Regarding householders living in the temple; in India no woman is allowed to stay in the temple at night. But for our preaching work I have permitted women to stay in the temple. But, in the temple, husband and wife should live separately. There are many young brahmacaris and Sannyasis in the temple and men and women living together is simply a source of agitation, so therefore this is my order; ideally the husband and wife can live separately in the temple. If this is not possible they should live together close to the temple and attend temple arati etc . . . and if this is not possible the last alternative is to live away from the Temple and conduct your own deity worship etc. It is best to do the most ideal thing but whatever mode of living you chose the most important thing is to always remain one hundred percent in service of Radha-Krishna. The initiation of Michael Stein is approved and beads are being sent in separate cover.   (More...)

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of January 15, 1972, and I have noted the contents. 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 brahmacaris and sannyasis. It is better if the grhasthas have a separate asrama, 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 grhasthas are disturbed by brahmacaris. 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.   (More...)

Regarding your question whether grhastha couples can live together in the temple, no, they may not, that is a strict regulation. They can live in the temple, that's all right, but they must live separately men and women. So I am encouraging the grhastha devotees who want to live together to start householder asrama outside the temple in a nearby house, just like in Los Angeles there is one such householder asrama. There, the grhasthas, men and women, work sometimes in the incense factory and get paid $1 per hour, and in this way they pay the rent and meet other expenditures. So if you can arrange a similar house in Philadelphia center, that will be nice. The householders may sell my books and incense and make some small salary to pay rent, take prasada at the temple, and live very happily. So far the GBC is concerned, they are my chosen experts and they are supposed to know everything, so there is rule of separate living, that should be followed. If GBC man requests in this way, you should try to oblige, what is the difficulty?   (More...)

I am very glad to hear that the American officers in Delhi are very much favorable to our movement. It is very good news. If you can persuade them to give us foodstuffs directly, then we shall use it properly and America's prestige will be widely spread throughout India. We can organize for distribution of prasadam all over India, in factories, schools, and so on. If we simply have kirtana and distribute nice prasadam, everywhere there will be good respect for us. So I hope you will stick very closely to this matter of acquiring surplus foodstuffs from your government and seeing to it that the food is distributed widely throughout India by our Krishna Consciousness devotees. This is a very great favor to me. As Saurabha has advised, so that was also my plan, that there should be many gardens and courtyards at our Vrndavana center. The condition of the owner Mr. Saraf was that within three months construction work would begin. We have fenced the land but otherwise we have done nothing. So immediately bricks must be bought so they can sit during the rainy season and become soaked. A tube well must be dug immediately. I don't know why it was not done. If needed we can draw up the water by pump and store it in a tank, just like before Vrndavana Station. We shall require much water for construction and for the vegetation. So a water supply must be there. We must have our own well, sweet or salty, it does not matter. So far the land of Mr. Dalmia, first develop what you have got. Or if they will accept a low price, or if we pay him the Rs. 60,000/- whether he will pay us back as donation? Your proposal for a separate asrama for women, that is a very nice proposal, and that must be done. At present, at all of our temples around the world no husband and wife live together.   (More...)

They should not simply, husband and wife, live in the room together in the temple, otherwise there is no restriction. How it can be? It is not possible.   (More...)