European Sankirtan Newsletter

Dear prabhus,

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

The month of July went well with a number of yatras increasing from the previous month. Of course, the UK is way out in front of everyone, but this month Italy increased by 4000 points and came close and have promised that one day they will overcome them.

Different countries took advantage of the warm weather to increase their presence on book distribution. For example, Czech Republic overcame Germany because they were all on Padayatra as was Slovenia who did much better than usual. I remember when I was a new devotee that Srila Prabhupada said to leave one devotee in the temple and everyone else out on Harinam and book distribution!! Still, France edged out all of them by their focus on everyone out on Harinam and book distribution led by the inspiring example of Janananda Maharaja. Hungary,Spain and all the other countries maintained a steady distribution of books. Switzerland, once a SK giant is coming up.

One big surprise was Lithuania with 16 SB sets and 1382 points!! Then I spoke to Navina Nirada prabhu, and he told me that he was there and distributed those sets at the program at the temple. The potential is there everywhere we just need empowered SK devotees who have a big vision and are bold. Just as last month when Vaisesika prabhu was in Bulgaria and brought them immediately to another level.

This month I would like to quote from the Krsna book chapter 80.

“I therefore wish to hear about other pastimes of His which you may not have described as yet. My dear master, the conditioned souls within this material world are frustrated by searching out the pleasure of happiness derived from sense gratification. Such desires for material enjoyment are always piercing the hearts of conditioned souls. But I am actually experiencing how the transcendental topics of Lord Krsna’s pastimes can relieve one from being affected by such material activities of sense gratification. I think that no intelligent person can reject this method of hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Lord again and again; simply by hearing, one can remain always steeped in transcendental pleasure. Thus, one will not be attracted by material sense gratification.”

So, our distributing books and opening temples is all to give the conditioned souls an opportunity to hear about Krsna from Srila Prabhupada’s books and experience transcendental pleasure and thus give up material so-called pleasure.

There is only a month left for the Bhadra campaign so we should all give our full attention to the distribution of Srimad Bhagawatam sets and any yatra that hasn’t sent in a pledge for the campaign please send it NOW!!

This is from the Nectar of Devotion “In the Srimad Bhagawatam, 12th canto 13th chapter 15th verse, it is stated “Srimad Bhagawatam is the essence of all Vedanta philosophy. Any person who has become attached in some way or other to the reading of Srimad Bhagawatam cannot have any taste for reading any other literature. “In other words, a person who has relished the transcendental bliss of Srimad Bhagawatam cannot be satisfied with mundane writings.” So, let’s give the opportunity to everyone to relish the transcendental bliss of reading the Srimad Bhagawatam and so end their attachment to material life with its ocean of suffering.

Your servant,

Trai Das

Sankirtan Meeting

Remember that September 01 at 19:00 CET and 18:00 UK time we have the great fortune to have with us His Grace Madhusevita Prabhu, GBC and BBT Trustee.

Don't miss out and invite as many devotees as possible to participate.

Sankirtan Scores Continental Europe

Sankirtan Scores United Kingdom

Sankirtan Charts

Sankirtan stories

Czech Republic

Although I am in no way qualified to do this, I will try to share the drops of nectar I experience when distributing books – to celebrate the greatness of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is always personally present while performing sankirtana‑yajna, even though we may not be able to perceive Him there. Wherever Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is present, His associates, weapons, dhama and all other paraphernalia are also there. The week I would like to share started in Holešov. By the grace of Krishna, I managed to give away eleven books that day. That's less than I had planned. At least 15, that was my meditation. That was my prayer and concentration. Accepting the bitter pill of defeat, I left Holešov and the next day I went to Zlín. "Krsna, please use me as Your instrument." There I "pushed" just 14 books… "Almost there but not quite. Dear Lord, please use me as your instrument tomorrow.” On Wednesday I planned to go to Slavkov near Brno. However, about two years before I was in Rousínov (near Slavkov) in the library. The librarian was very friendly, and she invited me to come by in March and show her some books – maybe she would take some. Without much expectation, I showed her the entire set of Srimad Bhagavatam. I had it ready in my car outside the library and went empty‑handed, just to ask. But renovations were going on there. The librarian immediately recognized me and politely asked me to drop by in October (six months later). By then the renovations should be done. So, I left for Slavkov with the unfinished work. Because of the stop in Rousínov, I started distributing later. "Dear Lord, please help me." The pace in Slavkov was similar to the one in Holešov and Zlín. Every book went out with great effort. From time to time, someone would take interest, donate nicely, and take more books. One such person was a mother with a pram. She said she knew Gopal and had just watched his video that morning. She asked me if I knew him. I answered in the affirmative and said that he lived not far from our farm, in Morkovice. Then we talked about our farm, and I invited her and her family to visit us. She said they would be happy to come - her husband in particular would be very excited. Then we parted. I continued to distribute. Little by little, book by book, my daily transcendental account increased. It was 3:30 pm, I had about half an hour left before going back home. I distributed about 10 books by then. "I'm glad I have found you! At last, I have caught up with you," I heard from behind. I turned around and saw a man, he looked about 35 years old. We started talking and it turned out he was the husband of the friendly mom I met earlier. He was asking questions about Krsna, about the farm, about everything… He was very happy to meet me. Of course, I was also very happy to meet such a nice person. He said he would like to give a donation to our farm, and he pulled out the biggest Czech banknote, 5000 crowns. I immediately remembered the Srimad Bhagavatam set that was waiting in the car since my morning visit to Rousinov. I described Bhagavatam to him a little and encouraged him to come with me to the car, so that I could show him the whole thing. So, we went, and he got inspired to take it. He donated more lakshmi and together we took all the books to his house. His wife and children were there already. We talked a little more, and I gave him a few more books. Then I drove home to get ready for the next distribution day. I was feeling very enlivened. Slavkov surprised me with 35 books, including the Srimad Bhagavatam set. On Thursday I tried to get "my" fifteen books in Olomouc, I did my best. On Friday the plan was to go to Vsetin. When I was in Zlín on Tuesday, an elderly gentleman, a book publisher, invited me to a meeting with people, who are interested in spirituality – also India among other things. The nice gentleman took a copy of Bhagavad‑Gita. I was thinking that on the way from Vsetin I could stop by for the meeting and try to distribute another Srimad Bhagavatam. So, I put another set in Czech into my car and just in case, I put one in English as well. In Vsetin I tried to meditate on at least 15 books, but Wednesday's Srimad Bhagavatam made my mind very relaxed. When it was around 3 o'clock I was thinking of heading towards Zlín, although I originally wanted to distribute until 4 o'clock, but I figured that I had already distributed enough for that week, so if I left earlier, it would not be too bad. But still I stayed - out of sense of duty and out of gratitude to Krsna. Very soon after I met a young lady. She knew about ISKCON already. She was looking for the third part of the tenth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. I had it in my car. She came with me. When we were at the car, I showed her the whole set in English – if she got it she would have the complete Srimad Bhagavatam up to the 12th part in her home. Since she had been living in England for about 12 years, she did not hesitate long and bought the whole English Bhagavatam. That marked the end of my distribution for the day, and I went to Zlin. While looking for the bar where the meeting took place, I saw one with the same name, but they didn't want me there, they had a private birthday party there. So, there I failed, but still that week was a success, as Kṛṣṇa saw my efforts and showered His mercy on me. These small miracles happen only by the will and mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His empowered devotees.Hare Krsna

Netherlands

This gentleman had just been out of rehab for two weeks and felt like he had finally found inner peace after so long. He was pleasantly surprised to see the Harinaam and made a generous donation for the booklet "Path to Perfection," saying, "I really want this one" when he was given the choice. May he walk the path of pure Krishna consciousness with confidence and determination.

Ananda Vrindavan devi dasi

Rotterdam, The Netherland

Sunday 12th July 2025

Norway

A demon touches the Bhagavatam.

Some time back I met a demon on the street. I was in a small town on the West coast of Norway. There were few people around. I felt like a vacuum cleaner, going to every person I saw. So, I met this person standing outside a shop. He looked peaceful, but somewhat absent minded. So, I approached him, introduced myself and put a Bhagavatam in his hands. It was Bhagavatam fourth canto, part three with a picture of Prithu Maharaja being glorified by all the citizens on the cover. The man took the book in his hands and with the same absentminded face looked at the cover. Then something happened. He obviously suddenly realized what he was looking at. He started shaking his hands and the book, threw it on the ground and yelled at me from the top of his voice. I was very surprised to see his reaction as it came totally unexpected. I was not afraid, so I just bent down to pick up the book, but then he hit it hard with his shoe, so it flew far away. I just stood whatching. He continued to scream loud about demons and Jesus is Lord and I do not know what. He seemed very surprised himself of his own reaction. He was just so suddenly deeply provoked by the book. Somewhat embarrassed he continued screaming and just went around the corner and disappeared.

Your servant

Mahabhavi das

Slovenia

The Slovenian Pada Yatra reached the 24th edition this year. During the course of the time, the project evolved from a traditional Pada Yatra program with a bullock cart to a more practical version. The essence of the program is not walking (and liberating many trees) but distributing Krishna consciousness to as many living entities in human form as possible. The program has evolved into a program based on harinam sankirtan with the main purpose to distribute the holy name, prasadam and, to have a lasting effect, Srila Prabhupada's books. This year, the devotees visited the bigger cities of Slovenia (10.000 inhabitants is a "big" city in Slovenia), Trieste (Italy) and also joined the Zagreb Ratha Yatra. Book distributors from Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia joined their forces to distribute 601 maha big books and a total of 2784 books.

Spain

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam on the way to the airport

Today, just as I was about to leave the temple, someone unexpectedly appeared at the entrance. A young man, perhaps in his thirties—Jaime. He was looking into the temple so intently that I couldn't ignore him, so I called out to him. I said, “I was just about to close the temple and leave for the airport...” Jaime had come from Valencia just to take prasadam. He had already been to the temple in Madrid and had practiced bhakti-yoga for a while. I didn't want to disappoint him—he had come from so far away, and with good reason. I gave him a tour of the temple, and we had a conversation. The more I asked him, the more I realized that he checked all the boxes of a person ready to receive transcendental knowledge. He likes to read Prabhupada's books. Check. He was humble and tried to chant daily. Check.

He was intelligent and had studied law. Check. He was a natural preacher and saw through the madness of the material world. Check and check. The more we talked, the more enthusiastic I felt. Finally, I showed him what I had in mind and said, “I'm very happy to show you these books (SB set) because people don't realize what they are.” Jaime replied, “No, they don't.” We agreed. They are not ordinary books. They are our way back home, back to Godhead. Then, in one fell swoop, I said, “Hey, why don't you take them?” And Jaime said, “Yes!” In fact, he had already bought many of Prabhupada's books. Once, in Madrid, he asked for a set of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but they only had the Second Canto. So, this moment was the conclusion of that search. He told me that his friend Alejandro introduced him to Krishna consciousness. Then, casually, he added: “Alejandro was trained by Yadu.” I looked at him and repeated in disbelief: “Yadu? Do you mean Yadunandana Swami Maharaj, my spiritual master?” Jaime nodded. He further explained that Alejandro was doing great preaching in North Korea. He was like the first representative of bhakti-yoga in North Korea under the guidance of Yadunandana Swami Maharaj. You can imagine how ecstatic I felt to hear that. The idea of preaching in countries like North Korea—derailed by authoritarian regimes antagonistic to the pursuit of spiritual knowledge—filled me with enthusiasm and reminded me of how Krishna consciousness began in Russia. Imagine what the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam could do in North Korea. What it could do in the world. Therefore, please, let us continue with all our hearts to distribute this transcendental literature. And he took me to the airport.

Hare Krishna.

Rasananda Dasa - Alicante

United Kingdom

Last night I met Mattia and Benedetta in Soho square after harinam - they were so intrigued about the books with amazing questions, so came into the temple for 30 minutes of kirtan - today they came for rathayatra, and now they are fired up for studio108 on Wednesday! 🙏

Sunil Prabhu picked up the SB set today. He's super excited about spirituality! We had a great chat about what he loves to do and his family. He's got a big dream to raise his kid in a way that's one-of-a-kind and do it perfectly. I told him, "You're in the perfect spot to learn some amazing spiritual stuff!" Then, I introduced him to the Bhagavatam set, saying, "This set is like a happiness booster for your life – it fills the gaps in your life with spiritual joy." I went through each book in the set with him, and he was totally pumped! He believes this knowledge is gonna change their life completely. He said, "Kids copy what we do, so I'm gonna read these books every day and I teach the knowledge to him and I encourage him to go through this knowledge." And he's super keen to welcome Krishna into his home and visit the temple all the time.

Hare krishna 🙏