The Hare Krishna Movement

The Books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Originally published in Back to Godhead No. 52
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust 1973
By Brahmananda Swami ISKCON East Africa

Part 2

The treasure of Radha-Damodara is the samadhi and bhajana(place for executing devotional service) of Srila Rupa Goswami. Of the six Goswami’s, he is the most importnt. Rupa Goswami constructed the largest temple in Vrndavana, Radha-Govindaji, and he wrote the most important book on the science of devotional service, Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, which was completed in the year 1552. He and his elder brother Sanatana Goswami were among the chief government administrators of their time and were highly learned in Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit. Lord Caitanya personally instructed Rupa Goswami for ten consecutive days, and Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu codifies these teachings, with supporting evidence from scores of supplementary Vedic texts.

One great acarya (teacher) in the parampara (disciplic succession) has offered obeisances to the six Goswami’s in the following manner; “They are very expert in scrutinizingly studying all the revealed scriptures with the aim of establishing eternal religious principles for the benefit of all human beings. Thus they are honored all over the three worlds, and they are worth taking shelter of because they are absorbed in the mood of the gopis and are engaged in the transcendental loving service of Radha and Krsna.” In one of Srila Prabhupada’s rooms in the Radha Damodara temple there is a window thatoverlooks the shaded courtyard where the tow tomblike structures that honor Rupa Goswami stand. Just before this window is a bare wood asana (seat) where Srila Prabhupada sat to receive inspiration from the greatest of the Goswami’s From the other where he wrote his books, Srila Prabhupada could look out and see Jiva Goswami’s own worshipable Deities, Radha-Damodara.

For more that five years Srila Prabhupada lived and worked alone in the Radha-Damodara temple. From the volume of manuscripts and letters he left behind, it is evident that he was constantly writing, He wrote by hand in notebooks, in school lesson pads, and even on the reverse side of mimeographed news releases from the Soviet news agency which was located in nearby Delhi. These releases during the early 1960’s were filled with reports of sputnik achievements, and it was thes reports that probably prompted Srila Prabhupada to write the most famous of his shorter books, Easy Journey to Other Planets.

Many of these Radha-Damodara manuscripts are incomplete and as yet unpublished. They include Science of Devotion, Practical Theism, Message of Godhead, Prayers of King Kulasedhara and a lengthy verse to verse translation and purport of the first part of the Caitanya-caritamrta. Also, there is Srila Prabhupada’s voluminous correspondence, addressed to many prominent men in the fields of religion, letters, politics, bussiness and medicine. These letters reveal Srila Prabhupada’s gift for soliciting people to help spread scientific knowledge of God consciousness.

In addition to books and letters, durning this time Srila Prabhupada also edited Back to Godhead, a fortnightly paper begun in 1944 in fulfillment of an order by his spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja. At the very first meeting he had with Srila Prabhupada in 1922, as well as in a letter written only weeks before his demise in 1936, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati specifically requested Srila Prabhupada to propagate the teachings of Krsna Consciousness through the medium of the English language, A devotee takes the orders of his spiritual master as his very life, and this is what impelled His Divine Grace to write prolifically despite many hindrances. Due to spiritual potency, a perfectly executed order received from a higher transcendental authority benefits not only the performer of the duty but also the whole world. Srila Prabhupada’s accomplishment is exactly in the line of the six Goswami’s of Vrndavana. Srila Prabhupada’s books are, to put it quite simply, authorized.