Srila Prabhupadas mercy in Russia
Dear devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada.
In the beginning of October I was at the annual festival in Divnamorst Russia. While there I heard some interesting things. There's one devotee named Acala das, he is the sankirtan minister for Russia, rightfully so. He is also the bbt manager for Russia, he also goes out and distributes books and is quite often the number one distributor in the country and sometimes is the number one distributor in the world in our monthly newsletter. I don't know of anyone in the movement that performs vows of his caliber. Every Ekadasi he chants one hundred and ninety two rounds, yep you read right. I asked him how he does it, he said he takes rest at six o'clock the night before ekadasi, wakes up at midnight and then just chants until about eight in the evening. This devotee used to be a major in the military, while in the military he started practicing some different types of yoga and studying philosophy. He heard some of the privates in his company were devotees of Krsna so he called them in to speak to them. When they heard that the Major wants to speak to them they became afraid because he is in such a big position why would he want to speak to us unless we had done something wrong and were now going to be punished. They came in to his office and to their amazement he started asking about bhakti yoga and what would be a good way to start learning. They said he should read Bhagavad Gita, he asked if they had one and they did. They gave him one and were so bold that they asked for a donation, the major was surprised that these little privates could ask him for a donation, it also impressed him so he gave a donation. Afterward they would see him would see him around and ask him if he had read it yet and would always say no I haven't the time. Then he felt a little guilty because he hadn't read it yet so he just read the translations, now when they ask if he had read it yet he can say he has. Which he did the next time they asked. Then one night Prabhupada came to him in a dream and said, in perfect Russian, "It will be alright if you read the purports also." Acala woke up and was astonished that Prabhupada had come to him to instruct him so he immediately started reading the Bhagavad Gita again, but this time without skipping the purports.
There is also a doctor at the Moscow temple that is now a book distributor. He told me how he came to Krsna consciousness. One day he left his office to have lunch, as he was walking he saw a table with some books on it and a person standing behind it. He stopped and looked and then asked what they were about. The devotee said they are about you, they tell you who you are, that you're not your body but you're an eternal soul. The doctor was impressed with his conviction and purity so he asked him how old he was. The devotee said, "Do you want to know how old I am or do you want to know how old my body is, if you want to know how old I am, I'm eternal. If you want to know how old my body is it is twenty two." Again the doctor was impressed so he thought it may be a good idea to get a book, the devotee suggested the Bhagavad Gita. He became a devotee and has been distributing books for the past ten years.
There is also a devotee in Moscow that is blind and goes out every day to distribute Prabhupada's books. Another devotee is without arms, he does have artificial arms however, but they don't function very well at all. During the book distribution seminar he asked me a question at the end of the class, "How can I distribute Prabhupada's books for my whole life?" I replied, "Don't stop."
Your Servant,
Vijaya Das
