Srila Prabhupada: You are Trying to Avoid God. Now See How we are Preaching God

A trail of devotees in several cars followed Prabhupāda’s car as he pulled up in front of the large warehouse. He entered the front reception office. On the wall were framed color reproductions of the covers of Back to Godhead magazine in consecutive issues. Śrīla Prabhupāda stopped before a large framed painting of Sītā-devī, the wife of Advaita Ācārya, as she came to pay respects to the newborn baby Nimāi, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīla Prabhupāda asked who had painted it and, when told the name of one of his disciples, remarked, “She has good talent.”

Rāmeśvara, the manager of the BBT, was acting as Prabhupāda’s tour guide through the warehouse.

“We have two warehouses,” Rāmeśvara said, and he led Śrīla Prabhupāda onto the floor of a vast storage room with its ceiling three stories high. Everywhere stood stacks and stacks of books in cartons.

“So are they going out or simply stacking there?” Śrīla Prabhupāda asked.

Rāmeśvara: “They’ve been greatly reduced since they first arrived.”

Wearing his swami cap pushed jauntily back on his head and walking regally with his cane, Śrīla Prabhupāda surveyed the warehouse with pleasure.

“So, Haṁsadūta,” he said, turning, “you have to make a godām like this.” Haṁsadūta smiled and agreed. “Then you will defeat these charges,” said Śrīla Prabhupāda. “When the German nation will accept these books, then that will be the proper reply to the charges.”

“This forklift lifts the pallets high up to the ceiling,” Rāmeśvara pointed out. Prabhupāda asked for a demonstration, and the driver hurried to start up the engine. Meanwhile, Rāmeśvara pointed out special racks holding five hundred copies of each of Prabhupāda’s books for the library party, which was traveling and selling full sets to university libraries across the country.

As the forklift began moving, Prabhupāda remarked, “I first saw this machine in the Commonwealth Pier, Boston.” The boy driving the truck became so nervous before Prabhupāda that he could not operate it properly. “Usually he is very careful,” Rāmeśvara apologized.

Rāmeśvara explained that the rent was eighteen hundred dollars a month, a good price for that area. He told Prabhupāda that a speaker system played Prabhupāda’s lectures in the warehouse throughout the day. Prabhupāda remarked, “Acchā,” and chuckled with pleasure. They then entered the second warehouse, which stored Back to Godhead magazines. Prabhupāda asked about the arrangement for fire, and the devotees told him they had fire insurance and fire alarms. He saw where the Bhagavad-gītās were stored as well as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta volumes. Some of them had just arrived from the printer.

While walking in the warehouse Prabhupāda mentioned the dramatization some of the devotees had performed for him the previous evening. “Now we have got Caitanya-caritāmṛta and Bhāgavatam. If such demonstrations are done very nicely, it will be very much appreciated, even by the public. We can collect some money.” Standing in the midst of the bound volumes, Prabhupāda elaborated on the theatrical possibilities of their dramatization. The devotees could act in pantomime, he said, and sound tracks could narrate plays in many different languages. In this way they could tour India and specifically attend the upcoming Māyāpur and Vṛndāvana festivals. Theatrical talents, all talents, were acquired from austerity and should be used to glorify Kṛṣṇa.

“Kṛṣṇa is Uttamaśloka,” Prabhupāda said, as the devotees crowded around in between the aisles of stacked books. “So we have got so many of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastimes. We can overflood. Just like you can overflood with this literature, we can overflood. This is art. Art, music, everything we can utilize – in any way one is addicted. Let him eat only, let him sing only, let him paint only, let him dance only. We have got everything. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Let him do business only. Yes, engineering, construct temples. It is an all-perfect movement. That is Kṛṣṇa. All-attractive. Everyone can become attracted and give up everything. He will be attracted by Kṛṣṇa in such a way that he will give up all nonsense. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All other attraction finished. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam. Simply Kṛṣṇa.” Prabhupāda walked on until he faced an especially large area of tall stacked cartons. “What are these?” he asked.

“Back to Godhead magazines,” said Hṛdayānanda Mahārāja.

Rāmeśvara: “These boxes have come from the printer all ready to go to different countries, and they stamp the address on it. These are those newspapers you saw yesterday called Spiritual Revolution.”

Prabhupāda: “I think this Revolution is not very important. Make revolution with magazine, this Back to Godhead. And what are these?”

Rāmeśvara pointed out the Caitanya-caritāmṛtas. One after another, Prabhupāda examined the stacks and then the individual books on racks. Sometimes he handled them, leafing through their pages, and sometimes he touched the cartons with his cane.

“Just before Christmas,” Rāmeśvara exclaimed with exuberance, “this wall was filled up, and now it is practically empty. We have sold so many books just in a few months. All up to the ceiling it was filled. Now we have to reprint.”

Prabhupāda: “Now this is only the English language. In every language we should have such a big godām.” Turning to Hṛdayānanda Mahārāja, he said, “You have taken Spanish.” And turning to Haṁsadūta, he said, “And you in German. Let them overflood. No other literature.” Devotees surrounding Prabhupāda burst out in triumphant laughter. Prabhupāda then quoted a Bengali phrase, “They’ll say, ‘No, no, we don’t want any other literature.’ ”

In the presence of his books Prabhupāda was exhilarated, and the thought of how more and more books could be written, printed, and distributed in many different languages made him ecstatic. Although the present warehouse in L.A. was awesomely large, Prabhupāda envisioned beyond it to other countries and other warehouses.

“I think no religious publisher has seen such big godām in their life. Hmm?” Prabhupāda widened his eyes and looked at the others. “Throughout the whole world,” he continued, “as soon as they will hear about religious books, they immediately avoid it. Especially the Communist country. Bring some Communist country man. Show him that ‘You are trying to avoid God. Now see how we are preaching God.’ ”

Prabhupāda was next shown to the office of Kīrtirāja dāsa, who was in charge of sending out the orders received from the college libraries around the country. Kīrtirāja showed Prabhupāda how a well-known Christian magazine had recently reduced the quality of its printing from an expensive color magazine to a plain paper edition. “They have degraded,” Prabhupāda remarked.

“Now we have almost 125 standing orders for Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,” said Kīrtirāja, “and 100 for Caitanya-caritāmṛta.”

“That’s nice,” Prabhupāda replied. The devotees then showed him the Golden Avatar studios, where tapes of his lectures were kept as masters and duplicated by high-speed equipment. “This is a complete library of all your lectures,” Rāmeśvara explained. “We keep it carefully because we know it is very important. They are cataloging it according to the title of the book, so if someone wants to see what Your Divine Grace has lectured on the Bhagavad-gītā, they can find it, or from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto, or whatever. They have an index system.” Prabhupāda approved: “Very good.” Rāmeśvara introduced the technician for duplicating the tapes and pointed out the extensive equipment. “This makes four copies of the cassette every three minutes,” Rāmeśvara continued, “so we are mass-producing your lectures.”

Prabhupāda: “Less than a minute for one copy.”

Rāmeśvara described how devotees were buying Prabhupāda’s tapes on a subscription rate of three a week, and orders were coming in from all over the world.

“American organization,” Prabhupāda proudly said.

He next met Svarūpa dāsa, the corresponding secretary. Rāmeśvara explained how he answered all letters regarding Prabhupāda’s books and encouraged the people to become life members.

“I was also doing that,” Prabhupāda reminisced, “when I was Dr. Bose’s manager. Any inquiry coming from the outside, I must continue correspondence with him until he becomes a customer. That I was doing.”

Prabhupāda saw one office after another until he had completely toured all the warehouse facilities. “Nice, well-equipped godām,” he remarked. And they then left the building, walking through a light rain to their waiting car. Rāmeśvara pointed to Prabhupāda’s name printed on the building.

Prabhupāda looked up. “Yes, that’s nice. They will be inquisitive, ‘What is that book?’ ”

Riding back to the temple in the car, Prabhupāda reflected, “I have said that there is no happiness in this material world, and that’s a fact. But if there is a little happiness, that is in America. So you are favored by Kṛṣṇa. Utilize this favor of Kṛṣṇa in glorifying Kṛṣṇa. Then it is successful. Avicyuto ’rthaḥ kavibhir nirūpito yad-uttamaśloka. To become extraordinary in any branch of facilities requires austerities. So when one has acquired that, he should engage it for glorifying the Supreme. Yad uttamaśloka-guṇānuvarṇanam.”

Source: Srila Prabhupada-Lilamrta Ch. 65