Live to Give—Prabhupada Marathon

Giriraj Swami: So, we have again reached December, that most auspicious time of year when the book distribution Marathon takes place. Srila Prabhupada personally wrote [to] me, “Go on increasing books, and go on increasing my pleasure.” So, by increasing book distribution, we can increase Srila Prabhupada’s pleasure and consequently our own. He wrote in the same letter, “I am most pleased especially to hear that you are distributing many books.”

So, let us cooperate fully to fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s desire which is the desire of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the paramparā, and distribute such transcendental literatures for the benefit of all, and be blessed by their sublime mercy. Srila Prabhupada said that his Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, was pushing him, and he was pushing us the cars in a train. Srila Prabhupada wrote of his Guru Maharaja, “He was very fond of seeing many books published, to spread the Krishna consciousness movement. Therefore our society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, has been formed to execute the order of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.”

And, Srila Prabhupada explained his own mood, in writing transcendental literature, “It is certainly not good to write literature for money or reputation, but to write books and publish them for the enlightenment of the general populace, is real service to the Lord. That was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s opinion, and he specifically told his disciples to write books. He actually preferred to publish books rather than establish temples. Temple construction is meant for the general populace and neophyte devotees. But the business of advanced and empowered devotees is to write books, publish them, and distribute them widely. According to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, distributing literature is like playing on a great mridanga.” Yes, he said that the ordinary mridanga can be heard on saṅkīrtana for a block, or two, or three. But the bṛhad-mṛdaṅga, the printing press can be heard all over the world. “According to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, distributing literature is like playing on a great mridanga.”

Actually, Vaisesika Prabhu mentioned Africa, and the first time I went to West Africa, Nigeria, some people approached me and said Hare Krishna. And, I said, “Well, how do you know Hare Krishna?” They said, “Well, we were we were studying in London, and we got some of your books there, and we brought them back with us to Africa, and we’ve shared them with our friends. So, we know very well about Hare Krishna.” And, it struck me that Krishna consciousness through Srila Prabhupada’s books had preceded the arrival of the any of Prabhupada’s devotees. And, by his books, people there were becoming Krishna conscious.

“So consequently, we always request members of the International Society to publish many books as possible and distribute them widely throughout the world.” That is CC Madhya 9.132 purport. Now, what is the effect of such book distribution? Here, I will quote a very significant verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

TEXT 11

tad-vāg-visargo janatāgha-viplavo
yasmin prati-ślokam abaddhavaty api
nāmāny anantasya yaśo ‘ṅkitāni yat
śṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ

TRANSLATION

On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world’s misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest.

COMMENT

And, one of my godbrothers, expressed his opinion that this verse actually referred to Srila Prabhupada. Because at the time that the verse was recorded, the world civilization was not misdirected. It is now, but it wasn’t then. And also, the idea that the literature would go all over the world, also can be taken to indicate Srila Prabhupada.

So, I think of two verses from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that embody the devotee’s mood in distributing Krishna consciousness. Of course, the Sanskrit is very beautiful, but I’ll, just for the sake of time, read the translations. These are spoken by Prahlada Maharaja.

TEXT 43

O best of the great personalities, I am not at all afraid of material existence, for wherever I stay I am fully absorbed in thoughts of Your glories and activities. My concern is only for the fools and rascals who are making elaborate plans for material happiness and maintaining their families, societies and countries. I am simply concerned with love for them.

TEXT 44

My dear Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, I see that there are many saintly persons indeed, but they are interested only in their own deliverance. Not caring for the big cities and towns, they go to the Himālayas or the forest to meditate with vows of silence [mauna-vrata]. They are not interested in delivering others. As for me, however, I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy. Therefore I wish to bring them back to shelter at Your lotus feet.

COMMENT

So, these verses are in relation to Prahlada Maharaja, but in a way they are also about Srila Prabhupada and about us. How Srila Prabhupada wanted us to execute Krishna consciousness. Once when Srila Prabhupada was in Hawaii, his servant or secretary, commented to Srila Prabhupada that I think that you are in the mood of Prahlada Maharaja. And, Srila Prabhupada replied, “You think so? I think so, too.”

Now, to distribute Krishna consciousness, we must have Krishna consciousness. Devotees need that connection with Krishna, not just for their own sakes but for the sake of others. Once in a meeting with Srila Prabhupada in the Atlantic temple, Svavasa Prabhu asked, “How can we increase our devotion and our desire to distribute books?” He and the other devotees were eagerly anticipating some special formula to expand their book distribution. Srila Prabhupada didn’t look at them, initially. He looked upwards as they waited in suspense. Finally he said, “If you want to increase book distribution, if you really want, I have only one recommendation, you must chant your rounds uninterrupted. After you begin your chanting, do not stop until you finish.”

As Svavasa Prabhu later explained, “If you win that battle, you will win all day, and if you lose it, and allow your mind to carry you to something else, you will have a difficult day.” And, I should add that Svavasa Prabhu still follows that policy. He gets up at two in the morning and chants all his rounds before even coming to the temple for maṅgala-ārati.

And a while ago, I hope you won’t mind my saying so, but I stayed with Vaisesika Prabhu at his home in Burlingham. And, his morning program was blissfully intense. He did things that we do every day and some things that we may do, only on occasion. But he did them with so much enthusiasm and relish that the practices came to life. I felt, Wow! That’s what reciting these verses and prayers actually is.

Later, we spoke about the book he was writing on book distribution which has now been published as Our Family Business, wonderful book. And, he said that one of the themes is that the energy to distribute books comes from the overflow of the ecstasy, we feel from our spiritual practices, from our own Krishna consciousness. And, I’ve also experienced that if you chant your rounds in the morning before going out, you will get extra energy and intelligence for your service. And if you don’t, not only may you be a little depleted in your spiritual energy, but you may also be in anxiety about when you are going to finish your rounds.

So, the practice of rising early and chanting all your rounds is very much part of the process of sharing Krishna consciousness with others. So the two, tasting and distributing, go together. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that the best goṣṭhyānandī is bhajanānandī, who likes to preach. Goṣṭhyānandī is someone who takes pleasure in preaching and sharing Krishna consciousness with others. And, a bhajanānandī is, someone who takes pleasure in his own bhajana, his own spiritual practices. So, the best goṣṭhyānandī is a bhajanānandī who likes to preach.

Now, there is strong language in Srila Prabhupada’s books, and there is a repetition. By ordinary literary standards, there shouldn’t be repetition. But Prabhupada himself said, “It is not enough to say that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one purport. We will say that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in every purport.”

So, there may be repetition and there may be strong language, but the books have everything, and if someone is sincere, he or she will get what he or she needs from them. The books have made many devotees. They are making devotees now, and they will continue to make devotees in the future.

As an example of strong language, I’ll relate an incident involving His Holiness Ṛtadhvaja Swami who used to distribute books at the Florida Welcome Centers. People would park and get out of their cars, and in one case, the wife went into the Welcome Center, and the husband stayed in the parking lot. Ṛtadhvaja Swami handed him a Bhāgavatam. “What’s this about?” the man asked. “It’s about yoga,” Maharaja replied. “Oh! that sounds interesting. So, the man opened the book and the first thing he read was, “Persons averse to the nectar of the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are compared to stool-eating hogs.” He asked Maharaja, “What does this have to do with yoga?” Just then his wife came out and said, “Honey, what do you have there? What are you talking about?” “Oh, nothing honey,” he replied. And, he closed the book, handed Maharaja a donation, and walked away with the book smiling. He may not have wanted his wife to know that he was being accused of being like a stool-eating hog, but he wanted to hear it.

So, yes, distribute books, distribute books, distribute books. And, to get the strength to do that, chant and hear and be steady in your spiritual practices, and read the books. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Distributing my books will keep them happy,” meaning the devotees. “Distributing my books will keep them happy, and reading my books will keep them,” meaning keep them in Krishna consciousness.

So, he has given us everything, and we just have to take advantage, and do what he said, and if we do, we will get the results and everyone will be happy. And to conclude, I will quote from the Bhagavad-gītā which we are in particular distributing at this stage. Again for the sake of time, I won’t read the Sanskrit but the translation.

TEXT 68

For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me.

TEXT 69

There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.

COMMENT

So, the real conclusion of the Bhagavad-gītā, built upon one’s surrender to Krishna, is to spread this message and thus become most dear to Krishna.

So, I thank you for this blessed opportunity to join you in encouraging the “Give to Live Marathon.” I feel purified myself, by discussing the subject and by being in the association of all of you. And again, I thank you for the opportunity, and I wish everyone all success in their efforts. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

Vaisesika Prabhu: Gaura premānande, Haribol! His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja ki jaya! It was just showering an unparalleled nectar hearing from you, and seeing you today. I wanted to give us a short anecdote or two that go together because it’s something obviously, you’d appreciate it, but it’s something kind of close to home. Recently, Malini was talking about how she and some devotees were going shop to shop in an Arab speaking neighborhood, and somebody came out from behind the counter and was enthusiastic about Bhagavad-gītā and said he had found a Bhagavad-gītā in a garbage can, a couple years ago. He brushed it off, and now he is a truck driver. He keeps it in his truck, and he reads it every day, and feels inspired by it. He said, “I’ve even forgiven the person who threw it in the trash can.”

So, this goes to the mystical quality of the books that they are actual personalities, and to that end, recently, as a birthday gift, someone gave me this. It was Gopal Champu Prabhu and this is a Bhagavad-gītā. It’s quite an old Bhagavad-gītā, inside sort of a bible cover. And, just a quick background. Our godbrother Śrīdhara Swami and I had this pact. Whenever we’d meet together, we would sit and chant the whole Bhagavad-gītā. We did it several times, and we had this plan that we would memorize the whole Bhagavad-gītā and sit together in Kurukshetra and recite it for Krishna’s pleasure together, and before he passed away.

When I went to see him, he said “Vais, you are going to have to do it alone.” And then on my birthday, just randomly, I received this gift and guess what it is Maharaja, “It’s Śrīdhara Swami’s Bhagavad-gītā.”

Giriraj Swami: Oh my God!

Vaisesika Prabhu: Inside here, it says, “In the care of Śrīdhara Swami.” It’s an old Bhagavad-gītā.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah.

Vaisesika Prabhu: It’s his personal copy and when cleaning out the Brooklyn temple, I mean there were lots of things to clean out when the new administration came in. They just found this, in some box tucked away somewhere. And, then he brought it to me and gave me this copy, so just I wanted to tell you that for a long time, and I thought now it was a good opportunity.

Giriraj Swami: That’s amazing! That’s wonderful! So, if you do go to Kurukshetra, he’ll be with you, in a way.

Vaisesika Prabhu: Yeah. And, we deeply appreciate your blessings for Africa also to populate the whole country, so it’s all lit up, and thank you very much for your guidance, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Well, thank you for pushing book distribution and arranging these wonderful, inspiring, encouraging programs.

Vaisesika Prabhu: Jaya! Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.