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On December 31st, 2018, HH Bhakti Raghava Swami Maharaja accompanied by the devotees arrived at the residence of Syamananda prabhu in Jaysinghpur, Maharashtra, after a long journey from Pandharpur. Syamananda prabhu’s wife, Bhaktin Harsada mataji along with her children gave us a very warm welcome. The reception started with Maharaja’s pada puja and followed by Guru puja.
Around 7 PM on the same day, Maharaja and the devotees from Jaysinghpur namely Ramlakshman prabhu, Syamananda prabhu, Rameshvara prabhu, Bhakta Krish (Syamananda prabhu’s son), Syamasundar prabhu, Nityatripta devi dasi, Bhaktin Ananya bhakti and Vishnurata das went to attend a weekly sadhu sanga in a village named Ichalkarangi. We were welcomed by a grand kirtan. The program was attended by over 300 congregational members. Taking the opportunity, Maharaja gave more than an hour lecture on the importance of Varnasrama and cow protection in Krishna consciousness. The devotees very much appreciated Maharaja’s explanation on how important is to follow the Vedic culture and the big disadvantages of the so-called modern advancement for both Mother nature and the living entities. Maharaja also introduced the Sri Surabhi App which aims at bringing the awareness about cow protection. Many devotees were seen buying the Varnasrama related books at the end of the program.
Syamananda prabhu who was living in the USA till recently (two years ago), after realizing the artificiality of city life, especially in the big city of USA moved to his native place in Jaysinghpur, Maharashtra. There he purchased three acres of land and started his life based on land, cows and Krishna. He successfully turned from a software developer into a farmer, and now homeschools his son, Krish (13-year-old), giving him hands-on training.
On January 1st, 2019, Syamananda prabhu took us to his farm, located about 5 km away from his house. One could feel the peace and sattvik atmosphere there. Syamananda prabhu grows different types of crops such as millets, bananas, coconut, peas, peanuts, flowers, elephant grass (for cow fodder), etc. The visit to his farm started with go-puja in his goshala, where he keeps some desi breeds of cows and bulls. After the go-puja, we went on a short tour around his farm with Maharaja sitting on a bullock-cart driven by Bhakta Krish. Bhakta Krish was very expert in dealing with the bull named “Balaram”, who pulled the cart. During the tour, we also enjoyed fresh sugarcane juice, directly biting the sugarcane. After the farm tour, a few locals met Maharaja to discuss organic farming and traditional technology. Before leaving we also visited one Lord Shiva temple, close to the farm. The farm visit was full of lots of fun and positive learning.
On January 2nd, 2019, Syamananda prabhu took us to visit 4 goshalas.
The first goshala was located near factories in Ichalkarangi village. This goshala has 37 cows (including bulls and calves). There Maharaja gave a short presentation on Vedic culture, which is intimately connected to cow protection. After the presentation, all the attendees were served with fresh cow milk. This goshala makes very nice incense sticks using cow dung.
The second goshala was “Rajasthani Go Seva Sanga Goshala”, this goshala was also located around Ichalkarangi village. This goshala has 310 cows, mainly of breeds from Rajasthan area.
The third goshala was “Lakshmi Narayana Goshala”, also located in Ichalkarangi area. It had 50 cows. As we reached the goshala, one of the cows happened to deliver her calf. There we were served with a glass of invaluable cow milk.
The fourth goshala was “Vedkillar Goshala”, located at the foot of a hill in Shirol village. It had 70 cows. Our visit to the goshala coincided with the cows’ return timing after grazing. It was a beautiful sight to see all the cows coming down from the mountain to the goshala. This goshala makes various panchagavya products.
On January 3rd, 2019, we attended the installation ceremony of Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra deities in a close by village. However, before visited yet another goshala owned by a devotee and conducted go-puja.
In the Deities’ installation program, Maharaja spoke on Daiva Varnasrama, even as he screened a documentary video on OM Sri Surabhi Campaign with Marathi translation by Syamananda prabhu (Interestingly this video was also made by Syamananda prabhu). The program was attended by over 200 devotees including the local villagers. Everybody appreciated Maharaja’s presentation on Daiva Varnasrama and OM Sri Surabhi Campaign. Finally, the program concluded with an ecstatic kirtan lead by Maharaj and yet another go-puja (an integral part of deity installation ceremony).
Our short stay at Jaisinghpur finally came to an end and we were to proceed to Mangalore, the next day on January 5th, 2019.
Before leaving for our next camp, we all very much thanked Syamananda prabhu and his family who had wholeheartedly accommodated us in their residence and had helped us in introducing the OM Sri Surabhi Campaign in and around Jaysinghpur area.
During this travel, I personally got several insights into the relevance and significance of Daiva Varnasrama. No wonder, HH Bhakti Raghava Maharaja pays so much importance to the revival of Daiva Varnasrama. As Maharaja once mentioned, “…. The OM Sri Surabhi Campaign is not simply about cow protection, but it includes the whole idea of promoting our neglected Vedic culture, Daiva Varnasrama Dharma, brahmanical culture which is based on the cow. Srila Prabhupada wanted us to live in a sattvic environment while practising our Krishna consciousness; how can we be situated in the mode of goodness if we don’t follow the Vedic way of living?” (In conversation with the devotees, January 3rd, 2019, Madhuvan Bhavan, Jaysinghpur).
I would invite everybody to take part in fulfilling the unfulfilled 50 per cent of Srila Prabhupada’s mission for our own better practice of Krishna consciousness.
Written by HG Vishnurata Das
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