One Monk
Mayapura, West Bengal
One monk form the U.K., Javananda Swami, saved the day. The arati ceremony at the Prabhupada Samadhi is a sweet experience for the pilgrims who take advantage. The swami has a foot injury, but he managed to hobble his way to the shrine. The biggest challenge at this venue is the acoustics.
People who attend, at least some, like to clap to the kirtan chanting. The end result is that the smacking of palms ends up sounding like you’re inside a big popcorn machine. It’s distracting.
The mrdanga drums and kartal cymbals, even if played in time, become an assault to the ears. It practically appears that hands are not needed. Voice yes. Almost anything else- NO!
Javananda Swami is a real lover of kirtan. He demonstrates what you do with your hands during the kirtan. You raise your arms high in the air, above the head, and make no noise, except sing. People followed his lead. While I sang, anticipating response, I was pleasantly surprised. People seemed to get it. It’s the maha-mantra that takes center stage. I indicated to the drummer that it wasn’t working. He admitted to that, put the mrdanga on the floor, and sang along with us. No resentment whatsoever when I indicated that we could do without.
It really made the day in as much as a good walk did twelve hours later as the sun started to descend. Everything can be near perfect if you put attention somewhere. What might come across as awkward is simply an opportunity towards improvement.
Krishna states in the Gita that for every action there is some fault. Our obligation to any action is to tackle it as best as we can. That’s called bhakti devotion.
9 KM
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