Why did Srila Prabhupada write so many books?

[krsna]

So we are also old. In the Bhagavad-gita you find this verse, nityah sasvato 'yam purano na hanyate hanyamane sarire. Do you remember, any one of you, this verse from the Bhagavad-gita? Eh? But you don't read. So I am writing all these books simply for selling, not for reading. This is not good. And if somebody asks you, "You are so much eager to sell your books. Do you read your books?" Then what you will say? "No, sir, we don't read. We sell only. Our Guru Maharaja writes, and we sell." That is not good business. You must read. Why I am writing so many books? Not a single moment waste. If you want to become successful in Krsna consciousness, don't lose even a single moment. That should be the first determination. Avyartha-kalatvam, Rupa Gosvami says. Forget sleeping, eating, mating. This is all material necessities. If you increase these things, then you cannot make any progress in spiritual life.

 

[srila Prabhupada from a Srimad-Bhagavatam Lecture 1.16.24, Hawaii, January

 

[krsna]

So I am writing all these books simply for selling, not for reading. This is not good. And if somebody asks you, "You are so much eager to sell your books. Do you read your books?" Then what you will say? "No, sir, we don't read. We sell only. Our Guru Maharaja writes, and we sell." That is not good business. You must read. Why I am writing so many books?

[stonehearted]

I was there for this lecture. He asked for someone to cite a Bhagavad-gita verse, and there was a pause--too long a pause, it seems. So he chided us for not spending more time studying his books. His mood comes through a little more clearly in the audio, and it was crystal clear for those of us in the room. It's worth noting, I believe, that Tripurari Maharaja, who was so famous for distributing Srila Prabhupada's books, was also well known for studying them.

[Guest guest]

 

It's worth noting, I believe, that Tripurari Maharaja, who was so famous for distributing Srila Prabhupada's books, was also well known for studying them.

 

But, when one comes to begin writing his own books and commentaries, then that is saying that "I have understood everything my gurudeva wrote in his books and now I am furthering this line of thinking".

 

Before one becomes an author of books, he must first have understood all the overt and covert meanings in the books of his guru.

 

Otherwise, one should just refer others to the books where one got his own education instead of presuming to further the thoughts of his own spriitual master or merge the teachings of different spiritual masters into one one homogenized soup.