{"id":5428,"date":"2019-01-27T16:42:19","date_gmt":"2019-01-27T11:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.padayatra.com\/?p=5428"},"modified":"2019-01-27T16:42:25","modified_gmt":"2019-01-27T11:12:25","slug":"a-merciful-glance-from-their-lordships-is-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.padayatra.com\/padayatra-new\/a-merciful-glance-from-their-lordships-is-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"A MERCIFUL GLANCE FROM THEIR LORDSHIPS IS ENOUGH"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Acarya dasa<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 10 the All-India Padayatra reached Chamorshi, a town in the Gadchiroli\ndistrict of Maharashtra close to the banks of the Wainganga River. Parmeshwara dasa\nserves at the Chamorshi ISKCON centre that has deities of Radha and Krishna and\nJagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra. It was the devotees at the centre who had\narranged a big welcome ceremony for us and honoured us with beautiful garlands.\nThe citizens also warmly welcomed us whenever we went for a home programme or out\non sankirtan, in fact we had never worn so many garlands as those we received in\nthe Chamorshi area. Residents and devotees alike joined us during nagar sankirtan\nfor three to four days and hardly anybody went to work because they were so\nbusy with the temple activities. We distributed many books, the atmosphere\nso surcharged by the sankirtan and the Uludhvani (a high-pitched vocal sound\ncommonly heard at festivals and celebrations) that for many padayatris it was hugely\nreminiscent of Mayapur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neelmadhava dasa, a Lokanath Maharaja disciple who leads a centre at\nMulchera 52km from Chamorshi, also attended the programmes and invited us to\nhis town. The last time we were in this area we could not go to Mulchera, so he\ninsisted that on this occasion we must visit, saying \u201cPlease take Their\nLordships to our town and let the people get Their merciful glance.\u201d Respecting\nhis invitation, we went to Mulchera and stayed there for two days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parmeshwara walked with us as far as Ballarpur\n(formerly Balharshah), a city in the Chandrapur district, where he collaborated\nwith the Marwardi, an ethno-linguistic business community that controls many of\nIndia\u2019s largest media groups, to arrange our accommodation. The Marwardi people\nwelcomed padayatra to Ballarpur and honoured us with shawls, then joined us in\nchanting the holy names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NO TURNED TO YES AFTER DARSANA OF THE LORD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day we went as an advance party to the village of Kothari where\nwe felt negative vibrations. Normally when we enter a village people look at\nour saffron dress and ask if we need any help, but in Kothari the mood was\ntotally opposite, the residents completely lacking respect for the padayatris.\nWhen we went to the Sarpanch (an elected head of local government) and asked\nfor accommodation he denied our request, as did the trustee of a Sai temple. We\nasked many others, but nobody was cooperating. One person rebuked us by saying,\n\u201cGet permission from the police department,\u201d but when we went there, we were\ntold to return the next day with identification and details of our institution.\nThe villagers were even unwilling to let us park the rath. It was very cold by\nnow and I prayed, \u201cOh Lord, please help us. It is afternoon and we have no time\nto move to another village.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we were contemplating what to do, the rath arrived with the remaining\npadayatris and people then started to come for darsana of Their Lordships. A\nSai temple official also approached us and said, \u201cI will arrange your\naccommodation,\u201d and suddenly everyone started helping, each one offering space\nto park the rath near their house. To add to the effect one of our life\nmembers, Mr Chandan, arrived and began talking to the villagers about the\nglories of Their Lordships and the padayatris. Then during sankirtan all\nthe villagers joined us. I asked one of them, \u201cWhy do people here not respect\nthe saints?\u201d He said, \u201cA few months ago some men came in saffron with long hair\nand to our dismay they were smoking and behaving improperly. Hence the mindset\nof the villagers changed. But as they saw the Lord and your devotion, their\nhearts transformed.\u201d We stayed there for a night and when we were leaving, many\nvillagers blocked the road saying, \u201cYou can\u2019t go as only half the village has\nbeen covered. Please stay for one more day and do sankirtan in the rest of the\nvillage and give us the chance to serve.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIT IS GAURA-NITAI\u2019S HOUSE\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day we reached Asthi, a small village near Chamorshi.\nNeelmadhav had told us to meet the Bengali doctor there and he was glad to\nreceive us, especially Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundara. He said, \u201cMy house has\nbecome Vaikuntha as the Lord has come to us.\u201d Being from Bengal they were very\nhappy, saying \u201cGaura-Nitai are from our area.\u201d But the space in his house was\nnot enough to accommodate all of us.  As I conveyed this to him, he was a little\nsad but said, \u201cDo not worry. I will arrange. Please sit under the tree and I\nwill come soon.\u201d He called some of his friends, moved his family to a nearby\nhouse and gave us the full house to stay. \u201cIt is Gaura-Nitai\u2019s house,\u201d he\nstated. We were stunned and grateful to see his dedication to Their Lordships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DELIVERING THE DRUNKARDS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our next destination was far off and we were passing through a forest\nwithout seeing any signs of inhabitation. Another padayatri and I went by\nbicycle to find the nearest village. After some kilometres, we came across a\nplace called Dongergaon that was mostly inhabited by tribal folk. It was a day\nafter Makarsankranti and most of the people were drunk. I was surprised and I\nasked someone, \u201cWhy is everyone a drunkard here?\u201d He said, \u201cToday is the\nfestival and this is the way we enjoy.\u201d They were not just drunk but were\ntalking loudly and shouting at each other. I was thinking, \u201cHow will the Lord\nstay here? These people are not even in a state to talk.\u201d I was tense and told\nthem, \u201cPlease don\u2019t shout and talk so loudly. The Lord is coming to your village.\u201d\nBut nobody was listening. When the rath arrived, I went in front and prayed, \u201cOh\nLord, You have delivered Jagai and Madhai. This village is also the same.\nPlease deliver them.\u201d As they saw Their Lordships, the villagers became quiet\nand started bending their heads in honour. Ladies came with arati plates,\napplied tilak to our oxen and washed their hooves. As we started cooking bhoga\nfor the Lord, they saw us using rice and vegetables and many of them then brought\nrice, wheat and fruits to offer to the Lord. One of them said, \u201cWe are poor and\nhave little money, but please accept this.\u201d As we were about to go for sankirtan,\nmany of them went to bathe and were fresh when they joined the sankirtan. One\nof the leaders came to me with a person saying, \u201cThis boy is not well. Please\ngive him something.\u201d I gave him a garland of Srila Prabhupada and told him to\nchant Hare Krishna and the next day he was feeling good. After sankirtan, I\nadvised them to chant the holy names to overcome their difficulties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could realize the prediction of Caitanya Mahaprabhu: how harinama is going to the villages \u2013 and this forest village was remote, but still the Lord reached it to shower His mercy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All glories to the most merciful Caitanya Mahaprabhu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n