By Yogindra Dasa
I had an unusual experience once while distributing hard back Bhagavatams on the street outside a post office in a small town in Sweden.
A lady with a mentally- challenged daughter passed by, and the little girl grabbed the book I had tried to distribute to her mother. The girl adamantly refused to return the book to me, inspite of her mother’s repeated attempts. The mother had little choice but to ask me the price, which I quoted at the minimum BBT cost.
A little later, in the distance I spotted a gentleman heading towards me with the book in his hand. Expecting trouble, I politely met him. He was enraged, loudly claiming I had cheated his wife and demanded I return their money. He also complained that, “this book is not even in Swedish.”
(Which it actually was—excluding the Sanskrit).
I calmly reassured the man that I would return the donation. “Please however just look at any page in the book and see if it is in Swedish or not”, I requested. He agreed, and opened the third Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam by chance, to chapter 11 and he read aloud to me verse 31:
“My dear King, just consider what I have said to you, which will act as medicinal treatment upon disease. Control your anger, for anger is the foremost enemy on the path of spiritual realization. I wish you all good fortune for you. Please follow my instructions.”
He then closed the book, put it under his arm and walked away—taking with him the instructions of Svayambhuva Manu as given to Dhruva Maharaja.