681016 - Letter to B. N. Jariwala written from Seattle

Letters by Date, 1968

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

October 16, 1968

Sri B. N. Jariwala
Windsor Hotel
20 6th Street
San Francisco, Calif.

My Dear Jariwala,

Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your kind letter, dated October 14, 1968, and I have noted the contents carefully. The humble service which I am rendering to the American people, in the matter of Krishna Consciousness, is undoubtedly being responded nicely by the American younger generation, and recently we are getting from educational circles also, from the college students and professors good response, so there is good potency for spreading Krishna Consciousness in the western world. And you know that we have got already fifteen branches as follows: New York City; Boston; San Francisco; Vancouver, B.C.; Canada; Honolulu, Hawaii; New Vrindaban, an ideal Krishna Consciousness community; and London, England; and Berlin, Germany. The London branch and the Berlin branch are doing very substantial work, and most probably I shall be going there from America to the European countries.

Regarding your good suggestion about permanent organization. This institution is already incorporated in New York State, and we are opening different branches under different states. So I shall be glad if our Indian friends in San Francisco, also come in the management of the local organization; I welcome it. So I would suggest that in your presence, a committee. may be formed, combination of Indian and American, and a temple of our own may be organized, Radha Krishna Temple. So in your presence, if it possible to organize, I shall be very glad. And as soon as you call me I shall come to San Francisco. Because I have got an engagement in Montreal, from here I shall go there, and from there I can come. This is one point. Another point is that from India, I am not getting sufficient encouragement, either from the government or from the people. Now you have personally seen my activities and responses from the Americans, and if you kindly organize an Indian branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, it will be a great help. I am enclosing herewith a copy of the letter from Hanuman Prasad Poddar, which is sent to me unsolicited. He appreciated my activities here. And similarly I get many letters from unknown persons, but when I say some practical cooperation, they do not come forward. And so far government is concerned, they are not at all interested, that we have got our svaraja; But Hindus cannot make propagation of their religious activities, even outside of the country we are so much crippled. The Christians and Buddhists, they are making so much propaganda in India, and they are spending lots of money, but here although the response is so nice, there is no help from the people nor from the government. So after returning to India, if you can organize some opinion, at least the Vaisnava sect, in your Gujarat, there are so many Vaisnavas. All over there are so many Vaisnavas. So they should come forward to cooperate with me, then it will be a very nice organization. We want to establish that one God, Krishna; one scripture, Bhagavad-gita; one mantra Hare Krishna; and one work, service to the Supreme Lord. And people are responding. So please try to cooperate with me. So far government is concerned, they will not copperate. They have become secular. But even the people do not cooperate, how it will be successful? Please, therefore, try to organize Indian opinion to cooperate with me, that will be a great help. And so long you are here in America, just try to induce our Gujarati friends to cooperate, and have our own temple, at least in San Francisco.

So far the piety of my disciples is concerned, you know they are strictly Vaisnava. They are restricted from illicit sex life, all kinds of intoxication, they do not eat anything except Krishna Prasadam, and they do not participate in any kind of gambling. So far piety is concerned, I think you will find them more advanced than some of our Indian friends. And if our Indians friends will also cooperate in this way, it will be a great success.

I thank you very much once more for your nice letter, and appreciation of my activities, and if you kindly cooperate with me, I shall be still more encouraged. Thanking you,

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami