Fallen souls (Letters)

Expressions researched:
"fallen among souls" |"fallen and forgotten souls" |"fallen conditioned soul" |"fallen conditioned souls" |"fallen soul" |"fallen souls" |"fallen, conditioned souls" |"fallen, reprobate souls"

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Juggannath Babu -- Calcutta 14 March, 1949:

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam when Karabhajana Muni was elucidating the different incarnations of Godhead in different yugas, he said that "In the Kali-yuga the intelligent persons will worship the incarnation of Sri Krishna, by the transcendental sankirtana method. This incarnation of Sri Krishna will be non-blackish in the color of His body but will constantly chant the name of Krishna along with His many disciples who will act as the soldiers for the deliverance of the fallen souls of the Kali-yuga."

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Kirtanananda, Hayagriva -- Montreal 23 August, 1968:

And the fifth aratrik is performed when the Lord goes to bed. So you have got practical experience, you have seen how they are doing in Radha Damodara Temple, and gradually, as far as possible, you can introduce them. Jagannatha Swami is very kind to the fallen souls, because He is the Lord of the Universe, and all the living creatures are His subjects, therefore, Jagannatha Swami will bless you with all the required intelligence, how to satisfy Him. On the bathing ghats in India, generally, they install Lord Siva's Murti, but that is not possible here, neither we want to divert attention in so many performances.

Letter to Patita Uddharana (was Patita Pavana) -- Los Angeles 13 November, 1968:

I understand that there is also a devotee in N.Y. with similar name, so I am hereby changing your name to Patita Uddharana. The meaning is practically the same. Patita means fallen, and Pavana means deliverer of, and Uddha means to lift up. So Patita Uddharana means One who lifts up the fallen souls, or Deliverer of the fallen souls.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Los Angeles 14 November, 1968:

That would be for my sense gratification." The idea is for service of the superior sometimes such violation appears to be in the scene. Ramanujacarya violated the order of the Spiritual Master to advance the cause of the Spiritual Master. The Spiritual Master's mission was to deliver fallen souls, therefore Ramanujacarya considered that if the mantra was so powerful to deliver the persons, why not deliver it to everyone as soon as possible. That was a little tactic to advance the cause of the Spiritual Master. So everything has to be judged by the motive, and as the motive of such apparent violation was very good, Ramanuja's Spiritual Master embraced him. This is not actually violating the order of the Spiritual Master. But such actions are very rarely to be done.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Brahmananda -- Hawaii 10 March, 1969:

That is the only hope. Sri Caitanya Caritamrta says therefore: Guru Krishna. By the mercy of the Spiritual Master, and by the mercy of Krishna, one gets into Krishna Consciousness. Narada Muni is our original Spiritual Master and he has dragged so many fallen souls towards Krishna, and we are also hoping to be dragged by Him through the disciplic succession. Otherwise, if we study our own qualifications, there is none—rather I have got so many disqualifications.

Letter to Martin Malles -- Los Angeles 22 July, 1969:

Therefore, the Lord has descended upon this earth five hundred years ago as Lord Caitanya to encourage the process among all men of chanting the Holy Names of God, the Hare Krishna Mantra. This chanting will immediately captivate the hearts and minds of all sincere souls, and therefore it is the prime benediction for the most fallen souls of the age of Kali Yuga. If you will continue to come to our temple and associate with the devotees as much as possible, you will see practically how you are making very, very nice progress in spiritual advancement. Krishna Consciousness is not some invented process nor is it some brought to America in an altered form.

Letter to Mukunda -- Los Angeles 28 July, 1969:

In the Vedas it is said that the spirit soul is without any touch of material contamination, but when he forgets Krishna he thinks himself as a material product. That is called Maya. But in any position, if one can understand the science of Krishna Consciousness, he can deliver many, many fallen souls. So it is my request to you all that you establish an exemplary character and show how householders can be the first class transcendentalists. When I feel that my householder disciples are preaching so nicely I actually feel very much proud.

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

They are short lived, poor in knowledge, slack in advancement of spiritual life, unfortunate, and embarrassed by so many miserable conditions of life; like war, famine pestilence, poverty and so on. So to kill these persons by rifle is like bringing a cannon for killing a mosquito. So Lord Caitanya introduced this fighting principle of Sankirtana Movement to reclaim all the fallen souls, who consist of so-called philosophers, half-educated scientists, misguided educationists and a miscreant society. If you can consolidate a party of soldiers as described by you, chanting Hare Krishna Mantra and claiming everyone of them to Krishna Consciousness, that will be a glorious task, and you have all of my good wishes for you for this purpose.

Letter to Govinda -- Los Angeles 17 August, 1969:

From the description of your letter I understand that Hawaii is good field for our preaching work. The hippies are actually immediate candidates for our Krishna Consciousness. We pray to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, "My dear Lord, Your Incarnation is to claim the most fallen souls." So in this age of Kali almost everyone is dangerously fallen, and the hippies appear to be still more greater fallen. Besides that, from their behavior it appears they like this movement. This is a very good sign. Your description of that Yogi Sai, that is also little hopeful. He is reading Bhagavad-gita and quoting some lines.

Letter to Krsna Devi -- Tittenhurst 2 November, 1969:

For example, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura was householder and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was staunch brahmacari, yet they both were qualified for initiating disciples. Regarding your question about feeling emotions during kirtana, these are real spiritual emotions. Spiritual emotions can not be experienced by the fallen soul; but one who is feeling spiritual emotions is not actually fallen. That is the benediction of this Sankirtana Movement that it elevates one to the highest position of spiritual experiences. Regarding your final question about Laksmiji, she never has conjugal relations with Lord Narayana.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Madhava Maharaja -- Los Angeles 21 January, 1970:

On this press our Srimad-Bhagavatam shall be printed up to the Sixth Canto starting from the month of February.

But everything is possible by the Grace of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu because he specifically appeared to reclaim the most fallen souls, and I find it practically, daily that although these boys and girls are fallen in the material estimate they have taken to this Krishna Consciousness Movement very seriously and the result is very quick. The newspaper reporters advertise about these boys and girls as the "bright faced," and actually it is so. By nature these American boys and girls are fair complexioned or white.

Letter to Yeager -- Los Angeles 21 January, 1970:

So Lord Nityananda or Baladeva. is the original Spiritual Master, and such pure devotee sometimes takes the risk of life in order to reclaim a person who might have otherwise been rejected by the Lord. The devotee knows that the Lord wants all the fallen souls to come back to Home, and therefore the devotees always try to induce the conditioned souls to take to Krishna Consciousness by various ways and means. Therefore the conclusion is that a devotee is more kind than the Lord Himself.

Letter to Barindra Babu -- Los Angeles 22 January, 1970:

Actually this Krishna Consciousness Movement inaugurated by Lord Caitanya is the only panacea for all the diseases of the material world; the missing point is forgetfulness of God. This is not a new thing because the reason for our material existence is forgetfulness of our relationship with God. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu very mercifully reclaimed the fallen souls especially in this age by this short-cut method of chanting Hare Krishna Mantra.

Letter to Ranadhira -- Los Angeles 24 January, 1970:

The sixteen word Maha Mantra is nobody's invention. There are authorized mantras in the different Puranas which are Vedic authorities. Especially in the Kali Santara Upanisad it is stated that this sixteen word Maha Mantra is the Holy Name of the Supreme Brahma for the deliverance of the fallen souls. Caitanya Mahaprabhu chanted, Haridasa Thakura chanted 24 hours, all the Goswamis and Acaryas chanted, my Guru Maharaja chanted, and following all these footsteps we are also chanting. So they are authorized by disciplic succession, and all of us must chant at least 16 rounds daily to keep us fit on the Krishna Consciousness transcendental platform.

Letter to Syamasundara -- Los Angeles 25 February, 1970:

This Krsna Consciousness movement is inaugurated by Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda Who are Krsna and Balarama respectively. They have descended very kindly to reclaim all fallen souls of this age of whom the typical examples are the two brothers Jagai and Madhai. Now, forgetting all mistakes that I have committed in my past life, I humbly surrender unto You, my Lord Krsna the Son of Nanda Maharaja, and also to Srimati Radharani the daughter of King Vrsabhanu. So both of You are present together, and I fully surrender unto You. Please do not reject me as I have no other shelter except Yourselves."

Letter to Hanuman Prasad Poddar -- Los Angeles 4 March, 1970:

It is being effective practically. So let us join together to expand this great mission of Lord Caitanya Who predicted that everywhere as many cities and towns and villages are there on the surface of the globe, His Holy Name would be glorified on account of His transcendental gift to the fallen souls of this Kali Yuga.

Letter to Dinadayadri, Nara-narayana -- Los Angeles 19 March, 1970:

I am also glad to note that you are eager to bring up many souls in Krishna Consciousness, and that is a very encouraging and responsible program. Just one good soul fully developed and firmly convinced in preaching Krishna Consciousness can reclaim so many fallen souls for going back to home, back to Godhead. And the best way to prepare such Krishna Conscious souls is to train them to up from their birth to follow the principles of Krishna Consciousness.

Letter to Revatinandana -- Los Angeles 13 June, 1970:

When the Deity is installed it is called niyama seva. That means the routine seva prescribed after installation you cannot stop. But Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is very kind to the fallen souls of the Kali Yuga and He is satisfied with chanting of Hare Krsna mantra. And for chanting the Hare Krsna mantra there is no hard and fast rules and regulations, so if you are absent for chanting Hare Krsna mantra somewhere else, it is as good as to chant the Hare Krsna mantra in the temple. Your chanting may not be stopped; it does not matter where you chant.

Letter to Jananivasa -- Los Angeles 7 July, 1970:

Yes, you are right to say that as our devotees become more devotional, the nondevotees also come to hear. To become advanced in spiritual life of devotional service to Krsna means to acquire spiritual strength, and this spiritual strength is for impressing devotional service into the hearts of the fallen souls. Also you must all become expert preachers and show the exemplary life of a devotee you must keep yourself spiritually fit by observing the regulative principles strictly.

Letter to Sridama -- Los Angeles 8 July, 1970:

It is very good news also that you have received permission in Providence for chanting and distributing literature and incense as well as collecting. Now you should concentrate to develop your spiritual power to attract the fallen souls to Krsna consciousness. The daily regulative duties must be performed by everyone very strictly, the beads chanted sixteen rounds, and our literatures read and discussed. In this way everything should be done very nicely. Sankirtana should be done by you in the streets and at gatherings and in this manner display what is this Krsna consciousness movement and how it is for everyone's eternal welfare and happiness.

Letter to Vrndavana Candra -- Los Angeles 12 July, 1970:

How is it possible? Simply by your kindly following the rules and regulative principles and chanting the Holy Names offenselessly. This program is given by Lord Caitanya specifically to change the hearts of the fallen souls of this Kali Yuga for picking up their spiritual life.

Letter to Jayapataka -- Indore 13 December, 1970:

You write to say, "We notice that even the communist protestors can't help smiling and answering back 'Hari Bol!' " So there is sufficient hope to reform them by Caitanya Mahaprabhu's grace of chanting the Hare Krsna Mantra. Kali Yuga is the fallen age undoubtedly, and there are different varieties of fallen souls. In Calcutta the so-called disturbance-makers are also some of them. I went to America and some of the souls were accepted by Lord Caitanya and today the Bengal being Lord Caitanya's place they are in such pitiable condition, so I wish that some of you among my American disciples may try to reclaim these fallen souls to the order of Lord Caitanya's Vaisnavite platform.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Upendra -- Bombay 4 January, 1971:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated November 29th, 1970, along with enclosures of flyer and news clipping. I am so much glad to know that you are working on both you and your wife with great enthusiasm to preach the message of Lord Caitanya to the fallen souls of this age. My Guru Maharaja has declared that the real life of a man is preaching. If one has at all got any life in him then he will preach. So I am very, very pleased by your constant efforts to enliven the people in general even in far off lands by the simple methods of direct devotional service to the Lord by chanting His Holy Names.

Letter to Damodara -- Allahabad, India 10 January, 1971:

I am confident that all our sincere intelligent young devotees like your good self will carry this program to fruitful conclusion namely the delivery of the Holy Name to all the fallen souls suffering in varieties of conditional misery and material happiness. Please execute your program for distribution of literatures and Sankirtana, therefore, with increased vogor and may Krsna bless your sincere efforts to serve Him faithfully.

Letter to Gargamuni -- London 24 August, 1971:

Lord Caitanya is known as Patita Pavana or one who delivers the fallen. He purposely delivered the two fallen souls Jagai and Madhai. So as you have gone to Kathmandu, you try to stay there somehow or other and simply by your personal example of chanting Hare Krishna Mantra 24 hours, you sit down at any place and perform kirtana. Chant with mrdanga and karatalas or just on your beads; whatever is possible. If one or two men come to you that is sufficient for the present. In this way when you have gathered at least one or two local sympathizers then you can try and chant on the street. Maybe they are too much fools to understand the philosophy but if you chant Hare Krishna Mantra they will like it.

Letter to Upendra -- Nairobi 9 October, 1971:

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.

Letter to Lalita Kumar -- Delhi 15 November, 1971:

As for your questions, do the fallen souls leave the spiritual world all at once or gradually, we can answer, do all the prisoners in the prisonhouse free at once—no, some are coming, some are going. Our presentation of Krishna Consciousness must be always very bold-if we are king, we must act like king. The idea is if we speak the truth, those will hear who are intended to hear by being qualified or prepared. It is not that we should compromise to attract the mass—we are after the class.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Jagadisa -- Sydney 27 March, 1972:

If we simply repeat this philosophy exactly as it is, without any misrepresentation or adulteration, then this movement will never be checked, and we will conquer the world. So please train up all these boys and girls in the philosophy and brahminical culture and they will become useful tools in the hands of Lord Krishna for saving all the fallen souls in this age.

Letter to Sons and Daughters -- Tokyo 22 April, 1972:

I am in due receipt of your letter, undated, along with your offering of $100, and I thank you very much. You are all very nice, sincere boys and girls, and Krishna has been very kind to send you all to help me in this great task of trying to save all the fallen souls from such a dangerous position. At every step there is danger, but under the strong grip of maya, we forget this. So the task is very great to give real knowledge, Krishna consciousness, to everyone, and I am so much encouraged by your determined efforts. Please increase more and more, and Krishna will help you.

Letter to Sucandra -- Tokyo 22 April, 1972:

Not only the people in Germany, but all over the world, people are suffering due to lack of this knowledge. When the son is suffering, the father is also afflicted. So Krishna, the Supreme Father, does not like to see his parts and parcels suffering in the material world. To deliver the fallen souls, He gives His instruction, He sends His representatives, and sometimes He even comes Himself just for the benefit of all the living entities. So it is our duty, as His representative, to canvass. "Please take this knowledge and make your life successful."

Letter to Amogha -- Los Angeles 22 May, 1972:

So sometimes in order to attract people to find out what is the soul we have to decorate the mind and the senses and make the presentation of Krishna consciousness very palatable to them. So in this way cooperate very nicely with your all good god-brothers there in Australia to deliver all of these fallen souls, especially the young people, back to Home, back to Godhead.

Letter to Dhananjaya -- Bombay 31 December, 1972:

The point is that no one is actually qualified in this material world to approach Krsna, but if he makes the attempt through our inducing him gradually to give his energy to Krsna, by that attempt Krsna will extend his mercy and deliver the fallen soul despite his so many disqualifications. And such person or aspiring devotee, he is to be considered the most exalted of men because he has given his life to Krsna. Bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate/vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah, after many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders to Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare. (BG 7.19)

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Madhukara -- Bombay 4 January, 1973:

So we must stick to that business under all circumstances, that is the main thing. Therefore married, unmarried, divorced, whatever condition of life, my preaching mission does not depend on these things. The varnasrama-dharma system is scientifically arranged by Krsna to provide facility for delivering the fallen souls back to home, back to Godhead. And if we make a mockery of this system by whimsically disrupting the order, that we must consider. That will not be a very good example if so many young boys and girls so casually become married and then go away from each other, and the wife is little unhappy, the husband is neglecting her in so many ways, like that.

Letter to Sri Govinda -- Calcutta 31 January, 1973:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated January 15, 1973, and I have noted the contents with great interest. It is so very nice to hear how the book distribution is going on. This is our main business, distributing these books all over the world and thus turning the minds of the fallen souls towards Krsna.

So far the court case is concerned, I shall be interested to hear the outcome. So you may keep me informed. But always remember that Krsna is the Supreme Controller of all that be.

Letter to Mukunda -- New Delhi 6 November, 1973:

Another request I have to you is that there have now been two instances of when somebody does not agree you try to get them out by calling the police. This is never to be done. This is the mistaken policy of Shayamasundar, but do not follow this principle. With great difficulty we get a man. We have to reform them. Our business is to become sympathetic to fallen souls. So in future do not do it all. Everything should be done amicably.

Letter to Madhudvisa -- Los Angeles 15 December, 1973:

That will be very nice. We have got so much vital spiritual knowledge to distribute to the public and they are in desperate need of it. The whole world is going to hell and everyone is suffering. In light of this, how can we argue amongst one another and neglect our responsibility for reclaiming these fallen souls for going Back to Home, Back to Godhead.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Ksirodakasayi:

That will make you happy, and the audience listening they will also become happy. I am very glad that you are taking up this active service of preaching. In Amsterdam you just try to deliver the fallen souls. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is known as patita pavana, the deliverer of the fallen souls. So as you have taken the vow of service you can deliver the most fallen souls by this Krishna consciousness movement.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Swami Sahajananda -- Durban 12 October, 1975:

So it is a dangerous position of the whole world that they have become all godless or atheists in different degree or manner. It is the duty of saintly persons to save these rascals from ruination. So, I wish that a devotee of Lord Krishna like you may conjointly work in propagating Krishna Consciousness to save the fallen souls from going down to the darkest region of hell. I am quoting one verse from the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 7, chapter 5, verse 31:

1977 Correspondence

Letter to Harikesa -- Bhuvanesvara 1 February, 1977:

They will be without food, water and they will be heavily taxed. There will be revolution. How long can they keep the people terrorized? It will burst. I can't imagine how people are living in such a rotten state. There is nothing like pleasure; all is morose. Only we are benedicting the fallen souls all over the world, so go on with your enthusiastic preaching and try to do good to others with Krsna Consciousness.