From Madhu Mangal Prabhu
Dear Prabhu's,
Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada. all glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga, all glories to the sankirtan devotees of the Lord.
Distributing Srila Prabhupada's books last week here in Cape Town at the Gardens, I saw a lady and a gentleman standing on the corner of the Houses of Parliment. As I approached them, I saw that the lady was wearing sunglasses, that to me seemed to be a bit oversized. I noticed the gentleman was wearing a name tag on his chest. I introduced myself to him. Yes, he remembered me and said that he had met me before. I asked him what he did – he told me that he was a tour guide. 'Oh, what interesting job, I suppose you must travel to interesting places and meet lot of interesting and famous people," I said to him. I asked the lady where she was from, she told me that she was down in Cape Town on vacation. I presented Srila Prabhupada's books to her and told her that many famous persons have read the books that I showed her. She told me that she was a famous person herself. "Really, what is your claim to fame?" She told me that she was an author and that she had written many books on photography and that she had traveled all over the world during he career as a author and had met many famous people. "What type of photographic subjects do you like?" She told me that she was interested in faces. That's interesting, just as a matter of sheer interest, did you know that the face was the index of the mind, it can tell you a lot about a person just by looking at it." I asked her if she had ever met Cecil Beeton (a very English famous photographer), no she had not. I asked if she had met Anthony Snowdon, another famous English photographer – yes she had. And had she ever met John Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, she had on one or two occasions – but she not was very impressed with her. "Here take a look at this book, these two people are very famous" I showed her a Chant And Be Happy. She told me that she would like to take one, but that she could not read as she was 92% blind in both of her eyes. I began to read the introduction to the book – just then her friend arrived. "I'm sure your friend here will read for you." He nodded his head and smiled at me.
"What a nice smile you have, I wish I had a camera with me now, I wouldn't mind taking a photo of it. It's such a warm smile, it could melt a chocolate bar at fifty paces." We all laughed. She then said "Would you like me to give you a donation for the book, it sounds interesting. She gave me a fifty and I thanked her for taking the book.I told her that she had humbled me by her gesture by taking Srila Prabhupada's book, even though she was blind. I told her that I wished that there were more people like her on the planet – "Isn't it amazing, that two people who do not even know each other from a bar of soap can be the best of friends, friendship doesn't cost a cent. Have you and I not taught the world a lesson today, wouldn't this world be a better place if they had friends like you and me?"
I prayed to Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to please bestow His eternal blessings upon her. Although she was blind, she had accepted one of Srila Prabhupada's books, by the mercy of dear Srila Prabhupada, the eternal blessings of Their Lordships, Sri Sri Nitai Mayapur Candra, by hearing from Srila Prabhupada's book, she will see through the eyes of sastra and go back home, back to Godhead.
Distributing Srila Prabhupada's books in Cape Town at a four day festival, the Maynardville Community Chest Carnival, an intoxicated man came to our Hare Krsna Cuisine stall. He staggered in and innocently said: (sometimes mostly young people come to the stall and jokingly ask us if we sell cigarettes or beer) "I want a drink, where are the drinks?" One devotee told him that we don't sell drinks, although we do have some refreshing nimba pani, a rose water and lemon drink. I don’t' think he heard him – I went up to him and said, "Are you a sincere soul?" He looked at me, also not really understanding what I said, then nodded his head, up and down. I went to the book table and said, "If you are, here is something that I must give you." He staggered up to me, mumbling incoherently as he stood beside me, saying something about, all he wanted was the truth and something else that I could just not make out. I could get his mood, he did not want to be cheated, he wanted honesty. He asked slurring his speech, "Do you have anything by Gandhi?" I picked up the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, turned to the back and read. "When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it everyday.
Mohandas K. Gandhi..
I handed him the book, he looked at the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, almost as though he were a bit bewildered, and gave me a donation. I held both of his hands and said, "Thank you my friend, you have truly helped me by becoming a better devotee of the Lord." He again said, "all he wanted was the truth – to my astonishment, he asked me to give him another book. I gave him a Perfect Questions To Perfect Answers. He gave me another donation – I gave him a flyer to our Sunday and Wednesday programs. I shook his hand and told him that I looked forward to meeting him again.
There is no doubt about, although he was intoxicated and wanted intoxication, he was a sincere soul, somehow or other by the mercy of Guru and Krsna, he was looking for the truth which is Krsna and he got it in the form of Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-Gita As It Is – his material existence is on it's way out, the seed of devotional service has been planted in his heart and he will someday become a devotee of Krsna.
Hare Krsna
