All India Padayatra: Book Marathon Fever – Rameshwaram
December 24, 2016 (Album with photos)
Acarya Dasa: After attending the Vraja Mandala parikrama during the month of kartika we were joined by two new padayatris, Bhakta Daniel, originally from America and Dayapar Dasa, originally from Europe. We are all very happy to have them with us and welcomed them with all our hearts in the service of Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar and Srila Prabhupada. We are currently in Rameshwaram and will stay there for the next few days.
Doubly auspicious month
The month of December is very special since we celebrate two important events during this month. The first is the sannayasa anniversary of Lokanath Swami which took place on December 6th. The second is the Bhagavad-gita marathon. Bhagavad-gita now plays an important role in our lives because of our Guru Maharaja –it is he who gave us knowledge of sastra and helped us see its significance in our lives.
Seeking blessings
On December 6th, the day of Lokanath Swami’s 41st sannyasa anniversary we made a video call to congratulate him and to seek his blessings. He said to us, “I was instructed by my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, to start and carry on padayatra –and you all are helping me in my service. In fact, I would say, you all are doing my service.” He then gave a short talk on the glories of book distribution which inspired us all. We told him that we would distribute 5000 Bhagavad-gitas, and he responded by saying we should do more. He then raised his hands, blessing us all and said, “Keep going with your sankirtana, book distribution and prasadam distribution. I am very pleased with all your seva.” After taking these words to heart we continued with our services. We distribute books regularly but during this month we enhance our book distribution for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada.
Ramanathapuram
When we reached Ramanathapuram we organized a big pandal program almost like the programs we have during our Janmastami celebrations. We had sound systems in place, lighting everywhere and prasadam distribution. Sahastranam Dasa, a disciple of Bhakti Vikas Maharaja, helped us with accommodation and the program during our time there. The city of Ramanathapuram was mostly populated by people of the Muslim and Christian traditions –thankfully we did not face any problem while there. Our program started with sankirtana, followed by katha on Gita Mahatmya and ended with prasadam distribution to more than 600 people. The next morning we came across a man who had taken a Bhagavad-gita from us the day before, at the pandal program –he was sitting and reading the Gita with rapt attention. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! We distributed 165 Bhagavad-gitas and 358 small books.
Sleeping under trees
While travelling we reached a place where we could not find accommodation. So, all of us had to stay under a tree that day. It is by the mercy of Lokanath Swami, that our entire team was happy, still maintained their enthusiasm and continued with their seva despite our situation. After a six day stay in Rameshwaram we will continue on with our journey.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/MiBdpN