Los Angeles SD Newsletter Vol. 3, Issue 2
VANCA KALPA
By Nitika Thapar
Our last meeting was held at the home of new Dvaraka’s very respected and devoted servitors—Vidura Prabhu and Manjari devi dasi. It is wonderful to observe the devotees opening their homes as well as the hearts generously for a cause which is beneficial to the world at large. This program was an organizational level meeting and basically involved the members discussing future plans of Sastra Dana. A number of issues concerning book distribution in libraries, hospitals, hotels and senior homes were discussed and we are trying our best to reach out to as many people as possible. For this, we need your help and can assure you that with our cooperative efforts, much can be achieved. Our spiritual mster Srila Prabhupada would be extremely pleased to see that people are seeking the shelter of Sri Sri-Rukmini-Dvarakadhisha and as a result, are given ample opportunity to render service by spreading the word of Krishna far and wide. Book distribution is not simply donation of books to people so that we can each rest and say that we have done our duty—it is rather a very conscious and determined effort to distribute knowledge with full hope and conviction that one day the books will be opened and will change people’s lives. These books are neither works of sentiment nor dry ideologies of religion but are complete scientific treaties on the nature, qualities and pastimes of God.
To establish our eternal relation with God, we love to serve Him by serving his devotees first. So, one service to Srila Prabhupada is very satisfying and is very satisfying to Krishna Himself and will make us the recipients of His mercy. Which one of us would want to miss this excellent opportunity? We encourage you all to sincerely participate in this dissipation of knowledge so that we can at least take the first step on the road to Godhead. The spiritual master is very strict that the knowledge be imparted in the exact format as it is, but at the same time very merciful because no discrimination is made with regard to the person receiving this knowledge. The mere fate that we are born as humans should make us realize that we have been elevated to a high level of consciousness and are being given the chance to liberate ourselves. As Srila Prabhupada writes—”So the human form of life is obtained after many, many births in other then human forms of life. But even in this human form of life many, many births are required for one who is cultivating knowledge of the central point of existence. If one is actually cultivating spiritual knowledge—not in one life but in many, many lives—one eventually comes to the highest platform of knowledge and is called jnanavan, the possessor of true knowledge.” Srila Prabhupada has emphasized the intense need to cultivate Krishna consciousness in our lives and has repeatedly mentioned that preaching through his books is very, very essential. Hence, we cannot stress enough, the urgent need to distribute his books. All we can do is to pray to our spiritual master and Their Lordships that we contribute as much as we can for book distribution without inhibitions and in return receive eternal blessings.
