22/FEB/2015 - Sri Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama - Day 1 by Maha Varaha Das

22/2/15 NMP Day 1: Today, being the first day of Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama (NMP), the whole atmosphere in the Mayapur campus was filled with kirtan from the very start of dawn. This year, we have six parikrama parties participating. They are the International party, Hindi party, Russian party, Gita Course party and two Nama Hatta parties called Gauranga and Nityananda. We got to know from the parikrama registration booth last night that, this year, about 7,500 devotees have registered for the parikrama. Just at sunrise, all six parties streamed out of the ISKCON Mayapur campus through various gates. Each party had its own set of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai deities, Srila Prabhupada, Srimati Tulasi devi, flags, banners, kirtan parties, etc.

Since there was an emergency meeting in Mayapur, Guru Maharaj was not able to go to any of the parikrama parties in the morning session. By the time the meeting got over, which was by about 10 am, Guru Maharaj was visibly extremely tired. He had a late breakfast and then had a nap to regain some energy so he could attend the parikrama parties. He had almost two hours of rest followed by fruits and then instructed us to find out the current location of all the parikrama parties. Madhava Kanta Prabhu sprung into action without any delay. Just before leaving Mayapur campus, Rakesh Prabhu and his good wife suddenly arrived to meet Guru Maharaj. Guru Maharaj spent about 10 minutes with them, giving a brief darshan. Then we rushed to Tarangpur Ghat at around 2:30 pm. We crossed the Jalangi by boat and then drove to meet the international party at Harihara Ksetra. When we reached Harihara Ksetra, devotees were taking prasadam. Guru Maharaj gave a small talk describing the significance of Harihara Ksetra from the car. Guru Maharaj spoke about how in Harihara Ksetra, Lord Siva chants the name of Gauranga into the ears of the devotees who leave their body there. Then, Guru Maharaj was wheeled down to take darshan of Lord Harihara. After that, we drove  to Vidyanagar to meet the Gita Course party which has almost 1000 participants. There, Guru Maharaj gave a Bengali class for 25 minutes. We then drove off to Pratapnagar to meet the Hindi party. We reached Pratapnagar at almost......Guess what time it was? Yes, 7:30 pm! After a short refreshment, Guru Maharaj narrated pastimes related to Mahaprabhu to a crowd of 800 devotees. During the question answer session, one devotee asked Guru Maharaj, "How do you receive this much enthusiasm in this health condition?" Guru Maharaj spoke about how much Srila Prabhupada did and how much sacrifice Srila Prabhupada took. Then Guru Maharaj said, "What I am doing is nothing." In this way, he explained his answer and at the end, he humbly requested all the devotees to bless him. Then, His Holiness Radharamana Swami Maharaj explained the following verse in response to Guru Maharaj's answer:

"kṣāntir avyartha-kālatvaṁ
viraktir māna-śūnyatā
āśā-bandhaḥ samutkaṇṭhā
nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ
āsaktis tad-guṇākhyāne
prītis tad-vasati-sthale
ity-ādayo ’nubhāvāḥ syur
jāta-bhāvāṅkure jane

Translation:

When the seed of ecstatic emotion for Kṛṣṇa fructifies, the following nine symptoms manifest in one’s behavior: forgiveness, concern that time should not be wasted, detachment, absence of false prestige, hope, eagerness, a taste for chanting the holy name of the Lord, attachment to descriptions of the transcendental qualities of the Lord, and affection for those places where the Lord resides — that is, a temple or a holy place like Vṛndāvana. These are all called anubhāva, subordinate signs of ecstatic emotion. They are visible in a person in whose heart the seed of love of God has begun to fructify." (Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu 1.3.25-26). The class ended by Maharaj highlighting these great qualities of Guru Maharaj to the assembled devotees. Then Guru Maharaj reached back to Sri Mayapur Dham by 10:30pm. - Maha Varaha Das