BOOK DISTRIBUTION
GITA JAYANTI 2024
On the special occasion of Gita Jayanti on Sunday 15th December, the day Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, we invite you to gift a Bhagavad Gita and transform a life today. Give to your friends and family, your neighbours, your work colleagues or even a stranger on the street. And if you can't do that, we will do it for you!! Please help us today!
And on Sunday 15th December please join us at 42 Enmore Road to recite the entire Bhagavad Gita from 1pm onwards. It is always an amazing experience, so don't miss out!
WHY DISTRIBUTE BOOKS?
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) is widely regarded as the foremost Vedic scholar, translator, and teacher of the modern era. He is especially respected as the world's most prominent contemporary authority on bhakti-yoga, devotional service to the Supreme Person, Krishna, as taught by the ancient Vedic writings of India. He is also the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Srila Prabhupada, as he’s known to his followers, translated and commented on over 80 volumes of the Vedas’ most important sacred bhakti texts, including the Bhagavad-Gita — a concise handbook for understanding the purpose and goal of human life — and the multi-volume Srimad-Bhagavatam — an epic biography of Krishna, Krishna’s avatars, and His many devotees throughout the history of the universe. These books are now available in over 75 languages, with more than 450 million distributed to date.
By reading these spiritually enlivening books, the lives of millions of people have been transformed all around the world. Sharing these spiritual gems is the most important activity of ISKCON and we encourage everyone to please pick up a complimentary copy of Bhagavad Gita on your first visit to ISKCON South London.
In the spirit of pleasing Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON South London regularly spends time distributing these spiritual gems.
For example, in the 2023 Christmas book marathon, ISKCON South London came fourth in the national scores!
1. Bhaktivedanta Manor
2. ISKCON London
3. ISKCON Wales
4. ISKCON South London
A SELECTION OF SRILA PRABHUPADA'S BOOKS
Bhagavad-Gita As It Is
The Bhagavad-Gita As It Is is a translation and commentary of the Bhagavad Gita by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement. The Bhagavad Gita emphasises a path of devotion toward the personal God, Krishna.
Chant and Be Happy
Chant and Be Happy explains the power of mantra meditation and how it can bring you ultimate self-awareness and put you in touch with the supreme pleasure principle. Featuring exclusive conversations with George Harrison and John Lennon.
Higher Taste
A practical guide to gourmet vegetarian cooking and an instruction book for a karma free diet, The Higher Taste also contains over 50 famous Hare Krishna recipes from varied cultures around the world. There are instructions for preparing a Latin American buffet, a Greek dinner, a Middle Eastern banquet, an Indian dinner, and more.
KRSNA
KRSNA is a very interesting book full of action and adventure so it is a great pleasure to read. And because the subject matter is the glorification and description of the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead reading KRSNA is very beneficial and has a purifying effect on the consciousness.
Perfect Questions
Perfect Answers
A Peace Corps worker, Bob Cohen, traveling in India meets Srila Prabhupad and asks many questions and for the first time in his life gets perfect answers for his questions.
Srimad Bhagavatam
Of the innumerable collections of spiritual teachings found in Vedic literature, Srimad-Bhagavatam is considered the topmost. The Bhagavatam's eighteen thousand verses contain hundreds of conversations between self-realized kings, yogis and sages of the ancient world on the subject of how to achieve perfection in life.
SRILA PRABHUPADA STARTS BOOK DISTRIBUTION
"Distribute books, as many as possible. If anyone hears something philosophy from us, that will help him. But if he purchases one book that may turn his life. So selling books is the best preaching activity. Sell books, hold the kirtana in public places like schools and colleges, preach—if you practice these things, and try to improve them more and more simply by your practicing sincerely, that simple program will please Krishna the most and you will see that very soon."
Srila Prabhupada - Letter to Sudama
25 November, 1972
With powerful determination, Srila Prabhupada acted on his guru's ideas for printing and distributing books. Before departing for America in 1965, with little financial support he began translating and publishing the Srimad-Bhagavatam, a monumental work about God and His devotees. He carried a trunkload of the first three volumes with him as he crossed the Atlantic on an ocean freighter to America. Alone in his early days in the West, he was not shy about selling the three-volume set to anyone who showed genuine interest.
In 1972, the Macmillan Company published Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is. It received acclaim from scholars at many leading universities and quickly gained popularity. It can now be read in over one hundred languages.
Soon after, Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead was printed in Tokyo. Known in ISKCON as "the Krishna book," it is Prabhupada's summary study of the Tenth Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, which describes Krishna's activities on this planet fifty centuries ago. When Prabhupada was presented the first carton of the Krishna book, one book was missing—the disciple delivering the books from Japan had sold one to a businessman on the plane.
“Ah, this is very auspicious," Prabhupada said. "The first book has already been distributed.”
He told his disciples to sell the rest of the books, not even keeping one for himself.
Excerpt from Back to Godhead - The Mission of Book Distribution