Page 17 - Jaya Srila Prabhupada (English)

Introduction xv

This book is meant to help us understand Çréla
Prabhupäda more fully, bring us closer to him, and help us
always remember him. It may not be that I have anything new
to say; and it might well be that others can express similar
realizations better.
If there are any faults in this book they are of my doing,
for there are no faults in Prabhupäda. Similarly, whatever is
good in this book is only because of Çréla Prabhupäda.
Should anyone perhaps get the wrong impression, I’d like
to make it clear that my authoring this book should not imply
that I’m a special devotee with special realizations about
Çréla Prabhupäda. I’m simply dovetailing my propensity to
write, that’s all. Çréla Prabhupäda wanted his disciples to
write, and sannyasis especially are supposed to write.
Furthermore, in Bhagavad-gétä Lord Kåñëa instructs,
äcäryopäsanam: “the äcärya should be worshiped and
glorified.” As a disciple, it is my duty to glorify my spiritual
master. Çréla Prabhupäda was very fond of books, so what
better way to glorify him than to write books about him?
This is not only our duty but our great pleasure. Others
express their love for Prabhupäda by milking Kåñëa’s cows,
managing His temples, washing His pots, preaching His
glories, or distributing books about Him. Love does not
mean only words, but practical action also. Prabhupäda was
full of words—constantly speaking and writing about
Kåñëa—but he was an organizer, a leader, and an inspiration
also. Sometimes he even became the floor cleaner.
Eloquence is nice, but it isn’t everything.
I pray that Çréla Prabhupäda enjoys this book, and that
his followers enjoy it also.
Bhakti Vikäsa Swami