Kaliya Damona leaves today.
After several substantial weeks
of useful intimate service.
He is preparing a manual
for devotees who come here
to render service to me.
It will contain in detail all
the various services rendered
by a devotee, including photographs,
and it will be useful to Baladeva,
relieving him somewhat
in introducing a new devotee
to these acts of service.
I spent some time speaking
with Natabara Gauranga,
an intimate member of Rama Raya’s
New York City harinama party.
He has been going out constantly
for three years chanting for six hours a day.
Rama Raya is giving him a break
from the City and he has come
to Viraha Bhavan for rest and
recreation and service.
He is a disciple of Jayapataka Maharaj.
He told me how he received
his spiritual name. Jayapataka
Maharaj observed him at the
initiation service and saw that he
was dancing ecstatically, so
he gave him the name
Natabara Gauranga, which is
the name of Lord Caitanya, the
great dancer in golden form.
Natabara Gauranga is “das,”
the servant of that golden Lord.
I told him how Jayapataka Maharaj
used to greet me, by crushing me
in his embrace, affectionately,
and lifting me off my feet.
Natabara told me a story from
Bhakti Caru’s memoir. Jayapataka
Maharaj engaged in a wrestling
match in the Ganges at Mayapura
with a big-bodied member of a
harinama party. Maharaj quickly
picked the big man up and threw
him down, defeating him easily.
Devotees are holding public harinama
in the park near the movie theatre in Hudson
where they are showing Yadubhara’s film
on Srila Prabhupada.
The harinama warms the nondevotees up
for entering the theatre and seeing the
film about the Hare Krishna movement.
Yesterday, a devotee from our asrama
participated in the harinama
and felt the bliss of sharing
the holy names in public.