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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1974 |
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23 December 2008 23 December, 1974 Bombay Government of India Nuclear Physics Division Bombay Dear Sri Raghava Charyulu, Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 7th Nov, 1974 addressed to my Los Angeles headquarters. I was so much pleased with your interesting letter and I wish you will understand more and more through your learning of mathematics and physics about the intricacies of God's creation. It is the duty of a learned scholar to glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead by his talent of knowledge, austerity, penance, etc. Why one should become great mathematician? What is the perfectional stage? That stage is when he describes the glories of the Lord by utilization of his talent of education. So I request you to observe more and more the cosmic manifestation; how it is created by the energy of the Supreme Lord. Actually by the evolutionary process when a living entity comes to the status of human life it is his duty to solve all the problems of life. The chief problems of life are collectively birth, death, old age and disease. Bhagavad-gita gives information how to solve these four problems. It is the essence of all Vedic knowledge presented by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna. I am so glad to learn that you have taken so much interest in my book, Bhagavad-gita As It Is. I shall be staying in Bombay up till mid-Jan. and I wish to cordially invite you to see me at your convenience. Generally I can be seen between 5 and 7 p.m. Thank you once more for your interesting letter. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/ps Labels: Bhagavad-gita, Bombay, scholar letters | 01:30 |20 November 2008 20 November, 1974 Bombay Sheth Sri Punjabi Chandu Halwi Karachiwala Teenbatti, Bombay My Dear Sadajeewatlalji: Last night we had some talks on your new attempt to elevate the girivanavasi people. It is very enlightening for anyone that you are trying to elevate the position of the people in the forest and in the hills. This sort of desire is certainly very much laudable, because in our Vaisnava philosophy it is said that a perfect Vaisnava is always very kind, and he is aggrieved by others miserable condition, para-duhkha-duhkhi krpam buddhih. Or, a Vaisnava is always unhappy by seeing others unhappiness, and he is the ocean of kindness. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, samah sarvesu bhutesu mad bhaktim labhate param [Bg. 18.54]. When a person is self realized, he is equal to everyone, and that is the preliminary stage for entering into transcendental devotional service. But, one should not falsely claim to be equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because in the Vedas it is said: na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate [Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.8] Nobody is equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unfortunately it has become a fashion to equalize everyone with Narayana. This sort of mentality is called pasandi mentality, because if anyone considers even the biggest personalities like Lord Siva or Lord Brahma on the equal status of Narayana the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is certainly a pasandi. Your attempt is very good, but be guided by the Vedic principles. The Vedic principles are mentioned clearly in the Bhagavad-gita by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Krishna. If we follow the principles, then our attempt in any field of activities will be successful. But if we follow the pasandis who are mayayapahrta jnana, then any attempt to ameliorate the condition of the general people will be a failure. There are many politicians, social workers, and philanthropists all over the world, but their attempt has not been successful on account of theor knowledge being plundered by maya. It will be my great pleasure to give you guidance from the Bhagavad-gita As It Is in your this great enterprise. You are free to consult me at any time. If you follow actually the principles of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, there it is said if one does not follow the principles of sastra then he does not get happiness neither any good result of his fruitive activities. So we should not be confused in the matter of violating the orders given by Lord Krishna. bhagavad-bhakti-hinasya jatih sastram janas tanah apranasyaiva dehasya mandanam loka-ranjanam [Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 3.11] A big nation, a big worker, a big ascetic, and all similar big attempts, if they are devoid of bhagavad-bhakti, or devotional service, then such high qualities are exactly like the decoration of the dead body. Your ever sincerely, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS:bs wanted by you, enclosed is my photo. Labels: Bhagavad-gita, pasandi letters | 04:48 |1 November 2008 Friday, 1 November, 1974 Bombay My dear Dhrstaketu das: Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated October 1, 1974 and have read the contents with care. With regard to the offenses you are hearing it is not ghosts as you say, but they are creations of your mind. The mind is indeed wretched as you say. Therefore Krishna says that for the endeavoring transcendentalist he must first control the mind, and then by controlling the mind he will have peace. He says: jitamanah prasantasya, Paramatma smahitah. "For one who has conquered the mind, the Supersoul is already reached, for he has attained tranquillity.'' [Bg. 6:7] In this age the easiest method for controlling the mind, as taught to us by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is the chanting of Hare Krishna. Do not give very much importance to this thing. Chant Hare Krishna. That is my instruction to you. I hope this meets both you and your wife in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: Bhagavad-gita, Dallas Gurukula, mind letters | 03:29 |6 September 2008 7 September, 1974 Vrindaban My dear Gurugauranga das; Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated Sept, 1 1974 and have noted the contents. Regarding the marriage of Ramiya devi dasi; you can find out a suitable boy there, I think that Bhagavan das can arrange this. It is not necessary for Bilvamangala to marry this particular girl, another can be found out. Regarding the remarks of Prof. Jean Herbert, in Bhagavad-gita we find no instruction except devotional service or bhakti yoga. We have to prove this from the statements of the Bhagavad gita. We cannot accept the interpretation of an outsider. Regarding karma yoga the Lord says: yat karosi yad asnasi yaj juhosi dadasi yat yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurusva mad-arpanam [Bg. 9.27] This mad-arpanam is bhakti yoga. Similarly the Lord says: bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah [Bg. 7.19] This means that jnana alone is not good unless the jnani surrenders to Krishna. Unless one does so his knowledge is not perfect. Similarly at the end of the Bhagavad gita the Lord says: sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja aham tvam sarva papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah [Bg. 18.66] This is the ultimate goal to surrender to the Supreme Lord. This is the end of yoga. He also says at the end of the 6th chapter: yoginam api sarvesam mad gatenantaratmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah [Bg. 6.47] Of all yogas, karma yoga, hatha yogi, etc., one who always thinks of Krishna is the 1st class yogi. We are teaching people to become 1st class yogis in Krishna consciousness. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs/hdb Labels: Bhagavad-gita, Geneva letters | 02:09 |20 August 2008 20 August, 1974 Vrindaban Mathura My dear Richard, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated Aug. 2. Regarding thinking of Krishna at the time of death. It is stated in Bhagavad gita 8th chapter as follows; abhyasa yoga yuktena/ cetasa nanya gamina/ paramam purusam divyam/ yati parthanucintyan [Bg. 8.8]: "He who meditates on the Supreme Personality of Godhead his mind constantly engaged in remembering me, undeviated from the path, He oh Partha is sure to reach Me." The proccess for remembering Krishna is very easily done by chanting Hare Krishna Maha mantra. How one should think of Krishna, that is given in the next verse [Bg. 8.9]: "One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, Who is the oldest, Who is the controller, Who is smaller than the smallest, Maintainer of everything, and Who is beyond all material conception, Who is inconceivable, Who is always a person and luminous like the sun, and Being transcendental, beyond this material nature." So Krishna is not something impersonal or void. So you should read my books and try to understand the nature of Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then it will be easy for you to think of Him. I thank you for your desire to distribute the Goswami literature. Right now we are publishing Caitanya Caritamrta in 12 volumes. It is a big expense so if you would like to contribute something give money to my book trust. You can make some contribution and help in this great mission. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs/ps Labels: Bhagavad-gita, Caitanya Caritamrta letters | 21:17 |14 June 2008 Friday, 14 June, 1974 Paris My dear Acyutananda Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your most recent undated, letter. I am glad you have received my letter and mailed it to Swami Cinmayananda; so we shall see if they are able to help us so that we may enter Jagannatha Puri Temple with our disciples. Regarding your philosophical question, if the Bhagavad gita is part of Mahabharata which is considered smrti, how can we claim Bhagavad gita to be GITOPANISAD, or one of the Upanisads which are sruti? Actually because the Gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead it is sruti. But people take it as smrti because it is part of the Mahabharata. We take it as sruti as far as we are concerned. The purport of sruti is to make one advanced in understanding the Absolute Truth. Here the Absolute Truth is explaining personally, therefore the Gita should be taken as sruti. But they take it as smrti because it is part of the Smriti (Mahabharata). In one sense it is both sruti and smrti. Please yourself and Mahamsa Swami work in full cooperation with Karandhara Prabhu who is leaving Paris today for Bombay. You may send him regular reports as he is taking over from Tamala Krsna Maharaja, as GBC of India. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Bhagavad-gita, Hyderabad, questions letters | 16:05 |29 March 2008 Friday, 29 March, 1974 Bombay My dear Dr. Ghosh; Please accept my greetings. I wish to thank you very much, as I have received you letter of March 15, and noted its contents. As far as your coming here in Bombay you are welcome at any moment. I am here at least up until the 20th of April and you can come and stay sometime and try to understand the philosophy of the Krsna Consciousness Movement. After the 20th, I may be going to Hyderabad where we have a center, and if you like you may accompany me to Hyderabad. We can continually discuss the Bhagavad-gita. Our Krsna Consciousness Movement is based on the principles of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, without malinterpretation. Krsna says in the Fourth Chapter: yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamyaham [Bg. 4.7] paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge [Bg. 4.8] The whole world is Krsna's property. The material world is a field of activities for the corrupt conditioned souls who desire to enjoy in imitation of the Supreme. For them, Krsna gives facilities for material enjoyment, but He wants the conditioned souls--after finishing their material enjoyment - to come back to Him with bitter experience of material existence. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita there is the essence of Vedic instructions. The plan is that the conditioned soul may fulfill his desire for material enjoyment and at the same time be trained up in spiritual identity to come back to Godhead, back to home. As such, Bhagavad-gita contains the solution of all problems of the material world. Unfortunately, foolish people described as duskrtina, do not want to take instruction from the Lord, although it is completely perfect - but they select their own concocted leaders who are themselves blind, and therefore the world is in chaotic condition on account of rascal leaders in all fields. There are so many rascal leaders in politics, social life, cultural, philosophy, religion, etc. They are all misguided. Bhagavad-gita, therefore is the only light from which we can take direction for all our civic activities. Our Krsna Consciousness Movement was started only for this purpose. Sometimes back, when I was in Moscow, I had discussion with a Professor Kotovsky and I challenged him. "Where is the difference between the Communist philosophy and any other? Everyone has to accept a particular leader and follow his instructions under a brand of ism." But because leaders are all fools and rascals, the ultimate result of following them is disappointment. In the western countries there have been many revolutions, in France, England, Germany and Russia, simply to change leaders of this ism to that ism. In India also since India's contact with the western countries, there have been certain types of revolutions, and they are now going on. Recently in our experience there was attempt to drive away the British. This revolution changed India from dependence to independence, but factually the situation has deteriorated from bad to worse. We are old friends, we know that in Allahabad when I was there, ghee was selling for 1 kg. per 1 rupee, and now its costs 20-25 rupees per kg. In this way, things have not improved, in so many ways. This is due to imperfect leaders. Therefore our propaganda is to educate people to accept Krsna as the perfect leader in all fields of activity, and if people take to it seriously they will be happy in this life and after quitting this body he goes back to home, back to Godhead. There is no difficulty in understanding this philosophy in full brain and it is the urgent necessity that it be spread all over the world. Therefore the best service to human society is to educate them after the principle of the Gita, otherwise they are losing the chance of perfection in the human life and going down again to the circle of birth and death and transmigration in different species of life numbering 8,400,000. It is very interesting to discuss on this point and it will be a great pleasure for me if you come and stay with me for some time and preach this philosophy amongst the higher section of society. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita: yad yad acarati srestas tad tad evetaro janaj sa yat pramanam kurute lokas tad anuvartate [Bg. 3.21] Thanking you in anticipation, Yours sincerely, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Allahabad, Bhagavad-gita, politicians letters | 19:16 | |
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