Prabhupada Letters :: 1965
a.c. bhaktivedanta swami

18 Sept 2009
JOURNAL: Saturday, September 18  

To-day is the 37th day of our journey & at 4 p.m. we left Boston Port for New York. In the morning I had telephonic talks with Gopal P. Agarwal in Butler and he said that his man will receive me at New York & dispatch me to Butler by Bus or train as convenient. I tried to contact Dr. Misra but he was not available both yesterday and to-day. I do not know if he is coming to receive me.

To-day I met two American nice gentlemen Mr. Gardiner & Fryer. We passed a beautiful canal and crossed underneath two overbridges. But at midnight there was considerable fog disturbance and the ship moved very slowly. The fog persisted till we reached late at New York Port at 12/30 on 19/9/65.


On board the ship Jaladuta, Commonwealth Pier,
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
dated 18th of September, 1965

Markine Bhagavata-dharma



[Translation] My dear Lord Krsna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.

ache kichu karja taba ei anumane
nahe keno aniben ei ugra-sthane

[Translation] But I guess You have some business here, otherwise why would You bring me to this terrible place?

rajas tamo gune era sabai acchanna
basudeb-katha ruci nahe se prasanna

[Translation] Most of the population here is covered by the material modes of ignorance and passion. Absorbed in material life, they think themselves very happy and satisfied, and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva. I do not know how they will be able to understand it.

tabe jadi taba krpa hoy ahaituki
sakal-i sambhava hoy tumi se kautuki

[Translation] But I know Your causeless mercy can make everything possible because You are the most expert mystic.

ki bhave bujhale tara bujhe sei rasa
eta krpa koro prabhu kori nija-basa

[Translation] How will they understand the mellows of devotional service? O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy so that I will be able to convince them about Your message.

tomara icchaya saba hoy maya-basa
tomara icchaya nasa mayar parasa

[Translation] All living entities have become under the control of the illusory energy by Your will, and therefore, if You like, by Your will they can also be released from the clutches of illusion.

taba iccha hoy jadi tadera uddhar
bujhibe niscai tabe katha se tomar

[Translation] I wish that You may deliver them. Therefore if You so desire their deliverance, then only will they be able to understand Your message.

bhagavater katha se taba avatar
dhira haiya sune jadi kane bar bar

[Translation] The words of Srimad-Bhagavatam are Your incarnation, and if a sober person repeatedly receives it with submissive aural reception, then he will be able to understand Your message.

It is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17-21):

srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt satam

"Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.

nasta-prayesv abhadresu
nityam bhagavata-sevaya
bhagavaty uttama-sloke
bhaktir bhavati naisthiki

"By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.

tada rajas-tamo-bhavah
kama-lobhadayas ca ye
ceta etair anaviddham
sthitam sattve prasidati

"As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy.

evam prasanna-manaso
bhagavad-bhakti-yogatah
bhagavat-tattva-vijnanam
mukta-sangasya jayate

"Thus established in the mode of unalloyed goodness, the man whose mind has been enlivened by contact with devotional service to the Lord gains positive scientific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead in the stage of liberation from all material association.

bhidyate hrdaya-granthis
chidyante sarva-samsayah
ksiyante casya karmani
drsta evatmanisvare

"Thus the knot in the heart is pierced, and all misgivings are cut to pieces. The chain of fruitive actions is terminated when one sees the self as master." Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17-21)

rajas tamo hate tabe paibe nistar
hrdayer abhadra sate ghucibe tahar

[Translation] He will become liberated from the influence of the modes of ignorance and passion and thus all inauspicious things accumulated in the core of the heart will disappear.

ki ko're bujhabo katha baro sei cahi
khudra ami dina hina kono sakti nahi

[Translation] How will I make them understand this message of Krsna consciousness? I am very unfortunate, unqualified and the most fallen. Therefore I am seeking Your benediction so that I can convince them, for I am powerless to do so on my own.

athaca enecho prabhu katha bolibare
je tomar iccha prabhu koro ei bare

[Translation] Somehow or other, O Lord, You have brought me here to speak about You. Now, my Lord, it is up to You to make me a success or failure as You like.

akhila jagat-guru! bacana se amar
alankrta koribar khamata tomar

[Translation] O spiritual master of all the worlds! I can simply repeat Your message, so if You like You can make my power of speaking suitable for their understanding.

taba krpa ha'le mor katha suddha habe
suniya sabara soka duhkha je ghucibe

[Translation] Only by Your causeless mercy will my words become pure. I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates their hearts they will certainly feel engladdened and thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life.

aniyacho jadi prabhu amare nacate
nacao nacao prabhu nacao se-mate
kasthera puttali jatha nacao se-mate

[Translation] O Lord, I am just like a puppet in Your hands. So if You have brought me here to dance, then make me dance, make me dance, O Lord, make me dance as You like.

bhakti nai beda nai name khub daro
"bhaktivedanta" nam ebe sarthak kor

[Translation] I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krsna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now, if You like, You can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.

Signed--the most unfortunate, insignificant beggar
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami,
on board the ship Jaladuta, Commonwealth Pier,
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
dated 18th of September, 1965

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