The Best Literature

The essence of human activities is to describe the glories of the Lord. Literature which does not engage people in the devotional service of Krsna will not be substantially pleasurable. "On the other hand, literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, form, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation of transcendental words meant for bringing about a revolution in the impious life of a misdirected world civilization. Such transcendental literature, even though imperfectly composed, is accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest." (Bhag. 1.5.11)

It is understood that by broadcasting the holy name and fame of the Supreme Lord, the polluted atmosphere of the world will change, and as a result of propagating transcendental literature, people will become sane in their transactions. Of course at first people are inclined towards literature concerning sensuous topics, and they find this to be more entertaining and attractive than descriptions of the Supreme Lord. This is due to their diseased condition of thinking that the real self is the temporary body. The Bhagavad-gita, however, points out that this body is just like a jacket and that the real self is the eternal soul. Until we realize this, we think that our happiness is in this body, and therefore we like to hear literatures describing the joys and pleasures of this body.

It is stated that reading literature glorifying God acts on the conditioned soul as sugar candy does upon a person affected with jaundice. Although in the beginning one who is suffering from jaundice is reluctant to take sugar candy because of his diseased state, it is well known that sugar candy is the remedy for jaundice. Sugar tastes bitter to a jaundiced person, but the symptom of his cure is that he tastes the sugar candy to be progressively sweeter. Similarly, when people develop a taste for transcendental literature, they will automatically cease to read other literature. When transcendental literature like Srimad-Bhagavatam is available for the reading propensity, the material literature, which is catering poison to society, will automatically cease to be popular. "There are thousands and thousands of literary men all over the world, and they have created many, many thousands of literary works for the information of the people in general for thousands and thousands of years. Unfortunately none of them have brought peace and tranquility on earth between men or between nations. This is due to a spiritual vacuum in those literatures; therefore Vedic literatures are specifically recommended for suffering humanity to bring about the desired effect of liberation from the pangs of material civilization, which is eating the vital part of human energy." (Bhaktivedanta purports to Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.5.13)