Its said that lying down on the ground in Sri dhama is equivalent to offering obeisances to the Lord. So after some sleep, IYF boys started getting up. Quite a few were ready in their pristine white dhoti kurtas, neat tilaks chanting their rounds. The effulgent devotees chanting the holyname always seem to be like vishnudutas. Such an auspicious sight. The usual routine followed then which takes quite a time for me.
We reached Krishna Balarama Mandir where Samsara Davanala Prayers had already begun at Prabhupada's Samadhi Mandir. The feeling of being in that moment is very different. One can distinctly hear the ringing bell in the hand of the pujari offering arotik, in the silent atmosphere. A very faint voice coming from inside is heard, accompanied by a single kartal and mridanga. The mild cool breeze of Vrindavan flows. The sky is clear and still dark with twinkling stars. Devotees hushing in the temple and paying obeisances. Everyone is happy and in their hearts praying to their spiritual master and thanking them for their good fortune. One thing I always pray and hope is that my conscious be forever like this. Believe me!! those people who have never attended the Mangala prayers in Vrindavan or even in their cities, they don't know what bliss is. It's like having personal darshan of the lord. One feels a part of the few chosen ones. Though there is no restriction, but still only few fortunate souls can witness the Mangala Arati Mahotsava.
Kartik is a special time in Vrindavan. Devotees from India and rest of the
world visit Sri Dhama to recharge their spiritual batteries. Srila Prabhupada used to say that Dham Yatra is the fruit of the devotional service performed round the year. So because of so many devotees, having nice and satisfying darshans of lord during mangala arati is difficult. So to avoid being left standing in the courtyard, devotees start moving inside the temple hall before the kirtan ends at Prabhupada's Samadhi. Inside the temple hall uninterrupted harinama keeps going. The portion in front of Sri Sri Radha Shyamsundara is already filled with Matajis. I guess it has been like that always. No grudges for that, but sometimes it becomes impossible to capture a good shot of the altar. So as the clock strikes 4:30, the grand doors of the 3 altars open and from inside appear the personal attendants of their lordships. The powerful sound of blowing conches makes the environment auspicious, announcing that soon the lord will be appearing to give joy to the heart of devotees. The curtains open and there THEY are. Dressed simply without many ornaments and garlands, yet the most beautiful objects of vision in the whole universe. I particularly station myself in front of Krishna Balaram. Slowly the vibhavari shesha prayers begin after a roar of jaya radha shyamsundar and krishna balaram ki jaya.
The kirtan is melodious and soft that one can distinctly hear the ringing of bells in the altar. This can be experienced even if one hears the recorded version. "Vibhavari Sesa, Alok Pravesa. Nidra Chhari Utho Jiva. Bolo Hari Hari, Mukunda Murari, Rama Krishna Hayagriva........" Devotees get lost while hearing the transcendental names and qualities of the supreme lord and drinking the nectar of the unlimited and unsurpassable beauty of the forms of the lord. The prayer depicts the whole Vrindavan and one can remember about the pastimes the two heroes must have performed. In fact the very position, the two princes stand is like they are observing the miserable conditioned souls and out of mercy are inviting them to join their eternal pastimes. Balaramaji's arm resting on Krishna's shoulder - and cows sitting at their feet - a direct scene from Goloka Vrindavan. Srila Prabhupada has given us a philosophy which is the summit in spirituality and then the beautiful deities to kep us attracted. A very dear friend has a inner desire to dress and decorate the two brothers once in this lifetime.
The Kirtan that follows is extremely soothing. By this time the jubilation is evident on the devotees' face. They are tapping their feets, smiling, as if talking to the deities, calling out to Sri Guru, Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and Radharani to help them come out of the deplorable situation of material existence and bestow the highest benediction of pure devotional service at the lotus feet of their lordships.
The Kirtan fades with devotees already feeling the mood of separation, for soon the altars will close and the deities will be no more visible. That day, Deena Nayak Prabhu led the Narasimha prayers in his sweet voice. Then is the time for announcements. These announcements
are very typical to IKCON and have become part and parcel of the temples' daily routine. It starts with declaring the book distribution scores for the pleasure of the deities, srila Prabhupada and the Vaishnavas, Then the big altar doors close concealing behind them the object of everyone's affection. In Kartik, it is mostly Devamrita Prabhu making the announcements. I remember it like I heard recently "we welcome all the devotees who have just arrived in Sridhama Vrindavan and we wish them a pleasant stay. We also welcome 1200 devotees who have come from New Delhi and NCR." "Today the Braja parikrama Yatra will move from so and so place to such and such place, devotees who are interested can board the buses immediately after these announcements which are standing right outside the temple." And so on....so very reminiscent of Kartik Yatra.
Tulasi Arati time: Two Aratis simultaneously go on. One in the
main courtyard, where all the prabhujis are present and one in front of the matchless gift shop for matajis. At the time of y
ani kani ca papani portion of the prayer when devotees circumambulate Tulasi mahrani, it looks like a giant my fair lady ride. Soon after, the Japa Period starts. Devotees spread across the Krishna Balarama Temple, in temple hall, courtyard, stairs, walking the temple parikrama marg, samadhi mandir, Prabhupada quarters, Guest house reception and some go on a Vrindavan Parikrama. The whole atmosphere is filled with the pure vibration of the holy name. What different would be the Spiritual world from what we experience right here in temple. The weather was mildly cold that day.
7:00 AM we were supposed to report in Phogla
Ashram for Guru Vandana. But I along with few others decided to stay back and attend Sringar Arati and Guru Arati in KB temple itself. For we would not get that chance again in this Yatra especially so me. Who knows when will I get this opportunity again. So darshan arati started at 7:15 AM, the lord appeared in a purple dress today. Srila Prabhupada had been seated today on the stairs i
n the courtyard for Guru Puja. Probably to accommodate large number of devotees. The kirtan started with Jaya Prabhupada, Jaya Srila Prabhupada and then Guru Vandana. Suddenly I realised that the voice is known and this melody is heard before. Where ? It was none other than His Holiness Loknath Swami Maharaja. It was too good to be missed. So I recorded some portion of the event in the camera. Slowly we noticed that many devotees had stayed back to witness this. After this AGP, Saurabh Prabhu and I proceeded towards Phogla Ashram where a snack prasadam was awaiting.
After this we were supposed to be going to visit places like Radha Damodarji, Radha Ramanji, Nidhu Vana and Seva Kunja. So the congregation of 1200 devotees started from Phogla Ashram with Brahmacaris leading the kirtan at the front. Some devotees were manging the crowd and keeping them on one side of the road. We first went to Radha Damodar Mandir. After taking darshans, we circumambulated the temple. It is said that it is equivalent to giriraja goverdhan parikrama. This took a lot of time as the temple was packed with devotees. Mohan Rupa Prabhu was in full form, leading Kirtan, singing hare krishna mahamantra and Vaishnav Bhajans. This temple also houses the samadhi of Srila Rupa Goswami, Bhugarbha Goswami, Bhakti Sidhhant Saraswati Goswami amongst other prominent Vaishnava Acarya. It was this temple where Prabhupada had stayed and written Srimad Bhagvatam Canto 1 before he embarked on a journey which was to change the course of history of mankind.
Then we went to Radha Ramanji, the special thing about this deity is that apart from being extremely beautiful, that he mercifully has allowed himself to be photographed. Whereas in other Goswami Mandirs it is not. Nowadays in Krishna Balaram Temple also it is very difficult to click photographs for security reasons. At this temple there is a special rabri mahaprasad which is given to devotees in a clay pot. I was fortunate to get some. Due to heavy rush of devotees and personal agendas I lost company of Saurabh Prabhu and Ajita Govind Prabhu, So I moved fast to our next destination.
It was Nidhi Vana this time, where Shyamanand Prabhu found anklebells of Srimati Radharani and subsequently blessed by her. Its an area densly covered with small height trees.I guess they were Tulasi shrubs. I could hear Mohanrupa Prabhu's voice from far away. In the midst of the forest was the Vishakha Kund situated deep below the ground level. There were a row of stairs to get there. After doing acaman and dipping our beads in the holy water, we proceeded further. I walked fast to catch up with the main party, as I could hear Mohanrupa Pr describing the pastimes and philosophy. Near the end of the way
there is a big open space, where devotees had gathered around and intently heard from Mohanrupa prabhu. Prabhuji described the pastime of Shyamananda Prabhu's meeting with Srimati Lalita Devi and then subsequently Srimati Radharani. Its a very beautiful pastime between the Princess of Vrindavan and a pure devotee and how she gave the deity of Sri Shyamsundar (the form/deity in her heart) to Shyamanand Prabhu. Then after this we proceeded further and came near the exit. I was finally able to catch up with Saurabh Prabhu and Ajita Govinda Prabhu.
Our next destination SevaKunj, which was near by. There is a temple right at the start with Lalita Kund in the adjacent vicinity. There we heart from a young brajwasi boy about the pastime of Srimati Radharani getting into Mana and Krishna - the reservoir of all rasas serving her. The whole narration was rendered poetically which also made it humorous. At the end the boy asked everyone to laugh loudly. Everybody did. However the last sentence made Brahmacaris to stop and think. He said, "Jo yahan hasta hai, kehte hain usi ka ghar basta hai" (One who laughs here, settles in family life soon). Then we headed back to Phogla Ashram for Prasadam.
On my way I purchased pedas for bhoga offering from the famous Brajwasi Sweet Shop. Had lunch. Was thoroughly exhausted after the long walk so took a rickshaw and went to my ashram. Took rest, washed clothes. Then as everyone left for Phogla ashram, I went to Krishna Balaram Temple. Had to do many chores like purchase Kanthi mala for dad, offer that and sweets to Krishna Balaram, get a book from the counter, get charan tulasi )enough to last for 2 months). After this came back and then with saurabh prabhu went to Phogla ashram just in time for Prasadam. One desire had been lurking in my heart was to do little seva. But my flickering mind had manage to get me away for a number of times. But this time by mercy of Krishna, I got inside the Prasadam hall for serving seva. I joined Parthasarathi Mitra Prabhu's team. Have
served under his guidance many a times in Delhi temple. It had been so arranged that the area we were serving in had all the senior devotees coming and honoring Prasadam. One quality of PMP and PujaPriya prabhu I have observed is that they take such good care of devotees serving under their management. And they never shy away from serving themselves if need be. Then they also make sure that who ever was serving is fed sumptuously and comfortably. This, very quality is what attracts one to Vaishnavas and then develop faith in Krishna.
Then later on feasting upto neck, we got ready to go back to KB temple. Demodarastakam Prayers were over. But the atmosphere in the KB temple was magical. It was something indescribable. Oh! It was something heavenly. It must have been trancendental also, but I do not know how to distinguish between two. Stepped up in the temple hall. There on the extended platform was seated His Holiness Kadamba Kanan Maharaja was leading the kirtan and besides him was ISKCON Kirtan Samrat - His Grace Aindra Prabhu. Believe me it was unbelievable. The mahamantra was resounding everywhere. Devotees were dancing. Not a corner was left in the hall and the courtyard. I won't write anymore because I am incapable of describing it anymore.
After this AGP, Saurabh Pr and me went to Govindas as previously decided. But I was too
overloaded and could not afford to have anything. It turned out that any order would take a minimum of half an hour. So we cancelled the idea. On our way out we say Kadamb Kanan Maharaja was talking to another Maharaj, so we paid our obeisances. In turn Maharaja blessed us by giving his maha garland. The same garland which he would have gotten from Srila Prabhupada. We left AGP at his Dharamshala on our way to ours. It was the usual but very appropriate dinner consisting of Milk and puffed rice.
