"In regard to your question about the Bible, you should just answer, 'You follow your Bible and I follow my Bhagavad-gita.' There was no swastika on Arjuna's chariot. Kapidhbaja means whose flag is marked with a picture of Hanuman. So Arjuna's chariot had the flag of Hanuman on it. As far as the restriction for reading the 10th canto pastimes of Krishna. That is only for those who do not know what is Krishna. but you are initiated, so you can read because you know who Krishna is. for example. when Krishna was 7 years old he lifted Govardhana Hill. The nondevotee scholars say that it is mythology, but a devotee will know immediately that Krishna can do anything. Still our Krishna book is so nice that even an ordinary man can read it and derive benefit."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, December 29, 1971)
"Regarding whether the Brahmajoti should be painted rainbow colored. It is our experience that in the material world when the sunshine is very bright there is not any color, just whiteness. Colors of sunshine only become manifest when there is a tinge of clouds. So in the Brahmajoti there is no possibility of material tinge. So how it can be rainbow colored? In the dazzling light there is no possibility of colors."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, December 31, 1971)
"Your question if a devotee has no appreciation for God but he has little appreciation for pure devotee, than what kind of devotee is this? If he has appreciation for pure devotee, then he must have appreciation for God. It is just like 'Love me, love my dog.' If he simply loves the dog and not the master, then what kind of love is that? I have remarked that in your country when friends met, one friend has one dog beside him, the other friend always bends down to pat the dog first, then he is very much appreciated by the dog's master and the friendly discussions can begin. It is something like that. Your next question was regarding the neophyte devotee who is unable to comprehend even the existence of God, how he shall ever become lover of God? Therefore he has to be engaged in deity worship, and gradually you will have that sense. It is obligatory for the neophyte devotees to be engaged in deity worship. Even if he has no love of God, by following the regulative principles and worshiping the deity he will awaken that dormant love, and if you have got some faith in your spiritual master, by engaging in serving your spiritual master you will also come to the point of love of God:
yasya prasadad bhagavata-prasadao yasya prasadanna-gatih kuto 'pi dhyayam stuvams tasya yasas trisandhyam vande guroh sri caranaravindam
If one has appreciation for the spiritual master then he must follow the instructions of the spiritual master, and that means he is supposed to worship the deity in a certain way, like that. It is not possible to love the spiritual master without loving God. Your next question was about the free will, whether we have it or not? If one is not intelligent enough for making for making decisions, then all decisions shall be sanctioned by the spiritual master. Neophyte means no independent decisions, no free will, that means surrender. But when he is trained up then automatically he gets his freedom. Just like a small child can only eat such things which are sanctioned by his parents, not by his own discretion. Free will is that when the controller says do this, you can use your free will to do it or not to do it. You have got the power to not do:
iti te jnanam akhyatam guhyad guhyataram maya vimrsyaited asesena yathecchasi tatha kuru (BG 18.63)
'Thus I have explained to you the most confidential of all knowledge. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.'
Krishna asks, 'Have you decided to fight?' 'Yes, I have decided to follow Your order.' This is free will."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, January 2, 1972)
"Regarding your question whether husband and wife should live together in the temple, according to temple rules they should not live together in the temple. It does not give a good impression for brahmacharies and sannyasins. It is better if the grihasthas have a separate ashram, just like in Los Angeles the married disciples rent rooms together in one apartment house near the temple and live there separately, and in this way no one is disturbed, neither the brahmacaris are disturbed by householder life, nor the grihasthas are disturbed by brahmacharies. This is the best system, and if you and your good husband require to live together to advance nicely in Krishna Consciousness, that is very good proposal, but you should try to model the arrangement after the Los Angeles temple, and you should live separately, men and women, if you live in the temple itself."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 16, 1972)
"As for your question about celibacy, if you want to remain celibate for life, I have no objection.
Also, I have no objection if you purchase cars for serving Krishna, as they appear to be required for distributing books and incense, so why not have them? And when you are more developed, you may install deities and worship them very opulently. My only point is that simultaneously we must increase our literature production and build Mayapur Temple, But it is not that we have to stop everything else for one thing. The art of managing is to do all things at once in a nice manner, and the guiding principle is to do whatever is practical for preaching KC and at the same time maintaining our high standards of routine KC practices for making ourselves progress on the Spiritual path."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 20, 1972)
"Regarding your question, this surrender to Supersoul is in the advanced stage of Krishna Consciousness. So long one is not advanced, he has to take information and direction from the representative of Supersoul or the Spiritual Master. The spiritual master is external manifestation of the Supersoul. Thus the Lord helps the living entity, helps both from inside & outside."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 22, 1972)
"You inquire why, if the devotee is struggling very hard to be free of the clutches of Maya, then how can he not be interested in such liberation? That is a contradiction. The devotee is not interested in liberation, but in serving; as such, the devotee is already liberated. So liberation is not very important business—it doesn't matter if he is liberated or nonliberated. The idea is that nobody should serve Krishna with motive, even up to liberation, he should serve for service sake. Liberation from Maya means engaging himself in the service of the Lord. So one should strive to become a servant of the Supreme, and in that position he is automatically liberated and free from the clutches of Maya, so when it is said that one should strive to be free from the clutches of Maya, it is simply another way of saying one should strive to be a servant of the Lord, not that being free from Maya is the goal of striving, but that the serving is the goal of striving. Liberation is the constitutional position of the living entity, and that constitutional position is that the Lord is great and that the living entity is subordinate & servant of the Lord. So one should try to extricate himself from the clutches of Maya in order to regain his healthy, normal condition as the servant of Krishna, not just to get himself liberated. But once in this service, he is liberated already. Try to understand.
Your second question, Isn't the fact that we say that one should give up the cultivation of knowledge in conflict with the first six chapters of Gita which deal with cultivation of knowledge? The first six chapters of Bhagavad Gita, this knowledge is to understand Krishna. Other so-called cultivation of knowledge, as practiced by the Mayavadis and jnanis, means how to become one with the Supreme. That kind of cultivation of knowledge is prohibited. Cultivation of knowledge to understand Krishna as He is, that is called Bhakti. Generally mayavadi's mean by 'knowledge' how to become one with the Lord. That is to be avoided.
Your third question, What is the explanation of split-personality, actually, there are not two personalities, there is only change of mind. Therefore, the mind has to be fixed up in Krishna, then there is no more extreme change in the mind from one personality to another. There is always only one personality, it is just that if the mind is very disturbed, it may change in extreme way; if such person is devotee; best remedy is to sit down very tightly and chant Hare Krishna very loudly and hear for the a long time until he feels himself one-minded and fixed on Krishna's Lotus Feet.
So far you being philosophically-minded, that I can see and appreciate, but in future I think you can ask any questions you may have in these matters to one of the Swamis or to your GBC man. I have given them the answers to all such questions, so they can help you. I am an old man now, and my interests are turning to philosophy and translation. If you help me by relieving me from this administrative work, that will free me to give you so many more fine books from Vedic literature and from our own devotional line. So kindly assist me in this way. Actually, if you simply serve in a surrendered attitude, and go on chanting regularly, the answers to everything will come out automatically: 'To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.' (X, 10)."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 27, 1972)
.
