Protecting the Holy Sacred Books
By Ravi Sihra
Posted December 5, 2002

Holy sacred books should be treated with the greatest of care. I have noticed countless number of times initiated devotees, let alone aspiring devotees, mishandle these holy sacred books. I have seen devotees place them on the floor, on unclean tables, on chairs, benches, and on car seats, reading them with unclean hands and also when eating. 

Initiated devotees especially should set an example to all others by treating these sacred holy books with great care. It seems to me that this basic principle of looking after holy sacred books should be explained to devotees before they jump into saris and dhotis.

I personally keep all my private collection of sacred holy books locked up in a clean cupboard, and when it is reading time, I wash my hands first, then lay a clean cloth on the table, and then get the holy sacred books out to read them. If I take them out, I make sure they have a protective cover on them and I also carry a pocket-size hand-wash solution with me, which also comes in handy when using Tulasi beads for chanting, as tap water may not be at hand.

Care of holy sacred books should be right from the start. The printers and publishers should not treat them like ordinary books but have special protective covers on them to minimize damage. They can charge a bit extra for the covers, which in the long run would increase the duration of these holy sacred books.

When devotees purchase these holy sacred books, they should put protective covers on them if they do not have them on. Very rarely have I seen protective covers— like zip covers, which you can buy— being used. It makes me see red when I see Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-Gita as It Is or Srimad Bhagavatam or any of his other books being mistreated by devotees. So come on everybody, in the future take more care of these holy sacred books, and when you read them, the higher knowledge that you will derive from them will take good care of you.

Your servant,
Ravi

© dipika.org December 5, 2002

Send articles to news@dipika.org  
Send comments to webmaster@dipika.org 

All rights reserved. Copyright © 2002 by www.dipika.org