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EDITORIAL July 24, 1999 VNN4355 Comment on this story I Had Lots Of Good Reasons Not To Buy Vaiyasaki's Book BY AKHILESVARA DAS* EDITORIAL, Jul 24 (VNN) — Who has not been approached by Vaiyasaki Prabhu at least once during a Rathayatra festival, as he tries to sell you one of his cassettes or CDs? This year, however, at the NY Ratha, he has added something new to his repertoire -- he is signing up advance orders for his new book which is about to come out: Radha-Damodara Vilasa: The Inner Life of Vishnujana Swami & Jayananda Prabhu. Vaiyasaki showed me the dummy copy. With his gray and white hair, a sneering smile on his face and a penetrating look in his eyes, he stands in front of me with a pen and order book. He is acting too quickly for my taste, and I personally think he's getting ahead of himself. "I'll think about it when your book actually comes out," I tell him. But since the book will be out in less than one month and I will be going to Washington, DC, where Vaiyasaki lives, for the next festival, I reconsider. I therefore say, "Well, 35 $US is a lot for a Canadian." He understands. He will fix the price when he will come to Canada. For the time being, I find a way out of buying the book. My problem is that I'm just so damned poor! Washington. He has the book. And I see devotees with two or three of them in their hands. I love books. But I will not even look at this one; I am afraid to be had or of some guilty feelings for not getting it. After all, there are so many new books that I can't read them all. I don't mind a good book, however. Only one month previously I wrote to Hari Sauri about Prabhupada's biography. I must admit that I had hardly finished his last one. Not that it was not good, but I have other literary interests right now. Anyhow, Hari Sauri wrote me back: "Nowadays I am serving as the Co-Director of Mayapur, so I am afraid my writing has stopped, and I am not at this point able to see when I will be able to finish my Diary series. Management means no peace and that means no writing. It's on the back-burner but at some point I will revive it." Montreal. Vaiyasaki is here. Who he is anyway that I should buy his book? As a singer, he is excellent. But to write about personages almost mythical, like Visnujana Swami, is another thing. With my sensitive nose, I smell fumes of New Age. So I tell Vaiyasaki that due to my financial situation, I cannot buy the book. But a friend of mine, who listens to my apologies, decides to get it for himself and will let me read it first. I grab the book and decide to check it out right away. In Satyararaj Prabhu's preface, I read about his wonder. "How will he do it?" he asks. "There is so much material, such deep theological implications in each of these subjects -- this is a major, herculean task, and I am glad I'm not taking it on. I could never do it justice." "And yet," Satyaraj continues, "Vaiyasaki has done a wonderful job. Going through his manuscript, I see he has not only researched the subject with the expertise of a master historian, but he has captured the emotional component of the lives of Srila Prabhupada, Visnujana, Jayananda, and the many devotees who surrounded them." That 620 pages hard cover UFO ends up in my house and stays there for a few days before I decide to read it. When I do it, I am alone. I open it at random. "The First TSKP, Washington, DC, 1970." I think: "Is he from there? Was he in Washington at this time?" Reading further, I become fascinated by the story of how the first Radha Krsna Deities arrived in America. Vaiyasaki Prabhu has touched a string in my soul. He plays with my emotions; I laugh and shed tears. When my wife comes in the evening, I want to test the book on her. I want to verify if this experience was not just due to some subjective biological-emotional disorder. I tell you, sometimes the descriptions are just unreal; like a script destined to become a Wall Disney cartoon. But no joke, they are the transcendental pastimes of the beginning of our movement. I read: "Within twenty-four hours, he [the Landlord] returns their $450 deposit, and the LA devotees are evicted to join the homeless. With nowhere to go, they camp out on Hollywood Boulevard, accompanied by Lord Jagannath, the pots and pans, rice, dahl, and Prabhupada's books. They ask every passerby for help, without success. [·] Suddenly, a little old lady walks up with her pet dog·" When she hears about their misfortune, she proposes: "Then come and live with us." With us means her three dogs... the house stinks. My wife is listening and I see her amazement on her face. She laughs and exclaims exactly where I was hoping she would. Listen to this one: A few days later, the devotees have organized a lecture to be given by Srila Prabhupada who is in town. It is to take place in a garage that was offered by a businessman. "Jaya Gopal waits outside the closed garage door ready to blow his conchshell when Prabhupada arrives. [·] "At the sound of the conch, the big garage door lifts as if a big car is about to enter, and there is Srila Prabhupada, small in stature, humble, and standing alone. He comes in, takes his seat, and begins kirtan." Prabhupada lectures from the Brahma-samhita. Vaiyasaki describes his lecture: "Prabhupada elucidated on the description given of the spiritual world, where every house is constructed of cintamani stone, where the trees are all desire trees, and every woman is a goddess of fortune." I forgot to tell you. After I had taken the book from my friend and read Satyaraj's preface, I ran to Vaiyasaki to buy one with money that I borrowed from the same friend. You may also have all kinds of good reasons not to buy the book. I even saw one of his good friends who refused it because of- Well, you may find so many good excuses: Vaiyasaki is not a paramahamsa; Kirtanananda is mentioned there in his hours of glory; TKG is in it; you have no money, this or that. Prabhus! Forget them all! This book is a must! It is an unvaluable work for the posterity. There is one crucial key for spreading Krsna consciousnes and making every one happy. That is: a festive mood. And that is what Vaiyasaki is giving in this book. He is endowed with the power to share the joy of Krishna consciousness. I will say nothing more. *I thank very much Jagadananda Prabhu for encouraging me to write and helping editing this text. Comment on this story  Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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