Re: Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Prabhupada

Nityaananda! Gauraanga! Hare Krishna! All the original volumes of the Harmonist have now been released here. It is costing INR 5500 which is $138 which is high but a considerable amount of effort has gone into bringing all the 8 volumes back to publishable quality. It would be a great help if a devotee can kindly sponsor one set for my own reading and for our Puri Ashram library.



The Harmonist As It Is
A Rare Collection of Vaisnava Journals in Eight Volumes

Submitted by Isvara Dasa.

We are pleased to present to the Vaisnava communities and religious scholars the reprint of the "The Harmonist Magazine As It Is".  This publication has been brought to you as a rare collector's items in Eight volumes.

"The Historical Beginning of The Hare Krishna Movement in English"

The original version of The Harmonist appeared in Bengali under the name Sajjana Toshani in 1879,published by Srila Bhaktivinoda  Thakura. After his departure, his son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura established a printing press and began his preaching  mission, The Shri Gaudiya Math. In 1927, he launched the Harmonist magazine, an English version of the original Bengali magazine,  Sajjana Tosani. This he did until 1936, the year of his passing from this world.

It is miraculous that after more than eighty years since the last publication of the Harmonist, the rare and dilapidated copies of The Harmonist are now being brought to life with a reprint of the entire collection. In the last few years ,a number of new magazines using  the same name have appeared both in India and in the West. However, following the mood of His Divine Grace, Srila A.C.  Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who named his translation of the Bhagavad-gita as the 'Bhagavad-gita As It Is', we have also named this reprint "The Harmonist As It Is", to indicate that it is an exact replica of the original.

This task was achieved by photographing each of the odd and somewhat unreadable 5,000 pages. Each negative was then carefully cleaned of all the spots and broken texts, bringing each page to new life. This artisan labor would have been impossible in the West  due to its expensive cost. This whole collection is exactly as it was edited and published under the direction of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta  Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada. Not a single word, no one letter, not even a comma has been changed or added.

The only thing that we have added to facilitate an easy reference to the main subject is a simple index to each volume. The same indexes were then compiled for the complete collection, and printed as a separate booklet.

The index addresses essential philosophical topics, such as jiva-tattva, guru-tattva, Krishna-tattva, rasa-tattva, the history of the  Vedic and Gaudiya Vaishnava traditions, Vaishnava Literature, comparative religion, Vaishnava behaviors and etiquettes,historical  events, articles on social, economical and political issues, and divine poetry.

The Harmonist is the reservoir of all clear conclusions of our predecessor acharyas (Vaisnava Masters), regarding the most important  philosophical subjects any devotee would care to know. Furthermore, this collection can corroborate the veracity of any English translation of our important books,such as Jaiva-Dharma and Chaitanya  Bhagavata since it contains partial translation  supervised  and sanctioned by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada himself.

This collection also contains perfect guidelines for brahmacharis, grihasthas, vanaprasthas, and sannyasis, as well as strategies on how  to behave in society through articles on social, economical, educational and political subjects. Although these articles were written  more than eighty years ago, they still maintain an amazing insights.

Several devotees have expressed their desire to dive more into the spirit of Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada's  preaching and activities.

Each of the eight-volume collection is of large format book, 9 x 7' hardbound. Each volume is accompanied by a separate indexed  booklet. Each book averaging 450-550 pages.

This publication can be obtained from Touchstone Media at www.touchstonemedia.com. Bulk sale inquiries can also be made to me at
isvara99@gmail.com.

Your servant,
Isvara dasa.

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