By Indradyumna Swami
August 06, 2024
As we embarked on our 34th annual Festival of India tour along Poland’s Baltic Sea coast this summer, I was curious as to how our audiences would respond to our presence. Millions have attended our events over the years and many more have heard about the festivals from friends and family. Whatever opposition we faced in the early years is now mostly a distant memory. As in previous years, we were planning to saturate the coast with our programs, but I wondered how many people would be inclined to attend. With over one million Ukrainian refugees in Poland, I questioned whether people would be too preoccupied with the nearby war to enjoy the summer. Fortunately, as we soon discovered, large numbers of people gravitated to our festivals, many of them looking for spiritual solutions to the turmoil of modern society.
“Ordinarily, at the end of the age of Kali, religious principles are established by the Kalki incarnation. But this current one is the ‘blessed Kali yuga;’ Kalki is not required to incarnate in this age because Sri Caitanyadeva has incarnated in this Kali yuga. By His grace all social ills will be removed. That is certain.”
[Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Sri Sri Bhagavata Patrika (Issue 1)]
By Lord Caitanya’s mercy, we secured the same school we have used as a base for many years. Finding appropriate base facilities has become increasingly difficult due to the many regulations imposed by the European Union; it provides large donations to schools in Poland and, in turn, expects the schools to be used exclusively for educational purposes. We succeeded mainly because members of the school administration staff have attended our events over the years and have come to love us.
The personal impact of our festivals is a theme I continually encounter in Poland. The consistency of our annual events has caused many Polish people to accept us, trust us, and even take up some aspects of devotional service. After our first three-day event in Niechorze, Daivi Radhika dasi, a veteran tour devotee, wrote a note to me:
“Dear Maharaja, over the years I have noticed how much influence the Festival of India has been having on Polish people and their lifestyle. First of all, the people of this country have become much more favorable towards Krsna consciousness and our philosophy in general—no matter their age. They don’t argue with us anymore, they ask intelligent questions, and they are tolerant.
“Secondly, Sanskrit words like ‘guru,’ ‘karma,’ ‘yoga,’ and ‘tilak’ are now in everyday use in the Polish language (for example, in crosswords) and most Poles understand their meaning.
“There are also many people who have become vegetarian or vegan. And yoga has become extremely popular in the last few years, even in small cities. In my own tiny hometown, there are nine yoga schools!
“This change is also visible in Polish people’s hairstyle and dress. A few years back, some men started wearing something that resembled a sikha and now for women, popular clothing stores sell tops that look exactly like cholis! They are a hit among teenage girls. Ankle-long skirts and dresses are back in fashion too, and I’ve seen a few chaddars being used as well.
“Maharaja, I am a hundred percent sure that none of the above would have ever happened if not for our Festival of India. Thanks to your lectures on the stage, the Polish people are more and more conscious of us and so many of them are becoming devotees at heart. I am proud to play a tiny part in this great cultural revolution.
“Your servant,
“Daivi Radhika devi dasi”
In the town of Rewal a few days later, I was fortunate to witness Daivi Radhika’s words come to life. Our theater group was performing the highlight of our festival—a theater production called “Song of Grace,” which illustrates how the soul continues to exist after death. Meanwhile, I was doing one of my favorite things: walking around the perimeter of the crowd and observing people’s reactions. Towards the end of the production, during an emotional scene in which a woman realizes that her departed grandmother has ascended to the spiritual world, I noticed that several people had tears in their eyes. When the play concluded, it received a standing ovation from the crowd. At that moment, I couldn’t hold back my own tears.
To my great satisfaction, immediately after the theater performance concluded, many people streamed towards our book display to buy copies of the Bhagavad Gita. As I quickly made my way there to sign books, I recalled an interview my godsister Rasajna dasi gave wherein she recounted Srila Prabhupada’s reaction to a theatrical performance in which she had played the role of Rukmini, one of Krsna’s wives:
“After the play we were taking our makeup off, when Mohanananda, Prabhupada’s servant, came and told us what Prabhupada had said about the performance. Prabhupada had said, ‘This is better than reading my books. I want to take this whole troupe with me to Africa.’ Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible because we were the main event of the Brooklyn temple’s Sunday feast program. But the fact is that Prabhupada put great importance on theatrical performances. He wanted Krishna consciousness to be presented as a cultural movement. Once in the Bhagavatam class he said, ‘All my disciples should act in plays because when you play the part of any of these characters, you get the feeling of what it’s all about. It becomes more real.’ We tend to forget about our feelings because we get caught up in the process. But when you perform a part, you have to use your feelings to portray the character. For the period of the performance, you’re transformed. Prabhupada also complimented me. He said, ‘Rukmini, she was the best.’”
She continued, “Another time, we had an ecstatic performance at the Mayapur Festival in 1977. Prabhupada was sick and not giving lectures, but he would come to see the play and then go back to his room. We were doing a portion of the Ramayana, and I was playing Surpanaka. Somehow, we got trees on stage to create a forest effect, and as I was coming up the stairs in the back Prabhupada saw me and started clapping and laughing. During the exchange between Surpanaka, Lord Ramachandra, and Laksman, he was laughing hard and slapping his legs with both hands. I looked out for just a moment, and all the devotees were watching him. He was the only one who was watching the play. Then he stood up and gave a standing ovation. It was ecstatic!”
The next morning, Daivi Radhika sent me another note: “Maharaja, it’s amazing how many people love and appreciate our festival. And not only because it’s fun, colorful, and exotic, but because they actually are interested more and more in the deep message behind it. This evening at the book table it was truly touching to see many elderly people buying books or commenting on ones they already have from previous years and thanking us for being there again and again. I was amazed because they were the generation which so vehemently opposed us in the past!”
Our next festival took place in the port town of Mrzezyno. A harinam party went out in the morning to distribute invitations and to put up posters to advertise the event that afternoon. I had stayed back from the harinam, but at 4 p.m. I received an urgent phone call from the samkirtan leader.
“Maharaja, we had just finished the harinam when we realized that we gave out 6,000 invitations with the wrong address for the festival! Someone made a big mistake while stamping them! What should we do? The festival is supposed to start in a few minutes and no one is here!”
“Hold on!” I said. “I’ll be right there.”
Ten minutes later, I arrived at the festival site just as the first performance was supposed to begin. Not a single soul occupied the benches in front of the stage. As I stood there contemplating the situation, I noticed the two large buses that had brought the devotees to the event.
“Tell the bus drivers to get into the buses right now!” I said.
“Why?” asked the samkirtan leader.
“We’re heading to the place we mistakenly advertised for this event!” I replied.
“Why would we do that?” the devotee asked.
“We’ll collect all the people who went there and who will be wondering right now where we are,” I said. “We’ll bus them in groups back here to the festival!”
Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the “wrong address” to find a large crowd milling about, obviously confused by our blunder.
Exiting one of the buses, the samkirtan leader announced with a bullhorn that a slight mistake had been made and that the festival was taking place in another part of town. He then invited everyone to board the buses. When the buses were full, he announced that we would return to pick up those who had not managed to secure a seat.
That afternoon, we made three trips back and forth to our festival site. By the time we finished, the benches in front of the stage were full, the festival site was alive with music, the sweet smell of incense was billowing from the gift shop, and people were happily eating the prasadam from our restaurant.
That evening after my lecture, I sat at the book table signing the numerous copies of Bhagavad Gita that people had just purchased—a telltale sign that the festival was a success. One lady walked up, handed me her Gita, and said, “I am so blessed!”
“How so?” I asked.
“Well, she said, “I was in Rewal the other evening when I came across your festival by chance, just as you were finishing up. Seeing the happy faces of all the guests, I realized I had missed something very significant. I stood there lamenting that I hadn’t come earlier. Then I left, wondering if I would ever see you all again.
“Then, last night here in Mrzezyno, I went to bed very late and got up around noon. I did some office work throughout the afternoon. Around 5 p.m., I opened my bedroom window and suddenly smelled this wonderful aroma and heard beautiful music. I went outside to see where it was coming from, and when I saw that the same festival was set up just 50 meters away from my house I almost fainted! I literally ran here and have been enjoying every minute. I won’t forget this day for the rest of my life, and I have decided to buy a book to understand the deeper meaning behind your event!”
“O swan gliding in the lakes of the Vrajavasis’ love, I wish that I may wander everywhere always chanting and drinking the nectar of Your names. Those most sweet names arise from the ocean of Gokula and spread the glories of Your infinitely varied dress and ways of acting. As I wander, behaving like a madman, may I distribute joy to everyone in all the worlds.”
[Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta 1.7.143]