Dallas Professionals in Srila Prabhupada’s Book Marathon

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Dallas Professionals Participate in
Srila Prabhupada’s Book Marathon
by Nrsimhananda dasa (GKG)

Inspired by Srila Prabhupada’s desire to have His books distributed to everyone, members of the Hari Smaran group distributed 1,329 books during the 2001 Srila Prabhupada’s book Marathon. The Hari Smaran group is a group of mostly Indian professionals whose purpose is to preach Krsna Consciousness in North Dallas. Of these 1,329 books, 583 were hardbound Bhagavad Gitas. Only 60 of these 1,329 books were sponsored. All other books were distributed in parking lots on a one-to-one basis. Aside from distributing books, more than 2,500 prasad cookies were distributed.

It was very amazing for me to see these men and women, who hold cozy and stable places in the work force, in either the IT, engineering, or architecture field, go out in the cold and approach strangers to sell them Srila Prabhupada’s books. It was a clear example of how Srila Prabhupada is still uniquely present within our midst, inspiring new devotees to preach on His behalf.

Here are the realizations of some of the members:

"You actually realize that there is nothing you could do but to pray, and Krishna (and Prabhupada) gives the book to the people He wants to give it to. It also depends on how much you want the other person to have the book (rather than the book, then Krishna makes sure that the person gets the book.) So if you are worried, as I was... Don’t. (If I could, you can.)It’s a lot of fun. You also get to associate closely with devotees and get know how to practically use Krishna Consciousness to help many others.. Distribute and be Happy. — Hrishikesh Shinde (IT Professional)

"The only thing that seemed to work is the sincere and constant prayers during the day while distributing the books. It didn't really matter whether I was in devotional clothes or non-devotional clothes. It didn't matter how I spoke, etc. Whenever I could sincerely pray, the divine mercy descended immediately." —Ram Mohan Gupta (IT professional)

"One time there were three guys that came out of the car, and one of my fellow book distributors asked me to run and give them a book. They were really far, and the way I was running it wasn't possible for me to even reach them, but while running towards them, I prayed to Krsna and just thought that they are students and it would be so nice if they read the Gita or some other books about Krsna. And I saw that one of them was still there trying to open the car door. I talked to him about the Gita Jayanti festival and then about the books we have, and then he took the Gita. That was just unbelievable because first of all, at the speed that I was running, there was no chance that I could even reach them, and second of all, during my book distribution, I hardly saw any students buy books. Overall, my experience in book distribution was good, and I love to do that because during book distribution I get the opportunity to pray to Krsna deeply. And I think if I do it regularly, I will become habituated to remembering Krsna before doing any of my activities, either small or big." —Arati Saxena (IT Professional):

"The book distribution was started as our group's effort to say our thanks to Srila Prabhupada. The whole endeavor was to distribute as many of Srila Prabhupada's books as possible. Regardless of how we all were novices, the enthusiasm, hard work, determination, constant prayers to our respective Gurus and Sri Sri Radha Kalachandji, and a group effort paid off. Above all this, distributing prasadam before handing out books really works. We were just like puppets standing in cold weather with no strength, but Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was empowering us to give out His mercy to everyone. nimitta matram bhava savyasacin..." —Vidupriya dasa (Civil Engineer):

"Seeing the enthusiasm of other devotees to distribute books, I was encouraged to go for book distribution. The very thought that Srila Prabhupada and my Guru Maharaja will be pleased made me go. I realized that if you are sincere, Krsna and the disciplic succession help. It is very important to sincerely feel that I want to give Krsna consciousness to everyone because it is such a wonderful thing based on making one’s human life successful without wasting any valuable time. The days we thought that we had not done well were the most successful. I must say that prasadam helps in making the person favorable toward buying books. When someone was arrogant, ignored us, or challenged us, in my heart I would thank Srila Prabhupada and Krsna for bringing me to Krsna consciousness. When I was speaking to various kinds of people, it made me practically feel that I am not an Indian and they are not Americans or Muslims, but we are children of God." —Madhava Mangala Devi Dasi (Domestic Engineer)