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Krishna Das
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posted by Daniel on May 1st, 2010
It's a moving sight: thousands of people from all corners of the world, gathered together to sing the divine names.
This was in Mayapur during Gaura Purnima time, February 2010. Many pilgrims from Russia had just arrived, to join the already international group of Indians, Europeans, Africans, Americans, in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra nonstop. Literally, nonstop! When there wasn't kirtan happening in the temple (and sometimes when the was), there would often be kirtan happening out in the streets, or in this case, out in the village area surrounding the ISKCON Mayapur campus.
Most of us didn't speak each others' languages. For some there is at least a little common English. But it is not uncommon to spend hours chanting and dancing joyfully with a group of pilgrims, making strong friendships in the process, and then after the kirtan attempt to say hello only to discover no common language! I had one close friend from Ukraine of this sort. We would dance and spin in the temple together, as bhakti brothers, solidarity in the dance steps and joy of singing Krishna's names. Then often we would run across each other during the day - out at the market, or at a restaurant for lunch, or at my mridanga practice spot. We would exclaim "Hare Krishna!" or "Hari bol!" and smile... Sometimes we would even have conversations - me speaking English without him understanding; then he speaking Ukrainian without my understanding. Back and forth. Gesticulating, laughing, wanting to use words to express the love of friendship, but only really understanding when the other said "Krishna." Hah! At least we understood the important part.
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