1st US News Article on Prabhupada 9/22/65

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Srila Prabhupada's first article written about his mission in the

west sept.22,1965 Butler Eagle, Pennsylvania

Excerpt from article:

 

"Life and Milk of Cow" is all-important to the Swamiji's way of life;

all else is artificial, he claims.

 

The Following First Article Written about A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada arrival and Mission in the West., was obtained through

work with the Butler Eagle News Paper in Butler,Pa., Prabhupada's

first residence after arriving from India in 1965. Prabhupada's great

desire to preach the mission of Love of God to all in the english

speaking countries, started here, and after only 5 days after

arriving from a harrowing voyage by freighter, he was being

interviewed as starting a............... "My mission is to revive a

people's God-conciousness."

http://www.iskcon.net/prabhupada/butler.jpg

AMBASSADOR OF BHAKTIYOGA photo/butler eagle

Bhaktiyoga, chanting the holy name of God, is among the religious

practises of A.C.Bhaktivedanta who arrived Monday for a month's stay

in Butler area as a "missionary to the West." Pictured in the

apartment of his sponsor in the United States, Gopal Agarwal, the

Swamiji is residing in the YMCA and cooking his meals at the Agarwal

home. "Every culture has religions," he says. "We are all engaged in

service of some sort; the highest service is to the Supreme Lord."

The scholar-teacher has translated 60 volumes of Sanskrit into

English.

 

In Fluent English

 

Devotee of Hindu Cult Explains Commission to Visit the West.

 

By Penny Ritts/Butler Eagle sept.22,1965

 

A slight brown man in faded orange drapes wearing white bathing shoes

stepped out of a compact car yesterday and into the Butler YMCA to

attend a meeting. He is A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swamiji, a messenger from

India to the peoples of the West.

 

A Hindu by faith, the "learned teacher" has translated biblical

literature such as Srimad Bhagavatam into English from ancient

Sanskrit. He is now fulfilling a commission from his spiritual master

to enlighten English-speaking people regarding their relationship

with God.

 

"My mission is to revive a people's God-conciousness." says the

Swamiji. "God is the Father of all living beings, in thousands of

different forms." he explains. "Human life is a stage of perfection

in evolution: if we miss the message, back we go through the process

again." he believes.

 

The swamiji has given himself a month to tell his message to all who

will listen. He anticipates many informal meetings, such as a

gathering of friends in the Gopal Agarwal home in Stirling Apartments

Monday the night of his arrival, for an exchange of ideas regarding

his philosophy of life. A simplified version of his theory is that

life progresses from aquatic to plant, to reptile to bird, to beast

to "beastly" human being and finally, to civilized man. "After this

life there is a still better life on other planets," predicts the

visitor. He believes that the highest possible state will be to go to

God, or eternal life.

 

The traveler who left India for the first time Aug.30 will welcome

guest appearances or impromptu discussions with anyone who calls the

Agarwal family. He says that he is here to talk.

 

Now 70 years old, the appointed "missionary" to the United States was

educated in India where he received a bachelor of arts degree. He

became a disiple in 1933 and received instructions untill the death

of his leader in 1936. He has severed all family ties, forsaking wife

and children and a business in Calcutta to follow his beliefs.

 

His religion remains Hindu. He does not ask his listeners to change

their religious affiliation, but merely to become "better Jews or

Christians," etc.

 

Bhaktivedanta lives as a monk, and permits no woman to touch his

food. On a six-week ocean voyage and at the Agarwal apartment in

Butler he prepares his meals in a brass pan with seperate levels for

steaming rice, vegetables and making "bread" at the same time. He is

a strict vegetarian, and is permitted to drink only milk,

the "miracle food for babies and old men," he noted. Even onions,

garlic, and eggs are forbidden in his cult.

 

The Swamiji is equally philosophical about physical discomforts or

wars: "Its man's nature to fight" he shrugs. "We have to adjust to

these things; currents come and go in life just as in an ocean."

 

"Life and Milk of Cow" is all-important to the Swamiji's way of life;

all else is artificial, he claims. The government of India does not

support the Hindu or Moslem religions, neither does it interfere with

their practices, he says. His scholarly work is aided by benefactors

when and where he finds them.

 

His special dress minimizes the importance of raiment; the white mark

on his face is a symbol of devotion. The Swamiji renews his faith

with daily prayer, chanting and meditation. If Americans would give

more attention to their spirtitual life, they would be much happier,

he says.

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