670625 - Letter to Hayagriva written from New York

Letters by Date, 1967

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

June 25, 1967

Twenty-Six Second Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10003
Telephone: 674 7428

Acarya: Swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta

Trustees:

Larry Bogart
James S. Greene
Carl Yeargans
Raphael Balsam
Robert lefkowitz
Raymond Marais
Stanley Moskowitz
Michael Grant
Harvey Cohen

My dear Hayagriva,

Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your new record which you have sent, and I have enjoyed it like anything, especially your speech on the essay of "Krishna the Chariot Driver." I can understand from the essay that Krishna, from within your heart, is giving you good intelligence, so that you could write so nice an essay. I'm very glad to hear it. Think seriously of Krishna Consciousness, be sincere, and Krishna will give you all necessary instruction. I have every hope that in the future you can be a good preacher for Krishna Consciousness in the Western World.

I have fixed up to come to San Francisco on the 5th of July, but everything remains on the Supreme Will of the Absolute Person: man proposes, God disposes. So far my health is concerned, generally it is improving, but sometimes I feel too weak. I hope that by another week, however, that I will get sufficient strength to fly over to San Francisco.

Regarding the Chinmaya publication of Bhagavata, it is not required by our students for the following reasons: 1. It is published by an association who are thoroughly atheistic. According to Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Buddhists are called atheist because they do not accept the authority of the Vedas; but the impersonalists, who under the cover of Vedic knowledge deny the Personality of Godhead, are greater atheists than the Buddhists. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said that any version by the impersonalists is so dangerous that it can create havoc to the readers.

2. We are not concerned with the stories of Srimad Bhagwatam. The book which you have sent is quite nice in abridging the stories of Bhagwatam, but there is no profit simply by knowing these stories. We must know the philosophy of Srimad Bhagwatam, and if one can understand the first verse of the Srimad Bhagwatam jenmadyasa be becomes a great learned man in Vedic knowledge. All the great Acharyas have tried to elucidate Bhagwatam very elaborately; they never tried to abridge it; so we are trying to explain Srimad Bhagwatam elaborately, and students interested in Bhagwatam may purchase our books and try to understand it without any attempt to try and know the stories.

Regarding the Chaitanya Charitamrita, we want to make a concise edition, and you can do it even without permission from the translator. But I request you not to divert attention at the present moment. Let us finish Geetopanishad and a few more parts of Srimad Bhagwatam. We have already made "Teachings of Lord Chaitanya," which contains all the essence of Chaitanya Charitamrita. Regarding the missing page of Geetopanishad, I am very sorry that in spite of your repeated demands for this, Rayarama has not sent it; so I have instructed Brahmananda today to do it immediately, and also Kirtanananda to have a copy sent from Montreal. One way or another I trust you will get it immediately.

I understand that you have selected a nice house for me in Savastapol, which is 56 miles north of San Francisco; but I do not know how we shall meet together. I require to meet you at least a few minutes each day, so that you can finish the editorial work. Anyway, we shall see about making some arrangement when we come.

I thank you very much that you are nicely conducting classes, and I am very happy that the boys and girls are nicely chanting Hare Krishna, which I can understand from the tune of the record. I can simply pray to Krishna for the advance of you all in Krishna Consciousness for the benefit of individual persons and the world at large.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami