Kadamba Kanana Swami, Ratha Yatra Speech,
South Africa, September 2008
“Once one of our book distributors in Holland was distributing books in the offices of a business. The authorities didn’t like it, and called the police. So the devotee ran into the street with his books. As the police chased him, he turned the corner into one street—but saw that it was a dead end! He didn’t know what to do. Then he saw a little alley and ran into it. It was just a back ally, with no windows, only walls—but in one wall was a door. He tried the knob and it was unlocked, so he went inside.
“He began walking along a corridor, and soon he saw a light at the end of it. He kept walking toward the light... straight onto a stage! There was loud applause. A presenter wielding a microphone said, ‘Aha! Here is the man with the prizes. Welcome. We were waiting for you.’ And he took the box of books and had them distributed to everyone in the hall. Afterward the man said, ‘All right, what is the bill?’ The devotee wrote up a nice fat bill and the man paid it.
“The event turned out to be a butchers’ conference! Such is the munificence of Lord Caitanya’s movement. When Lord Caitanya takes control, anything can happen. When devotees go out and distribute books, the books themselves find people. It’s amazing what can happen if you get into that mood: ‘Let the book find someone.’ But what kind of people the books will find—that you never know.”
