By Yadav dasa, Congregation preacher
pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
It was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction that everywhere on Earth, His name will be preached.
In the year 2000 the All-India Padayatra came to the village of Bori, almost 45km from Yavatmal in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Taking darshan of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar and Srila Prabhupada on the chariot and the majestic oxen with big horns, the heart of one village boy, Avinash Kantode, was stolen. He was also attracted to the padayatris, staying with them and cherishing the desire to preach the Lord’s message all over. Taking a bead bag, mala and small books, Avinash started studying, following the four regulative principles and chanting sixteen rounds daily, eventually becoming a devotee.
After ten years the All-India Padayatra again visited Bori. In the interim Avinash had been preaching nicely and AIP leader Acarya dasa was happy to see the transformation in the village. Acarya told me to preach in the village and from 2018 to 2022 the number of devotees constantly increased. In the beginning only four people used to come for the lecture, but slowly the count increased and today 300 devotees are chanting the Hare Krishna maha mantra in Bori.
During last year’s 125th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s appearance our spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja, instructed me to organize a padayatra. I discussed this with the devotees in Bori and all agreed. Almost 165 devotees joined our padayatra including many girls and boys. We had small deities of Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai which each one of us took turns to carry on our heads. Srila Prabhupada also graced the padayatra. We started with nagar sankirtan in the village of Darva and ended at Bori’s Vittala temple. As we moved ahead singing and dancing and distributing books, people would come out and sing the maha mantra with us and each one of us felt Srila Prabhupada’s mercy as we distributed ninety Bhagavad-gitas.
I thank from my heart those who supported this padayatra: Kathasravan dasa, Vaikuntha purush dasa, Anandini mataji, Bhaktin Gauri, Bhakta Shesh Narayan, Kirtimayradha mataji, Kumari Gopika mataji and Avinash Kantode. Devotees shared their realizations and in doing so increased their enthusiasm to serve. It’s all due to the causeless mercy of Lokanath Maharaja, his inspiration and blessings. I realized how padayatra’s Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar sowed the seed of devotion in Bori and made the devotees instrumental in organizing a one-day padayatra.
