Annual
Preaching and Bhoga Collection Programmes led
by
Sripad Acharyya Maharaj
Malini
Devi Dasi from Malta gains some insight to what goes on behind the scenes
leading up to the celebration of Gaura Purnima festival, and shares the
experience of travelling through Bengali villages on such preaching and
collection programmes.
Pg
01 Background
| Pg 02 Jaymulla | Pg
03 Beraberi |
Pg 04 Bajumelia
Pg 05 Tisha-Nizampur-Begumpur-Janai Chikrandi|
Pg 06 Chandradwip
It
feels like the bus is about to get stuck in the mud a few times, as it
has been raining steadily for a few days although the sun is shining now.
Finally we have to stop, not because anything happens to our bus but because
a large truck is blocking the narrow dirt-road while it is unloading.
Tarak Pakira, a man who came with us from Jaymulla, guides us ten minutes on
foot to a 'second breakfast'.
Here
in Beraberi, Sripad Acharyya Maharaj is guided house to house by this Tarak Pakira
Prabhu, a disciple of Srila Gurudev who has such preaching power in this
area that he draws 500 people annually to the Nabadwip Parikrama during Gaura Purnima.
Many of the people we visit are meeting Maharaj for the first time, while
others he has met in Nabadwip through Tarak Pakira Prabhu.
Even
on the road, people are curious and some are bold enough to approach Sripad
Acharyya Maharaj and ask questions. Maharaj takes the time to talk with
them a little, and departs after presenting the interested persons with
a yellow invitation and a white pamphlet. On odd occasions, somebody will
present a small plastic bag with rice and a couple of small potatoes,
whatever they can afford. These small offerings go into one of the larger
sacks we brought.
Off
a cobbled street we turn in at a cow-shed and turn an L-shape before we
reach our next stop. This house is very simple, made up of two rooms side-by-side
on a low, open veranda, and an outdoor, open kitchen on the other side
of the path. Past the kitchen is a small yard which leads to a green,
moss-covered pond surrounded by a forest of palm trees. Colour between
the trees indicates other habitations, given away by the bright clothes
worn by the women.
We
stop at this place for a few hours. Sripad Acharyya Maharaj sits on the
veranda while the owners of the house prepare the bhoga for offering to
the deities of the house: small Sri Sri Radha-Govinda. The room hosting
the deities is small, all the space apart from the entrance is taken up by
the bed, so we stand outside for noon arati and about fifteen people are
attracted from nearby houses by the sound of the mrdanga and the karatals.
Again, prasadam is “too much good” – varied and very
tasty!
Our
hosts are particularly sweet. Once I heard that happiness is inversely
proportionate to the size of one's house, and find myself remembering
that. I am touched by their simple-hearted kindness and, despite not being
able to exchange any words with them due to the language barrier, I feel
very affectionate towards them by the time we have to leave!
Tarak Pakira
Prabhu continues to guide us around the area. We walk through a school
compound to the first one, then to various other houses in a circular
direction. In every place we are welcomed profusely, even during the short
stops we make which are too numerous to mention. In one place we stop
for longer, singing some bhajans to an audience of about thirty people.
We
accept milk-sweets and a beverage in almost every house. I have lost count
of the number of rasa-gulas I have consumed today – perhaps about
twenty! And we come away with a donation for the Math from every house.
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