By Bhaktivinoda Swami
More than 350 devotees gather at the Sacred town of Guruvayur, Kerala
to learn more about “who is a Vaishnava”.
April 10th and 11th were mometuous days for devotees from Kerala as
they congregated to hear , chant and associate at the 5th Annual Kerala
convention in Guruvayur. The festival was attended by many prominent
devotees and leaders of Kerala and was conducted in most famous tirtha in
Kerala under the lotus feet of Guruvayurappan where ISKCON has its head
quarters being developed for Kerala.
H.H. Bhanu Swami Maharaj kept the devotees spell bound with his
presentations on who is a sadhu and what is his belief and how one should
relate with each other while touching on Karma yoga and Guru tattva and
even astrology !.
H H Bhakti Vinoda swami urged the devotees to take full advantage of the
movement started by Lord Chaitanya and perpetrated in the modern world so
aptly by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He
explained the Sankirtan mission in terms of ones internal development from
the pages of Bhaktisiddhanta Thakurs poem Vaishnava ke , translated and
commented upon by H H Jayapataka Swami Maharaj.
Sananda Kumar das Prabhu, Jagatsakshi das pr, Satyamedha Pr, Lohidakshan
Pr, Sundar Nityananda das, Murali Govinda Pr Giri Goverdhan Pr and Ram
Narasimha Pr were other speakers who enlightened the audience on various
challenges facing the devotee in the modern age of Kali. Their session
included a group discussion of all present analysing the various aspects
of becoming a Vaishnava.
Sundar Nityananda das and Amala Gauranga dasa also performed humorous and
wisdom laden skits to illustrate some of the traps laid out for a devotee
by Krishna s formidable energy.
Reports of preaching from various quarters of Kerala were given by leaders
of the area.
H H Bhaktivinoda Swami gave a presentation on the Kerala BBT’s activities
and urged everyone present to commit to distributing books of Srila
Prabhupada to expand the sankirtan movement in Kerala and keep the BBT
healthy.
Pavitra Krishna dasa from Bangladesh sang bhajans and led kirtans filling
the hearts of the devotees with bliss.
Devotees dedicated the festival to the memory of H H Holiness Jayapataka
Swami who wrote a wonderful commentary to the poem Vaishnava Ke out of
compassion for the devotees.
Sumptuous prasadam was served every day as devotees filled their ears and
hearts with Krishna katha and returned home on Sunday night vowing to make
changes in their lives and rededicating themselves to the cause of
spreading the holy name and chanting it purely in the positive association
of Vaishnavas.