It has been almost ten days since our arrival in Nairobi – since then, both Kevin and I are going out daily, trying to push on the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the form of Srila Prabhupada’ s books. Our room in the brahmachari asram three floors above ground level overlooks Kipanda Road – a constant beehive of activity. Vehicles. From six o’clock in the morning onwards, cars will be driven, pulled or pushed onto the side of roads, where throngs of workers descend upon them to restore them to a semblance of working order. Jobs performed include welding, painting or general repairs. There are always various engine parts and car components scattered liberally on the ground. This adds variety and color to the informal trading center. Local African women appear on the scene around midday, and pop open their plastics buckets and serve out local fare to the workers. All this is done within a five-minute walk from the downtown center. Nairobi has its fair share of noteworthy architectural accomplishments. Two buildings – the Kenyatta Conference Center and the Hilton are large imposing octagonal shaped buildings.
The town, with its lively and bustling city centre, can be compared to that of any other major city in the world. At the same time it maintains the mood of a vibrant cosmopolitan African community. Well laid out flowerbeds line the wide avenues on either side, and some of the traffic circles have fountains in the middle.
With a constant stream of all modes of transport, matatus, are used to ferry the public to the suburbs. Larger buses known as City Hoppa ply the downtown streets. These vehicles are always plastered with images of rap artists on the windows, or the names of their favorite football team. Once seated inside, one is subjected to a constant barrage of thumping reggae music. These buses are similar to the minibus similar to mini bus taxis in South Africa.
Kenyans are a very colorful people. There is a culture of respect to be shown when meeting them, as I soon discovered. Upon meeting one should always greet a person first, before engaging in conversation. This contrasts with South Africa, where I would directly approach a person with, “Are you from around here?’, or I would compliment them on the nice t-shirt they were wearing before introducing myself.
The majority of Africans, who took books from me, would always be eager to take them and ask very nice questions. Many people on the street would acknowledge me by calling out “Hare Krishna.”
While Kevin had sent his Landrover in for some repairs, we were both relieved that it was as bad as we thought. Kevin had thought that the turbo needed replacing, meaning that it would cost about a thousand dollars. With our tight budget, it would have been a bit of a setback.
While he was tending to the landrover, I spent some time distributing books to the local Africans in the city centre. Since I was last year five years ago, the city has undergone some noticeable changes. No longer present are the street hawkers who made navigating Nairobi’s sidewalks a troublesome experience. The city has banned hawking of any kind, and one can be fined for smoking in public. There are designated smoking areas and public washrooms are strategically placed around the downtown center.
A visiting devotee to Nairobi, Govinda Prema, who is from the temple in Kisimu, contacted his cousin, who as it happened, by the mercy of Guru and Krsna, owns a auto repair business, whose main business is refurbishing old Landrovers. Kevin and I introduced ourselves to him. After a brief inspection, we were assured that the turbo was not in need of repair. However there were some minor things that needed repairing, and that we could pick the landrover up the next week. We were again relieved to hear, that the cost of the repairs was a fraction of what we though it would have been. Kevin thought he was looking at a repair bill in excess of a thousand dollars, so was greatly relieved to see that the total repairs came to a third of that.
The city centre had its share of interested persons; however, it was not uncommon to hear people stating that they did not have any money. Established in 1956, the University of Nairobi is one of the most prestigious academic universities in East Africa, It offers a wide range of courses such as, agriculture and veterinary science, architecture and engineering. Students come from all over Kenya as well as other parts of West Africa.
I had distributed books on the campus in 2004, when I first came to Kenya, on my way to central Africa. It was hard to believe that five had passed since I had first distributed books there. The first day I distributed books dressed in my dhoti and kurta. We found the students to be very interested in the books, although they were somewhat distracted and unable to give us their undivided attention as they were rushing from class to class.
We were fortunate to meet some professors and lecturers, who showed interest in our books. A sculpture entitled “The Fountain of Youth”, provided a shady spot for us to stand in, and afforded us some protection from the overhead sun. Kevin spent some time speaking with someone who was a lecturer in philosophy. He agreed to take two books, and after inquiring what religion we were, stated that he had visited the temple in Nairobi some six years ago.
Kevin approached a man and asked him if he was a lecturer or a student. He asked what he was doing with the books and if he was selling them. He replied that he was not, and was merely asking for donations. He informed the man that we were monks distributing our books to the students and the public alike. The man Kevin was speaking with identified himself as Mr. Wahomey, and acknowledged that he worked for the University of Nairobi, but would not identify in what capacity. Mr. Wahomey suggested that we go the office of public affairs for the university and contact a Mr. Sikuku.
The receptionist at Mr. Sikuku’s office spent a bit of time talking with us, and after getting to know we were devotees and seeing the letters we had brought with us from the temple authorizing us to distribute Prasad, books and perform harinam in the city center, ushered us into the office of Mr. Sikuku.
Mr. Sikuku could not have been more helpful or accommodating. Kevin presented him with a copy of Beyond Illusion and Doubt and the Science of Self Realization. It was apparent from the smile on Mr. Sikuku’s face and his laid-back manner that we would not have any difficulty in presenting our case and having our request to distribute Prabhupada’s books distributed on the campus of the University of Nairobi. Permission granted! We were told we could return the next afternoon and pick up a letter authorizing us to distribute books. This was certainly the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. Back at the temple, Gaura Sakti was overjoyed to the hear the news that permission had been obtained. The devotees had been trying for over ten years to get permission to distribute books, but to no avail.
The following day we resumed distribution. Interested students were asked for their names and phone numbers. Gaura Sakti prabhu conducts a Saturday night program for newcomers to Krishna consciousness. He has a total of forty students enrolled for his program, although not all are in attendance every week. We were pleased to notice that last Saturday brought two students who had gotten books, and one of the students had brought his friend along. At the end of the program they were driven back to their homes, and assured us, they would return the following week. It was Srila Prabhupada’s desire, that we cultivate the educated class of people. After all, they will be the leaders of society – at present in this age of kali, our leader, due to lack of elevated consciousness. The result which brings about a godless society.
“There are so many departments of knowledge all over the world and many huge universities, but there is, unfortunately, no university or educational institution where the science of the spirit soul is instructed. Yet the soul is the most important part of the body; without the presence of the soul, the body has no value. Still people are placing great stress on the bodily necessities of life, not caring for the vital soul.”
This stress on the needs of the body, Srila Prabhupada teaches, is a sign of absence of true education.
“Education means spiritual education. To work hard in the bodily conception of life, without spiritual education, is to live like an animal ….”
And this sort of life, Srila Prabhupada teaches, is the most dangerous, because one risks transmigrating from one body to another, and even into lower species of life.
“Without spiritual education, people are kept in dark ignorance and do not know what will happen to them after the annihilation of the present body.
“They are working blindly, and blind leaders are directing them. A foolish person does not know that he is completely under the bondage of material nature and that after death ma-terial nature will impose upon him a certain type of body, which he will have to accept. He does not know that although in his present body he may be a very important man, he may next get the body of an animal or tree because of his ignorant activities in the modes of material nature.”
“Even influential professors and other educators say that as soon as the body is finished, everything is finished. This atheistic philosophy is killing human civilization.”
How so? Misled by such ignorance masked as knowledge, “people are irresponsibly performing all sorts of sinful activities, and thus the privilege of the human life is being taken away by the educational propaganda of the so-called leaders.” 14
“Actually the so-called teachers or leaders of material society do not really know the goal of life. They are described in Bhagavad-gitä as mayayapahata-jana. That is, they appear to be very learned scholars, but the influence of the illusory energy has taken away their knowledge. Real knowledge means searching out Kåñëa.”
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