Free Hare Krishna Picnic draws 40,000 In Bengal! (20 min video)
There is a very good reason why ISKCON is known as the Kitchen Religion. Every week our temples invite the public to come take Krishna prasadam, sanctified vegetarian food, with us for free! At thousands of centers around the world, we give sumptuous food out on a regular basis because the sharing of prasadam between devotees is glorified by Rupa Goswami as one of the six type of loving affections one can express to another human being. What this extraordinary man of devotion confirms is: “The nicest gesture you can offer another human being is an invitation for them to sit down and break bread with you!” So at the Shantipura festival, the devotees of Lord Krishna go into full swing and literally make hundreds of gallons of food which is distributed profusely to anyone who wishes to come and accept it!
This clip begins by showing how we cook such huge volumes of food in six-foot woks heated by large wood fires. You then see how the vats get transferred into stainless steel buckets and served out by volunteers from all over the world. The logistics of this operation involves the local police because the crowds get so big. The Bengali’s take everything related to Bhagavan (God) very seriously particularly when it comes to getting some of His remnants in the form of sacred food! They also have incredible respect for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness because we have located, repaired and help maintain so many of the sacred sites related to Lord Caitanya and his extraordinary historical pastimes. Towards the end of this clip, I follow those who completed their meal out the exit where they toss their leaf plates which will be later fed to the cows. (No pollution) I then follow that departing crowd all the way around the outside of the food pavilion where I eventually get to the front where the men and women enter for their meal via separate gates. (Indian Custom) Here you can see just how enthusiastic the crowd is to get just a taste of Krishna Prasadam! Just opposite from the food pavilion is where I shot the video of the classic marketplace with all the traditional vendors that were my previous posting.
“All the devotees were served prasadam on plantain leaves, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu distributed on each leaf a quantity suitable for two or three men to eat, for His hand could not distribute less than that… Then Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally sat down to accept lunch with the other sannyasis, and Gopinatha Acarya began to distribute the prasadam with great pleasure. Then Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, Damodara Pandita, and Jagadananda all began to distribute prasadam to the devotees with great pleasure.” – Sri Caitanya Caritamrita – Madhya 11.201, 207-8
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/Y8uv69