(from ISKCON Amravati, Maharashtra)
I joined the All India Padayatra in September 2013 in Dhanbad, Jharkhanda. I very much like harinama sankirtana and book distribution, which are integral parts of padayatra. That’ s why I joined the Padayatra India party for six months. Every month I did different sevas: distributing books, washing kitchen utensils and paraphernalia, setting the mike and projector for the evening program, showing videos, driving the cart, taking care of the oxen, and of course, chanting a lot.
Learning to feel the Lord’s presence and protection
Once in Jharkhanda we were attacked by gundas. They injured some of us with their weapons, robbed money and valuables. By the mercy of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai the police suddenly arrived, and the bandits ran away. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, “ma sucah” –do not fear. The Lord always protects His fully surrendered devotees and gives them abhayam, fearlessness. I remember how in a lecture Lokanath Swami rephrased the Lord’s words, “Oh dear, come near, sit here, do not fear, I am here!” When Acarya Prabhu, our padayatra leader, talked to Maharaja about this incident , he was very much worried, like a father for all of us. He asked how many got injured and whether we got medical help. Then he gave us his medicinal words of wisdom by telling us that in Bihar and Jharkhanda there is a legacy of looting parties and pilgrims crossing these areas. Shyamananda Pandit, Narottama Dasa Thakur and Srinivas Acarya were also attacked and looted in these area when they transported the books of the Six Goswamis from Vrindavana to Bengal. An hotel owner had revealed to Sanatan Goswami that there was a plan to rob him of his gold coins and then kill him and his servant while le was traveling in the jungle from Bengal to Virndavana.
The news of the attack had appeared in all the local newspapers and was broadcasted on local radios and TV channels. The incident, and the padayatris, became famous. As we kept walking ahead many people approached us, paid their obeisances to Nitai-gaurasundar and Srila Prabhupada. People were telling us, “ You were all attacked by the terrorists, How did the police arrived there? Show us what books you have!” Lots of books were thus distributed, more preaching took place, and people came to know more about ISKCON. Maharaja commented it was all the plan and the arrangement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, nothing happens by chance.
On padayatra I got the opportunity to visit many holy places places, such as Jharkhanda and West Bengal where our Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu performed His pastimes. I was very happy to see that with Padayatra, harinama and large scale book distribution are going to very remote places which ISKCON has not reached yet.
Witnessing hearts being transformed
I’d like to share the following incident which took place in the Bhagalpur district in the state of Bihar. As usual, we were walking behind the cart distributing books. There was a long queue of vehicles on the road, and our padayatra party – cart, tractor, trolley and kitchen trolley- was also caught in that traffic jam. When we came to know that some political party had blocked the road to protest against the Bihar government our padayatra leader requested the police to let us go through, but they refused. As it was about to get dark we somehow drove the cart on a path through the jungle and then joined the main road. But our cart had gotten damaged during that jungle trip. On top of it, our tractor and our kitchen trolley were still stuck in the queue. No chance for us to get any prasadam! By evening the road was opened again but due to the traffic jam our tractor trolley had banged one vehicle. The owner of the vehicle started threatening us, shouting, “We will see you tonight. Wherever you stop, we will find you and kill you. We are all gundas”. They sure did as they had said. While we were performing Gaura arati, the entire gang arrived to our camp. As we were dancing and singing we were least aware of the presence of these gang members, and consequently less affected. First they saw our beautiful Gaur Nitai, then our gentle oxen, and these transcendental darsanas quickly transformed their heart, which started to soften. After the evening arati they talked to us with lots of love and affection, not holding a grudge any longer. They said, “We never knew you are all padayatris and that you are distributing love of God to everybody”. When they saw our books they bought a Gita from us. The most amazing thing is that they did all the arrangements at our next day’s destination. We had heard the story of the transformation of the hearts of Chanda Kazi, and of Jagai and Madhai, but now we witnessed such transformation ourselves.
Padayatra, theJourney from Mystery to Mercy
The life of a padayatri may appear to be a mystery to ordinary folks. Some may wonder, “How do they survive such hardships and why do they go through them in the first place ?” The humble souls embarking on padayatra have been enduring scorching heat, heavy rains and icy cold winds since 1984. They have accomplished a feat that baffles even the greatest of minds, having done the complete tour of India five times already! The mystery of why padayatris do this is simple: to attract the mercy of Guru and Gauranga.
We hope to shed some light on the mystery and the mercy by describing a a typical day on Padayatra India. Devotees rise early to attend mangala-arati which commences at 4:30am. Thereafter the padayatris chant the holy names from 5:15am to 7:00am when sringar arati begins, shortly followed by Guru puja. After this spiritually enlivening program they head out, packing their personal belongings in one of the trolleys. The Padayatra is now ready to begin its ten to fifteen kilometer journey to its next destination. The mercy of Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar touches all who see Them. As the Padayatra moves along devotees play a tape of Srila Prabhupada chanting the maha mantra. The padayatris make sure to work together for the success of Padayatra, which can be seen in the way in which tasks are delegated upon arrival in a village or city. There are two devotees in the cart, one driving it, and the other one making announcements while guiding the cart, and all the others are walking, continuously distributing books to people living around.
The Padayatra comes to a stop at 9:00am, once they have found a place where water is readily available and where there are suitable places for the devotees to sit and take rest. All the devotees involved in the kitchen service bring the kitchen trolley, cook bhoga and then make offerings to the Deities. Meanwhile other devotees take care of the oxen by feeding them grass and giving them water to drink. The padayatris always ensure that proper care of the oxen is taken because they are so fortunate to be carrying Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasaundar and Srila Prabhupada on their shoulders. Lokanath Swami always says that these padayatra oxen aren’t ordinary oxen – they are blessed as this is their last birth – therefore they should be taken good care of. After the offerings are made the devotees honor prasadam, take a little rest and then they begin their walk to their next destination, the goal being to reach there by 1 to 2pm in the afternoon.
Upon arriving at the destination, the Padayatra is welcomed by the people of the village. The chanting of the holy name and the Deities inspires the local people to assist the padayatra; they readily make arrangements for accommodations, water and other necessities. After the padayatris have settled in everyone attends to their delegated duties be it cooking, taking care of the oxen, washing utensils or back-up services for the Deities. In the evening devotees offer bhoga to the Lord and honor prasadam. By this time the Padayatra leader, Acarya Prabhu, begins planning for the next day. He usually goes ahead to the destination and makes arrangements for the Padayatra’s arrival. Gaura arati takes place at 7pm, and is then followed by katha for the assembled villagers, after which a video about ISKCON is played for the gathered crowd. The evening ends with distribution of halva and khichadi maha-prasadam to the villagers.
Life on Padayatra can be very trying at times; we are not always welcomed at the places we travel to and we are sometimes faced with unfriendly followers of different sampradayas, mayavadis and atheists. There have been many situations were padayatris had no choice but to sleep under trees because we did not have accommodation, and there were even moments where we had no water to drink. Yet, despite the difficulties, we continue on with our seva because our deepest desire is to please Srila Prabhupada and our Guru Maharaja. Padayatris are always guided by Srila Prabhupada’s words, “Preaching is the essence.” Therefore they give their whole hearts, bodies and souls to preach the Holy Name. This may be a mystery to some, but it is definitely no mystery to the devotees whose seva attracts the mercy of the Supreme Lord.
All glories to the padayatris!