Shot in Action: On the Battlefront
by Partha-sarthi Dasa
The weather is hot: 130F and 140F in my truck…danger at every step…
I was out walking, to check out and refill my book rack and drop off some prasadam sent from some wonderful devotees, when all of a sudden explosions were heard. At first I thought it was nothing, but it got louder and closer… we were under a mortar attack. Quickly I ran into the closest bunker. As I got in, I noticed there were some soldiers there. I was smiling and right away started handing out cookies and books to all. They were so grateful, smiling ear to ear upon receiving such wonderful gifts.
Then I ran to the next bunker and again handed out more cookies and books to the hungry soldiers. They were hungry for spiritual knowledge. While all this was going on, we were still taking incoming mortar rounds.
Finally after running around to four more bunkers, I came across an empty bunker. As I got in and looked down, I saw that I had one cookie and one book left. I thought to myself, 'let me eat this last cookie and read a bit'. I figured I had earned it. Just as I was going to enjoy these transcendental treats, another soldier came in. I looked at the cookie and felt embarrassed.
The job of a devotee is to give out all the mercy, not to keep anything for himself. I turned to the soldier without
saying a word, handed him the cookie and my last book and sat back, thinking to myself, ‘thank you Krishna for teaching me such a valuable lesson'.
Things are good here–we have just passed out the 550th book in 3 months!
P.S. Partha-sarthi prabhu was recently shot, these we're his words about his condition:
"I got hurt pretty bad (bullet and shrapnel)."
Let us all pray that Partha-sarthi prabhu recovers from his injury and gets back out on the battlefront to distribute the Lord's mercy as soon as possible.
