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Scholars, scientists, writers, journalists and dignitaries met Srila Prabhupada and read his books. What did they say about his books?

Books are the Basis

The books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (Srila Prabhupada) are the most important contribution of this Krishna consciousness movement. Everything else is superfluous, a by-product of these books. Even the temple and the Deity are secondary. Krishna consciousness, or the spiritual revolution which Srila Prabhupada envisioned, is based upon the publication and distribution of Vedic literature.

Until people have these books in their homes, we cannot expect a significant turn in their lives. The books will act where we cannot. With the printing press, one man's effort can very easily expand a millionfold.

Five thousand years ago, Vyasadeva, the author of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, foresaw the hellish situation of this age in which we live. Therefore he recorded the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Prior to Vyasadeva, the Vedas existed only orally. Vedic knowledge was handed down from spiritual master to disciple. In Lord Chaitanya's time, when there was no printing press, the Srimad-Bhagavatam was written by hand. It was considered a great gift to offer a copy of Srimad-Bhagavatam to a learned scholar, king or gentleman, because it was very difficult to obtain.

We have the facility to reproduce the Srimad-Bhagavatam by the millions with the printing press. Because we are not qualified scholars and are thus unable to translate Vedic literatures, it is obvious that our contribution to our spiritual master, or to the mission of Lord Chaitanya, is to publish what has been given to us by our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, and to make a world-wide scheme for advertising, promoting and selling these books to the public.

Srimad-Bhagavatam must be placed in the home of every respectable person in the world. Just as we find the Oxford Dictionary, Encylopaedia Britannica, Shakespeare collection or any other important literary work in a respectable person's home, so also the Srimad-Bhagavatam and all the other books published by Srila Prabhupada must be placed in the homes of people all over the world.

These books are the basis of a spiritual revolution.

Guarantee: Double Money Back

God comes from time to time. He appears, and He exhibits Himself, and He speaks about Himself. That is Bhagavad-gita.

Scientists say, "This is a book. How do I know?" And yet the same scientist will put all his faith and give all attention to archeological findings. He will study and try to determine what they were doing five thousand years ago—"Here's a cup, here's a spoon, here are some bones." We study books. They study bones. Which is more helpful? The book. The scientist has become such a cheater that in order to maintain his prestige, he will remark disparagingly, "What is this book?" But he will study bones. How much can we know... if we want to know about our grandfather, would we look at his bones? Or would we look at his book or maybe read his letters? We may learn something about our grandfather from our grandmother. Why should we look at his bones? How much can we actually know? If we want to know Henry Ford, should we study his automobile? Or would I study his book, if he left one—or his diary? Or persons who were his associates and wrote down, "Oh, he said this, he said that, then he did this...."

We have accepted books (shastras) as authority for understanding. Two words: shastra and ashtra. Ashtra means weapon, and shastra means instruction. Animals are controlled by weapons, by force, and human beings are controlled by instructions. So shastra means especially instructions given by either God directly or by those who are His representatives, like the rishis, sages and yogis.

In this way, we have the descending process. Descending, coming from God, Krishna, then through the acharyas, or those who have received the teachings, practiced and realized, and they have in turn passed them on. This is called disciplic succession. The importance of the disciplic succession is that the conclusion and teaching of every teacher in the line will always be corroborated by those who precede him. There will not be any controversy, no discord. Just like your father teaches, "This is a watch," and you tell your son, "This is a watch." Your boy has nothing to experiment. He just hears from his father, "This is a watch." Now, he may not know what is a watch, but if he goes to his neighbor and says, "This is a watch," they say, "Good boy," and after some time, because he repeats what you say, he comes to understand what a watch is. "This is watch, this is a ring, these are beads, this is a book." He doesn't know. The child only hears it and accepts you, because you act as his authority. He accepts what you say, and he repeats it. After some time of repeating, because the environment always confirms, then he understands, "Oh, book is this. Beads are these." Like that.

GUEST: Yes. So what you are saying is that we should start experiencing the books' knowledge, and then the environment will confirm the truth of these teachings?

HANSADUTTA: Yes. Exactly. If you read Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, I guarantee money back—double money back guarantee—that after reading these books, you will become a fully God-realized soul, and you will be capable of convincing others and helping them to realize. I can make this claim. So the qualifying clause is that you should read, and whatever the instruction, you should follow that. Then you will realize. Just like this machine or video machine... the manufacturer gives a guarantee that if you use this machine like this, then you'll get this result. We guarantee, money back. But you have to follow the instructions. You cannot whimsically. That is actually fact. If the person will follow the advice and instructions, he will actually become fully realized, just as a student in the science class learns that hydrogen and oxygen combine to produce water. The professor gives the procedure: "Do it like this." If the student follows the procedure, he will get the result.

Books by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Looking to buy the definitive edition of all-time classic Bhagavad-gita? Go to Hare Krishna Store and get Bhagavad Gita As It Is [1972 Complete Edition] by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, original and unrevised — $14.95.

Here you will find more of Srila Prabhupada's original, unrevised books, as well as music CDs, MP3s, DVDs, posters, incense and more, including : Srila Prabhupada's original books on CD-ROM — $9.95, and Prabhupada DVD and MP3 Library of Srila Prabhupada's Lectures, Conversations, Kirtans and Bhajans — $159.00.

Great wholesale prices for distributors.

The following write-ups are reprinted from Back To Godhead magazine, No. 40. At the time of that publication, Srila Prabhupada's books numbered just around 12. He was just getting started. The literary legacy left by Srila Prabhupada numbers some 160 published works, as can be seen in this more complete listing of Srila Prabhupada's books.

The complete library of Srila Prabhupada's books and teachings is available online at www.prabhupadabooks.com, where the reader can read by browsing through the collection or search for a topic or keywords, or save as and print for offline reading and research. The website is hosted by Madhudvisa das.

KRSNA, The Supreme Personality of Godhead  The supremely rich, powerful, famous and beautiful Personality of Godhead, who is free from all material attachment, is now available in book form. KRSNA, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, 750 pages of transcendental reading matter, opulently illustrated with 82 full-color plates, presents the eternal, blissful pastimes of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna as they are revealed in the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the ripened fruit of all the Sanskrit Vedic literatures.

THE NECTAR OF DEVOTION  Our loving propensity expands just as a vibration of light or air expands, but we do not know where it ends. The root cause of all despondency is that our dormant loving propensity has not been fulfilled despite our great advancement in the materialistic way of life. Our love can be fully satisfied only when it is reposed in Krishna, and in this way it is very easy to immediately and simultaneously love every living being. This is the science of The Nectar of Devotion, which teaches us how to stimulate our original love for Krishna and thus enjoy our blissful life.

TEACHINGS OF LORD CHAITANYA  The conditioned soul, being engrossed in the material body, increases the pages of the history of material activity. The teachings of Lord Chaitanya, who is the Supreme Lord Krishna Himself appearing in the role of His own devotee, can help human society to stop such unnecessary and temporary activities and can elevate one to the topmost platform of spiritual activities, which begin after liberation from material bondage. Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, the instructions of this most munificent incarnation of th Supreme Lord, thus opens the field of activities of the pure soul. Such liberated activities in Krishna consciousness are the goal of human perfection.

SRI ISOPANISAD  The knowledge that brings one nearer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. All the major scriptures of the world indicate that Godhead, or the Absolute Truth, is not impersonal, but is a person. From the most authoritative sources, the famed 108 Upanishads of India, Sri Ishopanishad supplies revealed evidence that the Personality of Godhead is the creator, maintainer and destroyer of everything that exists. The author's lucid commentaries reveal that the Supreme Lord is "unembodied" and "formless," since His form is not a material form which is subject to birth, disease, old age and death. In the present age of discord, Sri Ishopanishad revives the dormant hope of all living beings—to transcend this conditioned state and gain the eternal, blissful association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

THE BHAGAVAD-GITA AS IT IS  Now, for the first time, this renowned scripture is being brought to the West as it is—as taught by Krishna Himself and understood by His disciple Arjuna—in a unique translation and commentary by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the supreme authority on the Gita, and He initially delivered the Gita so that all persons—workers, students, philosophere, and yogis—could reach the perfection of life and be liberated from all suffering. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is passing on Krishna's teaching in its full potency, as it is, so that everyone can attain to his rightful position, full of bliss and knowledge. From the Introduction: "The perplexities of life appear like a forest fire which takes place without being set by anyone. The man in material perplexities is he who does not understand the problems of life. Out of many, many human beings, the Bhagavad-gita is directed to the one who seeks to understand his position."

SRIMAD-BHAGAVATAM
Canto One—Creation  The science of God is greater than all other sciences, and this spiritual technology is rationally and authoritatively explained in the 18,000 verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam, India's sublime contribution of culture, philosopy, politics, sociology, religion and love. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has undertaken the mighty task of rendering this supremely potent work into the English language along with Sanskrit transliterations, word-for-word synonyms and elaborate English purports. Thus in each verse one will find new enlightenment regarding the Absolute Truth, the origin of all emanations. Srimad-Bhagavatam is an important cultural presentation for the respiritualization of the entire human society. The first of the twelve cantos of Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled "Creation" was written, edited, published and distributed in India by His Divine Grace prior to his coming to the Western world.

EASY JOURNEY TO OTHER PLANETS  This book is an authentic discussion on the techniques and practice of the yoga system by which one can leave this body for travel to anti-material planets where life is blissful, eternal and full of knowledge.

KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS: THE TOPMOST YOGA SYSTEM  This book presents the most authorized process of yoga practice in God realization, without any deviation from the original Vedic scriptural literature. In this present volume, the author forcefully exposes the speculative systems which depart from love of God as the ultimate goal of yoga.