By Dayal Gopal dasa, Nepal Padayatra leader
The Nepal padayatris recently had to deal with a potentially serious accident while attempting to cross a river in rural Nepal. The yoke, or wooden part placed on the oxen’s shoulders to join them to the chariot, broke because the wood was not resilient under pressure. The yoke was donated and we had kept it because it was light and would be easy for the oxen to carry off their shoulders. But it was not strong.
The bridge over the river was okay, other vehicles were going, but there were steps to climb to cross the bridge. The oxen and the front wheels of the chariot had already passed the steps and the oxen almost had the chariot on the bridge, but when the load came on the yoke it was so flimsy that it broke. The oxen were already on the bridge so they were saved, but the chariot came back with speed. I tried to engage the brakes but they didn’t work. I jumped from the chariot and by Krishna’s mercy the broken part of the yoke didn’t hit me or I would have been badly injured. By the Lord’s grace there were no vehicles on the road. Krishna saved everyone and the chariot also. If the cart had gone a little further it would have fallen into the river, so by the mercy of Vaishnavas, Guru and Gauranga all of us were saved.
The oxen were in shock after the incident. I went to them, patted their backs and removed the broken part from their shoulders, and they became a little pacified. Then we got someone with a tractor to help us and we took the chariot to his factory. He was a carpenter and he made us a new yoke, painted and fitted. And we moved ahead.
Hare Krishna!
