Letter to: Satsvarupa
—
Bombay
1 January, 1977
77-01-01I will be going to the Kumbha Mela around the 10th or 12th of this month. I will stay as long as possible up to three weeks. then we’ll be going to Mayapur until the festival.
Hoping this will meet you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta SwamiLink to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/letters/bombay/january/01/1977/satsvarupa
TEXT 149
‘prayāge’ āsiyā prabhu kaila veṇī-snāna
‘mādhava’ dekhiyā preme kaila nṛtya-gānaSYNONYMS
prayāge—to Prayāga; āsiyā—coming; prabhu—Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; kaila—did; veṇī-snāna—bathing in the confluence of the Ganges and Yamunā; mādhava—the predominating Deity there, Veṇī Mādhava; dekhiyā—seeing; preme—in ecstatic love; kaila—performed; nṛtya-gāna—dancing and chanting.TRANSLATION
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then went to Prayāga, where He bathed at the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamunā. He then visited the temple of Veṇī Mādhava and chanted and danced there in ecstatic love.PURPORT
The city of Prayāga is situated a few miles from the city of Allahabad. The name Prayāga is given due to successful sacrifices performed there. It is said: prakṛṣṭaḥ yāgaḥ yāga-phalaṁ yasmāt. If one performs sacrifices at Prayāga, he certainly gets immediate results without difficulty. Prayāga is also called Tīrtharāja, the king of all places of pilgrimage. This holy place is situated on the confluence of the Rivers Ganges and Yamunā. Every year a fair takes place there known as Māgha-melā, and every twelve years a Kumbha-melā is also held. In any case, many people come to bathe there every year. During Māgha-melā, people from the local district generally come, and during Kumbha-melā people come from all over India to live there and bathe in the Ganges and Yamunā. Whoever goes there immediately feels the place’s spiritual influence. A fort located there was constructed by the Emperor Akbar about five hundred years ago, and near the fort is a place called Triveṇī. On the other side of Prayāga is an old place known as Pratiṣṭhāna-pura. It is also well known as Jhuṅsi. Many saintly people live there, and consequently it is very attractive from the spiritual point of view.
Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/cc/madhya/17/149
by bbc.co.uk: Hindu pilgrims are expected to gather at the Kumbh Mela in the world’s biggest gathering.
India’s Kumbh Mela festival is billed as the world’s biggest gathering of people.
Between now and March organisers expect about 120 million pilgrims to bathe at the Sangam – the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.
Hindus believe that doing so will cleanse them of their sins and help them attain “moksha”, setting them free from the cycle of birth and death.
So how does one prepare for a gathering of humanity so mammoth it can be seen from outer space?
The mela (Hindi for fair) is held in the northern city of Allahabad (recently renamed Prayagraj) every 12 years.
On Tuesday, when the festival formally begins, officials are preparing for 15 to 20 million visitors. But the biggest test they face will be on 4 February when 30 million are expected to attend for the most auspicious bathing day. The festival ends on 4 March. (Full article)
(submitted by Mahesh Raja)
“Saints of your caliber are themselves places of pilgrimage. Because of their purity, they are constant companions of the Lord, and therefore they can purify even the places of pilgrimage.”
PURPORT
This verse was spoken by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira to Vidura in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam(1.13.10). Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was receiving his saintly uncle Vidura, who had been visiting sacred places of pilgrimage. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira told Vidura that pure devotees like him are personified holy places because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always with them in their hearts. By their association, sinful persons are freed from sinful reactions, and therefore wherever a pure devotee goes is a sacred place of pilgrimage. The importance of holy places is due to the presence there of such pure devotees.
(CC Adi 1.63)
Hare Krsna Marici prabhu
Thank you for the quote.
Srila Prabhupada also ‘cross-references’ Srimad-Bhāgavatam 1.13.10 in his Bhaktivedanta Purport to SB 4.30.37
“…..A devotee of the Lord is not even afraid of hell. He goes to preach the glories of the Lord everywhere—even in hell—because there is no distinction between heaven and hell for a devotee.
nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve
na kutaścana bibhyati
svargāpavarga-narakeṣv
api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ
“A pure devotee of Nārāyaṇa is never afraid of going anywhere and everywhere. For him heaven and hell are one and the same.” (Bhāg. 6.17.28) Such devotees, wandering all over the world, deliver those who are actually afraid of this material existence. Some people are already disgusted with material existence, being confused and frustrated by material enjoyment, and some people, who are intelligent, are interested in understanding the Supreme Lord. Both may take advantage of the pure devotee who wanders throughout the world.
When a pure devotee goes to a place of pilgrimage, he desires to purify that holy place of pilgrimage. Many sinful men bathe in the holy waters of the places of pilgrimage. They take their baths in the waters of the Ganges and Yamunā at places such as Prayāga, Vṛndāvana and Mathurā. In this way the sinful men are purified, but their sinful actions and reactions remain at the holy places of pilgrimage. WHEN A DEVOTEE COMES TO TAKE HIS BATH AT THOSE PLACES OF PILGRIMAGE, THE SINFUL REACTIONS LEFT BY THE SINFUL MEN ARE NEUTRALIZED BY THE DEVOTEE. Tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni svāntaḥ-sthena gadā-bhṛtā (Bhāg. 1.13.10). Because the devotee always carries the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, wherever he goes becomes a place of pilgrimage, a holy place for understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is therefore the duty of everyone to associate with a pure devotee and thus attain freedom from material contamination. Everyone should take advantage of the wandering devotees, whose only business is to deliver conditioned souls from the clutches of māyā.” (My emphasis added)
Yfs,
Balaram das (Australia)