By Sutapa Das
Srila Prabhupada emphasized distribution of his books and proclaimed that even if 1 percent of the whole world’s population become devotees of Krishna, His mission is accomplished. As Srila Prabhupada rightly mentioned, these books are like time bombs, they show their effect when the right time comes.
My ambition is to spread these books far and wide all over the world so that everyone shall read at least one of our books and that will change his life. If only 1% become devotees, that will change the whole world.
— Correspondence, Tokyo, 2/5/1972
Puttur is a place 50 km away from Mangalore, Karnataka. 20 years ago, one person (now Bhakta Prashanth at ISKCON Mangalore) from Puttur received one book written by Srila Prabhupada from His Grace Madhava Prabhu of ISKCON Mangalore. He was so inspired by the book and the spiritual guidance given by Madhav prabhu that he started preaching in his small town. Over the years that followed, more than 1000 copies of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita As It Is were distributed there.
Recently, ISKCON Mangalore Sri Jagannath Mandir organized a Bhagavad Gita contest across more than 15 schools in Puttur, as an effort to attract the school children and their parents towards devotional service. Around 800 students took part in the contest, and the winners were given awards on Feburary 14th 2016. The program was attended by more than 600 students accompanied by their parents and friends. The chief guest, Sri Radha Krishna Bhakta, one of the many local leaders who appreciate the event, blessed all the children with a bright future. His Grace Srirama Prabhu (President, ISKCON Mangalore) reinforced the message of Krishna Consciousness to the audience in a brief talk. Several parents expressed their desire to attend spiritual programs on a weekly basis.
HG Smitha Krishna Prabhu gave the Vote of Thanks and encouraged all the students to read Bhagavad Gita As It Is everyday and try to apply the knowledge in their lives. A special thanks to His Grace Suvarana Gaura Prabhu and Bhakta Vishal Prabhu for playing key role in Puttur preaching and doing all the ground work for making this mission of Prabhupada a great success in Puttur.
Following the “1 percent” instruction of Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON Mangalore is making efforts to spread the Holy Name and transcendental knowledge in his books around Mangalore. ISKCON Mangalore book distribution scores doubled compared to last year, reaching 2500 big books in December Marathon 2015.
For more photos: https://www.facebook.com/iyf.jagannathmandirmangalore/media_set?set=a.557917974365192.100004409826785&type=3
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Sutapa Das
Communication Incharge
ISKCON Mangalore