In the Caitanya Bhagavata (Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126), Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said: “In every town and village of the world, the chanting of My name will be heard.” Mahaprabhu’s dear devotee, Srila Prabhupada, along with his disciples and grand-disciples, are taking this instruction to heart and fulfilling its purpose.
In 1992, Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja started an annual Padayatra around Odisha, and this tradition continues up to this day. During the month of Kartika devotees walk from village to village in the middle of the Odishan jungles, all the while chanting the holy names. In 2014 the main leaders and participants from the Odisha group were Advaita Acarya prabhu, Madana Mohana prabhu, Trailokanath Prabhu, Gunarnava Prabhu, Dhruva Maharaja Prabhu, Aksa-Hari Prabhu and others. This year was different as the Bhubaneswar devotees did not bring their own Deities and their own bullock cart. Instead , on October12, they teamed up with the Padayatra India party in Manoharpur in the district of Kendujhar, and travelled with them during the whole 21 days of their padayatra, until October 31st. Only six devotees from the Padayatra India were there, including Acarya Dasa, the leader, because the other padayatris had gone to participate in theVraja Mandala Parikrama. There was a very good cooperation between the two parties, and we were very much inspired by their dedication. We could see how the Padayatra India devotees were so nicely organized – they have much more experience- and how they are very effective in their preaching tactics. We learned a lot from them, and we hope that in our future Padayatras we will imbibe their expertise.
For us, the padayatra is a much anticipated event. Our prayers to Sri Sri Gaur Nitai every year include: “Please, take me with You on Padayatra!” By Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga’s mercy, ten western devotees from Russia, France, Estonia, and Ireland ended up on Padayatra. It was a very intense journey right from the beginning. We started from Moscow and when we arrived in India went straight to Bhubaneswar. The very next day we set off to join Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s padayatra army, passing by the airport to pick up another fired-up devotee. The trip took a few hours and it was already getting dark. The time for the evening nagar-sankirtana was drawing closer, and the devotees were calling us, asking: “Where are you? Come quickly! We are waiting for you!” We were burning with the desire to join the kirtana. When we finally arrived in the village of Dhenkikote, in the distance we saw the effulgent flood of the sankirtana party getting closer and closer. We did not even wait for the car to stop. As it slowed down, we jumped out, finally joining the sweet nectarean kirtana. All the villagers were participating. Nobody stayed home.
Every day, beautiful Nitai-Gaurasundara, along with Srila Prabhupada, were seated on Their chariot, pulled by two powerful Kankrej oxen from Gujarat, traveling from village to village and door to door, distributing to one and all the most sublime benediction. The six magnificent oxen were creating a sensation with the Odishan villagers who had never seen such beautiful large bulls in their lives because in Odisha, the cows and bulls are somewhat short. A deep friendship developed between the Russian devotees, and the oxen, especially Nanda and Nrsimha.
Every morning the padayatra moved on to its next destination, accompanied by an enthusiastic harinama, paying no attention whatsoever to the heat or bad weather. The high spirited devotees distributed books, held school programs and enthusiastically chanted and danced. We especially want to point out the kitchen devotees, whose service is so important, as all the padayatris depend on sumptuous prasada to get the strength to perform their services. The kitchen department devotees were serving everybody tirelessly, all the while keeping themselves unnoticed. The Lord especially values the service of such selfless and humble servants. They cooked rice and dalma, the most traditional Odiya dish, along with subjis and other preparations for the transcendental pleasure of Their Lordship Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundara. One evening we witnessed how devoted the padayatris are to their service. It was raining heavily but that did not deter them from performing gaura-arati. The sound of the kirtana attracted the villagers and the whole square filled up very quickly. The rain was no match for the pleasurable chanting of the holy names of the Lord.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy is boundless, unbiased and unconditional. Overlooking our disqualifications, He bestows His mercy to one and all, especially those who are very simple hearted. Every day, many village people followed the cart for quite a distance. On October 26th, when we started from the village Kantiapada, one small girl about five years old joined our harinama. She was obviously from a very poor family. On this particular day we walked more than 8 km, and the girl walked barefoot and danced with us the entire way. Later we came to know that she had walked alone, without her parents. When the harinama ended, one Oriya devotee questioned her: “How were you able to walk such a long distance?” She hung her head and only shyly smiled in answer. Devotees gave her a bag of maha-prasada and Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundara’s garlands, and then drove her home. While leaving the car she smiled, waved at us and happily ran home, clutching the garlands to her chest. Every day we were witnesses to such touching events. Srila Prabhupada’s mercy is so great that through the congregational chanting of the holy name, he unifies all souls into one big friendly family. On October 27th we observed Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day. People from different villages we had visited throughout the month joined us to glorify Srila Prabhupada.
October 31st was the last day of our combined Padayatra, but we didn’t want to leave each other’s company. The next day we saw the cart and Padayatra India devotees off with a somewhat heavy heart. So we were really happy to see them again at the ISKCON Krsna Balarama Mandir in Bhubaneswar, Srila Prabhupada’s last founded project, in front of Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja’s samadhi. The strength that pulls us to happily undergo the austerities and difficulties that we encounter on padayatra comes from Srila Gour Govinda Swami and his followers. Our paths met once again a few days later in Jagannatha Puri, and our happiness knew no bounds!
Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja said: “The fortunate living entities who accept and participate in Gaura-kirtana, who go out and take part in the chanting of [Maharaja very loudly chants] HARE KRSNA HARE KRSNA KRSNA KRSNA HARE HARE, HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE, such persons have life!” ( From a talk given by Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja on a Padayatra arrival ceremony, 30th of December 1995, in Bhubaneswar, India.)
ISKCON Padayatra ki Jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki Jaya!
