19.132
ei-katha suni’ mahantera maha-sukha haya
caitanyera krpa yanhe, tanhe ki vismaya?
SYNONYMS
ei-katha suni’—hearing this news; mahantera—of all the devotees; maha-sukha—great pleasure; haya—was; caitanyera—of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu; krpa—mercy; yanhe—on whom; tanhe—in him; ki—what; vismaya—wonderful.
When the personal associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would hear of the activities of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis, they would say, “What is wonderful for a person who has been granted the Lord’s mercy?”
PURPORT
Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami had no fixed residence.
They stayed beneath a tree for one day only and wrote huge volumes of transcendental literature.
They not only wrote books but chanted, danced, discussed Krsna and remembered Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes.
Thus they executed devotional service.
In Vrndavana there are prakrta-sahajiyas who say that writing books or even touching books is taboo.
For them, devotional service means being relieved from these activities.
Whenever they are asked to hear a recitation of Vedic literature, they refuse, saying, “What business do we have reading or hearing transcendental literatures? They are meant for neophytes.” They pose themselves to be too elevated to exert energy for reading, writing and hearing.
However, pure devotees under the guidance of Srila Rupa Gosvami reject this sahajiya philosophy.
It is certainly not good to write literature for money or reputation, but to write books and publish them for the enlightenment of the general populace is real service to the Lord.
That was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s opinion, and he specifically told his disciples to write books.
He actually preferred to publish books rather than establish temples.
Temple construction is meant for the general populace and neophyte devotees, but the business of advanced and empowered devotees is to write books, publish them and distribute them widely.
According to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, distributing literature is like playing on a great mrdanga.
Consequently we always request members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to publish as many books as possible and distribute them widely throughout the world.
By thus following in the footsteps of Srila Rupa Gosvami, one can become a rupanuga devotee.