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EDITORIAL   Sri Braja Mandala Parikrama Diary BY BHADRA DEVI DASI, KATI KATI, NEW ZEALAND  EDITORIAL, Feb 13 (VNN) — Dear Devotees and Friends, please accept my dandavat pranamas. All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.I had a most wonderful three months in the holy dhamas, a spiritual adventure to which I can't do justice with words. It wasn't so much what happened -- though many wonderful things happened -- but how it all made me feel, coming closer to Srila Prabhupada, my beloved diksa guru, and receiving association of so many senior God-brothers and God-sisters. It is said that the purpose for going to the holy dhamas is to take the sanga of the saints and holy persons there. I was with Srila Gurudeva almost every day for three months, and he, my beloved siksa guru, stood me on tip-toes and gave me a slight and momentary peak at what the renunciates see -- the delicious sweetness of Krsna consciousness for which this world is worth renouncing. My relationship with my Srila Prabhupada, and his prominence in my life, became stronger due to my visit to Vrndavana. Radha-Damodara Temple, where Srila Prabhupada lived prior to coming to the West to spread ISKCON, was five minutes walk from where I was staying in a room overlooking Seva Kunja. I had the unique and moving experience of going there to Radha-Damodara some mornings and evenings for japa and gayatri with Srila Prabhupada, who is there in his murti form, sitting writing at his desk. It was sweet and deeply satisfying to be there with my spiritual master in the very room he occupied in the early '60s. He 's still very much here with us, offering guidance and protection, as is our whole illustrious guru-parampara. As a grown person in retrospect appreciates all the formerly unappreciated kindness and services given them in infancy by their parents, I bared my soul to Srila Prabhupada, and told him that after all these years, due to the association of Srila Gurudeva, I was beginning to wake up and appreciate the depth of his love and kindness, his greatness, and what he came to teach me. It is a mystic and awe-inspiring place, Radha Damodara Temple, with the samadhi mandirs of Srila Rupa Goswamipada, Srila Jiva Goswami, Sri Krsna dasa Kaviraja Goswami, and others. For a Prabhupada disciple, the love and presence of Srila Prabhupada is particularly prominent there, and I knew he was deeply blessing me. I begged for his mercy, kindness and help, which I desperately need. A few feet opposite the room where Srila Prabhupada sits is the room, presently used as a kitchen, where Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva used to cook together. Srila Prahbupada used to roll out the raw capatis, and Srila Gurudeva used to raise them up on the flame. Srila Gurudeva said in recent years that Srila Prabhupada's disciples are like those capatis -- -- Srila Prabhupada rolled them out, and now he, Srila Gurudeva, is raising them up! Through-out my time with him, from August to November, Srila Gurudeva was in fine form, giving of himself day after day, class after class of beautiful and astounding hari katha. Sometimes he'd speak at Rupa-Sanatama Mandir in Vrndavana, and sometimes at Sri Kesavaji Gaudiya Matha in Mathura. He spoke almost every day, (twice per day sometimes during parikrama), and the whole time I was there I only missed three of his classes. I tried to make the most of every second in his company. sadhu-sanga sadhu-sanga sarva sastre kaya lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya "The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment's association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success". CC.Md 22.54. To my vision, the most noteworthy and tremendous thing that happened whilst I was in the holy dhama was the awarding to Srila Gurudeva the Yuga Acarya title. Apparently for some time now Srila Gurudeva has been urged to accept this title of Yuga Acarya, but he has refused to accept it. But this year, with Gurudeva's on-going, immense contributions to the spread of Gaudiya Vaisnavism and his obvious overwhelming growing influence and popularity in the world, it was insisted that he accept it. Enclosed with this is a news-release about the historic occasion. There are some who'd say Srila Gurudeva shouldn't have this title Yuga Acarya, acarya or spiritual preceptor of the age. Our Srila Prabhupada should have it, or Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, or Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, or why not Srila Rupa Goswami? Well that's indeed what Srila Gurudeva himself said. But there are many, such as the learned and senior pandits of Vrndavana, and the World Religious Parliment in Delhi, as well as Gurudeva's multitudes of followers who say that Tridandi Swami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja is exactly the high-class holy master to bare such a title. My personal opinion is, we see that each acarya in the Gaudiya Vaisnava guru-parampara has their specific glory, purpose or achievement. They are a chain of glorious masters. Our Srila Prabhupada's specific wondrous glory was that although he was unknown in India, he travelled the world at an advanced age and miraculously established Gaudiya Vaisnavism all over pascatya-desa, the atheistic and infidel West. Our Gurudeva has been vigorously preaching Gaudiya Vaisnavism all over India for fifty years, notably in the dhamas; thus he has a huge following there who adore and honour him. And in the last decade, continuing the work of our Srila Prabhupada, he's been touching the hearts and transforming the lives of a snow-balling number in the West and all over the world. With the world in a horrific state, and many of us, having been introduced to Krsna-consciousness by Srila Prabhupada but unwittingly not having the taste and faith to whole-heartedly dive into it, but rather, (and often in the name of Krsna-consciousness or preaching), bitterly struggling on with attempts to succeed and enjoy in this world, (missing the boat), Srila Gurudeva is saving the day practically in our darkest hour. In this way his glory and numerous topmost spiritual attributes qualify him without a doubt as Yuga Acarya. It was the middle of Jhulan Yatra when I arrived in Vrndavana. Each evening the brilliantly coloured and ornate Rupa-Sanatana Mandir would fill up with devotees both Indian and European. Gurudeva was there, in the middle of the kirtana, in front of Sri Sri Radha-Vinodbihariji, gracefully pulling to and fro the rope attached to the huge and exquisite multi-layered swing covered in jewels, jari and flowers. >From Sri Braja Mandala Parikrama, by Srila BV Narayana Maharaja, p. 464: ...the sakhis used to swing Radha-Krsna Yugala....rangile Krsna would also seat Srimati Radhika, Lalita, Visakha and the other sakhis one by one beside Him on a swing. He would then swing them with such force that they would no longer be able to keep their bodies covered with their clothes and, out of fear, they would cling to Sri Krsna. The Gaudiya Gosvamis have described the jhulana-lila (swing pastime) of Radha and Krsna in their literatures. Sripad BV Aranya Maharaja told some of these very sweet swing pastime kathas and said that only the intimate dasis of Radhika can actually participate in this pastime, reveal it to others, and bring others into it. Then, I saw Srila Gurudeva amongst the devotees, gracefully swinging the swing, then passing the rope out to the crowd, eager hands grabbing (including mine), and I sensed that there was more going on here than we could perceive or see with our eyes, something very wonderful and mystic. The four months of Caturmasya (usually from about mid-July to mid-November) is meant to be the rainy season, but the only rain I experienced was for a few days not long after I arrived. At that time its cooling effect was appreciated by the likes of me, even though I generally thrive in the heat. In present day Vrndavana and Mathura dhamas, with our present vision, we see delapidated buildings, open drains, rubbish in the streets, and we share the alleys and roadways with plenty of pigs, dogs, cows and monkeys. This is drsyamana Vrndavana, or the Vrndavana visible to the eyes of undeveloped devotees. The lively and exotic bazaars are full of any item of devotional paraphernalia a devotee would require as well as items they wouldn't, but rather than be allured or appalled by any of this, one should train one's mind to always remember that these grounds are the very places of the delightful eternal pastimes of Radha and Krsna. We should learn to envisage the exqusitely beautiful Vrndavana as this place was five thousand years ago when Radha and Krsna manifest Their pastimes here, a replica of its eternal counterpart in the spiritual world, Goloka Vrndavana, or trancendental Vrndavana. divyad-vrndaranya-kalpa-drumadhah srimad-ratnagara-simhasana-sthau sri-sri-radha-srila-govinda-devau presthalibhih sevyamanau smarami I meditate upon Sri Sri Radha-Govinda, Who are seated beneath a kalpa-vrksa tree on an effulgent bejeweled simhasana in the supremely beautiful land of Vrnadvana, where Thay are always being served by Their beloves sakhis, headed by Lalita and Viaskha. sri-sukha uvaca ittham sarat-svaccha-jalam padmakara-sugandhina nyavisad vayuna vatam sa-go-gopalako 'cyutah Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said, 'O Maharaja Pariksit, Sri Vrndavana became extremely beautiful due to the exquisitely decorated autumn season. The lakes, ponds and rivers were filled to their full capacity with clear, sweet water. Gently blowing, aromatic breeezes carried the mildly sweet fragrance of blossoming lotus flowers from the lakes. In this pleasing atmosphere the infallible Nanda-nandana Sri Krsna entered the immensely alluring Vrndavana Forest, accompanied by His cows and cow-herd friends.' (Venu-gita, Verse 1.) I'd been to India, to Vrndavana, twice before in the early '80s so in many ways I knew what to expect. I love the atmosphere there, this being Srila Prabhupada's and Srila Gurudeva's home. Living is so simple and non-complex there -- -- and during this recent visit, I felt so at-home, and happier than in years. In my first couple of weeks in Vrndavana, I was walking in drizzling rain along one of the cruddy little alleyways near Rupa-Sanatana Mandir when I met B.V Padmanabha Maharaja and B.V. Sajjan Maharaja. They offered me some of Srila Gurudeva's prasadam remnants, and Padmanabha Maharaja said, "You must be in bliss". Standing bare-foot in a slush of diluted mud and animal stool, I confirmed that I was. For the first two months of my stay in Vrndavana, Gurudeva gave an elaborate coverage of Srila Sanatana Goswami's Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta. The first scripture written by the Goswamis, this book describes how by Lord Krsna's desire, the establishment of the gopis of Vraja as the topmost recipients of Krsna's mercy, and therefore the topmost devotees, was achieved. It contains descriptions of the multi-faceted and very deep spiritual intrigues of the loving relationships of Vraja, and scientificly explains the different levels of love for Krsna experienced by different devotees, like that of the Mathuravasis and the Dvarakavasis contrasted with the uncomparable prema of the Vrajavasis. Many details of Krsna's relationships with the Vrajavasis were imparted to us by Srila Gurudeva, including indepth information about viraha, separation from Krsna, and sambhoga, union with Him. Srila Gurudeva opens up Vraja and Vraja rasa for us. He delivered twenty-eight superb discourses on Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta, and, during Karttika, the massive dose of transcendental nectar included coverage of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Sri Bhajana Rahasya, and Damodara Lila. From Brhad Bhagavatamrta, Gurudeva related, from Krsna's perspective, Krsna's reminicences during His life in Dvaraka, on some of His childhood pastimes. "I was immersed in happiness and enjoyment during those times. Those pastimes were hilarious and pleasing to Me. Killing demons was automatic; it never hurt Me. There was no exertion in killing Putana. I was just playing. She was a ferocious she-demon, so big and huge! Her body was twelve miles long, her breasts were like mountains, her navel like a pond, but it was no problem to kill her. Then her husband came to kill Me, Aghasura. His open mouth was like a big cave, and My friends entered his mouth. I said 'Stop!' but they wouldn't listen to Me; they were curious. So I entered his mouth as well, and he closed his mouth. I became like a hot ball of fire, Aghasura could not breath, his eyes popped out, his soul left his body and roamed in the air, then went to My feet. He got svarupya mukti. My childhood friends were alive and well and played with Me on his body. Those pastimes, those childhood days, passed in a moment. It was no problem killing demons. Bakasura was a big crane with a very long beak and he tried to eat Me. I put My feet on his feet, caught his beak and killed him very easily. It was so wonderful. And the snake, Kaliya. He lived in the Yamuna. I played a game, jumped and danced on his head, and he surrendered to Me. When I remember those days, I feel joy. I was doing pastimes and so absorbed. Brahma came and worshipped Me, rolling a lotus in his hand. My heart was like a pendulum. I was having talks with the gopis and I couldn't hear what Brahma was saying. Those were My days. I have a pang in My heart remembering them now. It is painful for Me to remember them". A number of Srila Gurudeva's disciples have fully dedicated their lives to him and his mission, the sankirtana movement of Mahaprabhu; they are becoming, or have become, very learned and are advancing steadily in Krsna consciousness. I aspire to be like them, but I am very retarded in growth, very fuzzy-brained and dull; a dunce. I found much of the very elevated and scientific subject matter spoken by Srila Gurudeva to be above my head and heart-condition, although I strained to understand. Everyone sat and listened with rapt attention, aware that we have the greatest fortune -- hari-katha from the lotus mouth of a pure devotee, exceptionally purifying to the heart. Gurudeva only speaks this very high katha in the holy dhamas, and that's why it's so important to go to Vrndavana to hear him, especialy during Karttika when he expounds delightfully on many beautiful lilas whilst at the lila-sthalis (pastime places) themselves. Gurudeva was dynamic, effulgent and vibrant, and although nearly eighty-three, has the looks and energy of a healthy mid-sixty year-old. As the devotees used to say about our Srila Prabhupada when on walks, I often had to run to keep pace with Srila Gurudeva on parikrama. In mid September Srila Gurudeva took a party of brahmacaris and sannyasis to Jammu in the North, where he goes each year for preaching. Because of the dangers of Hindu-Muslim fighting in the area, Gurudeva would not allow any ladies to go. The Jammu preaching mission was apparently very successful, and after the week there, Gurudeva and his party united with fifty or so other devotees, including me, my family and Sita, Tamal Krsna and Balarama prabhus, in the city of Jaipur, in Rajasthan. It was wonderful being there in Gupta Vrndavana, Hidden Vrndavana, where several of the original deities of Vrndavana live. Mangala-arti at Sri Govindaji temple was one of the most trancendentally moving experiences of my life, with hundreds of people chanting prayers to Govindaji. Sometimes a situation seems to directly uplift, tune-in with, call and sing to your soul. This was one such experience. Magic! We visited all the primary deities, including a trip to the quaint and charming little town of Karouli in the Rajasthani desert, where the original Radha-Madana-Mohan of Sanatana Gosvami are. We heard many delightful histories surrounding all these deities. In Jaipur, Srila Gurudeva, speaking at temples dedicated to Lord Ramacandra and Hanuman, gave us Rama katha, Ramayana. One of the purposes for Lord Rama's incarnation was to teach maryada, proper ettiquette and behaviour. Everything that Sri Rama did was totally and utterly perfect according to religiosity and proper behaviour, rules and regulations. Gurudeva said that if we, as Gaudiya Vaisnavas, were to follow the standards and example set by Lord Ramacandra, we would prefer death to contravening Upadesa Amrta, our basic rules and instructions. Srila Gurudeva speaking hari katha, so forceful, so earnest, so genuine, so convinced, so established in what he's saying, brings the subject matter to life, making one feel part of it, directly connected to it, that it is indeed one's rightful heritage. Such is the power of hari katha from the lotus mouth of a pure devotee. It contains sabda brahma, a subtle component of sound non-existent in katha spoken by anyone less than a maha-bhagavata, and which has the power to actually penetrate and change the condition of the heart of the hearer. Gurudeva's demeanour is completely free from false ego. The look in his eye is so innocent, so grave, wise, all-knowing and pure. He looks around at the audience, surveys all, giving the impression that he doesn't miss a thing. As he speaks, his frequent descriptive lotus-hand gesticulations, a cross between graceful and dramatic, contribute to the beautiful experience. aksnoh phalam tvadrsa-darsanam hi tanoh phalam tvadrsa-gatra-sangah jihva-phalam tvadrsa-kirtanam hi sudurlabha bhagavata hi loke My dear Vaisnava, seeing a person like you is the perfection of one's eyesight. Touching your lotus feet is the perfection of the sense of touch. Glorifying your good qualities is the tongue's real activity, for in the material world it is very difficult to find a pure devotee of the Lord. C.C.Madhya-lila 20.61. His senior followers generally sit closest to him, at the front, and I try to greedily push into that category, although sometimes it is difficult. He speaks in Hindi, and we English speakers are listening to an immediate translation through head-phones. Now and then Gurudeva breaks into a phrase or two in English, so it is off-again-on-again with the head-phones for us. Quite frequently he will request one of his learned senior followers to stand and repeat what he has just explained, to make sure they are comprehending. And, dauntingly, he'll occasionally call on one of his less-than-learned followers to do the same! But there's nothing to be scared of with Gurudeva. He is our total well-wisher, this pure Vaisnava who has been strictly practising and chanting Hare Krsna, -- never deviating once -- for over fifty five years, since before most of us were born. He is a storehouse of love and kindness, and he distributes it freely and untiringly apparently to everyone, the dawn color of his cloth signifying the sun rising in the hearts of those who hear him attentively and submissively. So clean, pristine and pure. So gentle. Yet so imposing. His smile lights up the universe! He has a great sense of humour, totally with-it and transcultural, and when he laughs his whole body shakes. My daughter Vrnda seemed to have a sort-of a laughing rasa with him; several times when she spoke with him they both ended up laughing together! Krsna's pastimes in their unlimitedness are the highest truth. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion, for everyone's benefit. These pastimes of Krsna are actual reality, Reality. This world we live and operate in, thinking and living as though we're our body, and that our spouse, parents, children, friends, etc, are their bodies, and that our relationships with them are so important and meaningful, is illusion. It's unreality. It's a trick. It seems real, but it is illusion. That's the nature of an illusion, that it seems real. There's no lasting happiness to be found here, only a semblance of happiness interspersed with frustration and disappointment. arthe hy avidyamane 'pi samsrtir na nivartate manasa longa-rupena svapne vicarato yatha Sometimes we suffer because we see a tiger in a dream or a snake in a vision, but actually there is neither a tiger nor a snake. Thus we create some situation in a subtle form and suffer the consequences. These sufferings cannot be mitigated unless we are awakened from our dream. S.B.4.29. 35. Hearing hari katha specificly from the lips of a pure devotee causes the aspiring devotee to develop a taste or a hunger to hear more, to contemplate the subject matter, and to talk about it with others. By giving us this hari katha, Gurudeva is introducing us to, and directly inviting us, to enter reality. The way to do this is to displace the multitudes of thoughts of the happenings and businesses of our own lives in this material atmosphere with thoughts of these exquisite pastimes of Krsna and the Vrajavasis; to get our minds to ponder the pastimes of Krsna and the Vrajavasis instead of the affairs and circumstances of our ordinary life here. Ponder these pastimes when we're chanting our japa, singing bhajanas, and at all other times, the more the better, and talk about them amongst ourselves. In this way, by the power of hari katha, we can start to transfer our consciousness, and thus our life, our self, from the troubled illusory level to the blissful, eternal reality. This is Gurudeva's message, which is described and verified again and again in the scriptures, and Gurudeva is urging us to take it seriously NOW, not leave it until later. He promises us this process means the end to all our problems. tvam apy adabhra-sruta visrutam vibhoh samapyate yena vidam bubhutsitam prakhyahi duhkhair muhur arditatmanam sanklesa-nirvanam usanti nanyatha Please, therefore, describe the almighty Lord's activities which you have learned by your vast knowledge of the Vedas, for that will satisfy the hankerings of great learned men and at the same time mitigate the miseries of the masses of common people who are always suffering from material pangs. Indeed there is no other way to get out of such miseries. S.B. 1.5.40. etad dhy atrua-cittanam matru-sparsecchaya muhuh bhava-sindhu-plave drsto hari-caryanuvarnanam The great sage Narada continued: It is personally experienced by me that those who are always full of cares and anxieties due to desiring contact of the senses with their objects can cross the ocean of nescience on a most suitable boat -- the constant chanting of the transcendental activities of the Personality of Godhead. S.B. 1.6.34. Srila Gurudeva's preachers have been travelling from country to country inspiring devotees everywhere to come on Vraja Mandala Parikrama. At the onset of Karttika, (the Karttika month this year went from 10th October to 8th November), there was an influx of devotees from all over the world, arriving for Vraja Mandala Parikrama with Gurudeva. There was an assemblage of eight hundred of us, which included over 150 local Indian devotees. There were twelve Kiwis on parikrama -- Venu Gopal, Sudevi, Sadananada, Balarama, Tamal Krsna, Narayana prabhu, Dhruva, Vrnda, Sita, me, and to the delight of all who knew him, a friend of twenty years, Sita's dad, good old Sadhu das, was there! He took initiation from Srila Gurudeva at the end of Karttika, and is now Sanatana das. Hari bol!  Also, Atmarama das, of Garuda at Whangamata, a harinama disciple of Gaura-Govinda Maharaja, took diksa from our Gurudeva, as did my Dhruva and Vrnda (see Bhadra_Init_ 01 at beginning of article). Krsna Rama Rao Prabhu arrived near the end of Karttika, for a few days. Next year why don't we try to double the number of Kiwis on parikrama? I highly reccommend everyone to experience it while Gurudeva is still manifest to us; make it a number one priority goal. For thirty days the huge party of us visited lila-sthali after lila-sthali, over one hundred in all, all the primary places of Krsna's pastimes, plus many, many more obscure venues which are known only to great Vaisnavas the calibre of our Gurudeva. Over the month we stayed at four different places in Vraja Mandala, the district of Vraja --- Mathura, Vrndavana, Govardhana and Varsana. Sometimes we'd go by foot to sites near to where we were staying, and other times a fleet of eleven busses took us further afield. Along the uneven cobblestoned labyrinths of picturesque little towns, up vast flights of stone stairs, down long tracks of soft Vrndavana dust, over rocks, piles of rubble and open drains, through prickly groves and thickets, beside cultivated fields, through simple settlements where the little children are naked and the women are carrying water from the local well in caskets on their heads, day after day, with 5a.m. start, we journeyed. We visited the famed forests of Vrndavana, numerous kundas and kunjas, quaint and ornate temples great and small, shrines and samadhis, caves, sarovaras and ghats. >From Visrama Ghata on the Yamuna in Mathura, where Krsna rested after killing Kamsa, to Nidhuvana where, sleeping in a kunja with Krsna, Srimati Radharani had an amazing dream of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, to Raval (meaning "land lord" and refering to Vrsabanu Maharaja) where Sri Radha appeared, to Dauji, the place of Baladeva, Krsna's brother. Balarama is Krsna's first expansion. He is Krsna, but He has His own colour and mood. He is akanda-guru-tattva, the original guru, the source of all bona-fide gurus. He, with His plow, (via our guru), smashes the stones in our heart -- pride, envy, angar, etc -- and makes them into fine, soft sand. Every time I bowed down my head and said "namaste saraswati deve gauravani pracarine nirvisesa sunyavadi pascatya desa tarine", in my heart and mind I gave thanks to Srila Prabhupada, to whom I owe my spiritual life, and by whose mercy I am able to go to the holy dhama; and I gratefully remembered how he went to the wild Western world with the message of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and saved so many of us there. It is directly by his kindness and magnanimity that I have come into contact with Srila Gurudeva, and am able to do Vraja Mandala Parikrama with him, under his direction, and thus gain a little more of an understanding and appreciation of, and attraction for, these Personalities, Radha and Krsna. Without Srila Prabhupada'a mamouth kindness, practically no one in the West would have this opportunity. We are unfathomably fortunate. Kyon Nai means "Why hasn't She come?" The pastime place Kyon Nai, is where Sri Krsna once waited for Radhika to arrive for an arranged meeting. To test His eagerness to meet with Her, Her friends hid Her in a nearby kunja, and when She didn't arrive at the arranged time, Krsna asked them, "Why hasn't She come?" Spinning the line that Srimati had been detained by Her in-laws and likely couldn't come, the sakhis witnessed the consequent distress manifest in Krsna. They thus brought Radha out of the bushes to meet with Her beloved. We should not think that Krsna getting into distress is the same as our distress when our beloved fails to turn up. Trancendental Vraja is not possessed of any of the weaknesses of our earthly realm, and all emotions there are different types of the highest bliss, even apparent angar and distress. Krsna, the supreme Lord of all that be, via His agency of yogamaya, arranges all these pastimes with the manifestations of different emotions, for His own divine pleasure, and that of His pure devotees. It is to this realm, for our loving relationship with Radha and Krsna, as one of Radha's intimate friends or loving maid-servants, that the Gaudiya Vaisnavas aspire. Srila Gurudeva describes the science of all this in detail, replete with abundant scriptural references and sanskrit terminology. He wants us to become skilled, versed and realized in these very deep, high spiritual truths. Frequently Gurudeva got us to sing and meditate on the words of Srila Bhaktivinoda's song Dekhite Dekhite. When will I forget my gross bodily identity, then I will beheld the exquisite beauty of Vraja, full of eternal spiritual bliss and cognizance. I shall take birth in Vrsabhanu Maharaja's town and will marry in the nearby village of Yavat. My sole disposition and nature will be that of a cowherd maiden. When will I obtain, by the power of Radha's mercy, my own eternal spiritual body, my own realized name and dress embellishing my real form? And when will I receive initiation into the techniques of expressing divine love for Krsna ? As I go to draw water from the Yamuna, I will understand the confidential mellows of Yugala-Kisora's loving affairs. Being captivated by prema, I will sing Sri Radhika's glories just like a madwoman. The anecdotes and histories on parikrama go on and on. Seated wherever we can find a space, on the stone, marble or concrete of temple courtyards, roofs, or walls, on the grass, on protruding roots of trees, or in the auspicious Vrndavana dust, we listened, made recordings, took notes, and reflected. Gurudeva was often with us, but not always. I was told he, who has done Vraja Mandala Parikarama every year for fifty years, comes with the parikrama party to fewer places now than he used to, even in the last half-decade. Foolish me for not taking shelter of him sooner. >From Mana Sarovara, a lake produced from Radharani's tears, where the eight hundred of us miraculously settled into the bushes of an exqusite lakeside kunja with Srila Gurudeva as he addressed us, to Radha Kunda, where we reverently bathed, (Srila Gurudeva said we could bathe; I remember my previous trip to Radha Kunda in 1981 -- Srila Prabhupada had apparently instucted not to bathe in Radha Kunda, the most sacred place in the universe, and I now understand that was because we were young, sporty and irreverent), to the circumambulation of Govardhana Hill, to Daha-Gahr, where Gurudeva had breakfast with us out in the open -- -- we trekked in the hot sun, we crossed the Yamuna in boats, we ran, we danced, we sang, got stone-bruises and prickles in our feet, (to go bare-footed on parikrama is recommended, so that one's feet touch the holy land directly), got our cloth caught in thorny bushes, we huffed and puffed, we pushed and struggled, we meditated, exhilarated, delighted, and prayed, as we lived the wonder that is Vraja Mandala Parikrama. There are so many aspect of parikrama I have not described to you; the intense workload and dedication of the festival organizers, always there to help the pilgrims in any way they could, (almost losing their voices from talking); the incredible energy, commitment and on-going selfless service of Srila Gurudeva's sannyasis, leading the parikrama parties, serving out prasad, giving discourse after discourse, constantly inspiring devotees and answering questions, setting a wonderful example of service and single-pointedness; the way prasadam is prepared for eight hundred people day after day on parikrama ! it would amaze you !; the repeated bhajan singing, or praying as it actually is, with training from Gurudeva, the sannyasis and other seniors, how to bring our mind into the bhava, or mood of the bhajan, which is the process of developing bhakti, our loving devotion for Radha and Krsna; Gurudeva's new temple under construction in Govardhana, Giridhari Matha, which when completed will accommodate five thousand people; the numerous and varied devotional dramas that were performed by groups of devotees in the evenings after Gurudeva's class, for the pleasure of Gurudeva and the devotees, (Gurudeva loves these which he calls "drama plays"); the colourful festival of Govardhana Puja when we, a huge kirtana party of devotees lead by Gurudeva, carried on our heads brightly decorated pots and baskets full of foodstuffs to Giri-Govardhana, as an offering to Him; the opening of a large new temple and accommodation complex in Vrndavana called Ananda Dhama, donated by a wealthy disciple of Srila Gurudeva's; the almost daily photos and articles about Srila Gurudeva and his parikrama party, comprising the large contingent of Westerners, in the local Mathura and Vrndavana newspapers; and the wonderful, joyous, colourful nagar sankirtanas (huge sankirtana parties through the town when it seemed like the whole town turned out in the streets to rejoice and dance) which, along with dynamic kirtana leaders and mobile PA, comprised Indian brass bands playing devotional tunes, fluttering flags, plaquards with parampara pictures on them, decorated elephants, prasadam distribution, and Gurudeva riding on a decorated float ! Along with all else, our Gurudeva really knows how to party ! I've given you a little glimpse of Vraja Mandala Parikrama, but you have to experience it for yourself. I won't hide the fact that Vraja Mandala Parikrama exhausted me. It pushed me almost to the limits of my physical capability. At the end of the third week I didn't know how I was going to go on another day. But I managed to push my body on to the very end. Gurudeva said the aim of Vraja Mandala Parikrama is to gain a little glimpse of prema. I thought, what's the use of physical health or comfort if I miss out on this opportunity? Of the lady parikrama-veterans I spoke to, the young ones said it gets easier every year; the older ones said it doesn't. Would I do it again ? Oh yes, year after year ! To spend a few extra days in the holy dhama I changed my return airline ticket at some expense, from the 11th November to the 15th, before learning that Gurudeva was doing a program in Delhi on the 16th. To my great disappointment I thought I was going to miss this. But on the 15th, to circumvent the problem of exorbitant charges on our overweight luggage, our flight out of Delhi was delayed three days, which meant we got to spend another whole day with Gurudeva unexpectedly! This was at his Delhi temple which is not yet fully built, but which facilitated a well-attended prana-pratistha ceremony for the deities there. Feeling that Krsna and Gurudeva had arranged our detainment in Delhi just so that we could see more of him and attend the Delhi program, I said to him, "Oh Gurudeva, I thought I was going to miss you in Delhi, but by some trick I'm still here". He replied, "Ooh, don't miss me". I felt those words were very weighty. Well, even although I could write lots more if I had the time, with a big catering job at the Celtic Fair coming up on the 2nd of January, for which I have samosas and many other things coming out of my ears, I must finish now, hoping this letter meets you feeling inspired to chant Hare Krsna meditatively, and also that I will see you over January at Whangamata with our dear sannyasi friends - Sripad BV Aranya (www.purebhakti.com/preachers/bvaranya.shtml), Sripad BV Bhaktisar (aka Dhrstadyumna Swami, www.purebhakti.com/preachers/bvbhaktisar.shtml) and Sripad BV Sajjan (www.purebhakti.com/preachers/bvsajjan.shtml)- who will be giving of themselves each Friday, Saturday and Sunday; and again in Auckland on Friday, January 30 through Sunday, February 1st. Please log onto www.purebhakti.com and avail yourselves of Srila Gurudeva's wonderful lectures. And visit our own NZ website, www.purebhakti.com/nz for complete program details and other contact information. I have some copies of the latest beautiful edition of the "Harmonist" magazine for $6 each plus postage. It's glossy and glorious and full of pictures and elevating reading with articles by many great Gaudiya Vaisnavas and acaryas including of course Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva. Please contact me, or see me at Whangamata. Also, if you join our Pure Bhakti New Zealand Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/purebhaktinz you can be kept up to date on all the events and programs as they become manifest. Hare Krsna. Lots of love, Bhadra dasi Phone: 07 5520073 Narayana Prabhu: 021 2590798 Vrnda devi: 021 1732925 Related VNN Stories Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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