# Ask Srila Prabhupada

A free, embeddable static web app for **Zakir (Subuddhi Ray das)** that answers from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s **books, letters, and conversations** — with sources and Vedabase links.

> **Title:** Ask Srila Prabhupada  
> **Subtitle:** Answers from his books, letters, and conversations — with sources.

## Product rules

- Answers are stacked **Books → Letters → Conversations/memoirs**, each clearly labeled.
- **Never invent quotes.** Short fair-use excerpts + links only; no full copyrighted book dumps.
- Memoirs / Lilāmṛta / personal diaries are tagged **Memoir / secondary**.
- Ritvik topic is **neutral** — May 28, 1977 lines from both common readings are shown; no party picking.
- Works standalone (`index.html`) and in an iframe (`embed.html` or `index.html?embed=1`).

## Demo topics (hardcoded, verified)

1. **Chocolate / cocoa** — NOI 1, Path of Perfection 8, SSR principle; letter to Surasrestha 14 June 1972; Hari-śauri diary (cocoa bean); Lilāmṛta / Indradyumna as memoir.
2. **Ṛtvik / initiation after departure** — Cc Madhya 7.128; May 28 1977 GBC conversation; July 9 1977 letter; July 19 situational note; Lilāmṛta ch. 52 as interpretive biography.

Other queries: client-side synonym map → demo topics; otherwise a friendly “BBT permission pending” message plus a constructed [vedabase.io search](https://vedabase.io/en/search/?q=) link. A live call to `https://vedabase.cc/api/v1/search?q=…` is attempted but **often blocked by CORS** in the browser; the UI documents that fallback.

## Open locally

No build step. Serve the folder (required so `fetch` can load `data/topics.json`):

```bash
cd /workspace/ask-srila-prabhupada
python3 -m http.server 8080
```

Then open:

- Full page: <http://127.0.0.1:8080/>
- Embed chrome: <http://127.0.0.1:8080/embed.html>
- Same as embed via query: <http://127.0.0.1:8080/?embed=1>

## iframe embed snippet

```html
<iframe
  src="https://YOUR-DOMAIN.example/embed.html"
  title="Ask Srila Prabhupada"
  loading="lazy"
  style="width:100%;min-height:640px;border:0;border-radius:16px;overflow:hidden;background:#faf6ee;"
  allow="clipboard-write"
></iframe>
```

Local test:

```html
<iframe
  src="http://127.0.0.1:8080/embed.html"
  title="Ask Srila Prabhupada"
  style="width:100%;min-height:640px;border:0;border-radius:16px;"
></iframe>
```

## Files

```
ask-srila-prabhupada/
├── index.html              # full page
├── embed.html              # iframe-friendly minimal chrome
├── css/styles.css          # saffron / cream aesthetic
├── js/app.js               # chat UI, topic routing, stack renderer
├── data/topics.json        # demo answer stacks + synonym map
├── assets/prabhupada-silhouette.svg
└── README.md
```

Portrait: a respectful SVG silhouette placeholder. **Madhuha can replace** `assets/prabhupada-silhouette.svg` with an official licensed photograph (update the `<img>` `src` and caption in both HTML files).

## BBT / copyright note

This app is **not affiliated** with the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Quotes are short fair-use excerpts for educational citation with outbound links to Vedabase. Do not paste full book chapters into `topics.json`. Expanding the index beyond curated topics awaits **BBT permission**.

## Deploy

Any static host works (Hostinger static site, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, GitHub Pages, S3, …). Upload the folder root so `index.html` is the site root. No secrets, no backend, no build.

Optional later: `.hostinger/site.json` can be added when wiring Hostinger deploy tooling.

## Credits

Built for Zakir (Subuddhi Ray das). Hare Kṛṣṇa.