750507 - Letter to G.L. Nanda written from Perth

Letters by Date, 1975

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

May 07, 1975

Sri G.L. Nanda
5, Tughlak Road
New Delhi-11, INDIA

9 Marimba Crescent,
City Beach 6015, Perth, West Australia

My dear Sri Nandaji,

Please accept my greetings. Since I met you at Kurukshetra, I have come to Australia. I am staying at Perth at the above mentioned address. It was the first time I went to Kurukshetra and I was very much obliged to you for your kind invitation and arrangement for my comfortable stay at the Irrigation Rest House. The house was very comfortable and I stayed there up to four o'clock. Then, I started for Delhi to prepare myself to come to Australia the next day. So, I could not stay there and attend the meeting in the evening for which kindly excuse me. But one thing I must express my feeling that I was very very much astonished and satisfied by seeing the Brahma-kunda as repaired by you. The whole credit goes to you. Krishna has given you the opportunity to serve Him in this battlefield of Kurukshetra and therefore I request to make this grand center of Kurukshetra including its university as the preaching center for Bhagavad-gita all over the world. I can bring many international students to come to this university for studying Krishna and Krishna philosophy. Please organize this center solely for preaching the cult of Krishna Consciousness. Then it will be a great success. The ground-work that you have done is very very nice. Now fully utilize it for spreading Krishna Consciousness as the cult of Krishna as it is taught by Him in the Bhagavad-gita. That is my only request. The hodge-podge ideas of religiosity are going on all over the world. Nobody has been able to derive any benefit out of it, but if you utilize this holy spot, Kurukshetra, for preaching the cult of Bhagavad-gita as it is, the whole world will be benefited. The site is so nice that you can construct many hundreds of buildings for inviting foreign students and I shall fully co-operate with you if you kindly make such arrangement.

The other day in the morning meeting, you selected me president for which I am very much obliged to you. I wanted to speak so many things, but I thought that the sannyasis and spiritual leaders surrounding me were not very much prepared to accept the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita. Therefore I shortly finished my speech and came back because I was already tired sitting there for three hours. Anyway, my request is again and again that this holy grand spot, Kurukshetra should be utilized only for preaching the cult of Bhagavad-gita throughout the whole world. The university is already there. Simply, we have to organize very intelligently. I hope you will accept my request very seriously and do the needful.

That pamphlet which I sent you in response to your enquiry was not published. Never mind, not published, neither it was cyclostyled, neither it was distributed, but I understood that some persons who read the literature, that they very much appreciated it. I shall be glad to hear from you about your decision in this connection, namely that the grand field of Kurukshetra should utilized solely for the purpose of preaching Bhagavad-gita as it is. Otherwise, if you utilize it in some other way, without referring to the Bhagavad-gita slokas of the 18th chapter especially, then it will spoil the whole situation. Up to date, it is already untouched by any material contamination. Kindly try to protect it. Don't bring any person to interfere with this business. That will spoil the whole situation. In this connection, you may refer to the verse number 67 of 18th chapter:

idam te natapaskaya nabhaktaya kadacana
na casusrusave vacyam na ca mam yo'bhyasuyati

"This confidential knowledge may not be explained to those who are not austere, or devoted, or engaged in devotional service, nor to one who is envious of Me."

Selected persons should be brought to Kurukshetra to study and those who are envious of Krishna, to them, the message of Krishna should not be imparted. The result is as it stated in the 68th verse up to the 72nd verse:

ya idam paramam guhyam mad-bhaktesv abhidhasyati
bhaktim mayi param krtva mam evaisyaty asamsayah

na ca tasman manusyesu kascin me priya-krttamah
bhavita na ca me tasmad anyah priyataro bhuvi

adhyasyate ca ya imam dharmyam samvadam avayoh
jnana-yajnena tenaham istah syam iti me matih

sraddhavan anasuyas ca srnuyad api yo narah
so'pi muktah subhal lokan prapnuyat punya-karmanam

"For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear. And I declare that he who studies this sacred conversation worships Me by his intelligence. And one who listens with faith and without envy becomes free from sinful reaction and attains to the planets where the pious dwell."

Lord Sri Krishna enquired from Arjuna whether he had decided to change his opinion. Needless to say, he decided to fight and it is said:

kaccid etac chrutam partha tvayaikagrena cetasa
kaccid ajnana-sammohah pranastas te dhananjaya

"O conqueror of wealth, Arjuna, have you heard this attentively with your mind? And are your illusions and ignorance now dispelled?" (BG/18/72)

And Arjuna replied:

nasto mohah smrtir labdha tvat prasadan mayacyuta
sthito'smi gata-sandehah karisye vacanam tava

"My dear Krishna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone, I have regained my memory by Your mercy, and I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions." (BG/18/73)

In this way, the Bhagavad-gita was concluded by Sanjaya:

ityaham vasudevasya parthasya ca mahatmanah
samvadam imam asrausam adbhutam roma-harsanam

vyasa-prasadac chrutavan etad guhyam aham param
yogam yogesvarat krsnat saksat katnayatah svayam

"Thus I have heard the conversation of two great souls, Krishna and Arjuna. And so wonderful is that message that my hair is standing on end. By the mercy of Vyasa, I have heard these most confidential talks directly from the master of all mysticism, Krishna, who was speaking personally to Arjuna." (BG/18/74-7)

So, Krishna is the best yogi and the Bhagavad-gita is the best yoga philosophy. He personally delivered it for the benefit of the whole world. Please take up this mission of Krishna as the gift of spiritual contribution to the whole world by India very seriously. If however, you give me a chance, I can try my best to organize this Kurukshetra field for Bhagavad-gita education throughout the whole world. So, either do it yourself with my cooperation, or give me chance to organize it for the benefit of the whole world.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS/ps

cc: Dr. Channa Reddy, Governor of U.P.
Kamalapati Tripathi, Central Railway Minster
Brahmananda Reddy, Central Home Minister