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Incarnations of God (Letters)

Expressions researched:
"incarnation of god" |"incarnation of godhead" |"incarnation of the supreme lord" |"incarnation of the supreme personality of godhead" |"incarnations of god" |"incarnations of godhead" |"incarnations of the supreme lord" |"incarnations of the supreme personality of godhead"

Correspondence

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Juggannath Babu -- Calcutta 14 March, 1949:

Guru Maharaj Sastriji advised the members assembled yesterday to observe fast today and this is being done as a matter of course on the occasion of Gaura Jayanti day. I was so glad to hear from you that you know Lord Caitanya as the incarnation of Godhead. Yes he is so and there are ample proofs of His being so in the different Sastras such as Mahabharata, Bhagavata, Upanisads and many other Puranas. So on the occasion of Lord Caitanya's 463rd advent ceremony, I am taking this opportunity to remember about him which will help my vrata observed to-day. I hope you will not mind for intruding upon your time with this statement.

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam when Karabhajana Muni was elucidating the different incarnations of Godhead in different yugas, he said that "In the Kali-yuga the intelligent persons will worship the incarnation of Sri Krishna, by the transcendental sankirtana method.

Letter to Sir -- Delhi 15 April, 1961:

It is nothing extraordinary for him because he is prepared for this culture and is awaiting proper administration only. The ways and means were envisaged by the liberated souls and especially by the sages of India and I proud to feel that Lord Buddha happened to be an Indian and we worship Him as incarnation of Godhead. His holy name is mentioned in the Vedic literature like Bhagavata. We can take help from the Bhagavata the cream and ripen fruit of the Vedic literature and stop at once the quarrel and turmoil of the present world.

I hope that your honour along with other thoughtful men of your great country will give full attention to this movement and I am always with you for rendering my humble service for this cause.

1968 Correspondence

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

In the Bhagavad-gita it is stated that one who worships the demigods just like Brahma, Siva, Indra, Candra or demigoddesses like Kali, Durga, Sarasvati, etc., are described as persons who have lost their intelligence. One person who has lost his intelligence, how he can become an incarnation of God? A person who has lost his intelligence, is not even counted amongst the higher section of society. So, the Ramakrishna is a bogus man according to the statement of Bhagavad-gita. Vivekananda was also not even intelligent man because he accepted Ramakrsna as incarnation of God. This Ramakrsna, who is actually Gadadhara Chatterjee, declared himself as the same Rama and Krsna. If he is accepted as such by some person, is he very intelligent man? Suppose a man comes before somebody and says he is Pres. Johnson. and the foolish man accepts the pretender as Pres. Johnson, is that man to be accepted as very intelligent man?

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

Vivekananda was not even an intelligent man because he accepted Gadhadhara Chatterjee as incarnation of God without any credentials. 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.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Gopala Krsna -- Hamburg 3 September, 1969:

The result is people have become Godless atheists. So to approach a bona fide Spiritual Master and to understand the science of God from him is the Vedic way of understanding. Even Lord Krishna, Lord Caitanya, and what to speak of other acaryas, all of them accepted a Spiritual Master, even if some of them were incarnations of God. The Vedic way of receiving knowledge is called avaroha, against aroha. Aroha means to try to understand God by one's own effort, and avaroha means to understand God by disciplic succession. Therefore we find in Vedic instruction that one must approach a bona fide Spiritual Master to learn that transcendental subject.

Letter to Hamsaduta -- Tittenhurst 2 November, 1969:

And as you say the climate is nice there, there will be no difficulty.

Regarding your question about Lord Jesus Christ, we accept him as saktyavesa avatara. Lord Buddha is in the same category also. Lord Buddha is mentioned specifically in Srimad-Bhagavatam as incarnation of Godhead, and yet Vaisnavas do not accept his philosophy, which is classified as atheism. Similarly, even if we accept Lord Jesus Christ as saktyavesa avatara., it doesn't mean that we have to accept his philosophy. But we have all respects for him without fail. Regarding books like Aquarian Gospel or even the Testiments, we cannot accept them as authorities because sometimes it is learnt that the words are not actually spoken by Christ, but they are so set up by the devotees. For example, in the Ten Commandments it is clearly stated "Thou shalt not kill", but some Bishop in Boston has changed it to "Thou shalt do no murder". This means the Bishop wants to keep hold for animal slaughter. So don't bother about all these literatures.

1970 Correspondence

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.

I am very happy to learn that you are finding the Detroit atmosphere so blissful, and actually the more you engage yourself in the sincere service of Krsna, the more you will find yourself always blissful.

Letter to Japanese brothers and sisters -- Los Angeles 10 March, 1970:

The original order is from Lord Caitanya Who appeared 484 years ago at Navadvipa, a district in Bengal, India, as Lord Buddha appeared at Gaya, a district in Behar, India. We, the followers of Vedic culture, accept both Lord Buddha and Lord Caitanya as incarnations of God, as both of them are stated to be so in the authorized Vedic scriptures.

The original Personality of Godhead is Krishna. Perhaps most of you who are present in this meeting have heard the name of the famous book "Bhagavad-gita." The teachings of the Bhagavad-gita were given to Arjuna by his friend and philosopher Lord Krishna 5000 years ago, and since then the cult of Krishna Consciousness is historically current in India. Most of you know that the people of India worship Lord Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in many millions of Vedic temples, some of them more than two thousand years old.

Letter to Sudama -- Surat 30 December, 1970:

In this way take advantage of all that Krishna has so kindly provided. In addition if you can begin production of of spiritual sky incense there, that will be helpful. Your temple can be named as New Gaya.* Gaya is the province where Lord Buddha flourished. Japan is Buddhist country and we accept Lord Buddha as incarnation of God.

So far as Bruce Prabhu is concerned, he may return to Tokyo at any time if you feel that his service is required there. Presently he is in Bombay, so you can write him at our Bombay camp address given above.

I am pleased to learn that you and Bali Mardan are cooperating fully to make our Asian program a success. The two of you are a superexcellent team. I am also appreciating your wonderful enthusiasm for pushing on this movement. Simply be patient and continue in this way with confidence and Krishna will give you all facility.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Nityananda -- Los Angeles 16 August, 1972:

Just like Buddha. We accept him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes they play like that because they may have to. Although they are bona fide, they play sometimes as unbona fide. For example, we reject Buddha as unbona fide, but we accept him as an incarnation of God. We worship Lord Siva as a Vaisnava, but as a demigod we reject him. But to speak the truth, these personalities are not bona fide because who is caring for them? This so-called resurgence of feeling for Christ by the young people is due to our Krishna Consciousness movement. They are seeing that the foreigners are here, there is some national feeling and they think why not our Christ? Whatever they are doing we do not approve. But that does not mean that they should stop their work, this factionalism will go on. But one can see by the results. It is better not to talk with these people. Better let them remain as Christians and Buddhists, we do not want to convert them. You tell them that if you stick to Christ you will come out all right. It is better to avoid these comparative studies.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Susan Beckman -- Herts, England August 29, 1973:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated August 24, 1973. I have noted the contents carefully.

Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of Godhead in this age has delivered the medicine for all problems of the world by his introducing the Sankirtan movement. Sankirtan means to chant that Holy names of the Lord and to give up all other engagements. The chanting is a process of purification. Just like we use soap to cleanse the body, this is material, but the chanting is spiritual cleansing. The three stages of cleansing are first to clean the mirror of the mind. In the Bhagavad Gita it is said, "The mind is the best friend and the worst enemy, for one who has learned to control the mind it is the best of friends but for one who has failed to do so it is the worst enemy." Due to long term association, the mind absorbed in material things has become contaminated, or dirty, the chanting process purifies the mind. Then the next stage, when the mind is cleansed one becomes free from the symptoms of material existence.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to M. V. Sita Ramalai -- Bombay 16 January, 1975:

I am in due receipt of your letter dated 21-12-74 and have noted the contents. In regards to your question, we are accepting the Srimad-Bhagavatam as it is without interpretation and in that book in the 3rd chapter of the 1st canto all the incarnations of Godhead are listed. (at least the major ones are there). It is stated there that Lord Ramacandra advented and also disappeared many many 100's of thousands of years ago. This is all I can say on this matter. I cannot go beyond what the sastra says.

If you happen to go to Hyderabad sometime, you are welcome to visit our Radha-Krishna Temple there. The address is: Hare Krishna Land, Nampally Station Road, AP.

Letter to Dr. Santosh Kumar -- Mexico City 16 February, 1975:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated Jan. 18, 1975 and have noted the contents carefully. Regarding your question, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is recognized through the sastras not otherwise. For instance, in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, first canto, third chapter, all the major incarnations of Godhead are listed. Many times the scheduled time of appearance and family, etc. are also mentioned. The incarnation of Godhead must be indicated in the scriptures, otherwise we cannot accept him as being incarnation. Today, there are so many bogus incarnations, but we do not accept them. The Supreme Lord can appear in this world at any time, but he does so according to the regular scheduled appearances mentioned in the sastras. According to the sastras, the last most recent incarnation was Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who appeared in West Bengal about 500 years ago. We are following in direct line of disciplic teaching from Him.

Page Title:Incarnations of God (Letters)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:22 of Jul, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=13
No. of Quotes:13