![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/cz8nEPs.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Vraja Vihari Prabhu:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the fall of 1984, and our party had been distributing books at the State Fairgrounds in Tampa, Florida, all day. We parked our van in a Days Inn parking lot for the night. Our party of five brahmacaris was fast asleep in the van when we heard aloud voice over a megaphone: \u2018All right in there! Come out slowly with your hands raised!\u2019 I looked out the window and was shocked to see the van surrounded by twelve police cars and about thirty officers with their guns drawn!<\/p>\n
\u201cWe emerged from the van squinting from the bright flashlights burning our eyes. The officers began to frisk each one of us, though we were dressed only in gamshas.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018What are you doing here?\u2019 the officer in charge demanded.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018We\u2019re distributing love of God in the form of books,\u2019 I explained.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Prove it!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI opened the van doors, thinking perhaps this was all a dream. I reached into one of the boxes, pulled out a Bhagavad-gita, and handed it to the officer in charge. He intently inspected the book, then me, then the book again, until finally he broke the silence, declaring, \u2018All glories to Srila Prabhupada!\u2019 I was flabbergasted, as were his gun-toting subordinates and all my vanmates. At this point I was sure I was dreaming!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe officer in charge then cheerfully explained: \u2018I used to go to the University of Florida and regularly ate the Krishna Lunch on campus. You practically put me through college. I even stayed two days at the temple!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cTurning to his associates, he declared, \u2018These are great books, and you should all buy one.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cOn his order the officers began reaching for their wallets. About 80% of them took books. We made almost $300!<\/p>\n
\u201cOur new friend then apologized for disrupting our sleep. He explained that earlier that night a gun store had been robbed, and the description of the getaway vehicle exactly matched our van.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think any of us slept again that night. It was certainly a most bizarre experience we went through. But thanks to prasadam distribution, it turned into a great sankirtana success story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the summer of 1991 we went to Toronto to do book distribution. We stayed at the temple and did a marathon for almost a month in downtown Toronto on Yonge Street, a great spot for sankirtana in the summer. After the marathon we were on our way back into the US near Buffalo when we got stopped at the border by the US officials. An officer demanded to see the contents of our van. We opened the back and he started poking around inside. When he came upon a shelf that held some of the books we would use for personal reading, he pulled out a Nectar of Devotion and shouted to the other border officials, \u2018Hey guys, come over here! This is the Nectar of Devotion!\u2019 The way he said this, they must have thought he\u2019d found the greatest treasure on earth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe customs agent then told us he used to go to the temple in Buffalo in 1969 and had once met Srila Prabhupada there and heard him give a lecture. He asked if he could make a donation for the Nectar of Devotion and gave us $50. He told us he often would tell his colleagues about the time he spent with the Krishnas and Srila Prabhupada.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the fall of 1984, and our party had been distributing books at the State Fairgrounds in Tampa, Florida, all day. We parked our van in a Days Inn parking lot for the night. Our party of five brahmacaris was fast asleep in the van when we heard aloud voice over a megaphone: \u2018All right in there! Come out slowly with your hands raised!\u2019 I looked out the window and was shocked to see the van surrounded by twelve police cars and about thirty officers with their guns drawn!<\/p>\n
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