By Acarya dasa, All-India Padayatra Leader
HOW DID THE LORD STEAL THE HEART OF AVINASH?
The last time we were in the village of Bori in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra’s Vidarbha, or eastern, region was in 2009. On that occasion when the villagers came for darsana of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundara, as I was honouring prasadam I called to a young boy who was just leaving to join me. As he accepted one morsel, he said, “Wow! I have never tasted such wonderful prasadam in my life. In our village prasadam means some sugar granules and a small piece of coconut.” As soon I heard this I exclaimed, “Zali krupa Nitai-Gaurasundaran chi,” meaning the Lord has showered His mercy upon you. Now this boy was the special guest of Their Lordships.
As I sat with Avinash discussing the glories of the holy names, I told him about our daily programme and invited him to mangala arati. To my surprise he attended the next day. After the arati I gave him some beads and he began chanting, spending all day with us and even buying some books. He was soon chanting sixteen rounds daily.
The Lord must have made me an instrument to reach his heart, inspiring me to call him for prasadam because from then on, he was constantly on the phone asking the whereabouts of padayatra. He served ISKCON in Yavatmal, staying alone there in the days when the area was isolated, and dealing with threating behaviour from the local goons. He tolerated everything by his strong faith in Krishna.
Avinash celebrated Janmashtami with us when we were in Nasik that year and then came to Gujarat to spend a few days with us. He was very touched by the association of devotees and started reading the Bhagavad-Gita. He was inspired directly by the Lord through prasadam. It’s a mystery how the Lord can inspire anyone to be a devotee. Some are pleased by kirtana, some by padayatris, some by our oxen and some by our simple lifestyle. One glimpse of the Lord was enough to kidnap Avinash’s heart. He always prayed to the Lord to come to his village again, although at that time he was not aware of what services he could render.
Now in 2018 we were once again on the same route. As soon as Avinash got the news, he was very ecstatic. He said, “The Lord has answered my prayers. I was waiting for this auspicious day.” Avinash had informed the villagers of our impending arrival and as we reached Bori on October 18 we saw the roads decorated with beautiful rangolis and many people gathered to welcome the Lord with arati and the padayatris with garlands. They then washed everyone’s feet, including those of our oxen.
Avinash did not stop serving and helping us for a single moment, securing our accommodation and making a perfect preaching plan. He and his team prepared a feast for the villagers after they had taken darsana of the Lord. He said, “Each and every person in the village should honour prasadam, nobody should be left out. Once I ate prasadam and it brought about a revolution in my life. Prasadam is divine and out of this world.” When he had darsana of their Lordships, he said, “They were thin that time, but now They are healthy.” I said, “It’s all due to the offerings cooked by our padayatris with love.” A pandal programme was also scheduled where we did sankirtana and gave a class glorifying the importance of spiritual life and the pastimes of Their Lordships. A large crowd attended, and we also held a few home programmes.
Avinash now preaches in his village with the help of a group of youths and some congregational members. When we were leaving Bori, he had tears in his eyes. “Again, I will wait for you all. I always pray to the Lord to come to my village.”
PADAYATRA AT YAVATMAL
On the auspicious day of Pashankusha Ekadashi, October 20, 2018, a grand reception for padayatra India took place at the Kamaleshvar Mahadeva temple at Lohara in Yavatmal district. Chanting the holy names, the procession made its way to our ISKCON centre where the temple devotees, led by Prananath dasa and Yadhav dasa, welcomed us and then they and the congregational members came for darsana of the Lord.
Prananath said, “I was praying to Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundara and requesting Them to come here as I can’t preach alone.” And the Lord answered his prayers and stayed in his centre for one month, while several members of the padayatra party went to Vrindavan for Vraj Mandala Parikrama. In the association of Rupa Raghunath Maharaja, the temple devotees did sankirtana and book distribution throughout the city and the surrounding villages every alternate day.
Yadhav said, “When we went to Nagpur for a meeting with Lokanath Maharaja, he told us that padayatra is coming to our place and we would have the opportunity to serve the Lord and the padayatris.” Prananath was very pleased to host Padayatra India for a month and solemnly vowed to take care of the Lord, the devotees and the oxen.
