Look Who's Chanting!

(Book Distribution Nectar)

(Srila Prabhupada's with his books in the Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha Temple, Chowpatty, Mumbai)

Hare Krishna!

By the mercy of H. G. Jai Narsimha Prabhu, I (along with a few other glorious devotees) have tasted the bliss of spreading the mercy of Lord Chaitanya in the form of distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books. Every Saturday and Sunday JaiNarsimha Prabhu sets up his book stall on the Walking Plaza. I (and a few other glorious devotees) try to go there to assist him.

Two recent developments have really inspired me a lot to seriously take up this service of distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books. One, my recent visit to the San Jose ISKCON Temple where the massive book distributor H. G. Vaisesika Prabhu is inspiring the youth of the Silicon Valley to regularly go out and distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. And two, H. G. Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu! He is a disciple of H. H. Bhakti Vikasa Swami Maharaj and has recently joined our company. Book distribution is his life and soul! This is the way he wishes to please and serve his spiritual master. His intense desire for book distribution has rubbed on to me a little and I hope that in his association even I make this service my life and soul. These are ofcourse high sounding words from such a little mouth as mine, but then, what is impossible in the association of great Vaishnavas like H. G. Jai Narsimha Prabhu and H. G. Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu who have so clearly made their own desires one with the desires of Srila Prabhupada and their respective spiritual masters?

This Saturday a couple of amazing things happened. Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu urged me to write an article on it, and this is that article. We were standing near our stall and engrossed in book distribution. Not far away, amateur pop singers were performing their music show on the temporary wooden stage that is setup every weekend on Walking Plaza. Only by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada’s Transcendental Book Distribution were we quite unaffected by the going-ons of the Walking Plaza, which is pretty much the hub of mundane gross sense gratification in the city of Pune. The site of those glittering gems, Srila Prabhupada’s books, was the only solace to the eyes. The constant chanting of Hare Krishna was the only solace to the ears. The feel of the “Bhagavad Gita – As It Is” was like the warm embrace of the Lord. The glorification of Srila Prabhupada’s books was the only solace for the wandering mind. The techniques used to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books were the only solace for the intelligence. The pleas to the customers to take a Prabhupada book were just what the false ego needed. Thus, Srila Prabhupada’s books were gradually washing away all our anarthas (impurities) and establishing us in the state of Samadhi -- constant engagement in the service of the Lord!

Just then, I remember, I saw Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu telling someone “At least fifty. Five-Zero.” I didn’t understand what it was all about and so I again went back to raising my two hands, chanting Hare Krishna (loudly, but not as loud as the music), holding “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” in one hand and “Coming Back” in another and hoping that someone notices the stall and at least stops by. Sometimes it happens that no one comes for a long time. And then I start hoping desperately that I should atleast be able to distribute one book today. And then someone comes along and takes two Bhagavad Gitas! It happened this Sunday. And I cannot tell you how grateful I felt to those two young boys who took the Bhagavad Gitas. Anyways… coming back to “Five-Zero”. A few minutes later, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu told me that the person has ordered 50 Bhagavad Gitas!! I was stunned for a moment. And I was also very happy for Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu. I could imagine how happy he must be at that moment and how he must be restraining himself and not jumping and roaring around in joy! :-)

But this is not all! Its not even the main reason Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu urged me to write this article. The main reason is what follows. Suddenly, out of the blue, we heard the Hare Krishna Mahamantra! Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare! Since I was myself chanting the mantra, it took me a while to realize what was happening. Then, to my astonishment, I realized that the Mahamantra was being chanted by someone on that wooden stage! “Look who’s chanting!!” In the mike! Audible to all! He chanted it a few times and also asked the crowd to repeat it behind him! And Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu did repeat it behind him. Louder than the mike! Louder than the hundreds of people gathered around. And Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu also roared “Once more! Once more!” It was an amazing experience!

(H. G. Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu!)

Surely the person was inspired by the Paramatma within to chant the MahaMantra in the microphone. Surely he got lots and lots of “ajnata sukruti” because of it. Surely, the hundreds of people assembled there benefited from the transcendental sound vibration emanating from the lips of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu. And surely, the book distribution stall was the only reason all this happened! Time and again it is demonstrated by the Lord that book distribution is a completely transcendental and mystical activity and that its power is unfathomable. No wonder Srila Prabhupada loved it like nothing else.

These pastimes remind me of the pastimes of H. H. Indradyumna Swami Maharaj, whose “Diary of a Travelling Preacher” is filled with such inconceivable happenings. As I can now clearly see, there is no exaggeration in those pastimes. They are there for all to see. Lord Chaitanya is the most munificent Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore what is it that He cannot do? And yet, the nature of the Lord and His activities is such that each time the pastimes seem as if new and fresh! Each time it takes our breath away, and each time it takes us that little bit closer to Him.

Your servant,
Abhijit.

The Ecstatic Pandharpur Yatra!

Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath (ISKCON Pandharpur)

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December 18, 2007.

So far, I have received two enquiries from the readers of this particular article regarding directions for staying in Pandharpur. So, I thought I should mention that information on this page itself. For anyone who is looking for a place to stay in Pandharpur, I recommend the Sri Sri Radha Pandharinath Temple - the ISKCON temple in Pandharpur). For bookings, kindly call the following number : (India) 02186-267242/266. In case this doesnt work out, please email me at toleyabhijit at yahoo dot com. Thank you for engaging me in Lord Vitthal's service in this way.

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May 19-20 (Sat-Sun), 2007

Dear All,

After an ecstatic Dehu Yatra a couple of months ago, it was time for another ecstatic Yatra, this time to the holy Dham of Pandharpur! I was looking forward to it so much. After coming to Krishna Consciousness, there are now so many activities and events to look forward to. Life has become a continuous sequence of blissful activities in the service to Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Yes, definitely there are austerities along the way, but as long as I remember that nothing is too big a price to pay for attaining Love of God, I am alright.

We started from the Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari temple at around 0800. We were around 22. I asked H. G. JaiNarsimha Prabhu if 22 is a good number for the trip. And he said "Any number is good for a trip to Pandharpur! Only the most fortunate can go to Pandharpur and that too in the Adhika Maas (also known as the Purushottam Maas)". I was quite thrilled with his answer. I suddenly realised that this was more than just a mundane picnic. We were going to one of the holiest places on earth.. a place where the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Sri Vitthala had enacted one of His eternal pastimes! And the mood for the rest of my trip was set.

Pandharpur is about 250 kms from Pune. We stopped along the way for an hour for snacks. Well, it was more than lunch for me! I also met some wonderful devotees during that break. Ajay Chandak Prabhu, Nishant Prabhu, and Dheeraj Prabhu. We talked a lot (especially Nishant Prabhu and I) most of the trip. Nishant Prabhu was kind enough to listen to whatever I was speaking :-) In the bus we started singin Kirtans and Bhajans with each one leading successively. The star of the show was without doubt dear sweet Piyush Prabhu who is the most amazingly enthusiastic devotee I have known. He is always jolly and always serving. I pray that I can also develop such a service attitude that he has. Not only is he a wonderful devotee, he is a wonderful singer too and he sings from his heaert! He captivatesd all of us by his sweet and melodious Kirtan where one could feel the intensity with which he was calling out to the Lord.

We reached the holy Dham of Pandharpur at around 1500. The first thing I did after alighting the bus was offer my full obeisances to this holy land whose each dust particle I considered to be Chitamani. Then I took some of the dust and put it one my head. I was feeling so so blissful! When I had first time come in touch with devotees, I had said to myself "I'll never offer such complete obeisances to anyone".. Well, by the causeless mercy of Srila Prabhupada through devotees like GaurHari Prabhu and Amol Katkar Prabhu, I now love to offer obeisances to everything related to Krishna. What unimaginable mercy! What would I do without dearest Srila Prabhupada...

It is totally different to be in a Dham. And especially when you are in an ISKCON temple under the protection of Srila Prabhupada. Yes! The first step I took in the land of Pandharpur was inside the simple and picturesque and serene premises of the Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath Temple (ISKCON Pandharpur)! Yes, Srila Prabhupada is there! And where he is present, there is Krishna present. Because dearest Srila Prabhupada carries Krishna in his heart.

The temple had made very nice arrangements for us all. We had 5 rooms in total. The room in which I spent some time directly faced the holy river Bhima. It is known in Pandharpur as the Chandrabhaga (the crescent of the moon) because of the path is traverses. It was such a beautiful site. From my room I could see the river running across from left to right. On the
opposite bank the pilirims were taking a bath in the river. One can easily experience a certain kind of serenity in the Dham. No one can explain it to you and you cannot explain it to anyone else :-) You have to experience it yourself. In fact, the Dham is as good as the Spiritual World...

The Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath temple is a relatively new temple. Only a few Brahmacharis stay there. The deities are gorgeous. I cant explain thier beauty. The temple is especially a good place for Sadhana. It is situated amidst fields on one side and the Chandrabhaga on another. There are no multistory buildings seen anywhere and thus the breeze is always flowing carrying a certain freshness in it that sweeps away all weariness from a tired man.

Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath Temple, ISKCON Pandharpur

After we had Prasadam at around 1530, we went to have a dip in the holy river. We went to the otehr side on a boat though the river was only waist high all the way :-) But it was fun! We were in the river for about an hour I guess... When on such transcendental picnics, I do not keep track of time. I just like to soak in the atmosphere and think of what it means to be in the place where the Supreme personality of Godhead had come once! Its awesome once we get to think about it...

In the evening we went to a nearby place alled Gopalpur where there is a nice temple of Lord Gopal. We were harassed a bit by the pujaris there but we were in no mood to let that spoil our mood :-) A discussion ensued about the behavior of such pujaris and finally H. G. JaiNarsimha Prabhu resolved it all by giving the final judgement : "If one really wants to serve the Lord, then he/she must use his/her money appropriately by helping in spreading the teachings of Srila Prabhupada." That answer satisfied my heart to the fullest!

Well, thats not the end of the day! At night we slept on the terrace! And boy, what a night it was. So many starts twinkling is the sky. Such a strong and cool breeze intoxicating us with its playful behavior. And I was especially in a blissful ecstatic mood. I love to travel and I love to sleep outdoors and I love to be in natural surroundings... and getting all of this combined with the association of devotees! What else can anyone want in life? H. G. RamRati Prabhu and Nishant Prabhu and I were discussing Prabhupada pastimes and Nishant Prabhu told me it was the best night of his life!

We all got up at around 0330 and got ready around 0500. There was some water problem and so on but who cares for so-called inconveniences when one is in th eecstacy of bieng in a Dham? Especially in the associtation of most enthusiastic devotees like Piyush Prabhu, one seldom feels inconvenienced. Some of us attended the Mangal Arati.

We reached the main Sri Sri Vitthal Rukhmini Temple of Pandharpur around 0630 I think. I dont remember. We were prepared to wait for 3-4 hours in the queue to get Darshan. But fortunately there was an option of giving some Rs 125 per head for a quicker Darshan. Obviously we opted for that. We were the most fortunate people in the whole creation because we touched the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that day. It is a very very rare opportunity. I cant possibly describe the magnitude of this good fortune that we had..

While coming back, we visited a place known as Vishnupad where the lotus footprints of Lord BalGopal, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Krishna in His three-fole bending form are imprinted. That place is right on the bank of teh Chandrabhaga. We took a boat thre too and paid a visit to the temple of Naradji which is in the middle of the river. It is inside water for 6 months of the year.. At Vishnupad, Piyush Prabhu led another sweet and melodious Kirtan.

Piyush Prabhu leading a melodious Kirtan
L to R : H. G. ShyamRas Prabhu, H. G. JaiNarsimha Prabhu

After coming back to Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath Temple, we had some Prasadam and then we all sat together near the GoShala. Ya, there is a GoShala too! It was very special to be with the cows who were calmly relaxing on the ground and having a nice time :-) The children were especially thrilled to be around the cows and bulls and were happily feeding them some fodder and the cows were reciprocating nicely by accepting it.

ISKCON Pandharpur Go-Shala

H. G. JaiNarsimha Prabhu read out the pastimes associated with Pandharpur, especially those regarding Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu. That day also happened to be the Vyasa Puja of H. H. Indradyumna Swami Maharaj! And we had the great good fourtune of having H. G. RamRati Prabhu and his good wofe H. G. KamalShree MAtaji with us. They shared their loving rememberances of H. H. Indradyumna Maharaj and we were all thrilled and glad to hear them.

There is so much to write but all of it cant be put on paper. So many streams of thought crossed my mind and I was planning to write all of them.. but maybe some other time in some other context. Let this article be just an advertisement of the Pandharpur Dham :-) I urge you all to please visit Pandharpur and experience the experience yourself :-)

Sri Sri Vitthala Rukhmini in Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath Temple Pandharpur

Yours in the service of Krishna,
Abhijit.