Why do you sell the books and make money out of them?
Carol continued to reveal her superficial grasp of Krishna consciousness. ?You
told me earlier that you make thousands of dollars a day out of the sales of your
books. If you want your thoughts to be passed on to other people, why do you
sell the books and make money out of them??
?Otherwise you?ll not read it,? said Prabhupada. ?If I give you free, then you?ll think: ?Ah, this is something nonsense. They are giving free.? So when they pay
for it, they will try to see ?What these books are saying? Let me see.? And if you
get free, then you may keep in your rack for hundreds of years. But after all, we
have to print these books, so who will pay for that? We have no money.?
The camera crews continued filming. Carol wanted to know what happened to
the rest of the money the devotees collected on the street.
?We are increasing our movement,? Prabhupada replied. ?We are opening
centres. We are printing more books. These are my books. I have made a
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. I have given my will that 50 per cent of the
collection should be spent for reprinting the books and 50 per cent should be
spent for spreading the movement. So there is no question of material profit.?
Carol had one last question. ?I wonder if I could ask you, finally, if you have a
message??
?Yes, this is the message: that people are under the impression that one is this
body, but that is not the fact. The soul, or the man, he is within the body. Just
like you are not this shirt and coat. You are within the shirt and coat ??
After the interview, Srila Prabhupada kept preaching to Carol. Despite the logic
of his arguments, however, Carol remained stubbornly sceptical.
Reference:The Great Transcendental Adventure by Kurma Dasa