An interesting article in glory of Prabhupad

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The following is an article that came in about 3 area newspapers in Chennai,

South India, written by Sri R.K. Rangarajan who is a credited reporter for

several leading magazines in Tamil. His article written in Tamil was printed

in the original in the English papers and is translated herein by Tarini

Radha devi dasi and Bhaktin Pushpa.

 

Please read on. It is a great glory to Srila Prabhupada.

 

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Just Forty-four Rupees in Hand

by R.K. Rangarajan

 

Last Sunday at 8 in the morning I went to the Central Jail. How?

 

Everyone knows the Hare Krishna temple situated in T.Nagar, Burkit Road. But

I have never been to this temple that accentuates spirituality through

bhajans, discourses and meditation. The members of this organisation have

set up centers like this in many places in India and are conducting programs

very effectively.

 

They conduct Ratha Yatra just like the one in Puri and it is very ecstatic

to see Americans and Europeans with a top shikha, kurta and bead bag jumping

and singing along with our people in front of the Ratha.

 

I have seen the Hare Krishna temple in Delhi. It is very beautiful,

sprawling wide. After taking darshan of Radha Krishna as I was walking on

the smooth marble floor, seeing one well-built man sitting without any

desires, I went near and observed him. I was shocked! That was the deity of

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for

Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) sculpted very realistically resembling the

person in size, build and complexion. Nearby one American sat by himself

singing Hare Krishna playing on the mrdanga.

 

I have been to this center in Delhi that is so far, but never went to this

center here which is so close! S. Mohandas, who is holding a senior

responsible position in the Anna Nagar branch of the State Bank of India

used to invite me frequently. He is one of the dedicated follower of this

movement.

 

Last week I saw a news item in the Mambalam Times. The news item said that

the Hare Krishna devotees in T.Nagar are going to conduct a spiritual

program of bhajans and discourse for the convicts in the Madras Central

Jail. I spoke about this to Mohan das, and with great pleasure he took me to

the program.

 

About 20 Hare Krishna devotees had come to the gates of the prison to

conduct the program. One among them was a Californian. Bhakti Vrajendra

Nandan Swami from Malaysia was a saffron clad sannyasi. The others, Sumithra

Krishna das, vice-president of ISKCON Chennai and Dr.Vasanthi, who works in

the Medical Hospital of the Prison (this program was also organised by her)

are residents of Chennai.

 

Sri G. Ramachandran, the Supdt. of Prison for the entre state of Tamil Nadu,

welcomed us with a smile that retained the gravity of a policeman but did

not let human polity slip by. He led us along a clean and silent path to the

auditorium inside.

 

In earlier times, convicts used to be at least above 50 years. But it was

very painful to see that the convicts assembled here were youths less than

30 years in age. Whom can we blame for this degeneration in society?

 

Ramachandran briefly described the purpose of our visit. His reference to

the convicts as 'dwellers in the prison' rather than 'convicts of the

prison' was very touching.

 

"Everyone of us desire to be happy" said Sumithra Krishna das as he began

his excellent speech. His style did not sound like a speech meant for the

publc. Rather, it felt like he had each one of them sitting in front of him

and was talking to them personally.

 

"If we want to be happy, we should chant the names of the Lord. I will teach

you one mantra. You must repeat it after me". Saying this, he chanted three

times Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare

Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

 

The first time, only a few people in the first few rows repeated. Sumithra

Krishna das encourged them saying, "chant without feeling any shyness or

hesitation". Ramachandran asked, "Are you all looking that I am here? If you

want, shall I go out?No, No, you stay", chorused the convicts - nay - the

prison dwellers and chanted "Hare Krishna" very loudly and enthusiastically.

 

"Now, see the face of the person sitting next to you. When they came to sit

here they were looking so dull, bored and morose? Now see how their faces

are flushed with happiness! If chanting the Lord's names just a few times

can make us so happy, then how will it be if we chant the Lord's names

throughout the day as we do our work?, asked Sumithra Krishna das. Honestly,

their faces wore a radiant look.

 

After this, the Hare Krishna bhajan that began softly with instruments

gradually rose in crescendo and some of the prison dwellers came up and

joined. For half an hour it was a blissful state. The Californian sang and

whirled like a top.

 

One point that he said afterwards was very interesting. He told the

prisoners, "You are all very fortunate. You have full freedom here to

worship the Lord and chant His names. In places like Russia and Poland they

do not allow us inside the prison. So in those places we commit some crime

on purpose so that we will be convicted and we can go to the jail and spread

Krsna consciousness".

 

As we finished the program and came out, the truth that we were entering

into the larger jail dawned upon us. The credit for giving spiritual bliss

for a short while inside the small prison goes to Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada. I mentally offered obeisances to that amazing person who reached

New York in a cargo ship with just forty-four rupees in hand, set up 108

centers within the remaining 11 years of his life and gave his blessings for

more than 100 centers to be set up all over the world.

 

END

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Srila Prabhupada ki... jai!

 

To give you more information - The prison had over 1200 inmates and

G. Ramachandran told us that our programs should not stop with this but

should continue in the future. He recollected that ISKCON had held regular

programs in the past. We presented him with a copy of the Bhagavad-gita As

It Is.

 

We couldn't get permission to distribute prasadam but Ramachandran promised

that he will get it from the Commissioner of Police next time.

 

The convicts came up the stage to dance with us. The police constables

looked up to the inspector for his orders whether to send them down or let

them dance. The inspector with a glance conveyed that they can come up and

the prisoners displayed rare traditionl folk style dance. One guy went

somersaulting on the stage in a traditional local style that is called -

karaghaatam.

 

We stuck Hare Krishna mahamantra stickers in different places of the prison

and the convicts promised to get it by heart.