FEBRUARY 13 TO 21
Phase Five of the Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra
As often expected, the unexpected happened. One day before Gour Gopal prabhu was to arrive from Secunderabad to Madhya Pradesh he had an automobile accident that prevented him from travelling. Instead, Hari Kirtan prabhu had to replace him along with Bhakta Ashok but they could only reach MP after a few days. Our first two programs were thus without mrdanga.
This preaching program had been planned long back by Samikrsi prabhu whose devotional and professional career has been in America but who desired strongly that Lord Caitanya’s mercy be introduced in his own and surrounding villages. He had requested his old friend and Godbrother, Bala Krsna prabhu from Saranagati Village in Western Canada, to come to India specifically to visit his village and advise how to develop his land as an ideal sustainable project. He also desired devotees from our Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra to also participate and help revive village preaching in his area close to Khanwa and Khargone.
Making up the team were Samikrsi prabhu (USA), Bala Krsna prabhu (Canada), Kinkini prabhu (AP), Hari Kirtan prabhu (AP), Bhakta Asoka (AP) and three devotees from Indonesia headed by Kisora Krsna prabhu, Hari Kripa prabhu and Bhakta Narada. Daily devotees would travel in the early morning to perform Harinam Kirtan in some previously selected village and then late in the afternoon, by 6:00 pm, devotees would again travel to another village for an evening program of bhajan, pravachan, video, chanting, dancing and prasadam distribution. At all the programs the attentive audience heard about the two main programs of the Sri Govinda Gau Gram Prachar Yatra, namely the Nama Hatta Sanga and the Krishi Go Raksha Sanga.
We were able to cover the following 9 villages: 1) Nagziri, 2) Badhgaon, 3) Bahher, 4) Dibgaon, 5) Thikari, 6) Bistan, 7) Bhikangaon, 8) Khargon and 9) Gatti on the last day.
The outreach result was as follows:
Number of attendees 1,260 (highest 300, lowest 20)
Number of Bhagavad-gitas sold 67 (highest 18, lowest 1)
Number of Samskar Patras 120
Prasadam Distribution 1,260
Our village preaching covered a radius of about 100 Kilometers. We found the villagers to be very receptive, most not having heard about Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON. We conducted Go-Puja only in one place but held Nagar Sankirtan in all the villages, either in the morning following the evening program or in the evening itself.
In all the evening programs we set up a book table displaying the Samskar Patra and Srila Prabhupada’s books, put up our Banner featuring the OM Sri Surabhi Campaign. At some point in the program, Hari Kirtan prabhu would introduce the Swami step bringing an enthusiastic response and participation from the audience, especially the younger generation, to chant and dance with great enthusiasm. Whenever possible we also spoke about the Golden Jubilee of ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada’s unique contribution to spread Sanatana Dharma is every town and village all over the world. We also distributed freely the IDVM-India calendar promoting the OM Sri Surabhi Campaign with many attractive quotes and photos of Krishna’s cows. And on a few occasions we passed out japa malas inducing everyone to chant one round on the beads.
Most of the villages have Sri Ram temples with a few Sri Sri Radha Krishna temples as well, along with Durga temples and Sivaji temples. Hanumanji is also very popular and worshiped by most people. All knew about the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra but many could not pronounce it in proper sequence. However, with a little prodding from devotees, the audience responded and learned very quickly. We are especially pleased to see the large number of bullock carts used by the local farmers. The culture of cow care is still very much present in these remote villages of Madhya Pradesh.
During our entire tour of MP, we were housed at Samikrsi prabhu’s estate named Sri Sri Radha Sharad Bihari Eco Village. The area covers some 35 acres having a pomegranate orchard of some 10,000 plants. This project is under the Hare Krishna in Every Town and Village Trust that he has established. Samikrsi prabhu also wishes to develop “Goloka On Earth” near a small place called Gopalpura. He has already acquired an area of about 45 acres with plans to get another 32 acres close by. The master plan for the temple is well under way. As part of his plan to introduce Krishna consciousness far and wide, Samikrsi prabhu has introduced an innovative program where he has built 3000 altar sets complete with small deities, puja set and book set for a small library that he makes available to those who will take up the process of Krishna consciousness seriously.
We could all realize the tremendous potential for preaching in the villages. This was one of Srila Prabhupada’s clearly expressed desires that the villages in India where the vast majority of people still reside should be a priority for ISKCON. The many photos we took attest to the readiness of villagers to chant the Hole Names. The facilities available offered by Samikrsi prabhu could be used to help set up one of many Varnasrama College campuses as desired by Srila Prabhupada as well.
Reported by: HH RP Bhakti Raghava Swami from Maharashtra, India
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Village Preaching in Khargon District, Madhya Pradesh
Infusing Pure Krishna Consciousness in Culturally Rich Villages.
There are around six lakhs or more villages in India stretching north, east,
west and south. Though certain features like muddy roads, thorny bushes,
open drains, narrow roads, etc. are common features in all villages but
distinctly the culture, topography, food, lifestyle, occupations, etc. still
vary distinctly from place to place all over India.
After preaching in the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh since the last
few months, preaching in Khargone District villages of Madhya Pradesh was a
very novel experience. The preaching was organized by Shamik Rsi prabhu, a
disciple of Srila Prabhupada who held many devotional responsible positions
in the USA Yatra and who is also a renowned doctor practicing his profession
from the last 45 years. Khargon happens to be his native place.
The 9 days Yatra was blessed with the presence of HH Bhakti Raghava Swami,
ISKCON Guru and Minister for ISKCON Daiva Varnasrama Ministry in India
(promoting rural development) and HG Bala Krishna prabhu, a very senior
Srila Prabhupada disciple, an active preacher and a farmer in Saranagati
Village in Western Canada. Three devotees from Indonesia were part of the
Yatra headed by HG Kisora Krishna prabhu a prominent leader in Indonesia
preaching yatra. His sweet kirtans attracted the attention of all villagers.
Also on hand was Kinkini prabhu and Bhakta Ashok.
One very pleasing thing seen in these villages is that people still keep
desi cows and use bulls for agriculture. In comparison, sadly in the States
of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana buffalos have largely replaced the cows and
even the poorest farmer resorts to the use of tractors and other machinery
instead of using bulls. Everywhere in the villages we had darshan of the
beautiful local cows. We were even blessed to get cow’s milk to drink in
almost all villages we visited. Amazingly, there is a bullock cart for
almost every house. The design of the cart is unique, made with the
combination of wood and metal, seemed like even a child could easily handle
the cart. The bullock carts are widely used for all purposes even as schools
cart to drop and pick up students from schools.
The villagers are fortunate to have many rivers that are tributaries of the
sacred river Narmada. But due to improper planning there is a lot of wastage
of water thus there is a shortage of water for agriculture. Cultivating mono
crops has become a practice all over India after the “green revolution”
program. There are mainly crops of wheat, corn, cotton and chilies seen in
all villages.
The women, especially the married and older ones, still follow the custom of
covering their head with a veil. They are shy and humble in demeanor and
display natural awe and reverence for sadhus. But these old traditions seem
to be watering down as the young girls move around in trousers and t-shirts
are becoming common and acceptable. The modern education system is
particularly designed to destroy these finer traditions and sentiments. Thus
Srila Prabhupada referring to modern educational institutes as
slaughterhouses is no exaggeration and it’s an irrefutable fact.
The natural interest to attend spiritual programs is also a remarkable
feature in these villages. People in 100s very enthusiastically assembled
for the satsanga programs. They attentively heard the discourses and
enthusiastically participated in dancing along with kirtans.
Prepared by Hari Kirtan das
Thankyou for offering your view Mahesh. I would like to add some cautionary advice .although it is recognised by learned authorities that indeginous cows are certainly endowed with some extra qualities that are not found in bovine Taurus breeds,nevertheless let us reflect that the founder of Iskcon,Srila Prabhupada, was extremely fond of the milk from a cow in New Vrindavan called Kaliya, presumably not an Indian cow.so ,unless we are on the transcendental platform ourselves fortified with pure spiritual vision ,free from human frailties such as making mistakes, it may be more becoming of our humble position to not adopt extremist views which ,like all fundamentalist mentalities end up misinforming and alienating the target audience.
As it is said ,look before you leap.
Hare Krishna , in many places at your site I have seen in the photographs & videos that, Holstein Friesian , Jersey & similar kind of animals are treated as Gomata (Holy Mother Cow) . We Iskcon , as one of the orthodox spiritual organisation, must know that these kind of animals are not Gomata and so should not be treated on same platform. Main reason for losing population of our Holy Gomata is Demand and Supply of beef from & in India since last 300 years as well indroducing these HF, Jersey kind of milking animals in our rural life. Krishna will help us in our mission but these kind of mistakes we should avoid. We have to check all our animals in our Goshala make the animals out from our Goshala Which are not belonging to Indigenous breed. This our prime duty as Krishna devotee & Go-Devotee.