710608 - Letter to Jadurani written from Bombay

Letters by Date, 1971

Tridandi Goswami
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Founder-Acharya:
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
CENTER: P.O.Box no. 387
Fort, Bombay-1
INDIA

DATE ......8th.June,.............19..71

My Dear Jadurani,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letters dated 30th May and 1st June and have noted the contents carefully. I have received all the photographs of the paintings for the enlarged edition of Bhagavad Gita As It Is, and they are so very beautiful. Everyone here is so much appreciative of all you artists. All of you have my full blessings and your godbrothers' congratulations. Krishna will surely bless you all. Thank you very much.
So far your questions are concerned:

The two men sitting up on Lord Jagganath's altar are poojaries. They are just sitting there and anyone coming to make offering to the Deity, they are accepting and returning tulasi and charanamrita. So they are very busy. And when there is bhog offering, no visitors are allowed in the temple. The floor is immediately washed and pots and trays of foodstuffs are placed in the room. And each time Jagganath is offered prasadam, there is enough for one thousand men. Similarly he is offered 56 times in a day. And they don't purchase any ingredients from the market. They have got their own agricultural field and big management. Another temple in South India is called Tirupati where daily they collect Rs 100,000/-. The floor of Jagganath temple is made of stone and the room is dark behind Lord Jagganath. Generally in India the Deity room is very dark; no electricity and only two lamps.
You can show in sequence in a painting how Narada Muni is leaving the material body and accepting a spiritual body and entering into Lord Vishnu and again coming out through Brahma's heart.
Arjuna was not present when Krishna spoke Bhagavad Gita to the sun god. He was present on a different occasion. So the picture is all right. The painting of the chariot of the body is nice.
Yes, it will be easier for me to answer your questions if I can see a sketch of the painting. So far as the sacrificial fire at Naimasharanya, it was a big pit, say four feet square surrounded by raised walls 8 inches high and within the pit was the fire. That is the system. Our sacrificial fire arenas are temporary only. Yes, it was near Suta Goswami's vyasasana.
Regarding Satsvarupa's engagement, his main business is editorial and to improve the condition of the Boston temple also. There is a vast amount of editing work. It is not an easy job. We have to print so many books and if he becomes an expert editor it will be a great asset to our mission, and he has got the capacity. Very soon I am returning and I shall overburden him with dictaphone tapes. He will have more than enough engagement.

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