[For the First time in English]
Letters from Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada
Inexperience and shallowness of those who are hankering for name and fame, being averse to Sri Hari
All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga
Sri Gaudiya Matha , Kolkata, Bagbajar
9th Kartik, 1337
26th October, 1930
19th Damodar, 444 Gaurabda
This is my notification with due respect -
… Lord Gaurasundara had removed the lamentation of the bereaved devotees over the kidnapping of Maya-Sita, the illusory duplicate of Goddess Sita, by Ravana, always craving for name, fame and prestige.
By the desire of the same Lord Sri Visvambhara (another name of Sriman Mahaprabhu), the averse community has invited this tandava-nritya, destructive vigorous dance.
Their inexperience and shallowness will find its way in the form of booklets and lectures from door to door of each and every person and the highest philosophical conclusion of Achintya-bhedabheda Tattva will enhance the delight and joy of the devotees engaged in loving devotional service of Lord Shri Krishna.
Please do not consider yourself to be strengthened by remaining indifferent to the spotless, serene concept of fundamental religion of the soul, as preached by the followers of Sri Rupa Goswami and embracing the speculative knowledge of the imperfect, mundane philosophers like Martin, Ceyard, Parker etc. And, hence, instead of knowing the mundane love of birds and animals, as practiced by the cheap pseudo-devotees, to be a perverted abominable distortion of the divine love of Sri Radha Govinda, do not consider this to be just a shadow of the divine love that has descended to the material world.
The mundane cheap pseudo-devotion is not a pure devotional concept, rather just some unrestrained, perverse activities, situated far away from pure, unadulterated divine love. On the contrary, rescuing the groups, indicated in the verse “sva-laangulenaatititarti sindhum”, from being drowned by the weak and dry arguments of Mayavada and other deliberations opposing bhakti, is a special instance of the compassion of Sri Gaudiya Matha towards other living entities.
If you take some time to carefully and attentively read the contents of the cornerstone of Sri Chaitanya Matha and Sri Gaudiya Matha, then you will be able to realize the real motive of the preaching of Sri Gaudiya Math and thereby will get relieved from the clutches of offenses at the feet of Sri Guru and Vaishnavas, incurred due to the defects of bhrama (inadvertent mistakes), pramada (confusion or illusion), vipralipsa (cheating tendency) and karanapatava (imperfection of perception and senses).
Only then will you be able to fully join in Sri Gaudiya Matha and therefore relish a drop of the nectarine ocean of devotion.
Please be assured that the transcendental desire of Shri Gaurasundara will be fulfilled and propagated by more capable and even the most capable persons through the daily newspaper ‘Nadiya Prakasha’.
Not only that, the thunder-like strong and uncompromising writings of the publication team of the ‘Gaudiya’ magazine, who have acquired unlimited, unequalled power from the lotus-feet of Sri Nityananda prabhu, will uproot and shatter the mountain-like fake arrogance of the predantic Apyaya Dikshita - the weak writer of ‘Parimala’ who was utterly confused with the Shaiva-Visistadvaita philosophy.
While showing respect to the wise conclusions of the learned persons of Sri Vallabha Sampradaya including Purusottama Maharaja, we will prove the insignificance of the theory of powerless, feeble, indistinct Brahman as propagated by the followers of Kevaladvaita philosophy.
We will follow the process of continuous, uninterrupted Hari-kirtana, without desiring for name and fame, while offering respect to everyone, in a humble state of mind, thinking ourselves lower than the straw and being tolerant as a tree, as instructed by Sri Gaurasundara.
Carrying the holy shoes of the devotees who practice this, we will remove the inefficiencies of the deceptive view-points of the unwise, inconsiderate communities including the anyabhilasis (mundane perople with material desires unrelated to Lord Sri Krishna), karmis (those inclined towards fruitive activities), yogis (those desiring for material mystic power) and nirbheda-jnanis (the impersonalists inclined towards liberation).
Due to some temporarily added impurities, there has been a rise of fake and tasteless pseudo-sentiments - we will rectify all these wastes that have accumulated in the world. In order to be able to perform all this service, we are begging for the mercy of everyone.
Please know that the mendicant monks of Sri Gaudiya Matha are not reluctant to beg and collect food items from you. For seven more days, the sessions of Transcendental Assembly on Vedic conclusion will be held in Gaudiya Matha.
You will be greatly benefitted if you can join this assembly as well… By attending this assembly and by listening to Sri Hari-kirtan without any deceit in your heart, you will be able to achieve proper realization, as an extra-ordinary result of following the prescribed Vedic principles, in your remorseful heart, hardened by logic and dry arguments.
Then you will be able to understand the real meaning of the verse “trinadapi sunichena...”
The servant of the Harijanas (devotees of Lord Sri Hari)
Sri Siddhanta Saraswati
(FOOTNOTE: Anyone who desires to be protected by others is certainly a great fool who desires to cross the sea by holding the tail of a dog - Srimad Bhagavatam 6.9.22)
Translated By Pramit Saha and Edited By Binay Krsna Prabhuji of the Shree Guru Prapanna Ashram.