Book Distribution – The Greatest Welfare Activity
As a child, I remember my mother always motivating and encouraging me to read books. Apart from the regular literary educational books, she would give higher weightage to spiritual books, which she still does. Infact from the very moment I opened my eyes, I have been blessed to relish her mesmerising soulful voice reciting Sanskrit verses from our timeless Vedic Shastras. She always says, "These transcendental books are our real wealth. They are the words of God or Krishna. They are our spiritual, moral and righteous foundation. Following the divine path prescribed in these Vedic texts by God Himself, is the only means to save everyone from the miseries of the material world". Now I realize the quintessential potency of her sanguine words which very vividly resonates the truth.
Everyone in this world is in search of happiness. They look for it in mundane places due to lack of proper knowledge or bonafide guidance. People live by the mantra "Ignorance is Bliss". For instance, people who are blessed with abundant wealth by the Lord's mercy, often waste it in indulging in sense gratificatory activities, thinking that will give them happiness. The result is cultivation of unwanted terrestrial desires, hankering for material acquisitions, stress, frustration, anger, illusion and bewilderment. Unless and until we do not take shelter of the divine knowledge handed down to us in disciplic succession in the fom of Holy Books, originating from the Supreme Lord Himself, we will continue to remain entangled in the web of delusion.
I'm sure we all remember that during our childhood, young adult and growing years, our parents or guardians worrying about our education and providing us all facilities so that we study well and come out in flying colours at the examination. Have we ever thought why they gave so much importance to reading? That is because when we take birth in this material world as a new born, we are in complete ignorance, we are devoid of any knowledge. It is only when we start attending school, come in association with people, we start reading… that is when we are illuminated with the knowledge of worldly activities, we are able to distinguish between right and wrong.
Most of the times we get influenced by our surroundings, our circle of association and adopt a particular style of life without comprehending or thinking – Is this life an exemplary one? Is it in line with the words of God? Will leading this kind of life uplift me spiritually and give me long-term, eternal peace?
One may ask – How can we judge whether we are on the correct path? This can be explained by an example: We enjoy watching magic shows but does that mean that what we see is the Truth? No. It is simply illusion. We enjoy solving jigsaw puzzles but this also based solely on our intuition. We can never be confident that the piece we are about to fit in, is the correct one. So then which is the perfect source of wisdom or Absolute Truth? It is the knowledge in our Shastras, in our holy books which is the spotless, flawless source of knowledge because they are the nectarean words of God. Another analogy could be that when we purchase a brand new electronic gadget, we do not ask our neighbours, friends, relatives or strangers, how it functions. Neither do we depend on the shop keeper or dealer. The only source we can trust is the manufacturer of the product. Similarly, when it comes to our day-to-day activities we must not get carried away by external ever changing forces. Rather, the only source we can trust is our original Creator – God or Lord Krishna.
Thus, when we distribute the transcendental books, we are not giving people knowledge for sense gratification but we are giving them the nectar, the message of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual path shown to us by our learned wise sages and spiritual masters – that delivers us from the nescience of darkness, that elevates all sufferings and miseries of this world, that frees us from the bondage of karmas, that ignites the spiritual quest within conditioned souls like us when we start enquiring about – Who we really are? What is the purpose of our life? Why have we taken birth in this material world? What is our prime duty? How can we go back to our original home, back to Godhead which is our original abode?
So the highest charity is not giving food to the poor as one day it is going to run out, it is not giving money to a beggar on the street as you never know how he is going to expend it but the highest welfare work is distributing something much higher, something more deeper, which is not just going to give them temporary shelter or pleasure but something that would bring about a positive lasting transformation in their lives. The holy books like Bhagavad Gita As It Is and other small and big books by His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada – the Founder Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness guide us how to practically taste the nectar of ecstatic love for the Lord and how to to initiate them into transcendental knowledge. Like my spiritual master His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj expounds, "The holy name is the most valuable asset that you can possess". So it is not just our prime responsibility, but it is our priviledge and the greatest welfare activity to distribute this mercy and save everyone burning in the forest fire of material existence with the solace of the impeccable Wisdom of God through the virtuous medium of Book Distribution.
