December 6, 2010How does one take up pilgrimages? We sometimes go to holy places. They are not like Niagara Falls or Disney Land. They are places where saintly people reside, or where the Personality of Godhead made appearances, or where the Lord exhibited some pastimes with His great devotees. Thus, such places become sanctified. In the 1930s, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura took a tour of South India, following the path which Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu travelled. He established a little shrine with the imprint of Mahaprabhu’s lotus feet in those places, because wherever a saintly person places their feet, it is sacred.So, there is some indication as to what should be the consciousness of a person going on pilgrimage to a sacred place. Two things are repeated: One is to simply please the Personality of Godhead, Lord Hari, and the second is to purify oneself. The purpose should be purification and not tourism. The spirit of coming to a holy place is, “May I become purified and may the Supreme Lord Hari become pleased”.We can make a comparison to the observance of the NewYear, which indicates bringing in the new. We cannot bring in the new if we keep holding onto the old, so we must let go of the old. Similarly, the habits of material life are to be left behind when one goes on for a pilgrimage. Specifically identified in the words of these verses and purports are one’s dress, hairstyle, etc…The understanding behind this is sacrifice, simplicity, cleanliness, purity and making that commitment to leave behind all vanity, social formality, occupation, and all of that stuff. Instead, one dresses simply so that one is at the same level as everyone else and just comes as a simple beggar for the mercy of the Lord. To help facilitate that, specifically, detachment from worldly circumstances is important in pilgrimages. Here, Vidura was coming from a palace where everything is at its best, but he left it all to become purified. So there is this leaving behind of material things and acceptance of simplicity, purity and exclusive focus upon pleasing the Lord. Thus sanctified by thought and action, one is able to realize the Supreme Lord by this process of a pilgrim's journey.We all are journeying. Life is but a journey. Some people think the goal of journeying is journeying. They think it is just for experiencing life, and just to learn. But for pilgrimage, there are these specific objectives.From a lecture by HH Romapada Swami on ‘Srimad Bhagavatam 3.1.19-21’, St. Louis, Jan 2010Source: http://www.romapadaswami.com/node/6752
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