Volume 6, Chapter 7

[Guest guest]

Diary of a Traveling Preacher

 

Volume 6, Chapter 7

 

By Indradyumna Swami

 

April 29 - May 15, 2005

 

 

"Same Mission, Same Mercy"

 

 

I arrived back in Warsaw on May 8, after an absence of nearly six months. My

travels had taken me to the far corners of the earth, to such places as

Australia, Russia, the United States, and South Africa. People in those

prominent countries often consider Poland, tucked away in Eastern Europe and

off the beaten track, as a place of less importance.

 

In fact, as I was leaving the United States, one of my Godbrothers hinted as

much. "Maharaja," he said, "maybe it's time to move on from Poland. What

major effect have your festivals really had there?"

 

His remark was partly in jest, so I didn't bother answering, but his

question crossed my mind several times during the flight across the Atlantic

to London. The Lord, however, quickly sent an answer.

 

I was in London's Heathrow Airport, accompanied by several disciples who had

come to see me. As I was walking to my connecting flight to Warsaw, I

suddenly noticed two cleaning men wheeling portable garbage bins, brooms in

hand. They were walking quickly toward me, almost running, with big smiles

on their faces.

 

One of them started speaking excitedly in Polish. "Bylismy na Waszym

Festiwalu," he said.

 

Gaurangi dasi, a woman disciple from Poland, translated for me: "He says

they've been to your festivals in Poland."

 

"Czy mozesz zaspiewac nam Hare Kryszna tu na lotnisku," the man continued.

"To nasza ukochana piosenka."

 

Gaurangi laughed. "He wants us to sing Hare Krsna right now, here in the

airport," she said. "He says they love our song."

 

That surprise encounter was enough reason for me to continue the festivals

in Poland, now and forever. Srila Prabhupada once said that by testing a

single grain of rice, one can tell whether the whole pot is cooked. That

these two men showed such appreciation for the holy names of Krsna surely

meant that there were others in Poland as well.

 

And in case I had any more doubts, the Lord gave me another signal at the

airport in Warsaw, when I handed my passport to the immigration officer, a

woman. She took it and smiled a big smile. Then she spoke to me in English.

"Hare Krsna," she said. "Welcome to Poland."

 

But unfortunately, successful preaching often brings the wrath of the

envious.

 

arjuna uvaca

sthane hrsikesa tava prakirtya

jagat prahrsyaty anurajyate ca

raksami bhutani diso dravanti

sarve namasyanti ca siddha sanghat

 

"Arjuna said: O master of the senses, the world becomes joyful upon hearing

Your name, and thus everyone becomes attached to You. Although the perfected

beings offer You their respectful homage, the demons are afraid, and they

flee here and there. All this is rightly done."

 

[bhagavad Gita 11.36]

 

That evening, we held our first Tour Council meeting, and I told the story

of my encounter with the Polish men in Heathrow airport.

 

Nandini dasi spoke. "Srila Gurudeva," she said, "while you were away, we

made all the arrangements for our spring festival tour in the northeast of

Poland in June. Four towns are eagerly looking forward to our coming. The

region is very beautiful, with many forests, rivers, and lakes."

 

Radha Sakhi Vrinda dasi knew that Nandini was priming me for something else.

"You'd better get to the point, Nandini," she said. "Gurudeva doesn't have

much time."

 

Nandini paused for a moment and then looked up at me with a serious

expression. "But," she said, "one of the towns is the headquarters for

Civitas Christiana, the biggest anti-cult group in the country."

 

I pretended not to be concerned. "But the anti-cult issue has died down over

the last few years," I said.

 

"Died down, yes," Radha Sakhi Vrinda said, "but not dead. Civitas Christiana

are still seething that we won a major court case against them several years

ago."

 

Nandini continued. "I'm more concerned that the political situation in

Poland is changing rapidly," she said, "and may soon be unfavorable for us.

It's almost certain that one of two right-wing parties will win the next

election, in early autumn. You remember the problems we had last time a

conservative party was in power."

 

"One especially fanatic party has been sending hate mail to Nandini," Radha

Sakhi Vrinda said.

 

Nandini looked at Radha Sakhi Vrinda with a frown. "Don't worry, Gurudeva,"

she said.

 

"He should know how serious the situation is," Radha Sakhi Vrinda said.

 

Nandini gave in. "Srila Gurudeva," she said, "I've been receiving terrible

e-mail messages from the group we believe were behind the violent attack on

our festival in Tomaszow four years ago, and even worse e-mails from

individuals of other right-wing political parties. The threats they make

against our festivals are so horrible I won't repeat them."

 

"That's right," said Radha Sakhi Vrinda. "You remember the right-wing

political party that forcefully stopped our Harinam in Kielce last spring

and then tried to cancel our festival there. Well they haven't forgotten us

either. They're still trying to stir up trouble on their website by saying

we attacked them."

 

"Srila Gurudeva," said Jayatam, "some devotees think we should wait till

next year to hold the festivals. The political situation will be clearer

then."

 

"That, we won't do!" I said in a strong voice.

 

Everyone was silent. I thought for a moment. "We should take the threats

seriously," I said, "but we won't be intimidated. We won't back down. We

have to expect opposition. Srila Prabhupada once said, 'If there's no

opposition, it means there's no preaching.' Mahaprabhu Himself had to deal

with fierce opposition as well, and so did Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati

and our own spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, in more recent history."

 

"We'll have to double or even triple our security personnel," I continued.

"We can contact the same company we used last year. We should have security

on Harinam as well."

 

As I spoke I tried to remember if I'd ever seen a Harinam party anywhere

else in the world accompanied by armed guards.

 

"Will that be enough?" Radha Sakhi Vrinda said. "These groups are well

organized and determined, as we've already experienced."

 

"It will be enough if we have the Lord's protection," I said, "and we will

have it."

 

I paused for emphasis. "He's given His word," I said, and I quoted Caitanya

Bhagavat:

 

ksaneke uthila prabhu kartya hunkara

sabare balena "kene bhaya kara kara"

 

"The Lord stood up and roared loudly. He said to everyone, "Why are you so

afraid?"

 

ei na sammukhe sudarsana cakre phire

vaisnavera janera niravadhi vighna hare

 

"Can't you see the Sudarsan cakra escorting us? It always removes the

obstacles faced by Vaisnavas."

 

kichu cinta nahi krsna sankirtana tora

ki na dekha hera phire sudarsana

 

"Do not worry. Chant the glories of Krsna! Don't you see Sudarsana guarding

us?"

 

[Caitanya Bhagavat, Antya-khanda 2.139-141]

 

As we gathered our things to leave, Nandini came up to me. "Srila Gurudeva,"

she said, "can I speak with you?"

 

"Yes, of course" I replied.

 

"I hate to say it, especially because I know you're so tired after your

travels, but if we're to double or triple our security this year, we'll need

a lot more funds."

 

"I know," I said. "I thought I'd take a break for a couple of days and then

start thinking about it."

 

"But we have to start making plans now," Nandini said. "You remember we had

a situation like this last year, and it was hard for me to get an airline

reservation for you to fly to another country at the last minute."

 

"There are not many places I can go," I said. "I've been pretty much

everywhere."

 

Nandini was silent for a moment. "Except Russia," she said.

 

I gasped. "Russia?" I said.

 

"Russia," she said. "I know that the people there are poorer than in Poland,

but ...."

 

"Not Russia," I said. "I don't want to visit Russia just to raise funds. I

go there so rarely. It wouldn't be fair to my disciples."

 

"Gurudeva," said Nandini, "you know how much your Russian disciples love

you. They'll be happy to see you for whatever reason. And you'd be preaching

day and night, as always. Half the tour devotees on our festival program are

Russian anyway. The Russian yatra is already doing so much to help us."

 

"That's true," I said.

 

I thought for a moment. "Yes," I said, "but do you think I'll survive a

grueling three-week tour across the length and breadth of Russia?"

 

Nandini didn't answer, but we both knew she was right. We had no choice. The

show had to go on. The festival program is Lord Caitanya's mercy on the

people of Poland, and the Lord would give us the strength, the endurance,

and the ability to be victorious.

 

A few days later I prepared myself for my trip to Russia. But first I would

go to Ukraine, to the city of Dnepropetrovsk to participate in Lord

Nrsimhadeva's Appearance Day festival. I planned to beg for His mercy, that

we might be successful in raising the funds required for our 16th festival

year, and for the protection that we would surely need.

 

As I was leaving for the airport, Radha Sakhi Vrinda came up to my car.

"Srila Gurudeva," she said, "I'm still in anxiety about the hate mail

Nandini's getting and the future politics in our country. I fear for our

safety on the spring festivals."

 

"Don't worry," I said as my driver started to pull away. "The Lord will

watch over us as He did for His devotees in the past. It's the same mission

and will get the same mercy."

 

dattva cakram ca raksartham

na niscinto janardanah

svayam tan nikatam yati

tam drastum raksanaya

 

"Lord Janardana is not content even after engaging Sudarsana to protect His

devotees, so He personally goes to see and protect them."

 

[Narada Pancaratra 1.2.34 ]

 

indradyumna.swami (AT) pamho (DOT) net

 

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