The essence of all knowledge is found in two places, in the pure heart, and on the pages of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books! What would my life be without them?
I consider myself very fortunate to have been raised reading his books by my parents. It gave me a foundation for seeing the world around me in relation to spiritual reality, and thus, saved me over and over again in times of need.
This world can be very confounding and often frustrating place, but when there is pure spiritual science to explain all the aspects of consciousness and creation, then impossible situations and feelings are readily remedied simply by opening the pages of the beautiful literatures left to us by the great spiritual emissary, His Divine Grace, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
I like to compare these books to the magical tale called, “The Never Ending Story,” in which a boy picks up a book and is suddenly transported into the pages, to be one of the characters in the great adventure himself. These books are the real magical books. When you pick up these books, you realize you are part of a great cosmic adventure yourself.
These books provide the map and compass by which one can achieve ultimate success in life. What is found in all other religious or spiritual literatures can be found in the ancient texts translated and commented on by Śrīla Prabhupāda, but the inverse is not true. In NO OTHER BOOKS can be found the transcendental treasures overflowing from the pages of these life giving narrations.
When I am experiencing some trouble, all I have to do is say a prayer, and open to a random page in one of his books to find an answer that addresses and soothes my soul. I highly recommend immediately purchasing all of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. As one person I met put it, “There is nothing else worth spending money on!” – Jahnavi Kopecka
I spent my teenage years inquiring about the purpose of life, how I got this body, and what happens at the time of death. I asked rabbis, priests, ministers, college professors, and many of the popular “yogis” and “gurus” of the time. I was not satisfied by any responses that I received from them, and was feeling deeply distraught. In the early 1970s, I began to meet some of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s youthful followers in various places, and these 20 year olds could give me solid and scientific responses to the questions I was so deeply yearning to have answered because of what they had learned from this topmost devotional personality. I was then their same age, and by associating with them, studying the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, having the most blessed opportunity to hear from him in person, and applying the principles he taught, my life became rich with meaning and inner happiness that continues to increase even so many years later. -Karen Eva Silberstein ND, PhD
How to describe the fathomless breadth and grandeur of Śrīla Prabhupāda and his books? Where would I be without them? The only thing I can relate them to is the feeling a man feels when he has lost everything, his home, his family, his purpose in life, his faith, his will to live… but just after the last moment, receives all that he loves back again and more in an eternally secure way with a tremendous understanding of the perfectness of the Lord’s creations and arrangements. I consider having Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books to be the life boat for all the drowning souls I see in this ocean of duality and illusion. There is no other solace I can offer another soul at the time of death other than the transcendental words of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Krishna. Śrīla Prabhupāda has protected The Lord’s words from the countless misunderstandings which have covered the true import and power of the pure spiritual path which is open to everyone but ardently blocked by those envious and ignorant of the Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda has broken down the barriers and made the way clear for everyone. By applying my intelligence to understand his messages my life has indeed become sublime as Śrīla Prabhupāda said we would by hearing and chanting the Lord’s glories. I have experienced the ever renewing spiritual grace which is contained within his words. Indeed hearing from Śrīla Prabhupāda has become the most precious treasure of my life. Please take this chance to read these books and be forever blessed. – Radha Madhava das Fitch
Regarding the transcendental books given to us by His Divine Grace, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda, it’s challenging to express and even estimate how greatly they have affected me. I do know, that undoubtedly, they have saved my life, my heart, and my family time and again.
This world, for most, if certainly not for all of its inhabitants, offers many trials and tribulations. It is meant to be this way. And yet, as humans, it is natural to search for happiness, to yearn for happiness, to desperately need happiness. So why the painful dichotomy? Śrīla Prabhupāda gives the answer to this: the basis for His teachings is that we are not these bodies. That this planet, that we call Earth, is but a temporary home. And that our real home awaits us, where we can live eternally, full of health, bliss and knowledge, with our loved ones and with our dearest friend, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as we so long to do. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s words, which emanate from this spiritual abode, reassure us that the dream of eternal happiness is possible, indeed, it is our real existence. Furthermore, and most importantly, His Divine Grace gives us the “how” to use the gift of this human body, to access our true selves, even while living in our current lives, and how to prepare for our journey back Home, back to Godhead, where every word is a song and every step is a dance. Please join us on this extraordinary journey, for only with the association of Śrīla Prabhupāda, His teachings, and His sincere followers, may we be forever successful. -Kathryn P.
From the time I was young many questions preoccupied my mind, from the nature of time, eternity, Who is God and what is the purpose of life. Growing up in the 60’s, I went through the popular books of the day, searching through the hip, paranormal, mystical, and so on, anything different that might have answers. Without understanding the purpose for existence, I reasoned, what was the point of all the rest?
In 1973, I heard my first class based on the books of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. I felt as if lights were coming on, many lights, all at the same time. Answers were there at last, and everything I studied before had its place in the large, cosmic scheme of things based on this ancient Vedic knowledge. It all began to make sense.
Without the higher spiritual perspective offered through these books of ancient wisdom, I would not have survived, so difficult has this life’s journey been. They remain a continual light illuminating my path daily from moment to moment, bringing me closer to realizing myself as a soul, seeing all other living beings as part of the Supreme Godhead, and developing deeper compassion, tolerance and patience and love as each year goes by, without the regrets that typically accompany the aging process.
May every home, school and college one day be blessed with these sublime and sacred texts which have the power to unify, purify and uplift this world’s misdirected civilization. – Harinama Chintamani
Śrīla Prabhupāda came to give us the most valuable gift, love of God. No longer do we the people need to be bewildered about who God is, what He looks like or what His activities are. We have seen through this modern and atheistic society that the desire to love and accept God as He is has been baffled. This materialistic society has made it easy to forget who we truly are, beyond these material bodies. Śrīla Prabhupāda has kindly reminded us of our eternal and blissful nature through his transcendental teachings. He has taught by example that the purpose of life is to know God and love Him. Simply by reading the Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is one can begin to understand Krishna and remember one’s loving relationship with Him.
Although this current body I am living in did not have the chance to associate directly with His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, I feel a deep and real reciprocation with him when I read his books or hear his lectures. The feeling of comfort and certainty that his words have brought into my life is irreplaceable. Knowing now that I am not this body I am living in, but an eternal spirit soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Lord has changed my life forever.
My early youth and adulthood was spent as a drug addicted delinquent working day and night to numb my consciousness, feeling lost in the world. Due to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings my life has completely turned around. Now, not only am I sober but I am fully able to celebrate my recovery by knowing my true purpose in life. I am living in a community with like-minded people, I have a loving husband, I’m a full time mother and an aspiring devotee of the Lord. The eternal family that Śrīla Prabhupāda has created through his transcendental teachings is exactly what the soul is searching for. By feeling the Lord’s presence in my heart, He has guided me to share my beautiful transformation with others who are also struggling to get free from material suffering. The answers are all here in the perfect philosophy and supreme science of Krishna consciousness, written down by Śrīla Prabhupāda and translated in many different languages for all people to understand. – Alexis Fitch
I was privileged to have been introduced to the Bhagavad-Gita by devotees a number of years ago. Reading portions of the book and chanting with devotees opened up a new world for me. Knowing His devotees opened up new perspectives for me. They have such profound wisdom, compassion and a general acceptance of life as it were. I have learned to be more accepting even when things do not appear to go the way I want them to. I understand that what happens to us is the will of Krshna, and I am grateful and appreciative of everything He has given me. Hare Krishna – AC
The treasure of Krishna Consciousness as it is given to the world by the great Hare Krishna Movement Master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda is a priceless gift of divine love. There is however a price for it to be paid. The determined adept on the path of sādhana, especially on the vaidhi bhakti yoga path, will be informed, enlightened, and solaced from within and without. We will not be left alone when we throw ourselves into the otherwise so far still unknown for us Supreme destination. Personally I can say and proof by my own insignificant example, practicing alone daily for the last ten years outdoor loud singing of the Hare Krishna Mahā-Mantra in the Name of the Ācārya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda and by the blessings of the great Bhaktivinode Thākur, there is no way we can repay the benefits of the undeserved offering. The only thing for one to experience it is to sacrifice the self for the sake of becoming transferred here and now, gradually, into to the realm of eternal truth and trust. The only thing to do is to want it wholeheartedly and to be free from falsehood and pretenses, including those in disguise of religion or mysticism, or any other –isms. Simplicity of purpose seems here to be essential. Listening to the recordings, audio, video and foremost to the original unedited writings of the all-merciful Ācārya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda will nourish and satisfy all the needs of an aspiring student, even the most degraded and fallen one. Please accept my humble obeisances!!! – Bhakta Yarek
If someone asks me to tell one best thing that happened to my life, my honest answer will be the divine entry of His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda through his literature and other mediums like videos, etc. He simply liberated my thoughts from shackles. It was a watershed moment and major turning point for the direction of my life. He swiftly turned the direction from darkness to light. His teachings give ‘Hope and Purpose’ to life. Śrīla Prabhupāda is the most authentic representative of ancient Indian spiritual wisdom in contemporary times. He presented the true essence of vast Vedic knowledge without compromising the spirit. He did it in a very lucid and pleasing way. He did it without any discrimination of religion, caste, creed, colour, gender, and so on.
He gave the first authentic and exhaustive translation of these literatures in English language. It was just like opening floodgates of a vast unlimited dam to flood the dry land. He spent sleepless nights to translate these literatures in mature age so that
generations can enjoy the sweetest divine fruit of his tireless labour. The generations of humanity will be indebted to His Divine Grace for opening ‘the windows of spiritual world.’
May His Divine Grace and Shri Shri Nitai Gauranga make me an insignificant instrument in distributing this divine knowledge. The humanity is in dire need of this divine knowledge to avoid chaos and confusion.
I congratulate and thank ‘Purely Prabhupāda’ initiative for their efforts to keep these teachings unadulterated and intact.
Saurabh Kumar
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