Reading Srila Prabhupada’s Books is the Basis

Today we had 332 participants on our conference, so keep joining. There is a benefit of the association you get while chanting here. The title of this conference is “ LET’S CHANT TOGETHER !” If you are chanting alone you may face challenges, but if you are in the company of others chanting with you , then it becomes a little of a downhill task. You don’t have to fight with Maya so much and you win the battle with Maya. You could concentrate and focus on chanting. So keep taking advantage. You are not chanting only with me , but as you have heard the scores, you are also chanting with so many devotees. Five hundred devotees are chanting. Each participant brings so many chanters with him – from his family, temple , youth groups, Gurukul and BACE devotees . So like that there are lots of devotees chanting with you, which gives you strength. It also gives you faith. Your concentration gets better as you chant.

Yesterday different topics, issues were being discussed in our SGGS. They are putting their heads together to tackle various issues faced by ISKCON. They are also trying to develop a common vision.

One topic yesterday was ‘regular reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books’. We are distributing but we are not reading, which is the major concern. There is an observation that slowly there is a decline, less and less brahmacaris and devotees which also includes congregation devotees, are reading books written by Srila Prabhupada. An observation was made that 10% of our devotees are in a temple and 90% of the initiated devotees and followers are outside the temple, in their homes and their congregation. They are also an integral part of our movement. However reading is happening less and less. During Prabhupad’s days he also once complained that, ’ My disciples are not reading my books enough.’ He was satisfied with the books scores. Lots of books are being distributed, but his claim was as he said, ‘I wrote these books so that my disciples would read them. They are meant for reading and not only for distributing.’

What do you think? Are you all reading Srila Prabhupada’s books regularly? This book reading was the topic of discussion and all the leaders were recommended to encourage and inspire or create a role model in their areas that others could follow. In every temple there should be some encouraging words, inspiring statements, so that devotees could read Srila Prabhupada’s books.

Do you know what is the connection between chanting and reading? If you keep reading Srila Prabhupada’s books or if you don’t read Srila Prabhupada’s books what will happen ?

Devotee 1 – If we don’t read Srila Prabhupada’s books then we won’t know why we are chanting?

Devotee 2 – If you don’t read Prabhupada’s books our chanting may end up just being a sentimental thing, without much knowledge.

Devotee 3 – If we don’t read Srila Prabhupada’s books then we won’t understand philosophy and then we won’t know how to follow in the footsteps of Rupa Goswami and previous acaryas. Prabhupada has led the foundation, the mood of Vaisnava acaryas. In order to follow Rupa Goswami we need to understand scriptures. But if we read Prabhupada’s books we get that information from scriptures in an organized way.

Devotee 4 – Many times in my experience chanting becomes monotonous if we don’t read Srila Prabhupada’s books. When we read Srila Prabhupada’s books regularly in which he writes even if you don’t have taste in chanting you have to continue chanting. So we get encouragement for chanting.

Devotee 5 – Prabhupada said books are the basis. That speaks volumes. If we read, it will positively impact on our chanting. We will have a taste for chanting.

Devotee 6 – Prabhupada has explained in his books about sambandha jnana. If intellectually we are not situated in sambandh-jnana then we will not have the impetus to chant. If we have studied sambandh jnana then even if our mind gets disturbed our intellect will be sharp enough to defeat the mind and continue chanting.

Devotee 7 – HH Sivaram Maharaja says important reading or hearing leads to important chanting. Because unless and until you read we don’t get to know why, what, how and where to chant? These questions will be answered when we read or hear Srila Prabhupada’s books.

Guru Maharaja – Some doubting minds are there. If you read Srila
Prabhupada’s books , you will be free from the doubts.

chidyante sarva-samsayah ( SB. 1.2.21)

nasṭa-prayesu abhadresu
nityam bhagavata-sevaya
bhagavaty uttama-sloke
bhaktir bhavati naisthiki ( SB. 1.2.18)

If you read and hear Bhagavatam nityam, regularly, then you will become free from doubts. If you have doubts then read Prabhupada’s books for solutions. The point is we have to read Srila Prabhupada’s books more and more regularly. There was a proposal that if you read 40 pages of Bhagavatam each day then you could complete 12 cantos in one year. Vaiyasiki Prabhuji is a very regular reader and he is also promoting this regular reading of Bhagavatam and some other spiritual books. Read a chapter of Bhagavad-Gita every day. If you do not read the whole chapter then at least read the Sanskrit slokas and translations. One day, one chapter! Like that there are different ideas about what you could read every day. Each one of you must make some plan, some strategies about the 24 hours that we have . Everyone has only 24 hours. Anyone has 25 hours? So why don’t we do it? There was a lengthy discussion on this topic in SGGS yesterday. We spent a few hours on this. All the senior most leaders were contemplating. We have also initiated this dialogue here so you can share more and make some plans to read.

Time management is also one of the reasons why we don’t read regularly. Social media and internet distractions are a major cause keeping us away from reading. Some of our temples have taken away the smart phones from temple brahmacaris. They have ‘unsmart’ phones because there are some abuses or wrong uses of the smart phone. Whoever wants to be smart has some ways to be smart. It is not good for Krsna devotees to follow in the footsteps of worldly people. So many reasons were listed for the possible causes of reading less and less. There were lots of suggestions regarding how we can read more. So it so happens that if we don’t read Srila Prabhupada’s books then we stop chanting. Prabhupada’s books – Nectar of Devotion talks about the offences against the holy name. Now we know, remember and try to avoid those offences. One thing which was also said is that we will become a movement of third class devotees without reading. There was a comment – punar mushika bhava. ( story from Hitopadesh) …. Become a mouse again which means become Hindu again. Before coming to Krishna consciousness we were Hindus or Christians. We go back to that kind of origin. Krishna consciousness is something different, something superior. It is the topmost. It is the essence of all religion and the symptom of the soul. The soul’s consciousness is revived and that is Krishna consciousness. That Krishna consciousness will not be revived if we do not read Srila Prabhupada’s books. Prabhupada presented ‘Bhagavad-Gita As It is.’ Reading of the Bhagavad-Gita will be lost and then we will read or hear the commentaries of some speculators, Karmakandis and Jnanakandis . The world is ….

krsna-bhakta — niskama, ataeva ‘santa’
bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami — sakali ‘asanta’( CC Madhya 19.149)

“Because a devotee of Lord Krsna is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jnanis desire liberation, and yogis desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful.

…. so rise above all this karmakandis, jnanakandis. We have to read Srila Prabhupada’s books which also contains commentaries by the previous acarya – the thoughts and proposals of Rupa Goswami who presented Krsna and Caitanya Mahaprabhu . If we don’t read Prabhupada’s books , would we have come to Mayapur? They would not even get to hear the name Mayapur. We will not end up chanting Hare Krishna, but will end up chanting ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ or that famous aarti ‘Jaya Jagadish Hare ,Swami Jaya Jagadish Hare’. We would not have sung kiba jayo jayo gaurachander aratika sobha’. The world would have missed Gauracanda. It made a difference to understand Caitanya Mahaprabhu and what is being propagated in the world . I made a comment – we will become Caitanya-less, without Caitanya Mahaprabhu and also without Caitanya’ i.e. consciousness which is Krishna consciousness. So it’s very important that we all study Srila Prabhupad’s books regularly.

In SGGS we had our own Bhagavatam class and the purpose is that there should be more interactions and reading more of Srila Prabhupada’s books. Vaiyasiki Prabhuji gave class yesterday and others also were talking. We will have to stop here. See you another day, same time.

Hare Krishna!