720105 - Letter to Niranjana written from Bombay

Letters by Date, 1972

Tridandi Goswami
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
5th January, 1972
ISKCON, 89 Warden Road, "Akash-Ganga" Building, Bombay-36

My dear Niranjan,
Please accept my blessings. I thank you for your letter dated 1st January, 1972 and am glad that you have received my letter. The four sinful activities which one must avoid if there is to be any hope for spiritual advancement are the eating of meat, fish and eggs, the use of intoxicants, illicit connection with women, and gambling. So these are the first four sins which I ask all of my students to strictly avoid committing. Practically the entire population of the world is entrapped by these four sinful activities. In our Krishna Consciousness Society we are training our students up to the standard of brahminical culture. So the great respect we are getting here in India and throughout the rest of the world is due to these restrictions. Actually our students have surpassed the category of brahmin because they are Vaishnavas which means they are transcendental to any material position, and brahmin is a material order of life, part of the Varna Ashrama system. Many times I have been told by other so-called holy men that I should not expect that foreigners will be able to avoid these sinful activities. But I have never compromised in any way and as a result of our sticking strictly to our principles our position is unique.
So I hope that very soon you will be coming to Bombay to receive your second initiation. I will be going to Jaipur from the 12th to the 23rd January. I hope this finds you well.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Sriman Niranjan das Brahmachari
Room no. 174
Morvi Hostel
Benaras Hindy University
U.P.

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