Book distribution seminar:

Pretoria to Durban, South Africa

I waited to check in for my flight to Durban and a young man was staring at me. He finally approached me, and asked me if I was a monk. I replied yes, I am a Hare Krishna. He went to say that he works at a new age yoga studio, and he had some questions for me. I sat next to him and just listened to what he had to say. He opened his heart to me; he started describing how he started practicing yoga to escape the pain in his heart from failed relationships, from the pain of disappointing his family. He expressed that he thought of suicide once. He was in tears as he was revealing this to me. He wanted to know if yoga is such a peaceful way of using your energy, then why does he feel that something is missing. He has been practicing for over six years and feels no difference in his heart.

I sat back and just listened, I could understand that this mans heart was heavy with the burdon of material life. When he finished, I asked him what does he want from life. He looked off into the distant lights and just shook his head. He said man; I just want to become happy. Can you help me please, can you show me happiness. I said Of course, that is my duty to help you. The reason your yoga has not worked is because you are missing the key ingredient, that ingredient being God. The object of yoga is to reconnect to Krsna. But better than practicing hatha yoga is to practice bhakti yoga, bhakti meaning serving Krsna with all your heart, with all the love you can muster.

The man just looked on, with tears swelling in his eyes, by now some others gathered around, and someone made a comment about this gentlemen being too emotional. I corrected the one who made the statement and said " he is only revealing what is in all of your hearts, because all your hearts are sad because you have forgotten your original relationship with Krsna. You should thank this boy for making you realize how sad your lives are without Krsna. The person just looked down. Everyone else nodded. For the next twenty minutes I answered questions and exchanged email addresses. When everyone walked away, I left alone with this man, and he said how could I thank you for your help, how can I thank you for your time. I pulled out Perfection of Yoga. Please take this book, read this knowledge and apply this into your life. If you ever need help please give me a call. With a big smile on his face, he thanked me and gave a donation.

"Go on spreading the sankirtana movement more and more. I am only one person, but because all of you have kindly cooperated with me, this movement has now become a success all over the world. Be assured that there is no more direct way to preach than to distribute Krsna conscious books. Whoever gets a book is benefitted. If he reads the book he is benefitted still more, or if he gives the book to someone else for reading, both he and the other person is benefitted. Even if one does not read the book but simply holds if and sees it, he is benefitted. If he simply gives small donation towards the work of Krsna consciousness he is benefitted. And anyone who distributes these transcendental literatures, he is also benefitted. Therefore sankirtana is the prime benediction for the age: krsna varnam tvisa krsna sango vangastra parsadam yajnaih sankirtana prayair yajanti sumedhasah [SB 11.5.32] - SP Letter May '77

"The living entity is the cause of his own suffering, but he can also be the cause of his eternal happiness. When he wants to engage in Krsna consciousness, a suitable body is offered to him by the internal potency, the spiritual energy of the Lord, and when he wants to satisfy his senses, a material body is offered." (Purport SB-3-26-8)

Partha Sarathi dasa
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I exerted a little extra effort one night at the Coachella music festival (stayed out till midnight) in California. I got up at 4am to finish my rounds and do a morning program to have a charge for the day. When I finished my rounds I took a little rest and had this "dream".

Prabhupada's murti was there and I affectionately touched him on the shoulder. He moved in a surprised way and looked at me. I was stunned that he (the murti) moved and I asked Prabhupada if everything was all right. He said, "Yes." and got up off his chair. I was in ecstacy, I took advantage of this opportunity and asked him how I could serve him. There were people all around, like on sankirtan.

He said "Could you please stop someone so I can preach to them". He said this with such innocence and purity, almost like a cry from the heart. I tried stopping a couple of people with no success. I told Prabhupada that it easier for me to approach people that are already stopped. So we went to someone standing around. This person saw me, recognized me from before, and said "I want your 'Quest For Enlightenment book.' He gave me some change and I gave him the book. I then asked him if he would like to talk with an incredible spiritual master. He looked at me funny. I then looked around to find Prabhupada and couldn't find him anywhere.

From this "dream" I realized that Prabhupada is in his books. That he is in his words. And that above everything (at least for me) he really wants me (us) to distribute these books.

Sankirtan never is dry.

Wishing you all the best.

Your servant,

Paramesvara das (Text D:577024) --------------------------------------------

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Bhakta Saurabh has joined the Brahmchari Trainee batch that has just begun in Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir. On his first day of book distribution he had a nice experience:

I was distributing books in the local trains. From 2:15- 3:45 pm I could only distribute 4 small books. Then I remembered the words of Balaji Prabhu, one of the top book distributors from the previous BT batch. "Book distribution is all about prayers," he had told me. "Srila Prabhupada is the one who distributes through us. Just pray to him." Remembering his words I casually prayed to Srila Prabhupada. When I went to the next compartment even before I had made my announcement, a man called for me. "Just a minute sir," I acknowledged him and then made my announcement. Then I went to him. I was carrying a set of eight books. He asked to take a look and I gave the set to him. He looked at each and asked, "How much?"

"This costs 15, this 20, and this" I began telling him the cost of each book. "What the entire set costs?" My jaw dropped. I mumbled out the price. He gave the money and took the set. In the next 10 minutes I distributed 24 books. I realized that Book Distribution is all about prayers.
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I had to travel to Coimbatore India from Secunderabad to meet my parents over the weekend. I had to travel by plane due to last minute decision, but still I packed a hand baggage with my cloths and another carry-on with books.

After finishing the formalities at the airport counter, I was left with about 40 minutes for Hari Nama Sankirtan. I approached a lady explained Bagavad Gita but she was not interested. I moved away looking for other travelers but was headed in the direction wherein the waiting areas were empty. When I traced back the way the same lady helped me by pointing in the direction where more people were waiting. I showed her the Ramayana one more time and showed her all the pictures. She was still not interested but then I quoted the verse from BG (2.40) "Neha ..." and explained her why she should keep these books with her all the time. She quickly decided to buy Ramayana.

As I moved away to another area, I approached a person working on his laptop drinking coffee. Quickly he said he already has BG but when I showed him Ramayana, he could not resist any further and decided to buy.

The next 30 odd minutes was a big struggle to distribute even a single book and I heard the announcement for the last and final call for boarding. I decided to give one last attempt and went around the waiting lounge (pretty much the same place where I had tried in vain just few minutes back). I suddenly noticed someone was taking pictures with "some celebrity" (I thought) and just waited for the photo session to complete and approached the persons with Bagavad Gita. First I showed the pocket size Bagavad Gita, explaining the need to propagate this message all over the world, and asked him to donate some money to cover the printing and binding cost. Immediately the man (celebrity) opened his wallet and gave Rs. 1000 and said that he is taking this copy even though he already has another copy with him. All along this time I was hearing the airline staff announcing the final boarding call for myself and another person.

I rushed to the gate and boarded the bus ready to take just the two of us to the plane. The other person (who was late for boarding) entered the bus behind me and I showed him Bagavad Gita. He looked at it and said he will take the book after he gets down from the plane in Coimbatore. Indeed he took the book at Coimbatore airport but he also did not have the change for the book and had only Rs. 1000.00. It was around 9.00 PM and I was struggling to find the change since I only had 650.00 in change and then he asked me what else do you have and readily took the telugu Ramayana for the remainder of the money.

On my return flight back to Hyderabad, the only person who took the Bagavad Gita said he was an atheist but still he wants to learn from this book in any case.

I have heard many senior devotees sharing their book distribution realizations, that never to leave a stone unturned when it comes to distributing Srila Prabhupada's books. However this is the first time that I personally experienced and realized the need for me to put all my efforts and take no chances by ignoring people on face value or give up too soon when it comes to distributing books for Guru's, Srila Prabhupada's and Lord Krishna's pleasure. The nectar of Lord Krishna's, Srila Prabhupada's and Guru's reciprocations are inconceivable, so much so, that I realized my 2 hands are not sufficient to hold and receive all that mercy.

your humble servant, Sridhara Srinivasa das
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I was doing door to door book distribution in Ireland. I was talking to one man who gave a nice donation but didnt want a book, I was thinking how to get him to take a book. He didnt believe in God. So I looked into his eyes and said, "I'm a fortune teller, would you like to know your future?

The man said, "Yes.OK."

I said, "You're going to get old, diseased, and then you're going to die. If you want to do something about it then read this Bhagavad-gita."

He then took the book.

Hare Krishna, Ananta Nitai das
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Dear devotees.

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

We were on travelling sankirtana in a small town nearby Helsinki. Before beginning a day I always chant one round extra. After chanting I saw a fat lady walking on the street.

I opened the conversation by saying: ÒDear Madam, we are looking for aristocratic people in this town today. I must say you look exactly like the Queen.Ó (This is one of the mantras I use while distributing Teachings of Queen Kunti.)

To my surprise she replied: ÒHow did you know I am related to the Queen. My son was elected the Drag Queen if Finland 2008.Ó

I put two books (TQK and Caitanya-caritamrta) in her hands. She accepted them and started telling the story of her life. I thought her life had a little semblance to that of Queen Kunti, i.e. she had gone through many difficulties, and she was raising her children alone. She mainly spoke about the special children she had.

Her elder son was the Drag Queen, a man who dresses as a woman. He was a regular face in the TV, in charge of a late-night music program. He was earning nicely (over 100 an hour by doing that job).

Her younger son was just ten years. He had some neurological disease called the Asperger syndrome. This means he is very introverted, but still very intelligent. She told every now and then her son would become interested about something and become totally absorbed in it. In my heart I was praying to Krsna he would some day become interested about Krsna consciousness in this way.

She was an extremely softhearted lady and eventually she took both the books, although she had very little money.

Later that day she had phoned the temple. She was in happy moods and said she had already read some of the books. She was wondering how on earth I could have known she was related to the Queen. She asked whether our monks have mystic powers. Our temple president Tattvavada Prabhu replied it is not something mystical. It is a matter of understanding oneÕs relationship with God. When we know our relationship with Krsna, we can also know something about the other living entities as well.

Your servant, Avadhutacandra das (Text D:562199) --------------------------------------------

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In the last issue we discussed how Ticket Collecters (TC) in the train harassed the devotees and by one man's help all the TCs stopped interfering. That man has an interesting story:

Mohan is a very senior officer in the railways. Earlier if he would catch a devotee doing wrong he would heavily fine the person and if the offender could not pay, he would put him behind bars or detain him till the family members came and paid the fine, for which he almost never issued receipt. With the bribe money he nearly every day ate meat and drank in hotels. But all these years, he says, he could never sleep peacefully.

One day, he got a heart attack, but survived. He was advised complete bed rest for three months. While recuperating, his daughter gave him a Krishna book. "God has saved you," she said, "please read about Him in this book." Mohan read the entire book. "God is so beautiful and nice," he discovered and from then on began to pray regularly. "I felt much more peaceful after reading Krishna book," he says.

"I read Bhagvad Gita and found that all my suffering was a reaction of my bad karma."

The reading of Bhagvad Gita and Krishna book completely changed Mohan. He gave up his bad activities, and began to associate with devotees. He formed an organization that performs final rites for the unclaimed dead bodies of the destitute in Mumbai. Sometimes people call him in the dead of the night to claim dead bodies.

Every one is amazed to see such a turnaround in him. He says it's the effect of reading Krishna book. In the December Marathons he makes sure the devotees get all the permission needed.

In the next issue: "Stop this nonsense!" the man shouted. "Whatever you say is all bogus." As the amazed crowd stopped to look at the heckler, the devotee prepared to meet this new challenge. What happened next? Find out in the next letter, "The Soul is not in the Heart."

your servant Murari Gupta das (Text D:638239) --------------------------------------------

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During book distribution in villages in India, we generally set up a stall by 7:30 am and after engaging the early morning shoppers, we move to the next village. Like this we cover 4-5 villages in a day.

One day we had good book distribution in a village. By 9am we were ready to leave. On the way to the next big village there was a smaller one, which I decide to skip. "Better spend more time in the bigger village," I thought. When we were crossing the small village we reached the road where the village people, under the guidance of their sarpanch (village head), were repairing the road. I was surprised to see the village was prosperous. As our bus reached closer everyone stopped work and began staring at us. Srila Prabhupada's kirtan tune was airing from the bus's public address system; the bus itself was brightly painted and inside was cheerful devotees enthusiastically having kirtan, everything was mesmerizing for simple village folk.

The sarpanch waved at us to stop. "What do you have?"

"We distribute Bhagvad Gita and Srimad Bhagvatam," I replied.

"Where will you set up your stall in our village?" the sarpanch asked.

"No, we are not setting up our stall here," I replied. "We are going to the next village. It is bigger."

"Are we so sinfull that you are not stopping in our village?" the sarpanch said. "Please stop here. I will personally come with you and help every one take the books."

He climbed on our bus, and the workers cleared heaps of mud from the road and made way for our bus. As we passed an eager crowd began to follow us. At the village market we stopped the bus and the sarpanch was the first person to take books. He took Srimad Bhagwatam.

I quoted, "Yad yad acharati shreshthas: Whatever action great men do common men follow."

The sarpanch then requested every one to buy the books. "If you don't have money," he declared, "I will lend you. You can return it tomorrow." He lent around two thousand rupees to the villagers, all of whom he knew personally.

In that village of around 100 people around 60% took books. For me it was a big lesson: never to prejudge a place because of its apparent material features. It was a small village-with a large heart.

ys murari gupta das
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Gargamuni Prabhu from Slovenia wrote:

I've just come from two harinams, in which we sit and perform bhajan-style chanting. In one small city in the north of Slovenia (near Dravograd), I talked to the most (or one of the most) popular singers in Slovenia. He writes good, sometimes funny lyrics that carry strong points about the stupid lifestyles people live. He accompanies himself with a guitar. He has been a vegetarian for many years and has some of Srila Prabhupada's books. He told me that "Life Comes from Life" changed many things in his thinking. He bought three more books from me.
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I was on my first day on books with HH Devamrita Swami's team in Sydney, Australia. Inspired to seek some association I sought out some experience with the more experienced. We set out on my first sankirtana adventure in Sydney for the year, down to Town Hall.

It was fairly busy, people would stop to look at the books and quite often take. As the day went on the mood started to sway the other way. Most people were still nice but they were feeling the day closing and they attempted to cherish their time a little more than usual.

A wave of pedestrians shot off from across the street towards our direction. I picked out two people I could easily approach. The first was a small, late teen with a displeased face. The second was a man who looked rather alternative, a little spiritual but he was talking to himself so I classified him as a crazy man.

I tried my luck with the boy and I used a line I picked up from Navina Nirada Prabhu, tactful, funny and normally goes down well as a joke.

"Excuse me, are you a student, worker or drop out?" The boy had replied half way through claiming to be a student so by the time I said drop out he thought I was critcizing him. "Did you just call me a drop out?" he asked. I quickly solved the situation by reassuring him of what I really said and then he went off on his way.

While this went down, the so called crazy man that was walking behind him was watching and enjoying the whole role play. He quickly showed interest in my books and wanted to see them. He became attached to the Gita and asked me if $20 was ok.

Morals to the story: Be careful what you say to certain people. Don't judge a man by how much he talks to himself (most book distributors are talking to themselves everyday, praying, chanting, etc). And most important is that Krsna is in control in every situation and the books can make it to the right people even if we pick the wrong ones. Hare Krsna.

Your servant, Madhavendra Puri Dasa.

Love KRSNA! (Text D:520038) --------------------------------------------

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Often book distributors feel that they can judge who will take a book and who will not.

Sometimes a truly seasoned book distributor may develop a sixth sense of sorts, but often our intuitions are plain prejudices and not indications from the Supersoul. The best method is to approach everyone with a book.

Govind Kunda Prabhu, from Belgaum, recalls his experiences:

I distribute books in long-distance trains. During the December marathon we would distribute for many hours in a day. Once, I entered a new train car wherein a well-dressed young man was smoking. Other people were also there. I showed books to the others.

Noticing the cigarette in the hand of the young man, I thought that he would never be interested, so without showing him I went ahead.

"Hey, wait!" he said. "What do you have?"

"Bhagavad-gita," I said and held it out to him.

"How much?"

I stated the price. Without a second thought he took out the money and handed it to me. Then after washing his hands he accepted the book. The other people who had seemed more religious did not care about the Gita, but this apparently sinful person took it without a hassle.

Another time, I boarded a train and after a few hours reached the station from which I had to take a return train to Belgaum. But on getting down I learned that the return train was seven hours late. By the time it arrived it was 10 p.m.

Onboard, almost all the lights were out, and most passengers were asleep. All except perhaps one family, which was in the last compartment. I went there and sat at the edge of a seat, and to my horror I found that they were eating fish. The smell was nauseating.

But I had no choice; I could not roam about in the dark passage with my heavy book bag. Moreover, the train was very crowded.

One person was apparently not a member of the family and therefore was not eating with them. I showed him the books. But finding him disinterested, I closed my book bag and began chanting.

Shortly the family finished the dinner. After cleaning up, they sat back in leisure.

"What are you carrying?" one man asked me.

"Bhagavad-gita."

I smiled; but I did not show him the books.

"Can I see one?"

I had no choice but to give him the book. He opened it and everyone crowded near him and began to look.

"Do you have something else?"

I gave a him Krishna book.

"I will take one," said one.

"Me too," said another.

"I will take Krishna book," said another and gave me the money.

Finally, that group which I had dismissed as demoniac ended up taking two Bhagavad-gitas and a Krishna book.

I learnt that one should not judge anyone by external activities. Even sincere souls may be trapped by sinful activities because of a lack of proper guidance and ideals in life. It is up to us to reawaken their dormant connection with Lord Krishna. We have to be enthusiastic and non-judgemental. (Text D:501894) --------------------------------------------

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Pretoria, South Africa

I arrived in Pretoria via Durban and received a phone call from the temple president that I would have to walk over to the international arrival terminal to get picked up with HH Bhakti Narasimha Swami. I met Maharaja at the airport and we chatted about the future of South African preaching. For the temple devotees it was nice for Maharaja to spend sometime at the temple. When senior devotees come to the temple, it charges the ashram devotees batteries and they are ready to go back out and preach.

That evening I took the devotees on harinama in an area called Sunnyside. We had about twenty-five devotees with us, and when they chanted it sounded more like one hundred. I lead the beginning and soon Braja Vallabha Prabhu took over. Soon he had the devotees dancing and singing in the streets. The devotee's enthusiasm increased with each sound resonating from the mrdanga. As he chanted with more enthusiasm, the devotees responded with even more enthusiasm. The chanting became contagious and soon the onlookers were dancing and chanting with the devotees. I saw some very interesting dance moves that evening. I saw some moves that look as if the dance defined all law of psychics. One boy danced like he was a robot, another start break dancing; the devotee's fed off the energy of the crowd and the crowd fed off the energy of the devotees. I lead the final portion of the harinama and gave a short explanation of what was happening. The crowd listened and when all was done, one boy came back to the temple with us.

The following day was a harinama in the city center in Pretoria. Maharaja sang the first leg of the harinam and had the devotees in ecstasy. Before I knew it, there was a crowd of about fifty people gathered around and watching and smiling. I started to approach people in the crowd with our literature. Some were very favorable, some weren't; but still I was determined to at least show them Srila Prabhupada's books. One man smiled the whole time I explained what was happening. He said " Man I don't care what those books say, if I can be as happy as them, I'll take it."

The harinama kept moving and I sang for a short while before the heavy gun was brought out. Bhima Prabhu led the rest of the time with his trusty accordion. He had everyone mesmerized with his singing. I decided to break off from the harinama and concentrate on distributing books. I approached a group off ten youth. They asked me what I was doing, and I explain that I am a monk and we are singing God's name. These youth asked many interesting question and I tried my best to explain. When I asked for a donation, they looked down and said they had no money. Just then one of the kids father walked up and asked what I was doing with these boys. He said, "Are you trying to hustle my son?" Very respectfully I said, "No sir, I am simple monk trying to give the best gift in the world. These books are windows to the spiritual world, when he reads these books, he will understand what the goal of life is." The man surveyed the scene and saw the smile on his son's face. He pulled out a hundred (rand) and bought all the kids books and shook my hand. The rest of the day I played 'catch up' to the chanting party. I would find them, then distribute some books and look up and seem them gone again. Overall it was a very successful day, and we planned on performing more chanting throughout the streets in the future.

The next weekend the temple devotees joined the youth group and their Food for Life program. We decided to make this program a festival and give a meaningful presentation of Krsna Consciousness in an African village. We had devotees serving prasadam, others chanting, and a few distributing books. As soon as this festival hit the parking lot, dozens of onlookers showed up. Plates of prasadam were given out, books were distributed, and smiles were seen from devotees and non-devotees alike.

Since I have arrived I have noticed small pockets of piety in the people. Every person I approached took a book and gave a donation. At one point I ran out of books. I was looking for more when I saw Vaisnava Prabhu in a conversation with a gentleman. The discussion looked deep and without Vaisnava noticing I took books out of his bag. For over twenty minutes this went on, Vaisnava would talk with this guy and I would take books out of his bag and distribute them. Finally he distributed a Bhagavad-Gita to this man and looked into his bag to find only a few books left and a puzzled look. Myself and another devotee started laughing. "You snooze you lose," is what I told him. At the end of the day everyone was satisfied.

The Pretoria center is not known for their book distribution, after I spoke some encouraging words the devotees decided we would go out and not come back until out supply of books was gone. I broke the devotees up in to groups of two for safety reasons. My partner was Bhakta Damodara. He is a fourteen-year-old boy that also lives in the temple. He comes from Soweto, which a rough township. It was his first time out on sankritana and his approach was interesting. He would wait for me to speak to someone then he would hand the person a book. The person would take his book and give a donation. I realized what was happening and laughed, it was cute and inspired him to approach more of the Africans. I just had fun and approach every person I saw.

I approached a group of teenagers; before I could say anything, they asked me,

"What the hell do you want?" I explained I was a monk and was here to introduce them to the highest consciousness on this planet. The leader of their group, said, "Whatever man, if it isn't hip hop, I am not interested." I immediately asked one to give me a beat and he started using his hands and made a sound. I rapped the English translation of the Siksastika prayers spoken by Lord Caitanya. The kids started moving to the rhythm and I finished with the maha mantra. The kids were excited and were grabbing books out of my stack and handing me rands. It was amazing, the Lord was inspiring them. They asked me questions about the books and I took my time to explain until they were satisfied.

When the devotees met up, we swapped stories of our adventures during the day. They were so excited to be part of this spreading of Lord Caitanya's mission. In their eyes you could see the fire of preaching had been lit and the potential was unlimited. We read off the end of month scores during the Sunday feast and when one mataji's name was announced and her scores; I looked at her father whose is also a devotee and saw the biggest smile I have ever seen. He seemed so happy that his daughter was engaged in spreading of this message.

So far in our new life things are working out for us. I am learning I need to learn patience and tolerance. I need to realize there is always improvement in my sadhana, in my relationships with devotees and my preaching. I therefore request blessings from the devotees to be able to improve in these areas, so that I can better serve Srila Prabhupada.

Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada, Partha-sarathi Dasa
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While distributing books in El Paso Texas I approached a young man who was a medical student. I told him that "In your biology classes they only tell you the symptoms of life. This book tells you what life actually is that permeates the body as consciousness." He bought the "Introduction to the Bhagavad Gita"

One time while I was being rejected by someone who was trying to hand the book back, a girl with her Pakistani boyfriend overheard us and asked if we had a Hare Krishna center nearby. Her name was Govinda Gonzales, She gave some laxmi for a book and told us how she once met a Hare Krishna devotee who told her that her name was special. "Govinda".

My wife and I like to accommodate people who are interested in being cultivated so we had invitations printed to a couple of Nama Hatta programs we had this month. One at our house and the other at our neighbor Guru Prasada Swami's. Eight of the people that bought books came to the programs, to hear from the books, chant Hare Krishna, and honor a good feast.

I hope this meets you well. Your servant, Mishra Bhagavan DasaÊ
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Laxmi Narayana Prabhu, the head of ISKCON Pune's traveling sankirtana bus party shared this story. He recalls:

I once went to a village and parking our bus in a square made an anouncement about the books. Many people came and were taking books. An elderly lady came up to me and asked for a Srimad Bhagwatam set in Marathi. I told her that only the first four volumes of the set were available and that set would cost her Rs. 880/- She asked the price of the first canto.

"Rs. 150/- "I said."

She opened her cloth bag and began taking out ten rupees notes. "I save ten rupees everyday," she disclosed as she took one ragged soiled crumbled note after another and began piling them up on the table. Finally her bag was empty. "Here take it," she gave me her savings.

I counted and shook my head, 'Mother, it is ten rupees short. Please do you have ten more."

"That is all I have." She said. "Can't you give me the book for this much?"

"I am sorry," I replied. "I have to submit all accounts in the temple and we do not keep any money for us. Please arrange ten rupees more."

"I have none."

"Why don't you ask someone to lend you ten rupees?" I advised her.

She turned to the customer beside her. "Can you please lend me ten rupees? I have to buy Srimad Bhagwatam."

Without a second thought the man took out ten rupees from his pocket and gave it to her.

When the first canto reached her, an indescribable joy lit on her face. She smiled so radiantly that her face is even now etched vividly in my heart. Then some doubt raised its head inside me, "Mother, do you know how to read?"

"No, I do not. But this is a gift for my grandchild. He will read it to me." she smiled and went her way.

The joy of giving this best gift to her grandchild in exchange of all her savings had brought a special satisfaction to her heart.
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Recently I got a call from this really nice couple. They are originally from Chennai but they have been living in Melbourne for a few years, they were introduced to krsna consciousness a year ago, now they have recently moved to Sydney.

They invited me to come their house last Sunday. I did some books near their house in Banks Town Sydney and then went to their house in the evening. I actually went there hoping to sell a set but to my surprise I saw a new full volume of 1st canto sitting near their altar. I was happy to see them reading it, but also disappointed that they already had one.

>From their house I would go to the Temple for the Sunday feast, they asked if they could come along, so I gave them a ride. On the way to the temple this mataji said, "Oh prabhu, I just finished reading the 1st canto I can't wait till I start the 2nd canto". I said wonderful please start as soon as possible. She said, "I have a problem, someone in Melbourne gave a 1st canto as a gift and I don't have any other cantos, do you know where I can get a full set? I was in ecstasy to hear that. I said to her, "You're in luck, I have many sets, I can sell you the whole set." She happily agreed to take a full set and continue reading them.

I was so happy how Krishna tested me a little bit but then at the end gave me a pleasant surprise.

Param vijayate sri krsna sankirtanam!!

Your servant Shastra krit das

"Chant Hare Krishna and be happy"
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In a small mall in Campsie, South West Sydney, Australia, I spent the first half of the morning distributing to various types of people and Krsna allowed some very sweet exchanges. Then finally the security guard woke up or just clocked on and he asked me to leave.

On my way out I saw this very sweet Phillipino boy exiting out the same sliding doors I was, so I hurried ahead and positioned myself away from the entrance and next to a row of parked cars.

I approached him and put the Bhagavad gita in his hands and told him I was a monk.

He was in AWE!!

His name is Bon. Such a sweet guy.

He told me he has always wanted to become a monk to overcome bad qualities and replace them with good ones.

So we talked a little more and as we spoke a Parking officer walked by chalking the tires of the cars parked beside our 'monk convention' and the officer, who was of Indian desent, looked in my box and said with relish, "Bhagavad Gita."

I put one in his hands and asked his name and he said his name is Anoop.

So I introduced Anoop and Bon and duely initiated Anoop into our 'Mall side street monk convention.'

Anoop asked how much for the book and I said to both Bon and Anoop that we get donations to cover the printing. Anoop said he didn't have anything on him as he was working, so Bon pulled out his wallet and said, "I will cover his too" and gave a donation for both him and Anoop the newly initiated parking officer monk.

Bon and I swapped numbers,and they both walked away with Srila prabhupada's Bhagavad gita.

Khela-tirtha dasa
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Hare Krishna. Please Accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

1 week to go and I leave for America. When I arrive I'll get my RV revved up for the biggest Book Distribution festival tour of my life. I can hardly wait. I have been in Perth, Western Australia now for six months. It was the biggest challenge of my life, due to certain circumstances but Srila Prabhupada said that Victory after great struggle is glorious. All in all a few thousand books went out, a few people are getting more involved with Krishna Consciousness and I feel more Krishna Conscious.

Yesterday I went out on book distribution and after meeting favorable people all day I noticed a friend I've been preaching too sitting on a park bench. I took him to Lord Nityananda's festival, and hadn't heard from him since then. I talked to my friend Nurfan for a bit. He comes from a Muslim family but is deeply searching for meaning in life and has been reading Srila Prabhupada's books more lately. He said he wants to chant, has given up meat, smoking, coffee etc. and is considering joining the ashram for training in K.C. Pretty amazing. All that from one small book. I'm keeping in touch with him I'll try to help him more in his journey to Krishna. He got a few more books from me and I'll hopefully see him at the Sunday Feast Tomorrow.

Despite all the difficulties life throws at us if we continue preaching Krishna Consciousness all success will be there. Never Give up. Especially now, the world is in a dark hour. All over the world planes are spraying chemtrails in the skies practically on a daily basis without the people's consent. Monsanto and other Corporations are passing laws to take over and even try to eliminate locally grown organic food. Peoples rights are being taken away. Animal slaughter continues and now if one speaks out against cruelty to animals they can be labelled a terrorist and be jailed for an indefinite period of time. Just the tip of the iceberg. Srila Prabhupada came in the nick of time and the solutions are all in his books, so if we distribute them more and more and follow them more and more the Golden Age of Lord Caitanya's movement will surely emerge and inundate the land with Love of God. Please never give up.

Your Servant, Devaki Nandana Dasa-Radha Damodara TSKP
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sent by Bhakti Vikasa Swami

"Knowledge is meant for distribution. Although there is already much scientific knowledge, whenever scientists or philosophers awaken to a particular type of knowledge, they try to distribute it throughout the world, for otherwise the knowledge gradually dries up and no one benefits from it. India has the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, but unfortunately, for some reason or other, this sublime knowledge of the science of God was not distributed throughout the world, although it is meant for all of human society. Therefore Krsna Himself appeared as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and ordered all Indians to take up the cause of distributing the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita throughout the entire world.

yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadesa amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei desa

"Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krsna as they are given in Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land." (Cc. Madhya 7.128) Although India has the sublime knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, Indians have not done their proper duty of distributing it. Now, therefore, the Krsna consciousness movement has been set up to distribute this knowledge as it is, without distortion. Although previously there were attempts to distribute the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, these attempts involved distortion and compromise with mundane knowledge. But now the Krsna consciousness movement, without mundane compromises, is distributing Bhagavad-gita as it is, and people are deriving the benefits of awakening to Krsna consciousness and becoming devotees of Lord Krsna. Therefore the proper distribution of knowledge has begun by which not only will the whole world benefit, but India's glory will be magnified in human society. Kamsa tried to arrest Krsna consciousness within his house (bhojendra-gehe), with the result that Kamsa, with all his opulences, was later vanquished. Similarly, the real knowledge of Bhagavad-gita was being choked by unscrupulous Indian leaders, with the result that India's culture, and knowledge of the Supreme were being lost. Now, however, because Krsna consciousness is spreading, the proper use of Bhagavad-gita is being attempted."

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 10.2.20
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Power of Gifts

Hrishikesh Ananda Prabhu is a leader of Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Travelling bus party. He is a man of PR. A sweet talker, he believes in giving gifts to all the big people he meets, regardless of whether he gets permission for book distribution or not. He recalls one interesting even that took place in a recent bus party:

ÒI had gone to meet the director of a company. The moment we entered his cabin, he gave us a look that said, ÒWhy are you here wasting my time?Ó We cordially explained our purpose and he took no time to dismiss it. ÒWe are not interested.Ó

I took out a lamination of Radha Gopinath and a packet of cookies maha-prasad. ÒSir, please accept these gifts. You can take your time. I will call you after a day or two.Ó

I could see that he was not interested. After a couple of days we ran out of companies. I called that man. ÒHey where are you?Ó he shouted.

ÒI am here, in the town,Ó I replied.

ÒCome over today.Ó

I was shocked, and went to him in the evening.

ÒWelcome!Ó He said with a big smill on his face. He got up from the chair on seeing me and took me by hand to his desk. ÒPlease do your program in the company. You can start today.Ó

ÒSir, it is late now. Can we come tomorrow?Ó

ÒYou can come whenever you want. What ever you need you let me know, I will make all arrangements.Ó

We thanked him and got up to leave, when he sheepishly asked. ÒDo you have some more cookies?Ó

ÒOff course, yes. Here, please take two more.Ó

ÒYou know, you have helped me so much,Ó he took the cookies to his heart. ÒFor last five years my wife had been upset with me. I could not please her by any way. But day before yesterday when I went home and gave her the lamination of Radha Krishna that you gave me, she became so happy. And when she tasted those cookies, she went wild. ÔI want more. I want more. "Please get them," she kept on asking me. But I could not contact you. Luckily you called me up. Now I will give her these cookies and you tell me how to get a bigger lamination of these Deities.Ó

I helped him the best I could. Later when we started book distribution, he would personally stand on the stall both in the morning and evening and force everyone to buy the books. He passed out a circular advertising our sale. Not only this, he even arranged book distribution in three other big companies.

Now every time I visit that area, I am sure to carry packets of cookies for himÑand I continue to distribute them to my clients. You never know, how Krishna can change their hearts. (Text D:363093) --------------------------------------------

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Dear Prabhus,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I decided that I would be brave and go to the Calcutta temple and while there distribute some books. The first person I stopped on the street, was a well dressed man, I noted he had a very nicely shaved head, and how I wished my head could be shaved like that too. I introduced myself to him and asked him if he was from Calcutta. Yes he was. I asked him what he did in Calcutta; he told me that he was a business man. I asked him if he was a good one, he said he was, but at the moment it was becoming difficult in the current global economy crises, that India was also experiencing. I explained, the reason for the crisis was greed and selfishness and the problem was that those in material existence are trying to exploit the resources of material nature for their own self satisfaction, but as they try to exploit more than they need, they get bound up in her complexities. I told him you could not fight fire with fire. He agreed with me, as I began to explain, that Krsna is the owner and proprietor of everything that be and the well wishing friend of all living entities, that when so-called civilized human society begins to understand that, then and only then will they experience peace and prosperity. He began to look at the last 5 books I had, and to my amazement he asked me how much I wanted for them, I said 85rps. He gave me the donation, I thanked him for taking the books, and told him that he should take the knowledge in the books and use it to help him. I shook his hand and told him that I was very proud of him for taking the books, the vast majority of the population in this age of Kali Yuga were becoming more and more godless. I hugged him and whispered in his ear Namo om vishnupadaye..Sri Krsna Caitanya..Hare Krsna Hare Krsna.. I thanked him very much for taking the books and that I would always remember him, and asked him to say Hare Krsna, to which he replied, Hare Krsna!

When I was on my way to Mayapur from Jaganath Puri, I arrived right in the middle of the local rush hour. if you are sick and trying to make you way through a roaring sea of human bodies, it is quite a shock to the body. I was trying to find my way to the platform that my train for Navadip. In that sea of human bodies, it was almost impossible to communicate. At last I got some positive direction, but still it was difficult. From a distance I saw some bramacarris, and asked them if they were waiting to take the train to Navadip, yes they were. They were from Slovakia. At last, I could not believe my good fortune. The local train arrived and they helped me to carry my luggage on to the train. As the train pulled out, I chanted the Narasringadev prayers, as the rest of the passengers looked on with astonishment at 3 young and 1 old saffron clad bramacarris, some of them joined in clapping. What was nice was the devotees had a mrdanga and Kartalas and had a lively kirtan and prayers to Tulasi. I asked the Slovakian devotees if they had any books, yes they did and took out a hard cover Bhagavad Gita. One devotee began showing it to a well dressed Indian gentleman sitting opposite him. I cannot remember if the Bhagavad Gita was in Hindi or Bengali as he perused through it. He gave it back to the devotee; I could see he was not interested. So I asked him to give the Bhagavad Gita to me, and handed it to some locals sitting across from were I was sitting. On both sides they all crowded around to have a look at the Bhagavad Gita. I then asked them if I could show them some thing in the book and proceeded to explain the pictures of the changing bodies, I could see this aroused their interest in the Bhagavad Gita. So I let them continue reading, and then I said to the young Bengali man who was already shown the Bhagavad Gita, I said to him, "Now you should take this book of higher knowledge which is from India, the land of Krsna." He asked me asked how much I wanted for the book, I told him he could take it for 50rps. He gave me the donation, just then the train slowed down for a stop, he got up and with great excitement began proudly waiving the Bhagavad Gita in the air. As he got up to get off at his stop, with great enthusiasm he pointed to the devotees and smiled, it was almost as though he were trying to tell everybody that he had just bought something of great value and he had, Srila Prabhupada ki jay!

Hare Krsna,

Madhumangala das (Text D:361614) --------------------------------------------

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