I invite you to take a step back in time. It’s the late 1970’s. Picture a teenager with a book bag filled with books, a sankirtan van and long hot days in a parking lot. There is pressure to meet a quota. He’s given some lines to say called ‘mantras’ to get people to take a book and get as much money as possible. After all, they are just karmis and are going to use the money for sinful activity. There is tremendous peer pressure to distribute the most books and return with the most money. The results will be the measure of his success and surrender to Guru and Krsna. All the other devotees in the temple look up to the sankirtan devotee. Srila Prabhupada stresses that this is the highest service. The devotee feels like he has no choice. As a young brahmacari he should feel awkward talking all day with ladies, men, and people his age so entangled in trying to enjoy their senses. However he doesn’t really, because 1 year ago he was just like them. Being new to Krishna Consciousness, his mind and senses are easily agitated. Eventually his mind rebels so strongly that he finds ways to sneak off, go to a movie, take a nap in the park, or space out in some other way. When things get too heavy and he gets really ‘fried’, he gets married, gets a job, his own space, or ‘bloops’. Years later when he looks back at it all, it looks amusing. He concludes that ‘sankirtan’ was just about making money. There were so many avaricious leaders and really the only pure devotee is Srila Prabhupada who has since left this world. The very word ‘book distribution’ conjures up feelings of pressure, exploitation, power trips, and bad public opinion.
How did most of the public and the media view the young Hare Krishnas in the ‘70‘s? They hated the ‘change up’ technique used to get money out of innocent travelers at the airport. They were fearful of the cult that took their kids away from them. They sent in the deprogrammers to ‘save’ their children, created bad PR in the newspapers and TV, and made cartoon images of the ‘Hare Krishnas’. If you are a devotee, none of your friends or relatives never understood why you did that with your life. This is one side. Now for the other.
It’s the late 60’s early 70’s. The days of counter culture and revolution, searching for happiness and truth through drugs, free ‘love’ and the hippy culture. One day a young hippy gets a book from a stranger on the street, a devotee, and maybe gave some pocket change he had. After reading that book, he felt like all of life’s struggles and searching had come to an end. In that book, Srila Prabhupada speaks very deeply to his heart. He goes to the Sunday feast at the temple, starts to chant, makes devotee friends, soon joins the temple, shaves up and inherits the loving family he never had but always wanted. There is mystifying music, kirtans, prasadam, Rathayatra festivals, and the awesome presence of the Guru. Then he takes initiation, and learns an endless deep philosophy unlike what the Church ever taught to him growing up. He begins to learn some Sanskrit, Bengali bhajans, and makes a pilgrimage in India. A new life begins with a new name and a new identity. The old one is forgotten. He is happy, really happy and content for the first time in his life. He has found a deep meaning and purpose to life, and a group of sincere spiritual people. He can never forget that stranger who first gave him a book. That’s where it all started.
That devotee now wants to help others by distributing books. Everyday after attending the morning program, hearing Srimad Bhagavatam class and chanting his rounds, he is compelled to share with others the wealth he has found. He has many unforgettable experiences, like being empowered while distributing and seeing someone transformed by taking a book. One day something happens that he can never forget. His spiritual master smiles at him and says that he is pleased with him and his service. His service is book distribution. For that devotee, even today, 30 years later the word ‘book distribution’ conjures up feelings of grace, love, dedication, realization, empowerment, and an intimate connection with guru and Krsna.
How is it that those two persons have totally different experiences from the same activity? Why did one have such a negative experience and the other have such a positive one?
Whatever condition we find ourselves in presently is a result of our past activities, our karma. Our conditioning influences the way we perceive ourselves and others and our own past experiences. The ability to understand and engage in the activities of bhakti is dependent on bhakti-sukriti (previous connection with places, times, and paraphernalia of the Lord, especially sadhu-sanga). If one has sufficient bhakti-sukriti he can understand and appreciate the activities of bhakti, otherwise he cannot.
A conditioned soul’s direct experience is tainted by 4 defects (tendency to commit mistakes, being in illusion, the cheating propensity, and possessing imperfect senses). Direct sense perception is not an entirely reliable way of understanding anything in truth. In and of itself, direct experience is not recognized as one of the main pramanas or evidences to understand fundamental truths (tattvas). When direct experience is in support of the Vedic version it may be accepted as actual evidence, otherwise not. Devotees therefore rely on the statements of Sri Hari, Guru and Vaisnavas as the basis for their beliefs and faith, because they are free from defects. Lord Gaurangadeva established 10 fundamental truths called the ‘Das-mula sutras’. These essential truths are made up of sambhanda, abhideya, and prayojana tattvas (spiritual relationships, spiritual practices and the ultimate goal of life). The chief proof or evidence (pramana) for these truths are the Vedic scriptures transmitted through realized souls and is called ‘amnaya’. It is infallible proof, because the perfect, though sometimes complex, wisdom of the Vedas is then properly explained and aurally transmitted by the medium of the spiritual master to the disciple. The guru transmits the proper understanding of the Vedas according to time, place and circumstance along with the potency and blessings for the disciple to understand them.
One then would naturally want to know what the Lord Himself, the Vedas and our acaryas have to say about book distribution? Such statements will certainly be free from personal biases and defects, and will reveal the true nature of this activity, the ‘svarupa laksana’ of book distribution.
Lord Sri Krsna states in Bhagavad Gita, (18.68-69) “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. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” In ancient times transcendental knowledge was received primarily by the spoken word. At that time people had such good memories they could remember something even if heard only once. In the present age of Kali-yuga everyone’s intelligence is so weak. Repetitive hearing supported by the written word has become necessary for proper understanding of any topic. The person bhagavat and the book bhagavat, therefore, are both essential for learning transcendental subject matter.
Srila Vysasadeva, known as the ‘Literary incarnation of God’, mercifully wrote down all the Vedic literatures for the benefit of all mankind. He especially gave us Srimad Bhagavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of the Vedic literatures. Suta Goswami instructs the sages at Naimisaranya (in Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.2.18) “Nasta prayesu abhedresu nityam bhagavat sevaya… By regularly rendering service to the two Bhagavatas (the book bhagavat and the person bhagavat), all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.”
Prema Purusottama Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the ultimate incarnation of love distribution. He instructed his near and dear followers, the Six Goswamis, especially Srila Rupa and Sanatan Goswamis to write profusely the bhakti sastras and re-establish the lost holy places in Vrindavana. Their writings form the basis for us to understand the teachings of Lord Caitanya and ultimately Radha and Krsna. Without the Goswamis painstaking endeavors to fulfill the innermost desires (mano-bhistam) of Lord Gauranga, to reveal to the world the treasure of bhakti through their literatures, how could we have ever come to know about it? If they had not done so, the bhakti cult would have been lost to eternity.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur in his book, Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu Bindhu outlines the 64 limbs of bhakti given by Srila Rupa Goswami. The 54th limb of Bhakti is Vaisnava Sastra Seva. Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja writes in his commentary, “One should faithfully and regularly study such scriptures, hear them from the mouth of pure devotees, and read and recite them with a worshipable attitude. One should know the object to be obtained by such scriptures, that being bhagavad-bhakti, and having full faith in that one should mould one’s life in accordance with its principles. The restoration of, careful keeping of, publishing and propagation of vaisnava-sastras are all included within sastra-seva (service to Vaisnava scriptures).
Srinivasa Acarya has written in his ‘Sad Goswami Astakam’, “nana-sastra-vicaranaika-nipunay sad-dharma-samstapakau…”I offer prayers to the Six Goswamis, who are very expert in extracting the essence of all the revealed scriptures with the aim of establishing the jiva in his eternal supreme position of performing pure devotion. Their activities bring auspiciousness and the supreme benefit to all.” Srila Jiva Goswami copied by his own hand the writings of the Goswamis, and Srinivasa, Narottama, and Syamananda Prabhus on his order took these treasures out of Vraja to be distributed to the greater India. They were the first book distributors in the line of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Srila Narottama Das Thakur writes, “Rupa Raghunatha pade hoibe akuti, kabe hama bhujabo se jugala piriti…When shall I be very much eager to study the books left by the Six Goswamis, headed by Rupa and Raghunatha Das? By their instruction I shall be able to properly understand the loving affairs of Radha and Krsna.” Srila Baladeva Vidyabusana defended the credibility for our Gaudiya line by writing ‘Govinda Bhasya’, a commentary on the Vedanta Sutra. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur wrote voluminously (over 100 books) as did his son Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, who said, “If necessary we could sell the marble in the temples to publish books”. Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada fulfilled his Gurudeva’s innermost desires by publishing and distributing millions of books all over the world as well as establishing 108 temples worldwide. His temples were centers for both the study and distribution of transcendental bhakti literatures, especially Srimad Bhagavatam and Srimad Bhagavad-Gita. Srila Prabhupada stressed the importance of book distribution as a way to spread the KC movement very quickly. In his preface to the 1st Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam he writes,” There is a need of a clue as to how humanity can become one in peace, friendship and prosperity with a common cause. Srimad-Bhagavatam will fill this need, for it is a cultural presentation for the re-spiritualization of the entire human society.”
There are unlimited examples of how our acaryas in the bhagavat parampara have spread this movement through the written word and books. I have just cited a few. If writing, publishing and distributing books was not an essential part of Krsna Consciousness, they would not have spent so much effort doing that. These realized souls by their words and actions establish for the sadhakas in this world the example of how we can progress in bhakti. “Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow in their footsteps”. Their lives are statements of love for the Lord and compassion for all jivas. They wrote and distributed books in order to do the best welfare work for all mankind, to help them evolve spiritually, and to reveal to them life’s ultimate goal - pure love of Krsna. Their book distribution was ideal and it was practiced in full knowledge. It was svarupa-siddha bhakti, pure bhakti, and uttama bhakti. You can say that their book distribution was ‘love distribution’.
The effect of one’s chanting, or any other type of devotional activities can be determined by the adhikara or qualification one has developed to execute it. Book distribution is not different in this regard. It is a limb of bhakti that can be performed on different levels, depending on the consciousness of the practitioner. If done impurely it may produce material results or at best give some bhakti-sukriti. If done with a selfless spiritual motivation under the guidance of a high-class vaisnava (anugatya) it will produce transcendental results. It can then be called real perfect bhakti or svarupa siddha-bhakti.
Krsna Consciousness is never stagnant and naturally progresses like a flowing river towards the unlimited ocean of bhakti. Our impressions, understanding and realizations evolve into deeper and deeper understanding in due course of time by the mercy of the Lord and His pure devotees. I pray that this article has inspired some evolvement of thought regarding book distribution. In conclusion, book distribution can be performed on many different levels, with different consciousness, and with different results. Ultimately, in its purest form, when practiced in full Krsna Consciousness it can attain to a stage where it can truly be called ‘love distribution’ for both the distributor and the recipient.
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