Monday, February 27th, 2023
Vrindavan, India
I stay in an extension of Room 340, a type of cubicle with mosquito protective screened windows. It is where I have been having the best evening rests since being in India. When I awaken for morning sadhana, I hear dogs in the distance, monkeys rustling about just outside that screen frame, and the calling of peacocks much further away. I can also hear the splashing of shower water hit the concrete floor from a bather who uses a bucket from an outdoor shower house.
Morning darshan goes on after I’ve donned dhoti and so in in that cubicle of the International Guest House. It’s lovely. I make sure to stay in the courtyard of the Krishna Balaram Mundir; near the deities it’s just too congested. I then have my room to maneuver and dance.
Most of the area of Vrindavan in the inner area is quite developed. It is sad that much of this Raman Reti, a sandy section where Krishna and Balaram were engaged in frivolous sport, is practically no more.
The place that I really enjoyed – clean, orderly, and with fresh air – is the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula on a one-hundred-acre property a mere twelve-kilometre drive from the guest house. I was invited to deliver a Bhagavatam class, have breakfast, and then present a theatre arts workshop. Accompanying me was Jambhavan, Suta, And Kartikeya, while the rest of our crew braved the parikrama (pilgrimage) around the popular Govardhan Hill.
Having students to instruct and guide was ecstatic. I mentioned to the staff that this is me in my element.
MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU!
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