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Poor man (letters)

Correspondence

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

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

The ground floor may be utilized for preparation Prasadam of Bala Krishna because the preaching centres will not be for dry speculations only but for actual gain for delicious Prasadam. I have already tested how the people here like the Vegetable Prasadam prepared by me. They will forget meat eating and they will pay for the expenses. The American are not poor men like the Indian and if they appreciate a thing they are prepared to spend any amount for such hobby. They are being exploited by simply jugglery of words and bodily gymnastics and still they are spending for that. But when they will have the actual commodity and feel pleasure by eating very delicious Prasadam of Bala Krishna I am sure an unique thing will be introduced in America. As soon as everything is arranged, I shall bring my assistants from India to help me in all details. The price of the house is $110,000 subject to alteration and other expenses $5,144. Immediately cash may be paid on $35,000 and the balance by monthly installments to be completed in 15 years or the whole amount may be paid at once without

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1968 Correspondence

Letter to Hayagriva -- Montreal 14 July, 1968:

There is a Bengali proverb that if one is a poor man, he can go to some friends' house and accept food and then come back, but one should never accept residence in other's house. That is very inconvenient. Of course, for a Sannyasi like us, we can live anywhere and everywhere, rather we should not have our own place. But for the New Vrindaban project, I would advise you to purchase land as much as you can because it appears that the atmosphere and situation is very nice there. Another thing, I shall not advise you to purchase horses for conveyance. It will be a botheration for you, because now you have not got sufficient assistance. If you keep horses you have to take care for them and for a little convenience of transportation, you have to take so much botheration to keep the horse fit.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Krsna dasa -- Los Angeles 28 July, 1969:

Krishna accepts the spirit of the offering, and anyone who offers Him some service in good devotional service, that is immediately accepted by Krishna. There are many instances in Mahabharata wherein we find that Krishna declined to accept the invitation of Dhuryodhana, who was then the emperor of the world, but He accepted the invitation of Vidura, who was famous as a poor man. It is said "Vidura's particles of grain." So our business is to offer our sincere service, and it is accepted by Krishna. From the artistic point of view I do not find anything wrong in this picture, so he should be encouraged to draw many pictures for decorating the temple. Jadurani was not in the beginning a very good painter, but trying to serve Krishna she has become a very good painter. We have got two nice painters in Los Angeles also; Muralidhara and Devahuti. They have drawn two very big pictures for the Los Angeles temple, and they are very beautiful and perfect. So encourage Oliver to go on painting more and more pictures, and it will be very nice for the Hamburg temple.

Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Tittenhurst 14 September, 1969:

Especially your letters, Brahmananda's letters, Satsvarupa's letters and Gargamuni's letters I take special care and reply each of them. I hope by this time you have received my reply. Regarding the house, I have answered this point in one of my letters. But one thing I must let you know is that I may be a poor man's son, or a poor man myself, but fortunately I have been transferred to America to become rich man's father. So I wish to live like rich man's father, as there are many American rich man's fathers. Now you can do whatever you like. But one thing I can suggest is that we are now getting our own press, and as we have got so many books, if you can arrange for the selling of these books, there will be no scarcity of money either for the father or for the son.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Bhagavan -- Calcutta 19 September, 1970:

I am pleased to know that you have fully distributed your money to my Book Fund and BTG, and as you are experiencing, Krishna will send you more. We should know it well that Krishna is no poor man, and He can give us any amount at any time. Simply He is waiting to see that we will use it according to His desire. So the more we spend in His service, the more He will provide, rest assured.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Brooklyn 27 July, 1971:

The arrangement you have made in Boston for me was very nice. There is no need of nice apartment. A sannyasi shouldn't live in a very nice place but because your country is so much opulent, even a poor man is offered a nice place. So whatever is offered in devotion and love is all right. It is our duty to offer the very best to Krishna and the Spiritual Master. That is reciprocal love.

Letter to Upendra -- Nairobi 9 October, 1971:

Stay in Melbourne and preach with steady determination. I am glad to learn that you are in steady correspondence with Karandhara and am sure he will give you all good direction. So don't be agitated by anyone's so-called demand but you stick to your preaching work, husband and wife, chanting and following the regulative principles. Don't be agitated by trifle things. Remain steady and go on with preaching work. Krishna will help you in every way. I am so pleased with you that you have done so nicely in the service of the Lord to your best capacity. That is required. It is not that everyone should be equally expert. But the thing that is needed is that we should be serious and sincere in our engagement. Nobody can adequately serve Krishna because Krishna is unlimited. But Krishna so kind that even a small leaf or flower offered to Krishna by the poorest man in the world, Krishna accepts such thing. Krishna is so opulent that he is not even slightly benefited by any presentation but he is so kind and merciful that he accepts a little bit of leaf or flower or water from his devotees, and because a devotee comes to him with such love and affection he becomes very much satisfied. As a father is always sorry for the son is out of home, similarly Krishna is not very happy on account of so many bewildered fallen souls in the material world. He therefore comes personally to ask them to surrender again to Him. But the conditioned soul is so much illusioned that it is very hard to make him surrender to Krishna. Therefore each and every one of us, if we can give service to Krishna by making another man surrender to Krishna, then He will very much appreciate that service and that is our gain. Try to follow this principle and preach vigorously to your best capacity and everything will be all right. Don't worry.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Nandarani -- Mayapur 27 February, 1972:

So I am very glad that you want to increase in this way, and I have no objection, as long as the standard which instructed is not changed. Devotees like to increase, that is very nice, but this whimsically changing, now one way, now another way, now this schedule, now that one, this is not good. But as you have suggested to make nice bed and night clothes, that is good proposal. Originally I wanted that such bed, along with throne or gorgeous chair, be placed to the side, but I do not think anyone has done it. So you may add these features. Main point is to keep altar and everything very clean and neat, and to offer Radha and Krishna everything in the most opulent manner just suitable to your means, and always with full love and devotion, even it may be only a little water or few leaves if you are poor man.

Letter to Dharma -- Tokyo 22 April, 1972:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated March 14, 1972 and I have noted the contents. Actually, Krishna does not care for how much we give to Him, but He sees how much we are keeping back for ourselves. There is the story of Kholaveca Sridhara, a devotee of Lord Caitanya, who although he was a very poor man, gave half of his meager income for worshiping Mother Ganges, and by so doing, he greatly pleased the Lord. It is not so much important the quantity of books that we distribute, but that we serve Krishna as best we can, and depend on Him for the results. Transcendental competition is nice, but it should not come to the point of making us lose our Krishna consciousness. When you have these feelings, do not mistake it for enviousness, but take it to be an indirect appreciation of the service done by your other Godbrothers. This is spiritual. In the material world, when someone surpasses us in some way we become angry and plan how to stop him, but in the spiritual world when someone does some better service we think "Oh, he has done so nicely. Let me help him to execute his service." So we should always endeavor to keep this attitude, and serve Lord Krishna to the best of our ability. That will make one advance in spiritual life.

Letter to Giriraja -- Honolulu 15 May, 1972:

As far as possible we shall not deal in business. That will not be very good for our spiritual progress. But if somebody contributes for our good cause, that is different. I have suggested in previous letters that we want persons to live in our house who will observe our devotional regulations. We want to pick up some devotees who will be satisfied with regulated life, daily having darsana of the deity, chanting—we want some selected men to live with us, either as cooperative housing society or however. So far prasada distribution, it is not a question of rich or poor. That will be Karma Kanda. Our program therefore is that we offer prasada to everyone. Make our temple so nice that everyone who comes is offered some prasada. Not that we are after poor men. It is nice that we are feeding 200 daily, but gradually try to increase. But do not advertise, we shall be self-advertising. And do not go to poor areas, this is not our philosophy. Our philosophy is prasada distribution, without discrimination rich or poor. I am writing to Bhavananda, he cannot spend membership money. Regarding books, posters, and stamps, I am writing to Karandhara that he should send you all of these things at cost price, and the cost can be deducted from the Mayapur Fund in U.S.A. I think if you get these stamps, every businessman in Bombay will take. Somehow or other we have to make vigorous propaganda.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Abhinanda, Gopesvara -- Los Angeles 23 June, 1975:

Regarding reducing the sale price of the Srimad-Bhagavatams, Gopala Krishna is arranging for a new printing of Volume One Number 1 in Delhi. For what the book is costing to print, it should be sold for @ Rs. 50/-, but for a poor man we can reduce the price by 25% so it could be sold for Rs. 38/.

Letter to Giriraja -- Detroit 4 August, 1975:

Yes, what is the use of approaching a poor man to contribute. A poor man will simply think how can I occupy. Regarding the retired persons staying, retired means vanaprastha. They cannot live with family. Husband and wife must sleep in different rooms. One room should be for two or three retired men, and they will live together. So there will be no accommodation together with the wife. And, husband and wife must follow all the rules and regulations.

Letter to Dr. Y. G. Naik -- Toronto 7 August, 1975:

Prasadam in this country means a full meal. From the very beginning even when I was alone, I was cooking myself for at least one dozen men, and I distributed full meals. According to Caitanya Mahaprabhu philosophy, prasadam should be taken up to the neck, akantha. In Jagannatha Puri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's only occupation was holding Sankirtana at least four hours every day and distributing prasadam to the devotees. It is stated in the Caitanya Caritamrta that the Lord was so liberal that He would give to every man prasadam quite sufficient for being eaten by two or three men. So we are trying to follow by distributing prasadam very liberally, and we invite everyone without any discrimination. Everywhere we have got temples we distribute prasadam especially to the poorer men. I am enclosing one issue of our "Back to Godhead" magazine which contains photos of our prasadam distribution starting on page 12. This prasadam distribution is going on all over the world.

Letter to Ramesvara -- Bombay 7 November, 1975:

Another thing, why are you always calling on the telephone? Are you such important men that you have to call all over the world? We are poor men sons, what can I do? But, why are you always calling on the telephone?

Page Title:Poor man (letters)
Compiler:Visnu Murti
Created:17 of Mar, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=14
No. of Quotes:14