Overview
The following preaching report was first published in Śrī Gauḍīya Patrikā (Vol. 5, Issue 2) in 1953. It specifically details the activities of Śrī Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Bhaktivedānta (later, Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda) in Allahabad, and includes an English letter written by him to the editors of two local newspapers complaining about the performance of līlā-kīrtanas on All India Radio.
Following in the footsteps of Rūpa-Raghunātha, Śrī Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Bhaktivedānta Mahāśaya, the president of the mission and Associate Editor of Śrī Gauḍīya Patrikā, has arrived in Allahabad. He is delivering pure discourses on bhakti according to Śrī Śrī Mahāprabhu Gaurasundara in the presence of Śrīyukta Viśva-raṣjana Pāla B.A., a retired government auditor, and a resident of Elangaṣj every Sunday evening, and also at the temple of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Dāmodara-jiu in Mahājanī Ṭolā every Tuesday evening.
Protesting against the local sahajiyās and the mundane līlā-kīrtana of other apa–sampradāyas who are opposed to the Rūpānugas, he has published the following letter in the local English newspapers ‘The Leader’ and ‘Amrita Bazaar Patrika’ (Vol.16, Issue 3, 1953):
Sir,
Of late there has been a move to get līlā-kīrtana included in the programme of All India Radio. It may be stated as warning that līlā-kīrtanas are meant for one who has transcended the sensuous stage of existence. They are meant neither for the novice devotee nor for the ordinary people. They are not to be enjoyed by sense-perception, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu after He became a full sannyāsī, used to hear such kīrtana with only four selected devotees during the last eighteen years of His appearance at Gambhīra. He never indulged in the system of līlā-kīrtana now enjoyed by a class of men.
It is, therefore suggested that instead of līlā-kīrtana, let such devotional songs be introduced as was sung by Ṭhākuras Śrīla Narottama, Śrīla Locana Dāsa, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda. These bhajanas can gradually awaken in man the dormant love for Lord Kṛṣṇa as He really is. And without attaining such stage of linkup with the Personality of Godhead, līlā-kīrtana will simply be fuel to the sense of man.
Let us not be misguided in our theistic cultural advancement by mundane whims.
A.C.Bhaktivedanta
Allahabad
The temple of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Dāmodara-jiu is established by the Madhva-Gauḍīya sampradāya, and the disciples of Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī’s lineage are the pūjārīs of this temple. They are all devoted to the words of Śrīman Mahāprabhu, especially to the śāstra–siddhānta of the previous mahājanas and the Gosvāmīs. They have some discussions on Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Therefore, it is hoped that with their cooperation, the work of propagation can progress nicely in the western states. If the preachers are enthusiastic, Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s fame and glory will also triumph in western India.
In the preaching activities of Śrī Bhaktivedānta Mahāśaya, the enthusiasm and sincere efforts of Śrīyukta Viśva-raṣjana Pāla, Śrīyukta Sannyāsa Dāsa Bhaṭṭācaārya, Śrī P. C. Rāya, Śrīyukta Vimāna-vihārī Mukhopādhyāya, and Śrīyukta Prabhākara Miśra M.Sc. A. B. I. M. S, the principal of the Veda-Vedāṅga College of Jhansi, along with the eagerness and efforts of religious discussions from the eminent scholars holding the titles of Kavya, Vyākaraṇa, Vedānta-Tīrtha are especially noteworthy.
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