701205 - Letter to Satsvarupa from Aravinda
December 5th, 1970
CAMP: c/o Kailash Seksaria; 4 Marine Drive; Bombay-20, India.
LETTER 5
From: Aravinda
My Dear Satsvarupa Prabhu,
Please accept my most humble obeisances at your feet. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 27th November and have noted the contents. Actually you should know that it is certainly very blissful passing on this nectar to all of the Prabhus, and actually consider it my duty having the opportunity to hear directly from His Divine Grace. The next ‘letr’ will be delayed though, since His Divine Grace has just now left Bombay to attend a very important engagement in Indore, where he will be met by the Delhi Prabhus, headed by Gurudas. Then in two weeks, the 20 of us here in Bombay will meet Srila Prabhupada, along with the Delhi Prabhus, in Surat, where we have a one week engagement. From Surat, His Divine Grace is launching the Indian tour. First we all shall go to Calcutta and nearby Gorakhpur where Ramananda and Kirtanananda Swami are, and at that time all the Calcutta devotees will join the party. Then, in full force, we will sweep all of India. We will be attending, for one month, Allahabad, where, every 12 years there is a great meeting of all sadhus and spiritually inclined people in India. Millions of people are expected there; it’s a very very big event. At that place the Yamuna, Ganges and Saraswati Rivers join, and so it is a very auspicious place for such a meeting. At that junction, it is the custom to bathe at 4 am daily; the water is icey cold. It’s considered a very pious activity to do so. We have reserved some land there and will fix ourselves so firmly on that plot of land that, by the strength of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Sankirtan Movement, it will become the ‘hub’ of the entire convention. Eternal glories to His Divine Grace! From there we will go south, and on the way stop in Vrindaban-Mathura, where investigation of some purchasable land is now going on by Gurudas Prabhu. From there only Krishna knows. Perhaps back to Bombay, the city with the highest prospect for establishing a first-class temple. The entire tour should take 2-3 months.
some nectar:
Fighting against atheism is service to Krishna. It doesn’t matter whether we are successful or not.
Narottamdas Thakur’s songs are as good as Vedic evidence.
Pure devotees – they are so powerful they can deliver the whole universe.
When making plans, two sides should always be considered, not just that everything will be utopian. In this regard, Srila Prabhupada cited the following story: A potter was once thinking that I have so many pots, and I will sell them all. Then I will make more pots and sell them also. I will make so much money. Then when I become Birla (the name of the wealthiest man in India), I will marry. Then if my wife and I ever quarrel, I will kick her so hard…. (daydreaming like this, the potter kicked out his leg as if to kick his would-be wife and in so doing kicked and broke all his pots.)So for investments and plan-making, you should always consider both sides.
“The Indian government is so rascal! This country has become unfit for habitation! The government has become so rascal that they don’t answer mail. Bribe, bribe, bribe! Government officials are taking big salaries and are sleeping, that’s all. It is very dangerous. This democracy is a condemned system, that is my opinion. Russian bureaucracy still more condemned, more dangerous .Everyone is condemned, degraded, without Krishna Consciousness. How can you expect good government, good peace? In the name of religion also there are so many cheaters. Just like in your country, Mahesh Yogi collected so many millions of dollars. He is a grand cheater.”
Devotee, he is always liberated. Only the hours or moments he’s not chanting Hare Krishna, he is in maya. All this meditation of jnanis and yogis – just to drive away maya. That is the whole system to get out of her jurisdiction. Our system is so nice. As soon as the sun rises in the morning or that there is even a slight hint that the sun is rising, with this ‘news’ immediately the darkness goes away. Just keep yourself busy always in Krishna’s service, then there is no chance of maya catching you.
“So, your husband is Krishna Conscious, you are Krishna Conscious, so why do you fight? Husband and wife fighting sometimes is necessary. It is always going on. But these things should not be taken seriously according to Vedic system. Like two ghosts fighting. You say boo and they leave. Such fighting – the arrangement [sic] will be very loud, but the result nothing. Just like a thundering cloud in the morning, but no rain. So these things are not to be taken seriously.
When a guest comes, first of all offer him water for washing his hands, washing his feet, and for drinking. This is Vedic system. We are also greedy for Krishna. Money, money, money! Life members, life members, life members!
In the U.S. if one becomes poor, then all his qualifications become null & void. There, their only qualification is that they have money. Symptom of Kali yuga in Srimad Bhagwatam – “if a man is poor, he’ll never get justice”. “If you talk very bluffing words (in Kali yuga) then you are considered very learned.” “There is no more royal dynasty. Whether brahmin or sudra, if he can manipulate some votes, he becomes head man. The greedy government officers simply use the people. If you bribe them, you get your desire immediately.”
Narottamdas Thakur sang “I gave up Krishna Consciousness and took to material consciousness. Now I am entangled.”
We can utilize money for pushing on the movement – without attachment. But when we see that we have so much money and are thinking how nice it is, then we are checked and our spiritual advancement is stopped. Take no more or less money than is required for Krishna to push on the movement. If it is simply for Krishna, then so much money is all right. “This is the specific teaching of my Guru Maharaj. Rupa Goswami wrote this but Bhaktisiddhanta practically proved it. That we can live even in a palatial building and preach. That is Bhaktisiddhanta’s gift to the Vaishnava world.” Everyone before his time was thinking that you must become a mendicant to preach.
The acharya’s business is to keep pace with the time circumstances, etc. and to push on. That is our business. Service is first consideration. Without service, what kind of Vaishnava are you? Not that we are just sitting down and chanting all day. “The living Vaishnava should be mad after preaching”, said Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. “A dead stone, what can he preach?”
“… That’s what my Guru Maharaj said! I have to take the words of my Guru Maharaj, that’s all! “Those chanting Hare Krishna all day long in Vrindaban are Krishna Conscious to the lowest standard – on a material platform. Those like Haridas Thakur or Gour Kishore we cannot imitate. If we imitate, we’ll simply sleep, that’s all. We’ll just think of money and women, that’s all.
Vishnu [Visvanath] Chakravarty Thakur said that those who are not to the standard of Vaisnava (who commit sin on the strength of chanting) you can offer him respects, but don’t mix with him. A Vaishnava if he falls down, immediately he becomes repentant. He is excused by Krishna who knows that by the strength of his past habits that he has fallen.
Chant Hare Krishna and everything will be revealed – by being very sincere and following staunchly the orders of the spiritual master. “Mayavadi commentators (philosophers) make their own commentary. We keep the original commentary in the center and expand.” There is no such word as “Hindu” in the Vedic scripture. It is simply concoction. Hindu is referred to there as Varnashrama dharma system. Your feet and legs should never be exposed, but covered, before the Deity (and spiritual master). “And because we drink cows milk, we should accept the cow as our mother. That is etiquette."
Satsvarupa Prabhu, I received a zerox copy of the second letter of this series dated Nov. 10th, and am still waiting for copies of the first letter (hand written) and the third dated 17th Nov. So please send them here as soon as available.
Enclosed herein are photos from a few recent engagements. As we receive these pictures (which I’m earnestly trying to collect) they will be sent off immediately.
Concerning one typewriting manual, practice book, I left there in Boston before coming here to India, it was left either with Murlidhar Prabhu with all my copies of old BTG issues or else can be found in the room where I worked – behind the stack of lettering manuals (press type, etc) or else somewhere in that room, if it hasn’t been moved. Could you please locate it and send it here to me? Actually my typing is not that good. The amount of work is increasing and my fingers, though trying to move faster, often hit the wrong keys. I must practice combinations and increase my speed; then I can increase my service. So please send it, or one similar to it (paperback, about 8 ½ x 14) here. I would be most appreciative.
Hoping to hear from you soon. Until then I beg to remain,
eternally your servant,
Aravinda Das B.