Volume 7 - Prabhupada

314 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 19remembered Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's pastimes. Thus they executed devotionalservice.In Vrndavana there are prakrta-sahajiyas who say that writing books or eventouching books is taboo. For them, devotional service means being relieved fromthese activities. Whenever they are asked to hear a recitation of Vedic literature,they refuse, saying, "What business do we have reading or hearing transcendentalliteratures? They are meant for neophytes." They pose themselves to be too elevatedto exert energy for reading, writing and hearing. However, pure devoteesunder the guidance of SrTia ROpa GosvamT reject this sahajiya philosophy. It is certainlynot good to write literature for money or reputation, but to write books andpublish them for the enlightenment of the general populace is real service to theLord. That was SrTia Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatl's opinion, and he specifically told hisdisciples to write books. He actually preferred to publish books rather thanestablish temples. Temple construction is meant for the general populace andneophyte devotees, but the business of advanced and empowered devotees is towrite books, publish them and distribute them widely. According to BhaktisiddhantaSarasvatl Thakura, distributing literature is like playing on a greatmrdaliga. Consequently we always request members of the International Societyfor Krishna Consciousness to publish as many books as possible and distributethem widely throughout the world. By thus following in the footsteps of SrTiaROpa GosvamT, one can become a rupanuga devotee.TEXT 133G\!ttRl ?f'j ftttl t Ift.'!fli1·tU 1\lr"ltffi'l II IIcaitanyera krpa rupa likhiyachena apanerasamrta-sindhu-granthera mafigalacaraf)eSYNONYMScaitanyera-of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; krpa-the mercy; rupa-SrllaROpa GosvamT; likhiyachena-has written; apane-personally; rasamrta-sindhugranthera-of the book known as Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu; mafigala-acaraf)e-inthe auspicious introduction.TRANSLATIONSrila Rupa Gosvami has personally spoken about the mercy of Sri CaitanyaMahaprabhu in his auspicious introduction to his book Bhakti-rasamrtasindhu[1.1.2].