HERE ARE SOME experiences and realizations of devotees who give people Krsna consciousness through books by Srila Prabhupada and his followers.
Two Forms of the Lord
One day in Prague in 1996 I was supposed to be distributing books, but I couldn't get up the nerve to approach anyone. After a while I became upset with myself.
"How can you just sit here while these people walking by are searching for the very books you're holding in your hands? Do something!"
At last I pulled myself together and showed a book to a young man hurrying back to work. He was interested in the books, so he invited me to his shop, an alternative gift shop, full of oriental and Indian gifts. His two colleagues also liked the books, but no one was willing to buy them.
I showed them a painting from Srimad-Bhagavatam of Lord Visnu on the back of Garuda, and I began to narrate a story about Lord Visnu.
Suddenly one of the shop assistants exclaimed, "Hey, He looks like ours!"
They took me upstairs to a statue covered with cloth. One of them uncovered the statue, and there He was Lord Visnu standing on the back of Garuda, ready to release His Sudarsana disc.
I cried out, "Visnu!" and bowed down.
Someone entered the shop, and the shop assistants went down to look after him. I stayed alone with the Lord and prayed to Him for His mercy to allow me to distribute some books to these people. They returned and told me it was my last chance to see Him, because a twelve-year-old girl had already bought Him and was picking Him up that night.
With renewed enthusiasm I showed them all the books again. This time they were really inspired. The Lord was very merciful, and they took seventeen books between them. So the young girl wasn't the only one to take the Lord home that night. The shopkeepers took Him home in His form as Srimad-Bhagavatam, the form by which He resides in millions of homes around the world.
(Padmamali Dasa (Prague, CZ))
Never too Late
We were going from house to house in a small town, Turnov, Czech Republic. When I rang the bell of a old villa, no one answered the door, so I turned to the next house.
Then I heard, "Is someone there?"
I saw an old woman peering out the window.
She said, "I'll go to the door."
It took her five minutes to walk from the window to the door. She apologized.
"I'm almost eighty years old, and I've got Parkinson's disease."
I showed her the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and she exclaimed, "Oh, that's Bhagavad-gita and mighty Arjuna with wise Krsna."
She told me she had read the Bhagavad-gita as a young student.
"I was always interested in these subjects but never got the opportunity to go deep into them. So now I'll take your books."
She thanked me and said, "Finally, before I die, I'll understand the Absolute Truth."
In the afternoon I brought her some prasadam and incense and wished her luck in her pursuit of the Absolute Truth.
Another day, I knocked on the door of a sauna/acupuncture studio.
The door opened, and an older man asked, "So, have you brought it?"
"Of course," I answered, bewildered by his welcome.
"OK. Show me what you have."
I opened the box of books, and he at once agreed to take the whole set.
"I know it's not by chance you've knocked on my door," he said. "That's why I responded the way I did. I'm very fond of spiritual literature."
He gave a generous donation and wanted more books in the future.
(Satya-karana Dasa (Prague, CZ))
A Letter of Gratitude
For about four years now I've been curious about my existence in this world. I began asking myself numerous questions about life, such as What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? Do I have a mission to accomplish? What is God? And how are living beings related to Him? Just recently I read Bhagavad-gita As It Is, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and many of my questions were answered. As a result, my life changed completely. I would like to take this opportunity to give my most humble thanks to the Krsna consciousness movement and to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, for revealing to me the true path of man: bhakti-yoga and spirituality. Thank you!
(Samuel)
Navina Nirada Dasa heads ISKCON's book-distribution ministry and travels worldwide to train and inspire book distributors.