By: Acarya Dasa
Extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence
‘World Holy Name Week’ is a festival held by devotees worldwide to commemorate Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the West. Devotees celebrate it by chanting and distributing the holy names to everyone. It helps us remember that it is by the causeless mercy of Srila Prabhupada that we have received the holy names and what was once a one day celebration, became a weeklong celebration, then a 10 day celebration and this year a two week celebration starting on July 28th and ending on August 14th.
Sankirtana is the heart of padayatra. Wherever we walk, whenever we enter a village or conduct house programs we chant the holy names with every soul in attendance dancing along with us. It’s not a surprise to us since we are traveling with sankirtana eka pitaro, the father of sankirtana Himself, Lord Caitanya. Lokanath Swami said, “Celebrating the ‘World Holy Name’ festival is like celebrating the victory of the holy names all over the world param vijayate sri- krishna sankirtanam [1]. The world is on fire, let us chant more and extinguish the fire of this material existence. So, propagate the holy names.” We took these words to heart and held different programs during these two weeks of ‘World Holy Name’ celebrations.
We were in Kurur on July 28th the first day of this celebration, which also coincided with the day of the incorporation of ISKCON in New York. During the
three days we stayed there we distributed about 250 maha big books. We held kirtana in the streets and had many house programs all over the city. Thereafter we travelled to the village of Manlamedu where we experienced the miracle of a cowslaughterer becoming a cow worshipper. (This amazing story has already been posted on the padayatra website)
Risking our lives to give the holy names in a riotous city
On August 6th we travelled to the city of Dindugal. We noticed that there were many churches and masjids (mosques)[2] and very few hindu temples. Our party forged ahead but before we could enter the city we were stopped by some policemen. We tried to explain to them our purpose –to spread the holy names- but they wouldn’t listen and refused us entry. At this point we were at a loss as to where we were going to spend the night, so the police told us to camp at the outskirts of the city 2 kilometers away. The police officials were kind enough to send two police constables to remain with us while we were there, They were concerned for our safety, since there had been some conflicts in the community.
The next day we continued with our regular morning program of mangala arati, chanting, Bhagavatam class on the theme of the glories of the holy names and prasadam. We were happy to see that the police constables also got up and attended the morning program. They even asked us, “Can we also chant ?”, and requested japa beads. We told them, “Yes of course harinama is for everyone” and gave them beads to chant on. While getting ready to go on sankirtana we noticed a few Muslims gathering nearby checking out our padayatra cart. It appeared to us that they thought we were some ‘anti-social’ group, so we went up to them and spoke to them about our aim- to propagate the holy names. After explaining and assuring them that we had no other objectives they realized we were harmless; yet still we were not allowed to enter the city.
Sometime later a police official in charge of the city approached us. We pleaded with him to allow us into the city but he explained that the rules here are different and therefore, he could not do so. He may not have been able to let us into the city at this point but he was certainly interested in padayatra –he stayed with us for two hours, first taking darsana of the Lord and then having prasadam with us. The whole time we were still trying to convince him to let us into the city, even saying that we would enter at our own risk. We explained our mission again, ‘We want to spread the holy names wherever we go. The holy names are not just for Hindus whoever hears the holy names gets spiritual benefit. We are chanting for love and peace dina hina yata chilo hariname udharilo[3] (the holy names delivers all those souls who are lowly and wretched).’ Finally after all this persuasion he agreed on the condition that while in the city we would be under constant police protection. He told us that there were riots in the city between Muslims and Hindus during ganpati utsava[4]. The people celebrating were drinking alcohol and playing loud music and because of the disturbance there were some conflicts in the city. We said to him, “Don’t worry, ours is spiritual kirtana which the Lord Himself has sent to Earth and which is soothing for every soul.”
As we entered the city 4 police vans travelled in front of our party and 4 more travelled behind us. We held a grand kirtana with some of the people joining us and many more coming to honor carnamrta which we had begun distributing. We were very surprised indeed. Our party moved through the city without hindrance despite there being traffic –the police officials co-operated with us and we moved ahead. ‘Who could stop the Lord if He wants to go to His children and give them darsana?,’ I thought. This was how all the Hindus, Muslims and Christians were blessed by seeing the Lord and hearing the holy names.
The police officials were astounded; they couldn’t believe that there were no divergences or violence while we were in the city. In fact they told us “Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar are very merciful, but you, Their followers, are even more merciful. You risked your lives to give the holy names to each and every person in this city. All glories to you!” I replied, “The Lord is the doer and protector and we are just instruments in His hands.” The police constables who were accompanying us were so inspired that they asked the official in charge whether they could continue staying on duty with us, ‘sadhus’, explaining that they wanted to be with us. They enjoyed being in the association of devotees – such is the power of the holy names -and as a result the police officials protected us right up until we left the Dindugal district.
Param vijayatre sri krishna sankirtanam
On August 12th we travelled to the village of Vaiyampatti which has a namahatta centre. The devotees there, hearing of our arrival, happily welcomed us and organized a pandal program and nice prasadam. We were pleased to see many local residents attending the program. I took the opportunity to speak to the crowd about the vital importance of chanting the holy names in kaliyuga, and quoted Srila Prabhupada, “Sankirtan is the only cure.” We stayed here for two days doing sankirtana with the namahatta devotees in the main squares of the village.
Our next stop was on August 14th in the village of Malayandipatti. We held sankirtana with many of the locals joining us while relishing the holy names. That day marked the 50th anniversary of the first public harinam sankirtan in the western world and also the last day of ‘World Holy Name Week’, but for us it seemed like just the beginning since whatever we did these days inspired us more and more.
It was thus, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and our beloved Padayatra Ministry leader, Lokanath Swami, that we were able to celebrate ‘World Holy Name Week’.
ISKCON Golden jubilee ki! Jai!
World Holy Name Festival ki! Jai!
Quotes about the holy names to inspire you too:
The holy name is the most precious jewel in the Lord’s treasure house
(Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura –Sri Hrinam Cintamani)
The Lord’s holy name is compared to medicine it’s the only cure for the material disease
(A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, ISKON’s founder acarya)
Golokera prema-dhana
Harinam sankirtan
Translation : The Hare Krishna mahamantra has descended from Goloka Vrindavan
(Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura –Hari Hari Biphale)
[1] Sri Siksastakam – Eight Instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
[2] A center in every Muslim community where members of the Islamic faith gather to pray.
[3] Hari Hari Biphale (Prayer to One’s Beloved Lord) by Narottama Dasa Thakur
[4] A festival held in honor of Lord Ganesh
