We distribute every month from our displays in Radhadesh. So far it is a great success. Here is the book-score from the last few months since we started:

1659 ……. March-April

894 ……… May

932 ……… June

750 ……… July

942 ……… August

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5177 TOTAL

This brings the total to 5.177 small soft-bound books.

Sastra Dana sankirtana, ki jaya!

By Braja Bihari Dasa

It was 1984 and after distributing books at the State Fairgrounds in Tampa, Florida, we had parked in a Days Inn parking lot for the night. Our van of five brahmacharis was fast asleep when we heard over a megaphone, “Alright in there! Come out slowly with your hands raised!”

I looked out the window surprised to see the van surrounded by ten police cars and more than a dozen officers with their guns drawn!

We emerged from the van squinting from the bright flashlights burning our eyes. The officers began to frisk each one of us, though we were dressed only in gamshas (bath towels).

“What are you doing here?” the officer in charge demanded.

“We are distributing love of God in the form of books,” I explained.

“Prove it!”

I opened the van doors, thinking this to perhaps be a dream. I reached into one of the boxes, pulled out a Bhagavad-gita and handed it to the officer in charge. He intently inspected the book, then me, then the book again, until finally he broke the silence declaring, “All glories to Srila Prabhupada!”

I was taken aback, as were his gun-toting subordinates. At this point I was convinced this was all a dream! The officer in charge proudly explained, “I used to go to the University of Florida and regularly ate the Krishna lunch. You practically put me through college. I even stayed two days at the temple!”

Turning to his associates he pronounced, “These are great books and you should all buy one.” On his order, the officers began reaching for their wallets. Of the twenty officers, I think about 90% of them took books. We made almost $200!

Our new friend then apologized for the abrupt entry, telling us that earlier that night a gun store had been robbed and the description of the getaway vehicle exactly matched our van. I doubt I got back to sleep that night after one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. But thanks to prasadam distribution it turned into a great sankirtan story!

I also remember once in 1991 we went to Toronto temple to do book distribution, and we had a marathon there for almost one month on Young street, Tripurari Maharaja also used to sell many books there many years ago, it is great spot for sankirtana in the summer .Actually what I like to mention is when we came back through the border to US-Canada- we got stopped on the US side (close to Buffalo in upstate New York ) and one officer asked to see the contend of our van, so he started to look and opened one cabin that had some of the books we devotees would use for personal reading, he pulled out the Nectar of devotion, He shouted out :’ Hi Guys come over here, this is the Nectar of Devotion, ( as if he as a customs agent had found the greatest treasure on earth he was talking to his fellow officers ) He then told us he used to go to the temple in Buffalo and once met Srila Prabhupada there and heard him give a lecture, he asked if he could make a donation for the Nectar of devotion, and gave us $ 50 US . He told us he often would tell his colleagues about the time he spend with the Krishnas ,and Srila Prabhupada.

Once in Boston a Logon Airport in 1989 I was distributing books with Murli Krsna das (or Murli Krsna Swami) ,Murli Krsna stopped one young man, with a question :Are you flying in or out? He was a bit confused , and though maybe Murli was part of some security check…Murli explained what this was about and handed him a hard cover Bhagavad Gita- he was very interested an bought the book. The next moment I stopped a middle age gentleman with his teenage daughter…He was so happy to see the Bhagavad Gita as it is….’You know, I used to go see the Swami at the lower east side in New York City , and I went often, but I have not had my own personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita in many years . He took out a $ 20 bill and handed it to me.’Thank you so much for what you guys are doing’.

Then he turned to his daughter and showed her the Bhagavad Gita, he told her this is the book I named you after , her name was’ Gita’.

I believe he was one of the most satisfied persons I have ever met, that we sold Srila Prabhupadas book too.

We never can tell what effect Krishna’s name or His books will have on people.

One lady who I work with ended up in the hospital – in a room that happened to have a view of the LA Krishna temple. She had learned some mantras in our meditation class at work, and had visited the temple once when we took a field trip there.

She called from the hospital and asked me to bring her books, music, and Krishna food while she was in the hospital to cheer her up. Part of me hesitated for fear of work authorities accusing me of “proselytizing” in a work related situation, but deeply I knew this was too important to pass up! I dropped off some books, music, and of course Krishna cookies.

A week later when returning she told me of her situation – she reads daily Light of the Bhagavata which she loves, and each morning at 5 am, and each night before bed, she closes her hospital room door, looks out the window at the temple, turns on her “Temple Bhajan Band” music, and chants and dances to lift her spirit.

Hospitals seem to be a very wide open door for sharing Krishna Consciousness with others.

Hare Krishna.

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How Do We Distribute the Books?

By placing donated books in locations where they are properly kept and read, such as libraries, schools, prisonhouses, hospital waiting rooms, government offices, dentists’ offices, and nail and hair salons. Sastra Dana members also distribute books to relatives, colleagues, etc.

How Can You Participate?

By sponsoring the books, by coming up with creative ideas for getting donations or for distributing books, by personally distributing the sponsored books, by telling others about the program, etc.

What are the Benefits of Sastra Dana?

Everyone benefits! People in general benefit by getting a chance to read about Krishna, and you directly participate in the preaching mission of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada. Your help increases book distribution, which is the highest welfare work for all humanity.

All BBT publications are made available to you at the printing cost only. Donations to Sastra Dana are fully tax deductible. Receipts are available upon request.

“In South Africa many Indians are purchasing our books and giving to the library. So somebody will read it. So that is not a fault. If I purchase from you and give it, distribute it free to somebody else, that is not wrong thing.”

Wat is dat zult u zich misschien afvragen. Letterlijk betekent het: de Geschriften – aan een ander-schenken. Het is volgens de traditie een van de beste cadeau’s die je kunt weggeven; transcendentale kennis in de vorm van een boek. Vroeger gebeurde dit vooral door getrainde boekverspreiders (predikers), maar tegenwoordig staat dit open voor iedereen en zijn de mensen steeds inventiever in het bedenken van methoden om te kunnen meedoen in de boekverspreiding van Srila Prabhupada’s boeken. Het is de bedoeling dat uiteindelijk iedereen een kans krijgt om in aanraking te komen met de prachtige spirituele kennis zoals die door Srila Prabhupada is doorgegeven.

Hoe worden de boeken verspreid?

Door de boeken in speciale displays te leggen die op strategische (goed verzorgde) plekken worden geplaatst, alwaar mensen er een kunnen meenemen of lezen. Goede plekken zijn bijvoorbeeld: bibliotheken, scholen, hotels, ziekenhuizen, wachtkamers van dokters en tandartsen. Sastra Dana kan ook worden gedaan door boekjes te verspreiden onder bekenden, familieleden, en collega’s.

Hoe u kunt deelnemen?

Heel gemakkelijk, door boekjes te sponsoren, goede plekken te vinden voor een display, door anderen te vertellen over dit programma, door zelf boekjes te verspreiden of gewoon door met goede ideeën te komen.

Wat zijn de voordelen van Sastra Dana?

Iedereen heeft er voordeel van. Door te lezen over Krishna maakt iemand vooruitgang en door boekjes te verspreiden of te sponsoren maak je vooruitgang. Het is de hoogste vorm van menselijke welzijnswerk dat je kan doen. Een heel leven kan veranderen door in aanraking te komen met Srila Prabhupada’s boeken. Keer op keer, blijkt het weer, dat mensen die het serieus oppakken krijgen prachtige realisaties. De boeken worden door de uitgever (Bhaktivedanta Book Trust) tegen kostprijs beschikbaar gesteld opdat de donaties maximaal kunnen worden aangewend voor de boekverspreiding.

Sastra Dana in Nederland en Belgie

Sinds enkele jaren is Rupa Manjari Devi Dasi – gesteund door vele donateurs – met het verspreiden van boeken in bibliotheken en gevangenissen bezig geweest. Op deze succesvolle actie is dit jaar een uitbreiding gekomen. Een programma dat in Amerika al jaren werkt en nu ook geïntroduceerd is in België: Sastra Dana. Rupa Manjari is zeer enthousiast en de eerste resultaten zijn al binnen. In de maanden maart en april zijn er vier displays geplaatst in Radhadesh met daarin de boekjes; Bhakti the Art of Eternal Love (engels) en Tijdloze eenvoud (Nederlands). De displays waren geplaatst in de bakkerij (248 boekjes), het cafetaria (520 boekjes), de receptie van Radhadesh (511 boekjes), en de receptie van het gastenhuis (370 boekjes). Samen met 10 individueel verspreidde boekjes maakt dat er in twee maanden tijd in totaal 1659 boekjes zijn meegenomen door de gasten van Radhadesh.

In totaal is er totnogtoe € 725 aan donaties ontvangen en mocht u ook geïnteresseerd zijn om mee te doen, dan kunt u een donatie maken op rekening nummer 068-2491568-53 (voor België) of (voor Nederland) op giro nummer 2676214 t.n.v. H.M. de Groot-Hartsuyker Graag onder vermelding van: Sastra Dana. We gaan u op de hoogte houden van de scores in de komende maanden.

The following is a quote by His Holiness Kadamba Kanana Swami:

This program of Sastra Dana, to place scriptures in different public libraries and so on, is a very nice program. Many people, in this way, get the opportunity to read Srila Prabhupada’s books, the whole library gets purified, and it is a very powerful way of getting Krishna consciousness into the world…

Srila Prabhupada, of course, had a library party. At that time the library party used to visit the different libraries in different countries, very systematically, trying to get the libraries to purchase Srila Prabhupada’s books. Of course in the more wealthy countries and in the bigger libraries that was possible. But there are many, many smaller libraries that don’t have the budget for purchasing the books. So over the years the program of Sastra Dana was developed, a program where devotees are sponsoring the books and then the books are offered as a gift to the libraries. Then, generally, libraries are very happy to receive them and then, as I said before, people can get a lot of benefit.

Because whoever reads Srila Prabhupada’s books, his life is permanently changed. Just by touching the pages of Srila Prabhupada’s books one’s spiritual life has begun. In this way the potency of Srila Prabhupada’s books is so extraordinary. Srila Prabhupada pointed out that these books are the principle means for changing the entire world and therefore any program that relates to the distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books, as this Sastra Dana does, is very important! So everyone should help. Partake either by going to the libraries or by financially supporting the program.

This is a blog describing the adventures of devotees at Radhadesh (ISKCON Belgium) in their efforts to distribute the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. We have just started the blog, so keep tuned for the next entries!