The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Receives a Copy of Bhagavad Gita As It Is

This seems to be the season of gifting the Bhagavad Gita. Recently the honourable Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi gifted the Bhagavad Gita to the Emperor of Japan and went on record to say that the world does not have anything higher to receive than this. It was very heartening to hear this. This is perfectly in line with what His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Founder and Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) has taught us. Later the Prime Minister did it again by gifting this great book to the President of USA and in a wonderful event, received the personal copy of Bhagavad Gita As It Is from Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. In our temple, pictures of celebrities receiving Bhagavad Gita are prominently displayed. So when the opportunity arose of its own accord, I felt I should not be left behind.
My grandfather-in-law, Shankarrao Gedam has always been a famous person in Maharashtra, specifically the Vidarbha province of central India. He was famous as a freedom fighter, a Gandhian, served several tenures as a minister in the state government and was well known for his unimpeachable integrity. After living a full life of four score and fifteen years, he peacefully departed from the world on 6th November, 2014. The next day he received cremation with full state honours including having his body wrapped in national flag and accompanied by the sounding of bugles and reporting of rifles. I spent most of the day chanting the Holy Names and praying for bringing him closer to Krishna. In the evening, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Devendra Fadnavis paid us a visit. After the initial courtesies and formalities, I took the opportunity of presenting him with a copy of Bhagavad Gita As It Is by Srila Prabhupada and conveyed him my best wishes for administering in the state in the best possible manner. He received it extremely graciously, looked at several initial pages and pictures from this great book and later left with the book in his hands.

Later in the night, as I thought over the day’s events, my heart filled with gratitude. Srila Prabhupada has given us a lifestyle of giving. He instructed his followers to always think of the best ways to serve. He gave the example that if we see an ant, we should think of ways of serving it; perhaps we could give it a crystal of Mahaprasad sugar or chant the holy names for it. For those who can understand and implement this great philosophy, we can share this important message. It does not matter what situation we are in; we can always share Krishna in some way or another with those around us. Thank you very much, Srila Prabhupada. Thank you for your books which are guiding countless living entities on their way back to the spiritual world. Thank you very much for the precious opportunity of being of some service, no matter whether it is big or small. Thank you very much for giving us the precious opportunity of being instruments of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Avatari Chaitanya Dasa is a disciple of His Holiness Radhanath Swami. He holds M. Tech. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Bombay and is working as a Senior Manager of Development in a multinational software company. He lives with his wife and two children in Pune, India.