{"id":2198,"date":"2015-11-14T22:46:45","date_gmt":"2015-11-14T17:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.padayatra.com\/?p=2198"},"modified":"2015-11-15T22:57:27","modified_gmt":"2015-11-15T17:27:27","slug":"lokanath-swami-joins-padayatra-india-in-tirupati","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.padayatra.com\/padayatra-new\/lokanath-swami-joins-padayatra-india-in-tirupati\/","title":{"rendered":"Lokanath Swami joins Padayatra India in Tirupati"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Acharya Dasa , assisted by Jayabhadra Dasi, with contributions from Subhang Balarama Dasa<\/p>\n

The devotees of the All India Padayatra have been walking through Andhra Pradesh for nine months. The party now found themselves in the Chittoor district and heading towards Tirupati. There are currently more than 30 devotees including a disciple of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s, Akhiladhara Prabhu.<\/p>\n

In Marathi[1]<\/a> there is a saying: \u201cSadhu santa yeti ghara tochi diwali dussehra\u201d<\/em>. It translates as, \u201cWhen sadhus and vaisnavas<\/em> come to your home that day is to be celebrated like the Diwali[2]<\/a><\/em> and Dussehra[3]<\/a> <\/em>festivals.\u201d So, when the padayatris <\/em>heard that Lokanath Swami was to be joining them, they celebrated and became overwhelmed with ecstatic happiness<\/p>\n

Our hearts were filled with joy and our eyes were eager to take darsana<\/em> of Maharaja. We cleaned the ratha<\/em> and the trolleys and made preparations in the same way that we do for Janmastami <\/em>or Gaura Purnima<\/em>. The feeling can be compared to when a mother goes to visit her daughter\u2019s home. The daughter is so happy that she makes many preparations in anticipation of her mother\u2019s visit. We were doing the same thing as we eagerly waited for the auspicious day of Maharaja\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n

Lokanath Swami reached Tirupati on the 11th<\/sup> of October. There were many arrangements being made by ISKCON Tirupati to accommodate him but Maharaja was more eager to join the p<\/em>adayatra<\/em> party and to stay wherever we stayed. And so, he came along with us. We took a moment to appreciate Narasimha,<\/em> a bull that had joined padayatra <\/em>in Tirupati and has been pulling Nitai Gaurasundar\u2019s cart for 9 years. He has successfully completed a circumambulation of India.<\/p>\n

We reached Akkarampalle, a town in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh on the 12th<\/sup> of October. There is also a nama-hatta <\/em>centre here run by ISKCON Tirupati. Upon reaching we started kirtana <\/em>with Lokanath Swami joining in. Soon many of the town\u2019s residents and even the nama-hatta <\/em>devotees joined in as well. As our procession made its way through the town the local women came with arati<\/em> plates, coconuts and lamps \u2013they washed the feet of the oxen and offered arati<\/em> to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 We also distributed books, as is our usual practice and invited the locals to come purchase them. Maharaja also requested everyone to buy Srila Prabhupada\u2019s books. Most of the town\u2019s residents had followed us all the way to the n<\/em>ama-ha<\/em>t<\/em>ta<\/em> center.<\/p>\n

After kirtan<\/em>a<\/em> Lokanath Swami sang the gaura<\/em> arati<\/em> prayer followed by more melodious kirtan<\/em>a <\/em>\u2013 hearing Maharaja singing and unable to control themselves, everyone began dancing with happiness. Each person present was blessed by the darsana<\/em> of Ga<\/em>u<\/em>r<\/em>a<\/em> Nitai<\/em> and their pure devotees. Maharaja then gave a katha <\/em>in the Ram Mandir of the nama-hatta <\/em>centre, speaking about how Balaji is Krishna and that Krishna and Balaram come in the form of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda in the age of kali yuga<\/em>. In this way he explained that actually Krishna and Balaram had come to give everyone darsana<\/em>. He went on to glorify Srila Prabhupada and padayatra<\/em>. During Maharaja\u2019s <\/em>talk there was some disturbance in the sound system. Unfortunately, whilst we were washing the cart the inverter somehow became wet, and because the microphone was connected to the battery it was causing a problem with the sound. Despite this, Lokanatha Swami was not at all disturbed; instead he remained calm and tolerant and continued to speak more about the Lord and padayatra<\/em>. After the katha<\/em> the nama-hatta <\/em>devotees made arrangements for accommodation for the night. Maharaja also stayed with us.<\/p>\n

The next morning October 13th<\/sup>, Lokanath Swami sang the mangal<\/em>a<\/em> arati <\/em>prayer which was then followed by Srimad <\/em>Bhag<\/em>a<\/em>vatam<\/em> class. Soon after all the devotees marched towards Tirupati whilst Maharaja drove the ratha<\/em>. <\/em>There were almost 2000 devotees walking on p<\/em>adayatra <\/em>towards Tirupati. On the way there Lokanatha Swami held sankirtan<\/em>a<\/em> on the streets which became drenched with the power of the holy names. At one point p<\/em>rasad<\/em>am<\/em> was arranged for Maharaja but he insisted that he would eat prasad<\/em>am<\/em> cooked by the padayatri<\/em>s<\/em>. The cooking was done by the padayatra<\/em> kitchen team, offered to Nitai Gaursasundar<\/em>a<\/em> and served to Maharaja and the other padayatris<\/em>. Lokanatha Swami commented on the prasada<\/em>m, <\/em> saying it was very nice and eating on a farm was just like being on a picnic. \u201cYou all enjoy picnic every day, so one day I also enjoy picnic with you,\u201d he said to us. That evening a procession started from the n<\/em>ama-hatta<\/em> center with a melodious kirtana<\/em> led by Maharaja. More than 500 devotees from various nama-hattas<\/em> and congregational devotees from ISKCON Tirupati greeted and joined the sankirtana<\/em>. The procession reached ISKCON\u2019s Radha Govinda temple in Tirupati amidst great enthusiasm, the padayatra <\/em>devotees were nicely welcomed with garlands and juices. After arriving in the temple, Lokanath Maharaja spoke on the history and goal of p<\/em>adayatra<\/em> and stated that, \u201cthe devotees are walking back to Godhead by participating in this p<\/em>adayatra<\/em> program.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following day, October 14th,, <\/sup>Maharaja held an ista-gosthi.<\/em> We had a very personal exchange with him, he even asked us about our health on padayatra<\/em> and whether anyone was suffering from any disease. We assured him that nobody was suffering to which he exclaimed, \u201cOh! That means Caitanya Mahaprabhu\u2019s medicine is keeping all padayatris <\/em>fit and fine. They ( the padayatris) <\/em>are spiritual doctors moving door to door to give relief to each and everyone from the bhava roga<\/em> (the disease of material existence)\u2013and doctors can\u2019t afford to be unwell.\u201d We did mention that we felt a little tired after walking but after kirtana<\/em> and dancing on harinama <\/em>we always became surcharged with energy. Maharaja also asked us about our sadhana<\/em>, we explained that only a few padayatris <\/em>can chant 8 rounds before mangala arati<\/em>. We asked him for his blessings so that we can continue to serve padayatra<\/em> for as long as we lived and so we can please Guru <\/em>and Gauranga<\/em>. He responded by saying, \u201cYou all are doing a lot of tapasya <\/em>and Gaura Nitai<\/em> is very pleased with your seva<\/em>.\u201d He then gave each of us prasadam <\/em>from his hand; we were so excited we jumped for joy like little kids.<\/p>\n

Lokanatha Swami appreciated the seva <\/em>of each and every padayatri, <\/em>and he told us, \u201cThe Lord walks and you walk. The Lord stops and you stop. Your walk is a holy walk, a walk back to home, back to Godhead.\u201d We replied that that it is Gaura Nitai <\/em>who are making us walk, otherwise we are useless. Maharaja also spoke personally to me. He mentioned that I had completed six years on padayatra <\/em>and that this year was my seventh. He encouraged me to continue with my service and then in Marathi he said, \u201cMurti iahan kirti mahan\u201d <\/em>translated as, \u2018although you are short in height, your fame is beyond comparison.\u2019 I was filled with love and gratitude for all his causeless mercy. Our Gurudev is very tolerant; he has accepted fallen souls like us under his shelter.<\/p>\n

Then came the day when Maharaja was about to leave us. He had enriched us with his divine association and showered his blessing on us, and now he was leaving \u2013we were almost in tears. We were very sad to see him go but we were now filled with more enthusiasm to serve G<\/em>au<\/em>r<\/em>a<\/em> Nitai<\/em> than ever. We asked Lokanatha Swami to please join us again on p<\/em>adayatra <\/em>because we know that p<\/em>adayatra<\/em> is his heart and soul.<\/p>\n

Jaya Srila Prabhupada!
\nJaya Lokanatha Swami!<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> A language spoken in the Western Indian State of Maharashtra
\n[2]<\/a> Hindu festival of lights.
\n[3]<\/a> A Hindu festival celebrating the victory of good over evil.<\/p>\n