By Radha Raman Dasa
The weather started of wonderfully on the 3rd day of padayatra. We were joined that day by Jai Nitai Dasa and his wife Bhava Bhakti Dasi, as well as Priyakunda Dasa and his wife Shyama Gauri Dasi. Jai Nitai Dasa is the Temple President of ISKCON London; it was he who gave Dayal Mora Dasa and the temple brahmacaris permission to make this padayatra dream a reality. Priyakunda Dasa and Shyama Gauri Dasi are both experienced devotees who moved to Kent to start an ISKCON centre there. Mother Syama Gauri had also been a pujari on ‘Padayatra Europe’ in the 1990s. Also joining our party was another amazing guest, Janananda Swami. He joined the padayatra that morning in Eastbourne gracing us all with his transcendental presence.
On this day padayatra travelled from our campsite in Bayview Park to Burlington Gap where we would stay the night. We left the campsite and soon reached the seafront which we traversed quite swiftly since we would be walking further on this day. The bulls, Balaram and Padma appeared to be in a frisky mood because they too were walking quite fast, so much so that we had to almost run to keep up with them at times. It was not long before we reached Eastbourne Pier where padayatra received most of its newspaper publicity in print and online coverage. At this point the weather was still good, so we took a mid morning break to allow the bulls to graze on a patch of land near the Meads Village in Eastbourne en route to Beachy Head, our next checkpoint. Suddenly the fine weather we had been experiencing changed – clouds gathered menacingly in the distance and soon it began to rain. The rain was a complete surprise to us all since it wasn’t forecasted by BBC weather. The bulls became restless and oscillated between walking too fast and needing to be pushed to move; by now we were also climbing a steep hill to get to Beachy Head.
Mahavishnu Swami asked Jai Nitai Dasa to continue leading the kirtana –he obliged and led a magnificent kirtana despite the obstacles we were encountering. Priyakunda Dasa, like Jai Nitai Dasa kept on singing and dancing unfazed by the adverse conditions of steepening hills, worsening rain and rattled bulls. This reminded me of Krishna’s pastimes where the cowherd boys would be happily enjoying with Krishna when suddenly a demon would appear. Although we weren’t seeing any actual demons, the unexpected obstacles we were encountering appeared to be like demons –threatening to interrupt the progress of our joyful padayatra. Through it all, the devotees kept on chanting as Parausarama Dasa expertly guided the bulls through increasingly hilly terrain. By Krishna’s grace help was at hand as stalwart devotee Dharani Dhara Dasa and his good wife appeared waiting under a tree, just on time. It was ekadasi that day and they had prepared a wonderful ekadasi lunch for us. The padayatris gratefully received their hospitality. So, on Krishna’s behalf they offered us shelter from the demon like winds and brewing rainstorm.
Despite being in poor health it was my second day on padayatra and I was now wondering how many more hills I could traverse in this condition. Mahavishnu Swami who had been leading the kirtanas was also experiencing some problems with his accordion and sound system which were getting damaged by the rain. Once again Krishna sent help; Dharani Dhara Dasa volunteered to drive myself and Maharaj to the top of Beachy Head. In the meantime the rest of the padayatris kept the show on the road. Krishna appeared to them in the form of His holy names in the blissful kirtanas led by Jai Nitai Dasa. We rejoined the padayatra at the top of Beachy Head. The kirtana became stronger and stronger, then Gopinath Dasa took over singing an attractive melody accompanied by his cool bass –like Mahavishnu Swami he was part of the harinam group for the entire padayatra.
We walked passed Beachy Head cliff, a place that had become infamous for suicides in the UK. On the side of the road in a bid to prevent deaths there was a group of emergency chaplains and vehicles. They rush out to those they believe were attempting suicide to try and change their minds. As we approached a car drove off meaning that someone needed rescuing. We thought that actually the person attempting suicide and the chaplains were already being rescued because they had, had the opportunity to take darsana of Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar and they had heard the holy names.
After some time the bulls needed to rest so we stopped close by to Burlington Gap, the place where we would be spending the night. The bulls would not be allowed to stay with us and so we found a spot close by. As we waited the bulls grazed happily and the advanced party team went ahead to make arrangements for our next site –then another transcendental happening occurred. Whilst on padayatra Janananda Swami was always inspiring the padayatris through the difficult morning we had been having with his youthful enthusiasm for chanting and dancing. He was much like Advaita Acarya, enthusiastically chanting and dancing notwithstanding his advanced age. Maharaj also spoke encouraging words to individual devotees along the way –giving renewed life and enthusiasm to everyone. Whilst we were waiting we had all become quite tired and hungry and had to tolerate the rain as well. What started off as tolerating soon turned into relishing! How? Janananda Maharaj started to lead a very sweet and gentle kirtana that completely soothed our bodies, minds and souls. All the devotees became transcendentally refreshed, with the kirtana moving from soothing and gentle to vibrant, jubilant and ecstatic. Tired? Hungry? You would never have known! A thing of the past for sure!
