SPD08-05 Brilliant as the Sun
SPD08-05
Brilliant as the Sun
Brilliant as the Sun
[00:35] [Narrator:] Five thousand years ago in India, many saints and sages gathered
[00:36] on the banks of the sacred river Ganges.
[00:38] They came from throughout the world to witness the last seven days
[00:43] in the life of the great devotee King Pariksit.
[00:46] The king had renounced his fabulous wealth
[00:49] to dedicate his few remaining days to spiritual enlightenment.
[00:52] At that meeting, Sukadeva Gosvami, the most exalted sage in the assembly,
[00:58] narrated the pastimes and teachings of Lord Sri Krsna,
[01:02] the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
[01:05] He discussed all aspects of knowledge, from the creation of the material universe
[01:10] to the culture of spiritual life, and held the king and sages in rapt attention.
[01:24] His teachings, known as the Bhagavata Purana, or Srimad-Bhagavatam,
[01:30] were transcribed in the ancient Sanskrit language,
[01:33] and their glories are thus explained in the Bhagavata itself.
[01:37] "This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and has arisen just after the departure of
[01:43] Lord Krsna to His own abode, accompanied by religion and knowledge, etc.
[01:50] Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of this age of Kali
[01:54] shall get light from this Purana."
[01:57] Through the ages, these teachings about Lord Sri Krsna were transmitted intact
[02:04] from spiritual master to disciple:
[02:06] Sripada Madhvacarya,
[02:09] Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu,
[02:12] the Gosvamis of Vrndavana,
[02:15] Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura,
[02:20] Sri Gaurakisora dasa Babaji
[02:24] and, in the early twentieth century, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura,
[02:29] who ordered his disciples to preach Krsna consciousness around the world.
[02:34] He especially desired to distribute Krsna conscious literature in the Western countries.
[02:39] His disciple His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
[02:45] took this order as his very life.
[02:49] In 1966 he founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
[02:54] for worldwide preaching.
[02:56] Then, for worldwide publishing, he established the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
[03:01] Srila Prabhupada himself is the author of all of the books.
[03:06] He has been acclaimed as the world's most distinguished scholar and teacher
[03:09] of Vedic philosophy and culture.
[03:12] While translating each Sanskrit verse, he refers to books of commentary
[03:16] by previous spiritual masters and then gives a thorough explanation of the text.
[Prabhupada dictating in his room]
[03:29] [Prabhupada:] "Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura gives in this connection a description
[03:36] of the difference of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and ordinary living being.
[03:45] So this is... [replays a section]
[03:59] This has been described in the previous verse, [Sanskrit].
[04:11] The purport is that Supreme Lord, He is omnipotent, omniscient. He knows everything.
[04:24] But the living being does not know actually what is the position
[04:33] of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
[04:36] That is the difference between the Supreme Personality of Godhead
[04:42] and ordinary living being."
[04:47] [Narrator:] Now we will follow one verse as it journeys from translation by Srila Prabhupada
[04:52] through the process of book publication to its distribution around the world.
[05:03] [Draviḍa dasa typing from Prabhupada's dictation:] "This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen
[05:08] just after the departure of Lord Krsna to His own abode, accompanied by religion,
[05:17] knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance
[05:26] in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purana."
At BBT Press offices in Los Angeles
[06:35] [tannoy announcement:] Navadvipa dasa, please report to graphic design. Navadvipa dasa.
[06:47] Damodara Prabhu, please pick up on line 40.
[in office of the Production Manager]
[06:57] [Radhaballabha dasa:] [talking to salesman] Srimad-Bhagavatam, we require one hundred thousand copies.
[07:00] But on this reprint, we'd like two hundred and fifty thousand.
[07:06] [Duryodhana-guru dasa:] Prabhu, this package just arrived by air freight from India.
[07:09] [Radhaballabha dasa:] Ah. Jaya. This is the latest translation of Srimad-Bhagavatam by our spiritual master.
[07:14] Prabhu, take this manuscript to the Sanskrit department
[07:18] and tell them it's first priority. And put a marker against Srila Prabhupada's name.
[07:29] [Narrator:] From the production manager the manuscript goes to the Sanskrit department.
[in Sanskrit department]
[08:00] Here we see that the ancient script has been rendered into roman letters.
[08:05] The editor is adding diacritical marks as a guide to pronunciation.
[in English editing department]
[08:15] [Jayadvaita dasa:] [dictating] "This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun-comma-
[08:19] and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krsna to-cap H-His own abode-comma-
[08:25] accompanied by religion-comma-knowledge-comma- etc.-period. Persons who have lost..."
[08:30] [Narrator:] An English editor now checks the manuscript for proper punctuation, grammar
[08:34] and spelling. He dictates the corrected text onto a tape. [dictation continues]
[08:50] His recording is then transcribed.
[08:59] In the composing room, devotees retype the text on computerized machines
[09:05] that transfer each typed letter into an electronic code.
[09:08] The codes are recorded on magnetic tape. Any language can be composed in this way.
[09:38] The tape, with its coded information, is now fed into an electronic computer.
[09:55] The coded impulses from the tape are stored in the computer's memory bank..
[10:00] Then the computer activates a phototypesetter. The typesetter converts the stored codes
[10:06] into light sensitive impressions on photographic paper.
[10:13] When the paper is developed in a processor, the resulting image looks
[10:17] exactly as it will appear in the finished book.
[10:20] The typesetting machine can run off more than two thousand characters per minute.
[10:25] At this rate, the entire Srimad-Bhagavatam as Sukadeva Gosvami first spoke it
[10:31] could be reproduced in twenty-four hours.
[10:46] The layout man cuts the photographic paper to page size and mounts it on art board.
[11:05] Next, the page is photographed on a reproduction camera.
[11:30] The retoucher removes any blemishes from the negative.
[11:44] Before the book is printed, blueprints are made of all the negatives,
[11:49] and the blueprints are carefully proofread.
[11:56] Meanwhile, during this entire operation, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust artists
[12:02] illustrate verses and purports from the pages of the Bhagavatam.
[12:21] They begin with pencil sketches portraying the scenes exactly as they are written.
[12:27] These sketches are sent to Srila Prabhupada for approval and then traced on canvas.
[12:33] With great care and devotion, oils are applied.
[12:37] The artists have to work quickly to keep pace with modern book production techniques.
[12:42] This painting, for instance, took only two weeks to complete.
[12:52] For reproduction, the finished painting is photographed with a special studio camera.
[13:01] A reading on a color analyzer assures that the colors are correctly balanced on the final print.
[13:13] The devotee technician programs a computer processor which automatically develops the print.
[13:44] Next, the picture goes to the layout department, where it is scaled to the proper size.
[14:01] The book is now ready to print.
[14:27] At this point, page proofs are checked for accurate color reproduction.
[14:38] After being printed, the books are stored at the BBT warehouse in Los Angeles.
[14:44] From there, they are shipped throughout the world. [devotees discussing shipment numbers]
[15:02] Devotees load thousands of books into special air containers to jet-freight
[15:07] rush orders within twenty-four hours.
[15:53] The narrations concerning the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna,
[15:59] are the oldest writings known to man. Over generations they have influenced civilizations
[16:05] in both the East and the West. Now, under Srila Prabhupada's guidance,
[16:11] the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust has become the world's largest publisher and distributor
[16:16] of these spiritual classics.
[16:18] In English language editions alone the Book Trust has sold thirty million magazines
[16:23] and ten million books.
[16:27] Its greatest undertaking is the continuing publication of the sixty-volume
[16:31] Srimad-Bhagavatam, the essence of all spiritual and material knowledge.
[16:38] The ultimate source of everything that be is explained rationally and authoritatively
[16:44] in the beautiful Bhagavatam; therefore it is the transcendental science meant for the
[16:50] re-spiritualization of the entire human society.
[16:55] Another publication of major importance is the seventeen-volume
[16:59] Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. The original Bengali verses translated and explained by
[17:07] Srila Prabhupada describe the life and teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
[17:12] The Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna Himself appeared
[17:17] as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to deliver the easiest and most sublime process
[17:22] for self-realization in this age.
[17:28] These books offer original Sanskrit and Bengali texts, roman transliterations,
[17:34] word-for-word English synonyms, concise translations and readable purports
[17:39] by Srila Prabhupada.
[17:42] They also feature detailed glossaries, general indexes, verse indexes,
[17:48] pronunciation guides and original full-color paintings and photographs.
[17:54] Also published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust are a number of shorter works,
[18:03] in cloth and paper editions.
[18:11] In 1944 Srila Prabhupada started publishing Back to Godhead magazine in India.
[18:17] Now his disciples are continuing this work in many other countries.
[18:21] The English language edition has a monthly circulation of one million copies,
[18:25] making it the West's most popular periodical on Vedic philosophy and culture.
[18:31] His Divine Grace is the spiritual master of a worldwide movement,
[18:37] and his books have thus been translated into fifteen major languages,
[18:42] including Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Swedish, Dutch,
[18:50] Portuguese, Polish, Swahili, Gujarati, Hindi and Bengali.
[18:59] Bhagavad-gita As It Is is the Western world's best-selling and most widely used
[19:03] edition of India's greatest religious classic.
[19:06] Nearly one million copies of the English edition have been sold.
[19:12] Srila Prabhupada's books are studied in universities and colleges throughout the world.
[19:17] In America alone, ninety percent of the colleges and universities have already ordered these books
[19:22] for their students, professors and libraries.
[19:25] Harvard, Yale and Oxford lead the list of prestigious schools
[19:29] that have placed standing orders for all seventeen volumes of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
[19:35] and the entire sixty-volume set of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
[19:40] Throughout the world, scholars glorify Srila Prabhupada's writings.
[19:47] Dr. J. Bruce Long of Cornell University praised Srila Prabhupada's works as
[19:53] "A cause for celebration."
[19:55] And Dr. Daniel H. H. Ingalls of Harvard said,
[19:59] "I am most happy to have these handsomely printed volumes."
[20:03] Dr. Garry Gelade of Oxford University wrote,
[20:07] "This is a work to be treasured. The spirit of its message shines brightly from the pages."
[20:22] Devotees at the temples of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
[20:27] study their spiritual master's books daily.
[20:30] They have dedicated their lives to presenting the teachings of Krsna consciousness
[20:35] to the entire human society.
[on the street, book distribution to the public]
[21:00] [Gopavrndapala dasa:] Hare Krsna, sir. May I have a moment of your time?
[21:00] [Man:] Yeah. Sure.
[21:04] [Gopavrndapala dasa:] I'm from the Krsna temple, and on the request of my spiritual master,
[21:08] His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
[21:12] we're making these ancient books on transcendental knowledge
[21:15] available to the people here in the West.
[21:17] This is the history of the life and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
[21:23] Lord Sri Krsna.
[21:24] I'll show you one verse which is very good. It gives a basic idea of the book.
[21:29] It says, "This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen
[21:36] just after the departure of Lord Krsna to His own abode, accompanied by religion,
[21:41] knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness in this age
[21:48] of Kali shall get light from this Purana."
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