Greetings (Letters 1956 - 1973)

Expressions researched:
"greet" |"greeting" |"greetings" |"greets"

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to BTG Friend -- (Mathura U.P.) Dated as Postmark:

Please accept my hearty greetings. I beg to inform you that a few copies of the "BACK TO GODHEAD" papers including the current and latest one are dispatched herewith to your address, and I shall request you to go through them with attention.

This paper is devoted to the cause of saving the human being from becoming an animal again. The unrest of the world is not created by God, but it is so done by the misgiven mind of the sensuous man. You cannot bring in peace and prosperity simply by material activities. You have to attain to the standard position of real life. The reality of life does not depend on the temporary body and the flickering mind, but it is transcendental to all such material conceptions.

Letter to Sri Munshiji -- Bombay 18 February, 1957:

Please accept my greetings. I am thankful to you for your granting me an interview and accepting a few copies of my paper "Back to Godhead" which you have promised to go through at your leisure hours. And on reading the paper, I hope, you may be able to make an estimate of my mission in the matter of the Bhagavad-gita.

I heard it through reliable sources that you are a great admirer of the Bhagavad-gita and your Vidyalaya has a special department for preaching its philosophy. I came to Bombay from Vrndavana to co-operate with you, because there is no difference between the missions of both yourself and myself.

Letter to Jugalkishore Birla -- Bombay 26 August, 1958:

Please accept my respectful greetings. I beg to inform you that it is a matter of great satisfaction for us especially and for all generally that your honour is very sincerely anxious to preach the universal truth of Bhagavad-gita all over the world.

We know it also that you have spent much of you valuable energies for this purpose but so far it has not been to your satisfaction.

Letter to Brijratanji -- Delhi 31 March, 1961:

Kindly accept my greetings. I hope you are quite well in all respects by the Grace of the Lord.

I beg to inform you that an international congress for cultivating Human Spirit is going to be held in Japan in the month of May 1961 and you will be glad to know that the Japanese organizers have invited me to attend the congress. They have already taken from me in advance the copy of my views on Human Culture and their second letter confirms it that they are very much anxious to receive me there. From the copy of the enclosed certificate, you will find it that they have arranged for my boarding and lodging during the days of my stay there.

Letter to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, President of India -- Vrindaban 9 July, 1963:

Please accept my greetings. It is understood that you have come back from your American & European Tour on the mission of philosophy and religion.

At present I am at Vrindaban. Last time (Feb. 9th 1963) when I met your Excellency to present my Srimad-Bhagavatam, you promised to read it to see what is there in it.

As Srimad-Bhagavatam is combination of philosophy and religion it is a great need of the day. It is a fact that at the present moment only philosophy and religion can bring about a __ of humanity. I think you must have ___ the required ideal.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- New York 27 October, 1965:

Please accept my greetings. I am very glad to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated the 9th instant and have noted the contents. Since I have landed in U.S.A. I have improved in my health and I am very glad to see that in America practically everything is available for our Indian vegetarian dishes. By the grace of Lord Krishna the American are prosperous in every respect and they are not poverty stricken like the Indians. The people in general are satisfied so far their material needs are concerned and they are spiritually inclines. When I was in Butler, Pennsylvania about 500 miles from the New York city, I saw there many churches and they were attending regularly. This shows that they are spiritually inclines. I was also invited by some churches church governed schools and colleges and I spoke there and they appreciated and presented me some token rewards.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- New York 10 November, 1965:

Please accept my greetings and blessing of Lord Bala Krishna. I hope you have already received my letter of the 27th ultimo and I hope to receive your reply very soon. And in continuation of my letter as abovementioned I beg to inform you that the number of Hiranyakasipus and Ravanas in this age of Kali increased more than that in other Yugas. Hiranyakasipus are always inimical with the devotees of the Lord even if such devotee happens to be a son. Hiranyakasipu persecuted Prahlada although he was a boy of 5 years old and a beloved son of Hiranyakasipu. As I have already informed you that the American people in general are very much inclined to receive something from Indian culture of spiritual knowledge, they would be a first class recipient for the Bhagavatam culture provided an organized attempt is made for this purpose. The organized method is like this.

1966 Correspondence

Letter to Mr. A. B. Hartman -- New York 14 January, 1966:

Please accept my greetings. Perhaps you may know me by my name because I am in correspondence with Mr. Baum of Messrs. Phillips, Wood Dolson Inc. in connection with your house at 143 W. 72nd Street. As I do not know your office address so I contacted by phone Mrs Hartman and she was very kind to talk with me. I have already left with me a paper on my mission for which I wanted the place.

Letter to Sir Padampat Singhania -- New York 20 January, 1966:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Sri Sri Dvarakadhisa Maharaja. With thanks I beg to acknowledge receipt of your kind letter dated 14th January 1966 and I have noted the contents very carefully. The two points of difficulties as shown by you are quite right because without sanction of the Government we cannot proceed a step even in this connection. And as pointed out in my last letter I have full responsibility for this. I was almost certain to get this sanction from our Late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri who was personally known to me in connection with my publication Srimad-Bhagavatam. He was to come here in America and in New York on the 4th of February next and I arranged for an interview with him by negotiation with the local consulate General. The copy of the letter addressed to our late Prime Minister is also enclosed herewith for your perusal.

Letter to Mr. Dharwarkar -- New York 16 February, 1966:

Please accept my greetings. Since I came to America I have not heard anything from you. Hope everything is well with you and your business. I shall be glad to hear from you about the progress of the sale of my books Srimad-Bhagavatam entrusted to you.

Letter to Sir Padampat Singhania -- New York 18 March, 1966:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Sri Sri Dvarakadhisa Maharaja. I hope by Lord's Grace everything is all right with you.

Now as referred to my last letter of January 20 1966, I am very glad to inform you that by the Grace of Lord Dvarakadhisa there is now some definite arrangement for dollar exchange in India.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- New York 18 March, 1966:

Please accept my greeting and blessing of Lord Bala Krishna. I hope by the Grace of Lord Sri Krishna everything well with you.

Since I received your last letter of October 9, 1965, I was very much encouraged when you wrote to say "I feel that you should stay there till you fully recover from your illness and return only after you have completed your mission". I think these lines dictated by you are the words of Lord Bala Krishna expressed through your goodness.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- New York 27 April, 1966:

Kindly accept my greetings and blessing of Lord Bala-Krsna. I am in due receipt of your letter of the 11th instant and have noted the contents with thanks.

Letter to Mangalaniloy Brahmacari -- New York 16 May, 1966:

Please accept my hearty greetings for your letter of the 11th instant and I have noted the contents very carefully. Your strong desire to come to western countries is very laudable because Srila Prabhupada had a great hope to preach the gospel of Sri Rupa and Raghunath in these parts of the world. At the same time there is a great prospect for preaching the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in this part of the world. The Americans have very great regard for Oriental culture and philosophy and taking advantage of this opportunity many so called oriental men of wisdom have exploited their sentiments simply for the matter of livelihood.

Letter to Mr. I. N. Wankawala -- New York 11 June, 1966:

Please accept my greetings. Since I have left India I did not hear from you and I hope everything is well with you. My preaching work is going on nicely. The Americans are taking interest in the matter of Bhakti cult of Sankirtana movement. I am holding classes of Sankirtana and discourses on the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam and I very glad to inform you that they are chanting the holy name of God "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare" with great devotion. There is some attempt for opening one Radha Krishna Temple in New York and Sir Padampat Sighania of Kanpur has promised to build up the temple. I am trying for the Indian Exchange sanction and if it is sanctioned, I hope one temple of Sri Sri Radhakrishna will be first built in New York. I am also trying for the temple otherwise if the Exchange is not sanctioned.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- New York 13 November, 1966:

Please accept my greetings, and I hope everything is well with you.

Surely you will be very much pleased to know that my preaching work is getting ground in this country. The most important factor is that my followers and assistants are all young Americans. They are educated and possess an aptitude for grasping reality.

Letter to Mr. Dharwadkar -- New York 26 November, 1966:

Please accept my greetings. Kindly refer to your letter of the 26th February 1966.

If you have not been able to sell all the books left with you for sale, you may kindly return the books to

Srimati Morarji (Sumati) of Scindia House Dougall Road, Ballard State, Bombay.

Or if you think you shall be able to sell them you can keep the books on sales account and in that case you will please immediately hand over two sets of Book (Srimad-Bhagavatam) to Srimati Sumati Morarji as abovementioned and oblige.

Letter to Nripen Babu -- New York 15 December, 1966:

Kindly accept my greetings and blessings of Sri Sri Radha Damodara Dev Thakura. I hope everything is going well with you.

Since I came to America I desired to write you letter several times but I forgot your address. I wrote several letters to your brother at Vrindaban but I have received no reply from him. I do not know why. I am therefore writing to you although I do not definitely your address. I do not know whether you will receive this letter and still I hope this will reach you and I hope you will kindly reply this letter promptly.

1967 Correspondence

Letter to Brahmananda, Hayagriva, Kirtanananda, Satsvarupa, Gargamuni, Acyutananda, Jadurani -- San Francisco 19 January, 1967:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Guru Gauranga Giridhari Gandharvika. You have already got the news of our safe arrival and good reception by the devotees here. Mr. Allen Ginsberg and about fifty or sixty others received us on the air port and when I arrived in my apartment there were some press reporters also who took note of my mission. Two three papers like the Examiner and the Chronicle etc. have already published the report. One of the reports is sent herewith please find. I wish that 1000 copies of this report may be offset printed at once and 100 copies of the same may be sent here as soon as possible.

Letter to Sri Krishnaji -- San Francisco 25 March, 1967:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 16th March 1967 and with great difficulty I could guess only 75% of the hindi writing. There is no body here who can read Hindi. Anyway I have got the summary of the letter and the immediate issue is that the room must be cleansed and I may inform you that as soon as I return to New York on the 9th April 1967 evening, I shall arrange to send the key for opening the room at least for cleansing. The key is in New York otherwise I would have sent it immediately; sent it from here. But rest assured that the room will be opened and cleansed or vacated by the end of April 1967. Please do not be anxious. My reservation by the United Air Line is already booked on the 9th April and I am returning there.

Letter to Janaki and others -- New York 10 April, 1967:

Please accept my hearty greetings and blessings. I am so much obliged to you for your devotion and affection for me. I thought of you all throughout my journey from Francisco to New York and I was praying to Lord Krishna for your more and more advancement in Krishna Consciousness. On my arrival here I was received by hundreds of devotees and friends although Mr. Ginsberg was out of the town. One young professor from India first greeted me and told me that Swamiji you are doing here real work whereas others who have come from India, have simply formed some groups of old lady students without any real information of Indian original culture. Any way the reception in New York was very good organized by our students here and there was distribution of varieties of Prasadam to about 100 men in the temple. I was not least tired and after landing from the air ship although there was some blockade in my ear still I continued meeting for three hours. I am now very well although I am feeling your great separation. Please continue Kirtana as usual with devotion and you will make more and more advancement in Krishna consciousness. Hope you are all well and I beg to remain.

Letter to Mr. Dambergs (senior) -- New York 12 April, 1967:

Kindly accept my greetings. I am unknown to you but I have heard about you from your very good grandson Sriman Janardana (Janis). I have heard that you have been ailing since a long time but I have heard also that you are a great devotee of Lord Jesus Christ. It is very good. I am also an insignificant servant of Lord Jesus Christ because I am preaching the same message as Lord Jesus did. I'm preaching God consciousness or Krishna consciousness. Fools thought that Lord Jesus Christ was dead by crucifixion but He resurrected. All living entities are parts and parcel of the Supreme Lord and therefore they are also eternal.

Letter to Mukunda -- New York 12 April, 1967:

Please accept my greetings and hearty blessings. I hope in the meantime you have received my previous letter informing my safe arrival in New York.

Today I have received the certificates from India and the copies are enclosed herewith. Please immediately consult your Lawyer friend who wanted this certificates and do the needful. I must have now the Permanent visa otherwise I cannot go to Montreal and work will suffer very much if I do not go to Montreal by the next month. Kindly let me know what you have done in this connection and I shall wait your letter with interest.

I heard that for appointing a teacher-foreigner expert in particular subject one has to submit application with $25.00 fees and certificate of bona fides of the teacher sponsored by some American. The form I got from the office of Immigration is perhaps lying at San Francisco.

Letter to Sri Krishna Panditji -- New York 15 April, 1967:

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter of the 9th instant and have noted the contents carefully. As promised by me previously I am sending herewith the Gramophone Record of my Kirtana and short speech thereof. I hope you will enjoy it. I am very sorry to learn that Srimati Bahuji is suffering from Pyorrhea. It is due to excessive Betel chewing. Any way I am sending herewith a small cheque for her treatment. Please accept it with my blessings.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- New York 18 April, 1967:

Please accept my greetings. Hope everything is well with you. Kindly refer to your letter of 22nd November 1966 in which you ask me two copies of my Srimad-Bhagavatam. I had some books in Bombay c/o the Universal Book House, Dadar and I advised them to deliver you the books. It is understood that they have delivered all the books to your office. I would therefore request you to take as many books as you may require and the balance out of 126 books may be booked to New York by any one of your ships.

Letter to Sri Krishan Pandit -- New York 27 June, 1967:

Kindly accept my greetings. I am very much thankful to you for your letter dated June 15, 1967. Your prayers to Lord Krishna are heard by the Lord, and by His Grace I'm getting improved in health day by day. Your suggestion to return to India is welcome. As soon as I get a little strength I must return to India. I also thank your son-in-law, Yog Raj Sharma, for his suggestion.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- New York 20 July, 1967:

Please accept my greetings and all blessings of Lord Krishna. I am in due receipt of your letter of July 12, 1967. I have advised my disciples to Publish your advertisement in the Back to Godhead free of charges.

I am feeling too much to return to Vrindaban at the lotus feet Vrindaban Behari Lord Krishna; and therefore I have decided to return to India immediately. I would have liked to return via sea, as you have so kindly offered me passage in your letter, but in my precarious state of health that is not possible. So by the mercy of Krishna and through one friend here, somehow or other, I have received air passage, and I am expecting to leave here for New Delhi on Saturday next, reaching Palam Airport on the 24th instant at 7:30 a.m. From there I shall proceed to Vrindaban after a few days rest in Delhi.

Letter to Gargamuni -- Delhi 23 September, 1967:

Please accept my greetings on your recovery from illness. I was so much anxious for your illness. Now I am relieved that you have come back from Hospital. I am also glad that you are doing your work for the Society nicely. My blessings for Karunamayi also. By separate post I am sending my Pass book, which may be presented as and when required. Where is Rayarama? He may take back from Kirtanananda the letter of introduction to Miss D.C. Bowtell and may go to London as it was previously arranged. I entrusted this matter to Kirtanananda but he has disobeyed which has given me a shock. Once he disobeyed my order and we lost $1200.00 in connection with Mr. Payne. This time he has again disobeyed me. If he sets such example in the Society it will be a great impediment. Obedience is the first law of discipline. We are thinking of a great world wide organization which is not possible to be executed if there is disobedience.

Letter to Sri Krishna Panditji -- Delhi 9 October, 1967:

Please accept my greetings. I am leaving for Calcutta today as it was already settled. You promised to come and see me yesterday at 2 P.M. but you didn't come; When I was at Vrindaban you several times asked me to come to Delhi for several times and I came and remained here for a month but you did not do anything about the room, I would not have come to Delhi at least my Gramophone machine wouldn't have been stolen, now you can definitely let me know your decision to my Calcutta address as it is on the overleaf.

Letter to Mukunda -- Calcutta 23 October, 1967:

When coming from San Francisco I promised to Janaki and other girls that this time when I come back I shall first come to San Francisco. So I shall return by Pacific route and possibly make a break in the journey in Tokyo and Hawaii. I have duly received the copies of your correspondence with SS Brijbasi. I understand that there was no mistake on your part. Along with your letter I have the note of Janaki's Aunt Edna. Please convey my greetings and good wishes to her. She may remain there with you till my return. I have duly received your telegram as well.

Letter to Acyutananda, Ramanuja -- San Francisco 30 December, 1967:

Please accept my greetings. I have become too much anxious about you. Please accept my blessings and let me know the news of Delhi affairs. I have sent you a letter to Vrndavana address but have received no reply. Here I am well and delivering lectures with evenings meetings. Yesterday I met Mr. B. K. Nelson and he's arranging for my permanent visa. Yesterday I have also signed the agreement with MFS MacMillan Company for publication of Gita. Please reply to this letter immediately and let me know all the reports. Hope you are doing well by the grace of Lord Krishna. Awaiting your early reply.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to HareKrishna Aggarwal -- Los Angeles 1 February, 1968:

Please accept my greetings. I hope your are all well with your associates. You will be glad to learn that I came here to the United States in 1965, and since then I am preaching the Hare Krishna movement throughout the country.

Letter to Sri Krishnaji -- Los Angeles 1 March, 1968:

Please accept my greetings. I received your letter dated February 2, 1968 duly but I am delayed to reply because I was consulting my colleagues about you and the kirtana parties coming here at our expense. To call a man from India and to arrange for his stay here at best for six months in different branches of our city means rupees 20,000/—or $2,000 per head, If we call for you and a party of nice kirtana singers, five men altogether, it means rupees 100,000/—the Society is not in a position to spend such an amount at present period. I am therefore training local boys and girls for kirtana and very soon we shall be out on world tour with this kirtana party. In India, however, many rich business men maybe ready to spend this amount to spread the kirtana movement. But the Govt. will not allow us to spend Indian money in such fashion without special sanction. I have written to authorities at the Govt. of India for sanction, but I have received no reply til now. You assured me that you would be able to get such sanction from Dr. Zakir Hussein but you are now silent on this format. Why not take sanction from him for this purpose and I will arrange money from India.

Letter to Gosainji -- Allston, Masa 17 May, 1968:

Please accept my greetings. Since I have come back to USA I have not heard anything from you. I hope everything is well with you. I am very much anxious to know about the litigations amongst yourselves. If you have no objections, you can let me know what the present position is. In my humble opinion I may say that instead of wasting your money and energy in the matter of litigation between yourselves, you shall now make a constructive program to develop the Seva-Puja establishment of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Jeu. When you invited me from Kesi Ghat to the shelter Radha-Damodara Jeu, it was very kind of you. And at that time, both yourself and Nripen Babu of Kanpur agreed to give me the vacant lands adjoining the temple on leased terms.

Letter to Sri Krishna Prasad Bhargava -- New York 3 September, 1968:

Please accept my greetings. Since a very long time I did not hear from you, and I hope everything is going well there. The Society is so obliged to you for sending us the two Sri Murtis Who are being regularly worshiped by the devotees here, and they very much appreciate the attractive feature of these Murtis. You will be glad to know also that in the meantime, we have established eleven centers, as follows; in these various cities: New York; San Francisco; Buffalo; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Montreal, Canada; Los Angeles; London, England; West Berlin, Germany; and Seattle, Washington; and Vancouver, British Columbia. And by the Grace of Krishna we may be able to establish more centers in the very near future. I do not know where from you secured these nice Murtis, but I would like to have such Murtis at least 20 pairs, with height of not less than 24 inches. So if you kindly give me the quotation for such Murtis from the manufacturer where from you secured these Murtis, I shall arrange to send you the required money, either directly or by negotiation through some friends in India. It is my ambition that Indian Vaisnavas may contribute at least one pair of Murtis, following your nice example, and we can establish them in each and every center of our Society.

Letter to Mr. S. S. Sethi (Vice Consul of India) -- Seattle 26 September, 1968:

Please accept my greetings. I hope by this time you have received two copies of photos I have sent you through Sri Somnath Dhar. Now with reference to your letter no. SANF/CONS/384/68 addressed to Mr. A.C. Misra, Attache, High Commission of India, Ottawa, Canada, I beg to inform you that they have sent me a wrong passport and returned back the postal order in order that I may receive the certificates from your office. In this connection they write to say as follows: "As you are no longer living within our jurisdiction, you are advised to contact our San Francisco office for police clearance and birth certificate." Please therefore issue these certificates per bearer and he will pay the required fees.

Letter to Gargamuni -- Montreal 26 October, 1968:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Lord Krishna. I am in due receipt of your letter of 10/18/68. I am very much perplexed to know that you are not feeling comfortable at the care of your parents. If your parents don't receive you as their beloved son, I don't wish to keep you in that blazing fire. I thank you very much for the strength of your mind and Krishna will certainly help you. You will be pleased to know that I have now immigration visa for your country and if I get the church-centre room in U.N. I am going to make my H.Q. in N. York. If your parents don't treat very well & want to make your life miserable, then you shall live with me. At least I shall not make your life miserable even though I am not as rich as your parents. If your father does not give you facilities for a car and good apartment. I don't advise you to live in that blazing fire. Hope this will meet you in good health. I am going tomorrow to Santa Fe and then to Los Angeles.

Letter to Gurudasa -- Los Angeles 22 November, 1968:

Please accept my hearty greetings and blessings of Lord Krishna. I am very much encouraged to receive your invitation and I shall consider it a great opportunity when you actually arrange to receive me at your place. When I was in India I heard there that many Indians, specially Hindus, are residing in that part of the world, (South America), even for generations, and they require spiritual guidance by their original Vedic culture. I believe you have read Bhagavad-gita very well and you may remember that in the 15th Chapter it is said that the Lord in His Incarnation as Krishna Daipayana Vyasa compiled the Vedas. The objective of the Vedas is to know Krishna and the Bhagavad-gita is the essence of all Vedic instructions.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- Montreal 30 August, 1968:

Please accept my hearty greetings. Since a long time I did not hear from you, and I hope everything is going well with your health and business. Last year in July I went back to India and from Vrindaban, I wrote you a letter, asking your appointment to see you, but I never received any reply. Several times I reminded you, but I did not receive any reply. Then again, according to your letter dated 11th April, 1966, I contacted your Calcutta manager, Sri I.N. Wankawala, but he refused to carry your order as per your letter dated 11th April, 1966. He refused to carry my goods, or carry my men, and I did not receive any reply from you, so I was helpless, and came back to New York again. At present, I am in Canada. I hope you are receiving my paper "Back To Godhead" regularly; by the Grace of Krishna, the preaching work in this part of the world about Krishna Consciousness is improving. You will be glad to know that I have got now 8 branches, in USA, and Canada.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Mrs. Hochner -- Los Angeles 13 January, 1969:

Please accept my New Year's greetings. I am so pleased to accept your token of good will and the sounding Haribol with needlework. This cloth is so nice that I have hung it in my room in front of me so that I can see Haribol and remember you always.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- Los Angeles 15 January, 1969:

Please accept my greetings. I hope everything is going well with you. You will be pleased to know that this year two of my books have been published. They are as follows

(1) The Bhagavad-gita As It Is Published by MacMillan Company of New York and London

(2) Teachings of Lord Caitanya Published by International Society for Krishna Consciousness

The first book is already received in stock, and the second is expected next month.

Letter to Sri Balmukundji -- Los Angeles 18 January, 1969:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to thank you very much for your kind letter of January 14, 1969. There is a verse in Srimad-Bhagavatam which says:

yasya asti bhakti bhagavati akincana

sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah

harav abhaktasya kuto mahata gunah

manorathena asato dhavato bahih

(SB 5.18.12)

The purport is that if somebody acquires Krishna Consciousness, then all of the good qualities of the demigods develop in his person. On the other hand, what is the value of all kinds of material qualifications for a person who is not in Krishna Consciousness? His only business is to hover on the mental speculative plane, and he is sure to come back down to the platform of the material external energy.

Letter to Kedar Mataji -- Los Angeles 25 January, 1969:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Sri Sri Kisori Raman. I wrote to Krishna Prasad Bhargava about these murtis for free donation. As you know that I am trying to establish many temples of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna in the Western world. I think that devotees of Lord Krishna in India should come forward and cooperate with my missionary activities. Krishna Prasadji donated one pair of Sri Murtis for our New York temple, and I wished that many other rich merchants of India who are devotees of Lord Krishna may contribute a pair of 24" high Radha-Krishna murtis for installing in various temples here. You should also come forward to cooperate with this movement. I am already getting murtis 24" high at a rate which is almost 50% less than the price quoted by you. If you therefore wish to cooperate with this great adventure, you shall not please try to make any profit out of it. You simply cooperate with me in supplying murtis at the rate which I am already purchasing. We do not require any clothings because our devotees here are now expert in making nice clothings.

Letter to Dr. Chaudhuri -- Los Angeles 6 February, 1969:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Lord Krishna, and offer the same to Srimati Bina Chaudhuri and your sons and daughters. I am so glad to have received your letter dated January 27, 1969, and I have appreciated your comment about my book that it is "without doubt the best presentation so far to the western public of the teachings of Lord Krishna". Actually that was my purpose to write another commentary on the Bhagavad-gita. I think I have explained this matter in my introduction.

Letter to Prabhas Babu -- Los Angeles 19 February, 1969:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your kind letter (#F-54/117) dated February 15, 1969. I have duly replied your previous letter dated February 6, 1969, and I placed with you an experimental order. Many such orders will follow this from London and Germany when I get there in the month of April next. So you will have no difficulty for your payment. We are dealing with you since I have come to this country in 1965 and many times I have sent you money in advance, so you can rest assured about your monetary position, and you can go on executing our order as advised in my letter dated February 17, 1969.

Letter to Aniruddha -- Hawaii 24 March, 1969:

Mahapurusa Brahmacari is prepared to go with me on the 31st instant, if you can send his passage fare of $75, and he will do the cooking and upkeep of my apartment while I am in San Francisco. So you can find his enclosed note to you in this connection.

I shall be happy to greet you on Monday next, and we shall discuss all things further; in the meantime, I hope you are feeling well and happy there,

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Letter to Sivananda -- New York 13 April, 1969:

Please accept my greetings. I am very glad to receive your Bengali letter, and I hope; you will excuse me that I am replying you in English, because it saves much of my time. I have already advised the editor of Back To Godhead to send you copies of the paper regularly. The subscription fee is $5.00 per 12 issues, and you can send the exchange to the following address: ISKCON PRESS, 504 East 6th Avenue, New York, NY 10003. Please include your distinct name and address, so you will get the paper regularly.

Letter to Sivananda -- Allston, Mass 5 May, 1969:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 23 April, 1969, addressed to the New York temple and redirected here. I am so much obliged to you for picking up the "Jugantar" publication of your activities in London. I understand that you are sending an annual subscription fee for Back To Godhead, but it is $5.00 per year. It is Rs 7.5 exchange for one dollar, so I do not know how you have calculated. Acyutananda's address is c/o Caitanya Saraswat Math, Kolerganj, P.O. Navadvipa, Dist., Nadia, West Bengal. Regarding your questions about my books, we are presently selling six volumes; namely Srimad-Bhagavatam (three volumes), Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, and Easy Journey To Other Planets.

Letter to Arundhati -- New Vrindaban 16 June, 1969:

Regarding your second question about greeting karmis, if a karmi is a friend, you just greet him Hare Krishna, and with folded hands touch your forehead. If the karmi is a superior relative, then chant Hare Krishna and bow down down to him on the ground. That should be the etiquette in our society transactions. Whenever you have questions, you ask your husband or ask me. You should always be very sound in knowledge about Krishna Consciousness. But as you are very much attached to chanting, there will be no difficulty for you.

Letter to Mrs. Davis -- Los Angeles 24 June, 1969:

Please accept my greetings. I thank you very much for your letter of June 11, 1969, and I have carefully gone over the contents. Just yesterday I left New Vrindaban, and your son, Madhu Mangala, is still there, He appears now to be quite peaceful and happy, so I think we should let him continue like that, and if he keeps up in this way, there is no need of any demonic treatment as you have described in your letter. He is doing very nicely now, and as he continues to follow our regulative principles, he will surely improve more and more. Similarly your son, Patita Uddharana is also doing well. Perhaps you have seen that he has very beautifully bound for me copies of my book, Srimad-Bhagavatam. I can understand that both of your sons are very good boys, and you will see them developing more and more as they progress in Krishna Consciousness.

Letter to Mr. Kair -- Los Angeles 8 July, 1969:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated June 18, 1969, forwarded to me here from San Francisco. I quite appreciate the difficult problems in India, and I quite agree with you cent per cent that India is now in a miserable condition by its poverty, and natural atrocities like floods, earthquakes, etc. Your suggestion that this can only be solved by Lord Krishna, the Omnipotent, is also right. Therefore, if you want to do something for India, the only remedial measure that you can take is to spread Krishna Consciousness amongst the peoples. Otherwise, the next step is surely communism as you have already suggested. You say that there is a communist menace, and materialism is trying to dominate, but at the same time, religious faith is also progressing.

Letter to James Doody -- Los Angeles 10 July, 1969:

Please accept my greetings. I thank you very much for your letter dated June 23, 1969, and I am pleased to note that you are anxious to see me as soon as possible. So far as human frailties are concerned, they can all be adjusted by dovetailing everything in Krishna Consciousness. Our Krishna is a great family Personality. Krishna is never a mendicant, and our ambition is to enter into Krishna's family and to associate with Him personally. In spiritual life also there are men and women. They are very beautiful and attractive, but they are all so much absorbed in thought of Krishna that in the spiritual world there is no sex life. That means that Krishna Consciousness is so sublime and happy that it surpasses the pleasure of sex life.

Letter to Prosanta Mukherjee -- Hamburg 1 September, 1969:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Lord Krishna. This is to inform you that in spite of my writing to so many Mukutwalas and Murtiwalay I am receiving no reply to my letters. Last Month I wrote some reminding letters to Ram Natha Murtiwala, but this also has gained no reponse. I am wondering if you have any information as to what is the difficulty in this connection. I shall be glad to receive your letter by return of post.

Letter to Sethji -- London 22 September, 1969:

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 18th August, 1969, and I have noted the contents carefully. The boy, Sri Arun Kumar, wherever he goes in our centers, he will be welcome. All our centers are accustomed to taking Prasadam, so it will be very nice if he lives with us. Just now we have no center in Pittsburgh, although we have opened a branch in Philadelphia at 4524 Regent Street, Phila., Pa. 19143. Our Tokyo branch is not yet opened, but our men are working there, and as soon as they find a suitable house, we shall regularly establish the center. In the meantime, we have established some new centers in Washington, Detroit, Colorado, and Laguna Beach. Perhaps you have seen in The Times of India and other papers about my London arrival.

Letter to Sri Parikh -- Tittenhurst 20 October, 1969:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Lord Krishna.

As you know that my mission is to spread Krishna Consciousness in the Western part of the World, I wish to establish one permanent Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in London. In this connection I beg to invite you in a meeting as follows for the purpose. Please join and encourage me.

Letter to Sai -- Tittenhurst 27 October, 1969:

Please accept my greetings. I am very glad to learn from my disciple, Srimati Govinda Dasi, that you are reading our books and literature with some interest. It has given me much satisfaction, and if you read our Srimad-Bhagavatam you will find there what is the distinction between realization of Brahman, Paramatma (impersonal Supersoul), and the Personality of Godhead. According to Srimad-Bhagavatam, all of these realizations are on the transcendental plane as much as sunshine, the sunglobe, and the predominating deity on the sunglobe are all full of light and high temperatures. Similarly, either in Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan (Personality of Godhead) realization you will always find spiritual light and heat.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Sethji -- Los Angeles 13 January, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to thank you for your New Year's greeting card which I have received here in L.A. after returning from London via Boston. I am so glad to see your quotation from Srimad-Bhagavatam about the socialistic view of Sri Narada Muni. It is very nice and I have also mentioned it in the preface of my first volume of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Krishna Consciousness Movement is so nice that it can adjust the disagreement between socialism and capitalism. At the present moment, neither of these isms is perfect from the philosophical point of view, but if both parties take this common formula of Krishna Consciousness each one will supplement the other. I think, therefore, that this Krishna Consciousness Movement should be pushed thoroughly all over the world and I am seeing practically that it has got powerful effect.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- Los Angeles 2 February, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. I hope you are doing well. Since a long time I have not heard from you. I hope this letter will find you in good health and devotional service of Lord Krishna. I hope you are getting my "Back to Godhead" paper regularly, and you will be glad to know that the paper has increased in circulation by this time and we are printing 50,000 copies per month.

Letter to Balmukundji Parikh -- Los Angeles 11 February, 1970:

Please accept my greetings and I thank you very much for your kind letter dated 5 February, 1970. I have understood the spirit of your letter and your suggestions are quite welcome.

According to our Sastras, the brahmacaris, the vanaprasthas, and the sannyasis are allowed to collect alms and are considered as the children of the society, which is composed of householders. In other words, our Vedic civilization is the most perfect community project. Only the grhasthas are supposed to earn money, especially the ksatriyas and the vaisyas, and the money is distributed community-wide. The community is divided into four parts, the brahmacari, the grhastha, the vanaprastha, and the sannyasi. Out of these four divisions, only the grhasthas are supposed to maintain the brahmacaris, the vanaprasthas, and the sannyasis.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- Los Angeles 4 March, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. I thank you very much for your letter dated 26 February, 1970, and noted the contents. You will be pleased to know that recently we have opened a center in Sydney. The newspaper-cutting is sent herewith.

I am also enclosing herewith a picture of the Deities in our London Temple. These Deities were donated by one London Devotee, Mr. Goyal, and they were purchased from Jaipur. The Deities contributed by Dalmia Jayan Trust and Birla Trust (5 Pairs) are made in Vrindaban, 24 inches high brass Deities, but these London Deities are made of first-class marble from Jaipur, and they are 42 inches high.

Letter to R. D. Birla -- Los Angeles 9 March, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. I have received one letter from Sri Balmukund Parikh of 78 Woodstock Avenue, London, N.W. 11, and the copy of the letter is enclosed herewith for your perusal.

Perhaps it may be known to you that in the Western world I am preaching the cult of Krishna Consciousness strictly on the Vaisnava principles, and I have established already 26 centers as listed on enclosed sheet.

Letter to Japanese brothers and sisters -- Los Angeles 10 March, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. It is a great opportunity that Sriman Sudama Das Adhikari, one of my American students, has gone to your country to spread the gospel of Krishna Consciousness under superior order. The original order is from Lord Caitanya Who appeared 484 years ago at Navadvipa, a district in Bengal, India, as Lord Buddha appeared at Gaya, a district in Behar, India. We, the followers of Vedic culture, accept both Lord Buddha and Lord Caitanya as incarnations of God, as both of them are stated to be so in the authorized Vedic scriptures.

Letter to Balmukundji -- Los Angeles 17 April, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. I thank you very much for your letter dated 11th April, 1970.

The Secretary of Sri R. D. Birla has replied my first letter, and I have also replied that asking him to supply immediately four pairs of Sri Murtis, but so far I have not received confirmation. But I received no reply from Jaipuraji, so I shall wait a few days more for his reply and then I may remind him.

Letter to Sri Birlaji -- Los Angeles 23 April, 1970:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Lord Krishna. I thank you very much for your kind letter dated 17th April, 1970. You have rightly pointed out that people are becoming more materialistic in this age on account of their forgetfulness of Krishna Consciousness.

Actually there is nothing like materialism. Materialism means forgetfulness of Krishna or God. We are preaching therefore Krishna Consciousness. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that the first-class religion is that which teaches love of Godhead. At the present moment, one professes a type of religion, but does not develop real purpose of religion, namely love of Godhead—that is materialism.

Letter to Radha Madhava Sharan -- Los Angeles 6 June, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to thank you for your kind letter dated 28th May, 1970. I am so glad to receive a letter from a 70 years old young man. Sometimes they say about me "74 years young holy man", and sometimes they say "jet-age parivrajakacarya." They also very kindly have written that I have done magic to the foreigners. So I thank you all for your good wishes, although I am not elegible for these honors. Whatever is being done, it is Lord Krishna's mercy. He is unlimited and His mercy is also unlimited, so by His mercy even a crow can dance like a peacock.

Letter to Dr. R. N. Vyasa -- Los Angeles 7 June, 1970:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Lord Krishna, I beg to thank you for your kind letter dated 26th May, 1970.

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam there is a question asked by Pariksit Maharaja to Sukdeva Goswami on the sinful activities of the human society. As a learned professor you will understand it very easily why a man is addicted to sinful activities. A person knows in two ways the after effects of sinful activities. Just like a criminal has heard from lawyers that a thief is punished for his criminal activities and he has seen also that a thief is arrested by the police and put into jail. Generally our experience is gathered by hearing and by seeing personally.

Letter to Nirmal Babu -- Los Angeles 24 June, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. Since a very long time we are now separated, and I think I met you last at your home sometimes in 1964 before starting for America. Perhaps you have information about my activities in the Western countries and the cult of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu being nicely transplanted in the Western countries.

Sometimes some of our friends donate a pair of Radha Krsna Deities for our different temples, but the Reserve Bank of India takes too much time to sanction the free gift. In this way I am put into great trouble. So I am seeking you help if something can be done that if somebody gives us free gifts of Deities the Government shall not object to it.

Letter to Radharamana Sharanji -- Los Angeles 25 June, 1970:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Lord Krsna. I am so glad to receive your letter dated 17th June, 1970.

The most important subject immediately is that I intend the World Sankirtana Party to visit Vrndavana sometimes in January or February of 1971. So we want accommodations for at least forty men and women which will constitute the Sankirtana Party. So we want a nice place for their stay in Vrndavana for some time. If a big house is available for rent that will be very nice, or if a suitable house is available for purchase that also we could consider. There are many dilapidated big temples of our late native princes and if one of them suitable for our purpose is available either on rent or for purchase we can accept it.

Letter to Nirmal Babu -- Los Angeles 9 July, 1970:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Lord Krsna. I am very much glad to know that you have recovered from an attack of cerebral thrombosis but the grace of Lord Krsna. I shall always pray for your good health and prolonged life because at the present moment you are the only hope to us in the matter of spreading India's original culture, Krsna consciousness.

Letter to Nevatiaji -- Los Angeles 16 July, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. I thank you very much for your letter dated 10th July, 1970, and noted the contents. I am surprised that the mail parcel containing the following articles has not reached you. Maybe it is delayed, but still if it is not yet arrived I shall send you a second batch on hearing from you. There was a copy of a letter addressed to Hanuman Prasad Poddar which covers all your questionnaires, so I am sending herewith another copy which will cover all your questions. Furthermore I am also giving you answers in sort of your questionnaires.

Letter to P. Gangulee -- Tokyo 16 August, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to thank you for your kind letter, reference number F.562/01/M, dated 10 August, 1970.

In this connection I may inform you that although there is no law by which the Temples can bar anyone's entry in India, still sometimes practically I have felt the difficulty in respect of my American and European disciples. Last time when I was in India one of my students, Harivilasa Brahmacari, felt the same difficulty when he was in the Temple of Jagannatha Puri. Similarly one disciple was refused entry in the Ranganatha Temple in Vrndavana.

Letter to M. L. Chand -- Tokyo 17 August, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. Kindly refer to my letter dated 24th June, 1970.

I did not receive any reply from you, but on the contrary I have received a copy of letter addressed to the Chief Controller of Import and Export by the Sri Caitanya Research Institute in which it is said that this letter has got reference to my letter addressed to you.

Letter to Sri Trivediji -- Tokyo 17 August, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. Since I received your letter dated July 18th, 1970, I have not heard anything from you regarding the Murtis which are kept under your care.

The matter appears to be very complicated because I do not know why Sri Caitanya Research Institute has falsely declared to the Chief Controller of Import and Export that the Murtis were donated by them while that is not a fact. There were five pairs of Murtis, one pair being donated by Dalmia-Jayan Trust and the other four pairs being donated by the Birla Trust.

Letter to N.C. Chatterji -- Tokyo 21 August, 1970:

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.

Letter to Sri Bajoriaji -- Calcutta 5 October, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. In continuance of my telegram dated October 2nd, 1970, and letter dated October 3rd, 1970, I beg to inform you that although my party from London has reached there in Bombay, I am unable to join you there in Bombay because there was no arrangement for my passage. Therefore, if my disciples there can do the work, then I do not require to go to Bombay leaving aside my important engagements here.

Letter to Dr. Chakravarti -- Bombay 3 November, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. I left Calcutta on Sept. 29 and came to Bombay to attend the Bharata Sadhu Samaj conference and then again from Bombay to Amritsar I went to attend the Vedanta Samelan conference. Now I have come back to Bombay again and the return address should be c/o Kailash Seksaria; 74 Marine Drive; Bombay-20. I've received your kind contribution of some valuable books and I've gone through them with great interest. Although I've had no chance to study these books thoroughly, still I can understand the spirit of the writings.

Letter to Sri Birlaji -- Bombay 8 November, 1970:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to apologize for not keeping our scheduled appointment on the morning of November 3rd. I became ill due to exhaustion from too much travelling and was not able to leave my room.

I have been told by my disciple that you have kindly agreed to donate 500 rupees to our society. There are many beautiful books which our society has published within the last few years and which many of the gentlemen of Bombay are now receiving as life member of our society, and take advantage of these wonderful Krishna Consciousness books. The membership fee is 1111 rupees.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Randas Agrawal -- Surat 2 January, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. Since I've come to Surat I've not heard from you. I hope everything is going well with you.

Out of the many life members, Maharaja Bharatasingh gave one check numbered 0011644 from the State Bank of Indore and this is now returned with remark "refer to Drawer." This is the first time that we've got such experience. I am therefore handing over the check which is enclosed. Kindly see the Maharaja Bharatasingh and if he'll kindly pay us cash it will be very much appreciated. In realization of the cash, kindly deposit it in the Central Bank of India, Indore Cloth Market Branch, for mail transfer to the head office in favor of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Please let me know what action you have taken in this connection. You can write our Bombay address as given above. I am going to Bombay tomorrow.

Letter to Sri D----ji -- Allahabad:

Please accept my greetings. We are staying at the Magh Mela, at the Prayag pilgrimage. The program here is going on very nicely. It will be a great pleasure for us if you visit and stay with us in this sacred pilgrimage.

We are having daily artik ceremony many times with kirtan, and there is prasadam distribution, Sankirtan, and so many activities. And our pandel is very big, so if you come there is accommodation for staying. We invite you to come here with your family.

Letter to Dr. Bigelow -- Allahabad 20 January, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. Recently I have read one article in the Gazette by Rae Corelli entitled "Heart surgeon wants to know what a soul is" and it was very interesting. Your comments show great insight and so I thought to write you on this matter. Perhaps you may know that I am the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. I've got several temples in Canada; Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Hamilton. This Krishna Consciousness Movement is specifically meant to give every soul his original spiritual position.

Letter to Mulchand Deomal -- Allahabad 31 January, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your two letters dated 22nd and 23d January, 1971, respectively and I beg to acknowledge with thanks your contribution of Rs. 100.

Letter to Dr. Baltwant Singh -- Gorakhpur 22 February, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your kind letter No. 2/2/3 dated 22nd January, 1971. I thank you very much for your kind invitation to our organization for visiting your place. Since a very long time I was thinking of going to your place but there was no opportunity to do so. Now as our movement is spreading all over the world and I am working at present in India, two of my disciples, husband and wife, have already gone to Trinidad. They are somewhere in Frederick Street in Trinidad. The couple's names are Vaikunthanatha Das Adhikari and Saradia Devi Dasi and they are now at present in the Port-of-Spain. I'm enclosing herein one picture of the couple. If possible you can open correspondence with them. If you find difficulty then you can refer this matter to Hayagriva Das Adhikari; c/o New Vrindaban; R.D. 3; Moundsville, W. Virginia; U.S.A.

Letter to K. K. Birla -- Bombay 10 March, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. From your previous letters it is understood that you know the activities of my Society in Europe and America. Sometimes when you were in New York you saw our Sankirtana Party on the Fifth Avenue.

We have come from America and Europe with forty disciples, mostly American, and we wanted to stay in the Birla Guest House at Mayapur during the Birthday Anniversary of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Unfortunately, Sri Bhakti Vilas Tirtha did not allow us to stay at the Birla Guest House and the copy of the letter from him is enclosed herewith.

Letter to R. D. Birla -- Bombay 10 March, 1971:

Kindly accept my greetings. I beg to inform you that I am coming to Bombay by the 15th of March, 1971, and I wish to see you on some important matter. I shall stay at the following address:

ISKCON

89, Bhulabhai Desai Road

Akash Ganga Building, 7th Floor

Bombay-26

I will be pleased if you will kindly give me some time to meet you through your secretary.

Letter to Mr. Yukio Ogata -- Bombay 16 March, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. It is understood that the Back To Godhead department is in debt by $52,000.00. I am very sorry that this has increased so much. Therefore I am sending check no 16-320 for $20,000.00. So please continue to print Back To Godhead magazine without hesitation. Your money is always safe.

Letter to Rameswar Dayalaji Birla -- Bombay 31 March, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. With reference to my interview with you yesterday evening, I beg to inform you that my attempt to exhibit the Krishna Consciousness Movement to the Bombay public is still going on at the Cross Maidan, and it has become very successful. Similar attempts will be made in Calcutta and Delhi also, in order to establish at least four centers in India; Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Navadvipa. I am therefore opening a scheme herewith for raising funds for the above purpose. I have already discussed with you in this matter and I hope you will kindly generously contribute to this fund so that your example may be followed by other rich men in India. Your check may be collected from your secretary, Mr. Dhruva, upon hearing from you.

Letter to Rameswar Dayalaji Birla -- Bombay 1 April, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to inform you that the two pairs of Radha Krishna Deities have arrived in Bombay from Jaipur. So out of the four Deities, two of Krishna and two of Radharani, one Deity of Radharani is broken by the hand. So kindly do the needful for replacing this Deity and oblige.

Letter to Dr. Balwant Singh -- Bombay 4 April, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 23d March, 1971 and have noted the contents. I am so pleased that you have taken my two young disciples, Vaikunthanatha and Saradia, from Trinidad for preaching work. It is so kind of you that you are appreciating their work in this connection. Kindly continue to help them so that there may not be any impediment in their preaching work.

Letter to Mulchand Deomal -- Bombay 14 April, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 1st April, 1971, addressed to Madhudvisa Swami, and I have noted the contents. I have been in extensive touring and then I came back to Bombay on the 16th March, 1971 and then on 24th March we held a very successful Hare Krishna Festival at Cross Maidan here in Bombay, and it lasted for eleven days. I was expecting you to join Sri Jariwalaji who was so kind to come here for a few days during the festival. So far as the Rs 5000- was concerned, it was transferred by mail to my account. It was received and credited in my bank account. I thank you very much.

Letter to Professor G. G. Kotovsky -- Bombay 23 April, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to inform you that a copy of your letter dated 16th March, 1971 was forwarded to me by Sriman Krsna das Adhikari, Governing Body Commission member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness; c/o Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple; 2 Hamburg 6; Bartelstrasse 65; and it was understood that you and your university are interested in hearing about Krishna culture and philosophy. This ancient Krishna culture and philosophy is the oldest in the world or in the universe. At least from a historical point of view it is not less than 5,000 years old.

Letter to Sri Ravelji -- Bombay 17 June, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your three letters dated 30th May, 8th and 9th June, 1971 respectively and have noted the contents. It appears from your writings that you are a true devotee of the Lord and you have respect for other devotees. That is a very good sign of a devotee. I am very much obliged to you for your appreciation. I want your blessings also for the task taken up by me to spread this Krishna Consciousness movement all over the world.

Letter to Professor Kotovsky -- Moscow 24 June, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. It was a great pleasure to talk with you on Tuesday and I hope you will kindly read the chapter of Srimad-Bhagavatam which I left with you. From your book Soviet Studies of India I understand that academician Mr. A. P. Baranrikov completed a great translation, working the matter of Tulsidas's Ramayana into Russian. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the ripe, mature fruit of the Vedic knowledge, and Tulsidas's Ramayana (Ramacharitmanasa) is but a partial representative of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The real Ramayana is Valmiki's Ramayana. Tulsidas was a devotee of Lord Rama and he has given his thoughts in his book Ramayana. But the real original thoughts and ideas are in Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Los Angeles 3 July, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I am due receipt of your very kind letter dated 12th June, 1971 and have noted the contents.

I am so glad to hear that you would like if we could open one branch of our International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) there in Cape Town, South Africa. That would be very nice. So if you can arrange for our reception, we may go there immediately, and even I may go on my way back from India, and we can establish one center. Undoubtedly this movement is very sublime and anyone who takes to it becomes happy.

Letter to Phyllis Zakheim -- Los Angeles 3 July, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 16th June, 1971 and have noted the contents. Please know it that "Nara Narayana" is a spirit soul, and not the physical body. That physical body was given by you, so it is very good that you take care of the physical side. So far I am concerned, I am giving him spiritual enlightenment, and I am taking care of that. So if you will take care of the physical side, that will compromise the situation.

Letter to Giriraja -- Los Angeles 9 July, 1971:

Please accept my greetings and blessings for all of you. I am very anxious to know about Mayapur. Since I have come here I have not heard from you. I have sent one telegram to Tamala but there is no reply. So will you kindly send me a detailed report of your activities regarding Mayapur affairs? Please send me a report every week & oblige. I have requested Acyutananda Swami also to send me weekly reports. But I have not heard from him also. Please treat this letter as urgent and reply immediately.

Letter to S. C. Mukherjee -- Los Angeles 13 July, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 2nd July, 1971 and have noted the contents. Presently I am out of Calcutta. So it is better if you are still interested in our Mayapur project to see the Mayapur committee and speak with them at our temple at 3, Albert Road; Calcutta-17. The committee is in charge of all these affairs and if they are in need of your service, that will be very nice.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- London 25 July, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. You will be glad to know that this time while coming to U.S.A. from Bombay I went to Moscow also, and arrangement is being made to start a center there very soon with the help of some young Muscovites.

Letter to Aditya Sarkar -- Brooklyn 30 July, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 16th July, 1971 and have noted the contents. I was in India until 20th June, 1971. Why did you not come and see me then? If you want to come here to USA, then please contact either Calcutta center (3, Albert Road; Calcutta-17) or our Bombay center (89 Warden Road, 7th floor; Bombay-26 (Akash-Ganga Building)). You can become a life member of our society and then you can come to any one of our centers all over the world.

Letter to Dinesh Babu -- England 14 August, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I hope you are doing well. I learned from other members of our society that you kindly sometimes visit our Mayapur center where we have already got one cottage. When I was in Calcutta we talked of purchasing more land. I am still prepared to purchase if we get bargain price or at least at the current local price but I have heard that people are asking more than the expectation. So conveniently you may go sometime at Mayapur and stay with our men and negotiate with persons. If they are prepared to sell the land at the right price, then I can purchase all the available land. My idea is to purchase land for agriculture so inmates may not depend on outsiders but grow food there and things may go on nicely.

Letter to Sri Sharmaji -- London 25 August, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your Hindi letter dated 12th August, 1971 and have noted the contents. You will be interested to know that we have got 62 branches all over the world and can open one branch there in your place but you have to invite us, a party of ten men, and arrange for tickets there and back as well as accommodations for at least one month. Then we can go in a party.

Letter to A. S. Khanna -- Calcutta 4 November, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter undated and have noted the contents. You will be glad to know that by the first week of January, 1972, I will be returning to Bombay for about two weeks, and I shall be glad to see you at that time.

Letter to R. V. Ramdas -- Calcutta 4 November, 1971:

Please accept my greetings. I have been in extensive tour all over the world, in Europe, America, Africa and very recently I have come back to India, so I have just now received your letter of 20th August, 1971 and so this late reply.

Yes, I have all good wishes for your philanthropic activities. As we are preaching Hare Krishna Movement all over the world, we should request you also to spread this movement along with your other activities.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Visvanatha Babu -- Bombay 3 January, 1972:

Kindly accept my greetings. Since I met you last at Radha Damodara Temple Vrindaban sometimes in 1963-64, I left India for preaching the message of Lord Caitanya abroad in U.S.A., I could not meet you but always think of you how much you love to hear Sankirtana. At present I have established 70 centers all over the world and if by chance you go to Europe, America, Australia, Canada, Japan, Africa, etc. where I have got many thousands of disciples in all those continents, I invite you to visit my temples, a list of which is enclosed herewith. I have five branches in India also; and in Bombay at present I am staying at my above temple. You will be glad to know that I am introducing Rathayatra and other important Vaisnava festivals in Europe and America and probably it is known to you that in San Francisco, California and in London we are having the festivals in grand scale for the last five years continually. Every year the local people are taking more and more interest and I am enclosing herewith a pamphlet in this connection which I hope you will read with interest.

Letter to Mr. K. M. Diwanji -- Calcutta 24 February, 1972:

Please accept my greetings. I have heard from my disciples in Bombay that Mr. A. B. Nair is a little anxious to settle the financial side of our Sales Agreement for the Juhu property, so I am enclosing in his wife's name a check no. CT/A-T 492829 drawn on the Central Bank of India, Head Office, Fort, Bombay-1, for the sum of Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty-thousand only), to bring to one lakh of rupees the amount we have paid Mrs. Nair to date as per our Sales Agreement. Now you may please hand over the check to Mrs. Nair, and you can assure Mr. Nair that the balance one lakh I shall pay him immediately upon my return to Bombay during the first week of March.

Letter to Puri Maharaj -- Sydney 8 April, 1972:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge your letter of 18/3/72, and I have noted the contents carefully. You will be happy to know that our centers in Australia are expanding very rapidly, and many many young boys and girls are surrendering their lives in rich country to Lord Krishna. Now I think I have got about 100 disciples in Melbourne, and Sydney, exactly like those you have observed with me in India. So there is very good scope here because we have opened up our preaching here less than two years back. The other day I was invited by some Christian monks to come to their very large monastery in the countryside near Melbourne, and they were so much appreciating our Krishna Consciousness philosophy of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and they read our Bhagavad Gita every night, and they are all very nice persons and have stopped eating meat.

Letter to Niranjana -- Sydney 12 April, 1972:

I will be in Japan up to the 5th of May, then to Hawaii for two weeks, then on to Los Angeles where I will remain for two weeks, then on to Los Angeles where I will remain for some time to do translation work. You may feel free to correspond with me at any time and I will be glad to help you with any questions that you might have.

Please also offer my greetings to your father. Hoping this will meet you in good health and happy mood.

Letter to Unknown -- Unknown Place 15 April, 1972:

Please accept my greetings.

By the Grace of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha and Krishna our recent festival in Cross Maidan Exhibition Ground has been counted a grand success, and quite noticeably the spirit of bhakti has been actively revived in Bombay. My blessings go especially to all of you who have joined with us in service.

Letter to Omkara -- Los Angeles 26 May, 1972:

Please accept my blessings, and offer my greetings to your good father Kanshiram. I heard that you were married during my absence, although I had been in Delhi there was not a chance to see you and your father. But I am remembering always you and your father, that you so selflessly aided me in my preparation for coming to the western countries and distributing the great gift of Srimad-Bhagavatam to the western society.

Letter to Sriman Joshi -- Los Angeles 13 June, 1972:

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated June 2, 1972, and I have noted the contents with great pleasure. I am very much encouraged that you are offering your considerable services for helping me to advance this bhakti-yoga system or Krishna Consciousness Movement all over the world. So I shall be very pleased to meet you personally here in Los Angeles at my apartment, as I shall not be going to San Francisco in the near future because I am attending the Rathayatra Festival in London this year instead. So if you are free to meet me here in Los Angeles, I shall be very pleased to see you at that time.

Letter to Sri Joshiji -- New York 7 July, 1972:

Please accept my greetings, and I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated June 27, 1972, and I thank you for your proposal for cooperating. I did not reply your letter earlier as I was preparing to come here to London.

Your proposal to cooperate with this movement is very magnanimous, and I thank you for your suggestion. But before doing anything tangible, I wish to discuss with you in detail. I wanted to see you in Los Angeles, but I could not get up to San Francisco, neither you could come to L.A. Now I shall be away from California for about one month, but when I shall return we shall discuss further this matter. I welcome your suggestions for voluntary service. Thank you very much.

Letter to Sri Krishna Pandit -- Vrindaban 7 November, 1972:

Please accept my greetings and blessings of Lord Krishna. I am in due receipt of your letter dated October 29, 1972. I very much regret for the loss of your good wife. I always remember her because she was so kind upon me when I used to visit your house. She was so affectionately feeding me, so I felt very much when I learned that she is no more in this world. Anyway, she was a pious lady, and she has left this world keeping her husband and children all well-placed and happy, so her death as a chaste lady is exemplary. Lord Sri Krishna will surely give her peace and prosperity in her next birth.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Subrata Lahiri -- Bombay 4 January, 1973:

Please accept my greetings and blessings. I have received your letter and I very much appreciate your kind sentiments. It appears that you are an intelligent man because you approach submissively and not to argue. In your letter you mention Bhagavad-gita. Actually the whole purpose of Bhagavad-gita is to revive our sanatana-dharma, which is the eternal occupation of the living entity. Sanatana-dharma does not refer to any sectarian process or religion. It is the eternal function of the eternal living entities in relationship with the eternal Supreme Lord.

Letter to Shri Khilnani -- New Delhi 29 September, 1973:

Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 25.9.73 and I have immediately informed the man in charge in Paris to suspend the marriage. the copy of the letter to Bhagavan Das, the man in charge, is sent herewith.