Sweet as Sugar Candy

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

One of the senior devotees recently was sharing a very powerful incident when Srila Prabhupada was in London in the 1970's. 

Srila Prabhupada stayed for some time in Bhaktivedanta Manor and translated Sri Caitanya Caritamrita. Most days he would be awake all night and dictate in the dictaphone. Devotees were eager to see how much Prabhupada has translated every day. So one of the days Prabhupada's light was on all night, so devotees were thinking he would have translated a lot of texts. But in the morning the personal servant of Prabhupada was amazed to find that he had translated only one word. He went to Prabhupada and asked him, why did he not translate more than one word. For that, Srila Prabhupada responded, "I was thinking hard all night, how to translate this one word in simple way for practical implementation of all the future generation!"

That is how complex that service Srila Prabhupada had taken upon himself - to convert the powerful and concentrated instructions of the previous acharyas into the world of current day population which is short-lived, lazy, misguided, unintelligent and always disturbed. As days go by, the amount of usage of electrical and electronic equipments are growing so much that nobody is interested in the invaluable message of the vedic scriptures. And Srila Prabhupada made the impossible to possible!

The senior devotee who was sharing this incident told us how easy it is for us to engage in all other forms of physical services, but sitting and reading Srila Prabhupada's books is so hard and tough. But that is the most important of services Srila Prabhupada insisted for each one of his followers to take up. He was instructing us to carefully read his books minimum 1-2 hours a day depending on the time we have. Srila Rupa Goswami says in Nectar of Instruction verse 7,

syāt kṛṣṇa-nāma-caritādi-sitāpy avidyā-
pittopatapta-rasanasya na rocikā nu
kintv ādarād anudinaṁ khalu saiva juṣṭā
svādvī kramād bhavati tad-gada-mūla-hantrī

The holy name, character, pastimes and activities of Krsna are all transcendentally sweet like sugar candy. Although the tongue of one afflicted by the jaundice of avidya [ignorance] cannot taste anything sweet, it is wonderful that simply by carefully chanting these sweet names every day, a natural relish awakens within his tongue, and his disease is gradually destroyed at the root.

It is only because of the disease called ignorance that we are not able taste the nectarian pastimes of Lord Krishna narrated beautifully by Srila Prabhupada in his books. But that is the only medicine which will rid us of our material disease. It will not only uproot of the disease from its root but also establish our original taste to hear the Lord's glories and pastimes. As we keep reading Srila Prabhupada's books, we will get more and more addicted to its taste that nothing else will taste any better.

Let us all pray to Srila Prabhupada that we get the taste to read his books and relish it with everyone else who we meet.

Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev,
Kalacakra Krsna das.