SALTED BREAD - A TRUE STORY - Blog - ISKCON Desire Tree

“Salted Bread - A True Story” is all about two great Russian Souls – Sakris Ohanjanyan (Sako) and Gagik Buniatyan (Gago) who risked and sacrificed their lives to spread the Krishna Consciousness Movement in the former Soviet Union. They are tortured in a Russian prison camp for two years and in Psychic Hospitals, giving shock treatments and unbearable drugs, making them physically and mentally week, and as a result Sarkis died just one month before his release…..

It is a 327 pages biography, all about Religious Persecution in the former USSR, Journey with two friends behind the iron curtain of the KGB in the former USSR. In their search for spiritual life, they dedicate themselves to the yoga of devotion to Krishna. Their simple, humble struggles for faith and religious freedom take them from cleaning deserted churches, to chanting in country hideouts, to sending secret messages in Siberian labor camps. Full of adventure, inspiration and humor, the true story of Gagik Buniatyan and Sarkis Ohanjanya will delight and enthuse the reader.

You may ask why this book named as Salted Bread, the answer is that during two years of imprisonment,, the author’s father used to eat mainly three slices of bread a day. All ISKCON devotees are strict vegetarians, and as he describe, “There was nothing vegetarian available in jail but bread. But, no one will be able to eat just bread by itself for a long period of time, especially bread of such poor quality. So, in order to make my mouth produce water to swallow that type of bread, I had to add salt to it”. Eating bread and salt for such a long period (730 days) is a very difficult task, and as you will learn from the book, this was one of the most painful experiences of all, so for that reason, the book is name “Salted Bread”.

The story starts as how Sako & Gago were drug addicts in their initial teens, how they came in touch with Krishna Consciousness and how it has changed their lives and made them to dedicate their lives for spreading the Krishna Consciousness across the former Soviet Union in their earlier days and to the entire world in their later days……

I have underlined few of the very heart touching incidents / notes from “Salted Bread – A True Story” for the benefit of the receivers of this mail, however it is strongly suggested/recommended to read the entire biography so that one will never feel that they are facing any troubles / difficulties / pain / disease in their lives after reading this biography. One will always feel that they are blessed countless times when compared to the difficulties / hardships / pains these two great souls – Sako & Gago have undergone in their lives, especially for self-realization, spiritual realization & spreading of Krishna Consciousness.

“O best among Bharatas, four kinds of pious men begin to render devotional service unto Me – the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute” – Bhagavad Gita 7.16 (page 11 of Salted Bread)
Even the Bible supports a vegetarian diet, since the original foods God gave were grains and herbs (page 15)
I decided that nothing was finished and I had to keep searching. I considered that these bad things were happening so that I would collect my strength to fight for what I wanted to achieve.(page 25)
After a bad thing, there is good waiting for me.(page 25)
Once while Gago and his another friend Senik going in a truck, Gago placed a picture of Lord Vishnu from an incense box on the dashboard of his truck next to thepicture of Jesus Christ. Once, he found a book on Ramakrishna’s Philosophy and decided to go up on the mountains to read it and at the same time collect some hashish. While driving the truck, at one point lost control, roll over down the hill about five to six times and stopped at the middle of the hill. When they opened their eyes, the picture of Lord Vishnu’s smiling face was right front of Gago’s face and picture of Jesus was in front of Senik’s face. We took as an omen that everything was going to be alright. Realization of this incident by Gago was that everything was God’s arrangement and we were not supposed to read that book because it was nothing but impersonalistic philosophy.(page 28)
It is always nice to bring something to Krishna when you go to His temple. Any house where Krishna or any of His forms are worshiped is considered to be a temple of God.(page 34)
“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth”. Bhagavad Gita 4.34 (page 35 of Salted Bread)
Atmananda Das was a Scientist, but he threw his PHD and all his diplomas into the trash can after he became a Hare Krishna Devotee.(page 37)
Soon I noticed that the fruits I brought were also offered at the altar, and I looked round me to see if anyone else noticed that those were the fruits I had brought. I wanted everyone to know that I was the one who brought these fruits for Krishna for the first time(page 38) – (unquote : it is the tendency of most of us that we wish to see everyone notices that we brought something to God, but we are least bothered whether God is seeing it or not).
Many devotees chanting together loudly “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare…Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare… It was a sound resembling thousands of honeybees buzzing around their nest. (page 42)
On the top of the mirror was a sign that said, “You are not this Body”. It made me think and I started to ask myself, “If I am not this body, then who am I ? (page 43)
Cold bath opens the pores and gets you very clean externally. Also it clears the mind and wakes you up. (page 44)
Who knows what Krishna wants? Sannyasa Dasa said “The real purpose of life is to contemplate and find the answer to that question. The perfection of life is to please God. So, you should study the revealed scriptures and you should also follow the instructions given there. If you are sincere, then Krishna will send his representative, the spiritual master, to guide you at every step. (page 47)
The four pillars of sinful life are meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex and gambling.(page 47)
Material attachment is an impurity, a contamination. So we give these activities up. That is our diet, and soon we find that we have virtues that were previously covered by those sins. The virtues are mercy, austerity, cleanliness and truthfulness. The medicine that destroys the sinful contamination and strengthens our basic human virtues is the chanting of the holy name of Krishna and engaging in devotional service.(page 47)
Srila Prabhupada says that each time we take Prasadam, the remnants of the food offered to Krishna, we become inoculated against the attack of material contamination. (page 47)
“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear” – Bhagavad Gita 18.66 (page 50 of Salted Bread)
“That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness” – Bhagavad Gita 18.37 (page 58 of Salted Bread)
Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues” – Bhagavad Gita 3.21 (page 61 of Salted Bread).
In the process of making the books, we noticed that one of the most interesting qualities of Sako was that he would utilize anything and everything for Krishna’s service. He was very careful with all kinds of waste and would check out everything before throwing it into the trash can. For example, one day he started to collect paper dust from the books. When we cut the pages with a hacksaw before binding and threading to keep the book pages together, bits of paper dust, very much like sawdust, were produced. Everyone was curious about how he could possibly use this dust or shavings from the pages and covers. Sometimes devotees would talk about him and when he was not present, and made jokes about him. So now, everyone wanted to know what he was doing with the paper dust, but for a long time, no one was successful. It was not so easy to figure out what was in Sako’s mind. But one day, finally Haridas Thakur Das caught him in the kitchen while he was putting the dust in his dhal soup bowl. Haridas Thaku Das asked him why he was doing that and Sako simply replied “All this dust is coming from the Bhagavad Gita and some other of SrilaPrabhupada’s books, so if the books are holy, then the dust produced from the books is holy, too. So I decided that it would be better if we utilized it somehow or other”. (page 66)
“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare” – Bhagavad Gita 7.19 (page 71 of Salted Bread).
Suddenly the fat man got very angry and stood up. He kicked over my chair and I fell on the floor and hurt myself badly. He started to kick me several times while pulling me up by my hair. He hit me once more and I felt my mouth filling up with blood. My facing was burning hot. (page 77 & 78)
“Every endeavor is covered by some fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore, one should not give up the work born of his nature, O son of Kunti, even if such work is full of fault” – Bhagavad Gita – 18.48 (page 81 of Salted Bread).
I am not interested in making money only; I want people to read them and apply this knowledge in their daily life. I do not want you to buy them and keep them here for the rest of your life. (page 92)
He was one hundred per cent in agreement that what God has said in the sixth commandment was also applicable to animals as well and not only for people. It made me very happy that finally I had found a Christian who was in agreement on this point, which had caused me to think so much and which I found so very difficult to explain to others (Thou Shall Not Kill Others…..Not to Kill Animals for eating Non-Vegetarian Food) (page 94)
We had better be like the honeybee, taking nectar from each and every person, not like the fly who goes to only dirty places and finds only fault. (page 97)
“In all activities just depend on Me and work always under My protection. In such devotional service, be fully conscious of Me” – Bhagavad Gita 18.57 (page 103 of Salted Bread)
“Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become MY devotee, offer obeisances unto Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me” – Bhagavad Gita 9.34 (page 117 of Salted Bread).
Three large, muscular men started to kick me as if I was a ball. My nose was bleeding until I could not feel it any more. Then they asked me to stand up, which I did. One of them took hold of my ear and took me close to the metal door and asked me to place my fingers between the door slowly while screaming into my ear “where are the books hidden, who is printing them, and where?”. I do not remember what exactly happened after that, but after I came back to consciousness, I noticed that all my fingers were cracked and bleeding. While I was lying down there one of them took the electric heater and brought it close to my face and screamed at me, “So now we will cook you, man! Let’s see who is who, we will eat you up okay? my face and nose were burning. I closed my eyes so that they would not be burned. (page 121)
“Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend” – Bhagavad Gita 18.65 (page 130 of Salted Bread).
Japa Beads from Bread – How to utilize everything for Krishna:- First you take a soft piece of bread and knead it in your hands for a long as you can. Then you place it in a plastic bag and close it tightly so no air will get in. store it for a couple of days. Then open it, mix the bread with some sugar, and keep it for about three days more. The bread becomes stinky and either black or brownish. Then, you open the bag and push the bread through some old cloth such as your shirt or handkerchief. Tightly and slowly with your fingertips, push the bread through the cloth. After this long and hard procedure, your material is ready for making anything you wish, just like play dough. And after it dries, it becomes hard as rock.(page 137)
“There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough” – Bhagavad Gita 6.16 (page 147 of Salted Brea).
One day they called me, placed me in handcuffs and asked me to follow the guard out of the building…… I was so happy to hear the birds signing, and the beautiful breeze was like nectar for me. When my nose started to itch, I scratched it with my shoulder. I wanted to scream and tell all the people how fortunate and blessed they were to be outside and free, and complain about this and that situation, or we are unhappy that someone is creating some small problems for us and so on. I promise you that if once, even for a short time, you have to stay behind iron doors where there is nothing except dirty and dark walls, then as soon as you come out you will appreciate wherever you live, even if it is an old apartment or an uncomfortble environment. You will surely appreciate the open sky and the signing of the birds, your brlken chair and rusted bicycle, the old car and the job that pays less than you want. (page 155)
Sometimes in the many years since I have been free from jail, I have noticed that even devotees of Krishna can start to get attached to material thing, which actually bring us only a little happiness and lots of troubles. Humans always want more and more from this material world than we actually need. It is impossible to satisfy our heart’s desires or the senses, which are more powerful than a fire, ready to burn all surroundings just to satisfy the tiny, temporary and actually useless desires. (page 155)
When we complain about the situation we are in, Krishna teaches us a good lesson by placing us temporarily in a worse situation so tht we will appreciate the gift we had just a week or month ago. Then we understand the most important thing in life, which I think is that this material world is a place for miseries and that the only solution to our problems is fully surrendering to Krishna. (page 156)
We have learned that sometimes in situations like that, when you do not know really what to do or what is going on, it is better to chant Hare Krishna and only think of Krishna (page 157)
For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy” – Bhagavad Gita 6.5 (page 165 of Salted Bread).
Too many bugs were there and I just kept scratching….. at first, we devotees did not know what should be done with these pests and we debated amongst ourselves “should we kill these creatures or not”? we are practicing ahimsa, nonviolence, and never killed even small creatures. We asked senior devotees about it and finally Kamalamala wrote me a letter “There is nothing wrong with killing living entities who are aggressors and attacking you. You have no choice but to kill them, and each time just Chant Hare Krishna in order to benefit their soul”. (page 172)
I was very worried about my health because for more than two weeks I would see blood in my urine….. I stopped fasting after nineteen days (page 177)
We as a devotees do not usually curse anyone, but the Lord can actually see what you people are doing. And if you are too cruel, then the Lord will certainly punish you in many different ways both in this life and the next.(page 179).
“Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly he knows Me in truth” – Bhagavad Gita 7.3 (page 187 of Salted Bread).
Sachisuta (Sako) wanted to keep himself very clean because as he said, “Krishna is in everyone’s heart; therefore the body is a temple of Krishna”. (page 192)
I was terrified, thinking this was not a happy birthday for me. I told my friends that I must be a very unfortunate and sinful soul to be in this hellish condition on my birthday. Sachisuta tried to convince me that actually I was very fortunate to be suffering for Krishna. Adwaita told me that the situation had nothing to do with me being pure or impure, but simply we had to do this as a service for our spiritual master & Krishna (page 195)
Be strong and always remember Krishna and never forget Him.(page 200)
“From the mode of goodness, real knowledge develops; from the mode of passion, greed develops; and from the mode of ignorance develops foolishness, madness and illusion” – Bhagavad Gita 14.17 (page 203 of Salted Bread)
Sometimes it was so cold that it was impossible to be outside for even a minute. From time to time, the temperature was -42 to -52 Celsius, which was very frightening. All the windows would get covered with ice about five inches thick inside and more than ten inches outside…(page 214)
My teeth started to get weaker and weaker every day because I did not have any nutritious food at all and ate too much salt, which damaged my gums, making my teeth very loose. I could easily wiggle them all with my tongue. Sometimes, even while I was eating my soft bread, they would move.(page 215)
He would always write that he was doing well spiritually, chanting his sixteen rounds every day and following all the rules. His diet was the same as mine, three pieces of bread a day with salt and boiled water. (page 215)
One day, Krishna came in my dream and played His transcendental flute. He held my hand and spoke very gently and sweetly. Krishna said to me, “Please do not worry; you are My devotee. Just continue what you are already doing, and I will personally take care of you.”(page 219)
“Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance – these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature, O son of Partha” – Bhagavad Gita 16.4 (page 222 of Salted Bread)
“And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt” – Bhagavad Gita 8.5 (page 229 of Salted Bread)
Sachisuta (Sako) died just 27 days before his release date …at the age of 23. ……….according to law, he was not allowed to take his son’s body at that time. After several months, they would be able to get his body in a stainless steel coffin with a seal that if you opened you could be jailed. (page 235)
The former cellmate said that “Sachisuta was very sick and hardly walking to the bathroom when they brought him to the hospital, but he was chanting his

sixteen rounds everyday and only talking about Krishna. A unique quality of Sachisuta was that he could transform any conversation into a talk about Krishna. (page 239)

He was somehow always very happy and didn’t feel his pain and suffering at all. At least he would never show me that he was suffering. Any time I asked about his health, he started to preach to me about the differences between the spirit soul and the material body. (page 239).
The man then described how he had shaved Sachisuta’s head and then Sachisuta had managed to take a shower somehow in the narrow toilet and then cover himself with a clean bed sheet tied as a dhoti. He made a nice garland by stringing some colored papers torn from magazines and used TOOTHPASTE to make tilak marks on his body. After that, he sat in a lotus yoga position and chanted Hare Krishna as usual on his bread beads, while looking at the Pancha Tattva and Harikesa Swami’s very small picture in his left hand……. …It took hardly twenty minutes when I came back, I saw that Sachisuta was still sitting in the same place in the same way and it looked as if he was chanting. …after a while, I noticed that Sachisuta was not chanting, but simply sitting and smiling. ….i pushed him gently and….then I understood that he was not there………(page 240).
After hearing this tape it was clear to all of us, with no doubt that Sachisuta was a pure devotee of Lord Krishna. He knew that he was going to leave his body that day and was really preparing himself – his body, mind and as the soul, he was preparing to meet his dear Lord Krishna. Everyone who heard this truly amazing story was touched and excited about it…..he certainly was a pure devotee of Lord Krishna and Krishna personally took care of him as He promised in Bhagavad Gita.(page 240/241)
Wherever there is Krishna, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and mortality. That is my opinion” – Bhagavad Gita 18.78 (page 247)
I explained that certainly there can be negative karmic reactions if one hurts Krishna’s devotee, but if one prays and asks forgiveness then the devotee and Krishna may forgive him.(page 262)
One of the most important factors in spiritual life and even life in general, is faith. Without faith and determination no one can achieve the highest goal of life. Do not lose faith or be discouraged under any circumstances. And last, we need to remember that eventually we are all going to die. So, it is best to take the time we have now to read the holy scriptures and learn the art of dying, just like my friend, Sachisuta Das…(page 265)
Please engage in the process of Krishna consciousness as if this day were your last day. In this way become more and more sincere. Always remember that Krishna is the Supreme controller and enjoyer and serve Him with love and devotion. Krishna will always help you if you depend on Him”. (page 265)
Chanakya Pandit says that one blooming flower can refresh a whole forest and that a fire in a single tree can burn the whole forest. From the Marxist point of view, Ivan was the fire that would spread Krishna consciousness to others, thus defeating the communist ideology. And from Srila Prabhupada’s point of view, Ivan was the aromatic flower that would lend its fragrance to many others. (page 274)
The soul’s natural function is to serve Krishna, and Krisna’s natural will is to satisfy the pure desires of His devotee.(page 274)
It is the duty of the Vaishnava to become the humble servant of other living entities. This duty of service to others, while not the main tenet of bhakti-yoga, follows logically from our objective of serving the Supreme Lord. …If we desire to please the Lord, then we must accept as our mission the roles of friend and helps of others in their various material manifestations. (page 282)
Vaishnava ethics do not differnetly from the ethics of other major religions. Moreover, they are easily discernible by the exercise of basic common sense. …truthfulness is preferable to dishonesty. Kindness and compassion are preferable to cruelty. Generosity and renunciation are preferable to greediness. Order and cleanliness are preferable to the shabbiness and littering ….Srila Prabhupada wanted his followers to be recognized as perfect gentlemen. (page 283)
In just 12 years, in spite of his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six continents. In spite of such a vigorous schedule, Srila Prabhupaa continued to write prolifically. His books constitute a veritable library of Vedic Philosophy, Religion and culture. (page 293)
By practical experience also, one can perceive that by chanting this Maha Mantra or the Great Chanting for Deliverance, one can at once feel a transcendental plane. This chanting of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare is directly enacted from the spiritual platform, and thus this sound vibration surpasses all lower strata of consciousness, namely sensual mental, and intellectual. (page 295)
As far as possible, chanting from the lips of non devotees should be avoided, just as milk touched by the lips of a serpent has poisonous effects.(page 295)

The above are the few that touched my heart, leaving inerasable feelings in my heart. I trust you might have been benefitted / would benefit on reading the above. I would strongly suggest / recommend to read the entire book to benefit for self-realization, God-Realization and to assess how gifted we are, that we born in India, where we are free to do anything, anywhere – especially w.r.t. Religion and God and also to deeply self-introspect as what is our contribution in spreading Krishna Consciousness to selves as well as to the society and world at large???

I normally have the habit of highlight important things with bold, italics, underline, large font and the like. But since I considered that each and every sentence, word and alphabet of the above references are important, I left them without any highlighting because highlighting the entire thing will lose the effect of highlighting and would also trouble the reader of the mail with different sizes of fonts, colors, bold, italic and underlings.

My mail would be incomplete and meaningless if I fail to convey my heartfelt gratitude to His Grace Rasamrita Das Prabhuji, the very Dear Disciple of His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj, who is delivering lakhs of souls across the globe by daily showering the divine nectar “Nectar Mellows”, who has very mercifully blessed in my begging bowl by guiding me to go through this divine nectar “Salted Bread” and also to His Grace Srinivasa Govinda Prabhuji of Hyderabad, one of my Very Dear God Brothers who was very kind enough to arrange this divine nectar for me through courier…..Therefore, my all Glories & indebtedness to both of them…..and of course, without pipeline, the product cannot reach the destination and my pipeline is my Spiritual Counselor His Grace Adbhuta Gauranga Das Prabhuji of Hyderabad, who is the cause of all the causes for my Spiritual Advancement in Krishna Consciousness, for which I am grateful to him forever and ever and ever, birth after birth after birth…..

There are so many takeovers for everyone from this divine nectar “Salted Bread” and especially for me, which I pray our Dear Krishna, Smt.Radharani, Guruparampara & Vaishnavaparampara to bless me that I utilize each and every second of my life in the Service of HIM and HIS Pure Devotees with Pure, Loving, Unconditional, Uninterrupted way, the way it pleases them all Most Eternally…..

Just to facilitate and benefit all the Vaishanvas & Vaishnavis of the above nectar, I have just put little extra efforts by typing all the above till mid-night two; while escorting my father in hospital in his room.

Kindly forgive me for the known / unknown mistakes if any – typographically or otherwise….

Hare Krishna….

Your Servant

K.V.Subrahmanyam

9553051555

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