Indians in the West should distribute the Gita
I was distributing at La Jolla Cove in San Diego when a middle-aged Indian couple stopped at my table. They said that they already had the Gita. So I offered them a TLC, which they gratefully accepted. They gave a nice donation. Then I gave the man a Gita and said, “You should be doing what I’m doing, because this is your culture. Give this to someone who will appreciate it.” I quoted the verse ‘bharata bhumite haila manusya janma yara:’ “Those who have taken birth in Bharatvarsa should make their life...
read moreWho is Visnu?
While I was distributing books in Balboa Park at the Japaese Friendship Gardens, a middle-aged man came to my table and asked me a question. “Who is Visnu?” “He’s an incarnation of Krsna.” “The reason I’m asking is that about a year ago I had a dream, and Visnu appeared, big and blue. A bit frightened, I started saying, ‘Visnu, Visnu, Vishnu,’ though I had never heard that name before I had this dream. “It was all quite unusual, so I started praying to Jesus. After the dream I went...
read moreMore gitas needed
Here is a touching story about the power of both Srila Prabhupada’s Gita and book distribution. Three days ago a Jewish neighbor, whom we have not seen for more than ten years, rang our doorbell. She told us that she was moving to a new place a mile away. Then she said she could not leave without thanking my wife, Krishna Bhakti, for the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, which my wife gave her more than ten years ago. She said that for many years, whenever she had problems or was feeling down, she picked up her Gita and randomly opened it to a page....
read more“Graveyard renunciation” after mom’s funeral: a son gets a book
I was a little apprehensive. It was near the end of my book-distribution day, and I was heading toward my car to go home, but I saw two men talking with each other in front of the Home Depot. I was slightly intimidated as they looked like two pretty together fellows, deep in conversation, and I didn’t want to interrupt them, but I thought “I have to try.” Turns out, the older man Gene, not pictured here, and Mark (pictured), are brothers. As I explained the book title, Journey of Self Discovery, to Mark and his brother, I couldn’t help but...
read moreRelieving Lord Caitanya’s anxiety
Caitanya-caritämrta, Antya 3.50–52 [TRANSLATION, 50–51:] Lord Caitanya said, “My dear Thäkura Haridäsa, in this Age of Kali most people are bereft of Vedic culture, and therefore they are called yavanas. They are concerned only with killing cows and brahminical culture. In this way they all engage in sinful acts. How will these yavanas be delivered? To My great unhappiness, I do not see any way.” Haridäsa Thäkura replied, “My dear Lord, do not be in anxiety. Do not be unhappy to see the condition of the yavanas in material existence.”...
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