Jay Gaur!!
Our most enthusiastic Parikrama party came to Simantadvipa, the island of hearing. Thus our Maharajas made sure the devotees had very nice sravanam. Every class was exiting and filled with realisations. After singing Mangalarati for sweet Madan Gopal at Belpukur, we walked until Panchavakra Shivasthan. This spot is surrounded by a special banyan tree which seems to embrace the Parikrama party. There we heard about how Nimbarka Cakravarti had the Darshan of the 4 kumaras as well as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Soon after we moved into a beautiful path way decorated with a canopy of Palm, pipal and kadamba trees. The devotees danced blissfully through that path reaching to our Guru Puja and katha spot. The katha by the sannyasis and senior devotees opened our eyes to the glory of Simantadvipa and the glory of hearing. HG Pankajanghri Prabhu spoke about Simantini Devi, the external energy of Krishna and eternal consort of Lord Shiva. When Devi saw how her husband was dancing up and down in ecstasy while chanting Gauranga, she became very curious. When Lord Shiva told her about Mahaprabhu's extraordinary pastimes which will take place in Navadvipa, she became agitated at heart: " Oh my Lord, everyone will receive your mercy. The universe will be delivered when you make your merciful appearance as Gauranga. But my Lord what about me? Wherever you are I cannot stand. I am your shadow. Oh my Lord please be merciful and allow me to see your transcendental form and somehow take part in your pastimes." After praying in this way Devi started to meditate on Lord Gauranga. Gaura Hari appeared to the goddess in a short time. Mahaprabhu blessed her with the service of covering the Dham from atheists and other materialistic persons. She is known as Prauddha Maya. Because she placed the dust from Gauranga's feet on the part of her hair, which is called "simanta" in Sanskrit, she got the name of Simantini Devi. Therefore this island is named Simantadvipa.
At that same spot we watched 2 drama performances. The first one was about Simantini Devi and the second was about Lord Caitanya's revolutionary sankirtan party towards the house of Chand Kazi after he broke the mridanga.
This drama felt very real to the devotees. We had about 8 to 12 years old , Gurukul boys on the stage coming with their flags. On the other side there were 7, pretty believable Muslim guards of Kazi, and of course Pancharatna Prabhu playing the role of Lord Caitanya. Many Maharajas also took part as Mahaprabhu's associates. Very nice performance.
When the Parikrama actually got to Chand Kazi's samadhi the devotees had a special darshan, where they could envision the whole pastime within their minds.
The day which was already overwhelming with bliss became more ecstatic. We visited the house of Kolaveca Sridhara and we heard about his glorious vaishnava qualities. So inspiring!
After a delicious feast and rest a little we started our evening program. We had an hour with Agnideva prabhu with bhajans and the meaning of them. Sandhya Arati started and Agni deva prabhu, for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath and Lord Caitanya lead us in an unforgettable, memorable, wonderful Sandhya Arati, everyone was dancing, jumping, spinning around. Agni deva prabhu's association was the top Highlight for Navadvipa Parikrama 2017. The devotees who came to this Parikrama were the most fortunate!
Yes, today the Parikrama stayed over at Jagannatha Mandir of Rajapur, literally the King's City.
The evening ended by a flow of realisation from the devotees. This programa is yearly attended by HH Jayapataka Maharaja who comes to hear what the devotees felt during the Parikrama. Many senior devotees such HH Kavichandra Maharaja and HH Mahavishnu Swami also shared their realisations.
From the session, it is clear that the devotees' hearts are filled with special moments and experiences. They wish to carry these moments back with them, to their own sadhana and to whoever they may meet either in
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