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| Chanting and dancing in the streets is pure bliss |
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| Explosive drum beats |
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| Great team |
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| They danced with us |
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| Bus drivers must get books too! |
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| Sincere distributor |
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| Young Radhe distributes books bravely |
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| They open these books immediately |
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| Would you like another book? |
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| An invite with the addresses of the temple and an explanation on chanting |
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| She gets a book too |
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| Pretty in a saree |
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| Giving and receiving pure happiness |
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| She dances blissfully along the chanters |
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| Bliss beats! |
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| Vibrant chanting and dancing |
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| Dancing with no inhibitions. |
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| Priceless facial expressions from chanters |
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| The team although many are missing having gone upstairs already to the parking area |
Last Saturday June 9th, 2012 devotees participating the harinam sankirtan on the streets of Johannesburg experienced great bliss. By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and his followers 1000 of his books, 2000 leaflets explaining the chanting of the maha mantra and inviting people to our various centres and 3000 packets of caramelised peanut prasadam were distributed. The loud chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare also resound through the streets for many hours continuously.
"Lord Krishna Himself appears as Lord Caitanya to preach the highest gospel. Varnayati means 'utters' or 'describes.' Lord Caitanya always chants the holy name of Krishna and describes it also, and because He is Krishna Himself, whoever meets Him will automatically chant the holy name of Krishna and later describe it to others. He injects one with transcendental Krishna consciousness, which merges the chanter in transcendental bliss." [Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 11.5.32] The devotees experienced great joy in chanting the holy names and distributing the mercy in its various forms.
One man who was approached with a book declined to take it saying he got them from us on our last harinam. He said he knew our song, "Hare Krishma, Hare Krishma, Rama Rama Hare Hare." And of course he smiled when he told this to me.
One devotee used frequent a pie shop often. He would ask the lady many questions about the way the pies were made - if they were brushed with eggs etc. the lady would make it quite evident that she was annoyed by his questions. But the boy was attached to the pies so he kept going there. Recently he walked passed now having had some strong devotee association and he saw the lady standing outside the shop. She greeted him enthusiastically saying, "You are a Hare Krishna. You follow the four regulative principles. That is why you ask me so many questions about my pies." She went on to mention all four regulative principles and said she read it in a book she received on the recent harinam held in Midrand. (The boy has since learnt the benefits of cooking and offering his food.)
Several pictures of the blissful devotees can be seen in a photographic documentation at the link below together with comments from devotees.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.3852191477606.152561.1662852058&type=3
We pray that our lives may be filled with more of such engagements and that our meagre attempts may bring pleasure to His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his followers. May our attempts bring many a soul closer to life's ultimate goal.
