Day 10, The Bliss of Sankirtan

 Day 10 - Vrindavan Day 3, Raman Reti, Brahmand Ghat

This morning's Japa circle reminded us that the Maha Mantra not only gives us complete access to the Lord and his avatars but that the mantra itself and service to Sri Krishna is the only true path to happiness and satisfaction. Thus it is through attentive chanting that we make advancement.
 
In the morning class, His Grace Vaisesika Prabhu spoke on the pleasure of the Lord. Everything is achievable by pleasing Krishna who is seated in everyone's heart and sincerity allows the Lord to step in completely.

The Lord's appearance is not just for the human form of life, He appears in every species of life to give living entities an opportunity to get out of the material world. Lord Varahadev appeared twice, in a reddish color and in a whitish color, to deliver us. Likewise forms such as Matsya and Kurma appeared as fish and tortoise to do the same.

Krishna comes in Virya rasa to fight not only for his pleasure but to defend his devotees like Bhumidevi. He appears for his own pleasure and it is his joy to protect us, love us and deliver us.

In the material world, if you look at something with the wrong intention, it sticks with you for a while. Unfortunately for Diti, the wife of Kasyapa, this meant falling prey to the mode of passion and causing the advent of two great demons, Hiranyaksa and Hiranyakashipu. Her only solace was taking shelter in Vishnu, and understanding that the birth of great demons would be followed by the birth of a great devotee. Not every mistake is our foolishness. Some mistakes allow us to come to the perfection of His lotus feet.  

Harinaam sankirtan took us to the soft sands of Raman Reti where devotees passed out stickers and books to tourists feeding the deer. The afternoon was filled with rolling in the dust where Krishna and the cowherd boys would play and learning from local Brahmans of how to make Radha Krishna 's footprints. The joy was palpable and otherworldly.

A quick rush to the bus later saw us at Brahmand Ghat where Vaisesika Prabhu spoke on Gopal's pastime of eating dirt and lying to His mother about it. Here on the bank of the Yamuna, Mother Yasoda peered into Krishna's mouth after his friends ratted him out. Here she saw the universe within her son’s mouth.

In chanting the Mangalacharana prayers from Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, both here and in Jagannath Puri, devotees mixed the mood of the two dhamas to make ambrosia.

There is a mood to the location of each pastime. Be it playing in dirt or eating it, by following in the footsteps of great souls like Lord Chaitanya, we can partake in these pastimes of the Lord.

yatha yatha gaura padaravinde vindeta bhaktim krta-punya-rasih

tatha tathotsarpati hrday akasmad radha-padambhoja-sudhambu-rasih

"As one develops devotion to the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu due to heaps of auspicious activities, then according to the degree of that attachment, his heart becomes suddenly inundated with the nectar emanating from the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani" (Prabodhānanda’s Caitanya-candrāmṛta, 88).

There is an original faith, shraddha. "Srad" meaning heart and "dha" meaning where you place something. When you place your heart with the Lord you will feel the effect of His internal energy. A person is made by his faith. Who better to follow than Lord Chaitanya?

After an ecstatic kirtan by the bank of the Yamuna with locals and visitors dancing together for the glories of the Lord, devotees accepted the gift of Yamuna’s waters atop their heads and rushed back to the buses.

In the evening class, Vaisesika Prabhu spoke on the Lord’s ineffability. Ineffable means too great to be described by words. Such is His greatness and His love for us.

It is our greatest pleasure to serve Him in bhakti. It is His greatest pleasure to experience our love.

Fueled by these blissful realizations, the yatra members joyfully sang the Dasavatara strotra together while Radhika Prema Mataji enhanced the experience through enacting the pastimes of the Lord in graceful Bharatanatyam.

The evening came to a close with a fundraiser to support the large scale book distribution efforts of the yatra where the devotees raised $18,000! The generosity of the devotees embodied a particular lesson delivered by His Grace Vaisesika Prabhu: “Life is meant for going out knocking doors being a kind friend, and having a heart to heart exchange with living entities.”

We celebrated some dear devotees who have birthdays in February. They received a special birthday benediction from Vaisesika Prabhu to always chant Hare Krishna and have a successful life in the sankirtan movement.