On May 13, 2005, Srila Narayana Maharaja left Fiji for Oahu, Hawaii.
Srila Narayana Maharaja regularly spends time on the Northshore in
Hawaii to focus on his writing and translating of Gaudiya Vaisnava
literature from Bengali and Sanskrit into Hindi. These books are thereafter
translated by his disciples into English and the worlds other
main languages. This summer Srila Maharaja was able to spend almost
a full month resting and writing in Hawaii.
On May17th Srila Narayana Maharaja flew to the Big Island to visit
his dear disciple Gaura-sundara Prabhu, who was seriously injured
last year in the ocean at Jagannatha Puri. Gaura-sundara Prabhu was
deeply moved by the visit. He told Srila Maharaja that as soon as
he recovers from his injury he will run towards his lotus feet.
The following day, Srila Narayana Maharaja celebrated Sri Nrsimha
Caturdasi with all the devotees at the temple in Hilo, which is well
looked after by Gopa-vrndapalla Prabhu and his son Sravana Kumara
Prabhu. The temple was packed with some 150 devotees, and Srila Maharaja
spoke for a full two hours on the glories of Sri Nrsimhadeva and the
emperor among devotees, Sri Prahlada Maharaja. The devotees were deeply
inspired.
On the Northshore, Srila Narayana Maharaja has been working relentlessly
on his writing and translating work, putting in six to eight hours
of undisturbed work daily. He has now completed Sri Bhagavatarka-marici-mala,
an exquisite compilation by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura of the most
important verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam together with their deep meanings.
He is now working on three books simultaneously: Sri Raya-Ramananda
Samvad from Sri Caitanya Caritamrta with his own explanation and commentary,
Sri Sri Prema-samputa by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and Sri
Sri Camatkara Candrika by the same author. These last two books are
beautiful accounts of Sri Sri Radha and Krishnas sweet pastimes
in Vraja.
It cannot be overstated how significant a work Srila Maharajas
Sri Raya-Ramananda Samvad will be, and how much it will help all the
devotees in their spiritual practice. Srila Narayana Maharaja is determined
to complete this work during his current world preaching tour. This
means that this year will hopefully see a total of eight new Hindi
books in print: Sri Brhad-Bhagavatamrta in three volumes, Sri Ujjvala-nilamani,
Sri Bhagavatarka-marici-mala, Sri Raya-Ramananda Samvad, Sri Sri Prema-samputa
and Sri Sri Camatkara Candrika. We wait with great anticipation for
these books to be translated into English.
FIJI
Srila Narayana Maharaja arrived in Fiji on the evening
of the May 3rd. He stayed at the home of Kanti-lal dasa
Adhikari in Lautoka. He began giving informal darsans until
the 6th. From the 6th to the 12th there were evening
programs at Sri Visnu Mandira, at which time he explained about
sanatana-dharma (the eternal religion of the soul). He told his audience
that the intrinsic nature of sanatana -dharma was prema,
pure love for Lord Sri Krsna, and that the topmost sanatana-dharma is
gopi-prema.
In his series of classes he spoke from the most basic topic to
the highest. He spoke about the gradation of devotees from Dhruva
Maharaja to Prahlada Maharaja to Ambarisa Maharaja to Hanuman
to the Pandavas to the Yadavas and ultimately to Sri Uddhava.
On the last evening he spoke about Uddhava going to Vraja and
meeting with Nanda Baba. He concluded by briefly discussing the verses
of Bhramara-gita, the song of the Bumble-bee.
Many devotees were inspired by Srila Narayana Maharaja's harikatha,
and about 500 people attended on the last two evenings. Over
70 took harinama initiation and many took diksa (brahmanical
initiation).
Srila Maharaja went on daily morning walks, after which
he would speak for a few minutes to the devotees assembled at Sripad
Kanti-lal dasa's house. At midday, programs were regularly held
at the homes of the local devotees, where Sripad Damodara Maharaja
and Dhira Krsna dasa gave classes on the subjects of
guru-tattva and nama-tattva. Sometimes Srila Maharaja would
also attend.
Submitted by Sundar Gopal dasa
Visit the Photo gallery
of pictures accompanying this report.