Writing and Distributing Books … and a Little Nectar

Writing and Distributing Books … and a Little Nectar

It has been some months since the last newsletter, but as mentioned then, my daily schedule is dominated by writing my Vilāpa-kusumāñjali commentaries. I reported then that I had just completed Verse 22 of the 104 verses of Vilāpa; now, months later, I have just begun Verse 36. 

I spent almost three of those months in Māyāpur, where I found my daily immersion in Vilāpa an uninterrupted and blissful absorption. We finalised Volume 1, at least in terms of the verses written by Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī and my commentaries to those verses. Since returning to Hungary, I have completed the Maṅgaāacaraṇa, Preface, Introduction, and a biography on the life of Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, all of which make up the front matter of Vilāpa.

The artwork in Vilāpa, however, is its own universe: detailed, exquisite, and exceptionally beautiful, with our own Taralākṣī Devī Dāsī contributing in her usual unique and masterly form, and Gāndharvikā Dāsī in hers, which is not to exclude the other accomplished artists in our publishing house’s Art Department, headed by the ever-competent Akṛṣṇa Dāsa. Vilāpa would not be the same without their consummate skills gracing its pages. While Volume 1 is ready for layout, the art will be finalised end-August, and so our goal for the release of Vilāpa is now October 9, the beginning of Kārttika. I was due to return to Māyāpur after Rādhāṣṭamī, but with the rescheduled release date, I will now first visit the UK for a long weekend, armed with freshly-printed copies of Vilāpa, then onto Vṛndāvana for ten days, and then finally arriving in Māyāpur by the end of October. By that time, we’ll have almost finished Volume 2!

But this newsletter isn’t solely about Vilāpa. There is some exceptionally good news from the US, where book distributor extraordinaires Ānanda Caitanya Dāsa, Hari Nārāyaṇa Dāsa, and Bhakta Lukas have been travelling along the west coast, attending the Sādhu Saṅga at Salt Lake, in Utah, and as far north as Vancouver, Canada and Seattle, where Ānanda Caitanya managed to drop a couple of sets in Microsoft’s headquarters; and so far have sold—wait for it!—135 sets of Nava-vraja-mahimā. Jai Rādhā-Śyāma!

To close, I wanted to share a little of Vilāp, hopefully to whet your appetites for its upcoming release. This is an excerpt from Verse 16, “Nothing Else Will Do.”

*    *    *    *
Rādhā says softly, “I offered you my friendship.”
“I was honoured, and shall always devotedly remember your kindness.”
“One usually does not refuse a gift.”
“As always you are correct. But I cannot change who I am. I am your maidservant.” 

Yet Dāsa Gosvāmī had fallen for Rādhā’s trap. She was the cleverest:

“You cannot change who you are. But I can transform you.”

Again, there is a moment of silence. 

“If you do, then I will not be Rati.”
“You can still keep that name as a sakhī.”
“But as a sakhī I will not be Śrī Rūpa’s servant.”

Touche! Rādhā was foiled. This was one argument she had no answer for. But there was no need for further debate: she had already conceded to her devotee’s desire.

Tears gliding down his weathered cheeks, Dāsa Gosvāmī softly adds, 
“And I would lose my chastity to you. Please do not deprive me of that.” 

Rādhā smiles, happy to be defeated. 

“Tathastu. Let it be as you desire.”

*    *    *    *

Jaya Gaurāṅga! Jaya Rādhā-Śyāma!

Yours in Kṛṣṇa’s service,
Śivarāma Swami