Disrespect (Letters)

Expressions researched:
disrespecful |disrespect |disrespected |disrespectful |disrespectfully |disrespecting |disrespects

1970 Correspondence

Some of my beloved students on whom I counted very, very much have been involved in this matter influenced by Maya. As such there has been some activity which I consider as disrespectful.

Letter to Satsvarupa, Uddhava -- Los Angeles 27 July, 1970: You are all my children and I love my American boys and girls who are sent to me by my spiritual master and I have accepted them as my disciples. Before coming to your country I took sannyasa in 1959. I was publishing BTG since 1944. After taking sannyasa I was more engaged in writing my books without any attempt to construct temples or to make disciples like my other Godbrothers in India. I was not very much interested in these matters because my Guru Maharaja liked very much publication of books than constructing big, big temples and creating some neophyte disciples. As soon as he saw that His neophyte disciples were increasing in number, He immediately decided to leave this world. To accept disciples means to take up the responsibility of absorbing the sinful reaction of life of the disciple. At the present moment in our ISKCON campus politics and diplomacy has entered. Some of my beloved students on whom I counted very, very much have been involved in this matter influenced by Maya. As such there has been some activity which I consider as disrespectful. So I have decided to retire and divert attention to book writing and nothing more.

1975 Correspondence

I have invited Krsna and He may not be insulted by disrespectful behavior. I have introduced this system of Deity worship amongst the non-believers, the atheists, the mlecchas, the yavanas and I pray to Krsna that I am inviting You to come, so please, because You are seated in their hearts, please give them the intelligence how to serve you so that You may not be inconvenienced.

Letter to Jayatirtha, Manjuali -- Bombay 10 November, 1975: I am in due receipt of your card dated October 25, 1975 along with the beautiful photographs of Sri Sri Rukmini-Dvarakadhisa of New Dvaraka. So do it nicely. I have invited Krsna and He may not be insulted by disrespectful behavior. I have introduced this system of Deity worship amongst the non-believers, the atheists, the mlecchas, the yavanas and I pray to Krsna that I am inviting You to come, so please, because You are seated in their hearts, please give them the intelligence how to serve you so that You may not be inconvenienced. I have introduced this system to the mlecchas, the yavanas and the lowest and the fallen, but still it is successful. I think that you are doing nicely. As soon as one thinks that he is greater than his spiritual master that is the greatest offense. Krsna will give one everything, but to these offenders everything is lost. I thank you very much. You know how to dress and how to worship and I am very much pleased. It is a question of heart how to please Krsna. One simply has to agree to be trained up how to do it. You have done very nicely. I am very much pleased. And now you should teach others how to do it. This is very important business, Deity worship. The more the Deity is decorated, the more your heart will be decorated with Krsna consciousness. This is the way for the neophyte devotee how to absorb his mind in Krsna consciousness.

1976 Correspondence

This task will not be finished without the cooperation of my appointed assistants, the GBC, temple presidents, and sannyasis. I have chosen my best men to be GBC and I do not want that the GBC should be disrespectful to the temple presidents.

Letter to All Governing Board Commissioners -- Honolulu 19 May, 1976: Please accept my blessings. Over the past ten years I have given the framework and now we have become more than the British Empire. Even the British Empire was not as expansive as we. They had only a portion of the world, and we have not completed expanding. We must expand more and more unlimitedly. But I must now remind you that I have to complete the translation of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. This is the greatest contribution; our books have given us a respectable position. People have no faith in this church or temple worship. Those days are gone. Of course, we have to maintain the temples as it is necessary to keep our spirits high. Simply intellectualism will not do, there must be practical purification. So I request you to relieve me of management responsibilities more and more so that I can complete the Srimad-Bhagavatam translation. If I am always having to manage, then I cannot do my work on the books. It is document, I have to choose each word very soberly and if I have to think of management then I cannot do this. I cannot be like these rascals who present something mental concoction to cheat the public. So this task will not be finished without the cooperation of my appointed assistants, the GBC, temple presidents, and sannyasis. I have chosen my best men to be GBC and I do not want that the GBC should be disrespectful to the temple presidents. You can naturally consult me, but if the basic principle is weak, how will things go on? So please assist me in the management so that I can be free to finish the Srimad-Bhagavatam which will be our lasting contribution to the world.

We have no bad feeling or disrespect for Vallabhacarya. We consider ourselves the most obedient servants of Vallabhacarya. The exchange between Lord Caitanya and Vallabhacarya was on friendly terms.

Letter to Giriraja -- Vrindaban 25 November, 1976: What we have discussed is printed in Caitanya Caritamrta. How can we rectify? We can't rectify what is written in Caitanya Caritamrta. We have no bad feeling or disrespect for Vallabhacarya. We consider ourselves the most obedient servants of Vallabhacarya. The exchange between Lord Caitanya and Vallabhacarya was on friendly terms. This was raised in connection with supporting the position of the acaryas. The real point is that Sridhara Swami is still being criticized by you in the following words,". . . and has shown specifically the nature of the error committed by the previous Commentators including Sridhara Swami . . . Sridhara Swami . . . was never regarded as a Master . . ." So, this criticism of Sridhara Swami was as much intolerable for Caitanya Mahaprabhu as His criticism upon Vallabhacarya is intolerable for you. Such kind of friendly criticism you'll always find among learned scholars, but that does not mean any ill feeling with one another. So, as you can criticize Sridhara Swami in the above words, what is the wrong if in the same spirit the supporters of Sridhara Swami criticize you. There is an English proverb spoken by Lord Jesus Christ, "Judge not others lest ye be judged." So, the conclusion is, as we learn from Caitanya Caritamrta, that in the beginning Sri Vallabhacarya criticized Sridhara Swami and then Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu criticized Vallabhacarya. So what can we do now after 500 years? Recently some criticism has appeared in the Illustrated Weekly also. So, such things will go on in this world, but that does not mean we have got any disrespect for any Vaisnava acarya.