By Aseem Krishna Das
Associating with a pure representative of the Supreme Lord along with hundreds of other sincere devotees in a holy place is very rare and precious. Such divine moments spent with other devotees engaged in the service of the Lord leaves an indelible imprint on the mind and gives us the strength to face this turbulent material world. As we keep on remembering those happy moments spent in the association of devotees, we develop a longing for that association and thus secure a bright destination in the next life.
Śrīla Prabhupāda has said, “So here, Prahlāda Mahārāja (SB 7.7.30-31), he recommends that first of all you have to engage yourself under the guidance, under the service, of a bona fide spiritual master and then you have to keep yourself in association of the devotees…. And sādhūnām īśvara-ārādhanena ca; and, in their association, you have to worship the Supreme Lord.” (SP Lecture SB 7.7.29-30, San Francisco, March 15, 1967)
We all have read about the most important gatherings of the sages at Sukratala and Naimisharanya. The only purpose for the gatherings of those advanced souls was the glorification of the Supreme Lord, Hari. Indeed, the Supreme Lord’s glorification is the sole business of the pure devotees. And whenever these pure devotees discuss the pastimes of the Lord, the atmosphere generated is such that it is free from all kind of anxieties, lamentations or hankerings. One can easily cross over the bodily platform and get himself established in his true original position just by hearing those mahātmās with rapt attention.
A pure devotee’s exemplary love and affection for the conditioned souls can melt even the stone-like hearts. His loving words have the effect of the soothing moon rays upon all of us who are struggling in the blazing fire in this material world. His association is most pleasing to the heart and it instills within us love for the Lord and love towards each other.
A pure devotee’s association is glorious and so are the devotees who take benefit of such association. Śrīla Prabhupāda has most mercifully revealed to us this most confidential science of pure devotional service. We were totally unqualified and beginners, but Śrīla Prabhupāda created our good fortune by giving us his divine association. Let us show our eagerness and become enthusiastic to avail this wonderful opportunity, and learn by following the directions of Śrīla Prabhupāda and his empowered representatives.
Below is one such short narrative of a wonderful Sādhu Saṅga program held recently at the holy dhāma of Jagannātha Purī, where devotees gathered with the objective to please and learn from Śrīla Prabhupāda and from his dearmost representative.
About 1,500 devotees from around the globe gathered at the Sādhu Saṅga festival held from 11th to 17th December 2022 in the auspicious association of His Holiness Subhag Swami Mahārāja. The seven-day festival concluded beautifully with the glorification of Śrīla Prabhupāda and the previous ācāryas on the occasion of the 83rd Vyāsa-pūjā anniversary of His Holiness Subhag Swami Mahārāja.
The entire festival was filled with transcendental nectar. All the devotees were fully enthusiastic to make the program a grand success. The program included wonderful kīrtana performances, dramas and other cultural performances. Most importantly, His Holiness Subhag Swami Mahārāja delivered enthralling Śrīmad Bhāgavatam discourses throughout the festival. By focusing on the life of Śrī Nārada Muni, Mahārāja stressed on the performance of pure devotional service. Mahārāja particularly discussed Śrī Nārada Muni’s previous life and his sincere service to the Mahā-bhāgavatas, which qualified him to become the eternal associate of the Lord. Mahārāja explained that service to the spiritual master and the previous ācāryas is the key for swift advancement in devotional life.
As Śrīla Prabhupāda has said, “Without being self-controlled, without being disciplined and without being fully obedient, no one can become successful in following the instructions of the spiritual master; and without doing so, no one is able to go back to Godhead. (SB 1.5.24, Nārada’s Instructions on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for Vyāsadeva)
As part of the program, devotees also visited various placess where Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had enacted His pastimes, such as Gambhira, Siddha Bakul, Tota Gopinath Temple and the samādhi-mandir of Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura, besides the grand Indian Ocean. They sang and danced and relished lots of prasādam. Moreover, to the delight of all the devotees, the main program venue, Doodhwala Dharamshala, and the nearby guest-houses where the devotees were accommodated were all very near to Lord Jagannātha’s temple. The devotees took ample darśana of Lord Jagannātha to their hearts content.
The most amazing part of the entire festival was the celebration of the 83rd Vyāsa-pūjā anniversary of our loving spiritual master His Holiness Subhag Swami Mahārāja. Indeed, the program was carefully planned so that the Vyāsa-pūjā day, which was the 16th of December this year, would be part of the seven-day festival.
Many sannyāsīs were invited for the Vyāsa-pūjā day, and they all glorified Śrīla Prabhupāda and the previous ācāryas during the program. After the glorification, the abhiṣeka ceremony of Śrīla Prabhupāda was performed. By the blessings of his spiritual master, His Divine Grace Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Goswami Mahārāja, Śrīla Prabhupāda did what no one could have done. He created a big family, in which the whole world could belong. The celebration of Vyāsa-pūjā is a very important event in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava paramparā.
Śrīla Prabhupāda has said, “So, Vyāsadeva is our ācārya; therefore, we offer vyāsa-pūjā. On the birthday of guru we offer vyāsa-pūjā. Actually, it is not directly Vyāsa; but because the bona fide guru represents Vyāsadeva, his pūjā is also vyāsa-pūjā. Mad-bhakta-pūjā abhyadhikā. To worship Vyāsadeva, worship the bona fide spiritual master and worship the Lord, they are the same. Rather, Kṛṣṇa says that if you worship His bona fide representative, that worship is better than directly worshipping. Directly it is not possible to worship the Supreme Lord. One has to go through the ācārya.” (Lecture on SB 1.7.5- Vrindavan, September 4, 1976).
Credit for the successful organization of the program goes to the organizing team. The management team worked day and night to make the program a success. They appropriately selected the Doodwala Dharamsala as the venue for the event, which was very close to Lord Jagannātha’s temple. Besides that, they booked many guest-houses around the Dharamsala to accommodate 1,500 devotees, and a big pandal was erected and wonderfully decorated with profuse assortment of flowers and artistic rangoli designs. Moreover, various services were available for different devotees to participate in and all the devotees were nicely engaged in Krishna-conscious activities.
On the final day of the program, different devotees shared their realizations participating in the festival. There was a lot to learn from each other’s experiences. The devotees felt very happy to have participated in the festival. While there were also some mistakes committed from which valuable lessons could be learnt, the managerial team graciously took note of all of those shortcomings to improve for future events.
Ultimately, we would like to thank all the devotees for their kind participation in the program and especially His Holiness Subhag Swami Mahārāja for the greatest gift he has bestowed upon us by accepting us and guiding us in our spiritual lives. We beg from all the devotees their blessings so that we would be able to continue to organize such wonderful gatherings for the pleasure of the Lord and His dear devotees.
Jaya Jagannātha! Jaya Baladeva! Jaya Subhadrā! Jaya Sudarśana!
All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda!!!
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