College preaching in the USA
Recently, at the University of South Carolina, a woman approached me, partly out of breath, and said, “I’m so glad you’re still out here.”
I had just distributed my second-to-last Bhagavad-gita for the day, & before I could wonder who would get the last one, she suddenly appeared.
She explained, “A colleague in my office showed me a copy of that Gita you’re holding, which he got a little earlier from a gentleman out here.”
[That gentleman was my husband, Prithusrava Dasa.]
She has read other editions of the Gita, but was so impressed by the fact that Srila Prabhupada’s has the original Sanskrit plus a commentary that she rushed out to the area where we were distributing to catch us before we left for the day. She also appreciated there being almost fifty color
plates in the book.
A professor of oceanography from Ukraine was also happy to get a copy of the Gita and “On Chanting Hare Krishna” from my husband. He said, “This is so popular in my country. I’m happy I’m finally getting your book.”
A girl from Russia took a Gita and two other books from me and acknowledged that Gita is popular in her country, too.
She asked, “Why isn’t it popular here?” (Shrug!)
A student who recently got out of the military said that he was suffering from depression. He took interest in the Gita since it was spoken on a battlefield. He happily took the book & a “Chant & Be Happy.”
A Muslim student from Bangladesh approached me, saying, “Oh, I’ve never seen anyone wearing a sari on this campus before!”
I told her about Srila Prabhupada being Bengali, & she took a OCHK pamphlet to learn more about our movement.
Recently at Augusta Univ., my husband was entering a building while a student holding a Gita was exiting. When he saw the same Gita in my husband’s hand, he asked, “Is this yours? I just found it abandoned on a table. The Gita is my brother’s book of wisdom, & I’ve been wanting to read
it!”
Just goes to show that the person we may initially distribute a book to may be the instrument to get it into the hands of another who’s meant to have it.
At Auburn Univ., a student from China (who I was guessing was from Mongolia due to his looks) took serious interest in the Gita, saying he’d like to learn about his neighbor India’s beliefs, culture & history. He gave a generous donation & thanked me again & again.
Five weeks left in the semester. Let’s see how the nice weather holds up.
Danakeli Dasi
