New Mayapur, France : homages to our “Cool Swami “, “always bright like the sun and reflecting the mercy of Krishna “ – Gaurangi Dasi
This year’s Vyasa-puja was sweeter than last year because all the five disciples of Guru Maharaja living in France (Sundar Gopal Dasa and his wife Sumitra Dasi, Giri Govardhan Dasa, Jaladuta Dasa and Gaurangi Dasi) got to celebrate his vyasa-puja together in New Mayapur. The cherries on the cake was the presence of Janananda Goswami, who had accepted sannyasa from Guru Maharaja and is now the national secretary for the French Yatra, bringing positive energy around him, and of Mahatma Prabhu, who was then giving classes and seminars on management, cooperation and Vaisnava relationships.
Since Sundar Gopal Dasa, one of the main cooks, had spent the previous day cooking for a marriage of devotees, we decided to just invite a few devotees to the ceremony taking place in front of Giri Govardhana’s house. His wife, Rama Vijaya Dasi, had put together a delicious ekadasi cake for Lokanatha Maharaja and a similar larger one for all the temple devotees. Sundar Gopal prepared his famous Gauranga potatoes and srikan, Sumitra baked yummy ekadasi cheese balls, Giri Govardhana concocted a delicate cool drink with lemon juice, tamarind and rose water, and insisted to make his famous peanut butter salad dressing, the one he serves on his prasadam booth during various fairs and events. As usual, I exhibited my culinary talents by putting a salad together with fresh produce from Giri Govardhana’s garden.
While performing the guru-puja arati my attention was drawn to Janananda Goswami, sitting on his chair, fully enjoying going through the pages of “Bombay is my office”, Guru Maharaja’s latest publication. The pleasure he was showing through his eyes and smiles was the best kind of appreciation he could offer . Maharaja spoke first, telling us of his first encounter with Lokanatha Swami, which took place during the 1976 Gaura Purnima festival in Mayapur. He had been very impressed and inspired by the fact that Guru Maharaja had played mrdanga and led kirtana during the entire time of the festival. “Action speaks louder than words”, said Janananda Goswami about his sannyasi initiation on Gaura Purnima day in 2007. Lokanath Maharaja led kirtana before, during and after the yajna, which started at around 10.30. From 12.30 till 3 pm, he just kept chanting. Every moment that day was filled by his chanting. It was the most amazing kirtana I ever experienced, truly out of this world. One time I was traveling in Maharashtra with Lokanath Maharaja, he never stopped his kirtaan and Krishna katha. He has a natural, spontaneous attraction to the holy names. A few years ago Maharaja asked me to be part of the World Holy Name Day event, which he was leading, and which soon became the World Holy Name Week. We also worked together on a book on Kirtana Standards; this book still needs refining and formatting.” Lokanath swami is like the sun on the sky, always bright. He is reflecting the mercy of Krishna.” Janananda Goswami also mentionned how Guru Maharaja had the capacity to fully utilize his time in Krishna’s service and publish so many books, on top of all his other services and projects. He pointed out how Krishna responded to his powerful spiritual desires by sending him means, laksmi and devotees to help him realize all these projects.
Mahatma Prabhu, between an abundance of sneezes caused by an allergy to the surrounding vegetation, recounted his first meeting Lokanath Maharaja in Mauritius. He also had also very impressed by Guru Maharaja’s kirtanas, and was thinking, “This devotee really has a taste for the holy names!”. He also appreciated his simplicity, friendliness and deep humility, which made him think of him as a “cool’ swami”. I continued glorifying Guru Maharaja by listing all his services: almost 3000 disciples to lead and take care of; many temples to inspire and supervise, mostly in Maharasthra; his new glass temple project in Nagpur, Maharashtra; his annual Krishna katha and holy yatras in India with large groups of devotees; his services as the Padayatra Wordlwide minister and his desire to see more and more padayatras around the world; his abundant book publications in English, Hindi and Marathi, including his impending 3 volumes of the Padayatra Book, which I have the priviledge and pleasure to help come to life after a very long pregnancy; his Vraja Mandala Parikaramas, expanding year after year. Sundar Gopal spoke the last words of glorification, after which we all enjoyed the tasty ekadasi feast, served by Mahatma Prabhu’s daughter and aspiring disciple, to the pleasure of us disciples, too tired to move.
