By Yadavendra Das (ACBSP)
June 23 2016, Perth, Western Australia.

For the third time and after a good Sankirtan day, I had unknowingly parked my van in an unsavory neighborhood for the night. At 8 PM one vehicle came and shone its beam lights repeatedly on me. This generally happens when some authority such as the municipal council ranger or state police checks things out. But when I realized that it was not case, I turned my vehicle around and shone my own lights on the vehicle with the intention to challenge the driver to state his business. It quickly disappeared in great haste. I will never know what were the intentions of the driver.
At about eleven PM, more beams of light woke me up. This was Western Australia state police. Everything went smoothly and police was very courteous. Srila Prabhupada states that Maya is Krishna’s police force. But if one has done nothing wrong, one sees only the friendly side of the police, which is not really their true function. The true function of the police force is forceful apprehension of and correction for offenders of the state law. The function of Maya or the external energy of the Lord is very much the same: forceful correction and reconditioning of the offenders of the Lord’s law. That means all of us to a greater or lesser degree. The reason for our presence in this material world is our original and continuous rebellion against the supremacy of Lord Krishna and His laws of material nature. Sri Krishna invites and demands in Bhagavad- Gita As It Is, 18.66:” Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” But we continually decline this fair and profitable offer with just as much insistence.

After the event, I regretfully realized that I had made an occupational mistake by failing to offer some Krishna books to the police officers.

Then Krishna amazingly and quickly fulfilled my desire and there was another police check at twelve PM. This was an unexpected and welcome opportunity for me to improve my performance. After the mandatory “We cannot accept any gifts while on duty”, the two police officers gladly accepted one set each of Higher Taste and Krishna, the Reservoir of Pleasure, “courtesy of the Hare Krishna Movement.” I also had a chance to discuss the situation with them and they confirmed that it was a crime-ridden area. True to the great Vedic tradition of the wandering mendicant, I peacefully spend the rest of the night at some other place, which unlike the previous one, had toilets and showers as well, as I discovered in the morning. Jai Srila Prabhupada!