Waves of Sankirtana - Volume 1, Issue 4

Gearing up for December Marathon 2014

Hare Krishna! Welcome to the fourth issue  of the India Sankirtana Newsletter "Waves of Sankirtana." This month, we present to you an unprecedented showcase of book distribution strategies that have been designed and implemented across temples with success stories. In addition, we present a brief analysis of the history and current trends of book distribution in India. All this is set to act as an inspiration, an impetus, for us to distribute more books this year. 

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Srila Prabhupada Speaks

“The results show that there is no limit to our book distribution. Our books are qualified to be distributed unlimitedly. We are not fiction writers. It is a fact that no expert book salesmen can compete with our men. The librarian has noted the difference between our men and other publisher's men. We are working for heart and soul, not for money."

-- Srila Prabhupada's letter to Ramesvara prabhu, 18 January 1976

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India Sankirtana Report Card August 2014

The chart below shows Indian temples ranked by book points for August 2014, as per the World Sankirtana Newsletter. Horizontal: Temple name and Worldwide rank       Vertical: Book points

All glories to the wonderful efforts of devotees across India! The following table lists the top individual book distributors for August 2014 with world rank, name, book points, and temple affiliation.

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Always better service

Devotees are always exploring ways to do their service better and more nicely. This coming Marathon season, let us all try to do what we do better. Karthika masa is the perfect time to enhance the quality of our sadhana, and book distribution is high sadhana. In this issue, we showcase several "techniques" of book distribution that have worked for temples across India. This year, we can try and implement two or more of the following and see how they affect our contribution to the Marathon 2014. 

1. Gita Champions League:

In a country like India, where people are serious about education, planning a Bhagavad Gita "Competition" and encouraging young students and adults to read the Gita and attempt this exam is a sureshot way of distributing the mercy of Srimad Bhagavad wide and far. This strategy has been a dazzling success for Mumbai, where more than 13000 participants have attempted this exam in the last two years, and some of them have won prizes of more than 10 lakh INR in total. Learn more about the Gita Champions Leage at http://www.gitachampions.com/29-2/. Even better - check out their intro video for GCL 2014.

2. Employee gift scheme:

The Bhagavad Gita As It Is is a perfect start to a New Year. Devotees have encouraged companies to give these wonderful spiritual books as gifts to their employees. The company can choose the language as per the need of employees. This is an invaluable gift and would be revered and remembered by one and all. 

Devotees travel across the nation and reach far-off industrial complexes. There, they obtain permissions and talk to an assembly of employees about the Gita Marathon and impress upon them that this opporunity to receive a transcendental book is knocking on their door. The employee numbers of interested persons are noted down and books given. 

3. Gita Daan Yagna/ Bhagavad Gita Share-a-thon:

The temple encourages people across the nation to sponsor Bhagavad Gita and do one of the following:

1. The person can distribute the books to friends, relatives, neighbors etc. 

1. On their behalf, temple devotees distribute books in schools and prisons, or in distant villages, or to terminally ill patients in hospitals. 

The donor or their representative would be entitled to participate in a Maha Yajna to be held at the temple premises in December for the pleasure of the Lord. For more info on how this strategy works and whom to contact, please visit: http://iysmumbai.com/gitadaan/ or contact Baladev Dasa at 09930141803 or Shadbhuja Dasa at 09619703537 

4. Corporate  Festival Gifting:

Every year in India, people exchange gifts on festival days. This is particularly true for the big festival season around Dusshera and Diwali. In recent times, this tradition has taken on a "corporate" flavor as employers gift boxes of nuts and sweets to employees, partners, and stakeholders. Devotees from Ujjain temple have tweaked this tradition and slipped in copies of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is into a beautiful package along with prasadam nuts and sweets. These "Corporate Gift Packages" turn ever more transcendentally auspicious with this nice presentation. After all, what better gift to give than transcendental knowledge! 

5. Gita Jayanthi Festival: 

Every ekadasi is an auspicious day in India. Taking advantage of this fact and the benefit of having the Shrimad Bhagavatam set available for mass distribution, teams across India have set up tables at Vishnu-tattva temples (those of Lord Krishna, Lord Rama, Lord Balaji, Lord Panduranga etc.) and urged people to take a huge step forward in coming closer to Krishna by inviting Him in the form of His Literary Incarnation into their homes on auspicious occasions such as ekadasi. 
 

Gita Daan Yagna ceremony conducted in Chirala, Andhra Pradesh

Every day becomes a special day for one who has the Srimad Bhagavatam at home. "Dhanur masam" which generally falls around December is a considered a particularly special and auspicious time of the year.  Inviting VIPs to the temple and promoting Bhagavad Gita through their brief endorsement and vociferous support for spiritual knowledge can also impress the general masses to make good use of the opportunity and get some books.

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Current trends

In recent times, India has stayed on top of the charts when it comes to book distribution. In 2012, we almost reached a scale of 50 LAKH book points (49,67,045 to be precise). So, it is a challenge for us, this year, to see if we can do something to bring ourselves together and reach the next threshold. In the following graphs, we see how the overall score has increased in a neat trend from the early 2000s and reached a peak in 2012. However, a minor dip is observed in 2013. It is open knowledge that it is during the month of December that we distribute most of the books we distribute in India. So, this is time for us to plan how to bring the graph to a healthier upward curve!

Data obtained from http://www.wsnl.net/hist/wsn01034.htm 
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Book distribution seminar at New Delhi, 6-7 October 2014

This October, more than 55 devotees from across temples in New Delhi are attending a special book distribution seminar. The event is an effort to inspire and motivate devotees as well as to equip them with tried and tested book distribution strategies and tools. This event is being conducted by ISLT members under the aegis of BBT India and ISKCON New Delhi, and with the blessings of HH Gopal Krishna Goswami, HG Bhima Prabhu, and HG Vaisesika Prabhu.  If you would like to sponsor and/or conduct similar events in your temples, please call Srirama Dasa 9642330011 or Bhakta Vinodh 7675912269.

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Srimad Bhagavad Gita - The Greatest Gift

In recent times, people in the echelons of modern politics have begun to vocalize their support for the Bhagavad Gita. Earlier this month, Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, gifted the Bhagavad Gita to the Japanese emperor Akihito. In the photo above, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (USA) , who was raised Hindu and has deep appreciation for the Bhagavad Gita gifts her personal copy of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita As It Is (Pocket version - Vinyl cover) to Prime Minister Modi during his very recent visit to the US.

yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas tat tad evetaro janaḥ 

sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute lokas tad anuvartate

 "Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues." (BG 3.21) Taking advantage of these fortuitous recent events, let us encourage everyone in society to give the Gita, the greatest gift.

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Tell us what you think!

We are eager to learn how to serve you better! Please write to us at indiasankirtana@gmail.com:

• Report your book distribution scores,

• Share your experiences, realizations, and stories,

• Ask (or answer) a question (FAQ) on book distribution,

• Suggest a book distributor who could share valuable insights,

• Give ideas for how to make this newsletter better and sweeter,

• Get involved with ISLT strategy and help develop this newsletter,

• Extend your support and encouragement with comments or letters.

For your convenience, we have also included a contact form on the right hand side bar of this page. Thank you very much for reading this month's newsletter!

Param Vijayate Sri Krishna Sankirtanam!

Your servants,

Waves of Sankirtana Coordinators.

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