disciples. I am prepared to pay a reasonable rent for this. I can arrange for Radha Damodara Temple worship very nicely, namely at least 50 devotees will be offered prasadam daily, including two times refreshment and two meals. The disciples will remain with me. They will have daily chanting and reciting scriptures very nicely, which will attract hundreds of persons during the performances. [PAGE MISSING] letters | 06:08 | 22 December, 1971 Bombay My Dear Gargamuni, Please accept my blessings. Regarding the land in Vrindaban, Mr. Sarif has promised but he has not given, so forget that proposition. Enclosed find the copy of a letter to Gauracandra Goswami. Deliver it to him, and if Gauracandra replies me in writing, then we can consider that possibility. Then we can take the matter seriously. Regarding Brahma Kunda, the donor Dinabandhu is going to give it to us in pukkha writing or legal form by the 15th January, and then we can repair that house to our living, making the doors, etc. secure. In the meantime you can use my Radha-Damodara rooms, but make the locks and doors secure. As for municipal land, see the municipal chairman personally. We wanted land within the city. In the meantime, you can show the chairman the enclosed pictures from Dharma Yug magazine, latest issue, how we are a worldwide organization, as well as other clippings from Toronto, etc. So far our devotees, Americans are concerned, they have nothing to do with politics. We are ___ Nixons. A statement was issued by me and published in ____ papers stating this fact and calling on the Indian _____ my disciples as Vaisnavas, who are above all mundane. ____. I hope this will meet you all in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami n.b. Regarding land on the Yamuna-side, if there is flood, it will be difficult to be there. They wanted to give ____ 4 acres near the Town Hall. Give a copy of your ____ to me. Make inquiry why my letter was not received at Vrindaban P.O. I am sending the receipt. ACBS/sda letters | 06:07 | 22 December, 1971 Bombay My dear Jayapataka, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letters dated December 6, 1971, and 11, Narayana, 485, and I am pleased that you are enthusiastic to deal with all matters of Calcutta Temple with serious view. I have sent Bhavananda there to help you, and you can assist him to organize everything very nicely. I want that we shall hold a grand festival in Mayapur from middle of February to first March, so you may conjointly organize how to raise the money and build cottages and pandal in Mayapur. Acyutananda is coming there also and he has given advance money, so because they are pressing, he must go there to Mayapur and settle up this transaction. I am suspicious that the robbery in Mayapur might have been done by some enemies. Maybe these land-sellers are also in the gunda class. But if we have there 5 to 10 men, these things will not happen. If you want to keep gun, I have no objection. But first you inform the police, etc. Now the war is finished I don't think you will have difficulty to enter Nadia. I want that our temples in India supply me with two life-members daily, that's all. Then I shall take care of all other programs, you needn't worry about that. Just get me two life-members a day in all of India, the rest I shall decide. If you like you can take Indian citizenship--at least some of our men who have been here after two years may take Indian citizenship. Some of our men from abroad must be in charge and remain here seriously. I have just now received your letter of 15, Narayana, 485, and I am very much encouraged by your attitude of service. I have no objection if Aravinda stays in my room for a few days more before returning to USA. Of course, it is not proper formal etiquette, but if he is insisting, what can be done? I have instructed that he should take that ticket of Mani Bande and go. About the treasurer post, that must be decided between you and Tamala and Bhavananda. I have just noted that the Maharashtran Government is lifting the prohibition of liquor in this state, because they cannot prevent people from taking illegal liquor and sometimes killing themselves because it is bad quality, and also they lose so much tax money. So it is very clear that simply by prohibiting something will not mean the people will stop. If you tell a thief not to steal, despite all sorts of warnings, he will continue to steal. Therefore, the best way is not to prohibit by laws but to cleanse the heart. That is the real prevention of sinful activity. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda letters | 02:14 | Dec 18, 2006 Saturday, 18 December, 1971 Bombay My Dear Vaikunthanatha, Please accept my blessings. I have only just now received your letter undated, in which you refer to a decision to be made by the government on October 11 whether or not we shall get a large building on that land. I had expected some news of this plan you have proposed, but til now I have not received from you any word. I am very pleased that you are progressing nicely in spreading Krishna Consciousness there in Trinidad. I shall be especially glad to hear that you are distributing our books in good numbers, as this is the proof of the strength of our preaching. Until we can build that place, go on preaching very strongly in that Hindu temple, take engagements in various places, teach in schools, like that. In this way, keep yourselves engaged in Krishna's preaching work 24 hours and you will become really happy. Now the war is nearly settled here, our programs are resuming, and I think that I shall also build a very nice temple in Vrindaban and Mayapur, so that our students and friends all over the world may come there and enjoy real spiritual life. As for my coming there, that we can settle up when I return to your country by late Spring. Now I want to stop touring and begin full-time my translating work. But if there is good opportunity, then I shall certainly come there. I hope this will find you and your good wife, Saradia dasi, in good health and cheerful mood, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda letters | 14:14 | Dec 17, 2006 Friday, 17 December, 1971 Bombay My Dear Sri Galim, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of December 4, 1971, along with the several pages of poetry from all the nice devotees at Austin temple. I thank you all very much for your kind sentiments. I am also very glad to accept Bill Walsh, Sue Walsh and Hayden Larsen, upon your recommendation, as my duly initiated disciples. I am also replying them herewith. I am sending three sets of beads, duly chanted by me, under separate post. Now it is in your hands to give them all good guidance how to perfect their lives in Krishna Consciousness. I am so happy to learn that your routine work is going on very nicely there, under your direction. There is no real need of our own temple, as long as the routine work is going on. But because people require a place to sit down comfortably and chant, then we must do the needful and accommodate them in the style they are accustomed. So if there is some nice place in the future, you may take it on rent and open it to the public. Meanwhile your school and other programs are very good. As long as preaching work is going on, somehow or other, that is first-class program. One thing, you say that literature distribution is low; actually, the test of the strength of our preaching work is that we sell many books and magazines. So what is the difficulty? Simply preach very sincerely to anyone and everyone, and go on in this way preaching more and more, and the demand for our books will increase. So far the impersonalist rascal, you may simply challenge him by asking ``what is your philosophy.'' It is not very difficult to defeat these persons, because they haven't got any substance, simply big words. But we have got our books, Bhagavad-gita--if you engage him in public debate, politely handle his statements with a cool head and reply from the authority of our books, that's all. Krishna will give you all help to expose his lack of knowledge and his faulty understanding. I hope this meets you in good health and lively mood, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 14:13 | 17 December, 1971 Bombay My Dear Sons and Daughters, Please accept my blessings. Upon the recommendation of Sri Galim I have gladly consented to accept all of you as my duly initiated disciples. Your beads have been duly chanted by me and they are sent under separate post. I have given you the spiritual names as follows: Bill Walsh: MURTI DAS Sue Walsh: MAHATI DASI Hayden Larsen: ADHIDEVA DAS I am so glad to learn that all of you are such a great help to Sri Galim there in our Austin center, and I have especially appreciated the murtis you are making of Pancatattva. I can understand that you are very sincere boys and girl and are very eligible candidates for going back to home, back to Godhead. And the process is simple. Follow the regulative principles, chant at least 16 rounds of beads daily, read our literatures, go for street Sankirtana, etc. In this way, keep yourself engaged in Krishna's business 24 hours and you will be really happy in this life and in the end reach the Supreme destination. Hoping this will meet all of you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 14:12 | 17 December, 1971 Bombay My Dear Nityananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of December 3, 1971, and I am very happy to hear that you have got a new son to raise as a great devotee of Krishna. You may call him Bhakta Vimal Das. So long as a devotee is not initiated he should have Bhakta before his name, if he is a male, Bhaktin if she is a girl. I am very pleased to hear that you are increasing in your distribution of our books and magazines. This is a good sign that your preaching work is also strong. The more you increase your strength in preaching, the more you will go on selling books. I want especially that my books be distributed widely. So it is also very encouraging to learn that you are preaching in the schools. If you do this nicely, then you will have no end to your success, because these students can understand our Krishna philosophy and become convinced by it, more easily than others. So if they join you, then our Movement will grow like anything. As soon as the Jagannatha deities are finished, you may install them nicely. Satsvarupa will give you direction how to do it. He is in Dallas now. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda letters | 14:12 | 17 December, 1971 Bombay My dear Satsvarupa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of December 6, 1971, and I have noted the contents with great pleasure. I am especially pleased that your Gurukula project is going forward nicely. I consider that this is one of our most important projects, because people in general are only suffering due to poor fund of knowledge. So if we have facility to give them the right knowledge of how to make an end to suffering condition of life, then we shall be performing the highest type of welfare work. So you can try on this point to convince rich businessmen, educators, politicians, etc. to help us push forward this gurukula system for guiding their young children on the right path to becoming sober, upright citizens. You can inform them that if they give me proper facilities that I can save all the young people of your country from the worst danger. People are always willing to give anything for educational purpose. They think that if their children get the right knowledge then they will become very successful in life, and that is their concern, so they sacrifice everything for good educational cause. Now their children are all becoming hippies, and they do not want so much technology and knowledge which gives them no real satisfaction, so they are losing all interest in education and only they want to enjoy life, that's all. But if such children are given practical guidance on the transcendental platform, above the bodily and mental conception of life, then they will develop into perfect citizens--moral, honest, hard-working, law-abiding, clean, faithful to home and country, like that. That is the unmatched success of our Krishna Consciousness schooling system, so you introduce it nicely, so that your country's leaders will see something very nice and come to our assistance. That is all right if Mohanananda wants to go to Sydney, provided you GBC men agree and if there is suitable replacement. Regarding children without spiritual names, whatever name is there, if it is a boy, then add Bhakta first. Or if it is a girl, add Bhaktin before the child's name. For example, if somebody is named Robert, his new name may be Bhakta Robert. In general, if he is not initiated, a devotee adds Bhakta or Bhaktin, before the other name until they are initiated later. Your idea for 5 different articles in BTG monthly is very nice. I like your topical articles also. Keep them simple and Krishna Conscious, avoiding too much bending to the public taste, but if they are appropriate to current problems, then it is nice proposal. Rayarama tried this too, but his style was not very appealing to me. Actually, people are seeking after transcendental reading matter more and more, so if we stick to our standard, as I have given you, then there is no doubt they will come to read our magazines in great numbers. Now make it very attractive, with our KC subject matter as you have outlined, and our BTG will be very much in demand, without further changes. I have seen one Christian newspaper which is trying to attract the readers by resort to fashionable phrases and materialistic themes of mass public interest--simply because they have not got any real substance for attracting, they offer what they think the public might like, such as sex, crimes, amusements, like that. That is not our method. We have got such stock of real substance that alone it is sufficient to capture the readers, without such ordinary tricks and commercial formulas. I am very pleased that you are all working so nicely for Krishna in USA, and I shall be very glad to see you all again when I come there by springtime. I hope this will meet you in good health and enthusiastic mood, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda letters | 14:11 | 17 December, 1971 Bombay My Dear Jagadisa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge your letter and I am pleased to see that things are going on nicely in Canada under your supervision. I am especially glad that you are having so many festivals in the colleges and schools. Do you sell many books there? That is the success of your festival--if people buy many books. At our Delhi Festival we sold more than 12,000 BTG's. I am encouraged to see your report of books sold, because it proves that you consider it your responsibility to see that more and more people are reading our literature. Actually, this is the solid basis for our preaching work--no other movement has got such profuse authority for preaching, and if someone reads our Krishna philosophy he becomes convinced. So try to increase the effect of preaching by distributing many books and magazines, and this is the basis of your all success. Our travelling Sankirtana parties are having good success all over the world. I think you initiated this travelling Sankirtana in Canada, so now you go on introducing it in other places and perform that program very nicely. I am very very pleased to see our Sankirtana travelling parties are having good results. I hope this will meet you in good health and cheerful mood, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda letters | 14:10 | |
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