By Aseem Krishna Das
A wonderful program entitled, "The glory of Bharatvarsha, Sanatan Culture and the man who preached World Over" was organized on 25th October 2023 in Dr. Mangal Sen Auditorium, Karnal, Haryana. The event was held to glorify and highlight the contributions of His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada in spreading the wisdom of Sanatan Vedic culture throughout the whole world. Taking instructions from his spiritual master His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakur Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada launched a mission to deliver the people of the whole world by helping them to re-establish their lost relationship with the Supreme Lord. At an advanced age of sixty nine years, Srila Prabhupada who possessed the spirit of a young man started for America on a cargo ship. With just about seven dollars worth of Indian currency in his pocket, Srila Prabhupada did the unthinkable. During a short span of just eleven years, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe fourteen times establishing more than 108 temples, gurukulas, farm communities etc and acted as a guide and spiritual master to a group of more than ten thousand sincere disciples. Srila Prabhupada's determination was unparalleled and unwavering. This event was organised with a purpose to glorify Bharatvarsha's beloved son, His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. The preparations for the event started a month before the program. Various services were distributed among different groups of devotees. One of the groups was responsible for arranging all the requirements for the venue, another group was responsible for visiting various schools, colleges and coaching institutes to invite teachers and students for the program. Another group of devotees was responsible for decoration the venue with flowers and flex while another one took responsibility for welcoming guest and students and accommodating them in their seats. One team took responsibility for preparing snacks prasadam to be distributed at the end of the event. The date of the event had arrived and the preparations were going in full swing. The event turned out to be a grand success. We had apprehensions but they all proved wrong. The auditorium with a seating capacity of one thousand people was packed full. The audience comprising mostly of young students sat with their eyes glued on to the stage. The event began with a short kirtana followed by the lighting of the lamp and offering of flowers to Srila Prabhupada's vigraha. The first presentation was delivered by Dr. Ravi Prakash (His Grace Ramjeevan Das), the BRICKS young innovator Prize awardee in Brazil on the topic "The Relevance of Bhagavad Gita in Twenty First Century". The presentation delved deep into the secrets of the Bhagavad Gita to give a message to the audience. His presentation was followed by a short classical dance performance by a young student from Ropar. Next session included a panel discussion with a panel comprising of highly renowned professionals like Prof. Ramjee Repaka (Rangeshwar Das) IIT Ropar, Dr. Sunil Onteru, Sr. Scientist NDRI Karnal, Dr. Ankit Sharma (Atmavit Das), IIT-BHU and others. The session was moderated by His Grace Krishna Sudama Das. He asked various questions to the panelists which were relevant in the modern times especially for the students. The discussion was very fruitful.
Following it was a lecture by His Holiness Subhag Swami Maharaja, a Guru and Spiritual Mentor in ISKCON on the topic, "The Contributions of Srila Prabhupada in the global resurgence of the Bharatiya Culture in the 21st century". During his talk, Maharaja especially discussed the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and highlighted his contributions in spreading the Vedic wisdom throughout the world. The students learn from Maharaja the importance of living a regulated and a focused life. They all heard the talk with utmost attention.
The program concluded with a short video showcasing Srila Prabhupada’s preaching activities throughout the whole world with audio clips by the honourable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi ji appreciating Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON. After the program ended each student had a message to take back home. They realized the contributions of Srila Prabhupada and also learn a very important lesson that is to follow in their own lives what Srila Prabhupada had taught all over the world. Many among them also bought Srila Prabhupada books. A group of students eagerly gathered near Srila Subhag Swami Maharaja and had personal discussions with him at the end of his session. All the participants were also given a box of prasadam. They all enjoyed the program. Srila Prabhupada liked preaching to the intellectuals and to the student community. Such a preaching has a deep impact on the society.
Srila Prabhupada has said, “Thank you for boldly infiltrating into the intellectual circles there. By attracting intelligent men to our movement, automatically, others will also be attracted to come. By preaching in this way, one becomes firmly convinced of the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness himself, and gradually it becomes easier and easier for him to convince others also.” (Srila Prabhupada letter to Dulal Chandra Das in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA) The Press covered the whole event very nicely. The program was reported in leading newspapers of the area. We are heartily thankful to all the people who worked hard in the organization of the event. We are especially grateful to His Holiness Subhag Swami Maharaja who gave us the inspiration and the strength to organize such a majestic event. We seek the blessings from all the Vaishnavas so that we continue to organize such events in the future. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
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