Srila Prabhupada Letter to Satsvarupa Maharaja, 19th January 1975

“Regarding your question about the controversial talks going on, this kind of talk is not befitting my advanced students. This is childish. In Krsna's service there is no inferior and superior. Deity worship is just as important as book distribution. It is not material. As mentioned in the Bhagavatam:
sravanam kirtanam visno smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam, sakhyam atma-nivedanam
Sravanam and kirtanam is the beginning to chant and hear. Book distribution is under this category of sravanam kirtanam. The next item is smaranam. If somebody simply remembers the Supreme Lord, that is also as good as sravanam kirtanam. Then there is arcanam. That is also as good as the others, but one who simply becomes engaged in arcanam and does nothing of sravanam kirtanam, his position becomes in the material field. Anyone of the nine processes is as good as the other. There is no question of inferior or superior. But out of all of them sravanam kirtanam is very important. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu while instructing Srila Rupa Goswami has said how the seed of devotional service sprouts and increases by watering the root by the process of sravanam kirtanam. So, these two items are very important in devotional service, but that does not mean that the other items are inferior. Srila Jiva Goswami has stressed kirtanam especially in the age of Kali. Even if there is arcanam for sanctifying the contaminated mind, it must be accompanied by sravanam kirtanam.”