Preaching Pada: Part 1

sudhaya · April 27, 2004

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1. The Mission of the Lord: To Give All

Living Entities the Benediction of

Krsna Consciousness

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Krsna Caitanya and Lord Nitysnanda, who are like the sun and moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauda to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all.

Cc Adi 12

May that Lord, who is known as the son of Srimati Sacidevi, be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant spiritual knowledge of the mellow taste of His service.

Cc. Adi 1.4

Sri Krsna and Balarama, the Personalities of Godhead, who formerly appeared in Vrndavana and were millions of times more effulgent than the sun and moon, have arisen over the eastern horizon of Gauda-deSa [West Bengal], being compassionate for the fallen state of the world. The appearance of Sri Krsna Caitanya and Prabhu Nityananda has surcharged the world with happiness. As the sun and moon drive away darkness by their appearance and reveal the nature of everything, these two brothers dissipate the darkness of the living beings' ignorance and enlighten them with knowledge of the Absolute Truth.

Cc Adi 1 85-89

"Spreading Krsna consciousness is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission; therefore His sincere devotees must carry out His desire.... The devotees of Lord Caitanya must preach Krsna consciousness in every village and town in the world. That will satisfy the Lord. It is not that one should act whimsically for his own personal satisfaction. This order comes down through the parampara system, and the spiritual master presents these orders to the disciple so that he can spread the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It is the duty of every disciple to carry out the order of the bona fide spiritual master and spread Lord Caitanya's message all over the world."

Cc. Madhya 16.64

"Preaching is the best service to the Lord. The Lord will immediately be extremely satisfied with one who engages in this service of preaching Krsna consciousness. This is confirmed by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gita (18.69). Na ca tasman manusyesu kaScin me priya-krttamah: 'There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.' If one sincerely tries his best to spread Krsna consciousness by preaching the glories of the Lord and His supremacy, even if he is imperfectly educated, he becomes the dearmost servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is bhakti. As one performs this service for humanity, without discrimination between friends and enemies, the Lord becomes satisfied, and the mission of one's life is fulfilled."

Bhag. 7.6.24

"The members of this (ISKCON) Society must always remember that if they stick to the regulative principles and preach sincerely according to the instructions of the acaryas, surely they will have the profound blessings of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and their preaching work will be successful everywhere throughout the world."

Cc. Adi 7.171

A Note of Explanation: Every word of the text of this book is taken directly from the books of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The texts appearing in boldface type are Srila Prabhupada's translations of verses from the Vedic literatures. The text in regular roman type consists of excerpts from His Divine Grace's summary studies and purports.

A Drop From the Ocean

of the Nectar of the Glories of

Preaching Krsna Consciousness:

It is the mission of the Lord to liberate the conditioned souls:

The Lord wanted to create the cosmic manifestation to give another chance to the conditioned souls who were dormant in forgetfulness. The cosmic manifestation gives the conditioned souls a chance to go back home, back to Godhead, and that is its main purpose. The Lord is so kind that in the absence of such a manifestation He feels something wanting, and thus the creation takes place. Although the creation of the internal potency was manifested, the other potency appeared to be sleeping, and the Lord wanted to awaken her to activity, just as a husband wants to awaken his wife from the sleeping state for enjoyment. It is the compassion of the Lord for the sleeping energy that He wants to see her awaken for enjoyment like the other wives who are awake. The whole process is to enliven the sleeping conditioned souls to the real life of spiritual consciousness so that they may thus become as perfect as the ever-liberated souls in the VaikunThalokas. Since the Lord is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [bs. 5.1], He likes every part and parcel of His different potencies to take part in the blissful rasa because participation with the Lord in his eternal rasa-lila is the highest living condition, perfect in spiritual bliss and eternal knowledge.

Bhag. 3.5.24

The sankirtana movement is the pastime of Lord Caitanya:

The sankirtana movement inaugurated by Lord Caitanya is a transcendental pastime of the Lord. "By it I live simultaneously to preach and popularize this movement in the material world." In that sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya, Nityananda and Advaita are His expansions, and Gadadhara and Srivasa are His internal and marginal potencies. The living entities are also called marginal potency because they have, potentially, two attitudes-namely the tendency to surrender unto Krsna and the tendency to become independent of Him. Due to the propensity for material enjoyment, the living entity becomes contaminated by the material world. When a living entity is dominated by a desire for material enjoyment and becomes entangled in material life, he is subjected to the threefold miseries of material existence. He is just like a seed sown in the earth. If a seed is overpowered by too much water, there is no possibility of its fructifying. Similarly, if a man is captivated by material enjoyment, and even if the seed of such enjoyment is within the heart of the conditioned soul, he can be overpowered by a flood of transcendental activities performed in love of God. In this way his potential seed cannot fructify into a conditional life of material existence. The conditioned living entities in the material world, especially in the present age of Kali, are overpowered by the flood of love of God inaugurated by Lord Caitanya and His associates.

TLC, Ch. 17

Lord Caitanya's desire is to spread His mercy throughout the world:

The special function of Srila Rupa Gosvami is to establish the feelings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. These feelings are His desires that His special mercy be spread throughout the world in this Kali-yuga.

prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama

sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

His desire is that all over the world everyone, in every village and every town, know of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His sankirtana movement. These are the inner feelings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Rupa Gosvami committed to writing all these feelings of the Lord. Now again, by the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the same feelings are being spread all over the world by the servants of the Gosvamis.... Those who are on the level of hogs and dogs will never appreciate such a great attempt. Yet this does not matter to the preachers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's cult, for all over the world they will continue to perform this responsible work, even though persons who are like cats and dogs do not appreciate them.

Cc. Antya 1.117

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu liberated all living entities in the universe:

[sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said,] "On this earth there are many living entities... some moving and some not moving. What will happen to the trees, plants, insects and other living entities? How will they be delivered from material bondage?"

Haridasa Thakura replied, "My dear Lord, the deliverance of all moving and nonmoving living entities takes place only by Your mercy. You have already granted this mercy and delivered them.... When Your devotee Vasudeva Datta submitted his plea at Your lotus feet for the deliverance of all living entities, You accepted that request. My dear Lord, You have accepted the form of a devotee just to deliver all the fallen souls of this world. You have preached the loud chanting of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra and in this way freed all moving and nonmoving living entities from material bondage."

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied, "If all living entities were liberated, the entire universe would be devoid of living beings."

Haridasa said, "My Lord, as long as You are situated within the material world, You will send to the spiritual sky all the developed moving and nonmoving living entities in different species. Then again You will awaken the living entities who are not yet developed and engage them in activities."

There are many unmanifested living entities covered by the mode of ignorance who will gradually come to the mode of passion. Most of them will become criminals because of their fruitive activities and again fill the prisons.

"My dear Lord, You have set a plan in motion by descending on the material world, but no one can understand how You are acting. Formerly, when Lord Krsna descended in Vrndavana, He freed all living entities in the universe from material existence in the same way.... By descending as an incarnation at Navadvipa, You, just like Krsna, have already delivered all the living entities of the universe."

Cc. Antya 3.67-68, 74-80, 82-83, 86

The Lord descended as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to deliver the entire world:

Advaita Acarya was always absorbed in thoughts of how to deliver the fallen souls of the entire world. "The entire world is full of nondevotees," He thought. "How will they be delivered?" Determined to deliver all the fallen souls, Advaita Acarya decided to cause Krsna to descend. With this vow, He began to offer Ganges water and tulasi leaves to worship the Lord. Similarly, Haridasa Thakura chanted in his cave on the bank of the Ganges with the intention to cause Krsna's descent. Because of the devotional service of these two persons; Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu descended as an incarnation. Thus He preached the holy name of the Lord and ecstatic love of Krsna to deliver the entire world.

Cc Antya 3. 223-226

The Lord has inaugurated the Hare Krsna movement for the benefit of human society:

Whenever the principles of religion deteriorate and the principles of irreligion increase, the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead Sri Hari, appears by His own will.

In the present age, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has appeared as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to inaugurate the Hare Krsna movement. At the present time, in Kali-yuga, people are extremely sinful and bad.... They have no idea of spiritual life and are misusing the benefits of the human form to live like cats and dogs. Under these circumstances Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has inaugurated the Hare Krsna movement, which is not different from Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one associates with this movement, he directly associates with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. People should take advantage... and thus gain relief from all the problems created in this age of Kali.

Bhag. 9.24.56

Out of compassion, the Lord tries to liberate the fallen souls:

[Gajendra prayed,] "Since an animal such as I has surrendered unto You, who are supremely liberated, certainly You will release me from this dangerous position. Indeed, being extremely merciful, You incessantly try to deliver me.... "

Only Krsna can deliver us from this material existence. Indeed, He is always trying to deliver us.... He is within our hearts and is not at all inattentive. His only aim is to deliver us from material life. It is not that He becomes attentive to us only when we offer prayers to Him. Even before we offer our prayers, He incessantly tries to deliver us. He is never lazy in regard to our deliverance.... It is the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord that He always tries to bring us back home, back to Godhead. God is liberated, and He tries to make us liberated, but although He is constantly trying, we refuse to accept His instructions.... Nonetheless, He has not become angry. Therefore He is described here as bhuri-karunaya, unlimitedly merciful in delivering us from this miserable material condition of life and taking us back home, back to Godhead.

Bhag. 8.3.17

The Krsna consciousness movement is nondifferent from the pastimes performed by Lord Caitanya; it is overflooding the entire world with mercy:

The activities of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu are just like an ocean of nectar. Even a drop of this ocean can inundate all the three worlds.

To inundate the three worlds with nectar is the purpose of the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. How this could be possible was exhibited by Srila Raghunatha Gosvami and later by Thakura Narottama dasa and Syamananda Gosvami, who all represented the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Now that same mercy is overflooding the entire world through the Krsna consciousness movement. The present Krsna consciousness movement is nondifferent from the pastimes performed by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He was personally present, for the same principles are being followed and the same actions performed without fail.

Cc. Antya 5.88

The Lord sends His representatives to remove the miseries of life:

Material existence is full of undesirables. Things we do not want are forced upon us by some superior energy, and we do not see that these undesirables are under the grip of the three modes of material nature.... undesirable happenings in life cannot be checked by any number of plans. Such miseries can be removed only by the mercy of the Lord, who sends His bona fide representatives to enlighten human beings and thus save them from all calamities.

Bhag. 1.14.11

The Lord's plan is to end the living entities' suffering:

... because He [the Lord] wants to maintain the creation, He desires the mass of people to follow the right path of self-realization, which enables the living beings to enter into the kingdom of God. The Lord wants the suffering human beings to come back home, back to Him, and cease to suffer the threefold material pangs. The whole plan of creation is made in that way, and one who does not come to his senses suffers in the material world by pangs inflicted by the illusory energy of the Lord.

Bhag. 1.10.2

The Lord desires to bring all the living entities back to His kingdom:

... the Lord is equally affectionate to all His parts and parcels, despite material gradation. He descends only to recall these materialistic living beings back to His kingdom, and intelligent persons take advantage of this facility offered by the Personality of Godhead to all living beings. No one is rejected by the Lord from the kingdom of God, and it remains with the living being to accept this or not.

Bhag. 1.11.22

The Lord gives the fallen souls the chance for the highest perfection of life:

The Lord is ever increasingly merciful upon the fallen souls of this material world. The whole cosmic manifestation is a chance for all to improve themselves in devotional service to the Lord, and everyone is meant for that purpose.... The Lord gives the fallen souls the chance for this highest perfection of life.

Bhag. 3.9.25

The Lord wants the suffering living beings to go back home, back to Godhead:

Sometimes He [the Lord] incarnates Himself or empowers a suitable living being to act for Him, but in either case the purpose is the same.... The Lord, therefore, comes to propagate the message of the kingdom of God, either personally as an incarnation or through His bona fide representative as the good son of God. Such incarnations or sons of God are not making propaganda for going back to Godhead only within the human society. Their work is also going on in all types of societies, amongst demigods and those other than human beings.

Bhag. 1.2.34

The Lord is very kind to the forgetful souls:

The Lord is very kind to the forgetful souls. He therefore comes Himself and leaves behind necessary instructions and also sends His good sons as representatives to call all the conditioned souls back to Godhead. Recently, within the memory of everyone, Lord Caitanya also appeared for the same purpose: to show special favor to fallen souls of this age of iron industry.

Bhag. 1.3.9

How the Lord helps reclaim the conditioned souls:

... unalloyed devotees of the Lord appear on the earth just to execute the mission of the Lord. The Lord desires the conditioned souls hovering in the material creation to be reclaimed to go back home, back to Godhead, and thus He helps them by preparing the transcendental literatures like the Vedas, by sending missionaries of saints and sages and by deputing His representative, the spiritual master.

Bhag. 1.12.16

The Lord's greatest glory: His causeless mercy upon the conditioned souls:

"The Vedic reciters or the personified Vedas sing thus: 'O unconquerable, You are the Supreme Personality. No one is equal to You or greater than You. No one can be more glorious in His activities. All glories unto You! All glories unto You! By Your own transcendental nature You fully possess all six opulences. As such, You are able to deliver all conditioned souls from the clutches of maya. O Lord, we fervently pray that You kindly do so.... The conditioned souls are struggling very hard to escape from the material bondage, and according to their different conditions of life they have been given different types of engagement. But all engagements are based on Your knowledge. Pious activities can be executed only when inspired by Your mercy. Therefore, without taking shelter at Your lotus feet one cannot surpass the influence of material energy. Actually, we, as personified Vedic knowledge, are always engaged in Your service to help the conditioned soul understand You.' "

This prayer of the Vedas personified illustrates that the Vedas are meant for helping the conditioned souls to understand Krsna. All the Srutis or personified Vedas offered glories to the Lord again and again, singing, "Jaya! Jaya!" This indicates that the Lord is praised for His glories. Of all His glories the most important is His causeless mercy upon the conditioned souls in reclaiming them from the clutches of maya.

Krsna, Ch. 18

Krsna comes to rescue the fallen souls:

Because we have forgotten Krsna, Krsna has given us all these Vedas and Puranas. Krsna also comes into this material world in order to remind us of Himself. In this Kali-yuga, people are forgetting Krsna more and more. They are not even interested in Him, but Krsna is interested because we are His sons. A mad son may no longer be interested in his home, in his father or mother, yet the father never loses interest in his son. He is anxious because his boy has left home and is suffering. Similarly, Krsna's son leaves the spiritual sky and takes up one material body after another and in this way travels from one planet to another in different species of life. Therefore Krsna comes to rescue him.

TLK Ch. 16, texts 39-40

sudhaya · April 27, 2004

2A It Is the Duty of the Devotee to Preach

The brahmacari must daily collect alms for the spiritual master:

sayam prataS cared bhaiksyam

gurave tan nivedayet

The brahmacari should go out morning and evening to collect alms, and he should offer all that he collects to the spiritual master.

Bhag. 7.12.5

It is the duty of every disciple to preach:

Spreading Krsna consciousness is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission; therefore His sincere devotees must carry out His desire.... The devotees of Lord Caitanya must preach Krsna consciousness in every village and town in the world. That will satisfy the Lord. It is not that one should act whimsically for his own personal satisfaction. This order comes down through the parampara system, and the spiritual master presents these orders to the disciple so that he can spread the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It is the duty of every disciple to carry out the order of the bona fide spiritual master and spread Lord Caitanya's message all over the world.

Cc. Madhya 16.64 (Madhya: 6, p. 188)

Lord Caitanya's order to preach:

yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadeSa

amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei deSa

[Cc. Madhya 7.128]

"Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krsna as they are given in Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land."

Cc. Madhya 7.128

Lord Caitanya instructs everyone to preach:

In this age of Kali, people cannot follow the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore the Lord Himself takes the part of Sri Krsna Caitanya to teach personally how to become Krsna conscious. He asks everyone to follow Him and to become a guru to deliver the fallen souls of Kali-yuga.

yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadeSa

amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei deSa

"Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krsna as they are given in Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land." (Cc. Madhya 7.128)

Bhag. 8.1.16

Lord Caitanya advised His followers to preach:

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu advised His followers to increase the numbers of Vaisnavas.... It is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's wish that everyone should become a Vaisnava and guru. Following the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His disciplic succession, one can become a spiritual master, for the process is very easy. One can go everywhere and anywhere to preach the instructions of Krsna. Bhagavad-gita is Krsna's instructions; therefore the duty of every Vaisnava is to travel and preach Bhagavad-gita, either in his country or a foreign country.

Cc. Madhya 24.277

Lord Caitanya orders that the devotee should preach:

A devotee must carry out the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadeSa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. Every devotee, therefore, should spread Krsna consciousness by preaching, asking whomever he meets to accept the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam Saranam vraja: [bg. 18.66] "Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me." This is the order of the Lord, who speaks as the supreme emperor. Everyone should be induced to accept this order, for this is victory (dig-vijaya). And it is the duty of the soldier, the devotee, to impress upon everyone this philosophy of life

Bhag. 9.11.25 (IX:2, p 127)

A devotee who tries to preach is first class:

As far as the field of spiritual activities is concerned, when a devotee is self-satisfied and does not preach the glories of Krsna, he is not considered a first-class devotee. A devotee who tries to preach, who has compassion upon innocent persons who have no knowledge of Krsna, is a superior devotee. In his prayer to the Lord, Prahlada Maharaja said that he was not personally interested in liberation from this material world; rather, he did not wish to be liberated from this material condition until all fallen souls are delivered.

Bhag. 4.17 26

Lord Caitanya orders that all accept and distribute Krsna consciousness:

"Since the tree of devotional service is transcendental, every one of its parts can perform the action of all the others. Although a tree is supposed to be immovable, this tree nevertheless moves. All the parts of this tree are spiritually cognizant, and thus as they grow up they spread all over the world. I am the only gardener. How many places can I go? How many fruits can I pick and distribute? It would certainly be a very laborious task to pick the fruits and distribute them alone, and still I suspect that some would receive them and others would not. Therefore I order every man within this universe to accept this Krsna consciousness movement and distribute it everywhere. I am the only gardener. If I do not distribute these fruits, what shall I do with them? How many fruits can I alone eat? By the transcendental desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, water has been sprinkled all over the tree, and thus there are innumerable fruits of love of Godhead. Distribute this Krsna consciousness movement all Over the world. Let people eat these fruits and ultimately become free from old age and death."

Cc. Adi 9 32-39

Serious students of the Krsna consciousness movement must preach devotional service all over the world:

Serious students of this Krsna consciousness movement must understand their great responsibility to preach the cult of Vrndavana (devotional service to the Lord) all over the world.... I am very hopeful that some of our students can take up this responsibility and render the best service to humanity by educating people in Krsna consciousness.

Cc. Madhya 23.104

Devotees should rise from the neophyte stage to the preaching platform:

Everyone is eligible to become Krsna's devotee. One simply has to be trained according to the approved process. It is the work of Krsna's confidential devotees to turn everyone into a krsna-bhakta. If the confidential devotees do not take up the task of elevating everyone to Krsna consciousness, then who will do it? Those who claim to be devotees but do not engage in Krsna's service to elevate all living creatures to Krsna consciousness are to be considered kanisTha-adhikaris (people in the lowest stage of devotional service). When one rises to the second platform of devotional service, his business is to propagate Krsna consciousness all over the world. Those who are active in the Krsna consciousness movement should not remain in the neophyte stage but should rise to the platform of preachers, the second platform of devotional service. Devotional service is so enchanting that even the first-class devotees (uttama-adhikaris) also come down to the second platform to preach and render service to the Lord for the benefit of the whole world.

Cc. Madhya 24.205

The devotee's interest is to actively preach Krsna consciousness:

He [the devotee] is not interested in so-called meditation in the Himalayas or the forest. Rather, his interest is in the busiest part of the world, where he teaches people Krsna consciousness. The Krsna consciousness movement was started for this purpose.... The members of the Krsna 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 Krsna consciousness movement is interested in going door to door to try to convince people about the teachings of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the teachings of Lord Caitanya. That is the purpose of the Hare Krsna movement. The members of the Krsna consciousness movement must be fully convinced that without Krsna one cannot be happy.

Bhag. 7.9.44

After being saved, the devotee should preach Krsna consciousness:

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also advised Vasudeva to preach about Krsna and thus liberate living entities. As a result, Krsna would very soon accept him as His devotee.

Although Vasudeva Vipra was a leper and had suffered greatly, still Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu cured him. The only return the Lord wanted was that Vasudeva preach the instructions of Krsna and liberate all human beings. That is the process of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Each and every member of this Society was rescued from a very abominable condition, but now they are engaged in preaching the cult of Krsna consciousness.... If one wants to be recognized as a devotee by Krsna, he should take to preaching work, following the advice of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Then one will undoubtedly attain the lotus feet of Sri Krsna Caitanya, Lord Krsna Himself, without delay.

Cc. Madhya 7.148

Lord Caitanya wants his followers to preach all over the world:

"Dear Lord, Your personal associates, devotees, wander all over the world to purify even the holy places of pilgrimage. Is not such activity pleasing to those who are actually afraid of material existence?"

There are two kinds of devotees. One is called gosThy-anandi and the other bhajananandi. The word bhajananandi refers to the devotee who does not move but remains in one place. Such a devotee is always engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. He chants the maha-mantra as taught by many acaryas and sometimes goes out for preaching work. The gosThy-anandi is one who desires to increase the number of devotees all over the world. He travels all over the world just to purify the world and the people residing in it. Caitanya Mahaprabhu advised: prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama/ sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted His followers to move all over the world and preach in every town and village. In the Caitanya-sampradaya those who strictly follow the principles of Lord Caitanya must travel all over the world to preach the message of Lord Caitanya, which is the same as preaching the words of Krsna- Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. The more the devotees preach the principles of krsna-katha, the more people throughout the world will benefit.

Devotees like the great sage Narada who travel all over to preach are called gosThy-anandi. Narada Muni is always wandering throughout the universe just to create different types of devotees. Narada even made a hunter a devotee. He also made Dhruva Maharaja and Prahlada devotees. Actually all devotees are indebted to the great sage Narada, for he has wandered both in heaven and in hell. A devotee of the Lord is not even afraid of hell. He goes to preach the glories of the Lord everywhere-even in hell-because there is no distinction between heaven and hell for a devotee.

narayana-parah sarve

na kutaScana bibhyati

svargapavarga-narakesv

api tulyartha-darSinah

"A pure devotee of Narayana is never afraid of going anywhere and everywhere. For him heaven and hell are one and the same." (Bhag. 6.17.28)

Such devotees, wandering all over the world, deliver those who are actually afraid of this material existence.

Bhag. 4.30.37

The devotee's duty is to preach Krsna consciousness for the benefit of those suffering the pangs of material existence:

The word atmaupamyena refers to thinking others to be like oneself. One can very intelligently conclude that without devotional service, without becoming Krsna conscious, one cannot be happy. Therefore the duty of all devotees is to preach Krsna consciousness everywhere all over the world, because all living entities without Krsna consciousness are suffering the pangs of material existence. To preach Krsna consciousness is the best welfare activity. Indeed, it is described by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as para-upakara, work for the true benefit of others.

Bhag. 7.7.53

All devotees must preach:

When a person actually revives his consciousness with thoughts of Krsna by the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he revives his spiritual life and becomes addicted to the service of the Lord. Only then can he act as an acarya. In other words, everyone should engage in preaching, following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In this way one will be very much appreciated by Lord Krsna and will quickly be recognized by Him. Actually a devotee of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu must engage in preaching in order to increase the followers of the Lord. By thus preaching actual Vedic knowledge all over the world, one will benefit all mankind.

Cc. Madhya 7.153

One should preach to relieve Lord Caitanya's anxiety for the fallen souls:

"How will these yavanas be delivered? To My great unhappiness, I do not see any way."

Haridasa Thakura replied, "My dear Lord, do not be in anxiety. Do not be unhappy to see the condition of the yavanas in material existence."

These words of Haridasa Thakura are just befitting a devotee who has dedicated his life and soul to the service of the Lord. When the Lord is unhappy because of the condition of the fallen souls, the devotee consoles Him, saying, "My dear Lord, do not be in anxiety." This is service. Everyone should adopt the cause of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to try to relieve Him from the anxiety He feels. This is actually service to the Lord. One who tries to relieve Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's anxiety for the fallen souls is certainly a most dear and confidential devotee of the Lord.

Cc. Antya 3.51-52

The devotee must preach; this will help him advance in self-realization:

"If a living entity is developed in Krsna consciousness and is merciful to others, and if his spiritual knowledge of self-realization is perfect, he will immediately attain liberation from the bondage of material existence."

In this verse the word daya jivesu, meaning mercy to other living entities, indicates that a living entity must be merciful to other living entities if he wishes to make progress in self-realization. This means he must preach this knowledge after perfecting himself and understanding his own position as an eternal servant of Krsna. Preaching this is showing real mercy to living entities. Other types of humanitarian work may be temporarily beneficial for the body, but because a living entity is spirit soul, ultimately one can show him real mercy only by revealing knowledge of his spiritual existence. As Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, jivera 'svarupa' haya-krsnera 'nitya-dasa.' [Cc. Madhya 20.108]. "Every living entity is constitutionally a servant of Krsna." One should know this fact perfectly and should preach it to the mass of people. If one realizes that he is an eternal servant of Krsna but does not preach it, his realization is imperfect. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura therefore sings, dusTa mana, tumi kisera vaisnava? pratisThara tare, nirjanera ghare, tava hari-nama kevala kaitava. "My dear mind, what kind of Vaisnava are you? Simply for false prestige and a material reputation you are chanting the Hare Krsna mantra in a solitary place." In this way people who do not preach are criticized. There are many Vaisnavas in Vrndavana who do not like preaching; they chiefly try to imitate Haridasa Thakura. The actual result of their so-called chanting in a secluded place, however, is that they sleep and think of women and money. Similarly, one who simply engages in temple worship but does not see to the interests of the mass of people, or cannot recognize devotees, is called a kanisTha-adhikari:

arcayam eva haraye

pujam yah Sraddhayehate

na tad-bhaktesu canyesu

sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah

(Bhag. 11.2.47)

A devotee who faithfully engages in the worship of the Deity in the temple but does not behave properly toward other devotees or people in general is called a prakrta-bhakta, a materialistic devotee, and is considered to be in the lowest position.

Bhag. 4.29.1b

One should preach all over the world:

The Lord is always ready to help the fallen souls, but because they are fools and rascals, they do not take to Krsna consciousness and abide by the instructions of Krsna. Therefore although Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is personally the Supreme Lord, Krsna, He comes as a devotee to preach the Krsna consciousness movement. Yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadeSa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. One must therefore become a sincere servant of Krsna. Amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei deSa (Cc. Madhya 7.128). One should become a guru and spread Krsna consciousness all over the world, simply by preaching the teachings of Bhagavad-gita.

Bhag. 7.9.41

The duty of the disciple is to distribute the transcendental message for others' welfare, without material motive:

The life of a sincere devotee of the Lord is thus explained in a nutshell by Narada Muni by his personal example. Such a devotee, after his initiation by the Lord or His bona fide representative, takes very seriously chanting of the glories of the Lord and traveling all over the world so that others may also hear the glories of the Lord. Such devotees have no desire for material gain. They are conducted by one single desire: to go back to Godhead. This awaits them in due course on quitting the material body. Because they have the highest aim of life, going back to Godhead, they are never envious of anyone, nor are they proud of being eligible to go back to Godhead. Their only business is to chant and remember the holy name, fame and pastimes of the Lord and, according to personal capacity, to distribute the message for others' welfare without motive of material gain.

Bhag. 1.6.26

The devotee should preach krsna-katha for the benefit of human society:

In the impure state of a living being, the respective senses are fully engaged in mundane affairs. If the ear is not engaged in the service of the Lord by hearing about Him in the Bhagavad-gita or in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, certainly the holes of the ear will be filled up with some rubbish. Therefore the messages of the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam should be preached all over the world very loudly. That is the duty of a pure devotee who has actually heard about them from the perfect sources.... There are hundreds and thousands of sources for distributing mundane news of the world, and people of the world are also receiving them. Similarly, the people of the world should be taught to hear the transcendental topics of the Lord, and the devotee of the Lord must speak loudly so that they can hear.

Bhag. 2.3.20

As servants of society, devotees of the Lord travel everywhere to preach:

The servants of the Lord are actually the servants of society. They have no interest in human society other than to enlighten it in transcendental knowledge; they are interested in imparting knowledge of the relationship of the living being with the Supreme Lord, the activities in that transcendental relationship, and the ultimate goal of human life.... Without this knowledge, the human life is baffled. The servants of the Lord, Visnu, are entrusted with this responsible work, and so they wander over the earth and to all other planets in the universe.

Bhag. 3.4.25

Lord Caitanya personally demonstrated the importance of preaching:

To deliver all fallen souls, the Lord traveled from country to country. He personally tasted the transcendental pleasure of devotional service, and He simultaneously spread the cult of devotion everywhere.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally traveled to different regions of India to spread the bhakti cult throughout the country.... By His personal behavior He has given an example for devotees to follow. That is, one should broadcast the cult of devotional service.... A Vaisnava is especially interested in para-upakara, doing good to others. Prahlada Maharaja was also interested in this. He did not want to be delivered alone; rather he wanted to deliver all fallen souls, who are bereft of knowledge of bhakti and who misuse their intelligence for the temporary benefit of the material body. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also wanted His mission spread all over the world.

prthivite ache yata nagaradi-grama

sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

"In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard."

Following in His footsteps, we are trying to broadcast His message throughout the world. By His mercy, people are taking this movement very seriously. Indeed, our books are extensively distributed in the Western countries, especially in America and Europe.... The followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu may therefore take this movement seriously and broadcast it throughout the world, from village to village and from town to town, just as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself did.

Cc. Madhya 25.264

The Krsna consciousness movement is based on becoming Krsna conscious and making others Krsna conscious:

"My dear child, continue dancing, chanting and performing sankirtana in association with devotees. Furthermore, go out and preach the value of chanting krsna-nama for by this process You will be able to deliver all fallen souls."

It is another ambition of the spiritual master to see his disciples not only chant, dance and follow the regulative principles but also preach the sankirtana movement to others in order to deliver them, for the Krsna consciousness movement is based on the principle that one should become as perfect as possible in devotional service oneself and also preach the cult for others' benefit.

Cc. Adi 7.92

An advanced and empowered devotee preaches:

"A person who has attracted the attention of the spiritual master by his sincere service likes to dance and chant with similarly developed Krsna conscious devotees. The spiritual master authorizes such a devotee to deliver fallen souls in all parts of the world. Those who are not advanced prefer to chant the Hare Krsna mantra in a solitary place."...everyone should endeavor to preach the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in all parts of the world and thus become successful in spiritual life. One who is not very expert in preaching may chant in a secluded place, avoiding bad association, but for one who is actually advanced, preaching and meeting people who are not engaged in devotional service are not disadvantages. A devotee gives the nondevotees his association but is not affected by their misbehavior. Thus by the activities of a pure devotee even those who are bereft of love of Godhead get a chance to become devotees of the Lord one day.

Cc. Adi 7.92

The duty of all sane men is to save the people in general:

Pariksit Maharaja... anxiously wanted to know from Sukadeva Gosvami how humanity can be saved from gliding down to hell.... Intelligent men must take advantage of these instructions. Unfortunately, however, the entire world is lacking Krsna consciousness, and therefore people are suffering from the grossest ignorance and do not even believe in a life after this one. To convince them of their next life is very difficult because they have become almost mad in their pursuit of material enjoyment. Nevertheless, our duty, the duty of all sane men, is to save them.

Bhag. 6.1.6

One should preach about the importance of human life throughout the world:

The followers of Vedic literature... are privileged to glorify the Lord by following the directions of Vedic literature. After realizing the glories of human life, such people should take up the mission to spread the importance of human life throughout the whole world. This is the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Bhag. 5.6.13

Preachers go door to door to enlighten the people in general:

The great saint Jada Bharata described both the miserable condition and the means to get out. The only way out of it is association with devotees, and this association is very easy. Although unfortunate people also get this opportunity, due to their great misfortune they cannot take shelter of pure devotees, and consequently they continuously suffer. Nonetheless, this Krsna consciousness movement insists that everyone take to this path by adopting the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. The preachers of Krsna consciousness go from door to door to inform people how they can be relieved from the miserable conditions of material life.

Bhag. 5.14.39

Devotees of Lord Caitanya take the responsibility to preach:

The devotees who have taken shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu take the responsibility for distributing nectarean devotional service all over the world. They are like clouds pouring water on the ground that nourishes the fruit of love of Godhead in this world. The devotees eat that fruit to their heart's content, and whatever remnants they leave are eaten by the general populace. Thus they live happily.

Cc. Madhya 25.276

The duty of saintly persons is to reestablish the principles of religion:

At the end of every four yugas, the great saintly persons, upon seeing that the eternal occupational duties of mankind have been misused, reestablish the principles of religion.

From Satya-yuga to Kali-yuga, the principles of religion and occupational duty gradually deteriorate.... At the end of Kali-yuga, the principles of religion, or the occupational duties of humanity, are almost lost. Indeed, in this Kali-yuga we have passed through only five thousand years, yet the decline of sanatana-dharma is very prominent. The duty of saintly persons, therefore, is to take up seriously the cause of sanatana-dharma and try to reestablish it for the benefit of the entire human society. The Krsna consciousness movement has been started according to this principle.... Therefore, following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who five hundred years ago inaugurated the movement of sankirtana,... we are trying to introduce this movement, according to superior orders, all over the world. Now, if the inaugurators of this movement strictly follow the regulative principles and spread this movement for the benefit of all human society, they will certainly usher in a new way of life by reestablishing sanatana-dharma, the eternal occupational duties of humanity.

Bhag. 8.14.4

Followers of the Sastra endeavor to preach:

Advaita Acarya was always absorbed in thoughts of how to deliver the fallen souls of the entire world. "The entire world is full of nondevotees," He thought. "How will they be delivered?"

Srila Advaita Acarya sets the standard for acaryas in the Vaisnava-sampradaya. An acarya must always be eager to deliver the fallen souls.... One who knows the conclusion of the Sastras, follows in the footsteps of his predecessors and endeavors to preach the bhakti cult all over the world is to be considered an acarya.

Cc. Antya 3.223

Followers of Lord Nityananda must preach Krsna consciousness:

When Lord Nityananda returned to Bengal to preach the cult of bhakti, love of Godhead, He began touring all over the country. For two purposes-to spread the cult of bhakti and to defeat and subdue the atheists-Lord Nityananda, the most dedicated devotee of the Lord, moved throughout the country.

Lord Krsna appears in every millennium for two purposes, namely to deliver the devotees and kill the nondevotees. His devotees also have two similar purposes-to preach the bhakti cult of Krsna consciousness and defeat all kinds of agnostics and atheistic demons. Nityananda Prabhu carried out the order of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in this way, and those who strictly follow Nityananda Prabhu perform the same activities.

Cc. Antya 3.148-149

One should preach; that is real nonviolence:

Nonviolence is generally taken to mean not killing or destroying the body, but actually nonviolence means not to put others into distress. People in general are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of life, and they perpetually suffer material pains. So, unless one elevates people to spiritual knowledge, one is practicing violence. One should try his best to distribute real knowledge to the people, so that they may become enlightened and leave this material entanglement. That is nonviolence.

Bg. 13.8-12

sudhaya · April 27, 2004

2B It Is the Duty of the Devotee to Preach

Understanding the purpose of the Lord, the devotee preaches:

Bewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant fully engage themselves in material activities and become attached. But the wise should not unsettle them, although these duties are inferior due to the performers' lack of knowledge.

Men who are ignorant cannot appreciate activities in Krsna consciousness, and therefore Lord Krsna advises us not to disturb them and simply waste valuable time. But the devotees of the Lord are more kind than the Lord because they understand the purpose of the Lord. Consequently they undertake all kinds of risks, even to the point of approaching ignorant men to try to engage them in the acts of Krsna consciousness, which are absolutely necessary for the human being.

Bg. 3.29

A brahmana must preach:

These different orders of society and grades of spiritual advancement are conceived in terms of qualification. It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita that the four social orders and the four spiritual orders are created by the Lord Himself, in terms of different individual qualities. As the different parts of the body have different types of activities, so the social orders and spiritual orders also have different types of activities in terms of qualification and position.... one has to act according to his position, and by such activities one must either satisfy the Supreme Personality or else fall down from his position.

For example, a brahmana who is born out of the head of the Lord has as his business to preach the transcendental Vedic sounds, or Sabda-brahma. Because the brahmana is the head, he has to preach the transcendental sound, and he also has to eat on behalf of the Supreme Lord. According to Vedic injunctions, when a brahmana eats it is to be understood that the Personality of Godhead is eating through him. It is not, however, that the brahmana should simply eat on behalf of the Lord and not preach the message of the Bhagavad-gita to the world. Actually, one who preaches the message of the Gita is very dear to Krsna, as is confirmed in the Gita itself. Such a preacher is factually a brahmana....

NOD Ch. 2

One who preaches the gospel of Bhagavad-gita is perfect in pure devotional service:

Krsna wants everyone to surrender unto Him, and devotional service means preaching this gospel all over the world. The Lord says openly in Bhagavad-gita (18.69): na ca tasman manusyesu kaScin me priya-krttamah. One should preach the gospel of Bhagavad-gita for the benefit of all. Bhagavad-gita is spoken by the Lord so that human society can be perfectly organized from all angles of vision-politically, socially, economically, philosophically and religiously. From any point of view, human society can be reformed by the Krsna consciousness movement; therefore one who spreads this philosophy of Krsna consciousness for the benefit of all conditioned souls in the universe is perfect in pure devotional service.

Cc. Madhya 19.167

Pure devotees preach and deliver conditioned souls:

The Ganges water is celebrated as being able to eradicate all kinds of sinful reactions. In other words, when a person takes his bath in the Ganges, he becomes freed from all life's contaminations. The Ganges water is celebrated in this way because it emanates from the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, those who are directly in touch with the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and who are absorbed in the chanting of His glories are freed from all material contamination. Such unalloyed devotees are able to show mercy to the common conditioned soul. Srila Vrndavana dasa Thakura has sung that the devotees of Lord Caitanya are so powerful that each one of them can deliver a universe. In other words, it is the business of devotees to preach the glories of the Lord and deliver all conditioned souls to the platform of Suddha-sattva, pure goodness.

Bhag. 4.24.58

The greatest service is preaching a Vaisnava is recognized by his preaching work:

"If one releases a conditioned soul or imprisoned person according to religious principles, he himself is also released from material bondage by the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

The greatest service one can render to the Lord is to try to infuse devotional service into the heart of the conditioned soul so that the conditioned soul may be released from conditional life. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has said that a Vaisnava is recognized by his preaching work-that is, by convincing the conditioned soul about his eternal position.... It is the living entity's eternal position to serve the Lord; therefore to help one get release from material bondage is to awaken one to the dormant understanding that he is the eternal servant of Krsna.

Cc. Madhya 20.6

The test of a Vaisnava is how many Vaisnavas he has made:

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura said that the position of a Vaisnava can be tested by seeing how good a touchstone he is-that is, by seeing how many Vaisnavas he has made during his life. A Vaisnava should be a touchstone so that he can convert others to Vaisnavism by his preaching, even though people may be fallen like the hunter. There are many so-called advanced devotees who sit in a secluded place for their personal benefit. They do not go out to preach and convert others into Vaisnavas, and therefore they certainly cannot be called sparSa-mani, advanced devotees. KanisTha-adhikari devotees cannot turn others into Vaisnavas, but a madhyama-adhikari Vaisnava can do so by preaching.

Cc. Madhya 24.277

Performing daily rituals of devotional service is not enough-one must preach, and in such preaching not be concerned for success or failure:

The favorable conditions for discharging devotional service are that one should be very enthusiastic in serving the Lord. The Lord in His form of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted the cult of devotional service to the Lord to be preached all over the world, in every nook and corner, and therefore a pure devotee's duty is to discharge this order as far as possible. Every devotee should be very enthusiastic, not only in performing his daily rituals of devotional service, but in trying to preach the cult peacefully by following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya. If he is not superficially successful in such an attempt, he should not be deterred from the discharge of his duty. Success or failure has no meaning for a pure devotee because he is a soldier in the field. Preaching the cult of devotional service is something like declaring war against materialistic life.... A devotee should see to the right discharge of devotional service under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master and should not stick only to the formalities. Under the direction of the bona fide spiritual master... one should see how much service is being executed, and not simply in the matter of rituals.

Bhag. 2.8.21

Contrary to the order of Lord Caitanya, some of His modern so-called followers do not preach:

It is the desire of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu that the benevolent activities of the sankirtana movement which was inaugurated five hundred years ago in Navadvipa be spread all over the world for the benefit of all human beings. Unfortunately, there are many so-called followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu who are satisfied simply to construct a temple, make a show of the Deities, collect some funds and utilize them for eating and sleeping. There is no question of their preaching the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu all over the world, but even though they are unable to do so, if anyone else does it they become envious. This is the condition of the modern followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The age of Kali is so strong that it affects even the so-called followers of Lord Caitanya. At least the followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu must come out of India to preach His cult all over the world, for this is the mission of Lord Caitanya. The followers of Lord Caitanya must execute His will with heart and soul, being more tolerant than the trees and humbler than the straw in the street.

Cc. Adi 9.47

There must be an organized effort to turn nondevotees into devotees:

...the only reformation that is necessary in society is to make an organized effort to turn the citizens into devotees of the Lord, and thus all good qualities of the denizens of heaven will overtake them in their own way.

Bhag. 1.11.19

The mission of all genuine devotees is to preach:

All glories and success to Srila Narada Muni because he glorifies the activities of the Personality of Godhead, and so doing he himself takes pleasure and also enlivens all the distressed souls of the universe.

No one is happy here within the universe, and what is felt as happiness is maya's illusion. The illusory energy of the Lord is so strong that even the hog who lives on filthy stool feels happy.... Srila Narada Muni, in order to enlighten the miserable inhabitants, wanders everywhere. His mission is to get them back home, back to Godhead. That is the mission of all genuine devotees of the Lord following the footsteps of that great sage.

Bhag. 1.6.38

A sadhu is meant to preach:

A sadhu like Vidura is meant to awaken such blind persons [like DhrtarasTra] and thus help them go back to Godhead, where life is eternal. Once going there, no one wants to come back to this material world of miseries. We can just imagine how responsible a task is entrusted to a sadhu like Mahatma Vidura.

Bhag. 1.13.23

The duty of enlightened souls is to deliver the fallen ones:

Vidura particularly came to enlighten DhrtarasTra and to give him a lift to the higher status of spiritual cognition. It is the duty of enlightened souls to deliver the fallen ones, and Vidura came for that reason.

Bhag. 1.13.14

A saintly person desires everyone to become Krsna conscious:

Because everyone is under the delusion of maya and is forgetful of his prime duty, Krsna consciousness, a saintly person always desires that everyone become a saintly person. It is the function of a saintly person to invoke Krsna consciousness in every forgetful man.

Bhag. 3.22.7

Devotees must preach all over the world, as ordered by the spiritual master:

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's devotional cult teaches one not to sit down in one place but to spread the devotional cult all over the world. The Lord dispatched Sanatana Gosvami and Rupa Gosvami to Vrndavana to excavate and renovate the holy places and from there establish the cult of bhakti. Therefore Vrndavana was given to Sanatana Gosvami and Rupa Gosvami as their place of residence. Similarly, everyone in the line of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's devotional cult should accept the words of the spiritual master and thus spread the Krsna consciousness movement. They should go everywhere, to all parts of the world, accepting those places as prabhu-datta deSa, the places of residence given by the spiritual master or Lord Krsna. The spiritual master is the representative of Lord Krsna; therefore one who has carried out the orders of the spiritual master is understood to have carried out the orders of Krsna or Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to spread the bhakti cult all over the world (prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama). Therefore devotees in the line of Krsna consciousness must go to different parts of the world and preach, as ordered by the spiritual master. That will satisfy Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Cc. Antya 4.144

The Krsna consciousness movement has been set up to distribute knowledge:

Knowledge is meant for distribution. Although there is already much scientific knowledge, whenever scientists or philosophers awaken to a particular type of knowledge, they try to distribute it throughout the world, for otherwise the knowledge gradually dries up and no one benefits from it. India has the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, but unfortunately, for some reason or other, this sublime knowledge of the science of God was not distributed throughout the world, although it is meant for all of human society. Therefore Krsna Himself appeared as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and ordered all Indians to take up the cause of distributing the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita throughout the entire world. Yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadeSa/ amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei deSa. "Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krsna as they are given in Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam.

In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land." (Cc. Madhya 7.128) Although India has the sublime knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, Indians have not done their proper duty of distributing it. Now, therefore, the Krsna consciousness movement has been set up to distribute this knowledge as it is, without distortion. Although previously there were attempts to distribute the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, these attempts involved distortion and compromise with mundane knowledge. But now the Krsna consciousness movement, without mundane compromises, is distributing Bhagavad-gita as it is, and people are deriving the benefits of awakening to Krsna consciousness and becoming devotees of Lord Krsna. Therefore the proper distribution of knowledge has begun by which not only will the whole world benefit, but India's glory will be magnified in human society.

Bhag. 10.2.19

In our Krsna consciousness movement, all our activities are concentrated on book distribution:

The word kriyasu, meaning "by manual labor" or "by work," is important in this verse. One should engage in practical service to the Lord. In our Krsna consciousness movement all our activities are concentrated upon distributing Krsna literature. This is very important. One may approach any person and induce him to read Krsna literature so that in the future he may also become a devotee. Such activities are recommended in this verse.... Such activities will always remind the devotees of the Lord's lotus feet. By fully concentrating on distributing books for Krsna, one is fully absorbed in Krsna. This is samadhi.

Bhag. 10.2.37

A sadhu's duty is to enlighten others:

Caitanya Mahaprabhu has stated that He wants every village in the entire world to be a center for Krsna consciousness so that people can take advantage of sadhus and in turn become sadhus. This is the mission of this Krsna consciousness movement.... At the same time, we have to take compassion upon fallen souls by going from town to town to enlighten others in Krsna consciousness. This is a sadhu's duty.

TLK Ch. 11, text 24