690831 - Letter to Satya Pal written from Hamburg

Letters by Date, 1969

INTERNATIONALE GESSELSCHAFT FUR
KRISHNA BEWUSSTSEIN
2 Hamburg 19, Eppendorfer Weg 11
West Germany

August 31st, 1969

Dear Satya Pal,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter addressed to my New Vrindaban temple, and I am so glad to read it. I think this is the first letter I received from you since I met you sometimes in 1959. I am glad to learn that now you are a family man, and you have qualified yourself as post graduate student of economics and are in possession of a government service. But I am sorry to learn that you are pulling on with Rs. 250 per month. It is surely insufficient for a family man. This Rs. 250 means in American exchange as somewhere between 30 and 35 dollars, which is earned here even by ordinary workers in three days. That is the lowest income in this country. Those who are qualified graduates, they are earning at least 500 dollars per month, which means in Indian exchange Rs. 6,000 or more. That is the difference between India and America. Here, people are earning up to 20,000 per month. Those who are independent businessman earn 50,000 per month or more and they are spending also. Therefore, the distribution of wealth here is broader, and as such, every man is well-situated, even an ordinary worker. There is no scarcity of money or material comforts, but still the modern younger generation, they do not feel very happy. They are hankering after some spiritual food, and as such they are relishing this Krishna Consciousness Movement with some taste.

There is immense possibility of spreading this Krishna Consciousness Movement all over the Western world, if it is administered properly. You have rightly said "You alone are completing this aim of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by giving your full dedication to Lord Krishna and Radha." I think, however, that all of my Godbrothers should come out of India and preach this cult all over the world to fulfill the mission of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. But they are busily engaged in constructing temples all separately, and they are satisfied if there is a temple and a little income to provide them with food and clothing, without any spirit of preaching propaganda. Srila Prabhupad said that it was better to accept some menial service for maintaining oneself then to get some money by showing the Deities to the innocent public and being satisfied thereby. Now there is great necessity to train preachers in all the camps of our Godbrothers and send them all over the world. Of course, they must be impregnated with real preaching spirit, without any material profit. Whenever I ask somebody to take this job, they are silent. They are simply satisfied with some Mathas, and they have forgotten the preaching spirit of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaj. When none of them came to preach outside of India, I thought I was to do this humble service to His Divine Grace, and by His blessings, I am getting good cooperation from the local boys and girls. That is my satisfaction. Otherwise, none of my Godbrothers is helping me substantially. So I am not very much hampered by this action. I shall try my best to do this job, and you will be glad to learn that I have got already two dozen centers all over the USA, Canada and Europe. Those boys who are helping me are opening branches very quickly and preaching this cult of Krishna Consciousness very sincerely.

You are living in Gwalior, and I have heard that Gwalior is a good place where marble statues are manufactured. Can you give me any information if Radha-Krishna Murtis can be had from Gwalior. If so, can you supply us such Murtis from Gwalior or else brass Murtis from Mathura. That will be a great help for me. I think Mathura is your birth place and your parents are there. So if you can manage to supply me brass Murtis of different sizes, then it will be a great help to me for propaganda work. We may require many other things, either from Gwalior or Mathura, and I shall be glad to hear from you about this. I think Gwalior is manufacturing musical instruments also.

For the present I am in Germany at the above address, and my next program is to go to London at the end of September. So if you reply immediately, you can address the letter at the above address. Thank you very much for remembering me after so long a time.

Sincerely,

[unsigned]

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami