We went to a nama-hatta program with some other devotees; some other students and some friends from the Polish festival tour. The organizers like the foreign devotees to tell something about how they came to Krishna consciousness, and they translate it into Bengali for the audience. Then two Mayapur managers spoke for over half an hour each. One told a feature of the Brahma-mohana lila that I had never heard before. Apparently Paurnamasi knew of Krishna's expanding Himself as all the cowherd boys for one year, and she told the young girls of Vrindavana that that was a very auspicious year to get married, and in this way, the young girls were able to fulfill their desire to marry Krishna, who had expanded Himself into all the cowherd boys for that year.
During the Bhoga-arati song I tried to sing along from the Bengali song book, but I still can't read Bengali fast enough to sing without getting behind. It will certainly be a challenge for me to learn Bengali.
The kirtanas by the Bengali devotees are so lively it is like a festival, and there was much dancing. My friend, Dina Dayal Prabhu, was not feeling very eager to partcipate in the kirtana at first, but it was so lively by the end he was completely absorbed in the chanting and dancing.
One lady was so touched to see the complete happiness of the devotees, that she cried for half an hour.
The prasadam was great as usual. There were even chapatis, which are a little rare in Bengal, compared to the ever present rice. The sweet rice was very nice!
I met a godsister of mine, Nitai-priya devi dasi, who I knew from her posts on the Internet. We talked about her great success in selling Guru Maharaja's books in Vrindavana and made some plans for Vyasa Puja on December 1.
I am trying to post something every day on this blog beginning with today. Krishna in His form of Time will tell how well I do.