REPLY ON MASS DISTRIBUTION OF GAURA-LILA IS THE ONLY WAY! ONLY WAY!

[Guest guest]

Dear Nikhilananda Prabhu,

Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble obeisances.

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

I am greatly disheartened by your reply to my message so much so that I do

not feel like even replying to your messages which carry a insinuating tone

on my intentions which you have assumed to know fully on the basis of your

pre-destined conceptions. You have clearly accused me of being a ungrateful,

shameless offender to Srila Prabhupada and trying to undermine Srila

Prabhupada's instructions and books without any direct proof that this was

intention. You may not know that for the past ten years of my Krsna

consciousness I have fully dedicated to printing (in millions in BBT

Mumbai), distributing & reading the books of Srila Prabhupada.

 

Anyway it is true I am a constant offender at the lotus feet of the

Vaisnavas. But for the last time, I will try to defend my intentions in

writing the original message and the actual thinking behind it. Please

forgive that I will try to challenge your words even though you are very

very senior to me both spiritually and by age & generation.

 

> Message by Nikhilananda Dasa (ACBSP ):

>

> 1. I doubt that many people would be interested in or even be able to

> understand the Caitanya caritamrta, without the purports of Srila

> Prabhupada. These books have to be received through the via media of pure

> devotees. Your suggestion to print and distribute the CC -without- the

> purport of Srila Prabhupada seems to be -not- a good one.

 

You are wrong on that one. The recent book Cc Summary by Purnaprajna Prabhu

has tremendously kindled interest in Cc among the people. He is receiving

many many letters about where they can buy Prabhupada's 9-vol set. All of

them develop faith in Lord Caitanya's pastimes and speak wonderfully about

the book and Lord Caitanya.

 

When big companies have software products which are costly, they bring out a

free downloadable version or a very cheap one with some less features. When

people start using it and feel indispensible without it, they can very

easily decide to buy the full software. Please remember that if the demo

version was not availaible to the people, the sales of the full software

would be greatly reduced.

 

Prabhupada says that my followers should tax their brains to increase the

sales of my books. So I have suggested this method to increase the sales of

the Cc set (which I have read 3 times for your info). SP & SBSST said that

the whole world will read Cc one day. For the whole world to buy a nine-vol

set immediately is to expect a miracle. So to kindle interest for SP's Cc

set, a demo version with a beautiful ad of Prabhupada Cc set in the back

cover and references throughout the book, surely will tremendously increase

the sales of SP's Cc set. I have a feeling that Prabhupada will surely like

this idea because it is to increase the sales of his own Cc set. If it is

properly executed then we may end up distributing millions of Cc sets

yearly. Especially in India no one has the capacity to buy the Cc set unless

they have been thoroughly convinced about it because it costs the same as

the average monthly salary.

 

> Your implication that Iskcon´s main objective in book publication is to

> make money has been one of the accusations of the ex gaudiya math splinter

> groups who are envious of Srila Prabhupada and who have tried to disturb

> his mission until today. Anyone can talk and dream. Having

> translated and sold Srila Prabhupada´s books in many countries of the

> world I can assure you that the focus was not in the money but in the

> preaching, often we hardly recovered the manufacturing costs.

 

Prabhupada's plan for the BBT markup was the greatest genius mastermined

plan to actually spread KC. I never doubted that. Nor I am saying that there

is anything wrong in the distribution of Prabhupada's books while making

profit on it. Infact Prabhupada was proud that the society is being

maintained by selling his books.

 

What I am saying is that, just like a company gives out some of it's

products at cost or discount prices to create interest in it's other

important products, we can translate and publish Caitanya-bhagavata (as per

Prabhupada's instructions discused below) without any intention of making a

lot of money on it because Caitanya-bhagavata is an audarya book. Only for

this product. The regular markup policy will be followed for all other

books. Sometime SP did instruct to sell some books cheaply to create

interest for our other books.

 

Without trying to understand my intentions behind the points I made in my

original message, you have simply interpreted it as per your mental opinions

and thus come to the wrong conclusions.

 

> Your

> enthusiastic request that we will only be able to spread KC world wide if

> we immediately translate so many other works by the six goswamis etc and

> distribute them sounds nice but is not realistic.

 

I never said all or any of the books of the six Goswamis. Please don't

extrapolate and put words in my mouth just to prove your points.

 

> Nor does it correspond to the priorities and instructions left by Srila

> Prabhupada.

 

You are totally wrong again.

 

You are talking so much about Bhagavatam but seem to have forgotten

Prabhupada's wonderful words in the intro of the First Canto:

 

"Many devotees of Lord Caitanya like Srila Vrndavana dasa Thakura,

Sri Locana dasa Thakura, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, Sri

Kavikarnapura, Sri Prabodhananda Sarasvati, Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana

Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, Sri Gopala Bhatta

Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and in this latter age within two

hundred years, Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti, Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana, Sri

Syamananda Gosvami, Sri Narottama dasa Thakura, Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura and

at last Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura (our spiritual master) and

many other great and renowned scholars and devotees of the Lord have

prepared voluminous books and literatures on the life and precepts of the

Lord. Such literatures are all based on the sastras like the Vedas, Puranas,

Upanisads, Ramayana, Mahabharata and other histories and authentic

literatures approved by the recognized acaryas. They are unique in

composition and unrivaled in presentation, and they are full of

transcendental knowledge. Unfortunately the people of the world are still

ignorant of them, but when these literatures, which are mostly in Sanskrit

and Bengali, come to light the world and when they are presented before

thinking people, then India's glory and the message of love will overflood

this morbid world, which is vainly searching after peace and prosperity by

various illusory methods not approved by the acaryas in the chain of

disciplic succession."

 

Prabhupada is saying that when this books come to light, India's glory and

the message of love will overflood this morbid world. Why you are denying

that it his instructions?

 

Furthur Prabhupada says in Cc Adi 7.164 purp:

 

"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."

 

He clearly says that one should increase the number of books. Ofcourse

someone may take out a meaning that it means only to translate his books

furthur but it surely does mean also to publish new Krsna conscious books

because he said that the first duty of a sannyasi is to write books. They

are also many other such similar statements by Prabhupada but I don't want

to get into them because I am feeling a lot of pain while writing this

message and thus I don't want to make it big.

 

Also while blasting out at me, you seem to have completely and deliberately

neglected Prabhupada's expilicit observations in Cc Adi 8.36 purp, which

were mentioned in my original message:

 

"UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES [Note: difficulty in understanding

Bhagavatam], IT IS A GREAT AID FOR THE COMMON MAN TO READ SRILA VRNDAVANA

DASA THAKURA'S CAITANYA-BHAGAVATA, FOR THUS HE CAN ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND

DEVOTIONAL SERVICE, KRSNA, LORD CAITANYA AND NITYANANDA.[...]

 

DUE TO MISUNDERSTANDING SRIMAD-BHAGAVATAM, PEOPLE ARE MISLED REGARDING THE

SCIENCE OF KRSNA. HOWEVER, BY READING SRILA VRNDAVANA DASA THAKURA'S BOOK

ONE CAN VERY EASILY UNDERSTAND THIS SCIENCE."

 

So how will the Caitanya-bhagavata be available to the common man unless it

is translated into all the languages of the world in the form of an

affordable edition?

 

Since every word of the pure-devotee is transcendental, some follower of

Prabhupada may want to make the above instructions of Prabhupada his life

and soul so how can you say that he is a misled deviant, offender,

pretender, shameless, ungrateful etc. You may be yourself commiting the

hati-mata offense of judging and blaspheming Vaisnavas, the very thing that

you are accusing them of doing.

 

I never had any intention to suggest that this service should replace the

topmost service of translating, publishing and distributing Prabhupada's

books in as many languages as possible (which I myself have done for many

years). But you take it for granted that I had evil motives to minimize

Prabhupada's books and thus repeatedly replied me to very harshly in a

public forum. Anyway I accept it as your mercy on me due to the seniority of

your position.

 

> Some of these

> books were published by scholars and Gaudiya missions before and they had

> hardly any impact on people anywhere in the West.

 

Maybe only one or two books and that also in English language only. But they

were never made available to people on a mass-scale (only in their small

maths or libraries) because they could'nt do what Prabhupada could do i.e. a

vast book-distribution network of his dedicated followers. So how can say

there was no impact when they were never actually distributed?

 

> On the other hand, by

> the large scale distribution of the SB and the CC -with- purports of Srila

> Prabhupada, lakhs of people are becoming devotees.

 

Mass-scale distribution of the full-sets is not possible. But each volume of

Prabhupada is completely transcendental that it instantly changes the life

of whoever read it. I never said that Prabhupada's books are not effective

or less effctive. I just pointed out that side by side some devotees may

like to work on the instructions of Srila Prabhupada (some of them given

above) & the previous acharyas about translating & publishing Gaura-lila

especially Caitanya-bhagavata in a very accessible way. And that is also

important. By criticizing me, you seem to loudly proclaiming that there is a

difference between Prabhupada's books and Prabhupada's instructions

regarding Caitanya-bhagavata.

 

> So the request by Srila

> Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati M. and Thakur Bhaktivinode to spread the

> pastimes of Lord Caitanya are being fulfilled by Srila Prabhupada.

 

Did I ever doubt or challenge it? Ofcourse you may say that I did. But I say

that I never even had the slightest intention of doing that. You also cannot

prove it directly. You are free to believe what you think but please don't

make a campaign against me especially because I am also quoting Prabhupada's

instructions and am also an aspiring follower of Prabhupada.

 

> Many beginning devotees nowadays jump prematurely into all

> these different pastimes which are published without purports and before

> having sufficiently studied Srila Prabhupada´s purports. Needless to

> mention that such lack of understanding is bound to produce confusion.

 

No one will ever confused of reading Lord Caitanya's lila given is this most

authentic books like Caitanya-bhagavata (translated by authentic devotees)

and Caitanya-caritamrta but will surely come up to the level of seriously

taking up the scutinizing study of Srila Prabhupada's purports. Anyone who

has read this books closely can understand this statement. My personal life

is living experience of this fact.

 

> Undoubtedly

> Srila Prabhupada knows better than us what is the best way to please our

> previous acaryas. By jumping over Srila Prabhupada we will not achieve

> anything.

 

Please study Prabhupada's instructions properly before accusing anyone of

jumping over Prabhupada's instructions.

 

Then there is also the book "Teachings of Lord

> Caitanya" which for example in Germany was published before even the

> Bhagavad gita. What more do we want ?

 

TLC is highly philosophical and contains all the teachings of LC from the

Cc. So it is a very important book and should be distributed widely. But

even in Mahabharata Vyasadeva put the deep philosophy of Bhagavad-gita with

many stories so that the dull-minded people don't feel the burden or lack of

interest in just reading the philosophy. Similarly the books of Lord

Caitanya's lila (stories) are also required (even if not as imp as TLC)

because by reading people them people will study the teachings of LC (TLC)

with more interest.

 

> Worse, in the last two years many even have even

> tried to spread the theory that these purports are not so attractive or

> even defective

 

The purports are the personal ecstacies of the the senapati-bhakta of Lord

Caitanya and are the deliverer of everyone who reads them. This is an

undisputed fact and nobody should ever dare to minimize them.

 

> Your suggestion that it is only with the cooperation of these

> people of various ex gaudiya missions that we can publish books and be

> successful in our preaching is hard to follow, at least for me. Nor are

> your appeals for neutrality applicable in this case.

 

I never directly implied gaudiya missions. That's again your interpretation.

On the contrary, you cannot also claim that all of Prabhupada's followers

who have faith in publishing and distributing his books or

Caitanya-bhagavata have to be restricted to those within the ISKCON society.

 

> This book (Caitanya-bhagavata) is already being translated and published

> by Prabhupada disciples in the English language.

 

But is very costly atleast as per Indian standards. Rs.400 per volume

(totally 6 volumes). At this rate it will never be accessible to the common

man as Srila Prabhupada wanted. Again because it is not yet been released in

any of the regional languages how will it be accessible to the common man?

Also Kusakratha Prabhu one-volume book is very costly and not available

outside the US and even in US with great difficulty.

 

> > (4) Sri Caitanya-mangala by Srila Locana Das Thakura to give people a

> > small but complete and nectarean glimpse into Lord Gaura's pastimes.

>

> This book has been available in the English language in most Iskcon temple

> book shops, for the last five years.

 

Again it is Rs.300 and only in English. Whereas a similar size Prabhupada

book in India costs Rs.50. So hardly anybody purchases it. Maybe 2000 to

3000 copies have been sold all over the world since the fast five years or

more.

 

So I hope you will see my point and kindly engage in furthur correspondence

regarding this issue privately rather than in a public forum especially with

insinuating tones and also since I have clarified myself now.

 

I may have tried to defend myself and you may reject it but ultimately Srila

Prabhupada and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai know what are my intentions in trying to

work for translation and mass distribution of Caitanya-bhagavata.

 

Thus I am not at all interested in discussing this issue furthur, also

because I am shocked at the way you have presented your points. You could

have done it in a more palatable manner.

 

Last but not the least, I require your mercy to be able to try to fulfill

Prabhupada's, acaryas' and Gaura Nitai's desires for making

Caitanya-bhagavata available to the common man in as many languages of the

world as possible. guru-mukha padma vakya cittete koriya eka. One can get

unlimited inspiration from any one statement of the pure devotee and make it

his life and soul.

 

Your aspiring servant, Nayana-ranjana Das Brahmacari.

 

P.S. Just one feedback I got on my original message:

 

BY READING your message,my heart stared melting i

dont know why, just think if this books come & people

read it then there will be ocean of tears love of

guarakripa flowing.

 

If there is any service to me then please let me know,

i know you can do it all alone but please don't be so

selfish please engage me in this higest transcandental

service.

 

[if the message about distributing Caitanya-bhagavata can melt people'

hearts, how much the book will?]