“I believed cent percent in his word.”
Ananda Vidya Prabhu recently said in Mayapur:
"In Florida, during the December marathon, I was showing a group of young people the 5th canto, and explaining briefly to them, and I asked for a donation. The guy with the book in his hand seemed slightly interested, but still he was apprehensive. I said, "It's got some cool artwork; I'll show you.'
I opened the book to the pictures of the hellish planets, the one which shows, in one picture, a young boy torturing an insect, and in the other picture showing a man being eaten alive by various creatures, including a lion. The guy looked at the picture and said, "Wao, he's really eating him! I'll give a donation for that!" He pulled out a five dollar bill and gave a donation.
So these books are all-attractive. We should not be afraid that there might be something in the books that might put the people off or might seem a little too extreme for them. We should have full faith in Srila Prabhupada that he knew exactly what he was doing. Srila Prabhupada was translating these books every day in the morning hours, giving his purports with the mood of reaching out to the public. And who is a better preacher than Srila Prabhupada? He knew exactly what he was doing. He said, "I did not write these books; Krsna actually wrote these books."
So we know that if we just present the books as they are and try to attract the people to the books as best we can and explain to them as much as they are able to take, and just glorify the books, then people will be attracted and will buy them."
I personally witnessed a similar experience 3 months ago while distributing books in Colaba, downtown Mumbai, with an 8-year old boy, Cita-Hari das, the son of Srila Prabhupada's disciple Kutasta Prabhu, from New Mayapur, France. As Citta Hari and I were taking a short break from distributing and were sitting at a fresh juice parlor, drinking a few oranges juices in the hot sun, a group of young Westerners walked on the sidewalk in our direction. Sitting on the bench, I stopped them. They were from France. They were pleasantly intrigued to see us, especially small Citta Hari das, with his bright Tilak, his small dhoti, his flaming red hair and growing teeth in his smiling mouth. We showed them the Bhagavad Gita. One young lady took particular interest in it. I showed her the pictures in the middle of the book. When I got to the 2-pages depicting the reactions to sinful activities, for example being forced to embrace a burning liquid-iron form of a woman, I quickly turned the page, in apprehension, brushing it off by saying, "That's bad karma."
But Citta Hari immediately interrupted me and said, "No; it's not just that."
He innocently took control of the situation and, in broken 8-year old French language, looking up at them from the bench, he explained with confidence, "You see, this picture shows how when you kill an animal and you eat it, then when you die, you go to hell, and there, in hell, your body is cooked in boiling oil."
His expression was so innocent and pure that it only increased their attraction to him and to the book. The lady immediately took out a nice donation and gave it to Citta Hari. We spoke together a bit longer, and then they walked away, thanking us and smiling, and carrying the Bhagavad Gita as it is.
"So somehow or other, it has begun, the blessings of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, as he wanted me, he desired me. So because he desired, my… I am not very expert or educated or nothing extraordinary, but only thing is that I believed in his word. That is… You can say that is my qualification. I believed cent percent in his word. So whatever success is there, it is just due to my firm faith in his instruction. So I am trying to follow. And by his grace, you are helping me."
[His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture — Los Angeles, February 7, 1969]
