A little from a lot and a lot from a few

[Vijaya Baladeva das]

A Book Marathon Message
By Giriraj Swami
(From a talk on January 11, 2010, Kiev, Ukraine)


krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah

"In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational
chanting to
worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of
Krsna.
Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krsna Himself. He is
accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons, and confidential
companions." (SB 11.5.32)

This verse refers to Lord Caitanya. Those who are intelligent (su-
medhasah)
will worship this incarnation, Lord Caitanya, by performance of
sankirtana-yajna.

Book distribution is sankirtana. Kirtana means "glorification" and sam
means "complete." Glorification of Krsna is complete when many
devotees
participate. Also, complete glorification means glorifying not only
Krsna's
name but also His form, His qualities, His pastimes, His entourage,
His
paraphernalia--everything related to Him. Distribution of Srila
Prabhupada's
books is complete glorification of Krsna because Srila Prabhupada's
books
glorify Krsna fully--His name, form, qualities, pastimes, and so on.

Who worships Lord Caitanya by sankirtana? Those who are highly
intelligent.
Of course, sometimes someone might not be so intelligent--he might
just be
fortunate. Here I am not referring to you, but to myself, as I am
about to
explain how I was engaged in sankirtana.

I began in Boston in 1969. As His Holiness Niranjana Swami mentioned,
we
should tax our brains to think of different ways to distribute
Prabhupada's
books. Srila Prabhupada used to do that, and one area that he
considered
important was bookstores, and back then he wanted one devotee in each
temple
to place his books in bookstores.

The Boston temple was very small then, and somehow either Satsvarupa
or
Brahmananda thought I could try. So I took the books to various
bookstores,
and I was quite successful, they were purchasing the books. I was
extremely
successful in putting Prabhupada's books in the Harvard Co-Op. They
took a huge
order, maybe twenty copies of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is and other
books. And
when Srila Prabhupada heard, he was very pleased. It was the first
time, to my
knowledge, that he was aware of a specific service that I had done.

Years later, when I was in Madras, although our main program for
distributing books in India was life membership, I did go to some
bookstores. In fact, Srila Prabhupada was so intent on his books being
distributed that he would sometimes write me letters suggesting
specific
bookstores that I could approach. So, there was a large bookstore on
the
main street of Madras, Higgenbotham's Booksellers on Mount Road, and
they
placed a really large order--about sixty large books. I would
periodically
visit the store to see if the books were selling, and they were, and
then we
would supply them more books.

Srila Prabhupada was so pleased that he wrote me a letter: "I am most
pleased especially to hear that you are distributing many books. Go on
increasing books, and go on increasing my pleasure." The more we
increase
the distribution of Prabhupada's books, the more we increase
Prabhupada's
pleasure, and that is our goal. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado: When
Prabhupada is pleased, when the spiritual master is pleased, then
Krsna is
pleased.

Later, I did a college program in Bombay and wrote a report about it
to
Srila Prabhupada, explaining what I had said to the students. At the
time
Prabhupada was ill in Vrndavana, and Tamal Krishna Goswami, his
secretary,
was replying to letters on Prabhupada's behalf. Tamal Krishna Goswami
wrote
back that Srila Prabhupada was especially pleased to hear that the
students
had purchased his books. I had been thinking that Prabhupada might be
pleased with what I had told the students, but when I read that
Prabhupada
was "especially" pleased to learn that students had purchased many of
his
books, I realized that that is where the real substance is. If they
get
Prabhupada's books, they get the complete philosophy and practice of
Krsna
consciousness--and the inspiration to take it up.

These books are so important, and the order of the spiritual master is
so
important, that if we distribute the books on the order of the
spiritual
master, in the way the spiritual master has instructed, there will be
great
potency in the activity. We must tax our brains how to distribute
Prabhupada's books. And if we take up that order, and actually work to
distribute them, we will experience wonderful results.

On my way from America to South Africa, I stopped in England just
before the
marathon began, and on my way from South Africa to Ukraine, I stopped
there
again just after the marathon ended. England had a very successful
marathon,
and their motto was, "A little from a lot." If a lot of devotees
participate, even if each one does only a little, it will add up. Of
course,
some devotees, who have the time and facility, can do a lot. But
others,
such as householders, may be able to do only a little. So that's a
good
motto: "A little from a lot." And we may also get a lot from a few.
And that
is a wonderful combination: a few from a lot and a lot from a few.

We request all of you to please take up this service of book
distribution.
Be one of the few who do many, or one of the many who do a few. Srila
Prabhupada will be pleased with all of you because his guru maharaja
wanted
this distribution of books. By performing this service of sankirtana,
you
will certainly be blessed by Srila Prabhupada, the parampara, Sri Sri
Gaura-Nitai, and Sri Sri Radha and Krsna.

Hare Krsna.