So, as I said in my previous day blog, that since, it was almost 2 AM, Kanai Thakur Prabhu announced that it was not compulsory for us to attend the morning Mangal aarti but how can we be in that place and dare miss a Mangal aarti? Most of us were there in the temple hall. J

The first look at Radha Madhav was magnificent. I could bet, all of us fell in love with them. Now, that is what I would call as love in first sight. :)

The Mangal Aarti would start with Radha Madhav and Panchtattva simultaneously, followed by Narsimha aarti and then tulasi aarti.

Mangal aarti would end at 5:30 AM and later we all would chant our rounds. Most of us would chant in the temple hall itself which used to be fully packed. Few also used to go out of the temple and chant in lawns, gardens. Very few would even walk and chant.

At 7 AM, all devotees would gather in the temple hall for the darshan aarti which starts with Narsimha aarti, Panchtattva aarti and Radha Madhav aarti. Later the idol of Guru Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is taken from Radha Madhav Mandir in small chariot which I can say is similar to ‘Palki’. The whole atmosphere was so blissful.

Guru Prabhupada’s idol is first purified by water and given darshan of Radha Madhav, then of Lord Narsimha and then of Panchtattva. The Chariot then is circumbulating all the three deities three times with Kirtans. Then, it is placed before the big statue of Prabhupada for some time and later taken back to its original place. It was so wonderful watching this all and for some time I had totally lost my memory as to who am I and my life etc etc. I was just lost in the celebration of seeing Radha Madhav first thing in morning.

Radha Madhava deities were huge with eight sakhis in the first hall. The deities were in the order of Tungavidya (1^st sakhi), Citra (2^nd sakhi), Champakalata (3^rd sakhi), Lalita (4^th sakhi), Madhava, Radha, Vishakha (5^th sakhi), Indulekha (6^th sakhi), Rangadevi (7^th sakhi) and Sudevi (8^th sakhi).

In front of this stage of Radha Madhav were kept the imprints of feet of these deities (8 sakhis and Radha Madhav).  

One of the senior devotees (Prema Mataji) was standing beside me in the aarti and it was so kind of her to tell me all the details of the temple hall and what is where and all the significance and most importantly what should we pray to whom? That time I realized, what mistake I used to make all these years by just seeing the deity, admiring them for their beauty or way they were decorated. I think this is what all materialistic people like me does. But, that time I understood why Prabhuji used to tell us that it is by ears that you can get the qualification of seeing God. It is by hearing and knowing the glories that you can know the reality and the significance. By seeing, you can hardly know anything.

So, I prayed according to her instructions to the eight sakhis to give me devotional service as they have) and Radha Madhav to never take me away from their lotus feet.

Later, we went to take the sardari of Lord Narsimha who were placed in the first hall perpendicular to Radha Madhav Deities on the left hand side. Sardari is the silver Crown of Lord placed on each devotees head. We also took the holy water offered to Lord’ ‘Tirth Prasad’. 

Later, I went to Panchtattva Deities which were in the second Hall in the order of Advait Acharya, Nityananda Acharya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Gadhadhar Acharya, and Shivas Acharya. They were huge and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with his hands spread felt as if he is calling us so eagerly and so lovingly to come back to Godhead. Such love was flowing from his form that never felt like going away. I wondered how very stupid am I to leave him and come to this material world – dukhalay!!

Thereafter all devotees take blessings of Guru Prabhupada individually and offer flowers. (Guru Puja). 

Srila Prabhupada is placed opposite to Radha Madhav deities in the first hall. The whole morning program ends with enchanting Kirtans and Dance by Devotees at 8 AM.

We were all told to gather in front of Gada Bhavan for breakfast prasadam. Breakfast was from 8 to 9 AM. It has a capacity to serve 1000 devotees at a time. Due to night travel and hectic traveling no programs were there afterwards and devotees were advised to rest and gather again at the same place for lunch prasadam at 2 PM and thereafter to gather at Gada Lawns at 3:30 PM. We hardly took rest as we were highly excited to see a place like that and all our tiredness had vanished seeing the enchanting deities. Many of us took a round of the place and admiring the beauty, peacefulness and most importantly the aura it had!!

After having nice lunch prasadam, we were all excited as now we would be going to different places and hear lectures from very senior prabhujis. As we were gathering in the gada lawn, kirtans would start in the meanwhile waiting for all the devotees to gather. We were then taken to Prabhupada Samadhi Mandir at 4.40 PM. After taking Darshan and paying obeisance to Guru Prabhupada we all assembled at a small auditorium there inside the Samadhi. After some initial announcements, sankirtana etc. there was a lecture by senior foreign Maharaj H.H. Bhakti Vigna Vinashak Narsimha Swami Maharaj.

H.G. Bal Govind Prabhu gave a small introduction about H.H. Bhakti Vigna Vinashak Narsimha Swami Maharaj. He is currently preaching in China. He has also preached KC in Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia. China is the toughest place on planet earth to go and preach. We all here get a cultural background and we are conducive to practice 4 principles and chant. But Maharaj goes and preaches on the land where there is opposition from every single atomic particle from the environment. There is opposition from government, social culture but besides all these, he has successfully collected a group of devotees who come every year at the Gaur Purnima festival to Mayapur. Also, Maharaj is very famous for his teaching as a bhakti shashtri and bhakti Vaibhav teacher. He is one of the initiating gurus in Iskcon. He comes every year to Mayapur from last 8-10 years for his teaching work. Hence we were very happy and fortunate to have his association and listen from him. Thus, we welcomed him by loudly chanting “Haribol” 3 times. :)

The lecture was on Mayapur. I shall try my best to transcript it.

H.H. Bhakti Vigna Vinashak Narsimha Swami Maharaj first thanked us and said that he is more honored to be able to address the devotees from Pune. I have been coming to Mayapur every year in this time of the year from last 8-10 years for teaching work as Mayapur is very dear and important place to all devotees of Iskcon. Prabhupada describes it as the headquarters of the international society of Krishna consciousness. Before Gaur Purnima, there would be an annual meeting and Prabhupada told all the temple leaders and temple managers come every year and attend. They would talk together and discuss how to organize the preaching work for this society.

We should understand why world headquarters is here is Mayapur Dham?

Mayapur Dham is not different from Vrindavan Dham. Just like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is non-different from Radha and Krishna, Mayapur Dham is non-different from Vrindavan Dham. Mayapur Dham is Avadharya Dham. Krishna is purushottam. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Avadharya avatar. He is the most merciful of all the incarnations. He has come to deliver the mercy. So, we can get the greatest mercy here in Mayapur as Lord’s Mercy overflowing.

In Vrindavan, Prabhupada told us one should be very careful not to commit offences. In Vrindavan, you get lot of opportunity, lot of purification by doing devotional service. So, whatever service we do in Vrindavan, we get 100 times of benefit what we would get in other places. Prabhupada warned us that in Vrindavan, if you commit offence, you get 100 times reaction. It is very serious. But in Mayapur, this is not the case. Mayapur is the place of mercy. Even if you lie down and go to sleep at night, you get the benefit of offering obeisances. 

Just like in chanting the holy names of Krishna, there are offences to be avoided; but in chanting the Panchtattva mantra there are no offences. So, this is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Krishna would kill the demons but Chaitanya Mahaprabhu converted the demons in to devotees. So, this is the significance of Mayapur Dham – a place of mercy – greatest mercy.

Prabhupada brought the devotees to India in 1971 and he wanted to secure land in this land of Mayapur. He felt that his god brothers are suspecting that they didn’t want him to get land here. There were restricting. However, there came a chance where one Mohammed (Muslim) was willing to sell a land and so Prabhupada sent two of his leading disciples – Tamal Krishna Goswami and Baldev Mathan Swami Maharaj. The two of them were sent to purchase a land on behalf of Prabhupada. Prabhupada gave money in cash to Tamal Krishna Goswami. Now, at this time in Bengal devotees were a lot of naxalites. There was a lot of killing and plundering, very dangerous and Prabhupada was giving money to these foreigners to come out here to Mayapur which was in those days was really jungle. Prabhupada himself showed them how to carry money, to wrap it in the cloth and tie it in the dhoti.

Prabhupada was so happy when they returned to Calcutta and said the land is yours!! Prabhupada was so pleased and he congratulated them. So, you see that in the beginning when you enter through the gate, there is a small Bhajan Kutir known as Prabhupada Bhajan Kutir where Kirtan goes on for 24 hours round the clock now. This was the original place in Mayapur where the devotees along with Prabhupada resided and where they began their worship and began preaching in this area.  So, it was 1974 the same here when they opened a Krishna Balaram Mandir in Vrindavan.

Prabhupada asked the devotees in Vrindavan to come for a festival (gaur Purnima) at Mayapur. This was the first festival for Iskcon devotees. Those days to come to Mayapur, there was no proper road. There was no road at all. It was mostly sand. Srila Prabhupada told us that Bhakti Vinod Thakur had a vision that in future that there would be a great city here and the centre of this city would be a temple i.e. the Vedic Planetarium. Prabhupada wanted that we shall develop it. He described the deities that he wanted to worship, Radha Madhav with his eight sakhis and Panchtattva were to be there. He gave all the basic instructions for the temple. In the beginning it was very simple. We had 1 building which is now known as Lotus building. The deities and the temple room were in the basement of the lotus building. So, all the programs everything was in the basement. All the devotees used to stay in the lotus building and Prabhupada would also stay here i.e. Prabhupada’s original room when he comes to Mayapur.

Prabhupada really liked Mayapur very much. Sometimes he would be travelling in America and then suddenly to his secretary he would say let’s go back to Godhead. Let’s go back to Mayapur. He would stop travelling and come back to Mayapur.

So, Prabhupada was very concerned, very important part of Prabhupada’ s visionary work was to establish the nice temple in Mayapur Dham for the worship of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and for the inspiration of the devotees all over the world, to build the desires of Bhakti Vinod Thakur, Bhakti Siddhantha Saraswati Thakur. The Mayapur Dham has become more and more popular in recent years. We are seeing now the temple beginning after so many years. Because of the communist party ruling in Bengal, we were always trying to negotiate with them to get the permission to put up the building but they would deny for temples as they would say there is no need of any more temple. They would always discourage us. But, only recently when the government changed we got the permission for the temple and begin to fulfill the desire of Bhakti Vinod Thakur.

Mayapur Dham is the heart of our KC movement. All the pastimes of Lord Krishna are in Vrindavan and the same places are also here. There are 9 islands (Navadwip) and Mayapur is situated in the centre of the lotus. Around Mayapur there are these 9 islands representing the 9 processes of devotional service.  

Bhakti Vinod Thakur had initiated the preaching work here. Because there was a controversy as where is the actual birth place of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? If you go to Navadwip, there is one temple there and they would say this is the temple here where Mahaprabhu appeared. But Bhakti Vinod Thakur  researched in all the shashtras, Chaitanya Mangal, Chaitanya Bhagwat, Chaitanya Charitamrita and all other scriptures in relation of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his associates. After all the study he understood that Navadwip could not be the birth place. It was impossible. So, he researched and researched and was able to find out it was Mayapur, actually over here where he was able to see from his own home some illuminated pictures from this area. So, he came over and investigated. He found a deity of Lord Vishnu which was worshipped by Jagannatha Mishra (Lord Chaitanya’s father).

Hence, all of this helped to confirm that Mayapur was the actual birthplace. Bhakti Vinod Thakur brought Jagannatha babaji over to this place and when he came here he jumped and danced in ecstasy. Then it got confirmed that this is the actual place of birth place of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So, Bhakti Vinod Thakur came ahead to build a temple at this place but it was not easy as there was opposition as in this whole area most of the residents are Muslims. Bhakti Vinod Thakur had to go and personally begged to people in Calcutta to donate so that a building could be constructed. Thus, a small building Yogpeeth was built.

Our spiritual grandfather Bhakti Siddhantha Saraswati Thakur (BSST) as a young man used to reside at the Yogpeeth and he would manage it on behalf of his father. He was also doing a huge austerity at this time. He made a vow to chant many lakh times the holy name and at some point he was just living under an umbrella and eating practically nothing. But, then he got encouragement and they were inspired by his spiritual powers and wanted that he should go forward and preach. This person became his disciple and encouraged him in giving up the austerities and to go out and preach and in this way there were able to develop the Yogpeeth. Then later, of course Bhakti Siddhantha Saraswati Thakur disappeared from this world and then there were so many god brothers coming up with their own thing and hence we see so many Gaudiya math coming up in this area of Mayapur Dham.

Prabhupada was very discouraged over the fighting going on and arguing who should get what property and what land etc. Prabhupada felt preaching is more important than going to the court and fighting for bricks and stones.  As a result he brought his disciples, followers to this place and with their help he was able to purchase this land here in Mayapur. So, in the beginning it was slow and simple and not a lot to show. But, Prabhupada encouraged us to preach. When people would come here and visit this place, they would all appreciate the simplicity and the beauty of this holy place. The spiritual power which exists in this holy dham is not like any other place.

Prabhupada would reside here particularly in Gaur Purnima festival. He would encourage the devotees and wanted when they would come to Mayapur, devotees should be engaged in hearing and chanting. Hence, they would organize different seminars for hearing and discussing. So when Prabhupada came here he saw that devotees are not taking part in the classes but just coming and sleeping. He was concerned and said better they plough the fields. We can understand Prabhupada’s mood. He wanted everyone to engage in devotional service according to their psycho physical nature.

So, we also have a lot of land around here and Prabhupada wanted that we also grow some food here and be so much self-sufficient. So here there is so much land and many devotees have their houses and gardens and they grow so nice vegetables and greens come up so easily as the soil is so rich and so nice since it was the Ganga basin. Grow vegetables, flowers etc. This is Krishna Consciousness. Utilizing everything for Krishna. So, Prabhupada envisioned that the devotees would be able to do like that.

At that time many refugees would come up from Bangladesh and Prabhupada would give them shelter if they would engage in KC. Prabhupada didn’t deny them the opportunities in becoming a devotee. Bengali ladies helped in making yarn. Prabhupada wanted that we make proper use of the cows and bulls. He was not in favor of much machinery. He wanted to use what is naturally available for the service of Krishna. Hence cows are protected in Mayapur – Goshala.

Eventually Gurukul also began here at Mayapur. Children of the devotees would come in the gurukul. Prabhupada had established gurukul in Dallas, TX. But there was so much trouble from the authorities, government. They didn’t like the way we were educating the children. There were so many difficulties to organize a school in western countries. And so, Prabhupada said let the children all come to India. In Vrindavan and Mayapur, we shall have our gurukul and none shall object. There we shall educate children to be good Vaishnava.

So, Prabhupada enjoyed the gurukul boys and many of them were also initiated by Prabhupada when they were still young boys. Prabhupada would accept them, initiate them. So, Prabhupada enjoyed so much seeing the devotees happily engaged in the service of Krishna here in the Dham. In Prabhupada’s time, we had small Radha Madhav made up of brass. So, Prabhupada began encouraging us in the beginning. You can’t do everything at once. It takes time but Prabhupada laid the foundation of everything. He started the installation process. In those days, we had very few Indian devotees. Most of them were foreigners. Very less Indian people were joining our KC movement. Prabhupada was concerned and said educated class of people is not joining our KC movement. Hence, I am so glad to see so many educated classes of people of Pune and other cities are now taking KC. I am sure it is very pleasing for Prabhupada to see that now so many educated people are coming forward. 

Once I was in Thailand and one man said to me there that all the devotees in India are rich and educated and once you are rich and educated you can join Hare Krishna!! J Of course times have changed J

‘Rich’ means spiritually richness and Education means spiritually educated. That is KC which is the real spiritual wealth.

Prabhupada had asked his disciple Ambarish Prabhu that his service was in Mayapur. Ambarish Prabhu was a rich man and so Prabhupada had requested him to use your money in developing Mayapur. So, Ambarish Prabhu is regularly coming to Mayapur and putting his time and money in developing Mayapur and with the beginning of the construction of new temple (Vedic Planetarium), he is playing a major part in financial support.

Why Mayapur?

Another reason, why Mayapur is that we get lot of manpower in Mayapur for the service of Krishna. We have a lot of devotees in Mayapur. There are many devotees who take their buses all over India especially Assam, Bengal, UP and distribute our literature. And once or twice in a year, they return to Mayapur to take part in the festivities. There are a lot of people available here in Mayapur for the service of Krishna and KC movement.

Prabhupada also understood that for all these Bengali people and many come from Bangladesh also, it is natural for them to be KC as they have been brought up with Kirtans and bhajans. So, they are naturally KC devotees. Prabhupada also saw that Mayapur is a place where devotees could come and be trained up and then sent out all over the world for preaching. This is happening now with the departments we have in Mayapur like the Mayapur institution of higher education. These different programs are helping to educate devotees and send them out to educate different parts of the world for preaching work. There are number of devotees staying here and working for MIHE and they are also go to their countries and facilitate the bhakti shashtri and bhakti Vaibhav courses there. I just came back from Calcutta with a devotee who was returning from Middle East and he was teaching bhakti shashtri there. Like this Mayapur is also giving mercy to other parts of the world in the educational programs. This all is in line with Prabhupada’ s mood. He wants his devotees to be nicely trained up to know the philosophy.

Chanting and dancing is also very important. It purifies us. This is what we can get highest out of the temple in Mayapur. With nice Kirtan it is much easier for us to remember Krishna. Remembrance of Krishna is very natural here at Mayapur Dham. Japa or Chanting is also very natural at Mayapur. We will find it much easier to do japa here. Other places people sleep late at nights and then they can’t get up early in morning. In Mayapur, after 9 at night you don’t find too many people awake. Most people are inside and asleep not watching TV.

In Mayapur, people are all getting up by 3:30 AM in morning. People are going around and ringing the bells. At 4.30 Am, you go in the temple room and it is a shock to see the temple spect. Any other place, I know when I go to temple room at 4:30 AM, I am the only one. None else would be there. And if someone is there, it shall be a shock. But in Mayapur, it is amazing that the big hall is full of devotees. This is Mayapur. It is natural in this place and people come from far and wife to Mayapur specially this time of the year from Diwali to Gaur Purnima.

At the time of Ganga sagar also, so many pilgrims come, so many buses. They all make a point to come to mayapur. It is a part of their tour. People come and are appreciating the darshan, deities, the atmosphere and of course all are getting benefit of Mayapur dham. So, coming to the holy dham is not to take a bath. It is for a cow or an ass.

What is the real purpose in coming to the holy dham?

Real purpose of coming to the holy dham is to hear and to associate with the devotees residing in Dham. This is the most important part in coming to the holy dham – to get that association and hear from the devotees who are residing in this dham. So, while you are here in this dham, you have an opportunity to meet people such as H.H Bhakti Vijnapurna maharaj who might be residing here continuously from last 35 years leaving his place at Kolkata. He is running the gurukul. He is very pure and saintly person and I am sure you will be taking the opportunity to go and see his gurukul and how is he running the gurukul. He also has a school for girls, training the girls also to be ideal vaishnavis. He is very enlightened by the nature of the dham.

Another enlightened person you would like to meet is Sankarshan Das who is over in Swaroopganj. He is a relative of Srila Prabhupada. He runs the aarogya centre (Ayurvedic treatment). The healing centre. This was given to us by the Swami Shivananda people as they could not maintain it. We give dental treatment and free medical treatment etc. There is also a school there. He is been living there with his wife. They are very dedicated and renounced people doing service for Srila Prabhupada.

Usually, the prime Time is during the gaur Purnima. At that time, we have is parikrama. We learnt that Jiva Goswami had gone on parikrama as a young man before going to Vrindavan. Parikrama is going around all the holy places of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes in the association of Lord Nityananda. Lord Nityananda personally took Jiva Goswami round all the islands of Navadwip and told him all the pastimes of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So Jiva Goswami, Lord Nityananda, they took the time to go around all these holy places. Bhakti Vinod Thakur also encouraged us that we should develop this parikrama and by doing so we shall also become qualified to go back to godhead. The most wonderful experience is going on the parikrama and singing the wonderful songs of Bhakti Vinod Thakur which describes the different Lila of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. You can actually see the words of these songs in these places and feel everything in relation to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Of course, when we enter the holy land we should first go and seek permission from Chitrapal (Lord Shiva) who is at the Yogpeeth. We have to seek his blessings to go and see this holy land. Without his blessings we cannot enter this holy dham. This is the procedure. You should go tomorrow and get the blessings of Lord Shiva and this way you can enter the holy dham.

This place where we are siting is Prabhupada’s pushpa Samadhi. His actual Samadhi is in Vrindavan. Prabhupada left his body in Vrindavan and some flowers were brought here for this Samadhi. Just opposite, we have the Samadhi of Tamal Krishna Goswami. He was an intimate disciple and secretary of Srila Prabhupada. He left his body in the year 2002. He was actually the second disciple to leave the body. The first one was Gaur Govinda Goswami Maharaj. He left his body in Mayapur on the day of Bhakti Siddhantha Saraswati Thakur. He was here for the yearly meetings and when he was residing in one of the rooms and remembering Jagannatha Lila, he left his body. His body was later taken to Bhubaneswar and his body was put Samadhi there. Here is the pushpa Samadhi. Another disciple like Sridhar Swami came to Mayapur and left his body here. Just as Prabhupada wanted to leave his body in holy dham, his disciples are also doing the same thing – coming to Mayapur or Vrindavan and leaving their bodies.

Holy dham is the place for devotional service. We can begin our devotional service or we can get so much benefit. We can make spiritual advancement very quickly in the holy dham. So, this is the easiest place to get the mercy. This is the place where it is all mercy – Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He is giving the mercy freely to all of us. We just have to take the advantage of this mercy by just merging ourselves in the activities, hearing and chanting. Don’t miss a moment of any activity. Take part in every activity. Whenever you get a chance, go to temple room and see the deities, hear the Kirtan, attend the aarti. Hear the classes. So, many learned devotees reside here. Take their association. So, it is a wonderful opportunity to become Krishna conscious.

So, many people tell me that after they went to Mayapur, their life is changed. I was at Calcutta for few days preaching there and so many tell me that they became devotees after coming to Mayapur. They come to Mayapur for a day tour, some visit but their lives would change when they see the deities, hear the Kirtans, see the devotees, they cannot remain the same. So, this is the power of Mayapur dham. I don’t think you can go back to Pune the same after coming here. You have to take back the spirit of Dham with you.

There was a sanyasi in Vrindavan who was residing in Vrindavan and Prabhupada said why are still here? I thought you would be going to places preaching. He said No, Prabhupada, it is nice here, to chant and do other activities. Prabhupada said no, you have to give the dham to others. So, this should be our mood. We come here to the holy dham, we get purified, enlivened. We should go back and give the same mercy, spirit to others. What other disease can we get here in Mayapur - Only Krishna consciousness, right? J

Prabhupada wanted everyone in his lifetime, at least once to come to this holy land of Mayapur. Devotees take so much trouble; spend so much money to come. Devotees come from South America, Russia, Africa, China and you can see some are also living here in Mayapur. There are children from these places who study in Mayapur. Parents are willing to make that sacrifice because they understand it is so powerful. It is so worthwhile. So, this is all about Mayapur dham. There is so much more to be said. I shall leave it to you to understand the real glory of the dham. Not just with your own  eyes but with your ears, senses we can perceive the glories of the dham.

Later, he asked if there are any questions.

Q) How to retain the motivation after the Mayapur visit?

A) May be you come back every year. May be you shouldn’t go away. May be you just stay here? May be you should keep in touch with the mood of Mayapur dham. J Why does the inspiration go away? We must be doing something wrong in something that is not involved in Mayapur dham. We need to keep ourselves KC by doing regular activities, good sadhana. You need to maintain the same habit of getting up early in morning and going to bed early. Keep the same standards. Why we can’t do it? It is because of our own weakness of mind. We have to be firm, need to have stronger desire. We have to push ourselves a little bit. We should put our efforts trying not to get back to the rot again. As we are chanting our rounds early in the morning here, also try to chant the rounds early in the morning when you go back. Try to keep the similar schedule. Don’t let yourselves to be influenced so easily by maya. There is no difference. Prabhupada said, “I am always in Vrindavan. I may be sitting here in New York but my heart is always in Vrindavan”. So, we should keep Mayapur, Vrindavan in our heart; the same consciousness. We can develop the Mayapur, Vrindavan atmosphere in your own home. It’s possible. It just takes our own effort, our own desire to practice Krishna Consciousness. It is easy for us to slacken off. That tendency can be there. But, if we keep going, then Krishna will help. He reciprocates. Krishna says ‘As you surrender, I reward you accordingly’. It may be difficult for us in the beginning but gradually it becomes easier. Get inspiration from senior devotees. We can get the mood of Mayapur, mood of Krishna consciousness. You might have a family and a job but that is not a problem. Even, Murari Gupta was a grihastha. He was an Ayurveda doctor. He is both - Material and Spiritual Doctor. J So, like this we have to just make a little bit effort in the beginning. Gradually it becomes natural. Don’t let yourself to go to pieces. Try to keep the standard up. Don’t give in to the television, to internet. Try to keep yourself absorbed. Devotional service should be unmotivated and uninterrupted.

Q) It is said that Mayapur is non-different from Vrindavan. How do we understand and appreciate this practically?

A) We have to accept what is said in the scriptures. All the places of Vrindavan are also found here in Mayapur. Everything!! There is a Govardhan Hill and Radha kund established at the Saraswati math. All of these places are here. They have to be revealed to us through great devotees like Bhakti Siddhantha Saraswati Thakur, Srila Prabhupada. We have to see the dham through their eyes. They are pure. They can see Krishna. They can see dham truly. We can see the holy dham through their vision. They are explaining to us the glories of these places. By their divine words, we can understand what Mayapur dham is and how is it non-different from Vrindavan dham. The spiritual potency is here in the dham. For non-devotees, the dham is covered. They cannot see the dham. There would be a covering over the dham. But for a devotee, a pure devotee at heart can see the dham. Bhakti Siddhantha Saraswati Thakur, one evening he described that he went upside and he came back and said that I saw Mahaprabhu, Nityananda and associates having Kirtan. He was able to see all the pastimes taking place within the holy land. He could see the Kirtan, hear it. He met them, met all the devotees. These bthings are possible for the pure souls. So, understanding the dham is hearing about it from the words of these self-realized souls as they experience the holy dham. We are coming to visit the holy dham to learn more the glories of the dham and to develop our consciousness. Then it makes more meaning to us when we read the scriptures. Then we remember yes, I went there and I saw this etc. In this way, the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya become more real to us.

He said that when there will be time to go, none would want to go. This is the common experience. We don’t like to leave Mayapur and so have to take it in our heart just like Krishna is in our heart and Krishna never leaves Vrindavan and so, Vrindavan is in our heart. Similarly, Mayapur is also in our heart. The more we see this Mayapur dham, more we love Mayapur dham, more our heart will be purified and more we can understand the glories. The best thing in Mayapur dham is the harinaam sankirtana.

Hence, Maharaj ended with such lovely Harinaam Sankirtana. I got lost in just first 2 seconds while he played the Kartals; what to talk about the whole Kirtan!! We all instantly started dancing. It was indeed blissful. 

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare!!

After the lecture, there were few important announcements about accommodation, medical facilities, doctor etc. and daily schedule at Mayapur which like…

4.30 a.m. – Mangal Aarti

5.20 a.m. – Chanting

7.00 a.m. - Shringar Aarti

8.15 a.m. – Breakfast

9.15 a.m. – Visit to nearby places by walk / Bus / Boat (Gather at Gada Lawns)

2.00 p.m. – Lunch

4.00 p.m. – Assemble at Gada Lawns

4.30 p.m. – Evening Session

8.00 p.m. – Dinner

9.00 p.m. – K. C. Rest

Hare Krishna!!

Pamho!!

2^nd day of the yatra and I understood the effect of association.

Normally, when you have a long train journey you definitely don’t find anyone getting up early in morning by 4 and start worshiping or chanting. I have seen people sleeping and just lying down for hours and hours till their stop is arrived or in day time… max, you see is people talking to each other and sometimes leading to good friendship. But, what a beautiful atmosphere was there around me when few devotees surrounding me got up by 4 or 4:30 AM and were chanting, reviving their eternal friendship with the Supreme. I usually try but have always failed to wake up at 4 or 4:30 unless need to go out but today, out of shame I woke up. I was feeling so shameful when I saw a devotee woke up and chanting and myself sleeping. Bang, right on the next second I woke up with my bead bag in hand and started chanting. Never before, I enjoyed so much…. I was enjoying chanting then and completed my rounds in the morning before the other non-devotees woke up.

We all did Mangal aarti, Narsimha aarti, tulasi aarti and Kirtan. Soon, came Rourkela and again most of us were down on the platform dancing and doing Kirtans… wow what a start of the day with talking to best friend (Supreme Lord) and dancing. Train whistle was blown and this time we didn’t want to run like the previous day when the train started and so we all calmly got back in train on time J Soon, a prabhujis came and were serving Poha + Tomato chatni for breakfast. It was hot and tasty. Never before I had this tomato chatni but it was very tasty an so we all took second serves too ;-)

There was a lecture by Bal Govind Prabhu after the breakfast (which was relished more than the breakfast ;-)).

Mayapur is also called as Nabadwip (also Navadwip, Navadvipa or Nabadwip Dham) and is a municipality in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Its name means "9 islands" in the Bengali language which are situated on eastern and western banks of Ganga. The islands are named Antardwip, Simantadwip, Rudradwip, Madhyadwip, Godrumdwip, Ritudwip, Jahnudwip, Modadrumdwip, and Koladwip. Just like the lotus flower that blooms which has got 8 petals surrounding and 1 in center; like that is the shape of the spiritual world in the form of Mayapur Dham is. It is like the lotus where 8 petals are 8 islands and the center island is called Antardwip where ISKCON centre is. There are places where we would not be going in yatra due to time constraints. So, we will go there is through hearing. One such place we shall visit today known as Modadrumdwip.

In Treta Yuga, when Lord Ram along with mother Sita when he has in his vanvas (forest), both of them came across this place called Godrumdwip and they stayed here. Laxman with his loving hands made Kutir for Lord Rama and Sita to stay. When they were staying in this place, Lord Rama was smiling as if he had some wonderful thought going in his mind. So, mother Sita asked him what is going in your mind. Lord Rama told her that in Kalyuga, I am going to appear here in the form of Shri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and I am going to distribute pure love of God through the chanting of the holy names of the lord to anyone and everyone on this planet earth and thus deliver everyone back to the spiritual world. So, mother Sita expressed the desire to see that form of Lord Gauranga and then Lord Ram reveled to her the beautiful form of Lord Gauranga – golden complexioned. His hands are reaching up to his knees very tender and long arms. He has got golden complexion. He is the only soul father of Sankirtana movement and he has got beautiful lotus flowered eyes. He is the maintainer of the entire creation by the name Vishwambhara and Dwijara (best of all brahmanas). He gives the process of Yuga dharma – chanting of holy names.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

And to such wonderful mercy incarnation of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu, I offer my repeated obeisances. So, this form when mother Sita saw, she was stunned but then she saw something unusual that the Lord is in the form of a sanyasi (means he shall give up his mother, his wife and everyone else). She becomes very unhappy seeing him in the form of a sanyasi.  She asks what is this? I am seeing you in the form of a sanyasi. Will you leave us and go and take sanyas in this incarnation of yours? Lord Ram tries to pacify her by saying that yes, although I shall take sanyas; my mother Sachi mata and you who is appearing as Vishnupriya; I may be separated from you but I assure you through your constant remembrance of me, I shall always stay with you although I have taken sanyas. So in this way, this place Godrumdwip is a very special place. It is not an ordinary place to be.

Then, down the line when many many thousands of years passed by, Lord appeared a wonderful niece to Shivas Thakur. Shivas Thakur is one of the Panchtattva. Lord appears in five forms – Prabhu Nityandanda, Shri Advait, Gadhadhar, and Shivas Thakur Lord Chaitanya. These are 5 incarnations of a supreme lord in form of his devotees, expansion of a devotee, incarnation of a devotee and a devotee himself. In the five forms, Lord appears and that is called as Panchtattva. So, Shivas Thakur is not ordinary. Shivas Thakur had a niece Narayani and this girl was simply a 4 yr. old child and from her childhood she used to constantly participate in the sankirtana o Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who used to sing and dance in Shivas Thakur’s aangan every day and every night.

Once, there was a rumor that a Muslim king agitated by the local kazi by telling that the sankirtana movement is banned in our village but Shivas Thakur every night gathers his devotees together and he has sankirtana. He must be punished and there was a rumor that the king has sent a batch of soldiers to loot plunder the home of Shivas Thakur. Shivas Thakur listening to this rumor became very afraid that what will happen to devotees? What will happen to the temple and paraphernalia which he has for the service of the lord? As he was afraid, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saw this while he was dancing in his own home observed this anxiety and asked Shivas Thakur that “Do you think that this kazi or king can do anything to you or devotees because I am situated in everyone’s heart as supersoul (parmatma) unless I sanction, they can’t even lift their hand to hold a weapon against you. Unless I sanction they can’t even remember in their life what they are supposed to you and unless it is my wish they cannot do anything to anyone. So, if you don’t believe me just see what I can do now. Then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu called Narayani. He told the kazi and the king – I can make them sing love of Godhead crying tears in their ecstasy.

What they are trying to disapprove, the very same day they shall be ecstatic in the love of God and then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told Narayani (4 yrs old girl) to chant Krishna’s name and cry in ecstasy. Then Narayani started chanting Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna and tears of love of God started pouring from her eyes. She was stunned in ecstasy. She was swimming in happiness and seeing her wonderful transformation, al devotees started dancing jai, jai, haribol!! haribol!! And in this way there was a big festival that continued afterwards coz devotees got their confidence back.

So, this Narayani was also given the remnants by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as prasadam and maha mahaprasadam. Eventually she grew and got married. She had a child by the name Vrindavandas. This child Vrindavandas Thakur was none other than Vyāsadeva himself (incarnation of Vyāsadeva in Chaitanya Lila). So, this Godrumdwip is the birthplace of Vrindavandas Thakur (Vyāsadeva himself). Eventually he wrote a literature Chaitanya Mangal and there was another same literature Chaitanya Mangal written by Lochandas Thakur and so the devotees suggested that this literature should be named as Chaitanya Bhagwat because Vyāsadeva has also composed Srimad Bhagvatam and if there is a literature composed on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes by Vrindavandas Thakur who is Vyāsadeva, that literature is known as Chaitanya Bhagwat. Sometimes, if you get time please read these 3 literatures, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Chaitanya Mangal and Chaitanya Bhagwat and you shall come to know a lot about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his pastimes and teachings. In this way, Godrumdwip is a very very special place.

Near by the home of Vrindavandas Thakur, there is Sarang Morari’s place.  There is Sarang Dev Gaudiya math, a beautiful temple. There is a very beautiful story. It so happened that there was a great devotee of lord Chaitanya by the name Sarang Thakur. He used to stay under a tree and he was not so much concerned on building a home and facility for himself. He used to go every morning to Ganga, take his bath, come and chant Krishna. In this way, he was living very happily. One day he was chanting his Bhajan sitting on this place, in his beautiful vision Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu appeared. Lord and his dreams are identical. To the degree a person is purified, to that degree 1 can perceive. Gauranga Mahaprabhu said if you initiate, make disciples and chant Hare Krishna. Sarang Thakur said no, this guru and all is not meant for me. How can I become guru of someone? He was very humble who was very much unwilling to become a spiritual master. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said I order you that you much become spiritual master and give Hare Krishna to everyone. Finally, Sarang Thakur promises that tomorrow morning the first person I see I am going to initiate him and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu disappeared in his dream.

Early morning next day Sarang Thakur went to take his bath in Ganga. As he was taking body, a body came and touched him. It was a dead body of a 7 yr. old child. So, the custom in the Bengal is sometimes to cremate the body and sometimes if it is a body of a child then they float it in the Ganga. So, this dead body came and touched Sarang Thakur. He remembered his promise that whomever I see first in morning, I shall give him diksha and so he grabbed the child and in his ears chanted the initiation mantras. The body became alive. This boy was named as Moraridas by Sarang Thakur. Moraridas started staying with his guru and doing all kinds of services for his guru. Eventually he became so dear that everyone in the village came to know him as Sarang Morari. This boy, eventually his parents came to know and his parents came running that our boy is alive and is with Sarang Thakur. So, they came to take him back and the boy looked at them and said I was already dead. You floated me down the river and now when my spiritual master gave me new birth; new life by which I can come back to my actual position as a devotee of the lord. How can I give up service to my guru? I shall stay here only. So, the parents went and started nagging the guru telling him please send the boy home back. Sarang Thakur said you can take him, he is your son and the boy was very reluctant. So, in this way Sarang Morari also used to stay in this place.

This Bakula tree that I was telling you about is a very special tree. After some years that Sarang Thakur was performing bhajans, this tree was going to die, it was withering away. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to go every day to Vidyanagar to study and then come back to Antardwip where Yogpeeth is there. So, on the way Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would pass through Bakula tree (Sarang Thakur’s place) and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told Sarang Thakur that at least build a home for yourself and he was unwilling. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saw that this is the tree which was the only shelter for Sarang Thakur. He out of compassion went and embraced that tree which was dying. And the tree became full bloomed back in action and beautiful. There is a hole in that tree where 2 people can sit comfortably. Generally if a tree gets a hollow in it, it dies away. But this tree is the only tree which is alive 500 years later which has a hollow inside it and it is in full bloom.

Sarang Thakur was such a powerful preacher, fearless. It is said that in his love of god, he is always seen chanting and dancing. It is said that one time whenever or wherever he would go, be it river or jungle; if the tiger is sleeping would slap a tiger and say chant Hare Krishna. Why are you wasting your life? If you are a non-envious person, even animals understand. They attack us when they know that we have envy in our heart. The tiger would know that he is singing love of God. He is a true soul and the tiger would start singing Hare Krishna and then he would go and jump in river Ganga, catch a crocodile, open his mouth and tell him chant Hare Krishna!! Why are you wasting your life? And the crocodile would chant Hare Krishna. Sometimes, he would grasp pythons by tail and tell them. Anyhow, even now there are crocodiles in Ganga and tigers and pythons. But they don’t come and attack devotees.

It is said that Madhavacharya also came to this Modadrumdwip and in this place when he was visiting and reciting his beautiful prayers of the lord, Gauranga Mahaprabhu gave him his darshan and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told Madhavacharya that you should go and preach this cult of dalitvad completely smashing the teachings of advaitvad established by Shankaracharya. Establish pure bhakti on this tract of land especially in south India. So, on the order and blessings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Madhavacharya went down south and he also told Madhavacharya that in future (since Madhavacharya appeared 1000 yrs. before and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared before 500 yrs.). Gauranga Mahaprabhu told Madhavacharya that after a few hundred years later I shall appear and I shall take initiation in your sampraday and inaugurate the process called harinaam sankirtana. In the meanwhile, you should prepare the grounds by doing this work of Advaitvad. So, in this way, this place Modadrumdwip is very beautiful even today. Huge wide rivers, crystal clear waters. If you go there, you don’t feel like going anywhere else.

So, now I request you to constantly hear and chant on the holy names of the lord not wasting any moment of the yatra.

We reached Howrah at 3 and Kanai Thakur Prabhuji guided us to the way out. Right at the exit Bal Govind Prabhu was waiting for us and he guided us to the 2 buses that were on opposite end.

Nice comfortable buses. We loaded our luggage and after starting for Mayapur, Bal Govind Prabhu (as I was in his bus) gave a small introduction of the place.

Mayapur is also called as Nabadwip. Its name means "9 islands" in the Bengali language which are situated on eastern and western banks of Ganga. The islands are named Antardwip, Simantadwip, Rudradwip, Madhyadwip, Godrumdwip, Ritudwip, Jahnudwip, Modadrumdwip, and Koladwip. It is a birth place of many lilas of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Many pilgrims from origins worldwide adhering to Gaudiya Vaishnavism come to Nabadwip every year on pilgrimage. These 9 islands represent 9 processes of bhakti.

Rudradwip is the place of Lord Shiva. It represents sravanam. Kirtanam which is the process for Godrumdwip, smaranam is the process for Madhyadwip. Archanam which is the process of Jahnudwip and so on and so forth. So, in these processes if we have to become expert and accomplished, we seek the potencies in these places when we visit them. So, this Rudradwip is the place where prominent pastimes of Lord Shiva take place. Our ISKCON centre is in the portion where Rudradwip and Antardwip meet each other. It is a very prominent place. So, when Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu left his home to take sanyas, it was from this Rudradwip that he crossed Ganga and went to Patwa. Similar way, Srila Prabhupada also would visit and leave Mayapur Dham from this place (Rudradwip) to preach whole world. So in that context, we as preachers of KC treat Rudradwip as a very special place where we seek the divine merits where we also become empowered to go out and preach the way Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada did.

In Rudradwip, which is the place of Lord Shiva, there are very beautiful pastimes that take place. Lord Shiva eternally resides here and once upon a time, during the time of Nimbarka Acharya. Nimbarka Acharya and his followers came to this place and they were together discussing Hari Katha amongst each other. Lord Shiva gets very pleased hearing the Hari Katha and he voluntarily offered Darshan to whole of the Vaishnava community. Nimbarka Acharya and others offered dandvats. So, there is a description that just like of all the flowing rivers, Ganga is the best; amongst all devtas, Lord Krishna is the best and amongst all Vaishnava, Lord Shiva is the best. And amongst all Puranas, Srimad Bhagvatam is the best.

So, when Lord Shiva appeared Nimbarka Acharya and others offered obeisances and Lord Shiva told them that I am so pleased with the discussion that you had; you can ask anything that you want. Nimbarka Acharya said that I want to preach this message of bhakti all over this tract of land and I need your empowerment specially in spreading KC. Lord Shiva said Tathastu and in fact Lord Shiva named this island as Rudradwip. Nimbarka Acharya became very very famous in the sampraday. In this way, this place is also famous for Lord Shiva giving benediction to preachers.

Then, this is the same place where Bhakti Siddhantha Saraswati Thakur (BHAKTI SIDDHANTHA SARASWATI THAKUR) finished his college education and beautiful deity of neem tree of Gauranga and Nityananda prabhu for himself and keeping the deity in front, he took a vow that I will chant 100 crore names of Krishna. You know how much is this? It took him 10 years of daily chanting more than 128 rounds. So, after he took this vow he made a small hut for himself and started chanting. He hardly bothered for climatic conditions and such 10 years consistently he chanted the holy names of Lord Krishna. When he completed his vow, there were so many impediments. Sometimes, the shack in which he was staying would break and rains would torrentially fall upon him. But, he would bother trying to remake the construction. He would just put up an umbrella, sitting in the rain and continue chanting.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

He did this for 10 years. Such was his determination. At the end of which he was blessed by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as an empowered preacher of KC. So, we should learn something from this in our own spiritual lives also. Often, we are very eager to tell others to become Krishna’s devotees. We are very quick to make the point. But you know gostyanandi is the one who is a great bhajnanandi ( good teller is the one who is a good implementer). He is the one who finds delight in his own sadhana by getting up early in the morning, by doing his rounds. Only one who is relishing one’s own Bhajan can give that relish to others whom he is trying to preach to. It is not that we are enthusiastic to distribute books, to meet great devotees and when it comes to our own chanting we treat it as if oh ho, what a burden!! I have to finish so many rounds and why do I have to do this every day? So, that is not a preacher. So, BHAKTI SIDDHANTHA SARASWATI THAKUR by his own example he showed how one should intensely practice sadhana, develop his own taste for holy name and then can give that taste to others also.

So, this place is also in that context important for preachers to prepare themselves. The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war. It’s the slogan in the army. Sweating in peace means daily morning sadhana bhakti and bleeding in war means we do our sadhana when we are in war with maya. When you know how to respond to those provoking situations very nicely.

Also, in this Rudradwip is the presence of Sripad Shankaracharya, one of the great propounders of Advait Nath. He happened to come down to this place and it said that Shankaracharya because he was propagating mayawad on the order of the lord; so that he will separate enviest atheist to have disguised themselves as spiritualists and make a separate sampraday out of them. Mayawadis have a very dangerous philosophy that God and I are one and when Lord comes to this world, he is made up of maya. That time Nabadwip was very famous for its high seat of learning in India just like right now Oxford and Cambridge and all these universities.

Shankaracharya is the incarnation of Lord Shiva himself. He was ordered by the lord to purposefully preach a wrong philosophy. So, Shankaracharya when he came to this place he also wanted to preach mayawad in this place. But, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to him in a vision and told him that this place, I want to keep pure and I don’t want to contaminate it with your bogus philosophy. So, please keep yourself away and don’t try to preach your philosophy here. So, Shankaracharya left Nabadwip Dham without doing any preaching.

Of course, to his very intimate followers, he did tell

Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam,
Govindam Bhaja Mooda Mathe,

Samprapthe Sannihithe Kale,
Nahi Nahi Rakshathi Dookrunj Karane

He said, you fool why are you trying to adjust grammatically prefixes and suffixes to figure out some screwed up meaning from the scriptures. Just worship Lord Govinda. Don’t waste your time. So, in this way Shankaracharya stands as a Vaishnava (as a devotee) but having appeared with a garb of an atheist to spread Mayawad. So, he also came in this place called Rudradwip. Various other incarnations of Lord Shiva such as Durvasa, Dattatreya and Akarna, these personalities also appeared in this place and stayed here for some time. But their philosophy of Nirvana wanting to merge with God became unpalatable to them by the influence of Nabadwip Dham. They started feeling this is not so good to merge with Lord. Far better is to perform bhakti and maintain our individuality from the lord. Thus, they gave up their attempts of trying to become nirvana Vadis and they actually became devotees.

Later on, one time Bhakti Vinod Thakur in one of the literatures, he mentions – running in this place on the bank of Ganga was found one lady and when devotees asked who you are, she said -- My name is Saayujya Mukti. Merging into God is one type of devotion – Saayujya. So, there are 5 types of muktis (liberation) – Saayujya, Saalokya, Saameepya, Saaroopya and Kaivalya mukti. So, Saayujya was roaming around uncared for. So, when asked what you are doing in this place of Rudradwip, she said my 4 sisters have attained perfection of their lives. To me, nobody is giving any audience to. In fact my greatest propounders like Dattatreya and Shankaracharya, they have deserted me and so I am roaming around without any shelter. So, in this way this place is very powerful in terms of its influence in giving us the facility in defeating mayawad and establishing Vaishnava principles. There is only one enemy of Vaishnava – Mayawadis (those who say God and I are one). So, whenever we and they come across each other we can’t stand each other.

`

In fact in the descriptions of Vaishnava literatures, vishnukanchi, shivkanchi and those places in south India where Shankaracharya and others have their own mathas. There is a description that in shivkanchi where Mayawadis is preached, no Vaishnava would even go there to pass urine in that place. So, that is why this thought that one should become one with God, is considered most abominable by all Vaishnava Acharyas. So, we should pray for that here in Rudradwip. In this way, Rudradwip is most cherished places of Lord’s worships.

Tomorrow onwards, as we go to other dwipas, we shall learn more about them.

Then, there was a small question and answer session of which since, the questions were not clear kindly forgive me for not transcripting it. Well, by the end of this, we crossed toll and the buses were halted for Lunch prasadam which consists of Puri, Sabzi, Rice, and Dal, 2 sweets (Rasogulla and Khajha). It is a different experience in itself to have such a wonderful prasadam on the highway with so many devotees serving each other.

Again, after the break we started for Mayapur. Most of us relaxed and few like me were busy taking advantage of the association discussing our learning and experiences in this spiritual path. J the bus was stranded for a long time in traffic and so we reached Mayapur at 00:30 and by the time we all loaded our luggage in the rooms, it was 1 or 1:15 AM. Later we had dinner prasadam and so went to sleep by 2 AM.

Since, it was almost 2 AM, Kanai Thakur Prabhu announced that it was not compulsory for us to attend the morning Mangal aarti but how can we be in that place and dare miss a Mangal aarti? Most of us were there in the temple hall.  :)

Hare Krishna!!

Pamho!!

So, after the Mayapur yatra is over and resting for 2 days, let me again start with Mayapur yatra in my memory from Day 1 and in the course, transcript all the lectures which we heard.

To start with, there were most devotees who travelled in Azad Hind Express and some in Duronto Express and few in flights as well. We all met in Mayapur directly. Let me not skip the wonderful train journey which seemed tiring to non-devotees and blissful to us. The train (Azad Hind) was scheduled to start at 6:20PM on 23^rd Dec but since it was 8 hrs. late, it was to start at 2:30AM (24^th Dec) but finally started at 3:20 AM J. We utilize the time on platform by finishing our rounds of chanting. Well, we slept for few hrs. But most were up and chanting at 7 – 7:30 AM. That day’s meal was to be arranged by us and wow… we had so much to share with each other and best part… all that we shared was Prasad J and so enjoyed more.

That whole day we were to be in train. Wherever, the train would halt for more than 5 mins, there used to be ecstatic dancing Kirtans on the platforms. For a person watching from the train, would see all making way for the Kirtan party to move from one end of the platform to other and enjoying themselves. Few devotees would roam around the area with small books and Bhagvad Gita and people would opt for it.

We all did Mangal aarti and Narsimha aarti in small groups but we were waiting for the Kirtan and class by Prabhuji.

The train was virtually divided by Bal Govind Prabhu and Kanai Thakur Prabhu and we all like honey bees would surround them (lotus flowers) to extract maximum for our souls. I was in the section under Kanai Thakur Prabhu. He started with lovely Kirtan followed by Bhagvatam class (Canto 1, Chapter 13 text 10).

BhaktiVedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagvatam 1.13.10

bhavad-vidhā bhāgavatās

tīrtha-bhūtāḥ svayaḿ vibho

tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni

svāntaḥ-sthena gadābhṛtā

SYNONYMS

bhavat — your good self; vidhāḥ — like; bhāgavatāḥ — devotees; tīrtha — the holy places of pilgrimage; bhūtāḥ — converted into; svayam — personally; vibho — O powerful one; tīrthī-kurvanti — make into a holy place of pilgrimage; tīrthāni — the holy places; sva-antaḥ-sthena — having been situated in the heart; gadā-bhṛtā — the Personality of Godhead.

TRANSLATION

My Lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.

PURPORT

The Personality of Godhead is omnipresent by His diverse potencies everywhere, just as the power of electricity is distributed everywhere within space. Similarly, the Lord's omnipresence is perceived and manifested by His unalloyed devotees like Vidura, just as electricity is manifested in an electric bulb. A pure devotee like Vidura always feels the presence of the Lord everywhere. He sees everything in the potency of the Lord and the Lord in everything. The holy places all over the earth are meant for purifying the polluted consciousness of the human being by an atmosphere surcharged with the presence of the Lord's unalloyed devotees. If anyone visits a holy place, he must search out the pure devotees residing in such holy places, take lessons from them, and try to apply such instructions in practical life and thus gradually prepare oneself for the ultimate salvation, going back to Godhead. To go to some holy place of pilgrimage does not mean only to take a bath in the Ganges or Yamuna or to visit the temples situated in those places. One should also find representatives of Vidura who have no desire in life save and except to serve the Personality of Godhead. The Personality of Godhead is always with such pure devotees because of their unalloyed service, which is without any tinge of fruitive action or utopian speculation. They are in the actual service of the Lord, specifically by the process of hearing and chanting. The pure devotees hear from the authorities and chant, sing and write of the glories of the Lord. Mahāmuni Vyāsadeva heard from Narada, and then he chanted in writing; Sukadeva Gosvami studied from his father, and he described it to Parīkṣit; that is the way of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So by their actions the pure devotees of the Lord can render any place into a place of pilgrimage, and the holy places are worth the name only on their account. Such pure devotees are able to rectify the polluted atmosphere of any place, and what to speak of a holy place rendered unholy by the questionable actions of interested persons who try to adopt a professional life at the cost of the reputation of a holy place.

He thanked all to join for the yatra and said in the end we shall be 180 of them in Mayapur Dham. He then thanked Srila Prabhupada and all the parampara acharyas, to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Shri Shri Radha Madhava that they are allowing us to come to their holy Dham Shri Mayapur Dham. Without their mercy, we would have never made it. In the city, that we have left now, so many of them are making arrangements, Christmas, new year to visit some place or the other. Everyone wants to go to some place with their families for holidays. But what is the right kind of holiday?

The word itself says HOLYday – to do with something holy. But generally the tendency and the understanding of life is that I am the body and there is no knowledge of the soul and there is no higher purpose in living. Then you see that even our vacation which could be holy is rendered unholy by our own consciousness. Srila Prabhupada is talking about this in the purport here. We have 2 devotees here with us – 1 devotee whose family is in Goa, he ran away from there and is with us in the train now and another devotee whose parents are in Kerala cancelled his tickets and is ahead of us already reached Mayapur. J So, there are some people who are going to such places and further increase their sinful karmas because their consciousness is low, then your mind makes you engaged in so many wrong activities there. Now, at least we have got a chance.

How we can maintain our consciousness while going to Mayapur and keep the consciousness of the city far away from us? Otherwise, we may physically present in Shri Mayapur Dham but mentally still carry the burdens of dirty consciousness.

In this section of Bhagvatam, Vidura who had not taken part in the Kuruksetra war instead went around to pilgrimage in India. Hence, Mahabharata has mentioned a lot of places that he visited and now he has come back to Hastinapur and already the Kuruksetra war is over and so many Kshatriya’s are dead and when he reaches Hastinapur, he finds only 5 Pandavas alive practically. The whole city of Hastinapur and whole country was plunged into such sorrow. So many Kshatriyas, the protectors are dead. The person feeling bad the most is Yudhishtar Maharaj. Seeing Vidura (family member has come again and he has already left palace and renounced the order of life, they don’t expect such a person to come back) Why has he come back – to deliver Dhrtarashtra. The name itself suggests Dhrta – the one who is attached, rashtra – to the country. He is attached to the position as the emperor here. He is holding on and this entire chapter, Vidura is going to preach Dhrtarashtra how the life is empty, you should not be anything. You were a house holder first. Now, the time has come. Move out.

Before that, Yudhishtar Maharaj is receiving Vidura nicely and this verse is in glorification of Vidura and he is saying, bhavad-vidhā bhāgavatās – my lord, devotees like you are holy places personified. You are a holy place personified as you are carrying Lord in your heart (svāntaḥ-sthena gadābhṛtā). OH my spiritual master, in your heart, Lord resides and Lord Govinda says, my devotees are my life and soul.

So, the pure devotees of the lord carry Lord in their heart as they are always meditating on the Lord, always serving the Lord. Prabhupada is saying here, a pure devotee does only 2 activities.

1. Chanting
2. Hearing.

Who is the pure devotee of the Lord?

One who is continuously engaged in these activities? He likes to hear the Lord’s names and he likes to hear about Lord and Prabhupada is saying that’s the way Srimad Bhagvatam is. Vyāsadeva heard it from Narada and he chanted in the form of all the shashtras that he had written. Sukadeva Goswami heard from his father – Vyāsadeva and he chanted to Parīkṣit Maharaj.

So, pure devotees of the lord are always glorifying the lord. Carrying the lord in our heart means carrying the glories of the lord in our heart. If Govinda has not taken place there (in heart); if Govinda is not doing Visharama there then we have to do all the shram in this world to satisfy the so called desires of the heart. And, so many are coming, one after the other.. Doesn’t seem to be stopping… continuously one after the other 24 hrs, 365 days. You catch any person in this train and ask him “do you feel important in this earth”. He shall say yes. Are you a busy man? He shall say yes. What are you doing? Whatever I may be doing, is very important.

If you think deeply, you shall see hardly anything is going on in this world. Whatever is going on is to protect this body which anyways cannot be protected. Try to protect the mental conceptions which are going to be challenged anyways. They are trying to hold out to their opinions and their intelligence which is so weak and lusty but the dear service of the lord, the glorification of the lord doesn’t sit there. But that’s where there is a difference between a pure devotee and a normal person. A pure devotee is very eager to glorify the lord with all the senses provided by the lord. A devotee wants to engage everything in the service of the lord.

To become a pure devotee is not impossible or difficult thing. It is a very simple thing. All we need to do is to set our priorities properly and going to this holy places, visits to these dhams helps us to set our priorities right once again. If we ask people, have you ever been to Vrindavan, they shall say we have heard about it but we have never visited. But you ask them have you been to Goa, they shall yes yes. They can talk so much about Goa but not about Vrindavan or Mathura or Jagannatha Puri or Dwarka or Ayodhya – so many beautiful pastime places where Lord appears and performs his pastimes there.

As devotees we all know we are spirit souls and not this body. I am part and parcel of God but still in the week that we go out and work in this world; so many people day to day attack our consciousness with their wrong, ill motives, dirty desires. All those come upon us and it does affect us. We are trying to do best, chant our rounds, maintain our consciousness but somehow or the other it becomes weak and so taking out yearly some time, some days out of our year, calendar, planner, to go to holy Dham. It sets our priorities once again. Yes, the lord is there. The lord has appeared in this world. His Dham is special and visiting the Dham gives you so much spiritual strength and it re-aligns your priorities. I have to go back home, back to Godhead. In the city where I live, all the activities going are so temporary, we all are going to end one day but out of these temporary activities and life when I am there in this body, I have to make the best of it. Prabhupada would say, “Make the best out of the bad bargain”. We all have got a very bad bargain now – this body, this world. Krishna helps us to make the best out of this bad bargain. Lord appears in this world in very special places, Vrindavan, Mathura, and Mayapur Dham where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu personally appears to spread the holy name – the Yuga dharma of this age. It is said, the Lord – Lord Krishna appears every 411 billion years of the four cycles. And in the Yuga that Krishna appears, Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appears in the right next Yuga after that. Lord Chaitanya appears in this world to give us this holy name.

So, Vrindavan is called as Madhurya Dham and Mayapur is called as Avadharya Dham. Madhurya means its only sweetness but the rasa is very high – you cannot catch it so easily. Mayapur is Avadharya Dham – merciful Dham; anybody can come here. It is said that even if you sleep here, it is considered as Samadhi. This Dham is so special. Every spiritual activity you perform there, you will get millions of folds results of it because the lord has invested the Dham with that potency and specially when we visit the Dham, it’s very important that we always keep our consciousness at the right point of always hearing and chanting the glories of the lord. Always associating with devotees and we are in big group and so many services would be there. We should try to find out, can I get some service in this ham. Otherwise the mind will desire like let me give rest to my body, o let me think of myself only etc. Let us keep that consciousness aside. Don’t allow tongue to be in prajalpa mode. Let me bring the consciousness of serving others. Let me chant the holy name with as much sincerity and enthusiasm as much possible because it is like a lottery ticket. As devotees we don’t purchase lottery tickets. But in a lottery ticket, millions of times you can get first prize. That’s the case with the Dham.

The same Hare Krishna chanting that we do at our home, in city, you get millions of time benefit. So, please keep your consciousness nice and as in the purport, Srila Prabhupada is saying as we visit Dham, we should meet the great devotees who are residing there. Whenever you go to temple hall, please keep your mouth close because when we keep it open, heart tends to pop out from the mouth. Because, the Radha Madhava and Panchtattva are so beautiful that your heart is likely to pop out.

Just 6 months back, we went to Mayapur and now again so many of them are there who have come again and so we can imagine how beautiful it shall be. There are 2 rivers, Ganga and Yamuna who are there and their confluence is seen. We shall be doing boating and Ganga snan and visit many places like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’ s birth place, a lot of acharyas place. A lot of Katha shall happen and especially Mayapur Prasad is out of the world. Mayapur campus is very beautiful. We shall visit the goshala and the Vedic gurukul where lots of boys from 5 yr. old to 15 yr. old practically from every country are there. We shall visit there, talk to them, meet them, ask questions, etc. They don’t use electricity there; they get up at 2 AM and sleep at 7:30 PM. They cook their own food.

So, in this purport it is said that generally people think visiting a Dham means go to 1 temple, there would be a river or lake there, and we shall go and take bath and wash off our sinful reactions. Prabhupada is saying in one of the purports that the holy places are full of sinful reactions because of these people who are visiting there. Then how is the holy place able to maintain its sanctity? Because of the pure devotees who come there. As the lord is always residing in their heart, when they visit such places; the holy places are holy once again. Prabhupada is also cautioning us here, there are so many holy places around the world but there are so many crooks also present there who do business on the holy name. Mayapur is different as it is practically Iskcon all around. They render the holy places unholy by their actions but it is the pure devotees who bring the sanctity of the holy places back.

Let us now offer a simple prayer when we are visiting Mayapur, that by the mercy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu whom Rupa Goswami glorified as

namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te

kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmne gaura-tviṣe nāmaḥ

I offer praṇāma unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, who is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. Having assumed the golden hue of Śrīmatī Rādhikā, He is most munificently bestowing kṛṣṇa-prema (love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa), the rarest of all gifts.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appears to give this holy name and now if I want to purchase something I need to pay back something. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is giving us this holy name. What are they asking back? They are asking simple faith (Shraddha).  This chanting of the holy name is from the spiritual world. Now, in this age of Kalyuga, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the age which is full of faithlessness – a scripture like Bhagvad Gita is also getting challenged in the court now. This about it… what is this age. In this age, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to give us this holy name and we all are taking this effort for visiting Shri Mayapur Dham. So, let us pray to him to give us this consciousness and by the time we finish our yatra, we should have invested our consciousness very nicely in chanting, hearing, associating with devotees and not allow our tongue to once again get into that prajalpa mode. If we have to talk, we shall only talk about the Dham, about the holy name, about the classes we have heard. Let us enlighten each other and keep our association to very high standard. Then, by the time we are going back, we all would have changed in your heart. You shall feel the change.

After the class, he announced he shall have wonderful Kirtans in the other boggie and then huge harinaam on Nagpur station.

Hence, the day ended with lot of bliss, new but wonderful experience.