Walking... Preaching... Distributing

 
Image
 

IN THIS ISSUE

 

Preaching in Bharkawada: Sowing the seeds of bhakti

 

Maharashtra Padayatra: an incidental stay at Pandharpur

 

Nepal Padayatra finally gets off the ground

 

Uttar Pradesh Padayatra on the roads after lockdown

 

Padayatra Song

 

Padayatra Profile

 
Image

Prabhupada: Just see how quickly there will be response. Therefore I was insisting, “Go village to village, town to town.” Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction: prthivite ache yata nagaradi.

Mahamsa agreed and Srila Prabhupada said: “So it will never be foiled. Let us now begin village to village.”

International Society For Krishna Conciousness Founder Acarya

His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

In his purport Srila Prabhupada says, “If the living entity by chance or fortune comes in contact with the Krishna consciousness movement and wishes to associate with that movement, Krishna, who is situated in everyone's heart, gives him the chance to meet a bona fide spiritual master.

 

 

It is incredibly joyful to see an entire village becoming devotees. The  villagers have even started observing Ekadasi! Ordinarily  people are not immediately inclined to take up Krishna consciousness so easily, but when this happens, it is indeed beyond our wildest imagination. It is in explicable how the consciousness of an entire village can be elevated within a month!

Image

Sankirtana

Image

Hare Krishna Festival

Image

Procession in the village

 
 
Image

Padayatra Chariot

Image

Padayatra oxen

Image

Book distribution

Image

Great Souls

Image

Addressing the public

Image

Humble dwelling

Image

Honoured by a devotee

Image

Front view of the cart

He collected books from the temple for distribution. He is very happy on Padayatra and there is no doubt that he loves to go walk to and visit different villages to preach. That’s the life of a Padayatra!

 

Padayatra is generally not possible in hilly regions and 70% of Nepal is hilly. With that in mind, Padayatra was inaugurated at Mirchaiya Bajar, Siraha district.  Plans are in place to travel  to Janakpur dhama. Accompanied by spectacular Gaura Nitai Deities, they start walking at 10 a.m. Evening programmes are held daily, and sankirtana and book distribution are ongoing in every village and town they enter.  

 

The cart has a unique design, the brainchild of Sahasranam Dasa, who single-handedly started the Padayatra. Prem Harinama Dasa helped him to start the programme. Where there is a will, there is a way. Starting a Padayatra, there is no need for many devotees or intense preparation. If one has a strong desire to please Guru and Gauranga, one can accomplish this service single-handedly.

 

Nepal is a case where just two devotees are successfully spreading the holy name in remote areas. These committed two are surcharged with enthusiasm and are immersed in the devotional mood to please Srila Prabhupada. They have two oxen, Gaur and Nitai.  At present the book distribution scores are not high but it is anticipated that as the awareness for Padayatra increases the scores will increase.  Srila Prabhupada’s kirtana are played on loud speakers and this intrigues people who want to hear more. It forces them out of their homes to take darshan of the Deities while Sahasranam Dasa and Prem Harinama Dasa distribute books, and in the evening they have sankirtana.  

 

They move from one place to another and cook for themselves on wood stove and sleep where ever they get shelter, even on paddy grass. Their purity in service entices people to walk and sing the holy name with them. On the back of the wagon the words “Purna jivan ko lagi” are scripted in Nepalese which means that  Padayatra will go on to the end of life. The bullock cart also sends out a message about cow protection, and save Nepal. To this effect, the maha-mantra is inscribed on the other side of the cart, allowing people to read the mantra. 

 

Dayal Gopal Dasa [Sankirtana preacher Nepal]

 
Image

Book distribution

Image

Books are the basis

Image

House Program

Image

Katha going on

Image

Going for sankirtana

Image

Utsava deities

Image

Nagar Sankirtana

Image

Sankirtana

Image

Evening Sankirtana

Image

Sri Sri Nitai Gaura

Image

Jaya Vijaya Dasa, (born John Badini) was born on 11 August 1953 in San Francisco.

Having spent fourteen years in the movie and theatre business, John became attracted to Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Durban, South Africa.

 

For years he read Srila Prabhupada’s books and visited ISKCON centers, but he hesitated to join. He first read of the padayatra at the temple in Kuala Lumpur in 1984, when the padayatra was scheduled to walk from Dwaraka. John knew immediately that padayatra was for him. His first service was a $1000 donation to be spent on Padayatra welfare and to purchase books which could be distributed on Padayatra. John’s first holy walk would take him from Manamadurai to Madurai and Srirangam, about 220 km, and then to Mayapur. Eventually he would become the padayatra's leader and lead it for ten years.

 

In 1985 in Kalyani, on Lord Nityananda’s appearance day, while on Padayatra he became one of first disciples of Lokanath Swami Maharaja. 

 

 
Image
Image
Image
 

padayatraiskcon@gmail.com