Krishna Never Abandons Us
by Omkara Dasa
Last Wednesday we went out on books as usual, but the day was by no means usual. It usually takes me some time to surrender to Krishna before any books go out, at least a solid hour. On this day people started accepting books immediately. I was surprised. I began distributing in terminal 7 at the Los Angeles airport and worked my way along the sidewalk to terminal 1. Although there were few people in the airport because it was off season, most of the people I met were taking the Bhagavad-gita and giving a nice donation old people, businessmen, born-again Christians people I would never expect to accept one of our books.
By the time I got to terminal 1 I was so ecstatic that I was laughing aloud between talking to people. I was feeling the intensity and bliss. I also thought that if I kept distributing at this rate, I would finish distributing before lunch all the books I had brought out with me and would have to leave early, taking a bus back to the temple.
My mind is such a rascal that as soon as I receive mercy I immediately contemplate my own comfort rather than the well-being of the conditioned souls. Srila Prabhupada gives the example of a eagle flying high in the sky but simply looking down at the earth to see where his next piece of meat will come from. As soon as those nonsense thoughts went through my head Krishna withdrew his mercy. All of a sudden nobody was taking.
Krishna has wonderful ways of pointing out to us our flaws and areas that need some work. Because the morning had been so nice, twenty-five Gitas went out for the day. The next day, Thursday, began with great difficulty. I started in terminal 7 again, but no one was accepting books. Thursday began to wane and I accepted the fact that only three or four Gitas would go out for the whole day. Still, I was determined to keep trying.
By three o'clock, with only four Gitas distributed, I met one nice, tall African-American man. I showed him the Gita to and he said, "Oh, I already have that one. But the one I have is by a different author and is a lot smaller." I told him that Prabhupada's Gita was the original and that it followed in a chain of self-realized masters over five thousand years old. In an edition of the Gita I had read years before, the editor had written that because the Western audience had only a limited understanding of Eastern concepts he had simplified certain things. I told this gentleman, "Most people who put out a Gita grossly underestimate the intelligence of the Westerners. They think Westerners are too stupid to understand esoteric matters, so they abridge the Gita and obscure it's meaning."
The man agreed that they had missed the mark on that one. I explained that we do not sell books but accept donations from the heart for them. We talked a little more, and then he asked abruptly, "So you want a donation?"
"Sure. That would be nice," I replied.
"Let me give you a donation," he said, as he handed me a hundred dollar bill. I casually put the bill in my pocket as I thanked him and gave him one of each book I had being with the Gita and finishing with Nectar of Instruction and Perfection of Yoga.
After this experience I could tell that Krishna had flipped the switch again. All of a sudden everyone I approached was interested. By the end of the day I had distributed twenty-one Gitas. Through these experiences I first realized that first Krishna never abandons us. We may feel like no one is around or is watching or knows what is going on in our lives, but Krishna knows and cares. His reciprocation is phenomenal, and a relationship with Him is indescribable. He is personally interested in each and every one of His parts and parcels. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
