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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1974 |
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31 December 2008 31 December, 1974 Bombay My dear Pancadravida Svami, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letters dated December 18th and 20th, 1974 and have noted the contents. Sankirtana if it is not possible, never mind. Try to organize a meeting and impress upon the people Srimad-Bhagavatam philosophy by explaining. Manasvi can explain in Hindi and you can explain in English. This is also Sankirtana although not singing. So, where sankirtana is hampered, we can go on with kirtana and distributing magazines, that is more important than sankirtana. That is Brhat-mrdanga. Getting registered we must. I may come there as soon as the Bombay business is finished. Regarding Mr. Sachdeva, instead of writing him, because I am unknown to him, I am thinking of going to talk with him directly. Sankirtana within the Hindu community is prohibited? If it is very difficult to pull on there, then there is good field in Fiji. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/ps letters | 10:06 | 28 December 2008 28 December, 1974 Bombay My dear Jagadisa Pandita, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated nil and have noted the contents. My opinion is that it is not necessary for us to utilize these different musical talents for spreading Krsna Consciousness. I would rather see people follow strictly the path of Lord Caitanya and His Sankirtana devotees. We are using mrdanga, karatala, that is enough. We are not musicians. We are Krsna bhaktas. Therefore we do not stress so much importance on these different musical talents. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is God Himself. Had He thought it would have been better to spread Krsna Consciousness by another way He would have done so. But no, simply with mrdanga and karatala, traveling and chanting Hare Krsna, asking everyone to chant Hare Krsna, preaching simply Srimad-Bhagavatam philosophy, this is the process. There is no need for us to try and add anything to this simple method. It will only be a distraction. Therefore I request you to follow the simple path of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and help me spread this wonderful mission all over the world. Keep yourself pure and fixed up in Krsna Consciousness by following the basic principles that I have given; chanting 16 rounds daily, following the four regulative principles, rising early, attending mangala arati and classes etc. This is of the utmost importance. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/ps Labels: music, San Francisco, sankirtan letters | 06:45 |17 December 2008 17 December, 1974 Bombay My dear Jitaprana, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 10/10/74, and have noted the contents. Your desire for leading a sankirtana party, preaching and travelling is a very good one and I suggest that you talk to your temple president or GBC and try to arrange such a program if it is possible. If we sincerely try to serve Krsna then He will give you the ability and the facilities. So please continue your service with great enthusiasm and follow strictly all of our principles and regulations. This is the way to spread our Krsna Consciousness movement, the mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. First of all one must become spiritually strong by following these basic principles staunchly and by learning our philosophy fully. Then his preaching will be very potent and many many people will become attracted. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/ps Labels: Dallas Gurukula, sankirtan letters | 02:17 |17 December, 1974 Bombay My dear Badrinarayana, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 27/10/74 and have noted the contents carefully. I am always happy to hear of the wonderful activities of spreading Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's sankirtana movement. Your activities are very pleasing. Going door to door, person to preach the message of chanting Hare Krsna is actually the yuga dharma for this age. In other yugas there are different processes for self-realization but in kali-yuga the real method is simply chanting Hare Krsna and trying to encourage everyone else to do the same. So your program is perfect. It is very nice that you are also making so many new devotees. This is the fruit of our activities. So continue your program in the same way with added enthusiasm and your life will be perfect. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/ps letters | 02:16 | 16 November 2008 16 November, 1974 Bombay My Dear Srutadeva dasa: Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of the Sankirtana Newsletters Nos. 27-30, and I thank you very much for assisting me in this mission of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. These reports are very encouraging to me, and I think our men will also be encouraged to increase the book distribution. This I want. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: sankirtan, Washington letters | 11:43 |8 September 2008 8 September, 1974 Vrindaban My dear Srutadeva das; Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated August 15th, along with the sankirtana news letter #19, and I thank you very much for it. You can continue sending me these news letters as you publish them weekly. It is this sankirtana which is the life and soul of our movement. Sankirtana and book distribution should go on together side by side. I am always glad when these activities are increasing and my pleasure is always increasing. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs/hdb Labels: sankirtan, Washington letters | 02:16 |8 September, 1974 Vrindaban My dear Adikesava das; I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated August 20th. Please accept my blessings. I have also received the enclosed photographs which are very nice. Regarding taking the Deities out on travelling sankirtana, I think you can take guidance from Visnujana Maharaja and Tamala Krishna Goswami who are giving you the example in this connection. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs/hdb letters | 02:14 | 19 August 2008 19 August, 1974 Vrindaban Sintra, Portugal Dear Mr. Lourenco, I am in due receipt of your letter and thank you very much for it. I am glad to learn that you are so much keenly interested in our books Bhagavad gita as it is. It is stated in the Bhagavad gita that out of many thousands of men only one is searching for perfection. Manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati sidhaye [Bg. 7.3]. So even in your young age you have taken to this process of Krishna Consciousness. This means that in your previous life you were advanced in yoga but somehow or other you were not able to complete but now you have taken to it as if automatically. This is also explained in the Bhagavad gita 6th chapter regarding the yoga bhrastras those who have fallen from the process of yoga and who automatically take to the principles of God consciousness in their next life. Regarding performance of Sankirtana yajna, this is explained in my book the nectar of devotion. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given us the chanting of the Maha mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. It may be performed as sankirtana congregational chanting in public. This is done by our sankirtana parties that go daily into the streets in many cities of the world. Or this yajna may be performed quietly and privately with one's self by chanting on beads. This is known as Japa. So this I think can be performed by you very easily. We have a temple located in Paris at the following address: 4 reu Le Sueur, 75016 Paris, France. You are welcome to go and stay there for some time to learn Krishna Consciousness. You can write to them and they can give you information on obtaining many of our other books. We have a book on the story of Krishna. It is called Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I think you will like this book very much. These books are in disciplic succession. They are authorized and they are giving the real process of Krishna Consciousness never before made available to the English speaking world. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs/ps Labels: sankirtan letters | 20:54 |25 June 2008 Tuesday, 25 June, 1974 Melbourne My dear Yadunandana, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of May 26th and have noted the contents. Yes there are example of Krsna Conscious persons whose worship was solitary life, and the greatest example is Haridasa Thakura. Haridasa Thakura used to live only in a cave sometimes and would spend his whole time chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra. Similarly Gaura Keshore das Babaji the spiritual master of my guru maharaj would chant alone in a solitary place so as not to be bothered by anyone in his meditation on Krsna. But these great personalities are not to be imitated. If we artificially imitate, out of some negative feeling or out of desire for adoration as a saintly person, it will not be very beneficial. On the authority of Lord Caitanya and my spiritual master, I am requesting my disciples to always stay in the association of devotees and to propagate the sankirtana movement all over the world, so that others may get a chance also to become liberated from the material condition. Prahlada Maharaja prayed I am not satisfied to go back to the kingdom of God alone, but I must bring back with me all these poor fools who have no alternative ultimately than to surrender to You. This form of worship called gostananandi is more superior than the gostananandi or the holy man who lives alone in meditation of the Lord within the heart. This is the estimation of the scripture. It is very encouraging that you are feeling convinced of the genuineness of the Hare Krsna movement and the disciples as at New Vrindaban. Although you feel you must leave their company sometimes you should pray to Krsna to give you the intelligence to seek out the association of genuine Vaisnavas more and more. That will insure your own genuineness, if you always engage in chanting Hare Krishna, avoid the four sinful prohibitions, then it does not matter where you are, you can attain to perfect love of Krsna. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Boulder, gostananandi, sankirtan letters | 04:46 |9 June 2008 9 June, 1974 Paris My dear Yasodananda Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I have heard very wonderful reports of the sankirtana being conducted by Gurukrpa Maharaja and yourself in Tokyo, and I am directing Jayatirtha to credit the Mayapur-Vrindaban fund for whatever amounts you deposit in Japan with Dai Nippon. In the meantime I have received a letter from Trivikrama Maharaja in Taiwan who reports that many Chinese boys are coming to the center and he is very encouraged. However, he had three unsteady men in his party such as Sri Ballavha, Lalita Krsna etc., and they have left him, so that there are only two of them in Taiwan. I have heard from Sudama Maharaja that Yasodananda Maharaja was planning to go to Hawaii, but I think it would be more useful for the time being if you joined with Trivikrama and helped him in Taiwan. I am often thinking if we can get a center in China, and Taiwan is a jumping off place for our entering China. Also, although the program in Tokyo is most important, Gurukrpa Maharaja may also come and go sometimes to Taiwan and help and encourage them there. I do not think it is so far away from Japan. Again, thank you very much for conducting sankirtana so vigorously that you are outdistancing all other parties. Your special affection for my Indian project is very pleasing to me and shows you understand my intentions very well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: China, MV Trust, sankirtan, Tokyo letters | 03:06 |10 May 2008 10 May, 1974 Bombay My dear Jagadisa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 26, 1974 and noted the contents. I can appreciate that you are traveling widely in your recently expanded zone and you plan to first become acquainted with the temple presidents by traveling is good. As far as you leaving Uttama Sloka in charge of Toronto and sending Sripati to Montreal, that is alright. I know Sripati was already there in Montreal and he is experienced. Regarding your Gurukula report, why are the older boys being sent to New Vrindaban? What are the facilities like, what is the program there, what is the need for them to move? As things are not fully explained in your letter, I am inquiring regarding this very important change. As for buying a new house and land in order that the pre-school children may go there, what is the need of them being separate. If they cannot rise early, why should you take care of such young ones at Gurukula. But if they are rising early and attending arati, then why must they be separate from the other little children? Please explain further. You are right when you say Deity worship must be maintained. This is most important. I know Nandarani is expert in Deity care but I think she is working with the children. Your wife is also expert, so she can maintain the sewing and Deity worship program. But the standard must always be kept up. Sankirtana is also a part of Vaisnavism. All our activities are a part of Vaisnavism. So Sankirtana should also be developed at Dallas. Yes, I have heard myself about Winipeg, that it is a big city in Canada. So if you think it better to move Regina center there that is approved by me. Yes, you plan to keep headquarters 1/2 year in Chicago and 1/2 year in Dallas, that is approved by me. Please send regular reports. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Canada, Chicago, Deities, gurukula, sankirtan letters | 12:34 |9 May 2008 9 May, 1974 Bombay My dear Ramesvara, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your two letters dated April 28 and 29 and I have noted the contents. Your letters are a great pleasure for me to read. You are always broadcasting the glories of the Sankirtana movement in the shape of ISKCONs book distribution and surely you will be recognized by Lord Caitanya for your unbounded enthusiasm and expertise in seeing that my books are distributed all over the world. In your letter of April 29 you give the astounding report that in the year 1973, 4,169,004 total books were bought by the temples from BBT. What is the calculation of money collected for that amount? This regular reporting is very encouraging for everyone of our devotees and I have faith in your words that next year the figures will be far beyond what they were last year. It is the nature of the spiritual energy, it is always increasing if we just apply our energy. The report of the BBT traveling library party is something new for us and this is also only the beginning. Please give my heartful thanks to the boys, Sriman Maha Buddhi dasa Brahmacari and Sriman Ghanasyama dasa Brahmacari. These books are specifically meant for the intellectual class of people in your country and I have great hope in the results of this preaching at the Universities. I received one rumor that the Sankirtana parties in the US would soon be stopped by political repression and lack of money by the people. Some so-called devotee was thinking like that but you can assure all your men that I have great hope for Krishna Consciousness in America, more than any other place. And there is no question of repression provided we go on sincerely. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: library party, Los Angeles, sankirtan letters | 04:28 |8 May 2008 Wednesday, 8 May, 1974 Bombay My dear Sri Govinda Das, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 30, 1974 and have observed the contents. The enclosed newspaper story, "Krishna followers freed from police harassment," is just further testimony of the great victory made by Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Chicago. I understand that the Chicago area is the most lucrative place in the world for distribution of our books and that you have done very careful work in getting all permission. Therefore this rumor that within a few years there will be police repression and people will have no more money to buy books and sankirtana will stop is completely bogus. Whoever told you that is a rascal, saying it in my name. I never said that. Rather sankirtana movement will expand, continuing so long as we are sincere. When I came in the beginning I began to expand it and it is now going on and there is no question of it stopping. Therefore go on with your life time plans making secure in distributing of books. There is no cessation. This movement is eternal. It is very wonderful news that you have permission to hold Rathayatra downtown on the main street on Saturday, July 6 and tens of thousands of people will view the cart. I have been invited to attend the Rathayatra in San Francisco which is July 8. So I am hoping also I will stop in Chicago on my way to San Francisco and observe the festival with you. I will inform you further regarding sending us plane tickets, when our European tour is more fixed up. We can discuss further your plans for securing a new building when I come there. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: book distribution, Chicago, Rathayatra, sankirtan letters | 04:27 |1 May 2008 1 May, 1974 Bombay My Dear Mahatma das, Please accept my blessing. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of April 20, 1974 and I have noted the contents. Regarding your wanting to give up household life for vanaprastha you may do it and spend your time positively by going on traveling sankirtana, provided it is recommended by the temple president and there is facility for taking such a party. Taking of sannyasa order is in one sense only a formality. I was preaching and writing for eight or nine years as Vanaprastha and then in 1959 I took sannyasa. So if after a few years as Vanaprastha your behavior is ideal sannyasa can be considered. If you actually are serious about taking out a travelling party your main activity should be to distribute books. By this most powerful preaching we are becoming very influential in your country and people are seriously reading the books and considering the importance of Krsna Consciousness. It does not require that you be sannyasi to take a travelling sankirtana party, nor do you have to be vanaprastha for that matter. There are travelling parties led by all orders of life going out in your country. Lord Caitanya taught that we do not very much care whether one is sannyasa, grhastha or whatever, so long he is fully serving Krsna. So do not act independently, but if there is facility, you can stay out and distribute books and travel with the sankirtana party, as you already have experience. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: book distribution, sankirtan, sannyasa, Sn Diego letters | 09:37 |27 April 2008 Friday, 27 April, 1974 Tirupati Dear Pusta Krsna Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge your letter of April 21, 1974 and I have noted the contents. Yes, I think the advise given by Brahmananda Maharaja is sound, namely not to worry about maintaining a permanent center in South Africa but travelling with sankirtana there for distributing books and preaching, which you say is a good field there. We do not have so many men; it requires at least five men to maintain a center, so I approve of your plan to close the center and travel in South Africa. As for the deities of Gaura-Nitai, yes you may take them on traveling sankirtana and worship them. Please keep me informed of your activities. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami A. C. Bhak/sdg Labels: Cape Town, sankirtan, South Africa letters | 22:29 |1 February 2008 1 February, 1974 Hong Kong Dear Bhagavan, Please accept my blessings. I was very anxious to receive a letter and your recent report is very encouraging. The pictures sent by you are very welcome and very nice, and I thank you very much. Now print as many literatures as possible in French language and distribute. If you have any money left from the recent donations of $20,000.00 I request you to spare something to contribute to our Vrindavan construction; it can be sent to account number 230 of the Punjab National Bank, Moti Bagh Branch, New Delhi. Work combinedly and Europe can be made filled with Sankirtana. I have found all the countries eager to receive our message, especially France and Germany. Narottama dasa Thakura has sung: goloker premadhana, harinama-sankirtana, ratina janmila kenetay samsara-visanale, divanisi hiya jvale, judaite na kaimu upaya Sankirtana is imported from Goloka Vrindaban it is not material musical rock and roll. It is actually imported from Goloka. Narottama sings, Everyone is burning in the materialistic way of life. That burning can be extinguished only be employing Hare Krsna maha-mantra. It is a fact that the western countries are in blazing fire of material enjoyment. But as soon as they take to Hare Krsna surely they will find peace and happiness. There is no doubt about it. I have accepted the devotees you have recommended for first initiation and their spiritual names are as follows:* John Jean-Guy Bouchre de Belle--Jayantakrt dasa John, Jean Keraval--Jayakula dasa Kathy de Poo--Kanti-dasi Claude Landemaine--Kausi dasa I will be glad to see you at our meeting in Mayapur. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg *You can chant their beads henceforward. Hope to meet you at Mayapur. Labels: France, initiation, publishing, sankirtan letters | 11:36 |3 January 2008 Thursday, 3 January, 1974 Los Angeles My Dear Ajita, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of December 21st, 1973. I can understand from the propaganda you are making that you are trying your best at your center there. Especially, even though the weather is cold you are emphasizing Sankirtana book distribution. So that is very important and that is why we are opening Centers. Also, you should keep on your work with trying to approach the educated class in this - teachers of religion in the schools and colleges. You write to say that the students are surprised to hear our description of God-consciousness in such a scientific manner. Yes, because there is no education at all in the principles of the soul and what is God, and what is transmigration of the soul in the next life; therefore, the people are rejecting religion as sentimental and backward but they are not finding any relief in material activities. So our presentation all over the world of the scientific principles of God-consciousness is the greatest benefit to them. Therefore, those who are sincere will be very grateful for our presentation. So go on presenting it as you are doing it and be always sure to keep strong by following the spiritual principles; otherwise, everything will automatically degrade. So I am confident that you will keep up the practices as I have taught them and do not unnecessarily add anything. It is very good news that you are becoming well known in Sweden as this is the wish of Lord Caitanya that everywhere His Name should be known. Now regarding the house, the house you have at present is nice but there is no big hall there but on the back side there is open land. If you can construct a Temple there then that would be nice. Hoping this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. Try to approach Stockholm University Nobel Prize authority in this connection. If things are going nicely, next summer I may go there. Labels: book distribution, college preaching, sankirtan, Sweden letters | 17:45 | |
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