It made my Day

One Chinese lady scrutinizingly looked at all the Chinese books and really admired them. As she was going through all the books, I thought to myself, usually it is so difficult to even stop someone to have a look at Chinese books. And this great soul is looking at all the books with great interest. I felt very satisfied at this sight. It made my day. She ended up taking 3 books and discussed with me about the philosophy and the practice of Krsna Consciousness. - Soon later, while I was talking to a lady who was familiar with the Hare Krishna from the 60's and 70's, an elderly Farsi speaking person stopped at the table and took the Farsi book and started reading it aloud. Occasionally he looked at me and said "Hmmm, interesting". He donated a dollar for the book and seeing that I was not having a pen on that day, he also gave me one of his pens. …….. Venkatesh

->A small girl (may be 7 or 8 yrs old) came by to our book stall when her parents were busy buying food. She was taking all the small books to her hand and flipping pages and watching them with her intellect. She took 'Intro to BG' to their parents and her smart dad said : 'Your mommie already has that book. Keep it back". She came and kept it back. Then I gave her 'Chant & Be happy' and told her 'This is a recent book and no one will have it'. She is impressed by that book but felt that it is a bit larger than what her tiny brain could take. She found 'Bhakti' to be favorable for her reading and got hold of it and never asked for her parents approval :-))

->Another small boy was interested in taking the books but their parents just kept on going without stopping at the stall. He was hesistant to stop but seeing his interest I called him close and asked him to atleast 'hold' the book in his hand and he did cheerfully. I thought to myself 'a bhakti plant has been sown in a little heart'! Jai!!!

Hari Haribol,

ys,

-Bhakta Kishore

One for my sister & One for me

3) One Indian family was passing by our book table and the kid saw the Bhagavad-Gita and he insisted his dad that he just wants that book. Unfortunately they already had the copy of BG hardbound in their house. But the kid was so adamant that his father had to relent to his request and had to purchase the copy of BG hardbound for $10. The kid convinced his dad that the one at home was for his sister and the one now they purchased will be for his personal use :-)………… Bhakta K

Yesterday my realtor held an "open house" to try to sell our home. A couple came by who were vegetarians. They were American musicians, but the husband was a computer genius who had come up from Redondo Beach to work in Silicon Valley. The lady said she was interested in Buddhism, and that she was proud of being an atheist (ouch). They liked our temple room and I showed her the Gaura-Nitai Deities on the altar. When I mentioned Bhagavad Gita she said she has been meaning to read it. I gave her a hardcover Gita and she spontaneously offered a $5 donation akruranathadasa

Srimad Bhagavatam set distribution stories

1) I have met one person, i have requested him to have Bhagavatam, he replied that "i have already had Bhagavad Gita. I am happy with that ". I just asked him to tell some thing about KRISHNA, he didnt say much. I told him that Bhagavatam was spoken about KRISHNA, if you read the glories of the LORD everyday, your faith becomes stronger and then you would follow the instructions given in Bhagavad Gita with pure LOVE... As prabhupada said, you should know about the person whom you should worship very well. i,e Bhagavatam. He was happy and took a small Set.

2) I have met another person, he said that he knows the importance of Bhagavatam, BUT he wanted later. As prabhupada said, LATER never comes since there is no guarantee for next second. I have told him that this is the one time investment for your LIFE, this transcendental knowledge would save your future generations as well...BUT he was reluctant at that moment. But he came to me after 3 days, requested a BIG set. That was the power of Paramatma feature !

3) I have met one mataji, i knew her very well. I have asked her "How do you feel if KRISHNA comes to your home ?" Immediately she replied that would be BEST & LAST moment in my LIFE. I have told her that "I thought the same and taken your name for Bhagavatam SET" :-) And Krishna comes to your home in text form. she could not say NO and took a small set.

4) I have met another mataji, she is not regular, but spoken to her few times ..i have requested her to have bhagavatam, she said NO, I cant keep it at my home since there was no space. This was bit funny, i told her that "Since you are not providing room for KRISHNA at your home. That indicates you are not providing space for KRISHNA in your heart too....." . She was confused for a while.... As prabhupada said, You take KC first, then Rules and Regulations comes automatically...If you think that you have to follow Rules and Regulations before you accept KC, that never happens.. she also took one small set.

5) I have met one more person, he had some budget issues..i have told him that budget is a common problem for everyone and even for US gov too... But we still satisfy our body needs with out bothering about mind, so we should have medicine for mind regularly, i.e Bhagavatam. Once your mind is engaged in the service of Supreme Lord, all budget problems disappear at once .... he was laughed for some time....:-) And took one small set...

6) I have approached one devotee, as soon as he saw me, he said that i have already got all books of prabhupada.. i just kept silent for few sec...and then replied: Very nice to hear that you have got everything ..But others NOT. I would request to donate some Lakshmi for this great cause... he took some time and donated $151. His brother was looked at me, before i ask him, he replied that we both are from same family. Again i was silent for few secs..Then i replied to him that You both are from same family but each of you have different spiritual accounts.. Your brother's donation never get credited into your spiritual account .... you have to increase your spiritual account too...this surely help you from great danger .... I have requested him to "HELP US BY HELPING YOUR SELF " he smiled at me and pledged $108.

Bhakta Bharath

I chant your name 2000 times

This was the first time to distribute books at Airport, we just had few mins. I have met a nice gentleman, and introduced my self. As a reply he said that his name is "KRISHNA" . I was extremely happy to hear, then i immediately replied that " I chant your name more than 2000 times every day and some times more than that. I think of your name in most of the day..finally my day begins and ends with your name . Not only me, thousands of people chant your name every day in all over the world..." He was totally surprised ......:-) He had asked me very curiously ..why do you chant my name ?? I have told him that i am from ISKCON and we chant HARE KRISHNA maha mantra every day...he was very happy ..and i said " Since your name also KRISHNA, you should have KRISHNA Words i.e Bhagavad Gita with you", He could not say NO. Took GITA happily and donated $2.

Ys

Bharath

The best Yoga

I met a lady who strictly follows the Dhyana Yoga , had some good discussion with her. Due to lack of right knowledge, she believes Dhyana Yoga is the highest platform to attain perfection in human birth. I have told her few solkas from 12th Chapter Bhakti Yoga where KRISHNA clearly said that Bhakti Yoga is highest platform and simple process to reach KRISHNA. I have also shared couple of solkas from GITA. She was not fully convinced since she has been in dhyana yoga for long time :-) I gave one example : If one person declares 4 Statements.But he finally gives conclusion of all his 4 statements. i have asked her, which one you would follow ? she said conclusion statement. Then i saidr, KRISHNA talked about all YOGAs in GITA, but he finally concludes that Bhakti Yoga is the highest platform, Thus we ISKCON follows the highest YOGA . i told her that Intelligent person never takes Dhyana yoga by ignoring the conclusion of all Yogas given by KRISHNA.I believe you are intelligent ......... I gave our temple address, She came to our sunday Program, she was very much inspired by Vaisesika Pr's lecture, finally she said ...THIS IS PERFECT KNOWLEDGE..

Ys Bharath

Baby with Good qualities

1) I have met lady who is carrying, i gave Bhagavad Gita book, she was reluctant to have the book, and she said that "I do not have time to read the book and more over i am carrying baby...". I have told her about Prahlada Maharaj, how he was received Bhagavatam from Narada Muni. I have asked her : Do you want a baby ? Or Do you want baby with good devotional qualities ? She replied that she need a baby with good qualities.. i asked her, How can you expect a baby with good spiritual qualities with out reading these scriptures ? You may give good education to your baby, NOT good qualities.. I have requested her to keep GITA and read every day , your baby would surely become a great devotee of KRISHNA. She took GITA and immediately came to the temple with us by Krishna's grace………………..

Ys, Bharath

I missed it

I have met a person Aravind, I have tried to stop him by showing GITA. He didnt even think, immediately replied "Sorry NO TIME". I said that ..YES..i agree with you ..No time for me too.. but some how i have been managing ..:-) I have told him that "Dont worry.. since you dont have time to read, i can get you the GITA in mp3, you can listen while driving ...thus slowly you get some taste, then you will surely find some time to read the book..." He just smiled ..and took the CD and i have asked him.. where do u work ? He said ..i work for Yahoo. then i have asked : which location ? he replied Sunnyvale .. again i asked which building ? he said Building B. Again i have asked which floor ? he replied 2nd floor.. Then i replied ....i just missed....he asked very curiously ...what ? .then i replied him that ..i sit in the 1st floor..Building B, Sunnyvale Yahoo.....he was totally surprised to hear that...he was very happy to see me in distributing books than in the office .. he would be coming to temple next week.. Bhakti Vinoda Thakura ki Jai.. Prabhupada ki Jai,,

Ys Bharath

But I am more flexible

Towards the end of our kirtan, there was a nice looking young middle-eastern couple, they were new to the US. The lady got hooked on to the international vegetarian cookbook. She said she was trying to be a vegetarian (she eats seafood and has stopped everything else) and was glad to find something international. Then as I got them talking, they wanted to know what religion we were, and if we had a book that summarized the philosophy. I showed them the Bhagavad Gita, and then the picture on changing bodies. The man said, "oh, we dont believe in reincarnation. We are muslim!". That instant, I felt even more determined for them to take the books. Luckily his wife said, "Oh dont worry about him, I am more flexible!" Then they stayed for a while, debating to take the book on comparison of vedic philosphy with other western philosophies (SP discussions on that), or the Bhagavad Gita. In the end they ended up taking both. The guy said to his wife, "do you think we will read this" she said, "even keeping this book (Bhagavad Gita) in the house is good isnt it?" It was most stunning to see such positive reception, it was as if Radharani was personally showering some mercy on me by allowing me to become an instrument to share these books with the pious lady………. Rashmi Bajaj

But what about Next Life ??

) I have stopped a lady who is teacher and who is bit interested in spirituality. She had asked me many questions, i was very happy to meet such a soul at heavily crowded Walmart. I have spent more than 30 mins with her. Conversation as follows : " Good to know that you are a teacher and very respectable profession in the society. What subject you teach for students ? She replied , Maths. Ah, Maths is a good subject and even i love that subject, and this knowledge may bring very lavish life for a student in future and it may help students to get settled well. Moreover this knowledge help them HOW TO SURVIVE IN THIS WORLD, BUT DOES THIS KNOWLEDGE HELP THEM OUT TO GET RID OF BIRTH, OLD AGE, DISEASES AND DEATH ?? She said NO. I have told her that you are giving knowledge to students to live very comfortably in this life, BUT NEXT LIFE ? They have to go through the pains.. ARE YOU REALLY GIVING RIGHT KNOWLEDGE WHICH HELP THEM IN NEXT LIFE TOO ? She said NO. Then i have presented BHAGAVAD GITA and told her that GITA is the solution for the problems of all human kind. This is SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE and surely help them to get out of birth & death problems. I have showed few verses from GITA. Thus i have requested her to take GITA and get the knowledge from this book, and teach this spiritual knowledge to your students along with Material Knowledge, that really help/make them happy in this life and next life too.. She was very impressed ,took GITA very happily and gave $6 donation & email id too.. Ys Bharath

Good days ahead

) I stopped one American lady who happened to be a believer of Jesus christ and a true (okay, so-called) follower of Christianity. I didn't know this and directly presented her a Bhagavad-Gita. She immediately told she was a christian but I felt she was very open minded. I insisted her that the book is not about religion but about the science of soul. She seemed to know a little bit about Indian philosophy and asked about a book which had the cover page of Durga (she told a Goddess with many hands etc etc). I told her Durga is under the supervision of Krishna and if she reads Bhagavad-Gita then she doesn't need to read about various sub-categories. I showed her various pictures inside Bhagavad-Gita and also the classical picture which involves soul traversing through childhood body to old body. I explained her that and immediately she told she doesn't believe in reincarnation. I wanted her not to lose faith so I explained her that we had a different body in our childhood and a completely different body now but we remain the same person, so this concept is being called reincarnation. She got convinced about that. She was asking about various yoga practices that she was aware of (like bodily postures, going inside a steamy room and voluntarily sweating etc etc). I told her that all these yoga work on the body but Bhagavad-Gita is the topmost yoga which works on soul. Even though she kept saying that her husband might chastise her for taking the book, the inquisitiveness in her won over her fear and she finally decided to take the Bhagavad-Gita. I felt really happy. Good days ahead of her………….. Kishore Reddy Nandyala

Doing the way HG Vaisesika Pr does ! ;)

Doing the way HG Vaisesika Pr does ! ;)

To qualify a person .....

Two young school boys were nearing the harinam & i read on one of the boys shirt

saying " I am the President of America"

So i went to him & shook hands with him saying " Hello Mr Barack Obama"

Pointing to his shirt he started laughing . Then i showed him Chant & be happy

explaining him the spiritually potent name(Krishna & Rama) from ancient indian wisdom

which delivers our mind & reduces stress.He took the book but he said he could not

donate as all his money has gone in the stimulus package :)

The other boy donated & i gave him a book too.

But HG Vaisesika Pr does this type of qualifying people every time.

It took for me more than a year to TRY. ………….. Ys Vrajendra kumar das

If u r not ur body then where are YOU ??

A young teen indian boy stood by the table suddenly & i asked him what is ur name.

He replied " Caitanya" I became instantly happy & showed him Caitanya MahaPrabhu Photo.

Then i explained him about bhagavad gita & the concept of soul.I asked him holding his hand

" what is this "

He replied " This is my hand "

Then i pointed at his nose & he said " This is my nose"

then i pointed to his eyes & he said " this is my eyes"

& Then i asked the billion dollar question " THEN where are YOU ??"

He started laughing & then i showed him the soul transmigration picture & explained him " we not this body but the soul within

the body" I was so happy explaining him because he was simply grasping every concept with good understanding like a Sponge

Later he told me that he is reading Harry Potter So i told him i have here every book on philosophy & only one story book

ie: Krishna Book & showing him i tried to convince him to take it but he said his mother won't buy

seeing his eagerness i said " then cry to her to buy it as you do for a chocolate" .

He then went to his mother & they seemed to have a discussion

Later as they were getting into the car his eyes met mine & it said that he wanted the book but mother is not listening.

So i took the Krishna Book & went to her & said " Your child like this book " & i explained it containing Krishna pastimes showing the pictures in it .

She said " Oh we have Bhagavad gita " i said this is bhagavatam the stories of Dhruva, prahalad & narshima comes from these

Then she immediately bought the book & i put the book in his hand & he smiled & wisked into the car saying

" I am going to read it right away"

I suddenly felt jealous about him because he accepted the Absolute Truth so easily & at such a young age.

But i am happy to be an instrument in connecting Caitanya With Lord Caitanya.

Ys

Vrajendra Kumar das

Following in the footsteps of ISV sankirtan model

Dear Vaisesika Prabhuji

pamho

AgtSP

Following the many months of association with Glorious Sankirtan Generals AT isv like you I had learned something about book distribution. When I came here to Bangalore I saw that the book distribution program is very much lackluster compared to ISV. I thought I should try to implement a few things that I had learned from you. Emulating the Walmart Model, I decided to target the big malls in Bangalore where there is a lot of foot fall. So I started with one mall named Big Bazaar near my residence. I made friends with the Store Manager, took prasadam for him regularly and befriended him. Somehow by Krishna's mercy he liked my company. He allowed me to distribute books on his store premises. I asked him if he could put in a word to all his other friends. In a span of two weeks we have got permission to distribute books from about 7 different malls across the city with another 3 to added to the list starting this week.

I then started targeting Railway Stations in Bangalore that are packed with people always. We found out about devotees who work in the Secretariat and are working with the Deputy Regional Manager for the Railways to secure permission to setup spots at the Railway Stations and also have volunteers walking across the different platforms to distribute books. We hope to receive the green signal this week. While chanting my rounds last week I kept hearing "Hospitals" in my head. I sometimes feel I day dream or dont chant with proper attention, I thought it to be a passing phase. However I realised that I was being prompted to target hospitals for book distribution. I've found out about devotees in the congregation who work in hospitals and they are helping arranging a meeting for me with the Management. I am planning on meeting a few big hospital groups to have a copy of 'Beyond Birth & Death" and also "Bhagavad-Gita" in every room. Please keep us in your prayers so we can become successful in these two projects.

For the Marathon, the Bangalore ISKCON Temple in Seshadripuram has started advertising in the Radio on a local channel called RED FM, which is heard by over 2-3 million people daily, for anyone to purchase a copy of the Gita for just Rs 99 simply by sending an SMS to 56066 with the word GITA for a FREE home delivery. We're also advertising radio ads called 'jingles' on RED FM that run for about 30 seconds about the offer to get a Gita for half the regular price (Rs99) along with a spiritual message. There is a program from 6am-7am every Sunday like a radio talk show where people can call in and ask questions on the Gita or simply describe how the Gita has helped them in their lives. This has also been a good venue for the Gitas to be distributed as many people who did not have the Gita, ordered for one after hearing the program. Maybe ISV could try that on NPR or some local channel.

I'm trying to become friends with the MLA(political leader) in the area where I live, so we can get additional traction and help in Government offices. I've made friends with the friend of his PA. Long way to go but let's hope something works out. There are a lot of Government entities here in Bangalore like BHEL, BEL, HAL, BEML, etc (similar to NASA, Pentagon,etc). We know of one devotee who just got transferred to BEL Bangalore. We're taking his help to see if we can work out to get bulk orders from these corporates. Could you send me the contact information of the devotee in Mumbai who does corporate Sankirtan?

As promised it would be really helpful and encouraging if you could give a 15-20 min video presentation on Book Distribution for the devotees in Bangalore to help encourage them so they feel inspired to distribute Srila Prabhupada's books. I have talked to the TP and he said he can give me a 20 minute window immediately after the Sunday Feast Lecture so I can show your video.

Working out all the logistics and all the background services is also no easy task keeping in mind Bangalore's widely distributed congregation with the city's traffic, etc. I realize how much work Praveena and Malini have done for all MSF's at ISV.

Finally the numbers ... about 2000 Gitas in 2 weeks just from the malls. All books should be around 3-4k in two weeks. The goal is to distribute 30000 Gitas. But I highly doubt if even 10000 books is possible. We need help, inspiration and blessings.

YS

Narahari dev das

Pleasant Surprise

GNAB: The Pleasant Surprises of Door-to-Door Book Distribution

One of the highlights of last Saturday’s door-to-door distribution was our entry into one gated apartment complex in San Jose. As soon as we had managed to enter this complex (thanks to an outgoing resident opening up the gates), the Manager had spotted us and had radioed his crew, patrolling in Golf carts, that he had seen us walk in. His instruction to his crew would be predictable: “inform them (i.e. us) that ours is a private-gated community and they (i.e. we) are not welcome as solicitors”.

I was with a couple of devotees and had just presented a book pack and finished preaching to a homeowner who had gone inside to fetch a donation. Thereupon, as if from nowhere, one member of the maintenance crew appeared in front of the homeowner’s door to remind me that his manager had spotted us and we were not to solicit anything on their premises.

“What are you soliciting?” he inquired. ‘Nothing really’, I replied, ‘just showing this eager householder a Bhagavad Gita’. “What’s that?” he asked. ‘It’s a text on Vedism’ I replied ‘that shows you how to free yourself from the pangs of suffering in this material world’. “Please show me how?” he said and I started flipping through the pages to illustrate my point with some shlokas and pictures.

“Interesting” he quipped, “my girl friend the other day was talking to me about something just like that, some Vedic science info she had come across the internet and wanted me to look into it. Now that you tell me about this, I think I would like to have this book” he remarked. Upon hearing those unexpected words, I placed the Gita in his hand saying ‘it’s yours to keep for the asking, show it to your girl friend too”. He was pleased to take the book and hurriedly squatted to his Golf cart. “Meet me at the gate in 10 minutes” he said “and I’ll write you a check for it”. ‘OK’ I replied, nodding my head as he whisked away.

Soon thereafter, devotees had reassembled. They knew we had been warned and may be asked anytime to leave the complex. Krishna Purshottama das (Sreekanth Prabhu) was there and I conferred with him. It was decided we would continue until they gave us another warning or physically escorted us to the gate. We went by our merry way. Within a few minutes I got a call from KPD that he had managed to sell a Bhagavad Gita to the facility manager. What? Yes, KPD had knocked on one door that turned out to be the manager’s residence and presented him with a Gita. The manager happily took it and also gave a donation. This was a surprising turn of events. Within 15 minutes we had managed to convince two of the main gatekeepers that we were there to do something useful. Having earned a license to distribute books we continued door-to-door with renewed energy and distributed many books of transcendental literature on that memorable afternoon.

Narasimha Chaturdasi MSF ki Jaya

Ys

Raxit Jariwala