Caring for People After Sankirtan
By Tejagaurangi Devi Dasi
From:
http://namahatta.org
Anakadundubhi Prabhu, a disciple of His Holiness Bhakti Caru Swami, is one of the most famous sankirtan devotees in ISKCON. Prabhu frequently tops the sankirtan list, ranking as the number one book distributor in the world. He lives with his wife Caitanya-lila in Villaggio Hare Krishna temple in northern Italy. Both devotees have dedicated their lives to full-time sankirtan service for more than 10 years. Their shining faces, gentle smiles and determined spirit of show the nature of genuine preachers.
These devotees have started a specific type of follow-up program for people who have bought Srila Prabhupada’s books from sankirtan preachers. Although these fortunate people are not yet designated as congregational members, still they potentially can become a part of the congregational demographic. The way Anakadundubhi Prabhu deals with them sets an example for all preachers who want to improve their ability to care for others.
My husband and I had a conversation with Prabhu and his good wife recently in Sridham Mayapur.
Teja Gaurangi: Please tell us something of how you follow-up your book distribution?
Anakadundubhi: I always had in my mind from beginning of my sankirtan service to cultivate people, but I really didn’t know how. In 1993, I was giving people as a present a BTG subscription (we have Italian Back to Godhead). At that time, BTG was published once in a month; now it comes out once every two months. After some time I figured out that when I send them BTG once a month, that the subscriber would remember that they have Srila Prabhupada’s books in their house. Together with the BTG they got an invitation to the Sunday feast.
Then something happened. I met a man who was looking for a faith was very attracted to BTG. This man bought books from me. One day another sankirtan devotee came to his house–of course, he had never seen that devotee before. He had only just met me. When the devotee came to this man, he received the devotee as a Vaisnava. He was very respectful.
Then he explained his story. He was agnostic before, an atheist, but in some way he was forced by friend of his to visit the place of a Christian saint. At that time, the saint was still alive. So they went down in a small town down south. He didn’t have any faith but seeing all the people praying in the church he wondered why he didn’t have this faith.
Suddenly the saint came in front of them. He was very strong with a very heavy build, although he didn’t eat barely anything. And the saint went directly to this man without saying anything and embraced him very strongly. The man was bewildered and a little scared, too. But this saint told him in a very deep voice, “So, did you find your faith or not?” Practically he was reading his heart. Then this man experienced symptoms of ecstasy. He was crying and laughing simultaneously, the hair of his whole body stood on end, and he was sweating and feeling very hot inside He was very bewildered; he didn’t know what was going on. After this incident, the man discovered that he had Srimad-Bhagavatam in his house. He read BTG also and was especially touched by articles published by Matsyavatara Prabhu, who would later become his spiritual master.
Another time, one old lady became very attached to me. Still now I’m calling her, bringing her presents and prasadam. She is dying now from cancer. I thought maybe this should be a program, that maybe following-up should be done in a regular way. Not just whimsically like when you find somebody, give them a BTG and leave them on their own. I started to do the same thing, to give a BTG, but I added some correspondence: postcards from India, greeting cards for Christmas, sometimes for birthdays, some phone calls. I collected the names and recorded them. Everything is organized by different cities and towns. Over the years I have collected almost 200 names. So what I do is that I phone them, and few I invite to dinner in our sankirtan motor-home. I bring them presents, I keep a record of all the books that they have. For a few of them, I have to go to their house and accept some food. They know that I’m in on a special diet. In order to avoid disappointing them I say that I eat only fruits and they accept that. In this way, a relationship is built.
Of course, my follow-ups are not potential bhaktas, at least not in this lifetime, since most of them are elderly people. Even more, many of them work as directors of big companies. That means a lot of responsibilities and a lot of money. But in one way or another they are interested in philosophy, or they just need a friend to talk with. Very few of them actually read the books.
There is one lawyer in my home city who is really reading the books. When we meet he’s really enjoys, because he is actually a lonely bhakta. We speak about the discussion between Lord Caitanya and Ramananda Raya. He likes Caitanya-Caritamrta the most, and he always has many questions. But the majority are just pious persons. Still, they have a chance to have Srila Prabhupada’s books in their homes, they take prasadam at least once or twice a year, and they receive holy presents from the holy land, like postcards with pictures of Krishna or Krishna’s temple from India. Some of them wear tulsi mala or Nrsimha kavaca; they have a japa mala in their house.
Almost all of them, especially the older ones, have all the Srila Prabhupada’s books, maybe just one or two are missing. And the most important thing, is that I don’t ask for a donation all the time. When I give them a book the first time, I ask them to pay for the books. But when I go for the second or third time (because every year I visit them, at least the most favorable ones) I don’t ask money from them.
Now I have 170 names, and every year I go to visit at least 50 of them. Every year the month of January is dedicated to follow-up. After the Christmas marathon I relax for one week and then I start to prepare follow-up, making the phone calls to the busiest ones. Then I start to prepare all the sweets. My wife is helping me with that. I’m make the sweets and she is wraps them in a nice package — she is very expert in these fancy things. Then I try to find out what to bring them, some book or other present.
Teja Gaurangi: And you spend your own money for that?
Anakadundubhi: Yes. Because I live in the temple BBT is giving me some books as presents. I asked my GBC what to do, because these books were piling up. I wanted to know if I could sell them. He said, “Yes, this is your property, you can do whatever you want.” This is one thing, but usually whatever I get from this follow-up I take out the expenses and the rest I take for my family.
Teja Gaurangi: Actually this is Prabhupada’s formula. You do in that way whenever you do sankirtan?
Anakadundubhi: Yes, and I sell only Srila Prabhupada’s books. Other books I give only as presents to the people who already have Srila Prabhupada’s books, or like extra when they are very nice. But I never ask anything from them. Sometimes they give; sometimes they don’t give. Also, when I go and visit them two or three times and they are just polite but don’t want to do anything with Krishna consciousness, than I don’t go to visit them anymore. But I still write them, without expecting any response.
Teja Gaurangi: Not pushing anything.
Anakadundubhi: Not pushing, right. Of course, I preach Krishna consciousness whenever there is opportunity or when I see there is some interest. Otherwise I’m just neutral with them. I just do my duty and if I see there is something wrong, then I ask them straightforwardly, “If I’m disturbing you by visiting you, you just say so. This is my duty because I’m missionary and it’s good for your spiritual life. But if you don’t like that, it’s your option. We are here because of our free will, and I don’t want to interfere with that.” But generally the response is positive. Or sometimes they are whimsical, one year they are not in the mood to be visited but next year they are in ecstasy. Because the mind is flickering, you know, it’s accepting and rejecting. And this is the reason why I always keep in touch. So this is basically my follow-up. It’s not something far out, but it’s at least something to keep them in touch with Krishna.
Teja Gaurangi: What is the goal of your follow up program? What is your meditation regarding that?
Anakadundubhi: Well, the meditation is to make these people bhaktas sooner or later. Maybe not in this lifetime, but at least their spiritual activities are piling up because they give donations. 98% of them give donations. Some give 50 euros a year, this is the average. They give donations when I visit them as a missionary and I accept it. Sometimes I tell them, “You are not supposed to give donations if you don’t want to. This is your choice. I’m not here for that. I’m here for your spiritual benefit, if you want me to be here. Otherwise I will disappear as I appear.” But usually I don’t have to say these kind of things because there is quite an open relationship with them, like a friendship. It has been developing after a few years. I don’t treat them like big men. Some of them are retired men; some are young people with many responsibilities; some are normal householders. Many work as directors in big companies. Some of them are very rich. A few of them are very weird but they give something to Krishna and in this way their spiritual life is going on. They have chance to have more books and to read them, and during my visits I remind them of that. The postcards and BTG comes to their homes. They take a little prasadam.
Teja Gaurangi: Do some of them chant some rounds or go to the temple?
Anakadundubhi: Not that I know about. A few of them have visited the temple maybe once or twice. But the thing I want to give them is the impression that Hare Krishna devotees care for the welfare of humanity. Also in my regular sankirtan this is my goal. I’m not begging; I’m not asking for something of them. I try to do service in a way that from their perspective they feel we are giving something valuable to them without asking in return. That’s what Srila Prabhupad thought us: we are giving the most valuable jewel and asking practically nothing in return. If they ask what they can give me, sometimes I tell them, “This is a question you don’t have to ask a missionary. Otherwise the answer would be, ‘All your wealth can not pay for even one sentence of these books. But what can we do?’” (smile) Then they become surprised, but I tell them, “When you read these books you will understand what I’m talking about. But, please, you have to read them!” Also, this is an instruction of my first spiritual master. Before I was initiated by Somaka Swami. He gave me few instructions which I took with my whole heart. One of them is that you are distributing many books, but you have to inspire people to read the books. I was meditating like anything on this instruction. It’s actually very difficult instruction. All right, distribute books is not easy but in one way or another, if you have nice environment, nice pious country, the books will go anyway. But to inspire these people to read them, that’s difficult. So, I was struggling how to do it. And finally I ended up with this idea, this follow-up. Actually, I don’t think it’s my idea. I heard it from somewhere, I think from the sankirtan course I attended here in Sridham Mayapur. It was mentioned, not developed, it was just an idea. And then I said, “Okay, that’s it! That’s what I have to do. I have to develop it.”
By Tejagaurangi dd
