770611 - Letter to Edward from Tamal Krsna

June 11th, 1977

From: Tamal Krishna

My dear Edward,

Please accept my greetings. I have [been] requested by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada to reply your letter dated 13th May, 1977.As you probably know His Divine Grace is not at all well, and so he has asked me to reply you.

In reply to your first question whether you should give donation to “bums on the street” the answer is “Definitely not.” Such contributions are said to be in the mode of ignorance. For further information on this subject you can consult the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Chapter on the three modes of material nature as well as the 18th chapter. Such contributions neither benefit the contributor nor the person who accepts the contribution. As you yourself suggest, the perfect way to give is to give to the devotees, because they will utilize whatever they [sic] give them in the service of Krsna which is the perfect form of yajna.

The situation which you describe regarding your pet dog is typical of what happens to one who is caught up in the laws of karma. Your attachment to your dog was a material attachment, and the result could never have been expected to be Krsna conscious. Such attachments always end in unhappiness. As you could see easily your dog was unhappy, and there is no doubt that there is also a sinful reaction on your part for having to kill the dog. As to what can be done to counteract this sin, the answer is quite sinful [sic]: Become Krsna conscious. By chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, it is said that one frees himself from millions and millions of sins which have been performed in past lives as well as this lifetime. So go on chanting Hare Krsna and gradually reactions to all your sinful activities will cease.

Chanting japa is an eternal activity. It is one of the nine processes of devotional service, “kirtanam”. When a person becomes freed from all material conditioning and becomes a pure devotee of Krsna, in his next birth he takes his birth on the planet where Krsna is enacting His pastimes in a particular universe. After practicing with Krsna on this planet, after that lifetime, he gets promoted to the spiritual world where he never has to take birth again. Krsna is described as acintya, inconceivable. Therefore it is not difficult at all for Him to be present in many places at once. When Krsna danced with the gopis, he appeared in thousands of forms at one. But in no way was any form less important than the other. Each one was full Krsna. That is God, whom no one is equal to or greater than.

No, it is not possible to get a spiritual name until one is initiated. The devotees who live in the New York temple are all duly initiated disciples of Srila Prabhupada. Both you and your wife are now taking seriously to Krsna consciousness, so when you become a little more advance, why not also take initiation? It is not required that one live in the temple to be initiated, although in the beginning in order to gain some training, it is advisable. The best thing would be that for some time you and your wife live in the temple, and then after being trained in the process of Krsna consciousness you can have an apartment outside. Krsna consciousness is not a sentiment, nor a game. The process of getting a spiritual name means that one has decided to renounce this material world for the higher spiritual world of Krsna. This decision is made formal by the process of initiation and it is only at that time that a spiritual name is given.

By your letter it is clear that more and more you are being attracted to Krsna. Try to attend temple functions as often as possible and do as much service as you can. And whenever you have the opportunity chant Hare Krsna.

Yours sincerely,

Tamal Krsna Gosvami

Secretary to Srila Prabhupada

Edward L. Olson

P.O. Box 453

Times Square Station

New York 10036, N.Y.

/tkg