740501 - Letter to Markandeya Rsi written from Bombay

Letters by Date, 1974

Letter to Markandeya Rsi

Tridandi Goswami
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Founder-Acharya:
International Society for Krishna Consciousness

DATE

        May 1, 1974
CENTER   Hare Krishna Land,
               Gandhi Gram Road,
               Juhu, Bombay 54, INDIA

My Dear Markondya Rsi,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of April 16, 1974.
You are of course welcome to come to India, but if you are not living in a temple now in the association of devotees, how can you expect to live that way in a foreign country like India? My point is, just coming to India may not automatically be the solution to your problems. You say the U.S. is too demoniac, but unless one takes shelter at the lotus feet of Krsna within the society of devotees, he will be inconvenienced wherever he goes. So you have to consider seriously within yourself whether you are ready to live with the devotees and follow the regulative principles and schedule of temple life. To practice austerity requires that you understand my books or else it is like army rules and regulations. So whether you have understood the philosophy thoroughly enough to live with the devotees? If you are prepared to live as a devotee then why not first consult with the temple leaders in Brooklyn and get their good advice for your situation, whether it is better for you to come to India.
You have asked what is the origin of the black race. This is not an important question. Why should you be curious about the temporary body. If I am very interested in knowing about my clothing that I am wearing only temporarily it is not a very important thing. We have had many bodies which we change like sets of clothes; to be very absorbed in the present body one has, whether it is black or white or yellow is not the sign of a wise person or Krsna Conscious devotee. As to whether the personality of Kali was black, (African) may not have been so. After all, Krsna is black also, although His body, is different, He is sat cit ananda. So our inquiries should be on the point of Krsna not in references to the so called race or religion or nationality of this temporary miserable body.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS/sdg
171 President St.
Brooklyn, N.Y.