Conditioned souls (Letters)

Expressions researched:
"conditioned soul" |"conditioned soul's" |"conditioned souls"

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to R. Prakash -- Allahabad 22 June, 1951:

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as confirmed incarnation of Sri Krishna the Personality of Godhead inaugurated this sankirtana movement and He reclaimed all conditioned souls from all ranks of life even from animal kingdom for being re-instated in the transcendental relation and activities of loving service to the Absolute Truth. Thakura Haridasa who happened to appear in the family of a Mohammedan was one of His principle associates and His transcendental movement embraced all varieties of people beginning from the most erudite scholar brahmanas to the one who came in the family of yavana & candala.

Letter to Sri Biswambhar Goswami -- Shanti Kutir, Vrindaban 25 December, 1956:

The attention of Government is now turned to the side of reforming the religious activities of Indian sadhus and Sannyasis and they are now going to enact some statutes in this connection. Of course nothing is possible without the sanction of the Supreme Will of Sri Krishna but still man-made laws must have defects as the lawmakers are deficient in four primary principles of a conditioned soul.

1967 Correspondence

Letter to Mukunda -- New York 5 May, 1967:

Regarding your inquiry about the individual soul present, I think you will remember that I have several times explained that throughout the whole cosmic creation, not only in the cosmic creation, in the Spiritual World also, the individual is full everywhere, they are numberless. In the material world, the number of souls are very small. In the Spiritual World the number of individual souls are far far greater than what they are here. The conditioned souls are just like prisoners, as we have got less population in the prison house, similarly, in the material world the number of individual souls are very small. So you may understand from me that the individual souls are everywhere, means, anywhere you go within this material world there are individual living entities, in all planets in the outer space, in the water, on the land everywhere.

Letter to Pradyumna -- Calcutta 17 October, 1967:

Regarding Kirtanananda, he is undoubtedly a good soul, but lately he has been attacked by maya; he thinks too much of himself—even at the risk of disobeying his spiritual master & talking nonsense about Krishna. As a man haunted by a ghost talks so much nonsense, so also when a man is overpowered by the illusory energy—maya, also talks all sorts of nonsense. The last attack of maya upon the conditioned souls is impersonalism. There are 4 stages of attack of maya; viz.: 1) stage is that a man wants to be a protagonist of religion, 2) is that man neglects religiosity and tries to improve his economic development, 3) is to be protagonist of sense enjoyment & when a man is frustrated in all the above mentioned stages he comes to, 4) which is impersonalism, and thinks himself one with the Supreme. This last attack is very serious and fatal. Kirtanananda has very recently developed the 4th stage malady on account of his negligence & disobedience to his spiritual master.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Uddhava, Upendra -- Los Angeles 16 January, 1968:

I thank you for your letter of January 11, 1968, and am pleased with your sincere service attitude. We are all conditioned souls so we are affected by Maya, but if we sincerely chant and serve, our attachment for Krishna will be revived and we will no more have to come under this Maya. Eternally we will be serving the Lotus Feet of the Supreme Lord.

Letter to Brahmananda -- Los Angeles 21 January, 1968:

I am in due receipt of your letter dated 1/15/68. And I have noted the contents, especially the activities of Maya, carefully. Krishna Consciousness movement is actually declaration of war against Maya. The conditioned souls who wanted to enjoy this material world are captivated by the sex desires. If one wants to get out of this material existence, he must control sex desire. The whole scheme of Vedic civilization is based on this principle of controlling sex desire. There were 4 orders of life; Brahmacari, Grhastha, Vanaprastha, and Sannyasa. The majority of the orders namely Brahmacari, Vanaprastha, and Sannyasa are forbidden sex life. Only the householders are allowed sex life. That is also restricted. That means sex life is condemned throughout because that is the cause of material bondage.

Letter to Brahmananda -- Los Angeles 21 January, 1968:

So far I am personally concerned, Kirtanananda was doubtful about my existence because he thought that I am dependent on his massaging, so the thought that there is no necessity of Spiritual Master, because Spiritual Master is an ordinary man, and to depend on an ordinary man is a tyranny. Therefore one should always think of Spiritual Master not an ordinary man. You are intelligent and advanced in Krishna Consciousness, and you can understand what is the attack of Spiritual Master by Maya. Maya's duty is to keep the conditioned souls under her clutches, so if there is any hindrance by anyone in the discharge of her duties, she must attack the opposite party. But Krishna saves his sincere servant in Krishna Consciousness. The Pandavas were declared devotees of Krishna ___ and so many troubles in their life; but ultimately they were victorious by the Mercy of Krishna. This is the process of understanding Krishna and his devotees.

Letter to Pradyumna -- Los Angeles 22 January, 1968:

You may use the facilities available to you if there is no risk of making trouble. But so far as stealing is concerned, one should not steal except in the rarest circumstances. Moral principle is recommended in all scriptures as prerequisite for spiritual culture. If the conduct of the pure devotee crosses the lines of ordinary morality it is because he acts on the plane of Absolute Morality which is not known to the conditioned soul and cannot therefore be imitated. So generally we should be careful to observe good moral conduct.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Los Angeles 25 February, 1968:

We accept Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead on the evidence of Vedic literature. There is no evidence in the Vedic literatures that a common unintelligent person by worshiping a demigoddess Kali can become an incarnation of Godhead. The goddess Kali is divine mother for the conditioned souls, not for the liberated souls. There is no direction in the Vedic literatures that one can become liberated even by worshiping the goddess Kali. She is superintendent of the prison house known as material world. One can derive some material facilities by worshiping Kali or Durga, but nobody can become liberated by worshiping such demigoddesses, so what to speak of becoming incarnation of Godhead. So the propaganda that Ramakrsna became incarnation of God by worshiping Kali is not accepted by any authorized acharya and therefore it is a bogus propaganda. One who follows therefore, such bogus propaganda is also misled as far as his spiritual advancement is concerned.

Letter to Upendra -- Los Angeles 1 March, 1968:

No, when the Lord appears it is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita that He does so in His Own Internal Potency. This Internal Potency is called Yoga Maya. All Pastimes and activities of the Lord are administered by the Yoga Maya. Therefore, He is not under the influence of material energy, as the conditioned souls are. By the arrangement of Yoga Maya, the devotees sometimes forget the Presence of the Omnipotent Lord. Just like Yasodamayi treats Krishna as her begotten Son, and forgets Krishna's inconceivable power. Therefore, she asks Krishna to open His Mouth to see whether He actually ate some earth. He showed her that He swallowed not only a bit of earth, but the whole cosmic manifestation. Yasoda Mata was astonished to see this miracle, but still she forgot that Krishna is God, that Krishna is the Supreme Lord Himself, and not her ordinary Son. In this way, reciprocation between the Lord and His devotees takes place. The Lord doesn't forget but in order to enthuse the Pastimes of the Lord, the action of Yoga Maya is prominent.

Letter to Rupanuga -- San Francisco 12 March, 1968:

In the spiritual world there is no such relationship as God as the father. In the material world such conception is appreciated very much. In the material world everyone wants to take from God because the conditioned soul wants to enjoy senses. And the concept of fatherhood is to drag resources from the Supreme. But in the spiritual world there is no question of drawing from the Supreme. Everything there is to serve the Lord, and service is rendered in 5 different rasas or transcendental humors as described above. In the transcendental world instead of taking the Lord as father, He is treated as son, because son derives service from the Father, whereas in the material world the father maintains the conditioned souls or sons of God.

Letter to Sivananda -- New York 19 April, 1968:

Please continue with your sincere efforts for Krishna. Now, regarding your question about Brahma, he may be chosen either from the liberated or the conditioned souls. In this case Brahma is a liberated soul from the beginning; therefore there is no contradiction that Brahma can be Haridasa Thakura. Those who are conditioned souls are eternally so, which means that it is never possible to trace out how long ago the conditioned existence began. We simply say that misuse of the little independence we have got creates so much trouble for us. But now by adopting Krishna Consciousness, we may finish this conditioned life immediately. That is Krishna Consciousness.

Letter to Jadurani -- Montreal 9 July, 1968:

Your questions about Lord Brahma: "Brahma is a great devotee of Lord Krishna and Brahma Samhita, etc., reveal his knowledge of the Lord. So are these 2 stories (namely, 1. He doubted Krishna became a cowherds Boy and stole His cows, etc.; 2. Krishna showed him the 1/4 part of His creation after Brahma had to designate himself as 4-headed Brahma.), are these 2 stories just examples to we conditioned souls, who think we can put God under restrictions?" Brahma is not among the great devotees, but he is a devotee of Krishna. All the great devotees of Krishna are in the Krishna loka, constant companions of Krishna at Vrindaban. They are actually great devotees of Krishna. Brahma is great devotee in the sense that he wants to serve Krishna the best with some material power. That means that he has a tendency to enjoy some material opulence.

Letter to Jadurani -- Montreal 9 July, 1968:

So, Krishna appears only once in a day of Brahma, and that takes a rotation of unlimited trillions of solar years. So some incidences take place in one day, and other incidents take place in another day. Just like we do something today, something else in a week, and we forget today's action tomorrow, and tomorrow's action after a week. And that is the nature of conditioned life. Therefore, Brahma being a big conditioned soul, this forgetfulness of one's affairs in the next day are not uncommon. Just as we are forgetful, Brahma also is subject to forgetfulness. Our so much so-called knowledge is nothing in comparison to Krishna's full knowledge. That is admitted by Brahma there in that verse, that people may say they know You very well, but so far I am concerned, I admit I do not know even a farthing of You!

Letter to Hayagriva -- Montreal 14 July, 1968:

In your letter of the 8th instant you write to say, "but it would be difficult to spread the Mahamantra to the inhabitants here." Our principal aim is to preach the importance of chanting the Holy Names of God. And if there is no such opportunity then the place will be specifically meant for persons who want to retire from activities. To retire from activities is not very good idea for the conditioned soul. I have got very good experience, not only in our country but also in your country, that this tendency of retiring from activities pushes one down to the platform of laziness, and gradually to the ideas of the hippies. One should always remain active in Krishna's service, otherwise the strong maya will catch him and engage him in her service. Our constitutional position being rendering service, we cannot stop activity.

Letter to Madhusudana -- Montreal 29 July, 1968:

Subhadra is yogamaya. The spiritual energy is called yogamaya. And she has 16 different expansions. Out of these 16 expansions, Subhadra is one. The mahamaya of the material energy is also expansion of the energy of yogamaya; and both yogamaya and mahamaya are equally important to Krishna as much as any government department is equally important for functioning of the government. The police department may be horrible for the criminals, but to the government it is a department as good as university department. Similarly, mahamaya is horrible to the conditioned soul, but to the liberated soul, there is no fear of mahamaya, because he is protected by yogamaya. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita when Krishna said the following: "I am not visible to everyone on account of being curtained by yogamaya." So when a conditioned soul surrenders unto Krishna, the yogamaya winds up the curtain and Krishna is visible to the devotee.

Letter to Rupanuga -- Montreal 30 August, 1968:

Every place is expansion of Krishna's material energy, and material energy being expansion of Krishna, in one sense there is no difference between Krishna and the material energy. The only defect of material energy is that it is something like the prison department of the government. But it is not that all the persons residing in prison are under prison rules and regulations. Similarly, all conditioned souls who are within this material energy, are supposed to be the prison walls of material nature, but those who are officering on behalf of Krishna, they are not members of the prison rules and regulations. So our members of Krishna Consciousness all over the world who are engaged in preaching Lord Krishna's desire, that everyone should surrender unto Him, so one who has taken up seriously to preach this message in the world, he is considered as doing well. So my conclusion is that Buffalo is doing well because you are doing well.

Letter to Upendra dasa -- 20 September, 1968:

This servitorship is constitutional position of all living beings. But in conditional state everyone is serving his senses. This is called virupa dharma. The svarupa dharma is to serve the master of the senses namely hṛṣikesha. This hṛṣikesha servitorship is liberation of the conditioned soul. Without this, namely hṛṣikena hṛṣikesha sevanam bhaktir ucyate. Harāv ābhaktasya kuto mahat gunāḥ manorathena asato dhāvato vahiḥ, a man is pasubhisamānāh. According to Asian sanskṛt scholars vidya bhāgavatabadhi. I wish therefore to request you to introduce in your department of Asian language and literature the study of Srimad Bhāgavatam, the summit of Sanskṛt literature as accepted by great Sanskṛt scholars like Sridharsvami, Virraghavacharya, Jiva Gosvami, Visvanāth Chakravarty and above all Lord Chaitanya who was known as Nimāi Pandit the greatest sanskrit scholar in the 15th century.

Letter to Sivananda -- Los Angeles 11 November, 1968:

So one should not imitate such great personalities but one should try to see how much taste he has developed for chanting, so that one can remain alone simply being engaged in chanting. If one can remain alone simply being engaged in chanting, that is very good, but it is difficult also. A conditioned soul in conditioned life it is very difficult to concentrate our mind in chanting absolutely. Better to be engaged in preaching work, that will make one gradually successful. Besides that, when we are actually engaged in with the preaching work, we gradually acquire our spiritual strength without failure.

Letter to Aniruddha -- Los Angeles 14 November, 1968:

Yogamaya means the mercy of the Supreme Lord which connects a devotee in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and mahamaya means the external potency of the Lord which puts a conditioned soul into illusion that he will be happy by material adjustment. So great sages who are impersonalists are also under the spell of mahamaya, because a conditioned soul in the material world wants to improve his material position as exalted as possible, and the concept of becoming one with the Supreme Lord is the greatest illusion for them. Because it is a fact that nobody can be equal or greater than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such, anyone desiring to become one with the Supreme means that he is still in the trap of maya. On the other hand, a humble devotee who may not be a great sage, but simply by his implicit acceptance of the Lotus Feet of the Lord as the goal of his life means that he is under the protection of yogamaya. I think this will clear the idea.

Letter to Aniruddha -- Los Angeles 14 November, 1968:

Your next question, "Is a pure devotee eternally liberated and if so is he at any time a conditioned soul? We are eternally conditioned, but as soon as we surrender to Krishna do we then become eternally liberated? When Lord Christ appeared he seemed to be conditioned in his growth. Was he a specific incarnation or a conditioned soul who became liberated?" You are not eternally conditioned. You are eternally liberated but since we have become conditioned on account of our desire to enjoy materialistic way of life, from time immemorial, therefore it appears that we are eternally conditioned. Because we cannot trace out the history or the date when we became conditioned, therefore it is technically called eternally conditioned.

Letter to Madhusudana -- Los Angeles 20 November, 1968:

Where Krishna is present there cannot be any darkness of maya. So as Arjuna although always in the presence of Krishna as eternal companion in friendship, still he had some illusion in the battlefield of Kuruksetra, and Krishna had to dissipate that darkness by the teachings of Bhagavad-gita. The purport is, sometimes even a liberated person like Arjuna plays the part of a conditioned soul in order to play some important part. Similarly, Bhaktivinode Thakura for sometimes was associating with the impersonalists. And then he exhibited himself in his true color as pure devotee, exactly in the same way as Arjuna exhibited in the beginning as a conditioned soul, and then as a liberated soul. So there is nothing to be misunderstood in this connection. Krishna and His devotees sometimes play like that, as much as Lord Buddha although an incarnation of Krishna, preached the philosophy of voidism.

Letter to Upendra -- Los Angeles 9 December, 1968:

First of all I think you should know that such problems are not very unnatural because in the body the conditioned soul is very prone to failure. But also we must remember that such failure will not discourage us from executing the most important mission of our life, to become fully in Krishna Consciousness. So whatever falldown has been, you should be regretful about it, but it is not so serious nor is it a permanent disqualification. But you must try to check yourself from such artificial things and take full shelter of the Lotus Feet of Krishna. I think that for such checking marriage is the only solution. It is understood that everyone has some nasty habits but by sticking to Krishna Consciousness, chanting our required rounds loudly, and tending the deities, these items will surely save you.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Los Angeles 31 December, 1968:

Strictly we should avoid publishing these confidential topics in Back To Godhead. This is dangerous for the conditioned soul. Although such Krishna lila can do some good to the mundane people in the long run, to understand the philosophical aspects of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam in the beginning is essential and will make for good stride in spiritual life. I do not know why Rayarama has asked you to send such article. It is not to my sanction. We shall be very careful about mundane sex life. That is the pivot center of conditioned life. You are intelligent enough and I hope that Krishna will help you in these matters.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Govinda -- Los Angeles 26 January, 1969:

Lord Caitanya was a very learned scholar, a very beautiful young brahmana, and He had a very affectionate mother, but Lord Caitanya Himself accepted the botheration voluntarily for the good of the human society and all living entities. We should always follow these footprints—not try to imitate, but to follow the same spirit of compassion for the conditioned soul and try to help them advance to Krishna Consciousness. Actually in the service of Krishna there is no botheration. Rather we feel more transcendental pleasure. I hope you will more and more appreciate this status as you work combinedly with your very good husband, Gaurasundara.

Letter to Larry Snyder, Mark Perlman, John Curran -- Los Angeles 1 February, 1969:

Your eagerness to spread the Krishna Consciousness movement in that party of the country is certainly dictated by Krishna, Who is situated within your heart. There are innumerable living entities wandering within the universe in different forms of life and conditions in different planetary systems. Out of many, many of such conditioned souls, only one will come into contact with a bona fide Spiritual Master by the Grace of Krishna. Krishna can understand from within the sincerity of purpose of a particular living entity, and He gives direction to such sincere devotee to the path of realizing Krishna Consciousness. So you have already achieved to this stage of life. Please do not miss the opportunity.

Letter to Brahmananda -- Hawaii 10 March, 1969:

I thank you very much for your nice sentiments so expressed in this letter; that I am not unreasonable—rather you have taken the responsibility on your part. Actually we are all conditioned souls so our demand from Krishna to accept us is unreasonable. From my personal point of view, I think that I am so sinful that I cannot even approach Krishna to show me any favor. But I have only one hope—my Spiritual Master—He is very kind. So someway or other He is dragging me towards Krishna. That is the only hope. Sri Caitanya Caritamrta says therefore: Guru Krishna. By the mercy of the Spiritual Master, and by the mercy of Krishna, one gets into Krishna Consciousness. Narada Muni is our original Spiritual Master and he has dragged so many fallen souls towards Krishna, and we are also hoping to be dragged by Him through the disciplic succession. Otherwise, if we study our own qualifications, there is none—rather I have got so many disqualifications.

Letter to Himavati -- Hawaii 23 March, 1969:

So far Lord Brahma and his attraction for his daughter; this illustration should be taken by conditioned souls, that even a person like Brahma is sometimes victimized, how much careful we should be. Not that even Brahma was enticed, so we shall become enticed more and more. This is an example set for us by great devotees. To become agitated is not very unusual thing, but to control it, that is the real thing.

Letter to Mukunda -- New Vrindaban 10 June, 1969:

Your next question, whether the Spiritual Master was formerly a conditioned soul, actually a bona fide Spiritual Master is never a conditioned soul. There are three kinds of liberated persons. They are called 1) sadhan siddha, 2) kripa siddha, and 3) nitya siddha. Sadhan siddha means one who has attained perfection by executing the regulative principles of devotional service. Kripa siddha means one who has attained perfection by the special mercy of Krishna and the Spiritual Master, and nitya siddha means one who was never contaminated. The symptoms of nitya siddha is that from the beginning of his life he is attached to Krishna, and he is never tired of rendering service to Krishna. So we have to know what is what by these symptoms.

Letter to R. Chalson -- New Vrindaban 12 June, 1969:

In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that out of many men, only one is interested in self-realization, and out of many thousands of self-realized persons, only one may understand Krishna. But if one understands Krishna as to what He is, what are His transcendental activities, then such person immediately is eligible to enter into the Kingdom of God, and not to come again in this miserable world. People in general do not even understand that this world is miserable for the conditioned soul. Neither are they very interested in the Kingdom of God. They want to make this miserable world as the Kingdom of God without God. So there is a great necessity of propagating the Krishna Consciousness Movement. As you appear to be very intelligent and interested in this connection, I shall request you to help this movement as far as possible.

Letter to Silavati -- New Vrindaban 14 June, 1969:

So there is no difficulty at present in this regards, and as you are so nicely engaged in your activities in Los Angeles, you should continue as you are now doing. Your description of the course you are giving to the interested girls about the role they play in Krishna Consciousness is very nice, and I am pleased that you have begun this project. Actually the role of all conditioned souls is the same; to chant Hare Krishna, tell others to chant, perfect our lives in Krishna Consciousness, and to go back to Godhead when this body is finished. Now if you can induce all the women of Los Angeles to place an altar in their homes and help their husbands have peaceful, happy home life in Krishna Consciousness, that will be very great service for you. The actual system is that the husband is Spiritual Master to his wife, but if the wife can bring her husband into practicing this process, then it is all right that the husband accepts wife as Spiritual Master.

Letter to Visala -- West Virginia 16 June, 1969:

Regarding your first question, what is the difference in full between the Spiritual Master, Krishna, and the devotee? The answer is that Krishna is the source of all energies of the spiritual and material creations, the devotee is the part and parcel servant of Krishna, and the Spiritual Master is the transparent via media for leading the conditioned souls back to home, back to Godhead. All living entities are the servants of Krishna, but the living entities who have fallen into this conditioned life are forgetful of their eternal relationship with the Lord. The role of the bona fide Spiritual Master is to lead the conditioned souls out of forgetfulness and back into pure consciousness of serving the Lord in transcendental loving service. In material consciousness one is identifying himself with his particular body, and he is forgetting that he is spirit soul, servant of Krishna. Then by the association and instructions of the purified servants of Krishna, the living entity gradually comes to remember that I am not part of this miserable material world, but I too am the eternal servant of Krishna, and my only business is to give pleasure to the Lord in pure Krishna Consciousness.

Letter to Mr. Kair -- Los Angeles 8 July, 1969:

You should go on inquiring about your pros and cons ideas in the matter of the Krishna Consciousness. Along with this you chant Hare Krishna in the assembly of friends and family members regularly, morning and evening, and then Krishna Consciousness will become revealed unto you. Krishna Consciousness is already in you—not only in you, but in every living being. Such consciousness is aroused just like a sleeping man is aroused from slumber by vibration of sound. Similarly, a conditioned soul is aroused by the vibration of the Hare Krishna Mantra into Krishna Consciousness. This is the process. We will be glad to give you all instruction on this point, providing you are serious to accept it, and to propagate it.

Letter to Carl Lange -- Los Angeles 12 July, 1969:

Except for the Krishna Consciousness Movement, any other attempt for spiritual realization, such as drugs, voidness, impersonalism, bodily exercises of Hatha Yoga, etc.—they are all something like unconsciousness under some super-intoxicant. Srila Rupa Goswami has given a very nice example in this connection. He says that a conditioned soul remains in the slumber of unconsciousness just like a patient bitten by a poisonous snake. In India there is a class of snake-charmers and physicians who treat snake-bitten persons with a particular type of jungle herbs. This treatment is to bring the herb near the nostrils of the patient for being smelled, and then the patient comes back to consciousness and finds relief from the snake bite effect. In our conditioned life we are bitten by so many types of Maya snakes, and more and more we are put into unconsciousness of mind without any hope of eternal life. Krishna Consciousness is the only herb for such Maya snake-bite condition. So our duty is very responsible.

Letter to Kulasekhara (Colin Jury), Digvijaya (Dick Withey), Tirthapada (Tim Austin) -- Los Angeles 31 July, 1969:

This initiation ceremony is a Vedic principle to lead a conditioned soul to the higher level of transcendental life. In the Caitanya Caritamrta you will find the instruction as we have given it in our book, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, that after many, many births through approximately 8,400,000 species of life, a living entity gets this human form of life, which is a chance to get freedom from the material condition. When a child is born it is the responsibility of the state, of the father, of the mother, of the relatives, and of the teachers just to raise the child to the standard of Krishna Consciousness so that the child may not have any more to repeat the process of birth and death, but being fully situated in Krishna Consciousness he may be transferred to the spiritual world and situated in one of the Vaikuntha planets. The most important of the Vaikuntha planets is called Krishna Loka, or Goloka Vrindaban.

Letter to Robert Hendry -- Los Angeles 3 August, 1969:

The real description of Maya is given in a Vedic literature called Markandeya Purana in the chapter Candika. Candika is another name of the external energy called Maya. This Candika is described there as the Goddess who is putting all conditioned souls in darkness. In this material world, every living entity is under the spell of this Candika, almost asleep in darkness of knowledge. Every living entity is part and parcel spirit soul, but in contact with Maya it has developed different types of consciousness, represented by varieties of bodies, beginning from the aquatics and going to the bodies of demigods in higher planets. These different grades of bodies are developing in terms of life. When the consciousness comes to the point of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then life becomes perfect in its original condition. Therefore, in a sense this Krishna Consciousness Movement is declaring war against Candika, who has kept the living entities under her spell.

Letter to Madhudvisa -- Hamburg 7 September, 1969:

I very much appreciated the poem that you have written for Vyasa Puja Ceremony, and because it was too late for being published in the Vyasa Puja booklet, I have handed it over to Hayagriva for publication in BTG. This poem was especially nice and I thank you for it. I am always encouraged to learn of your activities in the San Francisco temple, and I think that by the Grace of Caitanya Mahaprabhu you shall do very great service to His Sankirtana Movement. For so many countless lifetimes the conditioned souls have been giving all of their service and energy to the service of Maya, and I am requesting all of my disciples that for this one lifetime you give all of your energy and service to Krishna. The spiritual force is eternal, so to give simply one lifetime to Krishna is not a very difficult thing. And yet if we are serious in executing the devotional principles, this one lifetime of service to Krishna will absolute and final solution to all the problems of life. Sincere devotional service in even one lifetime is sufficient to make one eligible to return to the Vaikuntha world permanently. Krishna Consciousness has got this power.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Tittenhurst 15 October, 1969:

In BTG the rasa lila episode cannot be published. We are writing on the activities of Krishna and rasa lila is one of the most important Pastimes of His transcendental activities. Therefore it must be published in the book, but it cannot be published in any public paper. That is the instruction of my Guru Maharaja. Actually, rasa lila means to curb down the lusty propensities of the conditioned soul. Unfortunately, it acts differently on the conditioned soul if he is not prepared to understand what is Krishna. So do not try to print this.

Letter to Upendra -- Tittenhurst 27 October, 1969:

The conditioned souls are always within the Maha Visnu Form, whereas the liberated souls in Vaikuntha, they are engaged in the service of the Lord. Constitutionally every living entity, even if he is in the Vaikuntha Loka, has chance of falling down. Therefore the living entity is called marginal energy. But when the falldown has taken place for the conditioned soul is very difficult to ascertain. Therefore two classes are designated: eternally liberated and eternally conditioned. But for arguments sake, a living entity being marginal energy, he can't be eternally conditioned. The Time is so unlimited that the conditioned souls appear to be eternally so, but from the philosophical view he cannot be eternally conditioned. Since we cannot trace out when we have become conditioned, there is no use of arguing on this point. Better to take care first how we can get rid of this conditional existence; as much as a patient should take care for treating his disease more, and less waste his time in finding out the cause of his disease.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Jadurani -- Los Angeles 14 January, 1970:

Being in the disciplic succession of Prahlada Maharaja certainly we are not interested for our personal liberation as much as we want to work for the liberation of the conditioned souls because Krishna desires it. So you are an intelligent girl, I need not talk much, and be happy in Krishna Consciousness business.

Letter to Janardana -- Los Angeles 16 January, 1970:

I am pleased to note that although you have not yet secured a Temple building you are moving our program forward on other fronts. The arrangement for the composing and printing of BTG in French and German languages is already settled, and if you all continue to translate my books and articles and write articles yourselves; that will make the work successful. The people in general can be reached very well by the distribution of our literatures and by the propagation of Sankirtana in the streets. These are our two mrdangas for reawakening the sleeping conditioned souls.

Letter to Yeager -- Los Angeles 21 January, 1970:

Lord Nityananda, when passing on the street, saw a crowd of people howling at some incident, and on inquiry it was found that there were two rascals of the then name Jagai and Madhai. They were always disturbing people in drunken condition. Nityananda Prabhu thought it wise that these two brothers may be delivered so that Lord Caitanya's mercy could be well known all over the world. When Lord Nityananda approached them He was immediately hurt by violent attack. On this incident Lord Caitanya became very angry and He called for His Sudarsana cakra to kill these debauchees. Lord Nityananda then implored Lord Caitanya not to kill Jagai and Madhai but to save them. By this time Jagai and Madhai came to their senses and immediately they surrendered unto both the Lords and were delivered by the mercy of Lord Nityananda. So Lord Nityananda or Baladeva. is the original Spiritual Master, and such pure devotee sometimes takes the risk of life in order to reclaim a person who might have otherwise been rejected by the Lord. The devotee knows that the Lord wants all the fallen souls to come back to Home, and therefore the devotees always try to induce the conditioned souls to take to Krishna Consciousness by various ways and means. Therefore the conclusion is that a devotee is more kind than the Lord Himself.

Letter to Linda -- Los Angeles 19 February, 1970:

Regarding your questions about the difference between the picture of Krsna and the Deity, Krsna is equally there in both these forms. Krsna is so kind that he agrees to appear, for the benefit of the conditioned soul, in eight different kinds of forms. Such form is called arca or the form of the Lord manifested through material agency as metal, earth, wood, painting, stone, jewel, drawing, and mind. The arca is accepted as incarnation of God, and is worshiped by regulations. Generally the installed Deities are so worshiped and the regulative principles should be strictly followed in regard to Them.

Letter to Himavati -- Los Angeles 1 April, 1970:

Radha Krsna topics are for both liberated and conditioned souls, but conditioned souls should not much discuss about the loving affairs between Radha and Krsna because sometimes they misunderstand Radha and Krsna as ordinary boy and girl. So this should be discussed with advanced students, not with ordinary men. Yes, you make the throne very plush and comfortable and gorgeous like a bedroom. You are welcome for these questions, since you are engaged in Their service, you must know everything thoroughly.

Letter to Unknown -- Los Angeles 12 April, 1970:

The living entities within this material world are supposed to be rebellious conditioned souls who disregarded the order of the Supreme Lord, and they lost their spiritual kingdom. It is something like Milton's idea of "Paradise Lost." This material world is created, developed, maintained, produces many by-products, then gradually dwindles, and at last it is dissolved or annihilated. The spirit souls or living beings, are by nature eternal. This condition of life for the living beings are by nature eternal. This condition of life for the living beings, namely to go through repeated births and deaths, is unnatural for him. Therefore the whole Vedic knowledge is devised to regulate the life of the living entities not in the animal form of life, but in the human form of life, so that he can fulfill his material desires, but at the same time he becomes elevated to his original spiritual position.

Letter to Jagadisa -- Los Angeles 25 April, 1970:

Regarding your questions about how and from where did the conditioned souls fall, your first question if someone has a relationship with Lord Krsna on Krsnaloka, does he ever fall down? The souls are endowed with minute independence as part of their nature and this minute independence may be utilized rightly or wrongly at any time, so there is always the chance of falling down by misuse of one's independence. But those who are firmly fixed up in devotional service to Krsna are making proper use of their independence and so they do not fall down.

Letter to Jagadisa -- Los Angeles 25 April, 1970:

Regarding your second question, have the conditioned souls ever seen Krsna? Were they with the Lord before being conditioned by the desire to lord it over material nature? Yes, the conditioned souls are parts and parcels of the Lord and thus they were with Krsna before being conditioned. Just as the child must have seen his father because the father places the child in the womb of the mother, similarly each soul has seen Krsna or the Supreme Father. But at that time the conditioned souls are resting in the condition called susupti which is exactly deep sleep without dream, or anesthetized state, therefore they do not remember being with Krsna when they wake up in the material world and become engaged in material affairs. I hope this will satisfy your questions.

Letter to Syamasundara -- Los Angeles 14 May, 1970:

Regarding your question about the term "unmanifest" in the Bhagavad-gita 8/21, there are two words in Sanskrit—aprakata which means "unmanifest" or "nonmanifest" and prakata which means "manifest". Krsna's Lila in Vrndavana is prakata or manifest Lila, and the same is going on eternally in the spiritual realm which is known as aprakata or nonmanifest. Actually Krsna's planet and Krsna's pastimes are going on eternally, and the same is manifested before the conditioned souls at certain intervals, that is to say once in one day of Brahma, exactly as the sun is visible for 12 hours once in a 24 hour cycle of day and night. When the sun is visible it is called prakata, and when the sun is not visible that is called aprakata or unmanifested. Nonmanifested therefore does not mean there is no existence, but the terms are used in relation to the visibility or nonvisibility to the limited conditioned souls.

Letter to Syamasundara -- Los Angeles 14 May, 1970:

Krsna by His causeless mercy manifests Himself along with His form, name, qualities, entourage, and pastimes in order to attract the conditioned souls to the eternal blissful life of knowledge. Thus by understanding Krsna in His manifest Lila one is attracted to His eternal Lila, and that is the highest success of life which is explained in the latter part of the verse

yam prapya na nivartante

tat dhama paramam mama

"Going, no one ever returns from that, My Supreme Abode."

Letter to Revatinandana -- Los Angeles 13 June, 1970:

The non-fallen condition is Krsna consciousness. So long one can maintain pure Krsna consciousness he is not fallen down. As soon as he becomes out of Krsna consciousness immediately he is fallen down. It does not matter where a living entity stays. In the material world also there are different stages of living conditions, and to remain in the brahman effulgence is also another phase of that fallen condition. Just like in the Bhagavad-gita it is stated that conditioned souls by their pious activities are elevated to the higher planetary system, but as soon as the stock of pious activities is finished he again comes down on the earthly planet. Similarly those who are elevated beyond the planetary system to the brahma effulgence, they are also prone to fall down as much as a living entity from the higher planetary system.

Letter to Yamunacarya -- Los Angeles 17 June, 1970:

You write to say how you were saved from a commitment of suicide. So you have seen the mantra in Isopanisad:

ye ke catma-hano janah

So not only you, but almost all the conditioned souls within this material world, practically 99% of the whole population is committing suicide. As it is natural for a gentleman to try to stop a person committing suicide when it so happens just in one's presence, similarly when we see that so many men and women are simply committing suicide as described in the Isopanisad ye ke catma-hano janah, let us try to save them through this Krsna Consciousness Movement.

Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Los Angeles 21 June, 1970:

So I do not know why you have asked about my previous life. Whether I was subjected to the laws of material nature? So, even though accepting that I was subjected to the laws of material nature, does it hamper in my becoming Spiritual Master? What is your opinion? From the life of Narada Muni it is distinct that although He was a conditioned soul in His previous life, there was no impediment of His becoming the Spiritual Master. This law is applicable not only to the Spiritual Master, but to every living entity.

There are thousands of examples explained in our books that the conditioned soul is never affected with the material body. It is said in the Vedas asamga ayam purusa which means the living entity is always unaffected with matter. Another example is given that the reflection of the moon on water appears to be moving, but actually the moon is not moving, it is fixed up. So any living entity is like that. His reflection on the material body appears to be changing, but the spirit soul is fixed up, therefore this movement is called illusion.

Letter to Jagadisa -- Los Angeles 9 July, 1970:

Your second question: Is there any particular reason why some spirit souls become directed toward Krsna Consciousness in the first place? How does one get on the progressive path of elevation to Krsna Consciousness? The answer is that it is by the mercy of the Lord that one comes in contact with a Spiritual Master Who can revive the dormant Krsna consciousness of the conditioned soul. Krsna is always merciful and He comes Himself, He leaves behind Him instruction like the Bhagavad-gita, etc. and He sends His representative, the Spiritual Master. In this way the merciful propaganda is going on.

Letter to Jagadisa -- Los Angeles 9 July, 1970:

"Man proposes and God disposes." That is the sum and substance. But as a pure devotee of the Lord you should not propose—simply accept His proposal and surrender unto Him. So far the conditioned soul is concerned the same opportunities are there, but if he does not take advantage of the opportunity to elevate himself to Krsna Consciousness and chooses to misuse his independence for taking the opportunity to enjoy some material happiness, then he will remain conditioned as the Lord will allow him to fulfill those desires. The opportunity is always there, just as we are offering so many ways to become Krsna Conscious, but if you don't take the opportunity what can I do. That is purposeful negligence of duty.

Letter to Ekayani -- Los Angeles 25 July, 1970:

There is a difference between the activities of Krsna which are exhibited to the perception of the conditioned souls in this world and His activities in Goloka Vrndavana. Because Krsna was playing as an ordinary human being, His activities here appear just like ordinary human activities, but in the Spiritual Sky there is no such requirement. There in the spiritual sky Krsna has His activities also but they cannot be understood by the conditioned living entities how they are going on without any resemblance of the mechanical workings of things in this material world.

Letter to Umapati -- Tokyo 23 August, 1970:

I am so pleased to note your Vaisnava attitude in your letter under reply. In this connection the incidence which occurred during Lord Caitanya's time may be remembered. One very intimate devotee of Lord Caitanya, most probably Vasudeva Dutta, requested Lord Caitanya to deliver all the conditioned souls in his presence. He said, "Let me suffer for their sinful actions, but my dear Lord You take them with You back to home, back to Godhead." So this attitude of offering facilities to others for going back to home, back to Godhead, and personally accepting their suffering thereof is perfect Vaisnava Attitude.

Letter to Damodara -- Bombay, India 29 November, 1970:

I am very glad to note your careful understanding of Krsna Science. It is a fact that there is no one who can claim to be happy who is not in Krsna's service favorably rendered. All others are simply entangled in the tight circle of sense gratification. However, the Lord is very kind to us and He has appeared for renovating the devotional service dormant in the hearts of all living entities in the matter of hearing, remembering, worshiping, etc. So that the conditioned souls suffering from material pangs may take advantage of them and thereby become liberated.

Letter to Bhagavan -- Surat 18 December, 1970:

Yes, I have heard of your plan to open a branch in Trinidad. That will be very nice and the selected members are approved by me. The more we open branches, the more I feel encouraged. These branches are like the oasis in a vast desert. In the desert there is no water, but occasionally if one is fortunate he may come in contact with an oasis and he is saved. Similarly in this material world we are drying up due to lack of spiritual knowledge. Our ISKCON centers are meant to give relief to the dried up conditioned souls who are searching after the nectar of joyful life. So I request you and all other members of ISKCON to flood the world with Krishna Conscious centers and realize the prediction of Caitanya Mahaprabhu "as many towns and villages there are, my name will be known."

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Upendra -- Bombay 4 January, 1971:

Regarding your tendency to become angry in public, that is alright provided there is positive reaction. Otherwise we do not wish to create any unnecessary enemies and you should curb your anger by your advanced intelligence in Krishna Consciousness. We have to better correct the faulty habits of the conditioned souls by persuasive authoritative preaching and personal example without stop. The mantra to Ganapati is not bona fide. That is another nonsense. Your worship of Guru-Gauranga and Nrsimhadeva is very nice. Please make it as attractive and gorgeous as possible though simple. The leaves and flowers of Tulasi may be offered to the devotees of the Lord for offering to the Lotus Feet of the Lord Krsna, not even Srimati Radharani. It appears that Fiji is very nice place for Krsna consciousness from the appearance of such nice flowers and Tulasi for the worship of Krsna there.

Letter to Bill -- London 29 June, 1971:

So far your questions are concerned: Number one engagement is that you must chant at least 16 rounds Hare Krishna Mantra daily; The four regulative principles are most important and must be observed rigidly in temple life; You should speak according to the sastras and be compassionate to all conditioned souls and try to convince them about the real truth.; The more you increase your Krishna Consciousness, the more these things such as lust, anger and greed, will automatically decrease; You can surrender by doing your best to preach this Krishna Consciousness in Florida. That will make you perfect. My Guru Maharaja wanted me to preach this cult in the Western world, so I have tried my best.

Letter to Upendra -- Nairobi 9 October, 1971:

As a father is always sorry for the son is out of home, similarly Krishna is not very happy on account of so many bewildered fallen souls in the material world. He therefore comes personally to ask them to surrender again to Him. But the conditioned soul is so much illusioned that it is very hard to make him surrender to Krishna. Therefore each and every one of us, if we can give service to Krishna by making another man surrender to Krishna, then He will very much appreciate that service and that is our gain. Try to follow this principle and preach vigorously to your best capacity and everything will be all right. Don't worry.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Bhakta dasa -- Calcutta 26 January, 1973:

It is very pleasing to me that you have distributed so many of my books and preached to the students. This is our mission of life, to somehow turn the minds of the conditioned souls to Krsna consciousness and thus give them the highest perfection of life. So you are a very sincere soul and Krsna will give you intelligence how to do this more and more.

Letter to Ksirodakasayi -- Calcutta 29 January, 1973:

There in London we have such big field for pushing on the preaching work, so I want that you should assist the other devotees there as much as possible and cooperate very closely for helping me in this way. These temples, they are just like oasis in the desert for the conditioned souls to quench the thirst of their desire for real happiness. So they must be organized as nicely as possible, and I know you have many talents which can be put to good use. So in cooperation with Dhananjaya and Syamasundara. Prabhu, let us work together. You may assist me in this way and I shall be very much pleased upon you. Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita that anyone who surrenders unto Me, whether a woman, sudra, vaisya, etc., they all attain the highest perfection of bhakti-yoga, not that now I am grhastha, I am doing karma-yoga, or now I am vanaprastha, I am doing sankhya-yoga, this is all nonsense.

Letter to Caturbhuja -- Los Angeles 9 May, 1973:

In answer to your several questions, first; what is meant by conditioned sould? Conditioned soul means one who has accepted something illusion as reality. Conditioned means that due to imperfect desires the spirit soul becomes dependent on material conditions for his satisfaction.

Your second question; how does he become conditioned when the jivatma is eternal full of bliss and knowledge? The answer is that it is not the soul itself that becomes mixed with matter but it is his consciousness that becomes absorbed in trying to enjoy the matter. Out of desire to lord it over, the jiva soul forgets that he is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss and identifies with the material energy. So it is the consciousness of the conditioned soul that is affected.

Letter to Caturbhuja -- Los Angeles 9 May, 1973:

Your fifth question is, "Bhagavad-gita says that the conditioned soul is subjected to four defects. Does that refer to the body or the soul?" The defects are there in the living being when he is acting on the material platform. As stated in Bhagavad-gita chapter 15 verse 17: "dvavimau purusau loke, ksaras caksara eva ca, ksarah sarvani bhutani, kutastho 'ksara ucyate:" "There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the material world every entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every entity is called infallible." So the defects are there only on the material platform. One who is acting in Krsna Consciousness is beyond those defects.

Letter to Caturbhuja -- Los Angeles 9 May, 1973:

Your nest question: "The Bhagavad-gita says that Lord Brahma is a conditioned soul. Then how was it possible for him to impart the Vedas to a

non-conditioned soul—Narada Muni?" So, Lord Brahma is a conditioned soul means that due to his desire to become the creator of the material manifestation he had to take birth within the material world. But although he was conditioned by such desire, still he is a great devotee of Lord Krsna. He has written Brahma-samhita which is pure Vaisnava literature describing the Supreme Personality of godhead. Lord Brahma was the first created being within the universe and the first spiritual master, as he received knowledge from within his heart from Lord Krsna. Narada appeared as the son of Brahma and therefore he had to accept Lord Brahma as his spiritual master.

Letter to Ramesvara -- Bhaktivedanta Manor 3 August, 1973:

There is no doubt about it, to distribute books is our most important activity. The temple is a place not for eating and sleeping, but as a base from which we send out our soldiers to fight with maya. Fight with maya means to drop thousand and millions of books into the lap of the conditioned souls. Just like during war time the Bombs are raining from the sky like anything. So you are the expert in this field.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Dr. Ghosh:

The whole world is Krsna's property. The material world is a field of activities for the corrupt conditioned souls who desire to enjoy in imitation of the Supreme. For them, Krsna gives facilities for material enjoyment, but He wants the conditioned souls—after finishing their material enjoyment—to come back to Him with bitter experience of material existence.

Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita there is the essence of Vedic instructions. The plan is that the conditioned soul may fulfill his desire for material enjoyment and at the same time be trained up in spiritual identity to come back to Godhead, back to home. As such, Bhagavad-gita contains the solution of all problems of the material world. Unfortunately, foolish people described as duskrtina, do not want to take instruction from the Lord, although it is completely perfect—but they select their own concocted leaders who are themselves blind, and therefore the world is in chaotic condition on account of rascal leaders in all fields.

Letter to Nrsimha Caitanya -- Bombay 21 November, 1974:

I can understand that you are managing a very nice temple there. The temple is meant to invite everyone to come and take shelter of the Lord. The temple is the opportunity for all conditioned souls to render some service t Krishna either in the matter of Hearing, Chanting, Offering, Cleansing, Reading or taking prasadam. Therefore you are by managing the temple as a president you are doing a very great service to humanity. So please continue in this way and make it nicer and nicer. I am also glad to note that you are distributing the books in increasing numbers. We want that our book distribution should be increased more and more in the coming year.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Ramesvara -- New Delhi 21 August, 1975:

I am in due receipt of your letter dated July 12, 1975 and have noted the contents. Yes, when Krsna was present, the religious principles were going on nicely, but when He retired back to His abode, then deterioration infiltrated. But Srimad-Bhagavatam is the sunshine Purana by Vyasadeva to open the eyes of the conditioned souls. It is the sound representation of Lord Krsna.

Letter to Arvind Shah -- Bombay 30 September, 1975:

I cannot quote immediately from sastra, but psychologically we can understand that there is no such things as Hindu religion, but according to the Vedic sastra there is varna-asrama, the religion of varna and asrama. The whole varna-asrama system discourages sex life. Circumcision is a facility for sex life. So in other systems of religion or throughout the whole universe the tendency is to enjoy sex life, whereas the varna-asrama system discourages sex life. Sex life is the cause of bondage of the conditioned soul to remain in the material world. If one can conquer over the sex impulses voluntarily, he conquers over the influence of material nature. So the ideals being different, I think in the Vedic system such circumcision is prohibited.

1976 Correspondence

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

Unfortunately, the so-called followers deviate from the orders of the master and sometimes create their own concocted religious system. Otherwise, there can't be different religions. We therefore accept only one religion which teaches one how to love God. Any religious system which doesn't teach this, how to love God is not religion, but is cheating system. The conditioned souls who have come to this world on account of forgetfulness of his eternal relationship with God is prone to be cheated, but a person who is sincere is not cheated, but he takes up the path which leads one to the perfection of life, how to love God. The present religious and spiritual systems in varieties come into existence on account of imperfect leaders who defied the authority of God. My suggestion is therefore that the leaders who actually agree as eternal servant of God may sit together and find out the ways and means of one religious system in this world. God is one.

Letter to Rajni -- Vrindaban 11 November, 1976:

Please be sure that anyone who comes to live with us there follows strictly the four regulative principles and chants a minimum of 16 rounds daily. Try to distribute my books as much as possible, as this is the best method of giving a chance to the conditioned souls to understand Krsna consciousness.

1977 Correspondence

Letter to Inquirer -- Boston Unknown Date:

The living entities within this material world are understood to be rebellious conditioned souls who disregarded the order of the Supreme Lord and thus lost their spiritual kingdom. It is something like Milton's idea of Paradise Lost. This material world is created, developed, and maintained; it produces many by-products, then gradually dwindles, and at last it is dissolved or annihilated. The spirit souls or living beings are by nature eternal. This condition of life for the living beings, namely, to go through repeated births and deaths, is unnatural for them. Therefore the entire Vedic knowledge is designed to regulate the life of the living entity, not in the animal form of life, but in the human form of life, so that he can fulfill his material desires but at the same time become elevated to his original spiritual position.