And in the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is recommended by Prahlada Maharaja that unmarried boys should accept this Bhagavata dharma or Krishna Consciousness for their life's benefit. We have to convince them about this, that this life is very valuable so long this material education has misled us. Misled us in this way, that it is without Krishna Consciousness. So when Krishna Consciousness added to this material advancement, it becomes aromatic gold. Gold is very beautiful, but if there is some aroma, aromatic gold, if it is available in the market, it will have greater value. So material civilization is very good for comforts of the body. Now if we do not utilize the strength and comforts of body for Krishna Consciousness, it will be used for sense gratification. And that will degrade our position. So the younger section of this country should take it very seriously, that they should take to Krishna Consciousness, and the next generation will be a different public, in the western world, who are materially and spiritually advanced and they will be happy in this life as well as in the next.
Bhagavata-dharma (Letters)
Correspondence
1968 Correspondence
1970 Correspondence
They create some religion to derive some material benefit as they create political organization for mutual undisturbed sense gratification. So religion is also a part of that concept of life. As such, in most of the religions you will find some instruction on morality and goodness, and God consciousness is superfluous.
So except Krsna Consciousness or Bhagavata Dharma or religion of the Bhagavata, any other system of religion is only pretension, that is the fact. It is not therefore surprising that your impression of the meeting of the Jews and Christians, where you had opportunity to speak, was that they were lacking so much in God-consciousness. So far we are concerned, our principle is to live with God as actual fact, and not to make God a supplying agent. Our process is different because we want to supply God everything—whatever we have got and whatever we have not got.
1971 Correspondence
Unless one is sufficiently empowered, one cannot preach Krishna Consciousness. So the fact that you are preaching so nicely is proof that you are already benedicted by Krishna. So preach Krishna Consciousness and be happy.
Here in India we are having one massive Sankirtana Festival called "Bhagavata Dharma Discourses, a Hare Krishna Festival" where 20,000 to 30,000 people are attending daily for chanting, lecture kirtana and prasadam distribution. So here in Bombay preaching work is also very successful. Many important men are becoming interested. Most probably we will have our permanent center here soon.
You will be glad to know that Subala Maharaja is now in Bombay and he is going to Delhi for preaching work. Here in Bombay we are having a huge Sankiran Yajna, called "Bhagavata Dharma Discourses, a Hare Krishna Festival" where 20,000 to 30,000 people are attending daily for chanting, lecture, arati and prasadam distribution. So here in Bombay preaching work is very successful. Many important men are becoming interested. Most probably we will have our permanent center here soon.
Presently I am on tour with some of my foreign disciples in India and we have got a very large program here for preaching this Krsna Consciousness Movement or Bhagavata Dharma. Our program requires the assistance of both Sriman Wayne Gunderson and his wife Srimati Citralekha Devi Dasi, who are my initiated disciples. My request is that these two, husband and wife, be granted visa for coming to India. Our tour is lasting for another six months and their presence and assistance is immediately required. Please help them and expedite this matter as far as possible.
The point is that recently there is contemplation going on for me to go to Australia and then Russia, so my return to U.S.A. may be somewhat delayed. Here in India things are going on very nicely also. We just completed one grand Sankirtana festival entitled "Bhagavata Dharma Discourses, a Hare Krishna Festival" in which 25,000 to 30,000 people were attending daily for eleven days for lecture, arati, kirtana and prasadam distribution. It was a grand success and we should be establishing our permanent center here in Bombay very soon.
I am so glad to hear how you are increasing your program at the schools and colleges and teaching classes there also. That is very encouraging. This university teaching should be vigorously done and our literatures introduced as well. It is an ideal opportunity to do so. And you are getting free ghee from the city school system.
I have sent my passport by registered, insured mail. Kindly let me know whether you have picked up the new passport in exchange for this old one. The old passport may not be delivered to them, but it may be taken back with the word "CANCELLED". Yes, after purchasing the land in Mayapur, we will purchase a house in Calcutta if there is sufficient funds. I am very glad that "Bhagavata Dharma Discourses" activities in Calcutta are going on nicely and it is very encouraging that in one day you have collected checks, etc. for Rs. 8,000 from prospective sympathizers. The Remington House, as suggested by you is not good for our purpose, because it is in the midst of downtown office quarter. Office quarter neighborhood becomes vacant after office hours and besides that, I have seen that Remington House previously when I was in Calcutta and it is not good for our purpose.
1972 Correspondence
People are very eager for Krishna consciousness. Especially the youth of the world are taking very serious interest, because they are not at all satisfied with the standards of happiness their parents have accepted. Neither their teachers, parents, nor anyone can offer them the solution to what this human form of life is meant for. So we have got a great responsibility to distribute this knowledge of Bhagavata Dharma to the whole world. If we remain very sincere and pure in following the line laid down by the previous great acaryas, this Krishna Consciousness Movement will undoubtedly be accepted throughout the world as the only religion. This has already been foretold in one newspaper here by a Japanese philosopher who has predicted that our Krishna Consciousness Movement will become the world religion by 1981.
One thing more, if we are successful in this program then my dreamt mission of life to spread Krishna Consciousness all over the world will be fulfilled. I wish to speak on the great philosophy of Bhagavata Dharma at least once in a week on Television, so if arrangement is made by you for this, then you will be doing the highest service for Krishna.
So I am thinking that if we arrange similar seminar programs in the future, wherever I am speaking at the time, that will be a great success. So I am coming to New Vrindaban for the Janmastami celebration by end of August from Europe, so if you can arrange and advertise widely for such Bhagavata Dharma seminar or festival, I shall speak for minimum 7 days on the subject matter of Bhagavata Dharma. You may invite all the intelligent class of men, like students, professors, philosophers, scientists, educationists, like that, and they can pay some fee and we shall give them all facilities for living, and they shall attend our classes daily for some set period and take away immense benefit. I am enclosing the copy of one sample advertisement for the seminar in San Diego. Similarly, we can arrange such seminar at New Vrindaban. What do you think?
I beg to acknowledge your letter from Berkeley dated nil, and I am very much pleased to learn that you are trying to find out some place where I can give two or three times a week lecture-class to university students in the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness or Bhagavata Dharma. But one thing is, the sannyasi has no such thing as teaching credentials or "academic vitae." So they can simply decide on the basis of my books and teachings. But I am not an ordinary teacher, I can do it only if I am a guest lecturer. Otherwise they will not take me very seriously. But I should be honored as a guest lecturer and paid well, as well as they should give me a nice house, not very big, but nice. And I will speak twice or thrice in a week to as many students who will come, intelligent boys and girls, and they will get regular instruction in our Vedic knowledge as it is.
I am coming to India sometime in the month of October and I want to again hold Bhagavata Dharma Discourses and Hare Krishna Festival in Calcutta Maidan, I think by the last part of October. So you can begin preparing for that, and I shall be very glad to come there for speaking.
One thing is, I have recently got one letter from Mr. Shah wherein he mentions there are many temples being offered to us in Uganda by the Indians who must leave there. So I understand you are going there soon, so why not take them if they are offering freely? We shall have to send you many Americans for managing them.
Our Bhagavata Dharma Discourses are going on very nicely here in New Vrindaban, and hundreds of devotees and other persons from outside are also coming here, and there is one large pavilion on the hill-top where I speak every evening and the meetings are being very well appreciated by all. Now go on holding this Bhagavata Dharma discourses in every city of the world, in simple way, as we have done it in Nairobi, speaking something, having kirtana, distributing prasadam, and keep place to stay, camping and tents, for the devotees and guests, and in this way very quickly Lord Caitanya's movement will be spread all over the world and actually everyone will get enlightenment out of it.
I thank you very much for your letter dated August 25, 1972, and I appreciate very much for your kind sentiments. Yes, the Bhagavata Dharma discourses here in New Vrindaban are going on very nicely and daily several hundred devotees and guests are coming to hear, and it is truly a wonderful time.
I am glad to hear the nice report about St. Louis temple, and also that you are training yourself up nicely to be a serious preacher of this Krishna Consciousness movement. That much is wanted, sincere men who will become very strong for preaching work throughout the world, on behalf of Krishna. Now you apply yourself to this task very seriously and become learned in all the aspects of our Krishna Consciousness philosophy and take this opportunity in this lifetime to go back to Home, back to Godhead. That is my request.
What will be the arrangement for foreigners to see the temples, will they be allowed or what is the situation for government sanction for foreigners to see the temples?
Now I am returning to India in middle of October, and I am coming first to Vrndavana and New Delhi for holding our second annual Bhagavata-dharma Discourses and Hare Krsna Festival, and if Krsna desires it, we may meet again at that time.
I thank you very much for your letter from Benares dated 9 September 1972, and I have very much appreciated the contents. Yes, if you can come to Vrndavana in October to see me, that will be very nice. I shall be arriving there approximately the 15th and can remain for about three weeks before going to Delhi, where we will hold our second annual Hare Krsna Festival and Bhagavata-dharma Discourses. I am very glad to hear that all of your activities are going on successfully, that you have finished your exams in good order and you have increased your chanting also of rounds. And most of all I am happy to hear that you have begun some translating work. Now you work conjointly with Ramananda in Gorakhpur for producing all of my books in Hindi language, that will be your great contribution. You are a learned scholar, so is Ramananda, so the both of you together should head up this program of translating and publishing my books in Hindi language. If you require to have anything sent you from this country, I can arrange.
I am leaving Los Angeles around 6th October and we have a few days program in San Francisco. From there we shall fly to India, stopping three days in Manila, and we should land in Delhi by the 16th October. I shall inform you details. One thing, I want to know how the preparations are being done for the second annual hare Krsna Festival and Bhagavata-dharma Discourses at Delhi starting around the 6th of November. If you can get that LIC grounds again that will be first class. Now we have got many many books in India and I want to raise the funds for our building projects at Bombay, Vrndavana and Mayapur by selling these books widely all over India, so these pandal programs are a golden opportunity to sell many many books, so make arrangements like that.
The sandesh was the first class sandesh I have tasted in your country, you have mastered the art perfectly well, thank you very much. I am happy to hear that your program in New Vrndavana has been very successful, and for my part I was very much pleased to attend this year. Now I can understand that this Bhagavata-dharma discourse can be held anywhere all over the world and people will come in large numbers such great distance and under all kinds of hardships just to hear our discourse. That is very encouraging to me, now you are sannyasis and GBC men and I leave it to you to hold this Bhagavata-dharma discourse and Hare Krsna festival all over your country widely, and this will be the success of our movement. You are experienced devotee, and you know how to do things well, so kindly train the others and distribute your experience widely, and organize. If such festivals can be held in different places continuously then my dream will be fulfilled. Your program for traveling to the colleges is nice, try to sell as many of our books and literatures as possible and lecture to all the students what is the real purpose of their education of life.
I have received your note from Boston dated September 22, 1972, and I think that by now you must be in London. I am very glad to hear that you will be holding Bhagavata-dharma Festivals all over England. I know that you are good preacher and sincere boy, and Revatinandana Maharaja is also sannyasi, so you work together with him and with the others in cooperative spirit to spread this Krsna Consciousness movement widely all over the British Isles. From Revatinandana I can understand that there is immense field for preaching amongst the youth and in all parts of the country, so do not hesitate to take the bold step forward and invite everyone to become devotee of Krsna.
1973 Correspondence
One of my disciples from my Calcutta ISKCON branch will be calling on you shortly in this connection, and if you are kind upon me in this way, he will give you all facility and stocks for whatever you require.
I shall be myself coming to Calcutta by the 23rd instant of this month, just after we finish our Hare Krsna Festival and Bhagavata Dharma Discourses in the Cross Maidan of Bombay city, from January 12 to January 21, 1973. From Calcutta I will be leaving on February 1 for a one-month preaching tour of my several branches in Djakarta, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Philippines, and other places in Asia and the South Pacific zone. I shall return to Mayapur by the 1st March for celebrating the appearance day of our Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. I shall be staying in our Calcutta temple at 3 Albert Road for about 8 or 9 days, and we shall be lecturing and having kirtana program at various places in Calcutta proper each evening while I am there.
You may mention that it is understood by you that their round trip air tickets will be paid for in India by their parents, and that you are expecting them to arrive there some time around the middle of April, like that. If you send the letter immediately to me here at my Bombay address, I shall hand it over to him and do the needful.
I very much appreciated your publicity material for the Bhagavata-dharma program, now go on developing it more and more to perfection. I am very much satisfied by this activity, that is your real work for Krsna. In this way, try to recruit some of the intelligent class of student class to take up this Krsna Consciousness philosophy and study it carefully. Try to recruit some of such men to become our devotees. There is need for intelligent young men to train them up as future leaders and preachers to go all over the world for spreading the message of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. If we simply go to the college on one night and leave immediately for another place, it will be difficult to make very much impression upon these students.
Tamala Krsna Goswami has been appointed by me to manage and direct our Indian projects and actually he is the most expert and qualified in this connection. You both are also sannyasins and I know that the service which you do the best is Hare Krsna kirtana and Bhagavata Dharma preaching. So I have no objection if you return to India. Rather, I know you both can be a great asset for our programs there. I am requesting you, therefore, to concentrate on preaching and kirtana and work cooperatively with Tamala Krsna Goswami who is in charge there. Whatever imperfections and discrepancies may exist, if you all agree to my directions and cooperate in the right spirit then everything will turn out, but it will require everyone involved to be responsible and cooperate in executing and following the instructions of the Spiritual Master. Now, one thing is I understand that in the past you were visiting Lalita Prasadji and that you may also be planning to continue to visit him when you return to India.
1975 Correspondence
I have already appreciated the place Kurukshetra which you have tried to improve so diligently. Let us utilize it simply for this purpose, without any hodge-podge idea. Real dharma means bhagavat-dharma and it is recommended by Prahlada Maharaja who is also one of the Mahajanas. He says, kaumaram acaret prajna dharman bhagavatan iha, durlabham manusyam janma tad api adhruvam arthadam. Prahlad Maharaja says even when he was a child of five years old, he used to preach the Bhagavat-dharma amongst his class friends. And he advised them, my dear friends, from the beginning of life-kaumara, just after five years age, one should be taught about this bhagavat-dharma. Bhagavat-dharma is common dharma. Bhagavat means in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan. When the Bhagavan says in the Bhagavad-Gita, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja, this is the beginning of Bhagavat-dharma. When one man is convinced about the necessity of Bhagavat-dharma, he can read Srimad-bhagavatam in which it is further clearly stated, rejecting all types of cheating religious systems, or deceitful religious systems. dharmah projihita-kaitavo'tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam.
So, if you kindly accept my direction, it will be my duty to give you the right direction exactly on the basis of authorized vedas. In the subject matter dharma, or Bhagavat-dharma, I have already written about fifty books, including Srimad Bhagavad-gita, As It Is, (pages 1,100), and 25 volumes of Srimad-Bhagavatam of four-hundred pages each, and besides that, there are about 25 small books.
I wish these books be introduced for study in the colleges, as well as in the schools, and there should be regular examination of the students to give them degrees, B.A., M.A., P.H.D. because there is enough stock of knowledge for this purpose. In the Western countries, especially in America, the higher educated circles are appreciating our books. Now, I am trying to introduce them for study in the schools and colleges. Among the Universities, they have already taken up our books and they are being studied there.
The report of Ghanasyama Prabhu selling standing orders to the head of the Mormon church is very encouraging to me, may Krishna bless this boy. Practically speaking there is no religion in the world, the only true religion is Bhagavata Dharma, that is the original religion of the human society, whatever else there may be passing as religion has come after Vedic literature. The whole world is in darkness, so we are bringing light in the shape of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Therefore this is the best service one can render to the human society, to give knowledge, how to go back to home back to Godhead.
The Jehova's witnesses do not accept the fact of rebirth, and they claim "AWAKE" so this is nonsense. Your letter was very nice. The whole world is in darkness, we are bringing light by preaching Bhagavata Dharma. Thank you for helping me.
1976 Correspondence
Therefore; brahmacari gurukulae vasan danto guror hitam (SB 7.12.1). The brahmacari lives at the place of the spiritual master and works for the benefit of the spiritual master by begging for his maintenance, by cleaning, learning the principles of Krsna consciousness, and engaging in the process of bhagavata dharma, whereby his life will have a firm, sane foundation with which he can overcome the forces of maya by strong training in the beginning.
The karmis cannot accept this because they are too much attached to their bodies and cannot tolerate any austerities. Since they are too attached to their children they are even more insistent that the child be drowned in bodily consciousness so that he may avoid all types of austerities and enjoy life to the fullest, thereby going to hell at the earliest age; mahat sevam dvares ahur vimuktes tamo-dvaram yosita sangisangam (SB 5.5.2).
I am in due receipt of your letter of January 22, 1976, and I have noted the contents. Thank you very much for your nice translation of Markine Bhagavata-dharma. It is well appreciated. I think it can be included in the front of the new printing of the song book, and it can be sung in kirtana like the other songs of Bhaktivinode Thakura. I have included a few corrections below which can be noted. The other prayer can be called Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Krsna, and I will be sending comments on that shortly.
Concerning Arabic translations, someone has already done one. He came to me in Bombay. Also, there is no need to give commentary on the Koran. There is no other religion in the world in truth than this Bhagavat-dharma. However, something is better than nothing. The communism book that you have written, they say that there are some words that may be irritating to the communists. We have just finished a book which Hayagriva is editing at present. It is called Dialectic Spiritualism and within that book, your comments can be added if need be for preaching in the Eastern European countries.
Don't try for Vaikuntha players, etc. in Eastern Europe at this time. It will make too much encumbrance and you may not be able to manage it.
| Page Title: | Bhagavata-dharma (Letters) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 09 of Jul, 2013 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=29 |
| No. of Quotes: | 29 |