{"id":70261,"date":"2019-01-04T08:29:32","date_gmt":"2019-01-04T07:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=70261"},"modified":"2019-01-04T08:29:32","modified_gmt":"2019-01-04T07:29:32","slug":"nitai-gaurasundaras-cart-an-expansion-of-lord-balarama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=70261","title":{"rendered":"Nitai-Gaurasundara\u2019s Cart: An Expansion Of Lord Balarama"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Acarya Dasa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout the seven years that I have been involved with padayatra I have always felt the cart of our Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundara to be very special. Their Lordships have been carried on it for so many years that in the words of my Gurudev, it is like a mobile temple, moving everywhere to bring darsana to the people. The cart also carries Srila Prabhupada and his books and every evening when we go for sankirtan we display Bhagavad-gita on the cart, so that people can have darsana and buy it. Thus, the cart has always been adorable for us padayatris.<\/p>\n

When we were at Vela, a village in the Devali taluka of Wardha district in Maharashtra with limited devotee association, the residents were happy to receive us. I announced, \u201cTheir Lordships have been travelling all over India and giving darsana since 1984 and Their darsana has made many people devotees of the Lord. They have stolen many hearts and They fulfil all your desires.\u201d On hearing this, the villagers were so delighted that they wanted to take the cart along every street and that evening on nagar sankirtan many of them joined us and followed the cart singing the holy names. <\/p>\n

Initially, the cart was easy to manoeuvre along the main village roads, but then came a narrow street that was going to be difficult to negotiate. But the villagers were saying, \u201cWe will try. Why leave people on this street without the darsana of Their Lordships?\u201d They then unharnessed the oxen and put their shoulders to the cart. I was doubtful about the passage, but they pushed it through while singing Hare Krsna.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how but the cart made it and as it inched along the narrow street, I realized that this cart is an expansion of Lord Balarama \u2013 expanding into the Lord\u2019s paraphernalia to serve Him.<\/p>\n

Nowadays the asphalt roads are very difficult for the oxen to walk on, but by the Lord\u2019s mercy they do so carrying Their Lordships on their shoulders. I think the Lord guides and gives them the power to walk on the slippery roads. Jai, one of our very strong oxen, was once out of control after I poked him slightly to walk faster because there was a car in front of the cart. I was sure we were going to bash the car and I closed my eyes out of fear, but Jai stopped and there was no collision. Such miracles happen every day, proving that our ratha is not ordinary. After touching the cart many people say they felt as they had touched the Lord. Such are the unending stories of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundara\u2019s cart.<\/p>\n