After bhajans, Sripad Acharyya Maharaj preached strongly. He mentioned, after the programme was over, that these people are very much interested in farming, and cultivating their land, but not so much in Krishna consciousness. He repeated again and again that service to Krishna is our natural position, and in this way we can receive the most benefit. He also pointed out us Westerners, and talked a little something about our lifestyle. He told them that we have so many accommodations in the West: cars, houses, and so on. There is so much wealth and opportunity for material 'satisfaction,' but we leave all of that to come here for a short time in order to receive the real wealth given by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Govinda Maharaj in India.
He told them they are so fortunate to live in the place where we all dream of staying even for just a few days, but they they are very unfortunate if, with such good opportunity, they don't try to cultivate Krishna consciousness. I could not understand what he was saying word for word while he spoke, but I could understand the gist of what he was saying to them, and he explained more afterwards. I watched the people in the audience, some looked very happy about what he was saying and you could see a spark in their eyes, others just listened passively.
I asked Maharaj after the programme had ended, what the result was like. Did these people come to the Ashram afterwards? Did they want to receive initiation? He replied that most of them listen, and then continue with their work, and sometimes a few of them will take some interest and enquire further. Either way, these people are very fortunate to live here and to receive the association of Srila Govinda Maharaj's preaching party.
