Sankirtan Lilas
Hare Krsna Prabhus,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
While distributing books at a college in Los Angeles, I met a student who told me that when he was three years old he had said to his mother, "I'm older than you. I've lived many lives."
His mother had then said to him, "Oh, that's called reincarnation, son."
He said to me, "So I've always been interested in spiritual life and reincarnation." I explained to him that the goal is to get out of the cycle of birth and death and go back to the spiritual world. He said he had thought of that before and wants this to be his last life in the material world. He then received a Bhagavad Gita and I got his e-mail. We'll be in touch.
Two hours later I was speaking to a lady from the Czech Republic who was also interested in the books. So much so that just two weeks before she had bought four books from Karuna-dharini Dasi, who also distributes books at the universities. This time the lady bought the Bhagavad Gita. After she got it she thanked me very much. Five minutes later she came to me and said, "Can I get one more?" She had met a friend who was also interested in the book, so she had given the first Gita to her. She had come back to me to buy another one. I said, "You should join us and be a book distributor, since you're already doing it." She said, "I may take you up on that."
The next day a student came up to me and said, "Are you a Hare Krishna?"
"Yes, I am."
He immediately pulled out $20 and gave it to me. He said, "My sister lives in London and goes to school at one of the universities. Everything in England is very expensive, so she was having a hard time getting by. What helped her the most was the Hare Krishnas distributing free food to the students, who could give a donation if they liked. So I just want to give this donation to you as a token of appreciation."
I gave him a Bhagavad Gita, and he was very thankful for that gesture.
Just before I left for the day, a student came up to me and said he is into meditation. So I asked him, "What kind of meditation do you do?"
"I do mantra meditation."
"And what mantra to you chant?"
"I chant sac-cit-ananda."
"That's not a mantra. That's a statement in the Vedas about the nature of the individual soul and the Supreme Soul."
"Oh, OK."
I then taught him the maha-mantra and the importance of chanting it to advance in spiritual life. He very much appreciated the talk and also received a Bhagavad Gita.
All this in a couple of days of sankirtan. Sankirtan is so dynamic! Again and again I thank Krishna for giving me such an ecstatic service. So many people are interested in Prabhupada's books. We just have to go out and pray to Krishna to be His instrument.
Your Servant,
Vijaya Das
