Aim of life (Letters)

Expressions researched:
"aim of his life" |"aim of human life" |"aim of life" |"aim of one's life" |"aim of the life" |"aim of your life" |"aims of life"

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Dr. Rajendra Prasad, President of Indian Union -- Delhi 21 November, 1956:

The aim of life should be to make a sincere effort to go "Back to Godhead" but contrary to this, the tendency is to go back to hell or in the cycle of evolutionary animal life as it is described in the 16th chapter of Bhagavad-gita.

Letter to Jawaharlal Nehru -- Bombay 4 August, 1958:

My humble advice to you, as I am your old friend from Allahabad, is that you should now take leave form you present responsibility of Prime ministership and as you are a popular gentleman of the world you can just engage the rest of your most valuable life in this organized spiritual movement to achieve the aim of your life which is yet to be known by the __ the world. By pushing on this authorized spiritual movement you can make a real adjustment of the western material science combined with Indian way of spiritual realization.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Montreal 16 June, 1968:

Brahmacaris and Brahmacarinis can live in the temple provided there is separate arrangement. The restriction is there because if they live together there might be sex impulses agitated. The whole principle is especially for the Brahmacaris to avoid causes which may give impetus to the sex desire. But in your country it is very difficult to make aloof the boys and girls because they are accustomed to mix together. So it is not possible for me to introduce this new system very strictly, because they are trained differently. Someway or other, if you are intelligent boy, you should make arrangement for the boys and girls to live separately; Brahmacaris at one place all together, and the Brahmacarinis all together at another place. We should always remember that sex life in spiritual advancement is great impediment. So keeping this point of view in front, we should intelligently manage things with great care. So that our aim of life may not be missed.

Letter to Brahmananda -- Montreal 28 June, 1968:

I am in due receipt of your letter of 6/25/68, of Mr. Kallman catastrophe. When I first came from San Francisco to New York, and when you informed me about the prospective business with Mr. Kallman, I was so much doubtful about the success of the plan. And therefore I hesitated. Anyway, whatever is done is done, now try to separate from this botheration without breaking our good friendship with Mr. Kallman. Caitanya Mahaprabhu especially warned His devotees to deal with worldly minded men. Therefore according to Vedic principles, only the Brahmacaris, the Vanaprasthas, and the Sannyasis are recommended to take to Krishna Consciousness seriously or to get free from the problem of earning money. The Grhasthas are supposed to support the 3 sections of the society. Anyway, the best source of our income should be by accepting contributions from the sympathetic public, and selling our own books and literature. That is also a sort of business, but it doesn't matter. And if we do business we must do it independently, without any assistance from outsiders. We can take help from outside in the matter of monetary help, either by contribution or by loan, but not to enter into transactions with outsiders. Because their aim of life is different from ours.

Letter to Rayarama -- Seattle 17 October, 1968:

Fourth point, so far the administrator class of men, or mercantile class of men, and laborer class of men, there are many institutions but to train a first class intellectual man, there is no institution all over the world. And there is no institution for spiritual training also. So this Krishna Consciousness movement is trying to help the human society on these two points, which they are lacking. So we have therefore taken a large tract of land to begin with, in W. Virginia, the place is called New Vrindaban. So we want to train students for becoming the first class intellectual person, and instruct the whole human society about the aim of life, and Krishna Consciousness or God consciousness. So we are inviting the desiring or intending students to join in our institution and we invite the public and government to cooperate with our movement. The fifth point is that in whatever division one may be situated, this very aim of life should be to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is the duty of everyone, it doesn't matter in what status of life he is situated, but if he wants to have a successful life, then he must learn to see how by his activities the Supreme Lord is satisfied. That should be the aim. Then it does not matter what is the position and occupation of the man, but he is in the right order of civilization because his very aim is to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Bhagavan -- Bombay 24 March, 1971:

Our process of helping the misguided youth should remain the same. Namely, they should join the different services in the temple; chanting, dancing in ecstasy with Hare Krishna Mantra. They must be cleanly shaved, with tilak, have saffron robes, take prasadam, attend classes, chant 16 rounds of beads daily, etc. We are sure anyone who joins us will be free of all material disease including craziness and madness. Actually everyone in this material world is a crazy fellow; he doesn't know the aim of life. Even the erudite scholar doesn't know what is God or how the material world was created; so many things they do not know. So if the government officials want to take our help they must arrange for giving a nice place so we can accommodate the students concerned, according to our method. Such centers should be well equipped with temple, lecture room, sleeping quarters, kitchen, etc. as we have got everywhere. So try to convince the authorities that everyone will come to Krishna Consciousness, following our method, which is pure. Then craziness and madness will automatically disappear. This is practical welfare. So our movement should be very vigorously pushed on. But those who push must be pure; then it will be effective.

Letter to Madhudvisa -- Kenya 15 September, 1971:

Regarding the government injunction, that is the worst situation of this age. The so called democratic government means some of the sudras, rascals without any knowledge of the highest aim of life. By hook and crook they get some votes and get the responsible chair in government. Naturally they can whimsically enact any law which is against the interest of the people in general. According to the Vedic literature, the government's first duty is to see whether people are following the rules and regulations of varnasrama dharma. That is explained in Bhagavad-gita also. Without coming to the system of Varnasrama dharma there is no question of human society. So our Krishna Conscious movement is supposed to be representative of Krishna. Krishna, when He appears on this earth, He has two fold business to execute. One business is to give protection to the devotees for advancing in Krishna Consciousness and the other side is to kill the demons. Although we are representing Krishna, we are very much poor in strength. Our only strength is chanting Hare Krishna Maha-mantra. So if we stick to the principle of chanting Hare Krishna Mantra, following the rules and regulations, that will give us strength to work on both sides—namely to enlighten people in Krishna Consciousness and cut down the bad government full of atheistic people. Our only hope is to chant Hare Krishna and rectify the whole situation.

Letter to Himavati -- Delhi 17 November, 1971:

I have received your letter of Nov. 2, 1971 and I have appreciated the contents carefully. I am especially pleased that you are finding great pleasure in serving Their Lordships in Hamburg Temple as pujari. I think that under your care They have become very gorgeous and satisfied. It is the sole aim of life to be constantly absorbed in thoughts about Radharani and Krishna, and because you are so determined to become fully Krishna Conscious, Krishna has given you this opportunity to realize that aim by serving Him directly. I have always instructed that the standard of arcana worship must be kept very high, because this will insure that every other temple activity will also flourish. So I am relieved to know that now the Deities are in your care. Thank you for this.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Balavanta -- Tirupati 28 April, 1974:

Your work in America with the God We Trust Party is very inspiring to me. If anywhere they will take seriously the principles of Bhagavad gita As It Is, that will be America. We are getting good response and being taken seriously as I have seen in the reports from Amarendra there is even prospect that we may capture some post. I have written a letter to Rupanuga Maharaja and you may get information from him on the importance of our men themselves following the brahminical regulative principles, least in the midst of political work you forget the aim of life which is to remember Krsna. So go on as you are doing enthusiastically and give me information.

Letter to Rupanuga -- Tirupati 28 April, 1974:

Our students who are making this political program must be fixed in one point that human society unless divided into the four classes and divisions is animal society. Among the animals there is no intelligence for self realization or how to make life successful. In human life intelligence is better than animals therefore they should know what is the aim of life and to educate human society there is the whole Vedic literature, of which the Bhagavad gita is the quintessence. The Supreme Personality of Godhead orders that there must be four division in human society, a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th class, like that, and the 1st must be ideal. If the whole society is full of rogues, thieves, drunkards, cheaters and demons, where is there question of decent government. There must be division so the lower class men may aspire to be second class men. So far we are concerned we are trying to train first class men. How much great responsibility we have to follow regulative principles, chant the beads, live with personal character etc. Regulative principles means to especially execute devotional service in terms of the revealed scriptures under the direction of the spiritual master. By fulfilling the regulative principles you come to the platform of spontaneous love for Krsna. Spontaneous love for Krsna is there already but is covered by the influence of Maya. The regulative principles are a device how to overcome the influence of maya and come to the platform of spontaneous love of Krsna. If we want to exist as first class men in society all our students must be induced to following the regulative principles. One shouldn't think artificially he has come to the spontaneous platform. That is sahajiyaism.

Letter to Sri Govinda -- Bombay 6 December, 1974:

Yes, as you have said in your reply they must see what kind of life our men are living. Our books are better than the nonsense books. You have written them to the point. And, even if there is some complaint, they are getting the real thing from our books. they are forgetting the aim of life. Somehow or other, we have to give them the real thing. Why this one man should be envious? In the history of the world, especially the Western countries, there is no record of selling religious books so many daily. It is unique in the history. Our men are doing good, that they do not see. They are so blind. But, the end justifies the means. We have to give them even if they do not want it. That is our duty.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to W.J. Carpenter -- New Delhi 30 November, 1975:

Material life means attachment for women, children, friends, countrymen, position, wealth, and good name. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam material existence is compare to a forest full of plunderers, dacoits, jackals, tigers and other ferocious animals. The jackals are compare to one's wife and children. In the dead of the night jackals cry very loudly, and similarly one's wife and children in this material world also cry like jackals. The children say, "Father is wanted: give me this, I am your dear son." Or the wife says, "I am your dear wife. Please give me this. This is now needed." In this way one is plundered by the thieves in the forest. Now knowing the aim of human life, one is constantly being misguided. The aim of life is Visnu, or Krishna (Na te vidhu svartha-gatim hi visnum) Everyone works very hard to earn money, but no one knows that his real work is to serve Krishna, the supreme Personality of Godhead. Instead of spending money to advance the cause of Krishna consciousness, one spends his hard earned money on clubs, brothels, liquor, drugs cigarettes, slaughterhouses and so forth. All these activities are sinful, and because we are engaged in such sinful activities constantly we are constantly reaping the result of our sinful work, which is suffering in one way or another.

1976 Correspondence

Letter to Mr. Dhawan -- Vrindaban 2 April, 1976:

First question: What is the true aim of human life?

Answer: The real aim of life is to go back to Home, back to Godhead. We all living entities in different forms of body numbering 8,400,000 forms beginning from the aquatics up to the best advanced form of human life, there is a regular evolution by the laws of nature. The real fact is that we living entities although part and parcel of God, on account of our own disobedience have come down to this material world under different circumstances. We have different types of material dresses to fulfill the tendency for sense gratification, and this by the laws of nature, by association with the 3 modes of material nature. We are transmigrating through different forms of life. So this human form of life is given to us as an opportunity to understand our position because in the human form of life we have more developed consciousness than the lower forms of life like the aquatics, insects, plants, birds, beasts and the civilized and uncivilized human beings. So the point is that a human being must know the aim of life is to go back to Home, back to Godhead.