Los Angeles SD Newsletter; VOL. 3, ISSUE 10
VANCA KALPA…
INTELLIGENT PEOPLE SHOULD HELP
By Nitika Thapar
Hare Krishna! Please accept our humble obeisances. Our last Sastra Dana meeting was held at the New Dvaraka temple on the Holy Appearance Day of Sri-Rukmini Devi and was well attended. The evening started with bhajans glorifying Lord Krishna, and was followed by a brief talk by Dravida Dasa, one of the oldest and most scholarly disciples of Srila Prabhupada. Prabhu stressed the importance of book distribution via donations of "sastra" to the suffering souls in order to uplift them from their monotonous lifestyles. The highlight of the evening was a special reading about Rukmini Devi, glorifying Her attributes and Her activities. Excerpts from the Krsna Book were read by five matajis who glorified Her pastimes very sweetly and made us all realize Her topmost position. After the reading it was time for prasadam which was relished by one and all.
For the past few months, the Sastra Dana program has been doing very well and we thank all of you for your consistent sponsorships as well as your eagerness to distribute books. But a good work started should never be stopped or reduced in its spectrum. We constantly need help from you to fulfill Srila Prabhupada's mission and the more the book distribution increases, greater is the joy received in reciprocation. As Srila Prabhupada writes: "Following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we are trying to convince everyone that devotional service of the Lord is enjoined in every scripture… this argument appeals to all intelligent men…" [CC, Madhya 25.20]. Srila Prabhupada's avid stand on book distribution is also illustrated within his purports… "The servants of God come to propagate God consciousness, and intelligent people should cooperate with them in every respect. By serving the servant of God, one can please God more than by directly serving the Lord… the Lord declares in the Bhagavad-gita (18.69) that no one is dearer to Him than one who risks everything to preach His glory" [SB 1.2.16]. Hence, we, at Sastra Dana encourage you to offer all assistance in spreading the glories of the Lord through book distribution as we are all His servants, and by helping each other, we can nurture our own devotional advancement.
Thank you.
HARIBOL!
