(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Stockholm, June 2011)
Devotional service can change anything. It doesn’t matter since it can capture the impious. The impious can also engage in devotional service, and we see how much of an expert Jayananda was at that:
“Excuse me. I‘m just doing some work……could you for a moment hold this plank, while I put some nails on there? Oh thank you very much. Could you just put a nail on your side?”
“Yeah, sure”.
“Wow! you did that so expertly. Are you a carpenter?”
And before you know it there were strangers building a Ratha cart! If they wanted to smoke, he would say:
“No….no, you can’t smoke here. You have to go outside, and afterwards wash your mouth and your hands, before you can carry on”.
Sometimes Jayananda would have a whole crew like that! Then he would quickly go and cook some halwa for everyone. So Jayananda showed how he could get people just directly off the streets………… and just engage them in service!