Letter to Laksmimoni -- Bombay 2 January, 1975
My dear Laksmimoni devi,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated Dec. 18th, 1974 and have noted the contents. Thank you for your nice pictures of Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha in Toronto.
The thing is, we should have little common sense in all activities. The example can be given that women by nature do not forget to dress very nicely although always engaged in household affairs. Deity worship is just as important as book distribution. As we sing in the Gurvastakam prayers, srivigrahara dhana-nitya-nana-srngara-tanmandira-marjanadau. So, it should be very nicely done, and at the same time, book distribution should be done. Not that we should do one thing at the sacrifice of another. That requires a little common sense. Factually, we should be engaged 24 hours in Krishna's service and everything should be done very nicely and perfectly.
I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/ps
Letter to Govinda -- Honolulu 1 February, 1975Letters,
My dear Govinda dasi,
Please accept my blessings. In reply to your letter dated nil and have noted the contents. I beg to advise you to come to India and live in Mayapur comfortably in association of devotees. If you go, then I shall arrange to give you a very nice room completely for your use and you can peacefully engage in your painting work and read Srimad-Bhagavatam as well as join in with the devotees for regular kirtana, arati, and prasadam. What you have to do in this connection is as follows: 1) immediately you go to New York and take an entry visa from the consulate general of India. 2) ask your father to send the 200 dollars monthly to the Bank of America -Bombay branch, account number 16026, (International Society for Krishna Consciousness Mayapur-Vrndavana Fund.) This money will be kept for your expenditure. I think 500 rupees monthly will be sufficient for your food and lodging (60-70 dollars). And the balance you can spend as you like. I think this arrangement will be very nice for you according to my idea. Now you decide what to do.
I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/ps
(Notice how nicely he is taking care of her, as opposed to the misogynists philosophy that woman must not live comfortably but always be stressed in case he becomes angry, than she must also know how to fix his unctrolled mind. Here we see Prabhupada treating Govinda dasi with love and true kindness. We also see she is not treated like a stupid woman, but given responsibility.)
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Letter to Krsna Devi (a female child)-- Tehran 14 March, 1975
Dallas
My dear Krishna Dasi,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated March 4th, 1975 and have noted the contents. Thank you for the karatala bag. It is very beautiful. I was very happy to see all of you bright-faced children at Gurukula. And I am already thinking of when I can come and visit there again. You are so fortunate to have such training in Krishna Consciousness from the very beginning of childhood.
So, take full advantage of it and follow very obediently what your older
Godbrothers and Godsisters ask you to do. Chant Hare Krishna all day and dance nicely. Eat nice Krishna Prasadam and go back to Godhead, back to home. I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/ps
(Problems that arose in Gurukula has nothing to do with letters like this, but due to authorities refusing to see the obvious, teachers getting away with nonsense. Whereas the point here is, how sweet this letter is, and it should be kindnes, love, sweetness, that was the intent for Gurukula.)
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Letter to Lata -- Bombay 19 March, 1975 Pittsburgh
My dear Lata devi dasi,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated nil and have noted the contents. Krishna Consciousness is the only truth that exists. Without Krishna Consciousness everything is illusion. You must not waste this life away thinking that everything belongs to you. Everything belongs to Krishna and it must be used in His service. Even your body and mind belong to Krishna and it must be used for Krishna's glorification. Otherwise, if you use your body or mind any other way, you will have to suffer so many future miseries such as rebirth, etc. So, I request you to please try and chant 16 good rounds daily and to follow the four regulative principles as well as to read my books carefully. And give up all these foolish ideas. If you sincerely try to do this, Krishna will reciprocate by giving you the necessary intelligence and determination to carry on in Krishna Consciousness.
I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/ps
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Letter to Rasarani -- Melbourne 22 May, 1975
My dear Rasarani devi dasi,
Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your note and your offering.
Always remain engaged in the service of Krishna. That is the sure and safe method to be safe from the grip of Maya. Maya will never touch you if you are cent percent serving Krishna. Follow the rules carefully, chant at least 16 rounds, read and study my books deeply, and in this way be enthusiastic about going back to Godhead in this life.
I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/ps
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Letter to Shaktimati -- Bombay 18 August, 1975
Nairobi
My Dear Shakti Mati devi dasi,
Please accept my blessings. I have received report from Brahmananda Swami that you are still living outside the temple. This is not good, and I would request you to immediately return to the temple. And they must receive you nicely. They are your spiritual sons and daughters, so Mother and children must live together in the temple.
Please especially see that the Deity worship is going nicely. You are an experienced lady, and you can teach especially the girls there to cook nicely for the Deity, to prepare flower garlands nicely for the Deity, to clean and dress the Deity nicely.
You organize this to the first class standard, as I have seen they are doing in Los Angeles and in London. Then people will be automatically attracted. You know how to do these things, and they must take instruction from you. And, you can let me know how things are going on there.
I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/bs
(GHQ and sometimes misogynists criticize brahmacarini ashrama, claiming it not Vedic, not what Prabhupada wanted. Yet in this letter of 1975, less then two years of his leaving the planet, Srila Prabhupada is still wanting women to move into the temple and live there. Also GHQ and some misogynists criticize woman going onto altar as Pujari / brahmana priest. Prabhupada not only instructs this lady devotee to do so but tells she is expert and to teach other females. Often Ghq and misogynists claim to start the Movement, Prabhupada had no choice other than allowing woman to do what otherwise men should have done. Whereas in this 1975 letter what he had women doing was same as he always had women doing.
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Letter to Sharon Suzuki -- 4 September, 1975
Sharon Suzuki
Keaau, Hawaii
My dear Sharon Suzuki;
Please accept my best wishes. I am in due receipt of your letter and I have noted the contents carefully. It is quite evident that you are feeling anxiety in your mind. The best way to overcome this, the way to control the mind is to become Krsna conscious. This is stated in the Bhagavad gita in the sixth chapter, that one has to control the mind otherwise the mind will become his worst enemy. The process for Krsna consciousness is that we control the mind through hearing and chanting. We hear the maha mantra, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare and we hear the lectures from the spiritual master and read his books. Also we speak by preaching and by chanting. This is the easy method for controlling the mind, by hearing and chanting.
So my advice to you is to somehow or other fix your mind on Krsna then you will experience peace of mind and your mind will be your best friend.
I hope this meets you in the best of health.
Your ever well wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/bs/hdb
(Fix the mind on Krishna, not sex, power, control.)
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Letter to ISKCON Artists -- Bombay 2 May, 1974
Brooklyn
My dear ISKCON artists,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of April 19, 1974 and have noted the contents. I will answer the points as best as I can.
1. Fresh rice and paddy grains are simply some grains. Still in this country of sandalwood pulp and rice grains are used to put on the forehead in different blessings.
2. Saci should wear a nice sari and nice ornaments, wearing vermillion on the part of her hair. She is dressed not like a queen but a well to do householder.
3. As a baby, boy and young man Lord Caitanya should be dressed opulently. Ornaments are essential.
4. Show the land opulent for the appearance of Maharaja Prthu.
5. & 6. These questions require researching the Bhagavatam. I have asked Pradyumna to look them up for you.
7. No Prthu does not have effulgence. He was a saktyavesa avatara, a living entity empowered.
8. Dhruva should be just as he is shown in your sketch.
9. The sketch is all right. An orange-red dhoti is all right.
10. The airplanes are all right as drawn.
11. The demigods planes are almost equal to the Vaikuntha planes.
12. Yes, the inhabitants of a particular Vaikuntha planet have the same arrangement of symbols in the hands. Nanda and Sunanda should hold as follows: lower right: conch, upper right: disc, upper left: club, lower left: flower.
13. Pracetas should be not clean shaven, but with beards as mendicants. Siva is different colors. Not always yellow. There are eleven kinds of Rudras.
14. No, Siva should not be wearing a garland of skulls. Yes, he can be wearing a short dhoti.
15. They should all be standing around the fire at the sacrificial altar.
Do not show the horse there.
16. Yes, although you may not know what Maharaja
Prthu or Sita look like, they are present in your paintings due to your consciousness.
I am always pleased and looking forward to seeing more beautiful pictures in our books. In India we make life members simply from the high quality and appearance of our books with illustrations. Our society is unrivalled in this respect and this is your credit who are working so selflessly to illustrate my books. Thank you very much.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/sdg
