The body is a temple of disease

During noon massage the son of Bhakti Pradipa Tirtha Maharaja, a Godbrother of Srila Prabhupada's who was one of the original founding members of the Gaudiya Matha, came to see Srila Prabhupada. It was a courtesy call, and after a short discussion in Hindi he left. A few pieces of mail have been forwarded here, and Prabhupada answered them as he took his massage. An old associate of Prabhupada's, Dinesh Candra Sarkar, wrote from Calcutta, enquiring about Prabhupada's health and activities since he saw him in Mayapur last March. He related how he had been bed-ridden with bronchitis and pneumonia for two months and now is so weak that he is unable to travel to either Mayapur or the Calcutta temple. He begged for Srila Prabhupada's blessings and some news of when he will return to Mayapur. Prabhupada sympathized with him over his poor health, briefly recounting his own health troubles of the cold he caught in New York. "So I am sorry to learn that you are not well. Pray to Krishna and chant Hare Krishna. The body is a temple of disease, janma-mrityu-jara-vyadhi. Disease is our inevitable companion. We still have to execute our duty of Krishna consciousness as far as possible and Krishna will help us." He then filled him in on some news about Mayapur. "We are going to have a very big project at Mayapur. We have to acquire 350 acres of land from the Government and construct a spiritual town at the expense of Rs. 200 Crores. The plans and contemplations are going on in different phases, now when Caitanya Mahaprabhu will be pleased it will be taken up." He informed Dinesh that he expected to arrive in Mayapur by December and invited him to come and visit him there. There were two separate letters from Lucknow: one from Mr. R.S. Tripathi, an advocate, and another from Shri Kuwar Chandraprakash Simha, a professor. Both of them expressed their desire to join with Prabhupada in spreading Krishna consciousness all over the world, and the advocate described the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana as his "special subjects." Prabhupada was happy to hear from such qualified men, and extended an invitation to both to come and meet him in Vrindavana after he goes there on September 3rd. Radhaballabha prabhu sent a letter from Los Angeles about the upcoming publication of a book on the philosophy of Lord Kapila. As well as asking Srila Prabhupada to write a Foreword for the book, he expressed some reservations about the title and suggested an alternative for Srila Prabhupada's approval. "We would like to call the book Teachings of Lord Kapila. The subtitle 'The Son of Devahuti' may sound a bit humorous to Americans because that particular type of wording was frequently used in old-time movies. Most Westerners have never heard of the atheist Kapila, and you defeat him on the very first page of the book. Therefore we think Teachings of Lord Kapila would be the best title. It would be very compatible on the bookshelf with Teachings of Lord Caitanya." Radhaballabha also informed Prabhupada that the Eighth Canto Volume One has just gone to the printers, work is progressing on Volume Two, and "only by your mercy can we get Volume Three," he said. Srila Prabhupada wasn't happy to hear about the proposed title change. "You may title this book, Teachings of Lord Kapila, but it must be subtitled, 'The Son of Devahuti.' That will remain, do not try to change it. The Americans may like it or not like it, but we must make the distinction between devahuti putra kapila, and the atheistic Kapila. Do not try to change anything without my permission." Brahmananda Swami sent a letter glorifying Prabhupada on his vyasa-puja, with a sample of the invitations they sent out for the Janmashtami celebration in Nairobi enclosed. While appreciating his personal offering, Prabhupada was quick to pick up on a serious omission in the flyer. "Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your Janmastami 1976 invitation sheet, but there is no mention of the Vyasa Puja ceremony. Generally in our centers they issue Janmastami invitations along with Vyasa Puja invitations. I have read your Vyasa Puja offering, so it will be a great pleasure to know whether Vyasa Puja was officially held in Nairobi." Since there have been so many disturbing reports about our African-yatra, Prabhupada added, "I am always anxious to know about Nairobi affairs. If you kindly send a report at least once a month, that will be appreciated."