The untold story of Nelson Mandela thanks to Prananatha
Prabhu:
Nelson Mandela & the Bhagavad Gita. Hare Krishna. I
thought you might like to know a little bit of the untold side of Nelson
Mandela. He came several times to ISKCON’s Ratha Yatra in South Africa while he
was president of the nation.
The first time Bhakti Tirtha Swami met him, in the
course of their conversation, Maharaja quoted a Gita verse. Half-way thru the
verse, Mandela quoted the rest of it. BT Swami was surprised. He asked “You
know the Gita?” Mandela said “Try me.” Every Gita verse Bhakti Tirtha
Maharaja knew, Nelson knew as well.
Naturally, BT Swami asked “How is this?”
Nelson Mandela explained that he was imprisoned on Robbins Island along with
some of his fellow leaders of their political party, the ANC. One of them was
an Indian-bodied lawyer. The South African government tried to break them by
giving them mindless labor and routine. Realizing that they needed to keep
their minds actively engaged, the Indian lawyer taught Nelson Mandela Gita
verses which they quoted and discussed back and forth to transcend their daily
drudgery.
Nelson Mandela told Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja that learning the Gita
helped keep him sane and
did much to infuse his view of the world and his
strategies for bringing independence and a better future for the South African
people.
Bhakti Chaitanya Maharaja, the GBC for South Africa adds: “When Mr. Mandela visited our temple the first time (he
came several times thereafter as well) he, with dignity but humility bowed
before Srila Prabhupada, and then asked (me) “How did he do it?”, meaning how
did Srila Prabhupada spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. We then
had a brief discussion about how Srila Prabhupada gave Krishna consciousness to
all nationalities and types of people, without discrimination, and Mr Mandela
was deeply struck by this, and was very appreciative of Srila Prabhupada
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