Date:
Fri, 09 Mar 2007
From: Dayananda <dayananda@msn.com>
Subject: RE: MANIFESTO OF ISKCON'S STANDARD FOR THE NEXT TEN THOUSAND
YEARS
To: 'Diane Marie Chan' <daschan@streamyx.com>, 'Patrick Hedemark'
<pdhedemark@yahoo.com>
Das devi dasi, Nara-narayana, Rasikananda, Gadadhara, Praghosa,
Hansadutta, Gauridas, Namai Pandit, Veda Guhya, Kamsahanta, Ameyatma,
Yasodanandana, Patitapavan, the wonderful children of Nara-narayana,
and the other esteemed brahmanas,
Das’s point was cogently put. Nara-narayana and I were there in L.A. on
22 December, 1968. Dinesh had organized a press conference, but the
reporters did not come. Prabhupada had a “manifesto” prepared for the
reporters, so he read it, and then we had kirtana and ate the wonderful
prasadam that was prepared for the reporters. The prasadam was very
good—much better than the daily fare. We had samosas—a real treat then.
Perhaps Nara-narayan remembers the prasad, which he couldn’t get enough
of in those days. He once tried to take a plate saved for me, so
Nandarani pulled a knife on him. Around that time, perhaps a little
later, Hansadutta came to visit Prabhupada with Himavati, and they
stayed in my garage, one block from the temple. Anyway, when the
so-called press conference was over, I drove Prabhupada and Purushottam
back to the apartment on Hayward St—situated on the second floor over
the man who smoked the cigar. For me these details, perhaps strange to
some, are part of the pastimes of love connected to His Divine Grace
Srila Prabhupada.
However, now that we’ve discussed matters a bit, let’s strategize on
how to increase sankirtana in North America, as Das says, voluntarily,
no force. I suggest we plan and do something as an expression of our
shared love for Prabhupada. Implementing some strategies would be a
loving thing to do for Prabhupada—non-envious as well, Rasikananda and
Gadadhara. Praghosa cited the seven purposes of ISKCON. Number seven is
book distribution. Indeed, numbers one, two, and four also appear to be
sankirtana. Regarding the manifesto for the reporters (22 Dec, 68),
it’s true that Prabhupada did not explicitly present the concept of
sankirtana to them; however, in his recorded conversation with devotees
afterwards, he explicitly referred to sankirtana—“If we can, I mean to
say, raise one person to Krishna consciousness, that means we have
successfully preached our mission.” Also, he said “kirtaniya sada
harih.”
You and I--we are all leaders, because Prabhupada (or the parampara)
has given us brahmana diksha, and brahmanas are leaders of society.
Therefore, we should lead the society in the sankirtana-yajna.
Prabhupada writes in Light of the Bhagavata, “The
intelligent class of men, the brahmanas, are to inspire the ksatriyas
and vaisyas in performing sacrifices for spiritual cultivation...” His
reference to “sacrifice” means sankirtana-yajna.
Thus, sankirtana book distribution is not my idea. It is Prabhupada’s
request of all of us leaders. Let’s continue to be opinionated, fight
with each other, and love each other, but let’s increase sankirtana for
Prabhupada.
Your servant, Dayananda
