Page 22 - Patropadesa (English)

10 PATROPADEÇA

books are doing the most wonderful service, so it is a great mercy
upon me if by reading this book you can all become more inspired.

If we can just stick to this program: stay brahmacari, live
simply, dedicate our lives to preaching and distributing books;
then our life is already perfect. It is definitely best to make the
determination just to stick to this ashram. Then we can very
easily make progress on the path back to Godhead and help
others also along the path.

Distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books, study them very deeply,
and live by them; what more do we want?
All glories to the sankirtan devotees.

7 July 1991

The addition of Srila Prabhupada to your new letterhead
is very nice, as is the news that you have given up onions and
garlic. Actually, onions and garlic are foodstuffs in the mode
of ignorance. According to the Puranas they were produced
originally from the intestines of a dog.

Each kind of food that we eat affects our consciousness, so
onions and garlic, being in the mode of ignorance, influence
our consciousness towards ignorance. Therefore, they are
not suitable for Vaisnavas or anyone wanting to elevate their
consciousness. Of course, they are said to be valuable medically.
However, a few years ago, the government of the USSR sent out
a warning to their citizens to stop eating garlic—which they were
accustomed to do in large quantities—having found by research
that garlic is actually very bad for health. This I heard from
devotees preaching there. Exactly what they found bad in it I
don’t know. Anyway, Krsna doesn’t eat it, so we also don’t.
It is very good that you are enthusiastic to distribute books. This
is the best method of spreading Krsna consciousness—Srila
Prabhupada said this many times.