Book Distribution
Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita 4.7
yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy aham
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion - at that time I descend Myself.”
The religious principle for all living beings is to always remember Krishna and never forget Krishna. It is explained in the Chaitanya Charitamrta 22.113
smartavyah satatam visnur
vismartavyo na jatucit
sarve vidhi-nisedhah syur
etayor eva kinkarah
“‘Krishna is the origin of Lord Vishnu. He should always be remembered and never forgotten at any time. All the rules and prohibitions mentioned in the shastras should be the servants of these two principles.’
This verse is a quotation from the Padma Purana. There are many regulative principles in the shastras and directions given by the spiritual master. These regulative principles should act as servants of the basic principle—that is, one should always remember Krishna and never forget Him. This is possible when one chants the Hare Krishna mantra. Therefore one must strictly chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra twenty-four hours daily. One may have other duties to perform under the direction of the spiritual master, but he must first abide by the spiritual master’s order to chant a certain number of rounds. In our Krishna consciousness movement, we have recommended that the neophyte chant at least sixteen rounds. This chanting of sixteen rounds is absolutely necessary if one wants to remember Krishna and not forget Him. Of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s order to chant at least sixteen rounds is most essential.
One may sell books or enlist life members or render some other service, but these duties are not ordinary duties. These duties serve as an impetus for remembering Krishna. When one goes with a sankirtana party or sells books, he naturally remembers that he is going to sell Krishna’s books. In this way, he is remembering Krishna. When one goes to enlist a life member, he talks about Krishna and thereby remembers Him. Smartavyah satatam visnur vismartavyo na jatucit. The conclusion is that one must act in such a way that he will always remember Krishna, and one must refrain from doing things that make him forget Krishna. These two principles form the basic background of Krishna consciousness.
There is a great need in the society to spread this important message of God to all the suffering humanity. Most of the population, in this world are engrossed in material advancement. They falsely think that by making progress in material life, one can remain happy. But this is not the fact. The more we neglect our prime duty – God realization, the more we become entangled in material life and get dissatisfied.
In order to help all the suffering souls, there is a great need to spread this message of God. One of the important methods to spread the message of God is by printing and distributing books about God.
In the year 1972 Sila Prabhupada registered the BHAKTIVEDANTA BOOK TRUST (BBT) for printing and distributing the books written by him. By now, millions of books have been printed and distributed in various local and foreign languages. Large number of people have benefited by reading the books of Srila Prabhupada.
Srila Prabhupada explains in a lecture
“We are printing so many books. For spreading this knowledge, that must be distributed. Home to home, place to place, man to man, this literature must go there. If one takes one book, at least one day he'll read it: "Let me see what is this book I have purchased the other day." And if he reads one line his life will be successful, if he reads one line only, carefully. This is such literature. So therefore book distribution I am giving so much stress. Somehow or other, small book or big book, if it is given to somebody he'll read someday..”
- [Bhagavad-gita 16.1-3 — Hawaii, January 29, 1975]
In order to please the Supreme Lord, the devotees strive hard to print and distribute as many books as possible. Devotees look for various opportunities to distribute books. They try to organize the book distribution program in the following ways:
01) Distributing books in various Public Libraries
02) Educational institutions
03) Festival gatherings
04) Public places
05) Trains
06) Airports
07) Railway stations
08) Bus stands
09) Markets
10) Travelling sankirtan parties
11) Pandal programs
12) House programs
13) Pada yatra
14) Gift shops
15) Books are given as gifts to Life Patrons of ISKCON
Magazines such as Back to Godhead, Krishna Voice, Bhakti Vedanta Darshana
In this way the devotees distribute the books of Srila Prabhupada, so that some how or other, people get the real message of God and find a permanent solution to the problems of life.
While distributing books to people in general, sometimes devotees face severe opposition from envious people, who are atheistic in nature. Sometimes the so called leaders do not cooperate by sanctioning permission to distribute books. Sometimes devotees are beaten and put in jail also. But devotees are always determined to carry the order of the spiritual master and Krishna and go on preaching.
Srila Prabhupada says:
“This, our book distribution is the most important task in our society. Therefore I am giving so much stress and I am working so hard on this. Because this is my life and soul according to the order of my Guru Maharaja. And by his grace it is to some extent successful. And I took it seriously. I take it seriously still now. That is my life and soul. I never tried in India to construct big temples or even in your country we didn't. I never tried. But I was selling personally books. That is the history.”
- [Room Conversation — December 31, 1976, Bombay]
“The secret of success in advancement in spiritual life is the firm faith of the disciple in the orders of his spiritual master.... The Krishna consciousness movement is being propagated according to this principle, and therefore our preaching work is going on successfully, in spite of the many impediments offered by antagonistic demons, because we are getting positive help from our previous acharyas.... the success of the ISKCON party, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which strictly follows guru and Gauranga, is increasing daily all over the world. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura wanted to print as many books as possible and distribute them all over the world. We have tried our best in this connection, and we are getting results beyond our expectations.”
– Chaitanya Charitamrta Adi lila 12.8 Purport.
It is the intense desire of Lord Krishna that all living beings, go back to Him and engage in His loving service eternally in the spiritual abode. The method and techniques are nicely presented in the book of Srila Prabhupada. It is the mission of Srila Prabhupada to reach the message of Krishna to one and all. Book distribution plays an important role in fulfilling this mission. Any devotee who participates in this transcendental activity is fortunate indeed.
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