Lokanath Swami

Evening Pandal Program Vyasa Puja celebrations Of

HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj, Sri Dham Pandharpur

The organisers of the Vyasa Puja celebrations in honour of the 59th
Appearance Day of HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj organised a grand pandal program on the evening of the 13th of July on the temple grounds. It was a beautiful pandal overlooking the Chandrabhaga river replete with nearly a million devotees having their ritual bathe. The entire atmosphere both within and without the temple resonated with the strains of beautiful kirtans glorifying Krsna and His form as Vitthala.

The program commenced at about 6.30 p.m., and was flagged off by the lighting of the traditional lamp. This was followed by a pravacan by HBP Motiram ---------- Maharaj from the Warkari sampradaya (the Warkari sampradaya comprises of devotees of Krsna in the form of Vitthala. Saint Tukaram is one of their foremost spiritual masters, and he received initiation directly from Caitanya Mahaprabhu who empowered Saint Tukaram to spread the glories of Vitthala (Krsna) throughout the land of Maharashtra. He was the first saint to introduce the concept of pure devotional service and the chanting of the Holy Names (Rama Krsna Hari) in Maharashtra. This year marks the 400th anniversary of his Appearance.) HBP reiterated the above and drew interesting parallels between the lives and teachings of Saint Tukaram and our very own Srila Prabhupada. This was followed by another short pravacan by HBP Madhavanand Maharaj, who spoke about the fact that only a saint can glorify another saint.

This was followed by ecstatic kirtans and pravacan by HG Akrura Prabhu (disciple of HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj). He then went on to explain how the conditioned soul is completely engrossed in satisfying the needs of the senses. Therefore, to alleviate this suffering, Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave us the kirtan "jiva jago®®..". He gave wonderful examples of Saint Tukaram and Sage Valmiki to enunciate how liberated souls can impart their teachings upon us. When Saint Tukaram was confronted by a learned Pandit Ram Sastri,
who claimed that Saint Tukaram was not qualified to speak the Holy Name, Saint Tukaram replied that his tongue was not in his control. Upon hearing this, the Pandit held Tukaram's tongue, but was astonished to note that all the other senses of Tukaram were also capable of chanting the Holy Names! The Pandit then advised the locals that they had a great soul in their midst and that they should serve him wholeheartedly. Sage Valmiki, on the other hand was lowly on account of leading an extremely sinful life. However, when
he came into contact with Narada Muni, he instantly became a pure devotee, to the extent that he was able to compile the Ramayan even before it took place! Thus, the message is that previous lifestyles or birth are of no consequence when one becomes a pure devotee of the Lord. In our case, this is possible only through the medium of the spiritual master, who is an empowered representative of the Lord.

This was followed by a short pravacan by HG Damayanti DD from Russia. She captivated the audience by singing some kirtans in the local language - Marathi. She spoke about Tukaram Maharaj as well, stating that her curiosity was aroused upon hearing about Tukaram Maharaj from HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj, and therefore determined to visit Pandharpur Dham. She also gave the audience the message that it is very important to follow the precepts of Tukaram Maharaj, so that we may also make our way back to home, back to Godhead.

This was followed by the piece de resistance of the evening mellifluous
kirtans and pravacan by HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj. Again, the main focus was on Tukaram Maharaj, both in the kirtans as well as in the pravacan. Maharaj gave a wonderful synopsis of the teachings of Tukaram Maharaj. He pointed out that there is no Samadhi site that we can visit of Saint Tukaram. This is because Saint Tukaram was one of the very few exalted souls who was given entry in Vaikuntha in this body itself. (It has been recorded that at the time of his departure from this material world, a plane from Vaikuntha Lok was visible, and that Tukaram had boarded this plane and was carried back to the spiritual sky.) Maharaj stated the need for human beings to actually
behave like human beings and rise above the mundane tasks of eating,
sleeping and passing stool. Tukaram Maharaj had also stressed on the need for humans to be compassionate toward other living beings. The example given
is of trees, cows and rivers - their lives are dedicated to the service of
all living beings, with no selfish motives driving them. Maharaj then stated that though Tukaram Maharaj is not with us physically (vapu), he is very much with us in his teachings (vani) - through the 4000 abhangas (kirtans) that he has left behind for our benefit and direction. Tukaram Maharaj makes the Lord visible to us all through his kirtans, despite the fact that there is a major difference between our seeing the deity and a pure devotee seeing the same deity - for instance when Tukaram saw the deity of Vittala, he saw Them through the ointment of the pure love in his heart. Maharaj also gave the example of the gopis who complained to Lord Brahma for having created eyelashes that come in the way of their constant gazing of the Lotus Face of Krsna.

The pravacan ended with some more ecstatic kirtans and was enjoyed
tremendously by the audience.

Then there was a dance performance by HG Gaura Prema Mataji from USA. She performed a Bharat Natyam dance on Kasturi Tilakam. The performance also received a tremendous ovation from the audience.

Finally, there was a drama by the disciples of HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj. The theme was again Tukaram Maharaj.s life and teachings.


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Evening Pandal Program Vyasa Puja celebrations Of HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj, Sri Dham Pandharpur The organisers of the Vyasa Puja celebrations in honour of the 59th Appearance Day of HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj organised a grand pandal program on the evening of the 13th of July on the temple grounds. It was a beautiful pandal overlooking the Chandrabhaga river replete with nearly a million devotees having their ritual bathe. The entire atmosphere both within and without the temple resonated with the strains of beautiful kirtans glorifying Krsna and His form as Vitthala. The program commenced at about 6.30 p.m., and was flagged off by the lighting of the traditional lamp. This was followed by a pravacan by HBP Motiram ---------- Maharaj from the Warkari sampradaya (the Warkari sampradaya comprises of devotees of Krsna in the form of Vitthala. Saint Tukaram is one of their foremost spiritual masters, and he received initiation directly from Caitanya Mahaprabhu who empowered Saint Tukaram to spread the glories of Vitthala (Krsna) throughout the land of Maharashtra. He was the first saint to introduce the concept of pure devotional service and the chanting of the Holy Names (Rama Krsna Hari) in Maharashtra. This year marks the 400th anniversary of his Appearance.) HBP reiterated the above and drew interesting parallels between the lives and teachings of Saint Tukaram and our very own Srila Prabhupada. This was followed by another short pravacan by HBP Madhavanand Maharaj, who spoke about the fact that only a saint can glorify another saint. This was followed by ecstatic kirtans and pravacan by HG Akrura Prabhu (disciple of HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj). He then went on to explain how the conditioned soul is completely engrossed in satisfying the needs of the senses. Therefore, to alleviate this suffering, Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave us the kirtan "jiva jago®®..". He gave wonderful examples of Saint Tukaram and Sage Valmiki to enunciate how liberated souls can impart their teachings upon us. When Saint Tukaram was confronted by a learned Pandit Ram Sastri, who claimed that Saint Tukaram was not qualified to speak the Holy Name, Saint Tukaram replied that his tongue was not in his control. Upon hearing this, the Pandit held Tukaram's tongue, but was astonished to note that all the other senses of Tukaram were also capable of chanting the Holy Names! The Pandit then advised the locals that they had a great soul in their midst and that they should serve him wholeheartedly. Sage Valmiki, on the other hand was lowly on account of leading an extremely sinful life. However, when he came into contact with Narada Muni, he instantly became a pure devotee, to the extent that he was able to compile the Ramayan even before it took place! Thus, the message is that previous lifestyles or birth are of no consequence when one becomes a pure devotee of the Lord. In our case, this is possible only through the medium of the spiritual master, who is an empowered representative of the Lord. This was followed by a short pravacan by HG Damayanti DD from Russia. She captivated the audience by singing some kirtans in the local language - Marathi. She spoke about Tukaram Maharaj as well, stating that her curiosity was aroused upon hearing about Tukaram Maharaj from HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj, and therefore determined to visit Pandharpur Dham. She also gave the audience the message that it is very important to follow the precepts of Tukaram Maharaj, so that we may also make our way back to home, back to Godhead. This was followed by the piece de resistance of the evening mellifluous kirtans and pravacan by HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj. Again, the main focus was on Tukaram Maharaj, both in the kirtans as well as in the pravacan. Maharaj gave a wonderful synopsis of the teachings of Tukaram Maharaj. He pointed out that there is no Samadhi site that we can visit of Saint Tukaram. This is because Saint Tukaram was one of the very few exalted souls who was given entry in Vaikuntha in this body itself. (It has been recorded that at the time of his departure from this material world, a plane from Vaikuntha Lok was visible, and that Tukaram had boarded this plane and was carried back to the spiritual sky.) Maharaj stated the need for human beings to actually behave like human beings and rise above the mundane tasks of eating, sleeping and passing stool. Tukaram Maharaj had also stressed on the need for humans to be compassionate toward other living beings. The example given is of trees, cows and rivers - their lives are dedicated to the service of all living beings, with no selfish motives driving them. Maharaj then stated that though Tukaram Maharaj is not with us physically (vapu), he is very much with us in his teachings (vani) - through the 4000 abhangas (kirtans) that he has left behind for our benefit and direction. Tukaram Maharaj makes the Lord visible to us all through his kirtans, despite the fact that there is a major difference between our seeing the deity and a pure devotee seeing the same deity - for instance when Tukaram saw the deity of Vittala, he saw Them through the ointment of the pure love in his heart. Maharaj also gave the example of the gopis who complained to Lord Brahma for having created eyelashes that come in the way of their constant gazing of the Lotus Face of Krsna. The pravacan ended with some more ecstatic kirtans and was enjoyed tremendously by the audience. Then there was a dance performance by HG Gaura Prema Mataji from USA. She performed a Bharat Natyam dance on Kasturi Tilakam. The performance also received a tremendous ovation from the audience. Finally, there was a drama by the disciples of HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj. The theme was again Tukaram Maharaj.s life and teachings.