Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Somehow, by the will of Providence, I ended up with a few cases of these this summer during our 7-week music festival tour. I was a little hesitant to distribute them at first, assuming that modern Americans may not like such a far out book especially with the “G-word” plainly printed on the cover but I decided to give it a shot anyways.
“Hey guys! Check it out, it’s Krishna’s pastimes!!” I handed the books to groups of kids and explained how this book is all about Krishna. “He’s the hero. This is Him. He goes on amazing quests and adventures, kills evil warriors, wizards and dragons (Aghasura), and enchants all the residents in the magical land of Vrindavan.”
“It’s like Treasure Island on steroids.” I’d show them as many pictures as possible and tell them that it blows Lord of the Rings out of the water: “This is the greatest epic of all time.” Paramesvara Prabhu suggested that I tell them, “Nothing gives the soul more ecstasy than hearing the pastimes of Krishna.” They liked that a lot.
What was their response? The more that these kids would drink in the artwork, the more they became enchanted. I would sometimes tell them that they can actually enter into these spiritual pastimes and eternally have fun with Krishna. They’d never get old, never get sick, and they could just play all day long with Krishna and the cowherd boys . . . Kind of like Peter Pan.
I remember some kids saying, “Oh hell yeah! Krishna!”
After purchasing a copy, I told some that by the time they finished reading the book, they would certainly be a fan of Krishna. Some would respond, ”I’m already a fan! Thanks!”
I approached one car as they pulled in to park and passed in 4 different books to the various passengers. One passenger held a Krishna Book and was looking as it as I briefly presented the literature. Then I asked for a donation, but they could only scrape together a little bit. I asked them to choose just one book to share. Immediately the girl with the Krishna Book excitedly said, “I want THIS book. I LOVE this book. Ohhhh… mmmm….” She closed her eyes and embraced the book like a newborn baby. She just caressed it and didn’t even look up at me after that. It looked like she entered into some sort of trance. So I thanked them and went on to the next car.
To other kids, I would show and tell them about the painting of Brahma and the devatas. I explained how the demigods and angels assembled 5,000 years ago in the heavenly realms and begged the Supreme Lord to incarnate. So God descended, and His pastimes are recorded in this ancient book. The pastimes are real, and by studying them with attention, you can develop pure love of God, free from all tinges of materialism. I didn’t get a single bad reaction to this explanation. Within 3 or 4 weeks I had distributed 370 Krishna books.
I am still distributing Krishna Books, and not just to teenagers, but to ordinary people that I meet at the park and on the street. I recommend that they make a daily routine of chanting the mantra mentioned in the beginning by George Harrison of The Beatles, accompanied by reading Krishna Book each night before bed (with a little warm milk and cookies, of course).
Krishna Kumar Dasa is associated with the ISKCON center in San Diego, California, USA.