By Kesava Krsna Dasa
Many devotees, who were previously active in preaching when living full time in the temples, feel that now – living outside and earning a living ā those āgood old daysā remain just distant topics of nostalgia. Will those days ever return, they wonder? How many new generation devotees understand these things?
There is a general tendency for senior devotees who feel somewhat inactive to hark back to those days of jovial communal efforts, volunteered austerities, shared risks, exciting ventures, brotherly and sisterly camaraderie, and that famous ātasteā derived from being dependent on Krishna. This is usually the case for Srila Prabhupada disciples, and those who joined in the late 1970ās and early 80ās.
One could argue that much of Iskconās frontline preaching is done by younger devotees and the relatively few active full time Srila Prabhupada disciples, whereas the majority ā both senior and junior ā attend temple functions to hear and associate. Of these, the experienced devotees will have noticed the differences today compared with āoldenā day methods of presenting Krishna conscious culture.
āOh there used to be so many exotic Iskcon preps at Sunday feastsā¦we donāt see them any more. We used to have those rip roaring kirtansā¦ah those life shaking ice cold bucket bathsā¦Krishna Book and hot milk before going to bedā¦those were the days my friendā¦I think the present generation has it easy for them nowadays.ā Are all these observations valid in light of the dramatic changes in Iskconās social dynamics, then and now?
Then the questions will arise; what is to stop us from depending on Krishna now? What is preventing us from reliving that ātasteā that lingers in the annals of the mind?
During Srila Prabhupadaās time his disciples would marvel at his treasure trove of vaisnava qualities and his cultural demeanour. His trickling drinking water into his mouth without touching lips to the cup was a sensation for some. His ability to make someone feel special, and his every word and deed had a profound effect on many followers, yet they were all different aspects of preaching. These incidents were taken as God-given signs or messages of providence by the sincere. He meant something for everyone. He is a preacher after all.
While thinking back on times gone by, a feeling of being inactive in preaching, and bemoaning the lack of opportunities thereof may persist. āI think I have some experience to pass on to the largely younger devotee community, but they are now managing affairs in the templeā¦many of them are qualified as professionals in corporate dealingsā¦I might be seen as a backward old-fashioned revivalist to these spiritual technocrats.ā
If there are senior devotees like this around ā and who are non combative and in tune to Iskconās needs ā they should be invited to participate as mentors and advisors. It should make an interesting blend of young and āold.ā Care should be taken that the seniors having gone through the āgood old daysā not be highly opinionated, whereas the younger devotees should not write off the older devotees as āold school.ā But the āgood old daysā could be reinvented as it were. The problem is what the youngsters experience today will be the āgood old daysā of tomorrow.
The fact is, just as every action and word of Srila Prabhupada meant something in a preaching sense to his disciples, the actions and deeds of our senior devotees are similarly scrutinized by younger devotees who seek worthy role models for their Krishna conscious careers. Simply put, a negative action or use of words by a senior devotee equals bad preaching. If Iskcon is a preaching mission then every feature of Iskcon life is in preaching mode.
Many senior devotees are perhaps unaware how they are observed in the presence of younger devotees. Just as Arjuna asks Krishna how an elevated soul walks, sits and so on, the external behaviour of senior devotees do affect sometimes impressionable devotees and sincere younger devotees alike. Along with experience comes the burden of responsibility of assuring our nephews, cousins and nieces that we have been trained properly.
Preaching does not only mean giving classes, lectures, seminars, or speaking to someone holding a book on sankirtana. Everything from our personal conduct to how we cook, serve the deities, serve the devotees, serve the guests and newcomers, setting an example to our children, caring, nurturing and the rest, are all various levels of preaching. And there are two ways of doing so, negative or positive.
Yet at present there are many experienced devotees who are inactive. There is one good reason why those ādays of oldā seem not to feature nowadays. During those days when everyone lived in the temple, and the general mood was ā to use the colloquial term āFired Upā ā almost everyone at some stage or other voluntarily shifted out of their normal comfort zones to, well, depend on Krishna. This sense of detachment had a way of inducing the experience of ātasteā and pleasure from this dependence.
Within the shelter or comfort zones of our homes and workplaces our dependence may not be as intense. So when apathy develops so does the desire not to preach. āOne whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices within, and whose aim is inward is actually the perfect mysticā¦ā (BG 5.24) Our outer actions will reflect our inner thoughts. Of course, there are many exemplary devotees living at home who set internal challenges for themselves; they are seriously preaching to themselves to progress in Krishna consciousness.
Even if due to circumstances we cannot preach, we still have our bodies, mind and words/thoughts. A sincere devotee will use the intelligence to tell the mind ā manah siksha ā of the need to always improve oneself continually. By good conduct and politeness one can indirectly endear people and indirectly give them pious sukrti to advance in Krishna consciousness. There are many ways to preach.
We often read or hear the word ā lobha ā or greed used. Someone really sincere will never be able to rest comfortably in any comfort zone, always feeling inadequate and incomplete without reaching the towering level of Bhava and beyond, or at least having cognizance to this degree: āFor one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.ā (BG 6.30) On this level every situation imaginable is a preaching message from the Lord to be serious.
This whole material world is a preaching tool to remind us constantly about the miseries and sufferings it causes, therefore the demigods in charge of universal affairs are preaching there part too. There is an absolute preaching quality in Lord Krishnaās description of birth, death, disease and old age, and His Time factor preaches that all good things must come to an end, including our comfort zones.
By becoming mentors or advisors, or organisers, or any background service within Iskcon, it is all preaching nonetheless. To think again about our recommitment and voluntarily coming forward to assist, will, in the higher sense mean that we will be helping to reunite all lost souls back into the divine company of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna.
Your servant Kesava Krsna Dasa
Srila Prabhupada was the Sena Pati- the modern acarya for Lord Caitanyas sakirtana mission.
He asked devotees to preach and not sit back, now without Srila Prabhupadas physical presence.It has become difficult to maintain this strong preaching spirit.Some devotees think we should do away with preaching and have expressed it openly. But this is not Srila Prabhupadas mood, who lik Vasudeva datta wanted to liberate the whole earth planet.Many devotees say , this is utopian, we are just a handful how can we possibly affect the whole world.The isntructions Srila Prabhupada gave was to become preachers internally and externally, that means we should not become hypocrits on any level, and at the same time preach and distribute his books, and educate others in them and ourselves.
Srila Prabhuapdas books are changing the world little by little. And people are changing because they read Srila Prabhupadas books.I see it all the time .Recently a flower vendor that I sold all Srila Prabhupadas book too, came and thanked me again.I told him really it is Srila Prabhupada we have to thank,,and that I am just a tiny servant in this mission trying to assist.And that as soon we think I am so important preacher we are in danger.
Personally I believe some of the competition spirit , might have turned some away from Srila Prabhupadas bookdistribution.It is a united effort to please Srila Prabhupada.But it is my faith if we keep Srila Prabhupadas spirit and try to preach and distribute his books , he will be pleased. For any devotees that now have full time jobs, they can buy a case or two from the BBT and regularly give a few books to friends or anyone one meets, and encourag them to chant etc.These grass roots efforts are very important.
Nice article, covering a lot of territory. Yes, an acarya is one who teaches (preaches) by example, and the example we all set is being watched, by other devotees, by people we work with, people we interact with, even people just seeing us on the street.
“Preaching is the essence, books are the basis, utility is the principle and purity is the force.” This little formula that Srila Prabhupada gave us is full of meaning.
In defense of Rukmini dd (or whoever it was who said at the DC “diversity in preaching” conference that she sometimes thinks we should retire the word “preaching”), the point was not to quit preaching, but to preach more effectively by being more genuine, more concerned with setting good examples than with winning the war of words and doctrines.
And of course we are not going to abandon the word “preaching”, which Prabhupada gave us, but by saying something shocking she made her point and got us talking about it.
Those with full time jobs are preaching in their way, because their co-workers get to know Hare Krishnas and observe their characters on a regular basis.
I took some college courses in the early 1990s and some people suggested that I should wear dhoti and kurta and sikha and tilak. I probably should have. I wore light tilak that I thought could hardly be seen, but people did see it and ask me about it. My classmates knew I was a devotee.
I think the reason I did not want to wear the entire “uniform” was that I was afraid I was not acting as a devotee should. A devotee eats only prasadam, but I would sometimes study in the Student Union cafeteria eating vegetarian cafeteria food. I had this idealized conception of first-class Vaisnava behavior that I could not live up to, so I did not want to dress like a Vaisnava.
In retrospect I think I should have kept the dhoti on, even if I couldn’t give up eating in the cafeteria or drinking diet sodas. [Of course, even better would be to bring some prasadam from home.] Buddhist monks were studying on campus in their distinctive dress, but where were the Hare Krishnas?
Nondevotees will be impressed to see devotees are always vegetarian, and not be concerned about “restaurant food.” If a devotee is a little lax in the high-standards of purity, it is still better for people to see “here is a Hare Krishna”, even if the devotee they see is an aspiring, not fully pure devotee. Wearing the dress will also remind us to be on our best behavior…
Not that we shouldn’t always be pure and on our best behavior, but even if we have some bad habits that should not cause us to stop identifying ourselves as apiring devotees connected with the Hare Krishna movement.
If people are interested enough, we can explain to them that we also have real sadhus who are fully dedicated to bhakti yoga 24/7. We can explain we aspire to live like that someday, or that we spent our pre-married youth in such a monastic yoga environment.
But for most people the idea that to be a Hare Krishna one must live up to these ideals of renunciation and dedication merely frightens them off. We should let them see that devotees can have relatively normal family lives and live and work and relax much like they do, but we enjoy something extra when we chant together, take prasadam and read Prabhupada’s books, worship our (home and temple) deities and do “japa meditation”.
Some devotees at ISV actually keep small book racks in their cubicles at work so their co-workers can take books if they are curious. Of course, they *are* curious and they do come take books and discuss them a little.
Those who have some money should of course buy books and display them when and if they can, but if they do not want to find a legal spot to set up a table on a weekend, or if they are shy about discussing the books with strangers, they can always sponsor cases of books that other devotees will distribute.
Forgive me for taking the opportunity to plug the ongoing effort to place 1 million Bhagavad-Gitas in hoel rooms accross North America. We can actually very easily convince hotel owners to put the books in their rooms (and the majority of motels in the U.S. are Hindu-owned), but until we establish long-term relationships with them many owners are reluctant to pay the small cost of the books, so we have a backlog of unfulfilled orders that we are fulfilling only as sponsors come forward and donate money for these books. A donation of $200 will fully stock a 50-room motel, including spare books and shipping costs.
But getting back to the focus of the article, the main service Srila Prabhupada asked from us was “preaching”. That is the central, compassionate mood at the heart of ISKCON. We are not going to enjoy Krishna consciousness by ourselves, but share it with everyone.
And our main method is to encourage everyone to participate in kirtan and in reading and discussing Prabhupada’s books.
Srila Prabhupada wrote, “To preach Krishna consciousness is my life and soul.” I do not think any devotee would say we should retire the word “preaching” if they thought Srila Prabhupada would hear of it.
I believe we sometimes try too hard to blend in with the world and end up losing sight of our mission to save the world from the darkness of ignorance. There are plenty of yoga groups and New Age thinkers who have already shown that no change will take place either individually or collectively by presenting a compromise of religious principles.
Krishna consciousness is not another New Age movement. We teach the eternal principles of religion, culminating with love of Godhead. We trace our lineage back to Lord Caitanya, the most recent and most munificent incarnation of Krishna. What other group of so-called spiritualists can make such a claim? Therefore, we have the most to share, and that sharing is what we call preaching.
The most permanent way to share Krishna consciousness is to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. Book distribution, prasadam distribution and chanting the Holy Name should all go on side by side. Our distribution of prasadam, Krishna’s mercy, is effective in awakening love of God because the devotees of Krishna are not impersonalists. We actually ask the Lord to taste the offering, and if it is made with love and devotion, He accepts it. No yoga group that does not follow the way of the vaisnavas has any idea that the Lord even has a sense of taste, what to speak of how He accepts the offerings of foodstuffs prepared by devotees for His pleasure.
In our preaching, of course we do not want to irritate anyone, but we also want to be direct and to the point. This is an art, and it is arrived at by empowerment and realization. The devotee is full of compassion and empathy, so he does not demand that others immediately adopt his lifestyle and philosophical outlook. But it was Srila Prabhupada who said we must be able to hear other philosophies, find their defect, and then place Krishna consciousness on top, not that we should try to blend.
I remember Srila Prabhupada instructing that we should not advertise ourselves as another yoga group, because people will expect us to behave and speak like other yoga teachers they are familiar with. He said we should always distinguish ourselves as practitioners of bhakti yoga and teach others how to connect with God, because that is the topmost yoga system.
Walking alone with Srila Prabhupad one day, His Divine Grace said, “We are simply living on Krishna’s promise…na ca tasman manusyesu, kascin me priya-krttamah, bhavita na ca me tasmad, anyah priyataro bhuvi (BG 18.69).” The importance of Srila Prabhupad expressing his feeling and heart is this…He preached the science of Krishna consciousness, the science of surrender to Krishna…to the devotees, in order to please Krishna, in order to become dear to Krishna (and obviously to fulfill the order of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur). Years before Srila Prabhupad went to the west, one of his Godbrothers was sent to England to initiate preaching in the west on the order of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, but he came back without any fruit (new bhaktas) to offer to Sri Guru Gauranga. Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur was not satisfied.
Srila Prabhupad mentioned this, and he wanted to fulfill his Gurudeva’s desire. He wanted to please Krishna. My personal experience is that preaching is best done as one’s duty and on behalf of one’s Gurudeva. In fact, all endeavours in Krishna consciousness are best performed in this manner. This is the practice of being the servant of the servant of the servant. Preaching or other activities in Krishna consciousness must not be performed for establishing oneself as a great preacher (pratishta) and never for monetary profit (kanak). If one performs their duties, including preaching, as a duty and for the pleasure of their beloved Sri Gurudeva, then perfection of this activity will please Krishna…and that it the ultimate goal of bhakti.
I applaud the mood of this article, but I would expand it to include encouraging all of Srila Prabhupad’s former disciples to reawaken their service mood once again. If the current bhaktas are threatened by this, then there needs to be a new mood of reconciliation. I am quite certain that Srila Prabhupad always gave encouragement to devotees who fell away under the powerful influence of Maya. If you consider this one way of pleasing Srila Prabhupad, then I am certain, without any doubt, that such endeavours are pleasing to Srila Prabhupad. Not just the preachers or so-called big devotees, but each and every humble vaishnava who ever, due to great good fortune, came to the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupad and later fell away, they are a welcome part of His family. Pusta Krishna das
All these thoughts shared by Srila Prabhupadas disciples here are like a fresh breeze.
When it came to distributing his books Srila Prabhupada asked his disciples agan and again to help him.Krsna consciouesness does no just spread on its own .But the book distribution is a catalysist for this to happen .
Sril Prabhupada also listed bookdistribtuion as the most important activity in ISKCON:
āThere is no doubt about it, to distribute books is our most important activity.ā (to Ramesvara, August 3, 1973)
Now to be balanced Srila Prabhupada also wrote:
āThe most important thing is that you must follow all of the rules and regulations very strictly.ā (to Tapana Misra Dasa, May 26, 1975)
āI consider this Mayapur Project to be our most important work. . . .ā (to TamƤla KƄƱƫa, June 28, 1972)
. . . this sankirtana or street chanting must go on, it is our . . . most important program.ā (to Bali Mardana and PuƱƶa KƄƱƫa, September 18, 1972)
āNow the most important point is to recruit life members as many as possible.ā (to DayƤnanda, February 8, 1971)
āNow I very much appreciate your activities for conducting our school . . . and I consider your work the most important in the society. . .ā (to Son and Daughters in Dallas, June 20, 1972)
So there is some projects Srila Prabhupada called the most important, book distribution was always emphasized by Srila Prabhupada .
Srila Prabhupada wrtes in the CC Adi lila 7.164:
Now that the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has taken up this task of preaching the cult of Lord Caitanya, its members should not only construct temples in every town and village of the globe but also distribute the books that have already been written and further increase the number of books. Both distribution of books and construction of temples must continue side by side in parallel lines.
In CC 12.8 purport:Srila BhaktisiddhƤnta Sarasvati ThƤkura 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.
Daily on sankirtana we meet people that are so enthusiastic to get one of Srila Prabhupadas book.Srila Prabhupada in LA gave the famous lecture where he said : “Kindly help me and please distribute these books and KC will automatically spread”
Also in CC madhya lila 19.132, Srila Prabhupada states bookdistribution is so important .
There are many programs that can be referred to as “important,” “very important” or “most important.” It is the responsibility of management to figure out how to emphasize all of these Krishna conscious activities simultaneously without sacrificing one in favor of another. This requires purified intelligence. It also requires total dependence on the mercy of the spiritual master for our enlightenment as managers and leaders within his society.
There was a nice letter written on June 12, 1971 to Yogesvara prabhu who was in charge of producing children’s books in Europe. Srila Prabhupada advised his disciple(s) how to keep all of these “very important” programs in balance.
“Yes, these children’s books are very important because our next program is to start children’s schools in all of our centers,. We want to train all children from the beginning of life in Krishna consciousness…. So we have to adjust things. Everything is important. Not that we have to do something at the expense of something else. I cannot say from here what is to be given preference. That depends on your management capacity.”
Krishna will supply us from within with the intelligence needed to manage the society.
It is up to us to maintain a lifestyle of purity and to follow whatever dictation comes from Krishna. Without purifying our thoughts and actions, we will not qualify to be personally guided by His transcendental hand.
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.47 and purport holds the real reason why some are attracted to preach and why some are not..bascially very simple those in the Kanistha stage have a hard time to understand why we have to preach and the Madhyma adhikaris are compassionate so they preach.
Of all the important activities in ISKCON the most important is the distribution of transcendetal books, this was also the order Srila Bhaktisiddhanta gave Srila Prabhupada at Radha Kunda in 1933. Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport of Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.44: (translation)
My dear Lord NrĢ£simhadeva, 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 Himalayas 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 KrĢ£sĢ£nĢ£a 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.
( and the purport is very important, this is the point HDG is maing at the end of the purport):
The members of the KrĢ£sĢ£nĢ£a consciousness movement are not at all interested in so-called meditation in the Himalayas or the forest, where one will only make a show of meditation, nor are they interested in opening many schools for yoga and meditation in the cities. Rather, every member of the KrĢ£sĢ£nĢ£a consciousness movement is interested in going door to door to try to convince people about the teachings of Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ As It Is, the teachings of Lord Caitanya. That is the purpose of the Hare KrĢ£sĢ£nĢ£a movement. The members of the KrĢ£sĢ£nĢ£a consciousness movement must be fully convinced that without KrĢ£sĢ£nĢ£a one cannot be happy. Thus the KrĢ£sĢ£nĢ£a conscious person avoids all kinds of pseudo spiritualists, transcendentalists, meditators, monists, philosophers and philanthropists.
We have a very popular trendy yoga center in New York City. The founder of that yoga group recently confided to the devotees that since the opening of their center a number of years ago, they have not convinced a single member to become vegetarian.
July 4th was my daughter’s twenty-fourth birthday and her friends arranged to have a nice picnic. One of the guests asked me if I was a devotee of Hare Krishna and then went on to describe how he is performing daily fire ceremonies as part of his Durga Puja. He told me he had seen Srila Prabhupada at Dr. Misra’s Ananda Asrama in Monroe, New York when he was one year old. He was quoting Sanskrit slokas while smoking an imported brand of cigarette.
There are many so-called spiritualists out there, and devotees nowadays are trying to mix with them in the name of interfaith dialogue. What is happening is that the message of the devotees is becoming watered down. When the preaching becomes more accomodating and indirect, the message of the Bhagavad-gita is deflected by the need to sound politically correct and the potency to bring lost souls to Krishna consciousness is sacrificed.
We are not really preaching to people to become vegetarian. As long as one is not offering his food to Krishna, he is eating only sin, be it vegetarian or otherwise. Srila Prabhupada once said, “I don’t know anything about being vegetarian.” In other words, we are asking people to become devotees of Krishna. Then automatically they will be vegetarian, but the reason will be because it is the only kind of foodstuff that can be offered to the Lord.
Bhakti-yoga is the highest form of union with the Supreme. Dr. Misra’s disciple could not understand that point from the Gita. He could not go beyond the blood offereings to Bhadra Kali. But one positive thing he did mention was that he had a couple of Srila Prabhupadas’s books at home, so there is still great hope for my daughter’s friend, Morgan.
I invited Morgan to join our Harinam party at Times Square next Saturday night. Last week one of the original Village People Randy Jones (the cowboy) came over to associate with the Sankirtana party. This congregational chanting of the Holy Name is the prime benediction, and book distribution is the even greater kirtana. Our public chanting and book sales may be considered “in your face” preaching by some, but these were the activities most stressed by Srila Prabhupada.
I consider myself most unfortunate because I never get to hear Locananda Prabhus sweet kirtanas and participate in them anymore. Yamaraja is surely punishing me.When will I get some of your association again Prabhu and do Harinama Sankirtana with you again?
your must unfortunate servant
Payonidhi das
One day last week when I was distributing Srila Prabhupadas books on the “National mall” in Washington DC , I heard someone loudly chant Gauranga ;GAURANGA .
It was some young people from Hungary that had been to the temple there , they where so happy to see
me and asked so many questions, bought some books, I gave them all some tulsi beads…there is nothing like bookdistribution and Harinama sankirtana..going to the heavenly palnets is a punishment for the sankirtana devotees(devoid of Harinama and bookdistribution =it is like a hellish planet)
Book distribution and harinama sankirtan will always be our ideal and favorite methods of preaching.
But we are also preaching by our examples living as devotees and explaining ourselves to whatever curious persons we meet. People are curious, “Why are you chanting japa?”, “Why are you wearing tilak?”, “Why do you read those books and go to that temple?”, “What do you do there, and what do you believe?”
The goal of all preaching should be to get people to chant Hare Krishna without offenses and to study Prabhupada’s books in association of faithful devotees. However we can help do that is good preaching.
Sometimes we have thought that the goal of preaching is to get people to shave their heads and live in the temple. It is nice if they can do that. That may help them chant Hare Krishna without offenses and will probably get them to attend morning Bhagavatam class and evening Bhagavad Gita class, at least for some time.
But in the “Old ISKCON” model the idea was sometimes that we would take over the world by getting everyone to move into our ashrams and accept our ashram government and social hierarchy. That model does not seem to be the way ISKCON is going.
It does not seem to be necessary (although it is still valuable, especially for brahmacaris and sannyasis) to live in our communes. We are building householder congregations who regularly visit the temple and chant at home before work, then go for book distribution and harinama on weekends.
ISKCON will make the world Krishna conscious by inspiring everyone to chant Hare Krishna and read Prabhupada’s books and start following the Vaisnava ways of life (nonviolence, cleanliness, etc.) They don’t have to quit their jobs.
We were talking elsewhere about “institutionalism”, and I am not sure what that means, but I get the sense it means the sense that the only way to become perfect is to join a particular organization or party. Of course we should be happy with our own choice of the ISKCON party and its wonderful activities, but preaching is more about introducing people to the beauty and truth of Krishna consciousness than bringing them under the control of a party or church hierarchy.
People are very sensitive to avoid being dominated or exploited, but they like to participate in friendly exchanges. Preaching is about giving people opportunities for friendly exchanges with devotees that will attract them to read the books and chant the holy names and take prasadam.
Sometimes I meet discouraged older devotees who say things like, “We have distributed millions of books and I still do not see the world changing.”
If such devotees would go back out on sankirtan they would see daily and participate personally in stories like Payonidhi’s encounter on the “National mall” in DC with young Hungarians. People are being touched by these books, these kirtans, this prasadam and Deity worship, and the friendships and favorable association with devotees.
They would be encouraged by that one or two contacts during the day when grateful people are extremely happy to meet a devotee and take some books, and discuss them.
There are something like 6 billion people in the world, and we cannot expect to reach all of them overnight, but we have reached many and there is a great opportunity for the exponential increase of this outreach effort. If we reach even one person it is a great success, and we can see Prabhupada is now reaching hundreds of thousands.
Don’t let maya discourage you with all kinds of arguments. What other way is there to do real good for people than try to get them interested in Prabhupada’s books? Don’t be impatient.
I do see the world changing. When I started distributing books in America hardly anyone had heard of Bhagavad-Gita. Nowadays I encounter people all the time who know something about the Gita, who have owned Prabhupada’s books in the past, who have visited temples. Sometimes these people ask me, “Where have you guys been?” Sometimes they say things like, “I used to have the Nectar of Devotion, you know the pink one? Do you have a copy of that book? It was so great! I lost it and I need another one.” Sometimes they say, “My sister is a devotee in Hawaii”. It is very encouraging.
Sure we have distributed hundreds of millions, and we should go on distributing many more billions of books. Meanwhile, without slackening our pace in distributing the books, we should also find ways to increase interest in reading and discussing them. We need to work on follow-up or follow through with our book customers.
Communists made effective propaganda in Bengal by distributing books of Marx and Engels, etc. and encouraging study of this Marxist philosophy. Similarly, we need to encourage study groups to form and discuss Prabhupada’s books very vigorously, examining them from different angles, how they apply to all walks of life and all human endeavors.
I am an example af someone that does not live in a temple but still distribute Srila Prabhupadas books, because I see it as my lives mission, because I simply owe this to Srila Prabhupada .Lord Caitanya instructed the Kurma Brahmana to not take sannyasa and travel with him but simply stay at home at teach everyone about Krsna.Of course Srila Prabhupada has recommended at the age of 50 and up one takes sannaysa for preaching.
preaching and reading and worshipping Srimad Bhagavatam goes hand in hand,
Srila Sanatana Goswami has glorified Srimad Bhagavatam in his Krsna lila Stava:
Song Name: Sarva Sastrabdhi Piyusa
Official Name: Obeisance 107 Verses 412 to 416
Author: Sanatana Goswami
Book Name: Krsna Lila Stava
Language: Sanskrit
LYRICS:
(1)
sarva-ÅÄstrÄbdhi-pÄ«yÅ«sĢ£a sarva-vedaika-sat-phala
sarva-siddhÄnta-ratnÄdĢ£hya sarva-lokaika-drĢ£k-prada
(2)
sarva-bhÄgavata-prÄnĢ£a ÅrÄ«mad-bhÄgavata-prabho
kali-dhvÄntoditÄditya ÅrÄ«-krĢ£sĢ£nĢ£a-parivartita
(3)
paramÄnanda-pÄtĢ£hÄya prema-varsĢ£y-aksĢ£arÄya te
sarvadÄ sarva-sevyÄya ÅrÄ«-krĢ£sĢ£nĢ£Äya namo’stu me
(4)
mad-eka-bandho mat-saÅgin mad-guro man-mahÄ-dhana
man-nistÄraka mad-bhÄgya mad-Änanda namo’stu te
(5)
asÄdhu-sÄdhutÄ-dÄyin atinÄ«cocca-tÄkara
hÄ na muƱca kadÄcin mÄmĢ premnĢ£Ä hrĢ£t-kanĢ£tĢ£hayohĢ£ sphura
TRANSLATION
1-2) O Srimad-Bhagavatam, O nectar churned form the ocean of all the Vedic scriptures, O most prominent transcendental fruit of all the Vedas, O you who are enriched with the jewels of all spiritual philosophical conclusions, O you who grant spiritual vision to all the people of the world; O life-breath of the Vaisnava devotees, O Lord, You are the sun which has arisen to dispel the darkness of the Kali yuga. You are actually Krsna Who has returned (among us).
3) O Srimad-Bhagavatam, I offer respectful obeisances unto You. By reading you one attains transcendental bliss, for Your syllables rain pure love of God upon the reader. You are always to be served by everyone, for you are an incarnation of Krsna.
4) O Srimad-Bhagavatam, O my only friend, O my companion, O my teacher, O my great wealth, O my deliverer, O my good fortune, O my bliss, I offer respectful obeisances unto you.
5) O Srimad-Bhagavatam, O giver of saintliness to the unsaintly, O uplifter of the very fallen, please do not ever leave me. Please become manifested upon my heart and my throat, accompanied by pure love of Krsna.
Yes! Preaching and reading go hand in hand. Unless we are reading and gaining realization from that reading, most of us will not maintain our enthusiasm to preach.
It is from deeply appreciating Srila Prabhupada’s books that we feel the natural urge to induce others to appreciate them. They are not mere books or repositories of data, but are literary forms of Krishna Himself. If even the pictures are “windows to the spiritual world”, how much more so are the sacred instructions and mantras which fill every page? These books are not made of paper and ink, but of sac-cit-ananda. They are our Deities. They are the cintamani bricks or shilas from which the Govardhan Hill of ISKCON arises.
Once in L.A. (and perhaps elsewhere) Srila Prabhupada said it was not enough to simply distribute his books but that we must study them too. Otherwise, if someone asks what is in the book, we will have to respond, “I don’t know. I am just a salesman.” No. We should be experts in explaining the books and how valuable they are.
Of course, for the average persons, we have to explain it in a way they can understand. If we shared our confidential realizations about the importance of these books they would think we were crazy. (They probably think we are crazy anyway, truth be told.) :-)
Lord Caitanya first held kirtans at Srivas Thakur’s house for an exclusive group of devotees, but eventually the ecstasy overflooded and drowned the universe. Similarly, we should come together in gatherings of faithful devotees to study Srila Prabhupada’s books and chant the holy names according to our capacity. If we do it right we will then be irresistibly drawn to reach out to the general populace and try to bring those who are sufficiently fortunate into our happy circle.
The word “preaching” sometimes has a sour connotation for those who have been pressured by holier-than-thou types who derive a kind of sense enjoyment by feeling qualified to take a superior position and direct others how to behave.
Not that we do not need good direction (we are bewildered and groping in the dark most of the time), but we do not want to be bossed and exploited by those who do not really have the will or the means to truly enlighten us. We feel it is presumptuous and a violation of our privacy for them to point out our faults and try to change us without being invited.
But those who are pure and blissful and can communicate that nonenviousness will be welcomed to share and help us.
Bhg. 9:18:33-36
Gunadhikam mudam lipsed
Anukrosam gunadhamat
Maitrim samanad anvicchen
Na tapair abhibhuyate
Translation: Every man should act like this: when he meets a person more qualified than himself he should be very pleased; when he meets someone less qualified than himself, he should be compassionate toward him; and when he meets someone equal to himself, he should make friendship with him. In this way one is never affected by the threefold miseries of this material world.
Srila Prabhupada often expressed he wanted devotees to come to the Madhyma platform as they will then preach:
isvare tad-adhinesu
balisesu dvisatsu ca
prema-maitri-krpopeksa
yah karoti sa madhyamah
(Bhag. 11.2.46)
Isvare, one who has developed love for isvara, love for the Supreme Lord Krsna; tad-adhinesu, one who has developed friendship with those who are equal Vaisnavas; balisesu, one who becomes compassionate or merciful towards balisa, ignorant fools, murkha, and dvisatsu ca, one who ignores an offender is a mdhyam-adhikari. A madhyama-adhikari behaves in this way.
My Guru Maharaja used to say, prana ache yara sei hetu pracara. A preacher can, a person can become a preacher if he has got life. A dead man cannot become a preacher. So you must be very enthusiastic that āI shall preach the glories of the Lord to my best capacity.āā¦ Similarly, when you have entered into devotional service, bhakti-yoga, bhakti-marga, your success is assured, provided you are enthusiastic and patient.ā- Lecture on The Nectar of Devotion. Vrindavana, October 20, 1972.
there is 2 important verses in the prayers of Prahlada Maharaja about preaching:
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 7: Chapter Nine, Text 43-44
naivodvije para duratyaya-vaitaranyĆ s
tvad-vĆ®rya-gĆ yana-mahĆ mrita-magna-chittah
shoche tato vimukha-chetasa indriyĆ rtha-
mĆ yĆ -sukhĆ ya bharam udvahato vimĆ¹kthĆ n
TRANSLATION
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.
prĆ yena deva munayah sva-vimukti-kĆ mĆ
maunam charanti vijane na parĆ rtha-nishthĆ h
naitĆ n vihĆ ya kripanĆ n vimumukta eko
nĆ nyam tvad asya sharanam bhramato ānupashye
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord Nrsimhadeva, 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 Himalayas 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 Krsna 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.
Srila Prabhupada also left the 12 forests of Vraja Mandal to preach,so true followers of Srila Prabhuapda must preach and also properly practise devotional service.
Sadhu sadhu! Yes, Payonidhi, this mood of Prahlada Maharaja was Srila Prabhupada’s mood. These verses 7.9.43-44, are so beautiful and important. This is the real glory of ISKCON, this compassionate mood of Srila Prabhupada.
This is our guru dakshin. We have carry this Hare Krishna movement to every town and village and raise awareness of the real goal of life, turn them away from making elaborate arrangements for maya-sukhaya, and deliver them to Srila Prabhupada’s feet (by distributing Prabhupada’s books to them).
The story of Lord Nrsimhadeva and Prahlada Maharaja is so true, and beautiful and majestic and poetic and full of profound religious truth and drama and great spiritual sentiment. It is crazy that most of the world goes on praising other works of so-called literature and not recognizing Srimad-Bhagavatam as the King of all books.
We cannot sit idly by and allow this injustice to persist. The leading thinkers and cognoscenti of the world must come to appreciate this greatest masterpiece, the spotless purana, Srimad Bhagavatam. Otherwise, we have failed in our mission.