Heart-Melting Harikatha
The greatest gift Srila Gurudeva gave in New Braj was his sweet harikatha. “Come with me to Vrndavan,” he would invite the devotees at the start of his evening classes. With peacocks cooing in the distance, Gurudeva would begin to speak on the pastimes of Sri Krsna. At other times, with tears in his eyes, he would describe the bhajan of the six gosvamis as they wandered about Sri Vrndavan dhama. As he spoke, it was as if the pastimes of Krsna and the Vrajavasis were taking place directly before his eyes, and he shared that vision overflowing from his heart. The young mother gopis, he would tell us, would sing to their children, “Govinda Damodara Madhaveti.” Now, the sound of this Braj kirtan brings his disciples immediately into his presence. Demonstrating how the gopis would churn yogurt, sweep their houses, or rock their children to sleep while chanting this song, Gurudeva would completely enchant everyone.
Each year, he would speak on Srimad Bhagavatam and the books of our gosvamis and acaryas. As he stated, “The end must be sweet,” and so a year never went by without Srila Gurudeva narrating the pastimes of Sri Sri Radha Krsna. Every year, under his direction, the devotees also performed dramas depicting these pastimes. Gurudeva would be so pleased and would shower his blessings on the players and the audience. These dramas, he stated, were his classes manifesting on the stage. His harikatha in New Braj was so powerful that he said devotees would remember it for thousands of years to come. Once, he asked all the devotees to keep coming here, year after year, and remember being here with him, in his presence, absorbed in the pastimes of Krsna. “Do not forget me,” he instructed.
Each evening, as he walked from the harikatha pavilion back to his room, he would greet all the devotees standing along the pathway. Looking deeply in their eyes, smiling sweetly, patting heads, embracing many, talking and laughing, Gurudeva would make his way back to his door. The devotees who had run ahead would be waiting there, singing “Govinda Damodara Madhaveti.” As Gurudeva approached closer, with a smile on his face and eyes alight, he would begin singing, “Radhe Radhe Radhe, Jaya Jaya Sri Radhe,” and a loud joyful chorus of devotees would join him. After leading the devotees in a tumultuous cry of “Jaya Jaya Sri Radhe!!!,” Gurudeva would say, “Oh, my dear sons and daughters, I will meet you again tomorrow.” And, with tears and laughter, as if their hearts were being kept there in his room, the devotees would eagerly await the morning, when they would again see and hear from Srila Gurudeva.