By Jayabhadra devi dasi – IGF preacher ISKCON Amravati
After a successful little balgopals’ padayatra at Amravati, the ISKCON Girls’ Forum considered holding such events at other nearby centres. My spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja, once said in a japa talk, “When you chant Krishna is happy, but when you give harinama to others Krishna becomes happier.” If padayatra makes Krishna and my spiritual master happy, why not have padayatras everywhere?
With that in mind I called ISKCON Dhamangaon centre leader Damodardulal dasa saying, “I’ll bring all the necessary material; can you just arrange prasadam for the kids?” He readily agreed and we made plans to hold padayatra on Sunday, May 19. Our team arrived at the Dhamangaon centre on the Saturday evening, where we celebrated Narsingha Caturdasi by reciting Narsingha Kavacha. Dr Manoj also came along to photograph padayatra, bringing with him banners and posters from Amravati to promote the event.
Padayatra began at 8am outside Damodardulal’s house, where he showed the flag and inaugurated the padayatra. Our young padayatris were singing the maha mantra and playing kartals as Damodardulal’s son Dev played mridanga and performed sankirtan, with a few of the local youngsters enthusiastically joining in. In every square along the way we did announcements about our centre and the glories of padayatra, as well as emphasizing how kids will inculcate positive values after attending such programmes. People came out to see the procession and were enchanted by the beautiful balgopals with Vaisnava tilak walking in two lines holding flags and posters.
At one point we stopped at a Hanuman temple so the children could have a rest. The pujari was happy to receive us in the temple, giving everyone prasad and water. He also went away briefly to fetch sweets for the kids, saying as he handed them to me, “This is the best thing you are doing. The Lord will bless you.” I asked him, “Is Hanumanji happy?” and he exclaimed, “Yes, of course.” When I introduced our padayatra deity, Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, to him he said, “The Lord has come to meet His servant.” He was delighted as I placed the deities on his head as blessings. As the kids danced and sang in the temple many of the people there joined in.
Later while we were walking an elderly lady came from her house with flowers in hand, but as the procession had already passed by she remained at her door appearing to be upset. Seeing this, I ran towards her and caught hold of her hand as I waved padayatra to stop. I then took her forward for darshan of Gaura-Nitai and she offered her flowers to Their Lordships. I placed the deities on her head, and only then did she become peaceful.
Having walked for about 3km we arrived back at Damodardulal’s house where his wife, Neelam mataji, and his father, Mr Keval, were waiting to wash the padayatris’ feet. Prasadam was then served to the children and they shared their realizations, which included “I liked the posters and banners”; “I walked for the first time, but singing and walking was wonderful and I was not feeling tired”; “I liked the decoration of the deities”; “Everybody was looking at us as we were walking, and that made me feel proud”; and “I liked the flag and kirtan at the temple.”
All thanks to Damodardulal prabhu for allowing us to have padayatra in Dhamangaon. I was concerned about the heat but Neelam mataji said, “Don’t worry. Kids are always playing in the sun, so it won’t affect them.” I became relaxed, and now if anybody has doubts about kids walking in the sun, this is the best explanation I can give. Little Vaisnava padayatra, ki jay!
