741225 - Letter to Jadurani from Paramahamsa

Bombay,

December 25, 1974

From: Paramahamsa

Los Angeles

Dear Jadurani devi dasi,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I am in due receipt of your letter dated Dec. 16, 1974 and have noted the contents. I have already acknowledged your previous letter and I hope you have received the answers to your questions by now. For future letters I request that you present your questions more clearly and try to make sure the numbers on the sketches match with the numbers in the questions. In your questions in this letter there are least two pictures that had wrong numbers on them and there were two sketches mentioned, number 2 and 4, that didn’t even appear, at least I did not receive them.

I have already cabled some of the simpler answers to you and I hope you have received them by now. First of all when Lord Caitanya revealed His original form to Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, first He revealed His four-armed form and then immediately His two-armed form. You can put the two-armed form and the four-armed form in the same drawing. That is alright. You can do it just like the Gita picture where Krishna reveals His four-armed Narayana form and then His two-armed Govinda form to Arjuna. As far as the inside of Sarvabhauma’s house, what did it look like, that is not a very good question. Prabhupada said how can I answer, how can I describe?

The print of Krishna dasa Kaviraja writing under a tree you did not send. But myself and Nitai both know what you are talking about, and I think Prabhupada does also. When we mentioned it to Prabhupada he said that no, it was not bonafide. Don’t use it.

Lord Caitanya and Lord Jagannatha should never be shown together in our paintings.

In sketch no. 5 you show Rupa and Sanatana Goswamis offering prayers to Lord Caitanya. That sketch is not so good. First of all Rupa and Sanatana both look like women with saris; Their facial expressions, everything. The straw should not be held in the hands but in between the teeth. In the mouth in other words. They should be dressed as mendicants and they did not have beards and hair at that time. Prabhupada made one comment in this connection, that why she is always putting beards, mustache and long hair. She likes this too much. Women like these things very much. It is psychological. They do not like clean shaven face. Therefore do not use them so much. When they offered their prayers they were outside and in the sketch given Lord Caitanya’s positioning is alright.

Srila Prabhupada stills wants you to do the picture of child Krishna carrying Nanda Maharaja’s slippers on His head. That picture will be appropriate for Ch. 6 as you have described. It should be inside Nanda Maharaja’s house and there does not need to be any Narayana worship going on. Lord Krishna not Visnu was the one who spoke to Lord Shiva about speaking Mayavadi philosophy and it took place in Shivadham. Also when Shiva told Parvati that in the Kali yuga he would come garbed as a brahmana that also took place in Shivadham.

Regarding your question about lolly-pops being offered to the Deities because they are made of sugar, Srila Prabhupada said no, they should not be offered to the Deities because they are not made with love and devotion. Why we should we offer them to our Deities, Radha and Krishna. I hope this meets you in a good health.

Your servant,

Paramahamsa Swami

Personal Secretary

PS/pdd

N.B. The picture with Krishna and the gopis is alright.