710404 - Letter to Vaikunthanatha and Saradia written from Bombay

Letters by Date, 1971

Tridandi Goswami
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Founder-Acharya:
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
CENTER: P.O. Box 387
Fort, Bombay-1
INDIA

DATE .......4th..April,............19..71.

My Dear Vaikunthanath and Saradia,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your very encouraging letter dated 21st March, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. I am so glad and proud of you that you two young boy and girl have gone to Trinidad to preach the mission of Lord Chaitanya and you have impressed the public so nicely by your preaching work. May Lord Chaitanya bless you and bestow his benediction upon you always.
The news of your newly established temple in Trinidad, San Fernando, is so much encouraging and now Kanupriya and his wife are running that center in your absence. Long ago I was invited by the people of Trinidad but at that time I could not go, although I had great desire to go there. Now you are fulfilling my desire.
Now you have gone to Guyana. Dr. Balwant Singh has written me how well you are being received there also. So take advantage and immediately open a center. It is a good field for selling our literature (5000 BTG per month to start is very encouraging) and the inhabitants are cooperative, so it is the ideal opportunity to open a center. So Trinidad or Guyana, one center should be established very nicely. Just like we have got our L.A. center and so many smaller centers. Similarly, in that quarter of the world there must be one very nice center. So concentrate your efforts in that way and when things are ready I shall send you Deities. And when the situation is favourable, I shall go there also.
Even though you have had no gayatri mantra, still you are more than brahmin. I am enclosing herewith your sacred thread, duly chanted on by me. Gayatri mantra is as follows:

[TAKEN OUT]

Ask your wife to chant this mantra and you hear it and if possible hold a fire ceremony as you have seen during your marriage and get this sacred thread on your body. Saradia, or any twice-initiated devotee, may perform the ceremony.
I remember the days when Saradia expressed to marry you and I immediately reserved you for marriage to Saradia. Later on in Boston you were married and since then you are working so nicely. I am very pleased upon you. Simply use this marital life for spreading the glories of Lord Krishna and in this very lifetime you will be promoted to associate with Krishna in Goloka Vrindaban. So please stay on the purity platform; chant 16 rounds daily and without fail, follow all the regulative principles, and read all our books and your life is sure to be successful. Unless one is sufficiently empowered, one cannot preach Krishna Consciousness. So the fact that you are preaching so nicely is proof that you are already benedicted by Krishna. So preach Krishna Consciousness and be happy.
Here in India we are having one massive San Kirtan Festival called "Bhagavata Dharma Discourses, a Hare Krishna Festival" where 20,000 to 30,000 people are attending daily for chanting, lecture kirtan and prasadam distribution. So here in Bombay preaching work is also very successful. Many important men are becoming interested. Most probably we will have our permanent center here soon.
Hoping this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS/adb

Sriman Vaikunthanath Das Adhikary
Srimati Saradia Devi Dasi
c/o Mahatma Gandi Organization
P.O. Box 784
Georgetown
Republic of Guyana, SOUTH AMERICA

P.S. Please hand over the enclosed letter to Dr. Singh