By Mathura Rasa dasa
‘To fulfill the initial desire of Srila Prabhupada who inaugurated the Food For Life programme, by instructing his disciples to distribute prasadam at least within 10 miles’ radius from the Mayapur temple, the Nagara Sankirtan party stormed Krishnanagar. Krishnanagar is the administrative head quarters of Nadia District in West Bengal and falls within the said 10 miles’ radius. This is also the place where Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur worked as a magistrate whilst re-discovering the lost Holy places of Navadvipa.
The Nagar Sankirtan Party visited the area twice this month, lead by the Head of Department, Shastra dasa. The last visit was on Saturday, 26th April 2008, when over 70 devotees accompanied the party. For the first time the newly-donated public address system was used outside the Mayapur Campus. The 80 000 rupees ($ 2 000) equipment was kindly donated by Madhuri Madhumba Mataji from Malaysia through the inspiration of Srimati Mataji , the organizer of the popular seminar “Let’s make friends with the holy name.”
Srimati Mataji told Shastra dasa she was praying to get laxmi to help the Harinam party get first class equipment which could bring out good quality sound vibrations. When the kirtan and quality of the sound is sweet, it would be appreciated by all and otherwise, especially outside the temple grounds, some people can commit nama
aparadha by criticizing the bad quality sound and distorted Holy Names. She met Madhuri Madhumba and she happily agreed to sponsored the new PA system which comprises mixers, an echo machine, 2 imported 500-watts speakers and a maha amplification.
At 4.00pm, when the scorching heat was declining, led by the most beautiful Harinam Deities – Sri Sri Nitai-Mayapur-Candra, Krishna dasa Kaviraja dasa, the younger son of the two sons of Shastra dasa, arriving from the US to join the NSP, was blasting the popular tones of Sri Pralad das in his own style and spinning around with the accordion; Hari-Narayana dasa, the second son, was flipping multiple folds as much as four to five times at times and displaying all types of acrobatic shows in front of the procession; about ten enthusiastic matajis and prabhus distributed maha prasadam at both
sides of the road; other members carried all the spiritual emblems and symbols used by Gauranga Mahaprabhu five hundred years ago while performing the same congregational chanting of the holy names – like the chakra sign, tilak sign and multi-colourful flags; everyone was jumping and dancing wild; Krishnanagar was held spellbound for three hours… Fortunately for the residents, there was a power failure at the time, so the sound was traveling far and many rushed out from their hot shops without fans to the roadside, where they received not only fresh air but lots of mercy too!
sides of the road; other members carried all the spiritual emblems and symbols used by Gauranga Mahaprabhu five hundred years ago while performing the same congregational chanting of the holy names – like the chakra sign, tilak sign and multi-colourful flags; everyone was jumping and dancing wild; Krishnanagar was held spellbound for three hours… Fortunately for the residents, there was a power failure at the time, so the sound was traveling far and many rushed out from their hot shops without fans to the roadside, where they received not only fresh air but lots of mercy too!
One nicely dressed gentleman with tie approached Shastra dasa and told him: “If you maintain this programme for a few months, your religion will take over Krishnanagar. I am a born Christian but I love and appreciate this aspect of Hinduism.”
The party distributes over 5 000 cubed gajas (maha prasadam from Radha Madhava’s bakery) and a few books and pamphlets.
The ever increasing 32-member Nagar Sankirtan party has been visiting many villages around by walking, traveling by boat or buses distributing the holy names, prasadam and pamphlets on daily basis.
“Simply by liberal distribution of prasada and sankirtana, the whole world can become peaceful and prosperous.”
Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam 4:12:10, Purport