a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1970 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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Aug 26, 2006 Wednesday, 26 August, 1970 Tokyo My Dear Jayapataka, Please accept my blessings. I thank you for your Vyasa Pujah homage telegram reading as follows received yesterday morning! "(Vyasa puja Poetry) to save the world And serve the Lord He left His home And His children too Two children lost some thousands gained, Krishna's mercy received in Party splint a stumbling block With world God-Consciousness The aim His Divine Grace bridges The gap to bless the world with Gauraprema, Jayapataka's life is not his own It's Prabhupada's to do with as His own" I feel very much obliged to you for your nice understanding about my mission. Your offer of service to the cause of our Lord is also welcomed. I hope in future you shall be of great help in my mission and I can count upon. More when we meet. We are seven starting on Saturday including one Japanese nice boy. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. I have received no letter from you to Tokyo-address. letters | 09:15 | Aug 25, 2006 Tuesday, 25 August, 1970 Tokyo My Dear Jaya Gopala, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated August 18th, 1970, and I thank you very much for the nice sentiments expressed therein. Regarding your marriage, I have no objection, but if you accept a girl for marriage she should be younger than you. At least she should not exceed your age. I know you are a very sincere devotee and I wish everyone of my devotees may purify himself from all material contamination and thus be eligible for entering into the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Material life means indulging in sense gratification which diverts our attention from spiritual importance and thus we remain captive under the bewilderment of Maya. This is the most dangerous of our condition of life. Intelligent persons therefore try to avoid it under the protection of Krsna and the Spiritual Master. Hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:ds letters | 09:15 | 25 August, 1970 Tokyo My Dear Bali Mardan, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter and your reference to Srila Vyasadeva on this Vyasa Puja Day is very significant. Srila Vyasadeva is the original Spiritual Master for anyone who is following the Vedic way of spiritual realization. Spiritual Master is the representative of Vyasadeva because he carries the message of Vyasadeva throughout the world. As you know it very well that Vyasadeva compiled all Vedic literatures wonderfully. Sometimes so-called realist philosophers do not believe that there was any person of the name Vyasadeva. Their opinion is that any person distributing the Vedic knowledge is called a Vyasadeva. This class of philosophers generally being impersonalists cannot appreciate how one man could write so many books. Actually it is astonishing. Before Vyasadeva, all the Vedic Scriptures were taught and received verbally by the disciplic succession. Both the students and the Spiritual Master of those ages were so sharp in their memory that once they heard the transcendental message from the Spiritual Master the message was immediately imprinted in their brain as vivid as a written language. For example, Sukadeva Gosvami was narrating Srimad-Bhagavatam extemporaneously. The whole Srimad-Bhagavatam, eighteen thousand verses, very difficult to pronounce even and what to speak of memorizing, were narrated very easily just like reading some printed book. He narrated the whole subject matter of Srimad-Bhagavatam continuously for seven days and Maharaja Pariksit also understood the subject matter very clearly. Both of them were so meritorious that they attained the highest goal of life, namely the Lotus Feet of Lord Sri Krsna simply by reciting and hearing respectively. Of course that time was just the moment when Kali, the predominating Deity of the present age, was peeping to infiltrate in the worldly affairs and later on it was complete through the exigency of an upstart brahmana boy. So Vyasadeva was a real person accepted by all authorities and any one can judge how wonderful he was to compile the Vedic literatures. He is therefore known as Mahamuni. Muni means thoughtful or great thinker or great poet and Maha means still greater. So there is no comparison with Vyasadeva with any writer or thinker or philosopher. Nobody can estimate the scholarly importance of Srila Vyasadeva. He composed many millions of Sanskrit verses and we are just trying to receive a fragmental knowledge out of them by our tiny efforts only. Srila Vyasadeva therefore summarized the whole Vedic knowledge in the shape of Srimad-Bhagavatam which is known as the ripened fruit of the desire tree known as Vedic knowledge. The ripened fruit is received hand to hand through disciplic succession and anyone who does this work in disciplic succession from Srila Vyasadeva is considered as representative of Vyasadeva and as such the bona fide Spiritual Master's Appearance Day is worshiped as Vyasa Puja. Not only that, the exalted seat on which the Spiritual Master sits is also called Vyasasana. In the Mayavadi Sampradaya they observe the Guru Purnima day to offer respect to the Spiritual Master. This system of offering respect to the Spiritual Master is current in all sections of Vedic followers, but so far we are the Gaudiya Sampradaya is concerned, we offer on the Appearance Day of the Spiritual Master our humble homage annually and this particular auspicious moment is called Vyasa Puja. I have received the painting of my Guru Maharaja. It is very nicely done. Please convey my thanks to the girl. I have immediately placed this painting on my Deity altar. Yes, this attitude of surrendering to the Spiritual Master is the best qualification of spreading this movement of Lord Caitanya. That is the Vedic way. One should have unflinching faith in Krsna and similarly in the Spiritual Master. That is the way of understanding the secret of Krsna Consciousness. Unfortunately, attempt has been made lately in our Society to shake this formula. This mischievous attempt has done a great harm, but if you the members of the Governing Body Commission can rectify this mischievous attempt, then still there is hope of making our progress uninterruptedly. I hope Krsna will help us. There are two verses in the Canakya Sloka how a family or an institution can be glorified or burned into ashes by one person. The Canakya Pandit says that if there is one tree in the forest producing nice aromatic flower, that one tree can glorify the whole forest by the flavor of its flower. Similarly if there is one tree in whose cavity there is a little fire, that one tree can burn into ashes the whole forest. So this simile is applicable anywhere. In a family if there is one good boy, he can glorify the whole family and similarly if there is bad boy he can turn the whole family into ashes. Similarly in this institution if there is a bad disciple he can burn the whole institution into ashes. The Governing Body Commission's duty is therefore to see that every member is following the rules and regulations and chanting sixteen round regularly on the beads. I hope the GBC in cooperation with the Sannyasis in their touring program will be able to keep vigilance systematically in order to keep the Society as pure as possible. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:ds letters | 09:14 | Aug 23, 2006 Sunday, 23 August, 1970 Tokyo My Dear Himavati, Please accept my blessings. I have already acknowledged your letter dated August 13rd, 1970, along with my last reply. I am very glad to learn that you will be walking very soon, but walking or no walking you are always engaged in Krsna's service. That is my confidence. I am very glad that Hamsaduta has gone to New Vrndavana and I have requested everyone of the Governing Board Commission members to formulate a solid program for advancing Krsna Consciousness Movement all over the world. I am feeling well here, better than Los Angeles and on the 29th August we are starting for Calcutta. The address is as follows: 37/1 Hindustan Road, Ballylganj, Calcutta-29. Certainly I shall call you for the World Sankirtana Party as soon as you are quite fit to walk. I hope that Tamala Krsna will correspond with you and your husband in this connection. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. I have heard the tape ____ _____ This is full of transcendental feelings. Thanks. ACBS:ds letters | 09:13 | 23 August, 1970 Tokyo My Dear Gargamuni Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. When I was in L.A. sometimes one month back I received two letters from you and Brahmananda Maharaja. Since then I have not heard from you. Although I was expecting your letters every moment. I was personally asking everyone about your touring and I have already inquired from Rupanuga Prabhu about your address. Fortunately Sriman Madhudvisa Maharaja has given me to read your letter dated 16th August, 1970 addressed to him. I have gone through the letter carefully and it gives me a great pleasure. I am so glad to learn that both of you are now chanting 16 rounds or more regularly and murmuring the Gayatri Mantras regularly. Please continue this habit without fail. I am very glad to note that you are now realizing that without executing the regular routine work of spiritual life nobody can grow spiritual strength and without spiritual strength nobody can preach the Krsna Consciousness Movement. Both of you are my great hopes. You have done great service to the cause of the Society and I always consider you as two strongest pillars of the Society. Sriman Brahmananda Swami Maharaja joined me in my apartment in New York sometimes in 1966 and since then he is working so hard for upliftment of our activities and later on you also joined to help the Movement so strenuously. So your service to Krsna in this connection will never go in vain even though accidentally something contrary has been done. So far I am concerned, I am the same Spiritual Father and Guide of both of you and I have prayed all along to Krsna for bringing you back to your good conscience. I hope Krsna is already helping you sitting in your heart and thus you are executing the regulative principles. We have a great task before us to preach this Krsna Consciousness all over the world. I have given you all the Sannyasa order with a great hope that in future you will all work for me. I came to your country to execute the mission of my Spiritual Master at a very old age and by the Grace of my Spiritual Master within four or five years with your cooperation we have expanded beyond expectation. Now if all you Sannyasis work with the same zeal and enthusiasm and if each of you establish another set of 30 to 40 branches with necessary influx of devotees, then I am sure our Krsna Consciousness Movement will prove a solid fact throughout the whole world and for this purpose you have to gather sufficiently spiritual strength. There is a statement in the Caitanya-caritamrta that without being empowered by Krsna nobody can preach the glories of His Holy Name and the only means for acquiring this spiritual strength is to abide by the orders of the Spiritual Master. That is the verdict of all Scriptures. I hope in the New Vrindaban meeting you will all formulate a solid program for advancing this Krsna Consciousness Movement all over the world. Please offer my blessings to Sriman Brahmananda Swami Maharaja as well as all devotees present at New Vrindaban. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 09:12 | 23 August, 1970 Tokyo My Dear Umapati, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated Hamburg August 19th, 1970, and I am pleased to learn that you are all engaged in the publication work. I shall be so much pleased to see the French and German BTG's published as soon as possible. What you have heard about me that I have left the U.S. for the time being is more or less correct. I left L.A. on the 7th August. I lived for one day in Honolulu on my way to Japan and then I have come to Tokyo on Saturday the 8th August, 1970. I am starting for Calcutta on the 29th August to see if the World Sankirtana Party could be organized and to see if our Mayapur Temple could be constructed. The Mayapur matter is lingering since a long time, so we are going to Calcutta, seven including one Japanese Brahmacari, to complete the transaction. I am so pleased to note your Vaisnava attitude in your letter under reply. In this connection the incidence which occurred during Lord Caitanya's time may be remembered. One very intimate devotee of Lord Caitanya, most probably Vasudeva Dutta, requested Lord Caitanya to deliver all the conditioned souls in his presence. He said, "Let me suffer for their sinful actions, but my dear Lord You take them with You back to home, back to Godhead." So this attitude of offering facilities to others for going back to home, back to Godhead, and personally accepting their suffering thereof is perfect Vaisnava Attitude. Perhaps you know I have already formed a Governing Body Commission, so in my absence they will manage the affairs of the Society. I shall begin my 75th year from the Vyasa Puja Day and if you all combined together manage the affairs of the Society nicely, that will give me a great pleasure. I shall try to do some work in India regarding the Krsna Consciousness Movement although my physical strength is diminishing. But still now if all you cooperate with me with your full young energy I am still competent to work with you with greater energy. Hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:ds letters | 09:11 | Aug 22, 2006 22 August, 1970 Tokyo My Dear Karandhara, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated August 15th, 1970. Regarding shipping of the books, I hope you have already received message from Tamala Krsna. Teachings of Lord Caitanya and KRSNA books should immediately be shipped by S.S. Viswa Kirti and the shipping documents may be sent to me directly at my Calcutta address as follows: 37/1 Hindustan Road, Ballyganj, Calcutta-29. Perhaps you know that we are starting for Calcutta on the 29th August reaching there on the same evening. One Japanese student also is going with me and he is helping our cause by translating from English to Japanese. He will continue his work as translator and it will be easier for him to understand intricate subjects in my presence. Regarding Isopanisad, I have already ordered Dai Nippon to reprint 10,000 with sewn binding (perfect binding). I thank you very much that you have sent $1,900 to Dai Nippon and they have acknowledged receipt. I heard from Tamala that you have sent further $1,500, but they have not received as yet. I hope by this time you have already sent this check. I have invited some of the directors of Dai Nippon to take lunch with me today and I may inquire if they have received further money. The bill is already for $32,000 for the books which I have ordered to be printed and over and above this if the amount for KRSNA II and Hindi BTG is added the amount will come to somewhere about $53,000. So kindly go on sending weekly whatever collection you make for the Book Fund. I am so glad to learn that the management of the Temple is going nicely and the devotees are feeling transcendental pleasure. I understand from Tamala that the number of weekly guests has almost doubled. This is very good news. Who is taking care of my apartments? It should be cleansed at least twice a week and on the Altar of the Deity at least one incense may be offered daily. I thank you very much and all the devotees for offering me a garland daily as you were doing when I was physically present. If a disciple is constantly engaged in carrying out the instructions of the Spiritual Master he is supposed to be constantly in company with hs Spiritual Master. This is called Vaniseva. So there are two kinds of service to the Spiritual Master One is called vaniseva and the other is called vapuseva. Vaniseva means as above mentioned, executing the instructions, and vapuseva means physically or personally rendering service. So in the absence of physical presentation of the Spiritual Master the vaniseva is more important. My Spiritual Master, Sarasvati Gosvami Thakura, may appear to be physically not present, but still because I try to serve His instruction I never feel separated from Him. I expect that all of you should follow these instructions. Hope this will meet you in good health. Please keep me informed of your good activities always and offer my blessings to all the boys and girls and the little children. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. As this letter was being written, I have received your next letter dated August 19th, 1970, and thank you very much for sending the check for $2600 to Dai Nippon to be placed in the Bhaktivedanta Book Fund Trust. ACBS:ds letters | 08:58 | Aug 21, 2006 Friday, August 21, 1970 Tokyo My Dear Bali-mardana, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your very encouraging letter dated August 15th from L.A. You are now elected as one of the Commissioners of the GBC, so you have got great responsibility. So far we are concerned in the disciplic succession of Lord Caitanya, if we simply abide by the order of the Acarya in disciplic succession, then things are made very easy. As Krsna is saying in Bhagavad-gita that He is sitting in everyone's heart and especially to His devotees who are constantly engaged in His Transcendental Loving Service He gives special instruction so that the devotee may make easy progress of the path of back to home, back to Godhead. By nature you are a willing volunteer in this Krsna Consciousness Movement, then certainly you will be able to render more and more important service to the cause. I received the pictures previously along with your letter and I have replied the same to your Sydney address. Now in New Vrindaban you will be meeting all your God-brothers, especially the GBC members and try to make a strong program for pushing this movement on. Our immediate program is to send a strong party of sankirtana to India. By Krsna's Grace our place to stay is already arranged both in Calcutta and Mathura. If the GBC members can arrange to send at least twenty initiated devotees to India. I think by your exemplary character the Indian public will be surprised and they will take to your way of life. This is the second phase of my missionary activities. I want to take some of my exemplary character devotees for performing sankirtana in India so that they may see what is their defect. Your spiritual strength will depend only on the basis of unflinching faith in Krsna and the Spiritual Master, chanting sixteen rounds on beads and following the restrictive items. I understand that you have been in Fiji Islands and there is good prospect for opening a center. Try to open a center in Fiji without delay and consult your colleagues in New Vrindaban, but on the whole if a center is opened there immediately that will give me great pleasure. In our movements all over the world certainly we require huge amounts of money. When I came to your country first my primary strength was chanting the Maha-mantra and maintaining myself on public contributions and distribution of my Srimad-Bhagavatam. The same principles can be followed still namely collecting some funds by distributing our books and literatures. I thank you very much for appreciating my two recent books, Nectar of Devotion and KRSNA. If we distribute these two wonderful books by meeting respectable gentlemen everywhere, I think we can collect $100 at least by presenting these two books. So it is my suggestion immediately you should try and collect some money and I am sure Krsna will supply it and keep it for opening different centers. Please consult with the GBC regarding this program and make a practical schedule. Hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 22:07 | 21 August, 1970 Tokyo Sri N.C. Chatterji Member of Parliament New Delhi Dear Sri Nirmal Babu, Please accept my greetings. In reply to your letter dated July 2nd from Calcutta, I had to send a reply to you dated July 9th, 1970, and the copy of the letter is again enclosed herewith. I hope in the meantime you had some meeting with the Prime Minister of India and I am very anxiously awaiting your reply to this. I know you are very busy in your professional work, but still I am giving you trouble because I know you love this cause. I am confident of this great Krsna Consciousness Movement for worldwide peace and prosperity. I am therefore coming to India as of the 29th August, 1970, to meet all respectable Indians to help me in this great Movement. The Murtis which are donated for being established in my different centers are still held up under different pleas, so to undo this deadlock we have to take some immediate measure. I was very much encouraged when you promised to see the Prime Minister of India and other Ministers in this connection. Kindly therefore get this matter sanctioned without delay. I shall be staying in Calcutta at the following address: 37/1 Hindustan Road, Ballyganj, Calcutta-29 and will expect your reply early as possible. Hope you are well. Yours sincerely, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:ds letters | 21:59 | Aug 20, 2006 Thursday, 20 August, 1970 Tokyo My Dear Jayapataka and Acyutananda, Please accept my blessings. On receipt of your telegram dated 18th August, 1970, I have decided to start from here for Calcutta on the 29th August, reaching there in the evening of the same day. I hope you have received my telegram reading as follows by this time. "We six arriving Calcutta Saturday 29 August 7:40 evening KLM flight number 864 Letter follows" The purpose of my going to India at the present moment is to give some idea to the communistic tendency of the people so that everyone may take Krsna Consciousness for a solution of all problems of life. When I came to your country, U.S.A., I began my preaching work by chanting Hare Krsna Mantra and by talking some philosophy from Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam and thus the younger generation of your country gathered around me and now they are gratefully acknowledging that they have got something substantial, when they were feeling confused and frustrated. Many young boys and girls are now happy by getting this Krsna Consciousness and similarly I hope the communist young boys and girls in India will also feel similarly if they accept this Krsna Consciousness Movement. Krsna Consciousness Movement is not a sectarian religion, but it is a solution for all the problems of life. In other words, Krsna is good for everyone. The idea is Krsna is substance and Maya is illusion. Illusion is accepted as void and impersonal, but Krsna is the Summum Bonum Person. Krsna is one and Maya is zero. Zero by the side of One is ten, but thousands of zeros clogged together do not make one. So there are many ideas within this world put forth by many philosophers, politicians, religionists, philanthropists, etc., but all of them are considered as illusion or zeros if there is no Krsna Consciousness. We have to push forward this philosophy throughout the whole world. We have sufficient support for acknowledging this philosophy. I understand that nowadays many strikes are being observed in Calcutta. These are not new things because from our childhood we know Bengal is the origin of all political agitation. Lord Caitanya appeared in Bengal and He said that simply by chanting Hare Krsna Mantra everyone will have perfection by one's idealistic way of life. Now it is the time for the Bengalis or for the Indians to understand that this Hare Krsna Mantra will also bring in the perfection of communistic ideas. If you can therefore arrange a small meeting with the Bengali Communist leaders, I can try to convince them how Krsna Consciousness Movement is very much congenial for their purpose. I hope the Mayapur land purchase is by this time completed. In your previous letter you wrote that if I am present there it will be done. Immediately also for this purpose I am going to Calcutta. So keeping in view of the above two points, please arrange for our accommodation and I shall try my best to give some service to all persons concerned. Hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:ds letters | 10:24 | 20 August, 1970 Tokyo My Dear Satsvarupa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated August 13rd, 1970. Since I have left L.A. I have received many letters from many centers, but I have not received any letter from New York nor a letter from Brahmananda Swami nor Gargamuni Swami. I have already sent a circular letter requesting the Zonal Secretary Governing Body Commissioners to send me at least twice in a month the reports of the activities in the respective zones. So I shall be glad to know how the new building in New York is being worked out. When I was in L.A. I heard that a good many visitors were coming there (N.Y.) It was very much encouraging. I think Bhavananda is president of the New York center so I shall be glad to hear from him. The KRSNA manuscript Vol II has already been received by Dai Nippon, but the Hindi BTG is not received. Most probably it will reach them today and then I shall talk to Dai Nippon. Regarding shipment of books, you need not send Sri Isopanisad because I have already ordered from Dai Nippon 10,000 copies. I think you have already received a list of books which are to be dispatched from Boston. So you can send the balance that is without Sri Isopanisad. Go on painting the pictures for II Canto as many as possible. Regarding other pictures, Tamala Krsna is arranging for them being painted in Germany and France. But if Jadurani has spare time she can also go on painting the same pictures of Spiritual Masters and Pancatattva. I think the cover of First Step in God Realization is not to the point. There is a picture in Gita Press Bhagavata where Sukadeva Gosvami has been offered a nice raised throne and the king Pariksit along with the sages sitting on the floor on the bank of the Ganges and it is very nice. The king Pariksit has no beard. His face should be very nice looking, young king between 30-40 years age. I have already approved of the schedule which you have sent me. If you follow this new schedule very strictly there will be no chance of Maya penetrating our camp. And try to introduce the same schedule in New York and other centers. According to your report of the July 25th, 1970 Press meeting you are going to issue a booklet for Vyasa Puja, but as yet no such booklet has been received by us. Hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 10:23 | |
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