And I shall ride with…
A couple of days ago, I asked the greater Vaisnava community which book I should ride with on my trip.
The first comment was by Rasa: “Nectar of Devotion, 1970 edition”! And what a treat! I have it! Nectar of Instruction was mentioned a few times as well. One person mentioned Raja-Vidya; The King of Knowledge and I remembered when I first read that.
I think it was in 1994. I thought it was the most amazing thing ever. I’m not sure that I’ve read it since then. So that wins as well.
So instead of one book, I’m taking three. Nectar of Devotion, Raja Vidya and Nectar of Instruction.
Rati and Dwija both said that I should pick Krsna Book. However, my only copies of that are the HUGE reprint editions. I used to have an original paperback from the 70′s, but for some reason I now only have Volume III. Go figure.
Science of Self Realization was also suggested once and that really is an amazing book. But I’ve read it quite a lot and wanted to venture out to books I’ve not touched in a long time.
A few folks thought the First Canto of SB would be good. And they’re definitely right. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet purchased the tiny black editions. My only copy of SB (by Prabhupada) is HUGE. I *do* have the funky Gaudia Math Bhagavatams, but for now I wanted to stick with Srila Prabhupada.
Kdd mentioned Caitanya Bhagavata by Kusakratha. I got all excited because I didn’t know he did it. I have most of his books and, to my horrible memory, never knew he did it. But I figured that if he did it, I probably had it and just didn’t remember. So this morning I tore into my boxes all neatly stacked in a corner of the room I’m staying in and what to behold… NO Kusakratha Caitanya Bhagavata.
What’s even odder is that isn’t not even mentioned in the list on the back of his books. So now I’m really curious. Kdd offered me her extra copy and I would LOVE it. I would be forever indebted to you if you’d send it to me. I’d pay shipping and/or a small donation (she offered it for free). If I can take that along with me, I totally will.
I mentioned it in one of my comments, I was really surprised that nobody mentioned Teachings of Queen Kunti. That was another one that I read long, long ago. I only have it in hardback, so that’s out anyway. Though I’m hoping to place an order with krishnastore.com before I leave. I’ll be picking up the Bhagavatam set and the paperback Queen Kunti. I wish the original edition of Teachings of Lord Caitanya was still in print. It’s paperback. I have two different hardbacks of the later edition. Too big anyway.
So there you have it. RV, NoD & NoI.
Now hopefully I’ll have time to read.
