Padayatra is like churning the Mandara Mountain, one never knows what will come out.\u00a0 When seven older New Zealand male devotees (s<\/em>apta <\/em>rish<\/em>is<\/em>[1]<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/a>)<\/em> anticipated a walking pilgrimage in Fiji, our adventuresome spirit rose.\u00a0 We thought, \u2018Why not mix a bit of healthy outdoor recreation with Nitai Gauranga\u2019s process of singing and dancing?\u2019 There were also rumors of the ripe mango season, visions of paradise in the form of white sandy beaches fanned by swaying coconut fronds and dazzling turquoise bays crowned in coral reefs \u2013 all enough of a heavenly temptation to pull us across the vast Southern Pacific ocean from New Zealand to Fiji.<\/p>\n We tagged the trip \u201cOperation Mango \u2013 Pecked by the Parrot\u201d because a tropical cyclone had recently passed through Fiji and the results were not a mango to be seen!\u00a0 The mango, that most alluring of succulent juicy fruits, remained as rare as a \u201cwhite rhino\u201d during our visit.\u00a0 Despite this, the risk of going to places that had never been visited before to freely distribute Gauranga\u2019s p<\/em>rema <\/em>d<\/em>han <\/em>h<\/em>arinam <\/em>s<\/em>ankirtan<\/em> managed to successfully churn the causeless ocean of audarya<\/em> (mercy).\u00a0 Thus, other ripe fruits appeared in the exotic form of the friendly indigenous Fijian people, who received our gifts with open arms and soft hearts.<\/p>\n Harinam <\/em><\/strong>and prasadam <\/em>galore<\/strong><\/p>\n Our program in Fiji involved exchanges of simple offerings of prasadam<\/em> and copious lashings of h<\/em>arinama <\/em>s<\/em>ankirtan<\/em>a<\/em> which found God in the hearts of these beautiful island people.\u00a0 We were able to penetrate their quiet villages, meet their chiefs and share awesome interfaith exchanges. We were able to slice into their sweet mango like natures with the \u2018parrot\u2019 of Hare Krishna happiness.\u00a0 Inside these \u201cpeople mangoes\u201d was a big pip (core) of Christian tradition, holding their tightly knit extended families together.\u00a0 But when broad minded brotherhood gathers around the full basket that has been harvested from what Krishna provides, great joy is available to all.<\/p>\n The real sweetness<\/strong><\/p>\n We did not go to Fiji to convert anyone, but rather to celebrate our common ground and gratitude and so we journeyed across this land, our small party of devotees steadily massaging the spine of Mother Earth, walking 20 to 25 kilometers a day.\u00a0 We relished other incredible fruits that appeared as the rewards for performing the y<\/em>uga <\/em>d<\/em>harma<\/em> of this age.\u00a0 The \u2018real sweetness\u2019 came in different ways:<\/p>\n Bonding with the locals<\/strong><\/p>\n When one applies a concentrated effort to propagate Lord Caitanya\u2019s s<\/em>ankirtan<\/em>a<\/em> mission, it is natural that there may also be an experience of some \u2018poison\u2019 or difficulties.\u00a0 I can honestly say, as unreal as it sounds, nothing like that happened.\u00a0 In fact, it was sweet but all too short.\u00a0 The closest thing to \u201chalahala\u201d (poison) that we experienced was a few raw blisters on our feet and, dare I say it, the repercussions of being overly fed by our Fijian hosts and well-wishers.<\/p>\n We brushed up on the ancient traditions of Fiji before arriving, just to get a foot in the door with the native Fijian chiefs. One such tradition was the giving of a ritual gift, the native kava root[2]<\/a>, to the village elders. I took full responsibility for the gift giving, being the leader of the party.\u00a0 I humbly took shelter of the mood of our grandfather in our guru varga<\/em>, <\/em>as I presented the gift.\u00a0 Although controversial and radical at the time, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur served meat to the British Governor, Sir John Anderson, who had come to Sridham Mayapur to attend the esteemed Gaura Purnima function. I kept this example in mind and using Srila Prabhupada\u2019s guidelines of \u201cUtility is the Principle\u201d, I thought it better to sidestep any cultural confrontation by making a peace offering appropriate to their customs.\u00a0 I was also very much aware of a famous Fijian incident that happened sometime ago, it involved the boiling of a white man and his shoes in a big pot \u2013not a great finish for a p<\/em>adayatri<\/em>, despite the honor of dying with your boots on!<\/p>\n Of course, none of our party touched their lips to the coconut shell of mildly intoxicating poison.\u00a0 I confess, though, that to save face and receive their approval and \u201cpeace pipe\u201d acceptance I did ingest a palm-full of the root beverage beyond my lips into my throat.\u00a0 At that moment I had a strong recollection of Lord Siva\u2019s act of drinking poison, for which he is known as Nilakanta (the blue-throated one) this saved me whilst in the presence of the chiefs. I also intensely chanted the perfect antidote, the Hare Krsna maha<\/em> mantra<\/em>, well into the night.\u00a0 The local people became addicted to the maha mantra<\/em> and repeatedly encouraged me to continue on enthusiastically chanting.\u00a0 As we sat in a big circle under the full moonlight surrounded by coconut palms, I thought it fitting to judge by this wonderful result.<\/p>\n Gauranga boys<\/strong><\/p>\n After three-days of living with these beautiful, innocent Fijian folk on their isolated island, we fed them a feast fit for a king (who was actually present!).\u00a0 We chanted and danced in the mood of Nitai and Haridas.\u00a0 I felt that we were Gauranga\u2019s boys, out there inviting one and all to the \u201cHare Krishna party\u201d.<\/p>\n The next morning as we were leaving their village in the \u2018put-put\u2019 all the locals came out onto the beach.\u00a0 As we broke into a soothing Island style crooning of n<\/em>ama bhajan<\/em>, many called out loudly \u201cHaribol, Rama Rama, Krishna, Gauranga!\u201d\u00a0 I knew Srila Prabhupada would be pleased, as we serenaded our way out of that bay and back into the real world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TRIPPING ON KALIA’S HOOD<\/strong> We strode through golden grass KRSNA softened by the Nagapatnis * Degei – legendary snake God<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Sapta rishis<\/em> refers to seven sages<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Kava comes from the root of the yagona (piper methysticum) bush, a relative of the pepper plant. The root is ground up and then strained with water into a wooden communal bowl to make a drink<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
\nThe boys have gone home
\nSo Nandaki and I are on the loose
\nWe skedaddled on the North\/East Tip
\nWith a bus load of big Fijian mamas
\nClapping and a hooting
\nUp that ol’ gravel road
\nIn and on Kaliya’s hood
\nPulled in by the ancient legend<\/p>\n
\nOn the sides of the blue mountain
\nSearching in and out for his cave
\nIn the river belly, black as a snake
\nA deep pool pulsed in scale light
\nStruck in the morning sun
\nPlunging beneath the liquid surface
\nWith shaft prisms of light
\nInto the scary chasm
\nDiving for a jewel
\nAnd securing a stone pebble
\nCasting aside unwanted things
\nHarshness cruelty and envy
\nThat choke the creeper of b<\/em>hajan<\/em>
\nAnd understanding redemption<\/p>\n
\nThe quiet power of a wife
\nWho chastely forgives
\nA fallen husband
\nAll the Chiefs come
\nTo this very old place
\nThe Mythical origin
\nOf the Fiji Island people
\nDecendants of Degei*<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.padayatra.com\/padayatra-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/14484806_10206545909677892_6527010550272616646_n-150x150.jpg\")
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