Chapter 47

[Guest guest]

Diary of a Traveling Preacher

 

Volume 3 Chapter 47

 

August 21 - September 4

 

The day after our festival in Koluski, Nandini and Radha Sakhi Vrnda

approached the town secretary in Brzezny, just seven kilometers away, with a

proposal to do a festival there. He was delighted with the idea. To avoid

any surprises later on, the girls warned him that we had faced a lot of

opposition in the area and that several of our festivals had even been

canceled. He just laughed and said such acts of intolerance would never

happen in Brzezny, so they had nothing to worry about. He even signed a

contract with them, authorizing the festival to take place the next day.

 

On the way back to the base, Nandini and Radha Sakhi Vrnda received a call

on their cell phone from the police in Koluski demanding that they come

immediately to an emergency town council meeting. They arrived just as the

meeting started. As they walked in, members of the town council screamed

insults at them. After things quieted down, the mayor said the council

wanted compensation for the damage we had done to the city park during our

festival. When the two girls asked them to specify the damage, one council

member made up a story about injured trees and shrubs, destroyed flower

gardens, and broken fences. Though the whole story was an obvious lie, they

demanded $3,000 for compensation.

 

Ignoring the false accusations, Nandini and Radha Sakhi Vrnda simply began

preaching Krsna conscious philosophy. They explained how our movement is

part of an ancient spiritual tradition and elaborated on how our beliefs and

practices are beneficial for modern society. After stressing that we had not

come to Koluski to proselytize the citizens or make money but rather to

share a very wonderful culture, they concluded by saying that the city

council had no right to extort money from us by falsely accusing us of

damaging city property.

 

When the girls finished, there was a brief moment of silence. Then a council

member stood up and shouted that despite their eloquent words we were a

dangerous cult and our very presence had discredited the town. At that point

the mayor, who had been listening carefully to their presentation in

silence, stood up and instructed everyone but Nandini and Radha Sakhi Vrnda

to leave the room. Astonished, all the council members, one by one, got up

and walked out - the last one slamming the door behind him.

 

The girls sat there for a few tense moments, waiting for the mayor to speak.

During their first conversation with him, before our festival in Koluski

earlier in the week, he himself had harshly accused them of being part of a

dangerous cult and collaborating with the devil. Now he spoke softly:

 

"What you said was the truth. I cannot ignore what you said. You should also

know that I came to your festival the other day and saw for myself that you

are not bad people. Your program was well organized and peaceful. The

citizens enjoyed the cultural presentation you made. Although I don't share

your ideology, I'm ready to respect you. And I apologize for the way I spoke

to you the first time we met."

 

Nandini and Radha Sakhi Vrnda couldn't believe their ears. Here was a man

who had insulted them in his office a few days earlier and was now humbly

apologizing.

 

He continued, "Tell me more about your philosophy. I am especially

interested in the chanting. I saw how it affected the townspeople. They

became so happy."

 

While the entire town council cooled their heels outside the room, Nandini

and Radha Sakhi Vrnda began explaining the glories of chanting Hare Krsna.

The mayor listened carefully. Finally, after a whole hour, he rose and went

over to the door to let the council members in. But just before he did so,

he turned to the girls and said, "I know you're planning a festival tomorrow

in Brzezny. Don't expect it to be easy. Be prepared for the worst. The mayor

called me just before you arrived here and said he will be canceling the

event."

 

Then as he turned the door handle he said to them, "Why do you take so many

risks? What is your motivation?"

 

He answered the question himself: "I know. Because you want to help people."

 

When the door opened the council members barged in like a swarm of maddened

hornets. Thirty minutes later they found us guilty of damaging the park and

fined our festival $3,000. Nandini and Radha Sakhi Vrnda knew there was no

chance we would get out of it. As a council member brought them a paper to

sign, with terms of payment for the fine, the mayor spoke up and said to the

members of the council, "I'll take care of this. You're all excused."

 

At that, the council members all rose and left the room, satisfied with

their victory. When the door closed behind them the mayor said, "I can't

dismiss the fine altogether. The town council is very powerful, and there

are higher-ups who are behind it. But I'll reduce it to $1,000. You can pay

over time. I'm sorry."

 

Just after leaving the Kuluski city hall, the two devotees got an urgent

call from the town secretary in Brzezny. He sounded a lot less confident

than he had that morning, when they had discussed doing a festival in his

town. He anxiously said, "You must come immediately. Our mayor wants to

speak to you. It's very urgent."

 

Recalling the warning by Koluski's mayor, Nandini thought carefully before

replying. She knew it wouldn't be easy for the mayor to cancel the festival,

because the town secretary had signed an official contract authorizing the

event. She thought to herself, "If we meet with him, he may confiscate the

contract and say it never existed. But if we tell him we're far from Brzezny

and can only come to see him in three days, by which time the event will be

over, there's not much he can do."

 

She politely replied to the town secretary that they were too far away and

it was impossible to come that day, but they would surely visit the mayor

after the festival was over. There was silence at the other end of the line

.... and then the town secretary hung up. Her strategy had worked.

 

Meanwhile, I was in Brzezny with Sri Prahlad as he headed up a huge harinam

party of fifty devotees, chanting and dancing throughout the city center.

People were friendly and responded nicely to the kirtan. Some of them

wrapped coins in little plastic bags and threw them to us from their

windows. One bag even hit me on the head, raising a little bump. I just

grimaced and, smiling through the pain, waved to the lady who had thrown the

money.

 

As we came close to one apartment block, some of the kids who were following

us dropped out of the kirtan party and started back in the opposite

direction. Wary, I asked one of the Polish devotees to find out why they

were leaving. A couple of the children told him that Lucas, the head of the

local hooligans, hung out around the corner and they were all afraid of him.

Sure enough, just as we came around the corner, there was Lucas, standing at

the doorway of an apartment building, drinking beer. When the rest of the

kids saw him they scattered in all directions.

 

Hoping to defuse any potential problems at our festival, I approached Lucas

to talk a little. As I came closer I noticed his right hand was wrapped in

bandages, more than likely the result of a recent disagreement with someone.

Hoping he would be open to a gesture of friendship, I put out my right hand

to shake his. As he studied me carefully his buddies came out of the nearby

shadows and stood behind him. They all had the same stonelike expression as

they stood there, waiting for their cue from Lucas. After a few moments

Lucas smiled and put out his bandaged hand to shake mine. As we shook hands,

I felt moisture, and afterwards I saw blood on my hand from his bandages.

Seeing my surprise, Lucas said coolly, "Teraz laczy nas wiez krwi." ["Now

we're blood brothers."]

 

"My pleasure" I said. After a moment's search for the proper words to start

a conversation, I said, "Lucas, it's nice to meet you."

 

"Forget the pleasantries," he said. "You guys are welcome in this town. In

fact, my boys and I plan to come to your event. With us there, you won't

have anything to worry about. We're happy you brought some life to this dull

town."

 

With that his smile disappeared and, turning around, he said to his boys,

"Hare Krishnas are OK. Let them do their thing here." Then they all walked

away.

 

The next day the weather was perfect. The town secretary had given us a

little park to set up our festival, right by a small lake. My only anxiety

was that the site was almost two kilometers from the town. Nevertheless,

most of the townspeople made the long hike out to the festival grounds, and

by evening the site was so packed that no one could move left or right. At

one point, our security team came to me and pointed out a group of boys

standing on the perimeter of the festival. Looking closely, I saw that it

was Lucas and his friends. When Lucas saw me he winked, confirming his

promise that with them there we had nothing to worry about.

 

"Who are they?" our security man said.

 

"It's OK." I said. "Consider them extra security. As long as they're

around, we've got nothing to worry about."

 

Earlier during the festival I had noticed two old ladies, probably in their

80's, who I had seen at the previous festival in Koluski. I was surprised to

see them again and asked if they were enjoying themselves. "O Yes! Yes!"

they replied. "We love everything here."

 

After the festival we were driving back to our base when I saw the two old

ladies walking home to Koluski in the dark. We stopped and asked if they

wanted a ride home. "Oh, no! No!" they chirped together. "It's not far.

We'll make it back OK."

 

"No" I said. "It's seven kilometers to Koluski. Let us take you."

 

With that they got in and we drove them home. When they got out one of them

said, "We'll be back tomorrow. We haven't had so much fun in years."

 

The second day of the festival it rained hard, and only a few souls braved

the bad weather.

 

The weather cleared on the third and final day, and quite a large crowd

turned out. Several people told me they had invited their relatives from

distant towns. And we also had an unexpected visit by a VIP guest - the

mayor. He appeared briefly with his wife and walked around the festival

grounds. Pleasantly surprised, he had a smile on his face, but before we

could approach him he left.

 

I met a teenage girl named Monika, from Lusk, where we had put on our first

program of this tour. She had come to thank Ram Bhadra Prabhu for convincing

her mother about the merits of being a vegetarian. For years she had wanted

to give up eating meat, but her mother forbade her. When Monika had heard

that the Hare Krishnas were coming to Lusk, she had asked her mother to come

to the festival. Earlier Monika had heard from friends that the Hare

Krishnas were vegetarians, and she had hoped the devotees could convince her

mother to allow her to become one as well. As soon as they had arrived, both

mother and daughter had been swept up in the ecstasy of the festival. Monika

had put on a sari, and both of them had had gopi dots painted on their

faces. During kirtan Monika had danced in bliss, while her mother had

appreciated the scene from the audience. Afterwards they had gone for a bite

to eat at our restaurant, and that was it - Monika's mother had fallen in

love with prasadam. Monika had seen it as the perfect moment, and grabbed

the first devotee who walked by.

 

"Tell my mother why it's bad to kill animals and why we should be

vegetarian!" she had said to Ram Bhadra Prabhu.

 

As he had begun explaining the value of a vegetarian diet, Monika's mother

had listened carefully and been convinced. At once she had gone to the book

tent and bought a cookbook.

 

Now, at the conclusion of our festival in Brzezny, Monika told me that after

reading the cookbook her mother had become vegetarian and was even talking

about "offering the food to Krishna"!

 

As darkness settled in, Sri Prahlad began the final bhajan onstage. I sat

next to him surveying the crowd, since dusk is always a likely time for

problems at the festival. Seeing a group of boys at the perimeter, I was

relieved, thinking it was Lucas and his friends. But when I looked closer I

saw that it was a different group - all drunk and rowdy. I got up slowly,

walked off the stage, and went up to a group of young people. "Do any of you

know Lucas?" I asked.

 

One boy replied, "Of course, everyone knows Lucas."

 

"Do you know where he is at the moment?" I asked.

 

"He's not here tonight," said the boy. "He got beat up this afternoon at the

football match by a gang from out of town."

 

Pointing at the group of drunken boys I had seen from the stage, he

continued, "That's them over there."

 

"Thanks," I replied, and I immediately went over to the closest security boy

and warned him of potential trouble.

 

By that time Sri Prahlad's sweet kirtan had many people chanting and dancing

before the stage. Most of them were children, who went round and round in a

circle, holding hands with the devotees, as their parents enjoyed watching

them from the benches before the stage and clapped in time. By now Sri

Prahlad had also noticed the drunken boys and had directed my attention to a

few of them moving onto the festival grounds. Then very conscientiously, as

I have seen him do many times when danger threatens, he focused on the

kirtan of the holy names.

 

jivana anitya janaha sar tahe nana vidha vipada bhar namasraya kori jatane

tumi thakaha apana kaje

 

"You should understand this essential fact: life is temporary and filled

with various kinds of dangers. Therefore carefully take shelter of the holy

names, remaining always a humble servant of the Lord." (Bhaktivinoda Thakura

- Arunodaya-kirtana, Gitavali)

 

As the drunken boys moved toward the stage, the crowd noticed them. Some

parents, fearing violence, quickly grabbed their children and left the

festival. Others, caught between the ecstasy of the kirtan and the

uncertainly of the moment, hesitated, not knowing what to do. As our

security boys braced for trouble, I prayed to Lord Nrsimhadeva, feeling the

situation was once again serious enough to ask Him to intervene.

 

At that moment the leader of the boys approached Dwarkanath dasa, our

security man guarding the left side of the stage, and exchanged strong words

with him. Although most of the dancing children were oblivious to the

danger, the eyes of the rest of the guests were riveted on Dwarkanath and

the boy. Suddenly the boy threw a punch at Dwarkanath, but missed.

Dwarkanath, a big man, pushed him backwards and he fell to the ground.

 

Although a big fight seemed certain, most people couldn't pull themselves

away from the festival because of the kirtan. The holy names saturated the

entire festival grounds, somehow giving a sense of calm and security,

despite the imminent danger. As the boy and his friends took off their

shirts, baring their chests to fight, Dwarkanath displayed his courage and

intelligence. Taking the leader by the arm, he challenged him to fight alone

with him in the tent closest to the stage, which our actors used to change

costumes. As they closed the sides and prepared to exchange blows inside,

Vara-nayaka Prabhu, thinking quickly and hoping to defuse the situation, ran

into the tent.

 

"Why do you have so much anger?" Vara-nayaka asked the boy.

 

Calming down for a moment, the boy replied, "My girlfriend left me the other

day."

 

Vara-nayaka said, "Is that why you hate the whole world?"

 

"Yes!" he replied.

 

"Do you think hurting others will solve your problems?" Vara-nayaka said

with a smile.

 

The boy paused and said, "Well no . . . I guess not."

 

"That's right," said Vara-nayaka. "You won't solve your problems by

fighting." Putting out his hand he said, "So lets be friends, OK?"

 

The boy hesitated for a moment and then put out his hand, accepting

Vara-nayaka's words and agreeing to call the fight off. He also shook hands

with Dwarkanath and, swallowing his pride, walked out of the tent with him.

It was the last thing anyone expected to see, but it defused the tension in

the crowd immediately.

 

Relaxing again, parents turned to watch their children dance and twirl in

the ecstasy of the kirtan, which hadn't missed a beat and was still going

strong. Others went back to their tables to finish their prasadam or browse

through the displays and shops.

 

Breathing a sigh of relief, I returned to play mrdunga on the stage. Once

again, it seemed to me, the Lord had intervened to protect His great

festival of the holy names. With such mercy becoming an almost daily

occurrence on the tour, our faith in the Lord increases with each rising and

setting of the sun.

 

prahlada-soka-vinivarana bhadra-simha

naktan carendra-mada-khandana vira-simha

indradi-deva-jana-samvrta-pada-padma

sri narasimha paripalaya mam ca bhaktam

 

"My Lord! You are the auspicious lion that dispersed the grief of Prahlada

Maharaja. O You who tear everything apart in an intoxicating mood! You are

the Lord of the ferocious predators of the dark night. Your lotus feet are

surrounded by all divine and pious personalities, beginning with Lord Indra.

O Nrsimha! Please protect us too, for we are also trying to become Your

devotees." [ Sri Nrsimha Astakam - verse 7 ]