Vedic Culture's Popularity in Europe

[Guest guest]

Garlanding Heads Of State

Vedic Culture's Popularity in Europe

BY H.H. INDRADYUMNA SWAMI

"The Swedish Prime Minister, Goran Persson - in the company of the

state governor, the governor's deputy, members of the Polish

parliament, and regional mayors - was the first of the leaders to

reach the gate."

 

 

 

EUROPE, May 27-31, 2003

 

The success of the Brodnica festival was confirmed the next day,

when a local newspaper published a front-page article about the

event. Under the headline "Hindu Festivities in Brodnica," it ran a

large color photo of a devotee painting gopi dots on the face of a

girl. Regional television also ran a 10-minute report about the

festival using our own footage.

 

Our camera was a gift from Sunil Madhava das, president of the

Chicago temple. When Sri Prahlad and I visited Chicago on our recent

tour of America, Sunil Madhava Prabhu kindly bought us a

professional digital camera for the Festival of India. The camera is

of a higher standard than those of most Polish television crews, so

local television stations gladly accept our footage, which is an

asset to our advertising.

 

But victories often come at the expense of something dear. In the

afternoon, Nandini dasi approached me with a dejected look on her

face.

 

"What's the problem?" I asked.

 

"The festival in Ilawa, one of the biggest towns in the region, has

been canceled by the mayor," she replied. "His secretary just phoned

and said that he read the article about Brodnica this morning and

that we are not welcome in Ilawa. When I asked if we could come and

speak to him, she said there was nothing to discuss, and hung up the

phone."

 

As we were mourning the loss, Nandini's phone rang again. This time

her face went pale, and I knew why. "Another festival canceled?" I

asked.

 

"Yes," she replied. "The head of cultural affairs in Nowe Miasto

said that some city councilors visited the festival in Brodnica and

that they were not interested in having a foreign religion

introduced to their town."

 

I was restless for the whole day. I kept envisioning all the people

who would have come to those festivals, and I know well the crowds.

Our festivals are the biggest event of the year in most towns, and

many people come dressed in their best clothes, looking for relief

from the boredom and drudgery of their lives. They are eager for

excitement and entertainment, and a few are genuinely searching for

an alternative to material life. Our transcendental experience of

the spiritual world provides all this and more.

 

It was painful to think that people were being denied this

opportunity by a few narrow-minded politicians.

 

That night I fell asleep with mixed feelings of happiness and

distress, gain and loss, victory and defeat. I was happy for the

people of Brodnica but lamenting for the people in Ilawa and Nowe

Miasto who would have surely flocked to our festival. It might be

decades before the sankirtan movement comes back to those towns.

 

"What a loss!" I kept thinking. In Bhagavad-gita, Krsna tells Arjuna

to be above loss and gain, but this instruction is about personal

desires. When it comes to the Lord's service, a devotee will feel

loss and gain even more strongly than a materialist.

 

My anxiety continued the next morning as I paced the temple room

chanting my rounds. I tried to focus on the holy names, but I kept

thinking of the canceled festivals.

 

Suddenly, Jayatam das came up to me with a smile on his face. "Srila

Gurudeva," he said, "I have good news. The town secretary in Nidzica

phoned to ask if we could provide an hour-long cultural program to

entertain the Polish and Swedish prime ministers. They will be

visiting the town on the day of our festival next week. They want to

encourage citizens to vote for a referendum on Poland's entry into

the European Union."

 

"Tell them we accept their gracious offer," I said, so surprised I

could not say anything more.

 

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

[Psalms]

 

Nandini and Radha Sakhi Vrinda were out the entire day looking for

towns to replace the canceled festivals in Ilawa and Nowe Miasto. In

the evening they returned, also with good news.

 

"When we walked into the mayor's office in Rypin, we had a pleasant

surprise," Nandini said. "He greeted us with 'Hare Krishna,

ladies.' "

 

Nandini continued. "'I was expecting you,' he said. 'I know you had

a successful festival in Brodnica, but that your festival in Ilawa

has been canceled. But don't worry. We'll be happy to host you here.

Speak to my secretary, and she'll make all the arrangements.' "

 

The second festival of the season was held in Lidzbark. We were

given a large parking lot next to the town hall to stage the event,

but we were barely able to fit our stage and tents into the area.

When several thousand people came on the first day it was a tight

fit for everyone. As I approached the stage to give my lecture, I

even heard people complain that there was little room to move.

 

"Krsna has trapped them," I thought. "They've been moving here and

there for millions of lives. Let them be still for a moment and hear

the absolute truth."

 

I then spoke to my captive audience for 20 minutes, explaining that

we are all spirit souls trapped in the material world and that we

can achieve liberation by chanting the Lord's holy names.

 

When I stepped down from the stage, a devotee came and told me a

reporter was snooping around the festival taking photographs and

speaking with guests. I am always wary of the media, and I wanted to

protect our recent good coverage, so I watched him carefully.

 

The reporter saw me and spoke to Jayatam. "Tell Indradyumna Maharaja

not to worry," he said. "I am sympathetic to your movement. Years

ago, I lived in the Warsaw temple as a devotee. He can expect a

favorable article soon."

 

Although the Mayor of Lidzbark had a clear view of the festival from

his office window, he seemed reluctant to come down. In the evening,

however, he was walking around the grounds with his two teenage

daughters, both of whom were wearing saris from the fashion booth,

and they were all enjoying themselves. He stayed until our band,

Village of Peace, played its last song.

 

Nandini went to him and asked him to open the next day's festivities

from the stage. He agreed, but then didn't show. When Nandini tried

to find out why, his secretary suggested a reason: "This morning's

sermon in church probably scared him," she said.

 

Our third festival was held in Dzialdowo. It is a village of about

10,000, and 27 of our brahmana-initiated devotees come from there.

We expected quite a crowd, but I was apprehensive because the spot

allocated for the festival by the city authorities was some distance

from the center of town. Even more disturbing, it was next to a big,

unattractive, dirt parking lot.

 

But in the end, the parking lot turned out to be a convenient

facility for the many people who took the trouble to drive from town

to the festival. By the Lord's arrangement, the parking area filled

with over a hundred cars and became a spiritual asset for yet

another successful festival.

 

For days we meticulously rehearsed our one-hour stage show for the

visit of the Polish and Swedish premiers in Nidzica. On the morning

of the show, however, we were let down: the secretary at city hall

called to say that the premiers would leave immediately after their

speeches to meet U.S. President George Bush and British Prime

Minister Tony Blair in Krakow.

 

"Don't be too upset," she said. "You can still perform for the other

dignitaries." Her promise could hardly soothe me. My heart felt

grievously wounded to think that the premiers would be absent.

 

Just before noon, I went with 16 other devotees and walked up the

steps to the medieval castle on the hill above Nidzica, where the

program was to be held. As we approached the main gate of the

castle, the security personnel stopped us. Even though they knew we

were part of the program, they still made us open our harmonium case

and boxes of prasadam to show that we were not concealing weapons.

 

Then we took our positions in the courtyard with hundreds of other

people.

 

When the premiers arrived, a brass band played the Polish and

Swedish national anthems. Finally the premiers stood on a podium and

spoke about the benefits of EU membership and about the isolation

Poland would suffer by not joining.

 

Vara-nayaka das thought we might be able to go onstage and present

the leaders with books and garlands, but when he asked the Polish

premier's Chief of Staff, he was told it was not the right mood.

Vara-nayaka then quoted the slogan printed on all of our festival

posters and invitations this year: "One Europe - One World,"

insisting that this was indeed the mood of the speeches. The

official was not convinced, but he did compromise. "You can give

garlands to the premiers as they leave the castle for their

vehicles," he said.

 

Vara-nayaka and two matajis went to present the garlands, but first

the security guards conducted a body search on them and even

inspected the garlands. They were then led to a waiting area near

the castle entrance, and an officer was assigned to watch them.

 

The Swedish Prime Minister, Goran Persson - in the company of the

state governor, the governor's deputy, members of the Polish

parliament, and regional mayors - was the first of the leaders to

reach the gate.

 

Vara-nayaka stepped forward. "We are from the Festival of India," he

said, "and we would like to offer you a flower garland."

 

Mr Persson seemed impressed. "Is the garland made of real flowers?"

he asked.

 

"Yes, it is," Vara-nayaka replied, "and it will stay fresh for two

weeks." he added playfully.

 

"How is that?" Mr Persson asked.

 

"Indian magic," Vara-nayaka answered.

 

"I will be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in St.

Petersburg in a couple of days," Mr Persson said with a smile. "If

what you say is true, I will present this garland to him."

 

By this time the Polish Premier, Leszek Miller, had joined them, and

both leaders accepted the garlands from the matajis as media

photographers clicked away. The premiers then posed for pictures

wearing the garlands and flanked on each side by devotees.

 

At the end of the official program the premiers departed, and the

devotees and dignitaries walked back to the courtyard for our

performance.

 

Afterwards, the devotees joined some of the town councilors in the

castle dining room to celebrate a successful afternoon.

 

It was a pleasure to see the councilors accept our gifts and

prasadam, and the mayor of Nidzica received a Bhagavad-gita from

Vara-nayaka. "You don't know how happy you have made me with your

participation in this event," said the mayor. "Mr. Persson noticed

your people, particularly the Indian dancers, and sent an assistant

to ask me about them. I was proud to tell him the town is hosting

the Festival of India. I would like to invite you to my office on

Monday so I can officially thank you for your gifts and for sharing

your culture with us."

 

The next day, at the conclusion of our festival in Nidzica's center

square, Rama Acyuta das told me that he had exchanged pleasantries

with two well-dressed couples in the book tent. Each couple then

bought a copy of every book in stock. I asked Rama Acyuta if he knew

the people.

 

He smiled. He was saving the best for last. "Maharaja," he

said, "the couples were the mayor and the deputy-mayor and their

wives."

 

"What?" I said. "They bought a copy of all our books?"

 

"Yes," Rama Acyuta replied. "The mayor stayed up late last night

reading the Bhagavad-gita and decided he wanted to read everything

Srila Prabhupada had written."

 

A devotee nearby turned to me. "How is all this happening,

Maharaja?" he asked.

 

What could I say? I could not fathom the magnitude of all that had

happened over the last few days. "It must simply be the causeless

mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu," I said. "He is flooding this

land with the nectar of His holy names."

 

"The lotus flowers of Lord Caitanya's eyes were covered with flowing

drops of honey that were His tears. The hairs of His body stood up

and He trembled in ecstasy. In a voice choked with bliss He called

out, 'Hari! Hari!' I pray that the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the son of Saci-devi, may give you all a

great festival of nectar of the transcendental bliss of pure love

for Krsna."

 

[srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati: Sri Sangita-madhava, Chapter 16-

conclusion]

 

http://www.traveling-preacher.com

Official website for Diary of a Traveling Preacher

 

Recently released:

 

Diary of a Traveling Preacher, Volume III

(April 2001-January 2002)

By Torchlight Publishing, INC.

 

P.O. Box 52, Badger, CA 93603

Phone: (559) 337-2200 * Fax: (559) 337-2354