Military (Letters)

Expressions researched:
"militant" |"militaristic" |"military" |"militia"

1967 Correspondence

Letter to Jadurani -- San Francisco 29 December, 1967:

Bhismadeva.., as soon as found Krishna in that angry mood, he gave up his fighting weapons and prepared himself for being killed by Krishna. This attitude of Krishna pleased Bhismadeva.. very much, and at the time of his death he recalled back the angry feature of Krishna. He was a military man so he was pleased to see Krishna in military spirit, as much as the Gopis wanted to see Krishna as the most beautiful lover. There is no difference between the attitude of the gopis and Bhismadeva.. in the matter of exchanging transcendental mellows between God and His devotee. Krishna can be loved in any feature and because he is absolute there is no difference to love Krishna as a military man or as a simple Gopi.

Letter to Jadurani -- San Francisco 29 December, 1967:

As military man, Bhisma had no right to shoot the chariot driver, but he knew Krishna's body is not material, and will not be harmed, so he took pleasure in piercing the body of the Lord. Bhismadeva.. became so pierced with arrows that he laid down and with the arrows all standing on end, all over stuck through his body. Yes, Lord Brahma and Lord Siva came and were there in the sky with many demigods, and throwing flowers. You can consult Srimad-Bhagavatam second part.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Brahmananda -- Los Angeles 20 February, 1968:

Regarding Krishna's being very kind upon us, should be on the principle as Arjuna followed: the principle is, that Krishna was Arjuna's most intimate friend. He could have brought victory to Arjuna, without any endeavor by Arjuna; neither was that principle advised by Krishna, neither Arjuna followed it. As a military man, Arjuna fought to his best, but the victory was brought him by Krishna. Similarly, we should try our best to our best capacity, and victory will come from Krishna. We should never sit idly and ask Krishna to do everything. That is the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita. It is clearly said in the Gita: "Yuddhasya ca mam anusmara (BG 8.7)." So ordinarily, we have to try our best to our best capacity to achieve something, and by Krishna's Grace, all of a sudden we shall see everything is there.

Letter to Gargamuni -- Montreal 7 June, 1968:

One can serve the Lord with these four possessions; if not, with three, if not, then with two or even one, and that is sufficient to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I wish that you can utilize your best talents in business organization and the result utilize for Krishna's satisfaction is on the absolute platform. To make the idea more clear, if I am translating Srimad-Bhagavatam, and if you are contributing for its publication and helping for its distribution, this means there is no difference between your service and my service. In the absolute platform there is no such distinction. And service is always on the absolute platform. One has to make the best use of his talent for the service of Krishna. That is wanted. Best example is Arjuna, that he utilized his talents, military science, in the service of Krishna.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Montreal 3 July, 1968:

Question 2, answer: That is just his military spirit, that Bali Maharaja says "If He be the illustrious Lord Visnu not desirous of foregoing His own fame, He shall wrest from me this earth after slaying me in battle, or He shall be slain by me." The last portion of this question is not very clear.

Letter to Hayagriva -- Montreal 14 July, 1968:

My first request to you is that as you are getting a job again, in the Ohio State University, you must accept it without hesitation. In the Bhagavad-gita you have read that one should fully utilize one's talent for the service of the Lord. Arjuna was a military man and he utilized his talent fully for executing the purpose of Lord Sri Krishna. So, by the Grace of Krishna, you have got some educational talent, and wherever there is opportunity to get some money, you must accept it, but spend the money for Krishna. As you are projecting to develop New Vrindaban, you will require money and I would advise you to purchase land there instead of taking on lease.

Letter to Acyutananda, Jayagovinda -- Seattle 13 October, 1968:

It is a good suggestion, because if you won the case on the ground that you have adopted a different order of life, in search of the Absolute Truth, then that will be a great precedent for all our boys who are victims under such act. But still it is doubtful because the government is bent upon recruiting young men for the military purpose. This is one side. Another side is that your mission was to serve the cause of the society and if both you and Jaya Govinda come back without doing anything in India, it will be a mark of defeat on your part.

Letter to Yamuna -- Santa Fe 29 October, 1968:

Acarya (ordained Minister of Religion) you will be glad to know that I have been admitted in your country as permanent resident (Immigration Visa) under ordained Religious Minister and it is learnt that my initiated students may be saved from the military service. Please inform this matter to all others. I am herewith giving a note for Syamasundara. and Malati which please show them. Offer my blessings to your husband, Mukunda, Janaki & all others.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Aniruddha -- Los Angeles 4 February, 1969:

We wish to hold examinations and award titles such as Bhakti-sastri, Bhakti-vaibhava, and Bhaktivedanta. The whole program will continue for seven years, and the students who will be fully engaged in this study of a seven year course will be classified in the 4-D section of the draft board. Such students will not be called for military activities. In this connection, an experiment is going on with Karatieya, and if it is successful then we can give protection to many such students provided they take things seriously.

Letter to Vamanadeva -- Los Angeles 16 February, 1969:

According to the Bhagavad-gita of which you are a serious student, a person who belongs to the military class must fight. Arjuna belonged to the military class, and he was persistently engaged by Lord Krishna to fight. So we don't refuse the principles of fighting for the sake of country or for the good causes, but we recognize that fighting is not the business of students engaged in training of God consciousness. The modern civilization is one-sided, and we do not approve of this program.

Letter to Swami Bhaktivedanta -- Hawaii 14 March, 1969:

This office is charged with the responsibility of making an administrative determination concerning the status of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness as a religion within the meaning of the Military Selective Service Act of 1967. This question is and will be of importance to your organization and to many of its members. We therefore request that you advise us specifically concerning tenants and principles of your religion and specifying the body of scripture or teachings upon which your organization relies as authority.

Letter to Robert Hendry -- Los Angeles 3 August, 1969:

So your program, seemingly like military men, marching with the Hare Krishna Mantra slogan is very very encouraging to me. I am always dreaming of a world Sankirtana Party, but your idea of marching 300 soldiers all over the world with the Hare Krishna Mantra is almost in fulfillment of my dream. So if you can believe in this adventure, certainly you will be doing a great deal of service to the humanity and therefore satisfying Krishna also.

Letter to Gargamuni -- Tittenhurst 29 October, 1969:

If one is always careful about falling down and prays to Krishna that he may not fall down on account of greater strength of Maya, then Krishna will give him special protection. This was advised to Arjuna by Krishna Himself. Arjuna was a great fighter, statesman, and at the same time a great devotee. A statesman and military commander has very little time to perform the routine work of devotional service, but Krishna advised him especially to be engaged in his occupational duty, and at the same time always be thinking of Krishna. This is the secret of not being a victim of Maya. Rayarama's case is different. He definitely denied my instructions. I asked him to come to me and live with me, and he definitely denied.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Jayadvaita -- Los Angeles 30 January, 1970:

When we speak of Krishna, Krishna is not alone. Krishna means His name, His qualities, His fame, His friends, His paraphernalia, His entourage—everything included. Just like when we speak of a king, it is to be understood that he is surrounded by ministers, secretaries, military commanders and many other people. Krishna is not impersonal, so in His Vrindaban Lila especially, He is always surrounded by the Gopis, cowherd boys, His father, His mother and all the inhabitants of Vrindaban.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Bhanutanya -- Hyderabad 18 November, 1972:

Now the thing is, children should not be beaten at all, that I have told. They should simply be shown the stick strongly. So if one cannot manage in that way then he is not fit as teacher. If a child is trained properly in Krishna Consciousness, he will never go away. That means he must have two things, love and education. So if there is beating of child, that will be difficult for him to accept in loving spirit, and when he is old enough he may want to go away—that is the danger. So why these things are going on _ marching and chanting japa, insufficient milk, too strict enforcement of time schedules, hitting the small children? Why these things are being imposed? Why they are inventing these such new things like marching and japa like military? What can I do from such a distant place? They should run and play when they are small children, not forced to chant japa, that is not the way.

Letter to Dhananjaya -- Bombay 31 December, 1972:

Of course we work very very hard just to get someone to come to the platform of devotee of Krsna, so we shall not be too much hasty to drive anyone out. Therefore we may forgive once, twice, but more than that we must take other steps. So if any new candidate for devotee comes forward you may test him very thoroughly to understand from him if he is ready to fully accept our strict standard of temple living. Let him understand that it is not an arbitrary or whimsical decision on our parts to become like military camp, rather we are strictly adhering to our devotional principles only so that we may make advancement in Krsna consciousness and be protected from the attack of maya consciousness.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Jagadisa -- Bombay 9 November, 1975:

Regarding the Dallas Army base property, you can forward this offer to Svarupa Damodara and in this connection you may correspond with him. We may require it for the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies. Do not reject this military base. We can use it for this purpose. You can use the Illinois property for the Gurukula and the army base for the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Send details to Svarupa Damodara of the military base.

Letter to Jagadisa -- Bombay 9 November, 1975:

The military academy property in Illinois sounds very nice. You can consider amongst the GBC and do the needful. Regarding your proposal to reduce the number of students in the Dallas school, and sending them to New York and Los Angles, that is a good idea. You can do that. Anyway, this should be considered by the GBC together and do the needful.

1976 Correspondence

Letter to Adi-kesava -- Mathura, India 24 November, 1976:

I have studied all the letters and clippings in our support. It is very good. This is very important. By Krsna's grace, due to this apparent setback, now this Movement will become more prominent. Sometimes these tactics are also employed in military encounters. Temporarily retreating, then coming forward with stronger force than before. You may consult with Tamala Krsna and Ramesvara and whatever expenditure is required for emergency legal costs may be loaned from the BBT. We must spend for this purpose.