By Prabhupada-jívana dasa
From July 25 to August 8 devotees from Budapest’s Dayal Nitai-Vijaya Gauranga temple arranged for a padayatra festival to visit the tourist towns and beaches around Lake Balaton, the largest freshwater lake in central Europe.
Padayatra began with thirty full-time participants: ten book distributors as well as ten devotees dedicated to preaching, while the remainder were bhaktas. Later the party was joined by ten grhasta devotees including two small children from ISKCON’s Hungarian self-sufficient ecological farming community, Nava Vraja-dhama, two families from Eger in northern Hungary including four children, and one couple from London and one couple from Slovakia. With congregational members joining intermittently, the size of the party often doubled.
The padayatris travelled by motor vehicles south-west from Budapest to Szekesfehervar, the first of three central camp sites (sleeping mainly in school classrooms) from which they drove to full-day harinama in the surrounding towns. From Szekesfehervar the party then made its way to the beach resort of Balatonfured on the north coast of Lake Balaton.
For a few days at the end of the first week, the padayatris received Giriraja Maharaja’s special mercy: Asit Krishna Swami from ISKCON Govardhana. This was Maharaja’s second year with the Hungarian padayatra, but it seems he is going to become a regular participant. He is very sweet, and everyone gained much from his association. Maharaja gave some inspirational morning lectures and led ecstatic kirtans in the townships.
Except for only two days, the padayatris were blessed with hot summer weather for harinama in the lakeside resorts. Upon hearing the holy names through the party’s loudspeakers, locals and holiday-makers alike greeted the procession with love and joy. The devotees were very enthusiastic as they relished the opportunity to obtain Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy by becoming immersed in the preaching mood.
From the lake’s north coast padayatra moved on to Siofok (one of Hungary’s wealthiest municipalities and most popular holiday destinations) on the south coast and from there to do harinama in the villages of Somogy county. The padayatris also paid a one-day visit to ISKCON’s eco-farm, known colloquially as Krishna Valley, where they were greeted with a huge kirtana for the pleasure of the presiding deities, Sri Sri Radha-Syamasundara. Established by Sríla Sivarama Swami and the Hungarian devotees twenty-five years ago, the property is home to 140 devotees and forty cows, with another eighty devotees residing in nearby Somogyvamos. Nava Vraja-dhama is renown as the largest eco-farming project in Europe.
Padayatra’s last few days were centred around Keszthely on the western shore of Lake Balaton, where to show the padayatris his appreciation the mayor offered to accommodate them free of charge in a freshly renovated house, a welcome respite from school classrooms.
During the daily harinama the padayatris were not accompanied by any deities, but in the evenings the devotees had the pleasure of worshipping padayatra leader Triyuga dasa’s personal deities, Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai. On the last day of the festival, however, Their Lordships Jagannatha, Baladev and Subhadra arrived from the Budapest temple to grace padayatra’s final evening at Varvolgy. That night everyone was busy, either preparing a special feast for the deities, decorating Their opulent altar, or participating in the kirtana and bhajana offered to Them. The event was complete with wonderful Jagannatha katha by Ananda Caitanya dasa from Bhaktivedanta Manor in the UK.
On Kamikā ekādasi the 2018 Hungarian padayatra ended with a sanga at which devotees shared their realizations and experiences with each other.
Prabhupada-jívana dasa: The morning classes by Caitanya prabhu (who started the Hungarian padayatras in the 1990s) had been about community, and these past two weeks certainly had a community-forming effect. The padayatris distributed 2785 books during the walk, and I felt that my service as a book distributor was made easier by having up to sixty enthusiastic devotees alongside me. When devotees distribute the holy name, Srila Prabhupada’s books and Krishna prasadam together, it has a very powerful impact.
Sanátani devi dasi; This was my third padayatra. In my service of book distribution, I like the mood of engaging with people who are attracted to the harinama. One of my best experiences was when I sang on harinama and watched people’s faces changing while hearing Krishna’s names. It’s visible that harinama touches their heart. Another great experience was distributing books with the children of bhakta families. They are such special souls. It’s not a question of if they are Krishna conscious – it’s natural for them. And to do book distribution with children who are clever and happy by nature is very appealing.
Bhaktin Anna: This was my first padayatra. I thought it would be like an ordinary camp with some nice Krishna people. But it was much more than a camp: padayatra is a pilgrimage. As hard as I felt it was physically, mercifully it was spiritual. When I wasn’t helping in the kitchen, I went out with the harinama. It was an amazing experience how touching the holy name is for people – and sometimes even dogs had overheated emotions. And as for the sankirtana devotees, they were full of power, running all day in 40degC! I couldn’t imagine I would go for two weeks singing and dancing in the streets, and now I cannot imagine my life without Krishna consciousness.
Bhakta Attila: Although living in the Budapest temple for only a year as part of the preaching team, this was my fourth padayatra. The best thing was the effect of the harinama. There was an ordinary town with ordinary people, and by the maha mantra it immediately became a theatre of transcendental dreams. A moving experience was when we visited Csurgo, my hometown. I had asked my mother to cook pancakes for the padayatris. She had been waiting impatiently for us in a park but shortly after we arrived, she relaxed and became friendly. Then I understood the power of the bhava of devotees. In terms of self-improvement, padayatra is a serious ego test. Living and sleeping communally in hot weather, we must be tolerant. From the lectures I heard and the time spent with the devotees on padayatra, I learned how to value and respect others. I recognized that if I serve the devotees with patience and love my problems will disappear.
