By Acarya Dasa
On December 24th 2014, we reached the town of Palamaner in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. It has been nine years since we have been here, this was when we had initially met Shivaram prabhu. After he had received the darsana of Nitai Gaurasundar for the first time and listened to transcendental kirtana he became inspired to take up spiritual life in 2005. He attended all our programs during our stay in town that year, and received good association from all our padayatris. Shivaram prabhu soon started chanting and following the four regulative principles. Later on he came into contact with an ISKCON center and it was not long after that he took shelter of a guru, Subhak Swami. As an initiated devotee, he joined padayatra serving Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar for 5 years before returning to his home town.
Once again, Shivaram prabhu was happy to receive Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar and all the padayatris in his town. He put together a grand welcoming ceremony and in the evening we had sankirtana followed by Gaura arati and katha. All the residents of the village came for the program. We distributed many books and served prasadam to about 400 people. During the program Shivaram prabhu spoke about his realizations and how Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar changed his life and inspired him. After his talk, about fifty people took japa beads from the stall we had set up and immediately began chanting the maha mantra.
This is just one example of how Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar and the padayatris continue to inspire whoever they meet to take up Krishna consciousness. As Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself said, “bolo `krsna’, bhajo krsna, koro krsna–siksa[1]”, the padayatra does exactly this wherever it goes. The preaching of the holy names of the Lord continues even in the remotest places inaccessible by vehicles. It is only by the mercy of Sri Sri Nitai Gaursundar, Srila Prabhupada and our beloved Gurudev, Lokanath Swami that we are able to do this. In this way we are preaching and distributing books in every nook and corner of India through this medium the ‘All India Padayatra’.
I am often asked how is it that we have been walking continuously for so many years yet our enthusiasm only gets greater and we never appear to tire. My only response on behalf of myself and the other padayatris is that we are not walking, it is Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar Who are making us walk. They inspire us from within to keeping doing this service. As for not appearing tired, well when we walk we do tire but once we start dancing in kirtana and see other people becoming inspired by the holy names we become refreshed and ready to serve more and more. So, it is the love of Guru and Gauranga that is making us walk and serve.
[1] Sri Caitanya-Bhagavata, Madhya-Khanda (13.8-10). Translation: `Please chant Krsna’s name, worship Krsna, and teach others to follow Krsna’s instructions.’