Competition might have been a catalyst, but by steadfastly distributing Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, the members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement were experiencing the essence of loving service to Kṛṣṇa in separation, which is the highest spiritual ecstasy. “Don’t try to see God,” Śrīla Prabhupāda’s spiritual master had often said, “but act in such a way that God sees you.” In other words, by submissively acting on the order of the servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa, Prabhupāda’s disciples were sure to attract Kṛṣṇa’s loving attention.

The quickest way to catch Kṛṣṇa’s attention, Śrīla Prabhupāda said, was to direct another person to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The book distributors, therefore, felt a special reciprocation with their spiritual master, and this impelled them to go on serving and distributing.

Sañjaya: Philosophically we saw that going out and distributing books was what our spiritual master wanted us to do. We knew that. That was clear to us.We also had a real sense of idealism – that these books and magazines would change the world. Once you come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you actually see how crummy the world really is, how really contaminated things are, how envious people are, and how horrible material life is. You can see that. You don’t feel that you yourself can change it, but you feel that whoever gets one of Prabhupāda’s books and looks at it will be changed in a spiritual way. There was no question about it. We also felt a big change would come in the world in the future as Kṛṣṇa consciousness spread. Prabhupāda also said that if people just touch one of these books their lives will change. Our faith was in the books and Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Keśava Bhāratī: When you pass out a book, there is a certain reciprocation from Prabhupāda. There was a dramatic difference in our internal experience when a person would take a book compared to just taking some incense or something. We would actually experience Prabhupāda’s association all day by distributing those books. We didn’t feel left out just because certain devotees were physically closer to Prabhupāda. Book distributors always got strong enlivenment. We would read about Haridāsa Ṭhākura going out and rolling on the ground and begging people to chant. That kind of thing would inspire us.

Vaiśeṣika: We had Prabhupāda’s books and different letters from him. And we also knew that if we distributed lots of books, we could get our name in the newsletter, and we could think of how Prabhupāda would read it. But I was just trying to keep up with the others. Sometimes I would go a couple of hours without giving anyone a book. Everyone else would just be passing them out like crazy. I would try, and people would all but spit in my face. They were pushing me around. It was very heavy for me. I would sometimes just walk off and start crying, it was so heavy. But I knew this book distribution was pleasing to Prabhupāda, and I just wanted to be part of it.

We used to think how Prabhupāda was spending so much time behind a dictating machine just writing these books. We would meditate on how he would sleep just a few hours a day and minimize everything else to write these books. So we were also trying to cut down our other activities and just go out and distribute books. Prabhupāda said a devotee should live in the mood of the six Gosvāmīs, so we were singing those prayers every day. We felt a real connection. Even in the beginning a devotee told me, “Where is Prabhupāda, do you know?” And then he said, “He’s in his books.” That mood was always there. We always felt that connection.

Jagaddhātrī-devī dāsī: When I was distributing Prabhupāda’s books, I understood that that was the most pleasing thing I could do for him. I was helping him to fulfill his spiritual master’s instructions, and so he was pleased. And he was even more pleased if I did it nicely. I always used to hear the story about how Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī would be happy if someone went out and distributed even one magazine, because it’s actually the mood of saṅkīrtana, of going out and trying to give mercy to the conditioned souls, that counts.

I always wanted to do welfare work. I like the feeling of doing something for people. So this is the summum bonum of helping people. You are helping them to go back to Godhead. So that was my motivation. And we automatically become purified by bringing other living entities to Kṛṣṇa.

Tripurāri: I got inspired mostly by Prabhupāda’s greatness – how he was staunchly following his Guru Mahārāja. It was his Guru Mahārāja’s order, and therefore he was doing it. I was never very scholarly or intelligent. I never thought that I had much brains or talent. I was never trained practically in any kind of skill, and I didn’t have much education. I took it like that – that I was talking to the most fallen people and that I was the most fallen myself. I was just doing what Prabhupāda wanted, because he wanted. I would pray to Prabhupāda to help me realize why he wanted book distribution. Then within I would get inspiration, and it would come out in all of my talks about book distribution.

That time that I stayed out at the airport when all the devotees went back with Prabhupāda to the temple very much affected my whole spiritual life. I was very much intimately connected with Prabhupāda. But my closest association with him was by following his instructions and just getting down to work and not trying to enjoy the spiritual master but serve him.

Vṛndāvana-vilāsinī-devī dāsī: When Prabhupāda gave that famous lecture in Los Angeles, “Distribute books, distribute books, distribute books,” right then I wanted to take it up. Whenever he wrote to Rāmeśvara, it was really to “Rāmeśvara and Company.” We all felt included. We are all eternal book distributors – a team together. And I wanted to be part of it. It was Lord Caitanya’s eternal saṅkīrtana party, and we all wanted to be part of it. It’s going on in every planet, in every universe. I know it is pleasing to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

I would relate to book distribution like the battle of Kurukṣetra. It’s a battle, but Kṛṣṇa is right there. It’s like Kurukṣetra Number Two. I’m sure all book distributors feel like that. You feel like Kṛṣṇa is right there, and He’s going to win. You just have to take shelter of Him. You may not win this battle, but you win the overall war. So I always felt connected with Prabhupāda, because he’s telling us in his books about the great devotees that we can take shelter of. It’s all by his mercy. He’s giving us these books, and he’s in these books.

Sura: We were so much addicted to selling Prabhupāda’s books that we didn’t want to do anything else. We would just go straight to the airport and start distributing and not stop, except for maybe a twenty minute lunch break and maybe some reading for twenty minutes – otherwise nonstop until 7:30 or 8:00 at night. We really felt that Śrīla Prabhupāda was protecting us.

One time out at the airport I was given a BBT newsletter. Maybe it was due to the exhaustion or maybe it was due to some false sentimentality or whatever, but I was reading Prabhupāda’s remarks about book distribution, and I became very moved. I was by myself at the airport, and I just started crying, because I thought of how devotees all over the world are so beautiful, so wonderful-hearted, distributing books and working so hard. I was just really appreciating Prabhupāda and the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Prabhupāda had said something in the newsletter about book distribution, and it just touched me. We were so absorbed in books, books, books, that whenever Prabhupāda would say anything about book distribution, we would go nuts. That meant it was our connection to Prabhupāda. We weren’t big guns who could sit at a meeting with Prabhupāda or get personal attention so much. Maybe during some morning walks at the Māyāpur festival we got to sneak in with the sannyāsīs, but otherwise our book distribution was our connection with Prabhupāda. When he would mention something about book distribution, it would be our life and soul.

Lavaṅga-latikā-devī dāsī: Having heard Śrīla Prabhupāda speak and knowing that he was always reading from these books, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and that he was preaching that you have to distribute this knowledge to others made it all very simple. That is, you just knew that this was Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desire. He was always telling us that he was giving us this knowledge and that once you have this knowledge, you have to distribute it to others. Śrīla Prabhupāda came to America to preach with his disciples. So we must do it, because it’s Prabhupāda’s desire. He spent so much time translating these books to be distributed. You just want to distribute to others, and you want people to have these books in their homes.

Vṛndāvana, India
April 20, 1975
Śrīla Prabhupāda installed the Deities for the grand opening of the Krishna-Balaram Mandir. Almost a thousand disciples were present, and the governor of Uttar Pradesh was the guest of honor. After years of hard endeavor, the grand opening was a climactic triumph for Śrīla Prabhupāda and his movement. While still standing at the altar after having offered the first ārati to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, Prabhupāda addressed the crowd, explaining that this was an international temple, where people from all over the world could come to worship and take shelter of Gaura-Nitāi, Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma, and Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.

Later that evening, Śrīla Prabhupāda sat in his room with a few G.B.C. men. The buttons on his kurtā open because of the heat, his legs and bare feet extended under the low table, he relaxed, and his men sat close around him in the dim light of the desk lamp. It was a milestone, he said, but still they had to go forward, not merely savor their success. Many things were still required to make the temple and guesthouse operative.

Śrīla Prabhupāda was thinking beyond Vṛndāvana. “This temple construction is so important,” he said, “that I’m willing to spend many lakhs to open a temple like this. And yet as important as it is, the book production is even more important.” This was a significant reaffirmation of the priority of book production; even while in the midst of this splendid temple opening, he was stressing that book production was more important.

Śrīla Prabhupāda seemed displeased, however, because for months his Caitanya-caritāmṛta had been delayed by his Sanskrit editor. He said with a scowl that although he had finished the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it remained unpublished. He had also completed all four volumes of the Fourth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and was beginning the Fifth, yet only one volume of the Fourth Canto had been published.

One of the devotees present, not understanding Prabhupāda’s point, remarked that since Prabhupāda was going next to Hawaii he would be able to write there in peace and quiet. Prabhupāda replied that he was not encouraged to write when his manuscripts were not being published.

The BBT Press, after several years in New York, was about to relocate to Los Angeles, where Rāmeśvara would become the new BBT Press supervisor. Rāmeśvara, unaware of the delay in publishing the Caitanya-caritāmṛta manuscript, learned of it now, in Vṛndāvana. He promised Prabhupāda that he would immediately get the Press set up in Los Angeles and begin producing Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

That Śrīla Prabhupāda had completed the entire Caitanya-caritāmṛta manuscript in eighteen months during 1973 and 1974 was a remarkable feat. In those same months he had been intensely engaged in many affairs of management while constantly traveling. He had confronted major problems with leaders who had left their posts, he had personally attended to G.B.C. duties in India, and he had dealt with other ISKCON managerial affairs. He had authorized many large BBT loans and had approved the expansion and development of ISKCON in all areas of the world, in addition to responding regularly to large volumes of mail, speaking daily to guests, and giving Bhāgavatam lectures wherever he went. His only time for writing had been on arising at one in the morning, and he had persistently worked two or three hours each day.

While Śrīla Prabhupāda traveled from Vṛndāvana to Australia, Rāmeśvara and Rādhāvallabha worked in Los Angeles to establish the new BBT offices. Prabhupāda was still meditating on his completed Caitanya-caritāmṛta manuscript waiting to be published. From Australia he wrote,

The Caitanya-caritamrta is complete (12 parts) and only 3 parts are published, and now the 5th Canto is almost finished. So why these books are not being published? This is our first business. Immediately these pending books (17 in total) must all be published. Why the delay? The U.S. printer’s binding is better than Dai Nippon. So, some may be printed in the U.S. and some in Japan, but the pending books must be finished in a very short time. When I see so many books pending, it does not encourage me to translate. When I see books printed, I become encouraged to write more and more. We can talk this over more in Hawaii. Now you and Hansaduta expedite the publishing work. This is your business. And push on the selling. You request Tripurari Maharaja in this connection along with others. Now, Bhavananda Swami and Gargamuni Swami are there. They are also expert in pushing this on. By combined effort, publish as quickly as possible and immediately Caitanya-caritamrta should be done.

In Los Angeles Rāmeśvara had only completed the lease arrangements for the new building for the Press. The BBT artists had just arrived, and editors, proofreaders, and other production workers would soon be coming. The Press had purchased a computer typesetter, and the devotees were being trained to use it. Carpenters knocked down walls to build a photo lab and darkroom. Additional plumbing had to be installed, and the entire Press had to be set up within one month. Śrīla Prabhupāda was coming in June, and everything would have to be ready and running.

By the time Śrīla Prabhupāda reached Hawaii in May, the Press in Los Angeles was preparing for operation. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s secretary phoned Los Angeles often: “Prabhupāda is angry. He keeps talking about the unpublished books. You’d better be prepared when he arrives.”

Rāmeśvara and Rādhāvallabha had investigated the necessities and the difficulties in printing the Caitanya-caritāmṛta manuscript, which they concluded would come to seventeen volumes. One of the main problems they discovered was the lack of an expert Bengali editor.

Most of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta was in Bengali. Although the BBT editors were experienced in Sanskrit, because they were not proficient in Bengali, the work was progressing slowly. Also Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted many paintings in his books, and the art department would need many months to meet his requests.

Never before had the BBT lagged so far behind Śrīla Prabhupāda. Rāmeśvara and Rādhāvallabha, straining their brains to produce books quickly and efficiently, devised a stepped-up production schedule. By the old schedule they could publish a book every three or four months, but on the new schedule they decided they could produce a book a month. In that way, they would eventually catch up with Śrīla Prabhupāda. Rāmeśvara was eager to present Prabhupāda with this plan when he came to Los Angeles.

More phone calls came from Prabhupāda’s secretary. Prabhupāda had heard about the preparation of the Press buildings, but he had also heard that his name had not been displayed on the front of the BBT building. He was always insistent to preserve ISKCON’s disciplic succession, foreseeing that unless ISKCON stressed A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami as the founder-ācārya, in the future persons might claim their rights of ISKCON leadership or of ownership of ISKCON properties. In the rush for completing the buildings, the BBT managers had overlooked this important detail.

June 20, 1975
On arriving in Los Angeles, Śrīla Prabhupāda received a joyous welcome. He was accompanied by leading sannyāsīs and G.B.C. secretaries, including Kīrtanānanda Swami, Viṣṇujana Swami, Brahmānanda Swami, Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami, and others. Later, sitting in his room – one of his favorites in all of ISKCON – he spoke only briefly about the backlog of unprinted books. He seemed mildly disturbed but said little. He was very pleased, however, to see the temple and the Deities of Rukmiṇī-Dvārakādhīśa.

In his short arrival speech he had explained why he was so urgently pressing his disciples to produce his books. “I have no personal qualification,” he had said from the plushly upholstered vyāsāsana, “but I simply try to satisfy my guru, that’s all. My Guru Mahārāja asked me that, ‘If you get some money, you print books.’ So there was a private meeting, talking. Some of my important Godbrothers also were there – it was in Rādhā-kuṇḍa. So Guru Mahārāja was speaking to me that, ‘Since we have got this Baghbazar marble temple, there has been so much dissension. And everyone thinking who will occupy this room or that room. I wish therefore to sell this temple and the marble and print some books.’ Yes, so I took up this from his mouth, that he is very fond of books. And he told me personally, ‘If you get some money, print books.’ Therefore I am stressing on this point – Where is book? Where is book? So kindly help me. That is my request. Print as many books as possible in as many languages as possible, and distribute throughout the whole world. Then the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will automatically increase.”

The next morning, while walking on Venice Beach, Śrīla Prabhupāda delivered an extraordinary ultimatum. Surrounded by devotees, he walked along, poking the sand softly with his cane. “These seventeen volumes unpublished,” he began, “are a great problem for our movement.”

“Yes, Prabhupāda,” Rāmeśvara responded, attentive and concerned. The other devotees also nodded, commiserating. Something must be done.

“Yes,” Prabhupāda continued, “they must be published immediately.”

“Yes, Prabhupāda,” Rāmeśvara replied obediently.

“So I think they can be printed in two months,” Śrīla Prabhupāda said conclusively.

Rāmeśvara wasn’t sure he had heard correctly. The Press had only just opened. The artists didn’t even have the lights in their room. Two months was illogical, impossible. Now was the moment to tell Śrīla Prabhupāda the plan for increased production. Rāmeśvara stepped closer.

“Śrīla Prabhupāda,” he began, “we’ve been meeting about this, and now that the Press is finally here and established, I think we can increase production four times. We think that now we can go from producing one book every four months to producing one of your books every month.” Now both Rāmeśvara and Rādhāvallabha were walking together beside Śrīla Prabhupāda, with Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami and Brahmānanda Swami walking on his other side.

“One book every month,” Śrīla Prabhupāda said, as if thinking out loud and considering it. “That means over one year. It is not fast enough.” The other devotees looked over at Rāmeśvara and Rādhāvallabha, who glanced at each other.

“You have to do all the books in two months’ time,” Śrīla Prabhupāda said again. They had clearly heard it this time, and the two managers were stunned in disbelief.

“Śrīla Prabhupāda,” Rāmeśvara said, “I think that’s impossible. Maybe we can go faster…“

Śrīla Prabhupāda suddenly stopped walking. Planting his cane firmly in the sand, he turned to Rāmeśvara and said, without anger but very gravely, “Impossible is a word found in the fool’s dictionary.”

Suddenly Rāmeśvara realized his spiritual life was on the line. To say “impossible” now would mean he had no faith in Kṛṣṇa’s representative, no faith in the power of God. He must throw away his material estimations and rational common sense.

While Rāmeśvara and Rādhāvallabha stood speechless, Śrīla Prabhupāda resumed walking, accompanied by the others. The two devotees hurried to catch up, but now everyone looked at them as if to say, “Come on. Stop doubting. You have to do it.” Rāmeśvara asked Śrīla Prabhupāda if he could discuss this with the other devotees at the Press and then report back. “Oh, yes,” Prabhupāda replied, “whatever is required.” Rāmeśvara and Rādhāvallabha dropped back, while Śrīla Prabhupāda and the others continued down the beach.

Śrīla Prabhupāda returned to the temple and toured the new Press facilities – a graphic arts building and an editorial building. While walking outside on a second-floor veranda, he noticed below a two-foot strip of bare earth running between the two buildings. He seemed annoyed and said that they should plant grass there.

In the layout room a transparency of baby Kṛṣṇa carrying Nanda Mahārāja’s shoes was on the light table, and Śrīla Prabhupāda began laughing when he saw it. He approved of the new typesetting equipment, which worked faster than the previous equipment, and when the devotees demonstrated it for him, he remarked that in India he had dreamed of having such a Press.

In Rādhāvallabha’s office Prabhupāda sat in the production manager’s chair and looked up at the large bulletin board that displayed all the steps in the production of a book. He laughed and said, “For someone like me, this makes it even more complicated.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda walked into every room in the two buildings and saw all the equipment. This modern technology was fine, he concluded, as long as they could use it to meet the deadline of seventeen books in two months; otherwise, their equipment was like the technology of the material scientists who tried to go to the moon – useless.

All through the morning program in the temple, Rāmeśvara and Rādhāvallabha tried to concentrate on chanting their japa and on Prabhupāda’s class, but all they could think of was arranging for the production of seventeen volumes in two months. And by the time they met with the Press workers, they had become convinced it could be done. It was as if some mystical power was going to descend. Somehow or other it could be done. So they presented the plan and convinced the other workers.

“It can be done,” Rāmeśvara said later, talking with Śrīla Prabhupāda. “Hmmm,” Śrīla Prabhupāda replied.

But there were some conditions, Rāmeśvara said. For the Bengali editing to go smoothly, the editors would have to be able to regularly consult Śrīla Prabhupāda. Immediately Prabhupāda agreed, adding that he was prepared to stay in Los Angeles as long as necessary to insure that they met the two-month deadline. Another condition Rāmeśvara raised was that the artists would be working as quickly as humanly possible, but the paintings might not be of the best quality. “A blind uncle is better than no uncle,” Śrīla Prabhupāda said. When Rāmeśvara mentioned that the artists would have many technical questions, Prabhupāda agreed to make time to answer them. He also agreed that photographs of Indian holy places connected with caitanya-līlā could be used to supplement the paintings.

After their meeting with Śrīla Prabhupāda, Rāmeśvara and Rādhāvallabha felt that they had a chance. They left Śrīla Prabhupāda’s room, running down the stairs. The marathon was on.