W.E.Day Lecture, Los Angeles
Lecture in New Dwarka on World Enlightenment Day 2000, given by His Holiness Devamrita Swami in the temple room.
Thank you all very much for gathering here for this Sankirtana breakfast on this very special day.
Sometimes you may wonder, "what is this all about? Why are we going through so much endeavor for all this?" You see Sura Prabhu and Svavas Prabhu running around, making so many arrangements. You may ask, "what is all this commotion for?" We could say, "Well, somebody has to distribute books." You could answer, "But why should we make such a big thing about it? Why should everybody participate?" Sometimes I find that devotees actually forget what this book distribution is all about.
You see, in every Yuga there is some system of Yajna, performance of sacrifice for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord. That Yajna is the scientific process for connecting with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And Yajnas are performed regardless of the resources required. Now, as you all know, in the age of Kali we don't have an unlimited quantity of valuable items to offer to the Supreme Lord. So therefore we need to have some other kind of Yajna. Srila Prabhupada realized that this is the missing thing in civilization today: some way to perform mass Yajna. In other words, the Vedic sacrifices aren't just for a few people; everyone is supposed to be involved. In previous yugas you had kings like Ramacandra and Pariksit Maharaja, and through their expert organization they made it so that every kind of person in the kingdom could participate in the Yajna. The Ksatriyas organized the sacrifices, the brahmanas performed them, the vaisyas provided all the materials, and the sudras provided the labor. Now, where in the present society do you have an organized arrangement for Yajna so that everyone can take part in it? That was Srila Prabhupada's vision for this Sankirtana Yajna of book distribution: a system, an organized effort, for performing a Yajna that everyone can participate in. Therefore, as you know, you have the book production, which is the big, brihat mridanga, and now everyone has a chance to participate in that Yajna, or Kirtana caused by the brihat mridanga. Everyone has a chance to become involved in hearing Srila Prabhupada's books, in distributing Srila Prabhupada's books, in encouraging others to distribute Srila Prabhupada's books, and in reading them. In this way we can produce a sanctified atmosphere throughout the whole world. Maybe we forgot that to some degree. Maybe we think, "Ahh, it can't be so simple." But Yajna is very simple in that it is an organized method for pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Now, you might say, "what's the big deal about my effort, your effort? We are not top airport distributors. What does it really mean that we are participating in Yajna?" Krsna simply wants that we give some effort and that we make a sacrifice. That is what makes Krsna consciousness very tasty: the sacrifice. Perhaps we have also forgotten that. When you sacrifice something for the Supreme Lord, you get to taste the nectar of Krsna consciousness. So now, by the mercy of good organization here in Los Angeles, everyone has a chance to partake of Yajna, to participate in the topmost Vedic sacrifice for pleasing the Supreme Lord.
We may forget that all these arrangements that you see are not ordinary. You will see devotees running around, organizing things, organizing the prasad, organizing the books, organizing the collection and scores of the book distribution as well as the Laxmi. You may wonder, "Wao, what's all the fuss about?" The fuss is about pleasing the senses of the Supreme Lord. It is not a material thing. It is something that every living entity, jivatma, part-and-parcel of the Supreme Lord, is supposed to participate in. Sometimes devotees overseas tell me, "we know the secret of success for New Dwarka. We know why New Dwarka is successful. It is because they know how to make money there." (laughter) "They've got that restaurant, they've got that gift shop. Bring in the bucks, that's the main thing, and that book distribution, they do that like a hobbie. It is just a little frill added on top, a little icing on the cake. But the main thing is bucks are the basis." In some places they actually say like that, "bucks are the basis." (laughter.) Actually, though, if you talk to the New Dwarka management, you will find out that their view is that book distribution is the central focus; it is the Yajna. And because of the book distribution, everything else works. It is a totally opposite point of view. One view is, "well, you gotta make money, and if you can distribute books, you do it as a side activity, because it is only going to bring in some pennies." This is a material calculation. The actual understanding of Yajna is that Yajna must be performed. Yajna vai Visnu, and everything else works from that. So it would be very interesting for you all to discuss with the management here how they see this, because otherwise you may miss the extraordinary potency of what is going on. The extraordinary potency of what is going on is that everyone is involved in Vedic sacrifice as Srila Prabhupada desired. When Srila Prabhupada came to Los Angeles, he gave very specific instructions about how Krsna was to be satisfied. So if there is going to be any success, then we have to see if those instructions are being followed. Srila Prabhupada's desire was that everyone would become absorbed in reading and distributing his books. So if the management gives a chance to everyone to do that, then you know you have good management.
So it is not that book distribution is some bygone activity of a bygone era. It is not that it is just something we go through the motions because Srila Prabhupada said, "distribute books." No, it is actually the topmost method for pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Both Srila Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati Thakura and Srila Prabhupada wanted Yajna, Vedic sacrifice, to be performed in an organized way for the benefit of the whole world. Yes, you can practice Krsna consciousness just for yourself. You can simply become concerned with, "What about my own nectar? What about my own rasa?" but it is not what Srila Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati Thakura had in mind. It is not what Srila Prabhupada had in mind. Their plan for you is that you get Krsna by giving Krsna to others in as much of an organized way as possible. That is what Srila Prabhupada desired. So sometimes we may look at all this organized effort and think, "ahh, the real nectar will be when I will be just reading about Radha and Krsna on my own." That is nectar, but you won't taste it unless you satisfy the acaryas. In order to satisfy the acaryas, you have to fulfill their wishes. So this Sankirtana yajna, this book distribution, this organized effort is a humble attempt to satisfy the acaryas. So don't become too familiar with it, thinking, "Ahh, another year, another marathon. Here we go again, everyone is scurring about, making all these arrangements. Ahh, I've seen it all before." You may have seen it all before, but do you really see what is happening with spiritual vision? That should be our prayer for this marathon, "How can I actually see what Krsna is doing, what Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is doing."
You will get credit and value by doing the marathon even mechanically. There is no doubt about that. Even if you do it mechanically, you will get some credit. But if you really want to taste the depth of the marathon nectar, you must beg the Supreme Lord, "Please give me a vision of what is really going on from Your point of view." That is what makes Sankirtana exciting.
Now, I know that some of you are just starting this service. For others it is not your full-time service, but you are just making a special sacrifice to please Krsna 's senses. Even though you may be a weekend warrior or a once-a-year warrior, still you can beg Krsna, "Can you kindly please give this fallen servant some insight to what this Yajna is all about?" Then you will see the excitement start to build. Krsna wants you to ask Him of these things. When someone cares for you, they are very happy when you ask them, "please let me see how you are doing things." So if you would pray to Krsna, "Please let me see how you are doing things through this Sankirtana Yajna," Krsna is very happy and lets you have a vision of what is going on. In this way you can perform your Sankirtana service in a way that you will be fully enlivened. That opportunity is always there. But sometimes we do not enter into the Sankirtana Yajna fully in terms of begging Lord Caitanya, "Let me have a glimpse of what is going on." You may just take it in a mechanical way, "I'll give this one a book, that one a book." Still you will get credit; we don't criticize devotees who just go out and hand people books without any deeper thinking about it. They will get credit. They will be satisfying Krsna. But there are different degrees, and you do not have to be a full-time devotee to taste the deeper realizations of Sankirtana. You simply have to beg Krsna. And Lord is very eager to show you what is going on. Why? Because the more people who see what is going on in the Sankirtana Yajna, the more the flood of love of Godhead increases. And it is such a taste that you won't forget for your whole life! So it is in Krsna's interest to give you a vision of what is going on, but you have to ask for it. If you don't ask, you may not get. Of course, Lord Caitanya can give even if you do not ask. But it is much quicker if you ask. You beg Krsna, "Let me get an insight into how Lord Caitanya is doing things. What is the real secret of this book distribution? Why did Srila Prabhupada so much insist upon it?" Don't say, "Haven't people gotten enough books already? We've distributed millions of books in America, and so what?" This is a material analysis. I don't think you'll hear it coming from any of our acaryas in our line. No. We are distributing books because we are pleasing Krsna 's senses; that's it. We can do that better and better, wider and wider, but still the basic fact is there: we are distributing books to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Just like when someone would ask Srila Prabhupada, "what is the goal of chanting Hare Krsna?" he would say, "The goal of chanting Hare Krsna is to chant more Hare Krsna." The means is the same as the end. Similarly, why do we distribute books? We distribute books so that we can distribute more books. It is our prayer that the people get one book and that then they'll want another book and another book and another book. And based of that book distribution, we can do so many other things once the core is there. So that is the secret of success at New Dwarka, that the basic core is there and that everything else can be built around that core. So it is not just a frill, an option, "Yeah yeah, they do book distribution in Los Angeles; yeah, they are still into that thing; they haven't gone on to more fancy forms of preaching." The core has to be there, and then you'll see how Krsna unfolds everything else. So we have to give credit where credit is due. Where there is organized Yajna as the acaryas desired, there is Krsna. And we are so fortunate that we can be part of this organized Yajna and in this way make spiritual advancement. A little sacrifice is required, that's all. A little sacrifice to be part of the great sacrifice. So you all get a chance to do your part of the Yajna. In this way you are pleasing Krsna. Otherwise why would you go through all this trouble? You are trying to please Krsna 's senses, so you should think about that during the day. You are doing this sacrifice to directly give pleasure to the Supreme Lord as His dear devotee Srila Prabhupada instructed. That's what it means to be a devotee. Now, if you try to think in this way as you are going out with your Sankirtana service, surely Krsna will reciprocate with you. But still I want to point out that even if you just do this service mechanically, there is benefit. I know that sometimes devotees say, "Ahh, you know, they just mechanically distribute the books; they just give the books out. We can't do that anymore." But the fact is that even if you do just do it mechanically, there is still great benefit. Now what do you think of that? There is still great benefit. But if you want to go deeper, you can. But Lord Caitanya is so merciful that even if you do it mechanically, there is benefit. Now how great is that? Not that, "Oh, they are doing it mechanically; therefore we should stop." No. If you are doing it mechanically, very good, but we hope that you will go deeper and deeper. But not that, "you are doing it mechanically; stop the service!" If that is all you are able to do, that's allright. Just like for example, if you just chant your rounds mechanically, do we tell you to stop? Do we say, "You are chanting mechanically; stop your rounds!" Do we say that? No. We say, "Go on chanting, and gradually, by the attempt to chant, you will become more and more devotional." It is the same thing with book distribution. If you are doing it mechanically, it is very good that you are trying to do something. Now go on, and gradually, by hearing and doing the service, you will get into deeper levels of book distribution. So we glorify all levels of the service, even the mechanical level. But at the same time, of course, we are always urging the devotees, "Go deeper, go deeper." Unless you hear, you won't get that inspiration to go deeper. The serious distributors of Lord Caitanya's mercy are always eager to hear because they want insights into how to go deeper and deeper into the Sankirtana ocean. But still, as I said, if someone wants to do this service mechanically, casually, very good. Any way you come in contact with Krsna, it is for your benefit, even mechanically or casually. Still, it is true that the best thing is to try to get some realization. But the point is that the service of book distribution is so great that even when touched mechanically, there is such great benefit. So this is our heritage. This is what Srila Prabhupada has given us. This is our family business. And we do it because Srila Prabhupada wanted it. When people get a book, you don't know what the result is going to be. They are getting Krsna in their hand, and how Krsna will act, you may not be able to see it all immediately. So it requires some love and dedication, that "even though I can't see the complete result of this activity, I am doing it to please Krsna." Please don't slow down your eating. I know that some are just looking and not eating. Actually I think that we'll end here because some of you are a little slow in your eating.
Svavas Prabhu: Well, let's get them to hurry up! Okay, so everybody can finish up, and as soon as you do, we can have everyone go outside and pick up their books. I think that all of us in this room should make a vow that we won't come back today unless we do at least one book. If you can do one hundred books, that's even better, but the idea is let's all go out today and let's do the twenty thousand books that we wanted to do for Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada ki, jay! Devamrita Swami ki, jay!
Devamrita Swami: New Dwarka Dhama ki, jay!!
