Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar Ki Jai!
Prithivite ache jata nagari gram, sarvatra prachar hoibe mora nam.
June 2013: This is Gauranga Mahaprabhu’s prediction, which padayatris in India have been walking for the past 29 years to fulfill. Padayatra India has already completed five tours of the country, starting from Dvaraka, visiting Badrinath, Jagganath Puri and Ramesvaram. On April 16th, 2011 it started its 6th tour. There are now 25 devotees, many from different countries, walking on padayatra. There are 6 oxen and a tractor pulling two trolleys for kitchen’s utensils, bhoga, books and devotees’ luggage. Since its beginning in September 1984 Padayatra India has travelled more than 150 000 kms.
At 4:30 am devotees attend mangal arati, Nrsimha arati and tulasi puja, and then chant their japa till 7:15 am. It is followed by darshan arati and guru puja. After that we pack our luggage and put it in the trolley. We then start our day’s journey distributing books along the way to all kinds of audiences. We walk through villages and towns and average 12 to 15 kms every day. Morning prasadam is transported on the tractor to the devotees on the road, and we make a halt to take it. We reach our next destination by 2:30 pm. We stay in schools, temples, dharmasalas and sometimes in peoples’ homes. In this way, padayatra is very enjoyable.
ananyas cintayanto mam
ye janah paryupasate
tesam nityabhiyuktanam
yoga-ksemam vahamy aham
But to those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form- to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have. (BG 9.22)
On Padayatra we have practical experience of the contents of this sloka.
Every day we see new landscapes and meet new people- most of them are very pious and helpful. As soon as padayatra reaches one village all the people gather, they are amazed to see these huge bulls with their majestic horns and the all-enchanting Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar. Many times people take Srila Prabhupad’s murti to be real, and ask, ” Doesn’t Swamiji get down to take his meals or move around?”
The devotees take their noon bath at wells or under hand pumps. People flood us with questions about ISKCON and our lifestyle. We hold our daily evening harinam and Gaura arati in the village followed by a short lecture and prasadam for everyone. Devotees go to bed by 9:30 pm.
Most of the time our ratha, tractor and trolleys stay on the road side while devotees sleep under a tree or in an open temple compound. By Krishna’s mercy we never faced any theft issues, but one incident occurred which I am sharing here.
Book scores for Padayatra India: April to June 2013
- April (Uttar Pradesh): 4012 maha big, 58 big, 93 medium and 12 038 small books.
- May (Bihar): 2837 maha big, 16 big, 21 medium and 6786 small books
- June (Nepal yatra and Bihar): 2095 maha big, 57 big, 95 medium and 6968 small books
Evening lecture to village children
Welcoming Bhakta Suresh back on the party
Driving the cart with Balaram the ox in the picture (left)
Driving the cart
With some sadhus where Bharat met Lord Rama