Los Angeles Sastra Dana newsletter Vol. 2 Issue 23
VANCA KALPA…
MONTH OF DECEMBER
By Nitika Thapar
Please accept our greetings from the Sastra Dana news-desk. Our last program was held at Antonia Morales's home and was one in a series of organizational-level meetings. In case some of you are not aware, the organizational committee of Sastra Dana meets once a month to discuss issues pertaining to the expansion and future development of the program.
The last month of the year is a very busy one for book distribution and we, at Sastra Dana are trying our very best to contribute. In December, three prime activities take place—(1) The Marathon begins which involves the sankirtan devotees performing the book distribution at a heightened pace; (2) The Bhagavad-Gita yajna Day which is going to be celebrated on December 10 at the New Dvaraka temple. On this day, all the verses of the Bhagavad-Gita will be recited while prayers are being offered during the fire sacrifice. This is a supremely transcendental day because one can hear all the instructions that Lord Krishna gave to Arjuna continuously and soak oneself in the wonderful nectar in a matter of a few hours. Additionally on this day, you can buy cases of Bhagavad-Gitas for distribution to your friends and families or sponsor the same for distribution by the devotees. This is the only day in the whole year when you can buy this wonderful literature in bulk at a reduced price and stack up your personal collection so that you can give them to your near and dear ones during festivals and holidays. We strongly urge you not to miss this opportunity! Knowledge is the best gift that one can give to an individual and there is no better source than the Bhagavad-Gita which is the purest, the most scientific and the most spiritually profound scripture. It is our humble request to all the patrons of the Sastra Dana program to sponsor as many cases of Bhagavad-Gitas as they can because our program is uniquely geared for this purpose and performing one's prescribed duty is very pleasing to our spiritual master Srila Prabhupada who has relentlessly stressed the importance of book distribution;
(3) the World Enlightenment Day which falls on December 16 is the day which is celebrated by the complete ISKCON congregation as an occasion to distribute a million books in one day throughout the world! This is an excellent day for both new and veteran book distributors because the mercy is bestowed on all! Each and every person goes out and distributes Srila Prabhupada's books to people on the streets, in the malls, at the airports, in parking lots, in vegetable markets, at the post-offices, in the libraries and numerous other social institutions. It is important for all of us to realize that this is not a subliminal activity to be taken casually, rather we have to cooperate and motivate each other so that our enthusiasm spreads far and wide. Since the Sastra Dana program has been established primarily for book sponsorship, it comes as no surprise that we will be expected to give our best performance on this day. Keeping this in mind, we again humbly request you to please participate on this day and join us for this wonderful festival which will not only benefit mankind but will also be an opportunity for you to represent yourself as a proud soldier of Srila Prabhupada's spiritual army of book distributors. Please take a few hours off and bring your family and friends to share the joy and bliss which invariably follows a hard day's labor. We will be providing our full plans during our future meetings, hence do not miss out on any of this. Festival season is just around the corner and is full of good spirits. People are generally in a happy and generous mood and waiting to give, as well as receive gifts.
This is the best time for us to open our hearts and render service by presenting transcendental literature to one and all. Mundane gifts can be bought any time for a small price but spiritual gifts are hard to come by and Srila Prabhupada has made them available so easily by his causeless mercy, now it is up to us to fulfill his desire. People in general are hungry for knowledge which leads them to a higher cause, unfortunately this innate tendency lies dormant for a long period of time and they begin to question the true meaning of life after fully engaging in sense-gratification, when misery has completely engulfed them. But it is never too late! The four Kumaras were purified and enlightened by simply smelling the beautiful Tulasi leaves but in this age, we just have to read just one of the many magnificent books that Srila Prabhupada has written to awaken our consciousness and realize our position with respect to God. With the hope that all of you can help in the coming month, we look forward to a period of great expectation and excitement. Do ask us in detail about the activities related to these events and do not hesitate to sponsor as many books as you can afford.
