What follows is the first in a series of letters written by Tirtha Swami from his prison cell. The selected letters, 22 pages in total, span the period February 2, 1994 through May 22, 1994. The series will be presented over the course of several days, and additional items may be added in the future. In the interest of saving time, the letters are being presented as .jpg images rather than in text format.

Many of the pages consist of a draft of the book (manifesto) Tirtha began to write in 1994 about his criminal activities for New Vrindaban. At the time, he had just been convinced by Gargarsi that Bhaktipada had indeed been involved in homosexual activities for many years. Tirtha decided that it was time he testified against Bhaktipada, instead of remaining silent.

We can easily imagine that Tirtha felt cheated, as he was in prison because he had refused to testify against the Swami. He was promised a certain degree of immunity if he implicated the Swami, but he refused to testify against his spiritual master. Now he realized he was just a dupe. So he began a tell-all book, perhaps to make sense of his previous life and how he got where he was (life in prison).

As seen in the letters, at one time he thought his book could be published, by devotees, or by a commercial publisher. He even thought about getting movie rights, thinking the story was that juicy. Later, probably due to pressure from New Vrindaban leaders not to rock the boat, he decided to keep the manuscript as an in-house publication; not for widespread distribution.

In one letter Tirtha, although pressured to remain silent, stands up to the New Vrindaban authorities and challenges them, saying:

"In terms of my manifesto referring to illegal activities, as I said earlier, that was intended to be an in-house publication, which it has been. If someone becomes nervous about my statements, I can only remark that its utility was thus properly served. I want to make people feel concerned, and if there is cause for nervousness, then let those parties come forward to declare in an open forum how they have been serving the devotees in an honest manner. Otherwise, let my words cause their hearts and minds to burn."

Now 13 years later, Tirtha has apparently forgotten his previous resolve to "make people feel concerned," and has gotten right in bed with the ISKCON leaders who wish to keep the past a secret, as revealed by his two recent letters published in the Sun. We offer these 1994 letters by Tirtha Swami to help our readers decide for themselves what is true and what is not true.

Letter No. 1
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Now you can listen to the ancient sanskrit chants of Bhagavad Gita, sung in classical melodies by noted devotional singer Sri Vidyabhushana. Listen to all 700 verses of the Gita with a beautiful accompaniment of flute, veena, sitar, mridanga, tabla and tala. (Scroll down to listen to it online.)

Set includes 10 audio CDs (7 CDs of sanskrit chants, 2 CDs containing english translations for the entire Bhagavad Gita, and 1 CD providing an introductory lecture on the Bhagavad Gita by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada).