By Acarya dasa, All-India Padayatra leader
The second coronavirus lockdown was announced while the padayatris were at Bharkawada village in Gujarat, where they were permitted to stay at the Panchmukhi mahadev temple. Our spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja, called us enquiring if we were safe and well. He said, “Do not worry. Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar will protect you all.” He also told us to distribute prasadam to the villagers. We had announced that no-one could attend our evening programmes due to the restrictions on large gatherings, but as soon as people heard the kirtan they came towards the temple. And naturally, prasadam was also an attraction. The village leaders advised stopping prasadam distribution so people would not attend, but we had arranged a lecture by Krishnamedha dasa and as a result of that gathering the police came and took some of us to the police station. I was concerned they would charge us and was praying to Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar. A police inspector asked me where we had come from and I told him we had walked from Dwaraka. He was shocked to hear that but was pleased when I gifted him a Bhagavad-gita. The next day he sent his family for darshan of Their Lordships. I also advised him to chant and slowly his family became favourable and supported us.
Bharkawada has a population of only 1500, but during our stay we performed more than twenty-five house programmes. People would argue, saying that “today the Lord will come to my house,” and so on. We had daily sankirtan in the village along with prasadam distribution. As the days passed the villagers became devotees, ninety per cent of them chanting the maha mantra with us perfectly. They also began applying tilak and following ekadashi, and chanting was by now an integral part of their lives.
Panchmukhi mahadev rama rama hare hare
The mood of Lord Shiva in Bharkawada is like that of a Vaishnava: he relishes sankirtan. I felt Their Lordships stayed here to give association to Lord Shiva and he was protecting devotees and giving us shelter.
Some villagers shared their realizations with us, most declaring that the atmosphere had become more spiritual. One said, “We want such programmes to take place daily. It was like a festival having the padayatris here.” Another said, “They have charged us with spiritual energy. But if they go our battery will be discharged, so we would like a small Krishna temple in our village.”
After a stay of forty days, we were preparing to leave but the village leaders said they would have a farewell celebration for us. The event was set for June 7, invitations were sent and a stage and large pandal were erected as the villagers busily engaged with preparations to please Their Lordships. One afternoon a padayatra was held in Bharkawada under the guidance of Murlimohan dasa and other Ahmedabad devotees. Many villagers and children participated and chanted the holy name. Because of our presence in their village for so many days everyone was acquainted with sankirtan and the padayatra was enthusiastically performed.
The ratha and Their Lordships were beautifully decorated for our farewell celebration. An abhishek was performed of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar’s utsava vigraha, the village seniors doing the honours, and this was followed by sankirtan, drama and prasad distribution. About 4000 people attended. As I observed the festivities, I was reminded of the annual Hare Krishna festival organized by ISKCON Aravade devotees, and so we named the evening the Hare Krishna Festival at Bharkawada.
It has made history in ISKCON: within forty-five days a whole village turned into devotees. Their progress will be followed by the Ahmedabad devotees to ensure they keep moving ahead in devotional life.
Book score: 150 small books.
All glories to Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
