By Sahadev Sakha Das
Srimad Bhagwatam tells us, that the incarnation of the Supreme Lord in this age of Kaliyuga, is Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is the hidden Avtaar of Lord Krishna and Srimati Radha Rani. The Lord appeared in the form of His Holy Name to preach the yug dharma of this age in the form of congregational chanting of the Maha Mantra as :
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rame Hare Hare
This 16 word syllable is the most effective means by which anyone can achieve Spiritual Perfection.
This is stated at many places in the Shastras example: The very first verse of Shikshashtakam explains as follows:
“Glory to the Sri Krsna sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.”
And when our founder Acharya went to the west, he began chanting this very mantra in New York city, Tomkins Sqaure park, thereby inaugurating this Sankirtan movement to the Western world.
Just following the teachings of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the footsteps of our Acharyas, we at Dwarka ISKCON temple tried to spread Krishna Consciousness by celebrating this year Gaur Purnima festival by having a 10 day long 24 by 7 Sankirtan at our temple premises.
The idea is to gauge as many people around as possible to chant the Holy Names of the Lord and thus make their lives successful. We are having our different congregational groups, Ashraya as we call them, come and perform Sankirtan for the pleasure of the Lord. Many people from different walks of life come with their families and friends and participate in doing Sankirtan and also dancing for the pleasure of the Lord. This way they include themselves in performing the Yug Dharma as prescribed in Srimad Bhagwatam and various other scriptures.
We invited all the fraternity of ISKCON Dwarka and the nearby residents to come forward and participate and this way contribute to this Eternal cause of happiness and joy. We were surprised to see so many Ashraya members and our congregational groups coming together and participating. There were many who were actually working and despite their active and busy schedule, they could still make it to the Sankirtan party and participated with full enthusiasm. This was followed by the senior citizens who along with their families came and took the most of the occasion.
They all understood and realized that this is the rarest of the rare process and such a Divine Gift by the Lord Himself to revive our lost relationship and surrender to the Supreme Lord. So from people in general to the professionals, to school kinds and elderly people, all showed their willingness to join and thus contribute to the supreme cause and that is to please Krishna.
This was far from the noisy and maddening music of bollywood films towards more fulfilling and spiritually nourishing and blissful ecstatic Kirtan which gave the heart the much awaited and longing satisfaction, purity and peace.
We express our Thanks and gratitude to the organisers specially the temple President for setting up this wonderful program. Indeed this will go a long way to please the Divine Lord. And at the same time, we also urge more and more people to come forward and take the blessings of the Supreme Lord by participating and enjoying singing, dancing in front of the Deities only to please them.
It is being said in the Shastras, that the only purpose of a Human Life is to please the Supreme Lord Krishna, and the easiest of the ways to do so is by congregational chanting of the Holy Name. So the more the merrier.
Let us all come together and make our journey towards back to Godhead, in a pleasant and easier way. Hari Naam Sankirtan Ki Jai !!!
Jai Srila Prabhupad.
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