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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1974 |
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31 May 2008 Friday, 31 May, 1974 Geneva My dear Sukadeva, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge your letter of April 16, 1974. I am glad to accept the devotees recommended by you for first initiation, and their new spiritual names are as follows: 1. Jerry S. Macdougal--Jalakara dasa 2. Michael Askvig--Manusuta dasa 3. Allen Conticchio--Anagha dasa 4. Deborah Conticchio--Dhanasri dasi Now take good care of these devotees so that they they remain always enthusiastically engaged in chanting, hearing, reading our books and following the regulative principles. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: initiation, Seattle letters | 03:44 |30 May 2008 31 May, 1974 Geneva My dear Acyutananda Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of May 25th, and I have noted the contents. It appears there is good chance we may get permission for our men to enter Jagannatha Puri temple if we can present the right documents. My idea is that you present the enclosed statement proving our men are bona fide Hindus to Swami Cinmayananda who you say is sympathetic to us on this point. Have him copy this statement on his own letterhead and sign it. In addition, take a similar signed certificate from Mr. Sujya Narayana Rajooa who is the Endowment minister of Andra Pradesh and who came to receive us at Tirumala. I think with signed statements from these two this will be enough and that we do not have to get the government sanction. So if you can take these statements from these two men it will be an important achievement for our society. Try for it in earnest and Krsna will help you. I am glad to hear the Hyderabad temple is so enthusiastic for preaching. Please keep me informed. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Hindus, Hyderabad, Jagannatha Puri letters | 03:44 |29 May 2008 31 May, 1974 Geneva Dear Radhavallabha, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your recent letter regarding the printing of the first volume of Caitanya Caritamrta. As for introduction, you may use the Introduction I have already written and printed in Teachings of Lord Caitanya. I think it will also be suitable for Caitanya-caritamrta. As for dedication, please use the following: "Presented to my friends and devotees who like to read my books and approached to request me to render the great Caitanya-caritamrta into English." You have also inquired whether the picture of Lord Brahma and Visnu on the back cover of Srimad-Bhagavatam Third Canto volume one may be used. Yes, there is no objection to go on using it as it is. Hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Caitanya Caritamrta, New York letters | 03:43 |28 May 2008 Wednesday, 28 May, 1974 Rome My dear Rupanuga Maharaja; Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated May 21st, 1974. I am not interested to spend money for your political party neither engage our men to divert attention from spiritual progress for political propaganda. So studying your letter thoroughly I have come to the conclusion you may stop the political program. It will not benefit our real spiritual position. My only idea was to point out to the public that unless you have purified leaders there is no possibility of advancement even in the material condition. I had no idea to spend money and energy of our society in a way which is not our real spiritual life. As for the Harmonist articles, they are not bad, but the same thing could be presented in our Back to Godhead. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: political sankirtan, Washington letters | 03:44 |28 May, 1974 Rome My dear Madhudvisa Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I have heard that you are very keen to make the Melbourne Rathayatra very wonderful and you have requested extra instructions. One thing is there are many band parties - if you can get band parties to join that would be nice. Our men should hold kirtana just in front of the ratha, and other parties may proceed before us. I think we will accept your invitation to join us when we break our journey to Melbourne by stopping somewhere in Malaysia, probably Jakarta, where you say we have good friends who would like to accommodate us with a place to stay. We shall inform you positively of the date of arrival there when we receive our tickets from you in Paris and confirm the flight. So I think we shall arrive in Melbourne no later than the 26th of June. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: itinerary, Melbourne, Rathayatra letters | 03:42 |27 May 2008 Tuesday, 27 May, 1974 Rome My dear Trai das, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 25, 1974. Upon your recommendation I have accepted Neal Buyers as my initiated disciple and his new spiritual name is Niranjana dasa. Keep him carefully now. Krsna Consciousness means to create ideal men, so you must set the example in following the rules and chanting Hare Krsna mantra and see that others are doing it also. I am enclosing brahmana threads and gayatri mantra for Adi Kesava das and Vivasvan das. You must be very careful before you award the brahminical thread by recommending a man to me. Now that we are dividing our society into the four orders as much as possible, it is not that every man has to be made a brahmana after a year. Especially if one cannot even get up early and go to mangala arati he cannot become a brahmana. So consider it carefully before you recommend further men to me. Sometime in the past Rupanuga Maharaja reported that you were not sending him regular reports so he could compile his GBC report to me; please cooperate with him in this so our huge organization can run smoothly in all its parts. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: Boston, brahmana, initiation letters | 03:41 |27 May, 1974 Rome My dear Nityananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of April 29, 1974. On your recommendation I have accepted Robbie Bernstein and James Steelman a my initiated disciples, and their spiritual names are as follows: Robbie--Rajendra dasa James--Jvarajit dasa Please work with them carefully so they will always keep up chanting their rounds and remain enthusiastic to follow the principles. I am also accepting Jogindra vandana for second initiation who has been initiated for two years. I want to stress to you to be very cautious about giving me recommendation for second initiation. There are four orders of life, it is not that everyone has to be a brahmana just because he has been initiated 1 or 2 or any number of years. Especially if one cannot even rise early for mangala arati he should never be given brahminical initiation. All your programs are encouraging to me and keep sending me information. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: initiation, New Orleans letters | 03:40 |26 May 2008 Monday, 26 May, 1974 Rome My dear Dinadayadri, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge your letter of May 8, 1974. You are a very good girl and a sincere devotee therefore, even though you have experienced difficulty you are remaining pure in Krsna Consciousness and keeping faith in Krsna and the spiritual master. This faithfulness has pleased me very much. So many great devotees have had to undergo difficulties, and the great example among women was Queen Kunti whose family life was perpetual danger, but because she always thought of Krsna she was saved. There is no question of your returning to Nara-Narayana. He has remarried, and I also informed him when I was in L.A. last time, that he should keep his one wife, living peacefully in L.A. You have got one child, so now make Krsna your husband and take shelter of our temple. The Detroit temple where you are now is very suitable I think, and you say you are much inspired by devotees like Govardhana and the others. So take spiritual instructions from your elder Godbrothers and sisters, forget the past, and make all progress in Krsna Consciousness without any material lamentation or hankering. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Detroit, husband, Kunti, marriage letters | 04:35 |26 May, 1974 Rome My dear Mahesvari, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated May 11. I am very sorry that your husband Mahatma das has taken my letter to him in the wrong way and has told you to get married to another man although you are only 20 years old and have a 7 month old son. This is a most irresponsible and nonsensical proposal on his part. I never wrote or intended that he should leave you. He can stay out and distribute books on sankirtana, but for that he can remain grhastha, nor does it means he perpetually remains on sankirtana party forgetting his responsibilities. You write that you badly need your husbands instruction and security, therefore, this is natural, so he may go on sankirtana but he must also spend time with you as you require, not in the mood of sense gratification but for cooperation in Krsna Consciousness. So you may take this letter to the president of the temple and he must do the needful so that Mahatma das does not set an irresponsible example. For your own part, do not be bewildered. Go on chanting Hare Krsna and simply trust in Krsna as the dearmost friend. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: irresponsible, Sn Diego, wife letters | 04:35 |25 May 2008 26 May, 1974 Rome My dear Sudama Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of letters from devotees of Hawaii ISKCON dated 4/23/74. Based on their declarations of sincerely following all the prescribed Vaisnava regulations for one year, and on your recommendation, I have accepted Jagat Prabhu das, Praghosa das, Kanva das and Nitai Gauracandra das for second initiation and I have enclosed sacred thread and gayatri. You were present in Hawaii when I was there and was particularly stressing that the presidents must be very careful on recommending gayatri initiation. After all, we are criticizing false cast brahmanas, if we ourselves are bogus brahmanas then our position is very bad. Now that we are more and more trying to implement the varnasrama divisions of society, we should not think that everyone has to become a brahmana. For example you are developing a farm there; so those who work the farm do not necessarily have to be a brahmana if they are not inclined to the brahminical standards. In this way, be careful about awarding the second initiation. In my upcoming touring programs I am going to attend Rathayatra in Australia from June 26 until about July 2, then I am going to the U.S. for Rathayatra. So it may be that I will break my journey in Hawaii and see you then. I shall inform you further. Please keep me informed of all developments with the land and devotees there. I will be in Paris from June 6, to June 15. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: brahmana, Hawaii, initiation, varnashram letters | 05:34 |Sunday, 25 May, 1974 Rome My dear Muralidhara, Jadurani and artists of the art department, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated May 22, hand delivered to me by Atreya Rsi prabhu. As far as your questions which information you urgently need for completion of the paintings, the answers are as follows. It is correct to show Prthu Maharaja giving a speech to the Kumaras inside his home. For Lord Visnu's appearing at Prthu Maharaja's sacrifice, the sketch you have enclosed is all right. Lord Visnu should rest His left hand on Garuda. As for the wooden sacrificial instrument mentioned during Daksa's sacrifice, yes you can use it in Maharaja Prthu's sacrifice. [ILLUSTRATION] It looks like this. It is a block, like the bottom on a guillotine on which the animal is made to lay his head and then his head is cut off. When Prthu and Archi appeared they looked about 30 or 40 years old. They were dressed opulently like King and Queen with crowns. So I am glad that you are fully absorbed in your work and very concerned that it be executed just to my satisfaction in parampara standard. This is your perfection. I am hopeful we will continue our cooperation as I have many many more books to write if you can only keep up with me in publishing and painting. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg letters | 05:32 | |
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