By Vasudeva Datta das
Dear Prabhus,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Recently we were doing sankirtan in my hometown in Slovenia. Before going there I had to go through a strenuous purification of my mind. And my false ego was flipping out: “What will happen when you will meet this relative and that professor or exgirlfriend?! How will all these people react when they see you in this strange dress selling books?!
I preached to myself that this was all nonsense and the mental platform. Actually, I was forced to go much deeper and ask, “Who am I? What I am doing?” I got a nice realization that I am not really spiritually advanced. But still I was praying to Guru and the Panca-tattva like anything to please remove this bodily concept of life.
Then I surrendered and “jumped into the ocean,” going directly into the center of my “sweet hometown.” By the mercy of Guru and Krishna, all the people were very nice. I went door to door. Many people immediately recognized me and invited me in; they usually took a book or two as “old friends.” One heavy professor from my high school was very surprised when he opened the door. I told him, “Dear sir, this is for you. To repay you because I was so naughty in high school.” The professor immediately went for lakshmi and took the book. He was so moved that he shook my hand and thanked me. Actually, most of my exprofessors took Bhagavad-gitas; many of then thought that I came just to see them.
At first I was afraid of how people who knew me would react, but soon I saw that this was an advantage in book distribution. After a while the Lord gave me even more mercy and courage, and I started saying a new mantra to all the people who I didn’t know: “Are you from this town?”
“Yes”
“Then you must know my mother Ida, who works at the government office.”
(Everyone knows my mother.)
Usually this would melt their hearts. They would remember how I was small, holding my mother by the hand. When they would be most excited I would just smile and give them a book. How could they refuse!?
In this way I did sankirtan for a full week in my hometown. These were some of the most blissful days in my sankirtan career. Many people told me to please visit them again and spend a little more time with them. So I am planning to bring them prasadam, incense, and more books.
Doing sankirtan in my hometown left a great impression on my heart. I feel that Guru and Krishna blessed me to more deeply identify myself as a devotee of Krishna. Since that time I have worn only dhoti and kurta, even to visit my parents’ home. And they accept me as a devotee.
Back home, back to Godhead (our real home) ki jaya!
Sankirtan Yajna ki jaya!
Vasudeva Datta das, TSKP Slovenia
My mother, who lived in Rancho Palos Verdes in the LA area, would never let me in the house with dhoti and kurta. I would always have to change in the taxi kindly sent by Virabahu Prabhu, the driver Rupa Raghunatha being his disciple. I don’t mind, but what will the neighbors think? was always her excuse.
Well three years ago I came for her funeral as she left her body before I could get back from India. Now she was gone so I wore my dhoti and kurta. When I got to the funeral home again by Virabahu’s grace, I was early as by Krishna’s mercy the flight had come in an hour early. No one was there except my brother who asked me if I wanted to see mom. He said he wasn’t sure, but thought it was ok as they hadn’t embalmed her as her last desire was to be cremated and have her ashes sprinkled in the Pacific Ocean. She had been in the Navy and lived most of life on the Pacific Coast.
I was shocked to hear she wanted to be cremated, as she was a Catholic. Anyway, he opened the casket and beyond my wildest dreams, my mom was lying there wearing a harer nama chadar! Just then my sister Sue arrived and she had saved a garland from the Radha Krishna Deities of LA in her refrigerator. Sue explained that all the brothers and sisters were there except me. These things had been brought by Nirantara Prabhu from LA temple who had driven an hour out of his way to deliver them, for which I’m eternally indebted to him. Sue said these things represented your presence so we put the Krishna shawl on her and sprinkled her with Ganga water and hung the garland above her head. Thus my mother left this world embraced by the Holy Name!
I asked all my brothers and sisters if I could have some portion of the ashes to be put into a sacred river Yamuna where I lived, and they all agreed. Then later while I was seeing off Mark, George, who lived next door and was 70+, pulled out his garage to go somewhere. Then seeing me standing there in a dhoti and kurta, he shoved into reverse and came up to me, rolled down his window, and said that I looked like I was from India. Mark explained that I was the eldest son of our mother. Then he said he’d like to come back and talk to me as during the war, their ship had docked in Bombay. India was a fascinating place and I’m sorry I never got back there.
The next day George came over. When their battleship had docked in Bombay, they had given them two sheets of paper telling them how to behave. After what must be 60 years, he still had thoses papers and made photocopies of them! They had the ususal things about not arguing with the ricksaw walas. Look here, George said, they told us not to look at the women or talk to them as it’s considered an insult.
We talked for a while and then he excused himself. Then suddenly turned and came back and said to me, you probably need this over there and, to my surprise, put $100 bill in my hand. Later he told me his doctor was from India, by her name I could understand South India. He again asked what was that place you stay and I can’t remember, Vanderbee? Vrindavan, I corrected. He would even call me up and tell me, hey there’s an Indian movie on channel 11. Before I left he again gave me another $100 bill. Now I know what my mom’s neighbors think about me wearing a dhoti and kurta!
I made a feast for the Brijbasis at Vrinda Kunda with George’s donation. A couple of month’s later, my brother Matt emailed me that George had passed on. Just see by wearing my dhoti, George was able to do some devotional service just at the end of his life.
Of course the most amazing thing was putting my mom’s ashes in the Yamuna. That was beyond even the wildest of my wildest dreams. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada, by whose mercy all our relatives are being benefited by the Sankirtan Movement of Lord Chaitanya!
My father stomped, screemed and went in total outrage when I joined Hare Krishna almost 20 years ago,but in 1997 he came to Mayapur to visit me and spend here 2 weeks.
I was worried how to keep him here, he is quite wild man…
But he was so impressed and heart-melted by devotees – he danced in evening kirtan jumping and dancing with devotees, he swam in Ganga every day with breaks for Bhagavad Gita readings, he finished reading BG from cover to cover while in Mayapur, he eat Radha-Madhava maha-prasad for lunch. He went home with deity of Gopal, which he picked up in outside of Main Gate shops, he put Him on top of TV in the house, back in Moscow, and still 10 years later he is “talking” to Krishna, telling him how things are going and even offers Him a glass of water.
After that trip to Mayapur his scientific activities as well as business went way up. Recently I remind him of that and said that he should come to Mayapur again for God’s mercy and he disided to come in October (Kartik).
Also, preaching to some karmi photographers on the web I can see more and more that Krishna is all atractive and we don’t need to try to control in which way people should be attracted to Him, our business just to try to be nice devotees ourselves and present Krishna what way we can, basicaly just to make association available for people to come in contact with Krishna and He will take care of attracting them.