Patramrta is collections of instructions that were taken from the letters written by His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarsavati Thakura Prabhupada to his disciples. The letters, (about 150 of them), were dated between 1916-1936.
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura wrote extensive commentaries, articles, and verses on the Vedic scriptures, and gave uncompromising lectures and wrote letters to his disciples and followers, which are enriched with the essential teachings of the Vedas. The essential instructions from his letters are now being published as a book.
From a prayer by one of the principal devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we find the following:
“O ocean of mercy, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu! Let there be an awakening of Your auspicious mercy, which easily drives away all kinds of material lamentation by making everything pure and blissful. Indeed, Your mercy awakens transcendental bliss and covers all material pleasures. By Your auspicious mercy, quarrels and disagreements arising among different scriptures are vanquished. Your auspicious mercy pours forth transcendental mellows and thus causes the heart to jubilate. Your mercy, which is full of joy, always stimulates devotional service and glorifies conjugal love of God. May transcendental bliss be awakened within my heart by Your causeless mercy.”
Śrīmān Mahāprabhu is an ocean of mercy. Although He did not give any instructions for material advancement, there is no comparison to His mercy. By His compassion, all one’s material miseries can be completely vanquished so that one can feel transcendental happiness. All scriptural debate and apparent contradictions are neutralized by His grace. His mercy makes the heart intoxicated by showering upon it transcendental mellows. Its effect in the form of loving devotional service merges one in peacefulness and a flood of love of God. His mercy brings absolute purity to the heart and the most exalted form of sweetness. His compassion never creates inauspiciousness, and as such there is nothing greater than or equal to it.
In order to give the people of the entire world an opportunity to have access to this great compassion of the Lord, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura established monasteries in different cities in India and abroad and thus opened the gate of eternal auspiciousness. This was accompanied by his composing and publishing many Vaiṣṇava literature, and publishing the works of previous mahājanas or great masters with his own commentaries. Following in the footsteps of his illustrious father and spiritual master, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he established daily, weekly, fortnightly, and monthly transcendental newspapers and magazines in various languages.
His teachings were further presented in the collection of letters written by him to his disciples and admirers, which we have now presented in the form of this book, Patramrta, or Nectars from the Letters.
The original book is in Bengali and was entitled Prabhupādera Patrāvali, or letters of Srila Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta. Our original intention was to translate and publish these letters in their entirely. However, the original compiler and publisher had omitted all the names of the persons to whom the letters were addressed. Thus we found it unnecessary to publish the entirety in our English edition, but decided instead to extract that which was most interesting, his teachings; thus the title:” Patramrta “The Nectar from the Letters.” What is nectarean is that which awards us spiritual bliss and guides us on the path toward eternal life. The contents of these letters which are full of illuminations will prove highly beneficial to the readers.
