BOOKS ARE THE BASIS

SRILA PRABHUPADA’s BOOKS

 

This part of the website is devoted to Srila Prabhupada’s books. 

 

In 1950, at the age of fifty-four, Srila Prabhupada retired from married life, and after a few years he moved into a simple room in the Vrndavana temple, Radha-Damodara, which was founded by Rupa Goswami in 1542.   Srila Prabhupada began work on the next and most important stage of his life, and what many consider his life's masterpiece - a multi-volume translation of the 18,000-verse Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) and commentary.

 

Years earlier, Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, had urged him to preach Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's message of Krishna consciousness throughout the English-speaking world.  He also told him, "If you ever get money, print books."

 

After publishing three volumes of Srimad-Bhagavatam in India, Srila Prabhupada traveled to the United States in 1965, aged 69, carrying little more than his typewriter and a suitcase of his books.  Over the next 12 years, His Divine Grace wrote over sixty volumes of authoritative translations, commentaries and summary studies of the philosophical and religious classics of India.  His translations were completely faithful to the original texts, with nothing added, and his purports help explain the texts with great clarity.  These quickly became highly respected by the academic community throughout the world. 

 

In 1972 Srila Prabhupada established The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) exclusively to publish his works, and this became the world's largest publisher of books in the field of Indian religion and philosophy.  His writings have now been translated into more than eighty languages. 

 

Srila Prabhupada always emphasized the chanting of the Hare Krishna aha-mantra – Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare  - along with the daily reading and study of his books.  This tradition continues with His Holiness Kesava Bharati Dasa Goswami who constantly reminds devotees of the essentiality of the systematic reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books, especially out loud, cover to cover, and in an assembly of pure devotees. In this way we receive Srila Prabhupada’s empowered train of thought completely.

 

For the last few years Guru Maharaja has been reading for about an hour every day live on Facebook (FB Channel: “Daily Readings of Srila Prabhupada’s Books”) and all these readings are also uploaded to his YouTube channel (also called, “Daily Readings of Srila Prabhupada’s Books”) where they are conveniently filed into different Playlists.  To date, almost 1,000 video recordings have been uploaded.

 

At the time of writing this, he is also undertaking the wonderful task of producing professional quality recordings of his readings of Caitanya-caritamrta and Srimad-Bhagavatam, from which audio books will be created and released by the BBT.

 

Returning to Srila Prabhupada, on the 28th January 1973, he wrote:

 

"Now try and understand our philosophy very carefully by reading all of our books, such as Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Nectar of Devotion, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, and there are so many others"

 

In a letter dated 19th March 1975, Srila Prabhupada wrote from Bombay:

 

I am so much grateful that you have enjoyed studying my books. Many young intelligent persons such as yourself are studying these books in the colleges and universities all over the world. Actually anyone who tries to understand these books will become a great realized devotee of Lord Krishna gradually. The original potency of the sastra remains in these books because I have not added or opinionated anything of my own. I have simply presented the scriptures such as Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam as they are. Therefore just see the effect they have on the world.

 

His Holiness Kesava Bharati Dasa Goswami continues to emphasize the importance of Srila Prabhupada’s books. For example, in his 2019 Vyasa-Puja offering to Srila Prabhupada, he wrote:

 

Your books are my life and soul, Srila Prabhupäda, for I feel your personal presence in sound as I read them out loud, to myself and to others, every day without fail. You confirmed this truth when you were asked the question in San Francisco, “What will happen when you die?” Your response: “I will never die. I will live forever in my books.”

 

A flood of nectar flows from the Hare Krsna mahä-mantra and from every syllable of the Bhagavad-gitä, Srimad-Bhägavatam, and Sri Caitanya-caritämrta. And your Bhaktivedanta purports turn that flood into a tsunami of bliss. This nectar is the greatest gift one person can give to or receive from another. Only such a tsunami – caused by the mass distribution of these literatures and the application of their teachings by your sincere followers – can extinguish the blazing fire of hate, lying, dissension, violence, and political fear-mongering, a fire which is laying to waste the dignity of human society throughout the world, poisoning the hearts of today’s once innocent but now jaded masses.

 

*****

 

What follows is a list of Srila Prabhupada’s books.  As annotated by an asterisk alongside the titles, some have descriptions which have been added as separate sub-tabs, so please check those out too.

1.  Bhagavad-gita As It Is *
2.  Srimad Bhagavatam (18 volumes) *
3.  Sri Caitanya caritamrta (9 volumes) *
4.  KRSNA, The Supreme Personality of Godhead *
5.  Teachings of Lord Caitanya *
6.  Nectar of Devotion *
7.  Nectar of Instruction *
8.  Sri Isopanisad *
9.  Light of the Bhagavata
10.  Easy Journey to Other Planets
11.  Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahuti
12.  Teachings of Queen Kunti
13.  Message of Godhead
14.  Science of Self Realization
15.  The Perfection of Yoga
16.  Beyond Birth and Death
17.  On the Way to Krsna
18.  Raja-Vidya: The King of Knowledge
19.  Elevation to Krsna Consciousness
20.  Krsna Consciousness: The Matchless Gift
21.  Krsna Consciousness The Topmost Yoga System
22.  Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers
23.  Life Comes from Life
24.  Narada-bhakti-sutra (completed by disciples)
25.  Mukunda-mala-stotra (completed by disciples)

 

Books compiled from the Teachings of Srila Prabhupada after his lifetime:

1.  A Second Chance
2.  Journey of Self-Discovery
3.  Civilization and Transcendence
4.  Laws of Nature: An Infallible Justice
5.  Renunciation Through Wisdom
6.  Quest for Enlightenment
7.  Dharma: The Way of Transcendence
8.  Beyond Illusion & Doubt
9.  Bhakti, the Art of Eternal Love
10.  Spiritual Yoga
11.  The Hare Krishna Challenge
12.  Path of Perfection
13.  VEDA