{"id":5633,"date":"2022-06-28T14:48:11","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T09:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/?p=5633"},"modified":"2022-06-28T14:48:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T09:18:11","slug":"chapter-13-books-are-the-basis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/writings\/books-pdfs\/prabhupada-vijaya\/chapter-13-books-are-the-basis\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 13 – Books are the Basis?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prabhup\u0101da Vijaya<\/h1><\/div>

Chapter 13 – Books are the Basis?<\/h2><\/div>

by \u015ar\u012bla Bhakti Gaurava Narasi\u1e45gha Mah\u0101r\u0101ja<\/a><\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

In Chapter 13 of Prabhup\u0101da Vijaya, 'Books are the Basis?' - The whimsical habit of many devotees who misquote \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da and its potential to distort the philosophy is explained in depth here.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>

\u201cBooks are the basis, purity is the force<\/em>
\npreaching is the essence and utility is the principle.\u201d<\/em><\/h2>\n

How many times did \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da make this state\u00adment? This is indeed an important slogan in any temple, \u0101\u015brama<\/em>, or household where a disciple or fol\u00adlower of \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da resides. This saying has been quoted thousands of times in Bh\u0101gavatam<\/em> class by sanny\u0101s\u012bs<\/em>, gurus and leading preachers as a \u2018Prabhup\u0101da said\u2019. But His Divine Grace never said it!<\/p>\n

If you have the Bhaktived\u0101nta VedaBase then simply type in the above slogan and see for yourself. This slogan, which has become a principle by which to understand the desires of \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da for Iskcon, actually never came from the lips of \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da! So how is it that we have all come under this misunderstanding?<\/p>\n

This saying comes from a Chinese scroll which was pointed out to \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da by his disciples on February 25th, 1977. Remarkably \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da did not even ditto the slogan at that time. Although the devotees present appreciated the slogan, we do not find that \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da made any further mention of it, nor did he authorise it in any way to be spread throughout Iskcon. However, this saying was popularised through the BBT newsletter.<\/p>\n

Thus, for the most part, many devotees are under the impres\u00adsion that this motto was personally uttered by \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da many times and that he established it as a pillar of thought in his movement or even as \u2018law\u2019 for that matter \u2013 at least that is what we have been led to believe.<\/p>\n

Ironically, if we analyse it, this motto is philosophically incor\u00adrect when we try to apply it to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness. Firstly, books are not the only basis. The basis that forms everything in Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava philosophy is guru, s\u0101dhu<\/em> and \u015b\u0101stra. <\/em>It isn\u2019t just \u015b\u0101stra<\/em> (books) \u2013 it has to be all three.<\/p>\n

s\u0101dhu-\u015bastra-guru-v\u0101kya<\/em>
\nh\u1e5bdaye kariy\u0101 aikya<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOne must make the words of the s\u0101dhus<\/em>, the scriptures and the guru one within the heart.\u201d (Prema-bhakti-candrik\u0101<\/em> 1.10)<\/p>\n

Preaching is not the essence of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness. Preaching is what we do to convert non-believers to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness \u2013 so how can that be the essence of Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava siddh\u0101nta<\/em>? The essence is \u015braddh\u0101<\/em> (faith) and \u015bara\u1e47\u0101gati<\/em> (surrender). First there is \u015braddh\u0101<\/em>, which eventually matures into \u015bara\u1e47\u0101gati<\/em>. \u015ar\u012bla \u015ar\u012bdhara Mah\u0101r\u0101ja has explained that \u015braddh\u0101<\/em> is the halo of \u015ar\u012bmat\u012b R\u0101dh\u0101r\u0101\u1e47\u012b and \u015bara\u1e47\u0101gati<\/em> is the halo of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. \u015araddh\u0101<\/em> reveals \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, thus, the most essential requirement in devotional service is faith, Without faith we cannot make any progress, and without \u015bara\u1e47\u0101gati, <\/em>there is no entrance into K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness.<\/p>\n

Purity is not the force. From the standpoint of purity, the gop\u012bs<\/em> were impure due to their transgressing the laws of society and \u015b\u0101stra<\/em> (\u0101rya-patha\u1e41 ca hitv\u0101<\/em>). Whether one is in a pure or impure condition is irrelevant.<\/p>\n

apavitra pavitro v\u0101 sarv\u0101vasth\u0101\u1e41 gato \u2018pi v\u0101<\/em>
\nya\u1e25 smaret pu\u1e47\u1e0dar\u012bk\u0101k\u1e63a\u1e41 sa bahy\u0101bhyantara \u015buci\u1e25<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhether one is pure or impure, or having passed through all conditions of life, one who remembers the lotus-eyed Lord becomes externally and internally clean.\u201d (Garu\u1e0da Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>)<\/p>\n

dvaite bhadr\u0101bhadra-j\u00f1\u0101na saba mano-dharma<\/em>
\nei bh\u0101la, ei manda \u2013 ei saba bhrama<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the world of duality, the conceptions of good and bad are all mental creations. \u2018This is good\u2019 or \u2018This is bad\u2019 \u2013 this is all illusory.\u201d (Cc. Antya-l\u012bl\u0101<\/em> 4.176)<\/p>\n

Utility is the principle \u2013 using everything in K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s service (yukta-vair\u0101gya<\/em>) is certainly a<\/em> principle in K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness, but it is not the<\/em> principle. The main principle is to always remem\u00adber K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and never forget Him:<\/p>\n

smartavya\u1e25 satata\u1e41 vi\u1e63\u1e47ur vismartavyo na j\u0101tucit<\/em>
\nsarve vidhi-ni\u1e63edh\u0101\u1e25 syur etayor eva ki\u1e45kar\u0101\u1e25<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cVi\u1e63\u1e47u (K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a) is always to be remembered, and He is never to be forgotten. All other rules and regulations should serve these two principles.\u201d (Padma Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Thus this slogan, \u2018books are the basis\u2019 etc. may sound good to rally the troops to action, but where is the \u015b\u0101strika pram\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> for this statement? There is none. It does not hold up under scrutiny.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Chapter 13 of Prabhup\u0101da Vijaya, ‘Books are the Basis?’ – The whimsical habit of many devotees who misquote \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da and its potential to distort the philosophy is explained in depth here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[207],"tags":[206,208],"krishna_talk_article":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5633"},{"taxonomy":"krishna_talk_article","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/krishna_talk_article?post=5633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}