By Bhagavata Dharma Dasa
The Slovenia padayatra was held from June 28th to July 15th. The 18 day itinerary followed a course all around Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Slovenia is a small country yet it is full of diverse people and has a variety of cultures. During the summer many people from all over Europe and other parts of the world come here for the summer holidays. Our padayatra began on a sunny day in a town near Ljubljana with Sri Sri Nitai Gaura Natharaj being transported on a small cart fashioned from a modified wheelchair. There were approximately 50 padayatris of Slovenian and Spanish descent. Our padayatra crew was made up of a quarter of temple devotees with the second quarter being members from the congregation including two families with young children and teenagers. The other half of our team was made up of university students from Spain who were part of the ‘Erasmus +[1]’ exchange programme. Ladies formed 1/6th of the padayatra and were mainly young, averaging just under 30 years of age.
“Padayatra was initially and specifically organized for devotees to strengthen their spiritual life and to be deeply engaged in practical spiritual activities”, explained Lalita Govinda Dasa, the organizer and initiator of all padayatras in Slovenia. He was also very grateful to all the devotees and to Krishna’s creation. As devotees we should genuinely try to be nice to everyone we meet and we should also be respectful of the natural resources that we have. With 15 years of temple management leadership experience he gave an example: “Being a guest at the temple and taking a hot shower for a very long time is not appreciative” he said with great gravity. Therefore padayatra creates a sense of awareness about the use of resources given the scarcity of many reserves in the country.
During the padayatra we passed many fruit trees and bushes filled with blossoming flowers. As we walked and chanted, crickets chirped in unison with the mahamantra. Devotees joining the padayatra were filled with anticipation of the bliss and mercy awaiting them. Neverthe less, it was also very important that everyone maintain the right consciousness during the padayatra because of the difficulties that often occur. Devotees can be exposed to hot weather, fatigue or injury and other inconveniences during padayatra . Radhanath Swami describes in a lecture he gave on Bhagavad-gita 2.14 –that, we should tolerate all things and carry on with our devotional service. He said we should not be disturbed by heat or cold, wind or rain, happiness or distress, success or failure, wealth or poverty, health or disease, youth or old age, or safety and danger. These dualities he explained are friends to a sincere devotee because they help us to take shelter of the Lord. The expression of sincerity is in stoicly carrying on with our objectives in spite of the challenges.
One of the padayatris, Anuradha Dasi shared a similar understanding when she said, “Padayatra can be a test about how sincerely we are able to take shelter of the Lord in the form of the holy names.” Padayatra’s kirtana leader, Jay Nitai Gaura Dasa went on to say, “Chanting really helps and seeing people appreciate our mission and opening their hearts to the mahamantra is blissful. Otherwise I would not (have) been able to overcome (the) scorching sun, thirst and tiredness that accompanied me every day.”
Prahladananda Swami and other senior devotees always encouraged padayatris during their lectures to chant with a proper attitude and to be enthusiastic. Prahladananda Swami emphasized that our attitude towards people is very important. “Padayatra helps devotees to present Krishna consciousness to people in a perfect way. We should try to appreciate people even if they are not favourable to our mission. This helps devotees to create (the) right attitude and environment towards people with the theoretical understanding that we are all part and parcel of Krishna. (In this way) genuine love towards people and other living beings can be attained.” Mitja, a new devotee joining padayatra for the second time said, “My original plan was to stay only a few days just to check but after (the) first morning lecture I decided to stay a few days more. I felt such a good energy among devotees that I stayed all 18 days. Being in devotees’ association is really mercy. My experience was (that) when (a) devotee smiles at you the day changes.” Padayatra revives the universal principal, “in giving you receive”. Devotees agree that padayatra is an excellent spiritual experience and worthwhile time spent in devotional service.
[1] The Erasmus Programme or ‘European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students’ is a European Union student exchange programme.
Please see below, a link to the Slovenia Padayatra video.