Mandire Ma – Margam Gama – an article by HG Lomancita Prabhu
MANDIRE MA – MARGAM GAMA: Step Out Of The Temple And Come Into The Street – This Time, Please, No Excuses!
(first published as a marathon inspiration article in the e-magazine of ISKCON Slovenia)
A sunny Saturday morning in northern Slovenia lures us into new challenges, fresh adventures, mysterious incidents and unbelievable exploits. I have a meeting scheduled back in the temple immediately after lunch. Govinda Datta Prabhu and myself sit into the car and drive out of the garage. The phone beeps. A message. A question bothers me: "Should I look at it now or later? Let me do it later." We drive through the left curve, and then the right curve. I hear the voice, "Look at the message. It is important." I delay. We reach the place of distribution. We stop at the parking lot in front of apartment blocks and shops. We lift the trolleys full of books out of the car, putting them in a starting position. We agree about the time and place allotted for distribution. We need to finish earlier because of the meeting in the temple, and we agree to meet at the car at one in the afternoon. Wait a minute, that message. I finally take a look into the phone. The meeting is rescheduled for 19:30 in the evening. A short shock and some quick breathing. Then, with a determined voice: "Govinda Datta Prabhu, a change of plan. We got the mercy of the Vaishnavas. We can prolong the distribution for one more hour. Let us meet at two o'clock."
What have Srila Prabhupada and Krishna prepared for us that day? Let us see.
We separated quickly. I did not come very far. Most of the time, I circled around the car, at a distance of one, two, three, fifty or one hundred meters. The people were returning from their Saturday shopping, carrying bags full of things they need and they don't. Food only for the body. What about the soul? All they lack is food for the soul. They get that from me. Some customers came readily, and others I served according to their personal needs, no commission for delivery. Krishna was sending me clients with a great need and a magnanimous heart, so the first batch of Srila Prabhupada's books was soon out of the trolley. In one hour. Amazing. By the mercy of Panca-tattva the impossible becomes possible. And by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada even more impossible feats become possible. The books were jumping into the laps of the souls. Time for plan B. A fresh batch of 25 books of Srila Prabhupada, only the Bhagavad-gitas and the Srimad-Bhagavatams, First and Second Canto.
A pizzeria over the street. A few guests sit in the garden. Although it is cold, they are persistent with their cool cigarettes. I park the trolley. With a quick step I rush to the car close nearby, to stop it from escaping. Better catch it than run after it. The gentleman sitting in the car was a bit surprised to see me waving from a distance, signalling to him to wait for me. We made a sensible deal and said goodbye to each other. He stepped on the accelerator and I imitated him, so much that my shoes squeaked. I passed the guests sitting in the garden who were almost swept away by my speed. I made a sign that we shall meet soon, and entered the pizzeria. I stopped at the serving desk, breathed a deep breath, put the books on the desk, politely greeted everyone and asked about the boss. This boss was different, he himself was baking the pizzas and he was not available. The waitress advises me to come back later, after one o'clock.
"Then I could offer the books to you," I suggest. Surprisingly, she took them without too much argument, and I got a blessing to show the books to other guests as well. That is laudable, they rarely allow us to disturb their customers. As I stepped through the door into the garden, I turned to the right. Two pleasant middle-aged ladies were sitting at a table, obviously not feeling too warm. Immediately they accepted my company. They drank their coffee and smoked.
As I was introducing the books to them, they turned out to be very openminded. We were very philosophical. We studied human existence from all angles, and arrived at a common conclusion that life is a thorny journey. It pricks us more than pampers. But there is a solution. If we surround ourselves with Srila Prabhupada's books, we will not feel the pricking anymore. One of the ladies has even read the Bhagavad-gita already, but unfortunately not the Bhagavad-gita As It Is. No wonder she did not understand anything. "This is the original Bhagavad-gita," I was enthusing her. I asked, "Where do you find water that is most clean?" I served an answer myself: "At the source."
I continued with the explanation: "The kind old man you see here on the picture (I show her the picture of Srila Prabhupada), is the 32nd teacher in a continuous chain of spiritual masters. From him, you get positive energy, knowledge directly from the source. It comes straight from the power plant right to the user, without any interruptions. In that way you get the full benefit. In the Bhagavad-gita, you can find everything you need to know to cope stress, to grow your inner strength, all about self-control, about yoga, meditation, self-realization and even when someone makes you angry, people say the Bhagavad-gita helps. You surely never get angry, do you?" "Who doesn't," they retort. "With this book, you will get angry less or even not at all."
The lady who read the Bhagavad-gita before was already quite enthusiastic about the authentic edition. They both listened attentively and with great interest. I continued with the multi-practicality of the book, using a small catalogue.
"You can use the Bhagavad-gita in your profession (I show the photo of a businessman in the catalogue), or in your spare time (I move my finger to the photo of a sportsman). Do you have any spare time?" "Well, sometimes a bit." "Or, you can use the book for relaxation (I point my finger to the meditator in the catalogue). And if you wish, you can also quit smoking. All of this and much more." Now the two of them were enraptured. "How much does it cost?" "Well, today, for you, only a small donation to cover the cost of printing." "How much is that?" "The usual price is this much, today only that much. How much can you give from your heart? A bit of the culture of the heart that we have all forgotten about. From one heart to another." One of the ladies had an original reply: "From the heart I would give a lot, but I have to look into the wallet." She did not have enough and the whole deal went to naught. Luckily Krishna saved the situation and sent the lady to the ATM. In the meantime I spoke with the second lady. Thank God that the ATM had some money inside, and the first lady received the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Now came the second ladies' turn.
"And how much could you contribute?" She wanted to keep up with her friend and she also gave a heartfelt donation. She also received a matchless gift. We wished each other all the best on our spiritual and material journeys through life, and I turned around to meet other fortunate souls. To get some fresh air, I made a circle around the pizzeria, and then looked at my watch. It was ten minutes after one o'clock. This is the right time to meet the boss. As I stepped into the pizzeria again and orientated myself, I checked who is baking the pizzas. What did I see? I looked again, knowing that the boss was male. I stared at the figure from the back. Is this not a female form? Did the boss change his gender in the meantime? The waitress dispels my confusion: "Unfortunately the boss has left."
What to do? Obviously the mercy waits for someone else. "Can you please call the baking lady for me?" The waitress is lukewarm, "She will not be interested, I am sure." "Call her nevertheless, please." And she comes with a smile on her face. I ask her whether she likes to bake pizzas. She nods with joy. I direct her attention to the books. She already knows about yoga and she even heard of the Hare Krishnas. Unfortunately she has no money. How to proceed? I propose various solutions. She paces back and forth. Whenever she turns back to me, she tells me something pleasant. "Impossible today. Come later. Come some other day. Will you be here tomorrow?"
Now another waitress comes to her job in the pizzeria. We quickly involve her as well. It all hangs in the air. "Today, we're sorry, nothing." Then finally I say the crucial words: "What you can do today, do not delay for tomorrow."
The baking lady admits: "You have convinced me." She puts down her apron, tells the waitress to wait a bit with new orders. She takes the keys of her car and drives to the ATM. In the meantime, the second waitress looks at the books. Ten minutes to the end. I have only one more Bhagavad-gita. Who will be the winner? With neckbreaking speed, the baking lady returns and gives a donation for the books. Now all three of them stand together. The first waitress gets the second place, the baking lady is in the middle on the winner's stair, and the second waitress earns the third place. It is exactly 13:58 and the second batch of books is finished. Two more minutes to breast the tape. One, two, three, I jump over the street back to the car. All is well that ends well. By the mercy of Guru, Krishna and the Vaishnavas altogether 50 big books of Srila Prabhupada were distributed. Eternal glory to Shri Krishna Sankirtana!
Srila Prabhupada is calling, "Come out on sankirtan! In every town and village, it's a worldwide marathon. Do you know it's time to wake up all the conditioned souls who are sleeping in the lap of maya, forgetting life's ultimate goal!"
Prabhupada is calling, "Please come and preach with me! Distribute books and you'll be happy, just try it and you'll see!"
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
Begging for the mercy of the holy name,
Hari-Guru-Vaishnava-Bhagavata-Gita dasa dasa anudasa, Lomancita dasa
