In March this year we went on maha harinam and distributed 1000 books, more prasad packs and pamphlets with 70 devotees. [I blogged videos and pic previously of this.] My husband, Nrsimhananda Prabhu was determined to double it for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada. So on the 7th May 2011 he arranged another maha harinam and 100 devotees attended. The target was surpassed by Srila Prabhupada's mercy and the devotees enthusiasm.
More than 2000 of Srila Prabhupada's books in English, 5000 pamphlets, 4500 pkts of caramelized peanut prasadam was distributed during the harinam. Of the 100 devotees that attended, some distributed books, others chanted with intense enthusiasm, some held mantra cards and flags and some carried bags for the book distributors.
The weather was rainy and cloudy as we congregated in the car park and took our sankirtana bags. So the devotees gathered under shelter and chanted on the street below the parking. Some of us started book distribution. The sun came out for the two hours that the harinam lasted and as we returned to the parkade the heavy rain resumed.
The mini bus taxi's stopping off to drop and pick up passengers proved a good spot. Generally here in Johannesburg mini bus taxi drivers are known to be dangerous and short tempered. It is common knowledge that they generally carry guns and don't necessarily obey road rules. However the smiley faces and friendly approaches of the book distributors even earned their attention and many left with books. It was fun to stop a taxi and distribute books to everyone inside even the driver.
The area that we go on harinam is central Johannesburg. It is inundated with many shoppers. Actually there are so many people that we are only able to reach a few of them. If a person rejects a book there are so many more people to approach. This helps build a momentum of one's enthusiasm. 20 years ago I recall we would go to the same spot every Saturday. And when I was a full time book distributor we would do the spot on some weekdays too. One can meet people from all over Africa there. And they all speak fluent English so we distribute books in English and are able to have great conversations with them.
In the week that followed Nrsimhananda Prabhu received calls from people who received the pamphlets that had his mobile number and the addresses of the local temples. People wanted to know more about Krishna consciousness.
A week later one devotee who owns a business in Turfontein, which is far from the harinam spot encountered a gentleman who walked into his business. As the devotee attended to his request the man asked him if he was a Buddhist. The devotee pointed to a picture of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna that he had on his wall and asked the man if he knew Them and if he heard of the Hare Krishna Movement.
The man pulled out a copy of 'Raja Vidya The King of Knowledge' and asked the devotee if he read this book. The devotee asked him where he got that book from and the man said he got it the previous Saturday from a distributor in central Johannesburg. Since then he had been carrying the book everywhere he went and was reading its contents with great interest.
After the harinam and book distribution many devotees spoke of their realizations. One said that he realized being part of Lord Caitanya's sankirtana movement meant that he simply had to do sankirtana. Many others remarked that it was the best day of their life because in participating in sharing the mercy with others they were able to feel so much happiness themselves. Nrsimhananda Prabhu told me that even though he served as temple president for many years in the past and organized many festivals and Ratha Yatra's and even had acquired land and established a temple for the installed Deities this service of organizing maha harinam with book distribution and simultaneous harinam and prasad distribution gave him unparalleled feelings of happiness. Maybe because it involves reaching out to new persons.
After the harinam book distributors were in agreement with Nrsimhananda Prabhu's idea that we should 'double it' for the next maha harinam in August this year. So the target is now 4000 books and 8000 pkts of caramelised peanut prasadam.
We pray that by the mercy of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and all his sincere followers that we may be able to be of continued service to his great mission. Even though our attempts are simply like a spider trying to help the great Hanuman build the bridge to Lanka, with sincerity we pray to continue to be part of the spreading of Srila Prabhupada's teachings.
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