o After saying several times throughout the previous years, not to read any other books but his, here’s what Srila Prabhupada then said on a morning walk, May 13, 1975, Perth, Australia:
Paramahaṁsa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, I remember once I heard a tape where you told us that we should not try to read the books of previous ācāryas.
Prabhupāda: Hmm?
Amogha: That we should not try to read Bhaktivinoda’s books or earlier books of other, all ācāryas. So I was just wondering…
Prabhupāda: I never said that.
Amogha: You didn’t say that? Oh.
Prabhupāda: How is that?
Amogha: I thought you said that we should not read the previous ācāryas’ books.
Prabhupāda: No, you should read.
Amogha: We should.
Prabhupāda: It is misunderstanding.
Paramahaṁsa: I think maybe he was thinking that there was some things about some of the Gauḍīya Matha books.
Prabhupāda: Maybe.
Paramahaṁsa: And sometimes you said that better not to, better to read your books.
Amogha: When the devotees went to India this year, they said that Acyutananda Svāmi very, chastised them that “You should never… If I catch any of you buying Bhaktisiddhanta’s books from Gauḍīya Matha then I will take them away.” Something like this.
Paramahaṁsa: Yeah, that was, the reason was because of, he didn’t want the devotees going to Gauḍīya Matha. But there’s nothing wrong with the idea of studying the previous ācāryas’ books.
Prabhupāda: No. Who said? That is wrong. We are following previous ācāryas. I never said that.
Paramahaṁsa: All of your commentaries are coming from the previous ācāryas.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Jayadharma: But that wouldn’t mean that we should keep all the previous ācāryas’ books and only read them.
Prabhupāda: That is already there. You first of all assimilate what you have got. You simply pile up books and do not read – what is the use?
Jayadharma: First of all we must read all your books.
Prabhupāda: Yes .
Paramahaṁsa: Practically speaking, Śrīla Prabhupāda, you are giving us the essence of all the previous ācāryas’ books in your books.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes.
Paramahaṁsa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, I remember once I heard a tape where you told us that we should not try to read the books of previous ācāryas.
Prabhupāda: Hmm?
Amogha: That we should not try to read Bhaktivinoda’s books or earlier books of other, all ācāryas. So I was just wondering…
Prabhupāda: I never said that.
Amogha: You didn’t say that? Oh.
Prabhupāda: How is that?
Amogha: I thought you said that we should not read the previous ācāryas’ books.
Prabhupāda: No, you should read.
Amogha: We should.
Prabhupāda: It is misunderstanding.
Paramahaṁsa: I think maybe he was thinking that there was some things about some of the Gauḍīya Matha books.
Prabhupāda: Maybe.
Paramahaṁsa: And sometimes you said that better not to, better to read your books.
Amogha: When the devotees went to India this year, they said that Acyutananda Svāmi very, chastised them that “You should never… If I catch any of you buying Bhaktisiddhanta’s books from Gauḍīya Matha then I will take them away.” Something like this.
Paramahaṁsa: Yeah, that was, the reason was because of, he didn’t want the devotees going to Gauḍīya Matha. But there’s nothing wrong with the idea of studying the previous ācāryas’ books.
Prabhupāda: No. Who said? That is wrong. We are following previous ācāryas. I never said that.
Paramahaṁsa: All of your commentaries are coming from the previous ācāryas.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Jayadharma: But that wouldn’t mean that we should keep all the previous ācāryas’ books and only read them.
Prabhupāda: That is already there. You first of all assimilate what you have got. You simply pile up books and do not read – what is the use?
Jayadharma: First of all we must read all your books.
Prabhupāda: Yes .
Paramahaṁsa: Practically speaking, Śrīla Prabhupāda, you are giving us the essence of all the previous ācāryas’ books in your books.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes.
Comments
Elsewhere, SP points out that it is a very good determination to only read his books. We are already seeing a destruction of our movement by those with so many diverse "opinions". Such "opinions" cause division and strife and confusion. Best to not deviate into questionable commentaries etc. as 99% of the readers of these books will deviate. Most of the readers have no brain.
Abhay Charan Das Lecture on SB 2.3.1-3 -- Los Angeles, May 22, 1972 : Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (leads chanting) śrī-śuka uvāca evam etan nigaditaṁ pṛṣṭavān yad bhavān mama nṛṇāṁ yan mriyamāṇānāṁ manuṣyeṣu manīṣiṇām (SB 2.3.1) brahma-varcasa-kāmas tu yajeta brahmaṇaḥ patim indram indriya-kāmas tu prajā-kāmaḥ prajāpatīn (SB 2.3.2) devīṁ māyāṁ tu śrī-kāmas tejas-kāmo vibhāvasum vasu-kāmo vasūn rudrān vīrya-kāmo 'tha vīryavān (SB 2.3.3) Prabhupāda: So, anyone else? That's all right. So in this way, if you chant ten times, you'll get it by heart. It is not difficult. So we are giving this diacritic mark, English transliteration, only for this purpose —so that you can chant, you can vibrate these mantras. So practice. Here you hear, and in your leisure time, you practice. If you chant these mantras anywhere, you'll be honored. Sanskrit language is so nice. And direction, everything is there: purport, word meaning, and translation. So we are taking so much trouble in writing books not for simply making market. It is for you to read. Not that simply we go and sell books, and that ... If the customer says, "You read it first of all," then what you will say? You'll say, "No, I cannot read. I can sell only." (laughter) (Prabhupāda laughs.) Then what will be your position, if you say like that? "I can sell; I cannot read." Anyway, then? Word meanings? (Pradyumna reads synonyms.) So these are kāma, these material desires. Somebody is wanting wealth, somebody is wanting beauty, somebody is wanting strength, somebody something else. All these are...the beginning from brahma-varcasa-kāmas tu. And ultimately, they want to merge into the brahmajyoti. So up to that point, everything that we want— that is material—and that is lust. Therefore it is said kāma. The...just the opposite word of kāma is prema, love. So in the material world there cannot be prema. Prema means love. The prema is only possible in the spiritual world. Here, what is going on as love, that is not love, that is lust. A boy loves a girl, a girl loves a boy. That is not love, that is lust. As soon as there is some disturbance in lusty affair, they divorce. So therefore that is not love. So we should note it, that so- called love is bogus in this material world. Love cannot be possible. This very word love, prema, is specially reserved for Kṛṣṇa. Premā pum-artho mahān. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching, that the highest perfection of life is to evoke one's dormant love for Kṛṣṇa. The love is there. It is reserved for Kṛṣṇa, but due to our foolishness, we are distributing that love in so many ways, up to the dog. This is called illusion. We do not know where to apply love. If you see, all these words is touched with the word kāma, kāma. Kāma means lust. There is no question of love. And love ... Prema and kāma is described in Caitanya-caritāmṛta. What is prema and what is... prema and kāma. Ātmendriya-prīti-vāñchā tāra bali kāma (CC Adi 4.165). Kāma. What is lust? Ātmendriya-prīti, to satisfy one's own senses. That is kāma. Here, a boy and girl love. They say "love," but no, it is not love. The boy wants to satisfy his senses, and the girl wants to satisfy her senses. That's all. Therefore, ātmendriya-prīti-vāñchā. Everyone is trying to satisfy her own senses. That is kāma. Lust. And then, what is prema? Kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-icchā dhare prema nāma. When the same propensity is transferred for satisfying Kṛṣṇa's senses... just like gopīs. The superexcellence of gopīs is due that they wanted to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. They dressed very nicely because they thought that "Kṛṣṇa become very pleased seeing us nicely dressed." Not that ... In this material world, a woman or a girl dress very nicely just to attract the opposite sex for his sense gratification. That's all. So everyone, all this description is given there: brahma-varcasa-kāma, vīrya-kāma, then vasu-kāma. Devīṁ māyāṁ tu śrī-kāmaḥ. Śrī. (aside) You can stand near the wall. Others may not... Śrī means beauty. In the Durgā-pūjā, Devī-pūjā, they ask... After offering Mother Durgā all sorts of paraphernalia, then they puṣpāñjali, they pray favor, dhanaṁ dehi rūpaṁ dehi balaṁ dehi. Dehi dehi. Dehi means "give me." After pūjā... Therefore it is called pūjā. Pūjā, just like in business circle, if you want to take some business from a big merchant, so you satisfy him, flatter him, and sometimes invite him in hotel and give him nice dinner. In this way, after he is satisfied, "Sir, if you kindly give me this contract." (laughter) "Or if you give me this post." The ultimate aim is his post and contract, not to satisfy the person. No. He's spending some money for his own sense gratification. Similarly, all these pūjās... The demigod pūjā, that is for his sense gratification. That's all. Kṛṣṇa, therefore, condemns this: kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānā yajante anya-devatāḥ (BG 7.20). This very kāma.