An unexpected request from a professor

My recent week was such a hard week. I was at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville one day and two days before that at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. People were so much humiliating me. These were my worst days on a campus. I became so tired.

For the first time in my life, I wrapped it up and finished one day by 1 p. m. I experienced the worst day in my book distribution career. I was extremely broken-hearted and extremely devastated. The total collection was only 261 dollars and the total amount of books distributed was less than fifty.

The next day I went to the University of South Florida in Tampa. It was raining the whole day. The next school was four hours away – Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. I was asking myself whether it was worth driving four hours. I somehow took the courage to drive four hours.

Once again it was a slow start. Suddenly from nowhere, in the afternoon I received a message from His Holiness Romapada Swami. He sent a short video clip of Srila Prabhupada. After watching it, I felt emotionally surcharged. I started crying. Then I started praying very intensely: “Srila Prabhupada, today a Srimad Bhagvatam set should get distributed.” I prayed very fervently, “Lord Krishna, for the sake of Srila Prabhupada, please send someone to take the Srimad Bhagavatam.”

Unexpectedly, a man came to my table. He’s a professor. He had a small book, the “Introduction to Bhagavad Gita” in his hand. He was eagerly searching for our table. He told me that he found the book on a street. Apparently, a student threw it down after receiving it from our table.

With great surprise and amazement on his face, he asked me, “Are you Hare Krishna? Can you please give me the second canto of Srimad Bhagvatam?”

I asked him, “Why don’t you take whole set? In the future, you may need it.”

He said, “All right. I will take it.”

I told him that it was a very special time for us, because the day before was the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance. He looked at me deeply, gazing into my eyes.

He asked me, “Do you have the Caitanya-caritamrta?”

I told him yes, that he can also get that. WHY NOT?

This is the mystery of Srila Prabhupada’s and Lord Krishna’s mercy. I prayed very fervently and literally made a SOLID DEMAND: “Lord Krishna, if you care for Srila Prabhupada then send someone to ask for a Srimad Bhagvatam set.” Well, Lord Krishna sent a person who want the Bhagvatam and Sri Caitanya-caritamrita. It was the easiest distribution I ever encountered. I never even approached the person, but he came willingly to the table to get the books.

Paramesvara Dasa