Study of Scriptures Tips, Dos and Don'ts

As received from Kalacakra Krishna Prabhu over email. He is a disciple of HH Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaja and is the moderator of the granthraj yahoogroup.

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Hare Krishna,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
By the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord, Srila Prabhupada and my dear spiritual master, I had coined the below points that will help one to study Srila Prabhupada's books effectively.
In short there are 3 Do's which we need to follow while studying Srila Prabhupada's books, especially Bhagavad-Gita and Bhagavatam. And there are 4 don'ts which we should try to avoid while we study. Apart from this, there is a 10 point guideline mentioned below that will help us get the taste for studying Prabhupada's books.
Do’s: P H D
1) P - Patience/Peaceful/Prayerful (slow and steady)
2) H - Humble and Submissive (Don't think you can master the verse in no time)
3) D - Determination and Dedication (Be determined to read your quota for that day - no matter what)
Don'ts: F A I L
1. F – Forgiving yourself for not able to study regularly. Be merciful to everyone except yourself.
2. A – Avoidance (Skip over). Do not skip over any section or chapter.
3. I - Impudence (disrespectful, take for granted). Not giving the due respect for Srila Prabhupada's vani. The amount of realization is proportional to the amount of respect, awe and reverence we show to Srila Prabhupada's books.
4. L -Lazy/Lackluster
Ten Points to Study Srila Prabhupada's books Effectively:
1. Read systematically, not haphazardly - Read entire chapter or groups of related verses and understand the relationship between them.
2. Read everything in the verse - word-word, Translation, Purport, Sanskrit text. Do not leave anything. There is another way of study which is reading all the translations at one go, not getting into the purport (unless the translation is too difficult to understand). This kind of study will be helpful in getting a high level picture of the episode and the story flow.
3. Read every statement, slowly and patiently and do not go to the next statement until you understand what is said in this statement.
4. Ask questions – ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘when’ etc while you read. Don't read mechanically.
5. Introspect - Always try to see what message "I" can get from the verse/purport.
6. Do not read just to prove some point to someone or to get more information on certain things. Read to relish and associate with Srila Prabhupada's vani and all the pure devotees in Bhagavatam.
7. Don't be too soft or forgiving of yourself if you didn't study on a particular day. Be hard on yourself and complete your day's quota at any cost before the end of the day.
8. Depend completely on 'His' mercy for understanding and realization (refer to 1.6.19 purport). Do not think that we can master the books by our own efforts.
9. Have a note-book/pen - note down the important verses/points from the purport. Do not be lazy in this regard.
10. Try to visualize the situation in the narration mentally. This will help us get deeper understanding of the particular episode and Srila Prabhupada's explanations.
Purport of SB 1.6.19:
[There is no mechanical process to see the form of the Lord. It completely depends on the causeless mercy of the Lord. We cannot demand the Lord to be present before our vision, just as we cannot demand the sun to rise whenever we like. The sun rises out of his own accord; so also the Lord is pleased to be present out of His causeless mercy. One should simply await the opportune moment and go on discharging his prescribed duty in devotional service of the Lord. Narada Muni thought that the Lord could be seen again by the same mechanical process which was successful in the first attempt, but in spite of his utmost endeavor he could not make the second attempt successful. The Lord is completely independent of all obligations. He can simply be bound up by the tie of unalloyed devotion. Nor is He visible or perceivable by our material senses. When He pleases, being satisfied with the sincere attempt of devotional service depending completely on the mercy of the Lord, then He may be seen out of His own accord.]
If the above points help you in any way I will feel very happy. Please do let me know if you have any questions or clarifications in the above points and I will try to the best of my ability to help you understand them.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Kalacakra Krsna das

He also mentioned:

Planned Reading of Scriptures

1.    Have a planned daily regulated reading of Srila Prabhupada's books especially Bhagavat-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam (in sequence first canto, second canto etc).

 

2.    Read in your free time more intensely and jot down the points in a notebook or diary. This will improve our understanding of the particular section of the shastra. Frequently refer to the diaries and think over the points you have noted down.

 

3.    Sometimes we may get a chance to preach or asked to give a class. For this, we have to prepare meticulously by spending more time on one verse and purport. We should write down notes from the verse/purport dedicating quality time to the study.

 

Maharaj then made a very powerful statement, “If we study in a planned manner as per the above suggestions, the references and realizations will be automatically sorted out in our minds by Krishna-Krpa. This is satatam kirtayanto maam yatantas ca drda vratah”. He emphasised the words “yatantas ca drda vratah”. In the word-word equivalents, Srila Prabhupada has given the meaning “fully endeavoring” for “yatantas”. And drda-vratah of course means “with determination.” The idea is to fully endeavor with determination. If there is no endeavor, there can be no mercy.