Finding Krsna in a Prison House

by Bhakta Bruce

As is often said in regard to alcoholics and drug abusers, a person is hardly ready to give up his addiction until he has hit rock bottom. It is when Maya kicks so hard that he is ready to give up his sense gratification.

When is the best time to preach to a person? Is it when he is enjoying like a king, or when he has nothing or next to nothing? And in what circumstances does the living entity become favorable to hear that what he has considered pleasure is nothing but really pain?

Perhaps the best time to preach the miseries of birth, death, old age and disease is when the living entity finds himself behind bars, in a prison house within the prison house of this material world.

And when a devotee finds himself in a jail cell, what is he to do? If he is a devotee of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he wishes to offer his foodstuffs to the spiritual master and Krishna. But a jail house is very regimented and the bhoga he is given is often not very nice. Even if our prisoner is able to obtain proper fruits, grains, milk and vegetables it is impossible for him to cook and prepare the food for offerings by himself, as he has no access to a kitchen.

That is why Tirtha dasa is challening the prison authorities to make accessible kitchen paraphernalia to the prisoners so they may prepare offerings for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. In a recent letter, Tirtha dasa wrote,

"Please find one affidavit, which is mostly a general statement about the basic requirements of the Hare Krishna religion. If you like, feel free to make some copies for other devotees you might contact. Then ask them to please sign and mail either to me or yourself. They must be signed in the presence of a notary and stamped accordingly for it to be acceptable in a court of law. I wish to include them in my upcoming lawsuit with the prison.

Notary officials most usually are available in all banks and pharmacies. Or if you look in the phone book for the area, many will be listed. These documents are essential in the preliminary stages of my lawsuit and may be introduced as evidence, although personal testimony is always best. Still, for my immediate purposes, these are absolutely necessary."

If anyone is inclined to do this service and wishes to sign this affidavit and distribute it to other devotees, please contact me at brcgatten@yahoo.com.

I will send copies of the affidavit and you may have them authorized by a notary.

All glories to the assembled devotees. Hare Krishna!
Bhakta Bruce

(PS, By the way, the notary service I used charged nothing for the notarization.)