Books Are the Greatest Weapons

To serve Lord Chaitanya means to deliver His message to the fallen souls all over the world. Whoever we are and wherever we may be, our duty is to bring Krsna consciousness to all people, so that they can understand how, why, and what self-realization is. They don't know what it is, why they should do it, or how to do it. Therefore we give them Shrila Prabhupada's books, so that they can learn what, why, and how. When you talk to somebody, he may listen for some time, but then he either argues with you or goes away and forgets everything. Very few people can tolerate even the idea of somebody preaching to them, but taking a book is less of a commitment in their eyes. You say, "Take one of these books home; they are very nice and full of ancient wisdom," and they think,

 

"If I have to listen to this person, then he's in control. But if I take a book, I'm in control. I can control a book. It's just pieces of paper. It does what I want. I can read it in my armchair at home and accept or reject it as I like. If I want it to sit on the bookshelf, it sits on the bookshelf. When I don't want it to talk to me, I don't look at it. I'm the controller. I can take a book."You can even let them know it: "There's no difficulty or commitment. You can read it when you want. It does not demand anything ot you. It only gives." But when they open these books, Prabhupada is preaching to them and they can­not just put him down. They have no chance to speculate or consider themselves the controller when he is speaking. They are automatically controlled until they finally surrender. But they don't know that, for it is hidden.

 

These books are the greatest weapons. We are not in­terested in guns or other weapons; they are not practical — they sometimes make holes in one's head. The best thing is Lu uistribuL^ uillions ui uuuixa, uiuuntams anu trucKioads ui books. Let a rain of transcendental literature fall from the sky, but let not one touch the ground. Distribute the books on •"Their merit. Then each book  will  be a power full weapon that will enter the home and destroy the darkness of ignorance in the hearts of the masses. Nothing can compare to the transcendental distribution of these books. Our book distribution is revolutionary because when people learn about the spiritual quality of life, they will naturally and automatically want to change the way modern society is running. With these words we lovingly kick you out the door to ex­pand the Krsna consciousness movement by inspired preach­ing and book distribution, without envy or selfish interests. Don't be a miser, thinking that these books look very nice piled up in your storehouse. Pour the rain of mercy on all classes of men everywhere without any discrimination. Then everyone will get the highest benefit, both yourself and the rest of the world as well.