I always feel privileged to be in Mayapur and stay here. In this holy place Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, an incarnation of Krishna appeared around 500 years ago.
Mayapur is also the headquarter of Iskcon – International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Glories of Mayapur dham is unlimited. If one just stays in Mayapur and following the instructions of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu practices devotional life then one will not just get freedom from all sufferings but will also get an opportunity to return to the spiritual world, the kingdom of God, Goloka Vrindavan.
So, whenever I get an opportunity, I come to Mayapur and stay there.
Visiting Mayapur to celebrate New Year
This year, me and my wife decided to spend 30th and 31st Dec in Mayapur because we thought that this is the best way to welcome 2018. It isn’t a new year according to Vaisnava calendar but nevertheless Srila Prabhupada taught us that every occasion can be celebrated in a Krishna Conscious way.
We decided to join a group of devotees who were going to Mayapur. We started from Kolkata at around 6:45 a.m. Devotees were trvelling by bus. I do not like to travel by bus because I have motion sickness. But it is always better to travel with the devotees, so I reluctantly agreed.
Praying to the Lord and after taking a stemetil tablet, I boarded the bus. But after some time, I was feeling sick but fortunately the bus stopped for breakfast and I quickly got down to breathe fresh air.
Malpua story
For breakfast, everyone was served hot noodles. Devotees were enjoying it but because I was feeling uneasy, I could not relish it. Once during annual Kartik Yatra of Iskcon Chowpatty, devotees were served malpua.
Many devotees relished malpua and after finishing it they again stood in the queue for second helping of malpua. After finishing the second helping, they again went for third helping and so on. As much as they could eat, they ate it and thoroughly enjoyed it.
But there were unlucky devotees too because they could not enjoy malpua. They had problem digesting malpua which is made using lots of ghee, milk and is soaked in sugar syrup. Some could not eat because of diabetes. Some wanted but could not enjoy it because their stomach was in bad mood that day.
In the evening class that day, HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj was jokingly explaining that it is all because of our karma. Some devotees with good karma may relish malpua and want more. But some because of their bad karma cannot digest even a small morsel of it although they like it.
I was thinking that because of my bad karma I am not able to enjoy the noodles.
Krishna Conscious fun activities
Anyway, after breakfast, we again boarded the bus. As a precautionary measure, I took another stemetil.
It was time for Krishna Conscious fun activity in the bus. We had planned for quiz and DUMB charade.
I had prepared few quiz questions. HG Anant Bhagavan Prabhu asked me to conduct the quiz. All the devotees who were travelling were newly introduced to Krishna Consciousness, but they knew answers to almost all the questions.
Although the questions were simple but everyone need to be complimented for their knowledge about the Vedic scriptures. Questions were about Krishna’s pastimes and were also from Mahabharata and Ramayana.
I have never played DUMB Charade, so HG Anant Bhagavan Prabhu organized it. Later HG Sri Nitai Prabhu sang a very melodious Hare Krishna kirtan which everyone enjoyed.
Reached Mayapur, the spiritual capital of world
During the journey I was constantly inquiring when are we going to reach Mayapur because of obvious reasons. And finally, we reached Mayapur at around 12:15 p.m. By the time we collected our room keys and prasadam coupon it was almost 1 p.m. Unfortunately darshan was closed, so we decided to have lunch prasadam.
We took prasadam in Gada Bhavan. Taking prasadam in Gada Bhavan is always a unique experience because of its ambience. You will feel that you are eating in a Vedic monastery. Prasadam as usual was tasty.
Darshan and evening programs
After eating prasadam we took rest till 4 p.m. We had a class by HG Acharya Ratan Prabhu, co – director of ISKCON Kolkata at 4:30. But before the class, we all rushed to take darshan of Sri Sri Radha Madhav and Panca Tattva. We felt blessed to see the beautiful deities. We also took darshan of Lord Narasimhadeva and Srila Prabhupada.
After taking darshan of the deities, we went to attend the class of HG Acharya Ratan Prabhu. Devotees were planning to present one drama in the evening. I was asked to be part of one such drama. I got the role of a narrator. Devotees nicely performed drama; everyone liked it. We then took dinner prasadam at Gada kitchen and returned to our respective rooms. We were staying in Ishodyan Bhavan in Mayapur.
By the time I reached my room it was 10 pm. The entire day was completely packed, I did not get time to complete my 16 rounds of chanting. Few rounds were remaining which I completed.
Preparing for next day morning Mangala Arati
Also, it was important to take rest early because we did not want to miss the morning Mangala Arati in the Iskcon temple which starts at 4:30 am.
Many new devotees had come with us, and everyone wanted to attend morning Mangala arati. One of them was my colleague. He was also too eager to attend Mangala Arati in the morning. I was eager too.
Before going to bed, I prayed to Sri Sri Radha Madhav and Panca Tattva to bless me so that I can give up lethargy in the morning and go to temple to attend Mangala Arati.
A Krishna conscious day in Mayapur
The first day stay in Mayapur was memorable, we relished each and every moment. Entire day we remained engaged in Krishna Conscious activities. This is the beauty of visiting a holy place.
Even though we may not be pure devotees but seeing so many sincere devotees around us, we too get inspired to become serious in our spiritual life. We try to forget all our material worries and try our best to remain absorbed in Krishna.
Also Read:
Another memorable day in Mayapur, the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu – Part 2
