“I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE STILL OUT HERE!”
Danakeli Dasi: Today, at the University of South Carolina, a woman approached me partly out of breath & said this.
I had just distributed my second-to-last Bhagavad-gītā for the day, & before I could wonder who would get the last one, she suddenly appeared. She said, “A colleague in my office showed me a copy of that BG you’re holding, which he got a little earlier from a gentleman out here.” [That gentleman was my husband Prithusrava Dasa.]
She has read other versions of BG before but was so impressed w/ the fact that Śrīla Prabhupāda’s has the original Sanskrit plus a commentary that she rushed out to the area where we were distributing in order to catch us before we packed up for the day. She also appreciated there being 48 color plates in the book.
A professor of Oceanography from Ukraine was happy to get a copy of BG & “On Chanting Hare Krishna” from my husband. He said, “This is so popular in my country. I’m happy I’m finally getting your book.”
A girl from Russia took a BG & two other books from me & acknowledged that BG is popular in her country also. She asked, “Why isn’t it popular here?” (Shrug!)
A student who recently got out of the military said he was suffering from depression. He took interest in BG since it was spoken on a battlefield. He happily took the book & a “Chant & Be Happy.”
A Muslim student from Bangladesh approached me, saying, “Oh, I’ve never seen anyone wearing a sari on this campus before!” I told her about Śrīla Prabhupāda being Bengali, & she took an OCHK pamphlet to learn more about our movement.
Recently at Augusta Univ., my husband was entering a building while a student holding a BG was exiting. When he saw the same BG in my husband’s hand, he asked, “Is this yours? I just found it abandoned on a table. BG is my brother’s book of wisdom, & I’ve been wanting to read it!” Just goes to show that the person we may initially distribute a book to maybe the instrument to get it into the hands of another who’s meant to have it.
At Auburn Univ., a student from China (who I was guessing was from Mongolia due to his looks) took a serious interest in BG, saying he’d like to learn about his neighbor India’s beliefs, culture & history. He gave a generous donation & thanked me again & again.