700121 - Letter to Jayapataka written from Los Angeles

Letters by Date, 1970

Tridandi Goswami
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Founder-Acharya:
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
CENTER:1975 So La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, Cal. 90034

DATE ....January..21...........1970

My Dear Jaya Pataka,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 17 January, 1970 along with your maintenance fund check and the copy of the incorporation documents. You have done a great service by incorporating our Society in Canada. Please immediately send a copy to Chitananda in Vancouver branch so that he can do the needful also.
I am glad to learn that you are realizing about Krishna's providing us with more and more facilities and that you are appreciating for my following purely the instructions of my Spiritual Master. Yes, that is the secret of success. In the Chaitanya Charitamrta it is said that one is successful in Krishna consciousness by the combined Mercy of the Spiritual Master and Krishna. By the Mercy of Krishna we come in contact with a bona fide Spiritual Master and by the Mercy of a bona fide Spiritual Master we can approach Krishna.
So, both of Them are cause and effect of either of Them. Krishna is the original Spiritual Master known as Chaitya Guru and He manifests Himself as the Instructor Spiritual Master. So this principle of following Krishna and Guru simultaneously is the secret of success, and if you follow this policy in the chain of disciplic succession than there is no doubt about your final achievement.
The Sankara's Bhaja Govinda verse is as follows:

Bhaja Govindam bhaja govindam bhaja Govindam mudha mate
Prapte sannihite khalu marane
Nahi nahi raksati dukrin karane.

This is Shankara's last instruction to his followers, and the purport is that the mayavadi philosophers are very much accustomed to draw favorable meanings from unwanted interpretations by grammatical jugglery. In Sanskrit the grammatical jugglery is a great puzzle, there are many words which can be changed into different meanings by grammatical root derivations and affixing and prefixing pratyayas. So Shankara advised that do not try to exact favorable conclusions by beating the Shastras, but be submissive to Lord Govinda and worship Him. Otherwise, this grammatical jugglery of words will not help you at the time of death. At that time only if you can someway or other remember the Lotus Feet of Govinda, Krishna, that will save you, O' the fool number-one. Don't waste your time in misinterpreting the Shastras.
I hope this will find you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS:db

Sriman Jaya Pataka das Brahmachary
ISKCON Temple
3720 Park Avenue
Montreal, Quebec
Canada