Bhakti Books

Books for encountering bhakti through teaching, memoir and lived experience.

• Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

  Krishna's teaching to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, with the Sanskrit, word-for-word meanings, translation and Śrīla Prabhupāda's purports. The book through which most devotees first met bhakti, free to read online.

• Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers

  A young American Peace Corps volunteer meets Śrīla Prabhupāda in Māyāpur in 1972 and asks what a sincere seeker asks: who am I, who is God, why practise. A short, friendly first book, free to read online.

• Coming Back: The Science of Reincarnation

  An accessible introduction to the Vedic understanding of the soul, karma, and the journey beyond this life. One of Prabhupada's most approachable books, philosophical without being overwhelming, answering the questions everyone quietly carries.

• The Journey Home

  A young man from Chicago sets out hitchhiking across Europe to India, seeking truth through caves, yogis, and holy rivers. One of the most compelling spiritual memoirs ever written. A perfect entry point for anyone curious about the bhakti path.

• The Journey Within

  The long-awaited follow-up to The Journey Home. A New York Times bestseller that demystifies the path of bhakti in clear, compassionate language. Addresses the deepest questions of the soul, love, God, and death, with warmth and accessibility.

• Mantra Meditation

  A beautiful, accessible guide to the world of sacred chanting. Radhika Das makes it clear: you do not need to be a singer, a yogi, or a follower of any religion to begin. Includes practical exercises, breathing techniques, and meditations. Endorsed by Jay…

• The Living Name

  The life-force of chanting: five simple, powerful practices that turn japa from a daily routine into a living relationship with the Holy Name. Quiet, profound, and deeply devotional, for those who have started chanting and want to go deeper.

• You Are Not Your Mind

  Sixty-four illustrated reflections for managing the mind, based on the Bhagavad-gita. Open it on any page: clear diagrams, everyday examples, and gentle wisdom on distraction, desire, and why the mind sounds honest while being dishonest with us. A wonderful…

• Five Years, Eleven Months

  The five years and eleven months between the day the author was initiated by Srila Prabhupada and the day he passed. Raised an atheist on Long Island, she arrived in India on a photography assignment and stayed. Honest about her doubts and her first…

• Hiding in Unnatural Happiness

  A New York-born, Yale-educated monk takes a sharp, witty look at consumer culture and the modern pursuit of fulfilment. Weaving neuroscience and social research together with the ancient yoga science of the self, he asks: what if we are searching for…

• Prema Kirtan: Journey into Sacred Sound

  A journey into prema-kirtan, chanting that awakens divine love. The history, purpose and practice of kirtan and the mysticism of sacred sound, from an award-winning author with fifty years on the bhakti path. A primer for newcomers and a deepening for…

• Bhakti Shakti: Goddess of Divine Love

  Sri Radha, the primal Shakti and goddess of divine love, revealed through reason and the ancient wisdom texts. How ordinary love becomes divine love, and how understanding the self, Radha and Durga Maa brings clarity, peace and a deeper intimacy with the…

• Wise-Love: Bhakti and the Search for the Soul of Consciousness

  An exploration of the self through the eyes of saints, sages and mystics: who we are, our purpose, and why the heart, not a stilled mind, brings lasting joy. Covers karma, faith, sacred sound, the maha-mantra and kirtan. Winner of the Montaigne Medal; part of…

• When Illness Takes Hold: Hopeful Words for Sadhakas

  A compassionate companion for devotees facing chronic illness, pain, exhaustion or loss. Through personal essays, conversation and meditations, it shows that sadhana keeps its inner value when its outward form changes, and that the holy name stays close in…

• The Birth of Kirtan

  The life and teachings of Sri Chaitanya, the sixteenth-century mystic saint who pioneered the practice of sacred chanting that has now circled the world. Adapted from two early Bengali narratives and illustrated with rare nineteenth-century paintings of…

• Eternal Dance of Love

  The beautiful story of Lord Chaitanya, retold with warmth and simplicity: the golden avatar of Bengal who taught that the Divine is reached through love and the chanting of the Holy Names. A gentle companion to The Birth of Kirtan, written as much for the…

• The Bhagavad Gita: Talks Between the Soul and God

  A clear, readable English rendering of the Gita, Krishna's conversation with Arjuna, made for readers meeting it for the first time and for those who want its deeper meaning as a path of yoga in everyday life.

• Ramayana: A Tale of Gods and Demons

  The epic of Rama, Sita and Hanuman, from Ayodhya to Lanka, retold for today and illustrated throughout with B. G. Sharma's devotional paintings.

• Falling Upward

  A beloved Franciscan friar on the spirituality of the two halves of life. Not from the bhakti tradition, yet deeply resonant with it: Rohr shows how our failures and falls become the very ground of spiritual growth, and why those who have gone down are the…

• Sanatana Dharma: Questions and Answers on the Essence of Hinduism

  Clear, often humorous answers to the questions people actually ask: how Sanatana Dharma relates to Hinduism, how a mantra works, how bhakti-yoga breaks the chain of action and reaction, and how to recognise a genuine guru. Drawn from fifty years of teaching…

• The Guru and Disciple Book

  A thoughtful, wide-ranging study of the relationship at the heart of the bhakti tradition. Across forty-five short chapters it explores who a guru is, what a disciple commits to, and how the tradition travelled from India to the West, facing honestly both the…

• Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in Story Form

  The great stories of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam retold as one flowing narrative, adapted from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purports. A gentle way into the Bhāgavatam for anyone who would like to know its stories before studying the verses.

• Unveiling His Lotus Feet

  A detailed overview of the first four cantos of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, bringing its stories and teachings together into one clear narrative, with insights from the great Vaiṣṇava commentators. A trusted companion for studying the Bhāgavatam.

• Career Dharma: The Natural Art of Work

  A guide to finding work that suits your own nature, drawn from India's ancient wisdom on dharma. For anyone starting out, changing course or wanting more meaning at work: when we work according to our nature, life becomes richer and also enriches others.