By Acarya Dasa
On September 7th the ‘All India Padayatra’ was still in the city of Thanjavur or sometimes referred to as Tanjore. We were busy as per usual, going out daily and doing sankirtana in and around the city. The last time we were in this city was 15 years ago and during that visit the people were very much inspired by the darsana of Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar and the programs that were arranged. This time the local newspaper featured an article about padayatra.
In the town of Thirumalaisamudram, in the Thanjavur district there is a university called SASTRA (Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy) University. It is located on the outskirts of the town and is about 10 kilometers away. The university specializes in undergraduate and postgraduate engineering courses, offering courses in engineering, science, education, management and arts. After reading the news that padayatra was in town, the chief of SASTRA University invited us there as guests. He even made arrangements for accommodation, for all of us, in the university guest house. It was so strange that we were on university premises given our vaishnav attire and the fact that we were driving a bullock cart. People who see us often believe that we are not well educated which is why we are going around driving a bullock cart, but the chief of the university was different, he was God’s man. Therefore, he invited us to the university for four days to inspire the students to take up spirituality.
During our stay there we held morning programs, kirtana and gaura arati in the hostel. Akhildhara Dasa gave classes to the students on the importance of spiritual life in modern times. He explained how spirituality can be applied so that one can be happy and prosperous in all fields of life. We also did a question and answer session with them. Afterwards, the students danced with us in sankirtana forgetting all their study-related worries. We were happy that five students started chanting and many took Bhagavad-Gita and other small books.
We had a great experience with the university students and we too felt like we had become students as we danced with them and felt the joy of preaching in our hearts.
All glories to Guru and Gauranga!
Jai Srila Prabhupada!
