SRILA PRABHUPADA’S COLLECTED LETTERS – 5 Volumes
For many years the letters Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote to his disciples were hidden from the devotees but in 1987 some devotees got access to a microfiche copy of all of Prabhupāda’s letters (which Sulocana Prabhu liberated from the hands of the disciples of Ravana) and they produced a limited edition [500 copies only] of five volumes containing all of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s letters to his disciples.
NOW WE HAVE AVAILABLE THE SAME LETTERS AS PDF-BOOKS – FREE FOR DOWNLOAD
Śrīla Prabhupāda Letters (5 Volume Set)
The Vaiṣṇava Institute (1987), Hardcover
By reading Srila Prabhupada’s personal Letter to his disciples, one is directly associating with Him through his Vani, feeling His presence in his words, thus being instructed and guided by Him personally. These Letters are invaluable for any aspiring Devotee of Kṛṣṇa.
You can freely Download these letters now:
Letters_from_Srila_Prabhupada-Vol.1_1947-1969.pdf
Letters_from_Srila_Prabhupada-Vol.2_1969-1970.pdf
Letters_from_Srila_Prabhupada-Vol.3_1970-1972.pdf
Letters_from_Srila_Prabhupada-Vol.4_1972-1975.pdf
Letters_from_Srila_Prabhupada-Vol.5_1975-1977.pdf
srila-prabhupada-letters-5-volume-set.epub
Download this Letters now and directly
associate with Srila Prabhupada through his Vani.
Reading these letters is a direct connection to the mind of Srila Prabhupada. Reading the mind of an ordinary man is generally not very inspiring, there being so many contaminated thoughts lurking up there. But the mind of Srila Prabhupada, because he is pure, can only help us to become pure ourselves. No doubt that is one of the reasons why Prabhupada wrote so many letters (7,000 recovered thus far) instead of using the telephone. There was no shortage of money, especially in the later years. His “big, big” disciples were using the phone almost exclusively (much to Prabhupada’s displeasure), whereas Prabhupada would almost always write. He left us his own autobiography, as it is.
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda would daily write letters to his disciples and important persons throughout the world. He ran his international society mostly by letters. By studying and reading these letters we can have tremendous insight into the practical workings of what Śrīla Prabhupāda envisioned and instructed for his society, as well as gain personal realization by how he dealt with his disciples, for his fully self realized instructions were meant to be studied by the whole world for the next thousands of years.
It was simply a matter of time before these letters would be published. After the departure of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the Founder- Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, there was a coordinated endeavor to publish his biography; funds and human resources were made available for this purpose. But many of his followers wished that similar facilities had been given for the publication of his correspondence. Although the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust initiated a program to gather and preserve a complete collection of the letters, no attempt was made to make them widely available. Almost ten years later, this has remained the BBT policy.
For guiding ISKCON and educating devotees after Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disappearance, the importance of the letters is indisputable. They contain the timeless teachings of a pure devotee to his disciples. It is interesting to note the many pertinent instructions on conducting ISKCON affairs in his absence. Many major mistakes within the Movement could have been avoided by a more widespread dissemination and thorough understanding of these letters. In addition, this journal offers the new generation of devotees the personal association of His Divine Grace, thus giving them an opportunity to gain a transcendental sense of judgement and the ability to recognize true Krishna Consciousness. Therefore, the need to make the letters available to all is unquestionable. We hope that all devotees will welcome this journal as an important contribution to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Movement.
Every effort has been made to present the original material unchanged, even with regard to incorrect spelling, punctuation, and grammar. These letters are archival; therefore, in order to facilitate devotees and scholars in their research, it was felt that it would be inappropriate to edit or “correct” the text in any way. However, letter headings and addresses have been shortened in order to save space.
We want to thank all the devotees who made their private collections of letters available for this publication and those who worked selflessly sorting them and producing the books. They are too many to name here; however we would like especially to thank Niscinta Prabhu, Govinda-bhāṣya Prabhu, Rasamanjari devī dāsī and Amṛta devī dāsī for their contributions and assistance in making this publication possible. [from the Preface]
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Archival hard copy book reprint available on request also,
please use comment function or e-mail.
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It may have been around that time, in New Zealand (1987) or thereabouts that I myself (and one or two others) helped Visnu Murti Prabhu, (Vanipedia) compile and print some copies of the letters also. These were A4 sheets photocopied and stapled together. No computers! just ‘old school’ cut and paste using scissors, paste and white-out. Although the letters had just been done (in book form) they were not in ‘categories’ such as diety worship, book distribution, brahmacarya, sankirtan etc etc.
We put together a few hundred of these so there may be still a few around. They had a subtle green cover and brown taped spine, if I recall correctly.
One important thing concerning Srila Prabhupada’s letters is they are ‘NOT ALL GENERAL INSTRUCTION’ as he often gave ‘different’ instructions to different persons etc. For instance he would discourage ‘marriage’ to some but suggest to another! or he would sanction someone going into ‘politics’ and then others he would strongly discourage etc etc.
Many things however, were said and repeated constantly, and one has to have the sincerity, honesty and understanding to be able to appreciate these many instructions of commonality, rather than misinterpret a direction (MADE FOR A SPECIFIC INDIVIDUAL!) and use this as a “ONE SIZE FITS ALL” INSTRUCTION FOR EVERYONE! AND FOR ALL TIME! WE HAVE TO AVOID THIS TENDENCY, AND BE VERY CAREFUL!
Bravo!
Good to see. I bought these many years ago. These are a must for anyone. Detailed history of the Hare Krsna Movement. Sulocana prabhu was murdered for getting these books out. In my opinion he should be eulogized here. My set was purchased back in 1990.
I have the hard copies. it is OUTSTANDING that you have now presented them online for free download.
THIS is Prabhupada News.
Thank you all very much. Thank you Sulocana prabhu.
Hasti Gopala dasa
December 5th 1991 this information was printed in the L A Times
A Hare Krishna devotee convicted of murder in the 1986 slaying of a sect dissident was sentenced Wednesday in a Los Angeles court to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Thomas A. Drescher’s sentence was imposed by Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg, who followed a jury recommendation that Drescher be imprisoned instead of executed.
Drescher, 42, was convicted of murder for financial gain, which made him eligible for death in the gas chamber. Prosecutors, who said Drescher was paid $8,000 for the killing, had sought the death penalty. Drescher was found guilty on Aug. 20 of first-degree murder in the shooting of Stephen L. Bryant, 33, of Royal Oak, Mich. The conviction came in Drescher’s second trial. The jury in the first trial deadlocked. Drescher already was serving life without possibility of parole for the 1983 murder of another Krishna member, Charles St. Denis.
A friend just gifted us with this Set of these 5 beautiful hardbound Books.
It starts with this first letter to Gandhi and it is so applicable to the present situation.
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AHIMSA, UNITY, IS ALWAYS FOLLOWED BY HIMSA, DISUNITY
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948. Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote a letter to Gandhi 5 month earlier dated July 12th, 1947. Śrīla Prabhupāda foretold in the letter the unfolding comings and in August 1947, one month later, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in the Punjab and Bengal. He also warned him to retire from politics or he would meet an inglorious death as Mussolini, Hitler’s, Tojos, Churchills and Lloyd Georges met with.
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1947 Correspondence
Letter to: Mahatma Gandhi
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Cawnpore
12 July, 1947
47-07-12
Mahatma Gandhijee
Bhangi Colony
New Delhi.
Dear Friend Mahatmajee,
Please accept my respectful Namaskar. I am your unknown friend but I had to write to you at times and again although you never cared to reply them. I sent you my papers “Back to Godhead” but your secretaries told me that you have very little time to read the letters and much less for reading the magazines. I asked for an interview with you but your busy secretaries never cared to reply this. Anyway as I am your very old friend although unknown to you I am again writing to you in order to bring you to the rightful position deserved by you. As a sincere friend I must not deviate from my duty towards a friend like your good self.
I tell you as a sincere friend that you must immediately retire from active politics if you do not desire to die an inglorious death. You have 125 years to live as you have desired to live but you if you die an inglorious death it is no worth. The honour and prestige that you have obtained during the course of you present life time, were not possible to be obtained by any one else within the living memory. But you must know that all these honours and prestiges were false in as much as they were created by the Illusory Energy of Godhead called the maya. By this falsity I do not mean to say that your so many friends were false to you nor you were false to them. By this falsity I mean illusion or in other words the false friendship and honours obtained thereby were but creation of maya and therefore they are always temporary or false as you may call it. But none of you neither your friends nor yourself knew this truth.
Now by the Grace of God that illusion is going to be cleared and thus your faithful friends like Acarya Kripalini and others are accusing you for your inability at the present moment to give them any practical programme of work as you happened to give them during your glorious days of non-co-operation movement. So you are also in a plight to find out a proper solution for the present political tangle created by your opponents. You should therefore take a note of warning from your insignificant friend like me, that unless you retire timely from politics and engage yourself cent per cent in the preaching work of Bhagavad-gita, which is the real function of the Mahatmas, you shall have to meet with such inglorious deaths as Mussolini, Hitlers, Tojos, Churchills or Lloyd Georges met with.
You can very easily understand as to how some of your political enemies in the garb of friends (both Indian and English) have deliberately cheated you and have broken your heart by doing the same mischief for which you have struggled so hard for so many years. You wanted chiefly Hindu-Moslem unity in India and they have tactfully managed to undo your work, by creation of the Pakistan and India separately. You wanted freedom for India but they have given permanent dependence of India. You wanted to do something for the upliftment of the position of the bhangis but they are still rotting as bhangis even though you are living in the bhangi colony. They are all therefore illusions and when these things will be presented to you as they are, you must consider them as God-sent. God has favored you by dissipating the illusion you were hovering in, and by the same illusion you were, nursing those ideas as Truth(?).
You must know that you are in the relative world which is called by the sages as Dvaita i.e. dual- and nothing is absolute here. Your Ahimsa is always followed by Himsa as the light is followed by darkness or the father is followed by the son. Nothing is absolute truth in this dual world. You did not know this neither you ever cared to know this from the right sources and therefore all your attempts to create unity were followed by disunity and Ahimsa. Ahimsa was followed by Himsa.
But it is better late than never. You must know now something about the Absolute Truth. The Truth with which you have been experimenting so long is relative. The relative truths are creations of the daivi maya qualified by the three modes of Nature. They are all insurmountable as is explained in the Bhagavad-gita (7.14). The Absolute Truth is the Absolute Godhead.
In the Katha Upanisad it is ordered that one must approach the bona fide Guru who is not only well versed in all the scriptures of the world but is also the realized soul in Brahman the Absolute—in order to learn the science of Absolute Truth. So also it is instructed in the Bhagavad-gita as follows:—
tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti tad jnanam
jnaninas tattvadarsinah
(Bg. 4.34)
But I know that you never underwent such transcendental training except some severe penances which you invented for your purpose as you have invented so many things in the course of experimenting with the relative truths. You might have easily avoided them if you had approached the Guru as abovementioned. But your sincere efforts to attain some Godly qualities by austerities etc surely have raised you to some higher position which you can better utilize for the purpose of the Absolute Truth. If you, however, remain satisfied with such temporary position only and do not try to know the Absolute Truth, then surely you are to fall down from the artificially exalted position under the laws of Nature. But if you really want to approach the Absolute Truth and want to do some real good to the people in general all over the world, which shall include your ideas of unity, peace and non-violence, then you must give up the rotten politics immediately and rise up for the preaching work of the philosophy and religion of “Bhagavad-gita” without offering unnecessary and dogmatic interpretations on them. I had occasionally discussed this subject in my paper “Back to Godhead” and a leaf from the same is enclosed herewith for your reference.
I would only request you to retire from politics at least for a month only and let us have discussion on the Bhagavad-gita. I am sure, thereby, that you shall get a new light from the result of such discussions not only for your benefit but for the benefit of the world at large—as I know that you are sincere, honest and moralist.
Awaiting your early reply with interest.
Yours sincerely,
Abhay Charan De.
Enclosure—one leaf from Back to Godhead
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