© 1999 VNN
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EUROPE April 10, 1999 VNN3557 Sankirtana In Turkey BY SHYAMASUNDARA DAS (FROM COM) TURKEY, Apr 10 (VNN) — It is well known that Turkey is a Muslim country and preaching is forbidden there. If anyone tries to preach there, he can be imprisoned for five years according to law. Turkey is also on the edge of war with Syria so police are checking every young man's bag. Therefore distributing books on the street is very dangerous. Only Airavata das and Nararatna das are doing this. Once Nararatna approached one man in the bus. Distributing books on buses presents almost perfect conditions: someone sitting next to you unable to be pulled away by time and no police. Usually Nararatna shows people one small book at a time just to check the initial reaction but this time he showed all the books at once including Bhagavat-gita. The man said that he liked them but then refused to buy. When Nararatna insist the man said: "Do you know who I am?" Then he pulled out his wallet and showed his police ID. He just said, "I'm a policeman", and walked away. Thus Krishna warned Nararatna and reminded him to be careful and not to get slack. Once police caught Nararatna das while he was distributing books. The policeman wanted to take him to the police station, which would mean the whole group of preachers, would be found and arrested. So Nararatna had no choice but to run away as fast as he could. Saved again by Krsna. Another time Airavata das was caught by the police as he was distributing books. These were police patrols with machine guns, therefore there was no question of running. Airavata das gave them some sweets and showed them a picture of Srila Prabhupada. He explained to them that this is a great saintly person who came to this world to save humanity from enmity and wars. The captain was impressed by Srila Prabhupada's picture and asked many questions about his life. When he came to know the principles, which Srila Prabhupada followed and taught his followers, he exclaimed: "O, this man is a saintly person like the prophets of the past." When the captain came to know that Airavata was also following the same principles he became even more impressed. He asked: "How can I meet Srila Prabhupada and hear from him?" Airavata replied that he could hear from Srila Prabhupada right now by reading his books. Srila Prabhupada is still on this planet instructing people through his books. The captain picked up one book and started to read. Then Airavata gave one book to each policemen and left. He felt the presence of Srila Prabhupada and his protection very strongly. Srila Prabhupada is always with his followers, helping them to fulfill his mission and protecting them. Preachers in Turkey to avoid suspicion get a job, e.g. as a teacher. In this way they get money for preaching and make contacts with people. This is a good way to make friends and distribute books. Those who are interested are further invited to the Sunday programs. They are given a Bhagavad-gita discourse and taught how to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra on beads and how to perform kirtan. Every program ends with a delicious Sunday feast. Amala das prepared the Sunday feasts very expertly. Thus people got inspired to become vegetarian. Each Sunday feast was attended by 20-25 people. The Turkish students really loved the kirtan and prasadam. They could not believe that vegetarian food could taste so good and be so filling. The neighborhood was perfect; no one complained about kirtans. Amala das was making contacts with different philosophical and religious societies and distributed books through them. Thus he developed friendly relationships with about 20 societies who liked Srila Prabhupada's books very much. Airavata das was lecturing in different Universities and Colleges throughout Turkey on Philosophy of Religion. It was very difficult to carry Srila Prabhupada's books across the Turkish border. Therefore, last year we organized the Turkish BBT for translating and printing Srila Prabhupada's books in the Turkish language right in Turkey. We have already translated the first Turkish book - Perfection of Yoga right in Turkey. Very soon it will be published right in Istanbul. This year on Srila Prabhupada's marathon devotees distributed almost 600 Turkish books. Anyone who wants to participate or contribute to the Muslim preaching project can contact Airavata das through e-mail: airavata.hks@com.bbt.se. Comment on this Story | Contact VNN regarding this Story
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