European Sankirtan Newsletter

Dear Prabhus,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

It was an amazing month for Sankirtan in the UK with the temple of Radha-Londonisvara distributing 163 Srimad Bhagawatam sets!!! That is really amazing. Where attention goes energy flows and it is really flowing. We expect that they will break the 200-mark next month. All the other temples in the UK also did exceptionally well. We should all take inspiration from them for the Bhadra campaign and think big for the distribution of Srimad Bhagawatam sets and all of Srila Prabhupada’s books.

In continental Europe there was a big upset caused by the mercy of Sri Nrsinghadeva. The German and French yatras both had a Nrsinghadeva marathon but the Italian yatra didn’t !!!Oh no. So, the German yatra surpassed everyone and came out on top with the French yatra in second followed by the Italian yatra. Another powerful upcoming yatra Hungary edged out their neighbors in the Czech yatra. After them was the Spanish yatra where we just held our first European Sankirtan leaders retreat which went very nicely and we plan to hold it again in the future with greater participation.

All the other yatras remained steady but we all need to give attention to the Bhadra campaign, and I would like to quote from the 1^st canto of the Srimad Bhagawatam about the the Srimad Bhagawatam which should infuse us with the strong desire to distribute it.

SB 1-1-3 verse “O expert and thoughtful men, relish Srimad Bhagawatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Sri Sukadeva Goswami. Therefore, this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated souls.”

Purport “In the previous two slokas it has been definitely proved that the Srimad Bhagawatam is the sublime literature which surpasses all other Vedic scriptures due to its transcendental qualities. It is transcendental to all mundane activities and mundane knowledge.”

Srila Prabhupada has given the world the highest of all the Vedic literatures and wants us to give it to one and all.

SB 1-3-40 verse “This Srimad Bhagawatam is the literary incarnation of God, and it is compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, the incarnation of God. It is meant for the ultimate good of all people, and it is all-successful, all-blissful and all-perfect.”

Purport “Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu declared that Srimad-Bhagawatam is the spotless sound representation of all Vedic knowledge and history. There are selected histories of great devotees who are in direct contact with the Personality of Godhead. Srimad Bhagawatam is the literary incarnation of Lord Sri Krsna and is therefore nondifferent from him. Srimad Bhagawatam should be worshipped as respectfully as we worship the Lord. Thereby we can derive the ultimate blessings of the Lord through its careful and patient study.”

In the form of the Srimad Bhagawatam we are carrying the Lord Himself in person and handing Him to the fortunate conditioned souls. So, let’s make more and more souls fortunate.

SB 1-3-43 “This Bhagawat Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krsna to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purana.”

Purport “…In other words, if men in this age of Kali want to see the real light of life, they must take to these two books only, and their aim of life will be fulfilled. Bhagavad Gita is the preliminary study of Bhagawatam. And Srimad Bhagawatam is the summum bonum of life, Lord Sri Krsna personified. We must therefore accept Srimad Bhagawatam as the direct representation of Lord Krsna. One who can see Srimad Bhagawatam can see also Lord Sri Krsna in person. They are identical.”

Distribution of Srimad Bhagawatam sets kijay!!!

Your servant,

Trai Das

Sankirtan Meeting

For this months online Sankirtan meeting on Monday May 25^that 19:00 CET and 18:00 UK time we will have with us the two big pushers of the Bhadra campaign in the UK, Divya Nam prabhu and Mathura Krpa prabhu, to tell us how they are doing it.

Please don’t miss it!!

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Sankirtan stories

France

Hare Krishna, dear devotees,
Today I was trying to serve my spiritual master by distributing Srila Prabhupada's books. Alain, whom you see in the photo, came up to me with a big smile and said, "Hare Krishna." While chatting with Alain, he told me he was from Cameroon and was in Paris on a business trip. He then explained that he had been chanting Hare Krishna for four years and didn't understand why he couldn't see the Lord around him. I explained that Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati Thakur had explained that it was more important to work hard so that Krishna would see us sooner than to try to see Krishna. He was very pleased with our conversation and took out the Bhagavad Gita and began to glorify Srila Prabhupada as a saint, the likes of which are rarely encountered. He told me he would come to our Paris Lyric Yoga center. I was impressed by the power of Srila Prabhupada's books, which continue to touch the hearts of millions of people around the world today.

18.04 Lyon

Dayal Nitai and I traveled from Paris to Lyon, a city now known as a stronghold of sankirtan, a place where the preaching of the French yatra has taken deep root. There, we met wonderful bhaktas—softly, slowly stepping into the ranks of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's transcendental army.

Book distribution started as soon as we set foot at Lyon Part Dieu station. Earlier that day, I was remembering the eternal spaceman Narada Muni and how he travels across worlds to deliver the conditioned souls. To inspire the bhaktas, I explained to them the literal meaning of the name Narada. Srila Prabhupada says in his Bhaktivedanta purport that: "The very name Nārada suggests that he can deliver the Supreme Lord. Nāra means the 'Supreme Lord,' and da means 'one who can deliver.'" (SB 3.12.23, purport)

In this way, while engaged in book distribution, we meditated on how to give the Supreme Lord to everyone, following in the footsteps of Narada Muni. Matis, Eric's five-year-old son, was happily tagging along with the book distributors, and every time a book was distributed, he would kindly thank the person for their contribution.

We met wonderful people that day—people who were genuinely interested in what we had to say. After a full day of sankirtan, we went to buy bhoga for the next day's program. Along the way, we distributed more books. And Eric met a few people he had been slowly cultivating in devotional life.

19.04 Lyon

15:00 — We arrived a little late at the yoga center. Some guests had already gathered, chatting while waiting for the program to start. I knew Matis loved to sing in kirtana, so I told him to sit next to me. Then we started the kirtana. Matis' singing melted everyone's hearts, and it wasn't long before everyone joined their voices to glorify Krsna.

Some genuine conversation about the problems of life and prasadam distribution left everyone happy and satisfied.

At the end, it was clear that if we just engage people in devotional service and try to give them the Supreme Lord through kirtana, prasadam, and compassionate listening, then their faith will grow naturally.

Haribol!