670505 - Letter to Mukunda written from New York

Letters by Date, 1967

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS, INC.
TWENTY SIX-SECOND AVENUE NEW YORK N.Y.10003
Telephone:674-7428

ACHARYA:SWAMI A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA
TRUSTEES:
Larry Bogart
James S. Greene
Carl Yeargans
Raphael Balsam
Robert Lefkowitz
Raymond Marais
Stanley Mogkowitz
Michael Grant
Harvey Cohen
May 5, 1967

Mukunda Das Adhikary
c/o International Society for Krishna Consciousness
518 Frederick St.
San Francisco, California 94117

My dear Mukunda,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated May 1, 1967 and thank you very much. You will be pleased to know that yesterday at noon at the City College of New York I had a very successful meeting amongst the students. There were about 200 students present, and at the last kirtan they all danced and sung with me, and there were 20 minutes of answers and questions. This meeting was arranged by the Philosophy Dept. Chairman, so it was very nice and successful. Regarding your enquiry about the individual soul present, I think you will remember that I have several times explained that throughout the whole cosmic creation, not only in the cosmic creation, in the Spiritual World also, the individual is full everywhere, they are numberless. In the material world, the number of souls are very small. In the Spiritual World the number of individual souls are far far greater than what they are here. The conditioned souls are just like prisoners, as we have got less population in the prison house, similarly, in the material world the number of individual souls are very small. So you may understand from me that the individual souls are everywhere, means, anywhere you go within this material world there are individual living entities, in all planets in the outer space, in the water, on the land everywhere.
You have done right by attaching a lace on the mridunga just to make it convenient playing while dancing. I request you to get more mridungas, of course the first consignment of mridungas and the cymbals I sent money from my personal book account but if you want more mridungas you will have to arrange to pay. A first class mridunga available in India is about ten dollars. I think you should get at least 4 mridungas and teach, so that other students also can play on it, so if there are 3 or 4 mridungas played at the park and there are about 20 pairs of cymbals then the kirtan will be more beautiful. We have to popularise this movement everywhere so if you send me 100 dollars then I can secure for you, one best harmonium and 2 mridungas and 3 pairs of cymbals. What happened about your preparing the cymbals; if you prepare the cymbals there is possibility of being sold in New York, many pairs--so why don't you do it? But if you are not doing it then you must get it from India. It is very pleasing to hear that you are keeping the temple neat and clean, at the same time you bedeck the temple with flowers.
I am very glad to learn that you have got a technicolor movie and it is very nice that it has sound added of our voices. I duly received the photos and immigration material, but neither the photos could be offset printed, nor could I use the immigration material as sent by you. Mr. Ypslantin the lawyer is going in his own way, so he does not take this material formerly I offered, so let the matter be done in his own; there is no other way than to depend on the lawyer. Similarly in Montreal also, Janos our student, Janardan is trying for a Canadian visa. Let me see what is done.
I received a letter from your wife, Janaki. I think she is the foremost girl who is feeling my separation, so kindly inform her that I am very much pleased to learn that she is making progress considerably in Krishna Consciousness.
I have also received a letter from her sister and her brother in law, Guru das, so I am replying to them separately. I think I shall address them care of our temple and when you receive you can re-direct if they are not there.
I shall be very glad to receive some letters from you. Give me the weekly report of your activities at San Francisco. Thanking you once more, I am your ever well-wisher,
Yours,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

N.B. I learn that in the temple there are sometimes men with no work. This should not be allowed. Every one must be busy with some work in Krishna Consciousness. Idleness is not Krishna Consciousness. Please take care of this omission I shall be glad to hear from you about this. [handwritten]