The Story of a “Non-Book Distributor” Book Distributor

Posted on August 15, 2011 by admin-vasanti 1 Comment

Written by Kundalata dasi

Riding around the city of Los Angeles on a motorcycle, wearing cargo pants and boots, Sivananda Sena dasa does not present the image of a typical book distributor.  With a protective helmet covering the sikha on the back of his head and a jacket concealing the three strands of tulasi beads around his neck, one might not even recognize him to be a devotee.  And yet he is unquestionably both, for he has been practicing Krsna-consciousness for over thirty years and distributing the books of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva throughout much of that time. 

Sivananda Prabhu refuses to call himself a book distributor because he works for a living and does not engage in full-time book distribution in the manner of devotees who spend eight or more hours a day handing books to people on the streets, as he himself used to do in the 1980s and 1990s.  Today he works full-time as a courier, delivering documents and packages to individuals throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and part-time as a martial arts instructor.

Although he humbly eschews the label, Sivananda Prabhu has been successful in distributing thousands of Srila Gurudeva’s books throughout the past decade.  Ironically, the work that prevents him from performing full-time traditional book distribution has opened up unique avenues to interact with the public in a natural and unobtrusive way. 

During the course of his typical work day, Sivananda Prabhu may be required to traverse a hundred miles or more of the streets and freeways of Los Angeles, causing him to come in contact with literally thousands of people.  When he finds himself stopped in traffic—a typical occurrence in LA—he looks carefully at the people around him for clues into their potential receptivity to the philosophy of Krsna-consciousness.  For example, a pro-vegetarian or animal rights bumper sticker lets him know that a person is compassionate, an “om” bumper sticker or rudraksha beads hanging from the rear-view mirror informs him that an individual is inclined toward spirituality, and of course a person chanting on their japa beads while driving or waiting for the bus has already been introduced to the process of bhakti-yoga.  These are the sorts of people he approaches with a book.  His strategy is to strike up a friendly conversation based on particular characteristics he has observed in a person and then gently offer him a book.  If the conversation is started while waiting in traffic, it might occur over the course of several red light stops and may even be continued at a mutual detour of their vehicles to the side of the road. 

Sivananda Prabhu likes to follow up with the people who have received books from him because he has noticed that it is one thing to make someone take a book, but another thing entirely to make him actually read it.  In his work as a courier, he makes deliveries to the same company  at varying intervals of time, so whenever he goes back to a place where he has given someone a book, he makes sure to meet with that individual to check his progress and ask whether he has any questions on the reading. 

He believes that to really engage a newcomer to Krsna-consciousness, a friendly relationship is necessary.  Sometimes he develops a relationship with a person over several months before offering him a book.  After years of working as a courier, he has created friendships with sincere people all over the city, both at his delivery stops and also at other locations he frequents during his lunch hours, such as the coffee shops where he stops to get water or milk.      

Sivananda Prabhu’s philosophy of book distribution stems from his understanding of Srila Gurudeva’s mood of preaching.  He vividly recalls a harikatha festival in Hawaii during the early 2000s in which Srila Gurudeva described the proper method of preaching and book distribution.  Sivananda Prabhu wants to follow Srila Gurudeva’s instruction to avoid distributing books in a superficial and mechanical fashion.  He wants to give the books in a way that will help people truly realize the jewel of knowledge they have received and transform their lives into one of surrender to Sri Guru and Krsna.  He remembers Srila Gurudeva stating that he will be pleased if his disciple tries to distribute one book a day or even one book a week, and this has been Sivananda Prabhu’s humble endeavor for the past decade or so.  Some days he manages to distribute one or more books, but some days he cannot, which only makes him more determined to try harder the next day.

In line with the spirit of friendship that he tries to cultivate, Sivananda Prabhu offers books to people mostly as gifts.  The recipients of these wonderful gifts are genuinely appreciative and sometimes offer donations in return.  Sivananda Prabhu and his wife Krsnamayi dasi consider it their responsibility as householders to donate a portion of their income to the service of Guru and Krsna, and have sponsored the books they distribute for many years. 

There are dedicated householder devotees all around the world who are making similar attempts to distribute Srila Gurudeva’s books.  You can make more books available for their distribution efforts by making a generous pledge to the GVP Book Distribution Sponsorship program.  Your donation will help print more transcendental literatures and make them available for the benefit of people all over the globe.