I was born in a pious traditional Hindu family of central India. From the very early childhood, I can recall my grandmother taking me to the nearby temple every evening. I along with many other children would play in the vast courtyard and garden, climbing up and down the many staircases, climbing on trees and breaking a variety of fruits. I never remember anybody forcing us to perform any ritual in the temple. However, we used to see my grandmother and many other ladies faithfully bowing down to the deity, offer flower, lamp, yellow rice, incense, and some coins. They would sing and clap when the worship ceremony was going on. It ended with the sound of the conch shell blown by the priest. That sound served as an indicator for all the children to rush to the temple hall, for it was the indication that the priest is about to distribute sweets offered to the Lord.
Hindus celebrate a multitude of festivals throughout the year. These festivals are very colorful and enchanting. However, the crux of every festival is God. In other words, every festival is centered on God. Hence during a festival, the temple was overcrowded with joyous people wearing colorful clothes and bubbling with enthusiasm. All this had a deep impression on my consciousness.
However, as I grew up and began to study science, my logical mind started looking for answers. No longer could I accept these rituals without questioning. Typically Hindus worship many gods, and this arose suspicion in my mind – Islam advocates one God, Allah, and Christianity speaks of only one God. Then why does my religion talks about worship of many gods? I often asked this question to myself but never understood the answer. Sometimes I even went to my grandmother, other elders, and even the priest and some sages and seers for answers, but my efforts proved equally futile.
Almost simultaneously, another uncomfortable fact dawned upon me. I began to see the hypocrisy of the so called religious people. I saw that people speak something but practice differently. Even the priest was found to be engaged in immoral acts. I could not find a person whose life has been changed for good, who actually had a change of heart, who had developed godly qualities like tolerance, compassion, kindness, non enviousness etc. All this gave a jolt to my faith in religion. Besides that, I also found the so called holy sages who frequented our house engaged in smoking marijuana and cigarettes. I developed an aversion for religion. Though I never became an atheist, I lost all interest in religion.
As years passed by, my lifestyle and priorities gradually changed. I became more carrier oriented and scientific minded. My hard work paid off and I got admission to one of the the premier medical schools. I lived in hostel, away from home, enjoying my new found freedom, pursuing my carrier but forgetting myself, and forgetting God. Then something strange started happening to me. I often had a feeling of some emptiness in my life at all times. Whatever I did didn’t give me the pleasure I hankered for, or what others got out of similar acts. I wondered if something is wrong with me. However, my pious upbringing never allowed me to run into drugs, alcoholism or prostitution.
Then one day I had an unusual sight. It was a dull evening on a Sunday, when most of the hostel was empty. I was sitting on the staircases with two of my friends, gossiping about everything under the sun when suddenly I saw somebody approaching me. He was a monk in saffron robes. He was young, perhaps in his mid twenties. He was thin and tall, and he wore a pair of spectacles which made him look scholarly. His movements were gentle yet swift. His plain robes were flowing due to which he appeared to glide rather than walk. I wondered who was he and what was he doing in hostel. Before I could fully comprehend the scene, he walked over right to me and with a smile said, “Hare Krishna”.
I can swear I never saw such a beautiful smile in my life. As he spoke those words, it appeared as if he has an ocean of joy overflowing from his heart. The next thought that came to me was – I want to be like him.
He asked me of the whereabouts of a friend, and I guided him to the person he was searching. He started walking away when he suddenly stopped and turned to us, and with a smile said, “We are going to hold a discourse on Bhagavad Gita, and there will be nice feast after that. Why don’t you come and join?” Saying this, he left. I pondered his invitation. I was interested, but my friends ridiculed me, saying that these are the Hare Krishnas, a crazy lot of young people who are utterly frustrated and who have nothing worthwhile to do in life. They just sing, dance and do strange things, and indulge in drugs, alcohol and prostitution. Hearing those words forbade me from going to the discourse, but somehow, I didn’t get convinced deep inside my heart by the words of my friends. I thought, “This man was speaking fluent English, was very well behaved, immaculately clean and tidy, and full of joy and life. In fact, the persons who were actually frustrated were those friends. Somehow, I didn’t make up to the discourse.
That night, I further thought about this young monk. Being born and brought up in a pious Hindu family, I had met many monks and priests, and many frequented our house. But I found most of them hypocrites, dubious in their dealings, with ulterior motives, and desirous of enjoying the same things of the world that their hosts did. Many of them smoked ganja or cigarettes, and when asked about God, they gave their own interpretations. Also, they were not very clear about the holy scriptures.
But this monk was different. He was young, energetic and refined. I was sure he could have opted for many lucrative careers and would have been successful. But he chose to become a monk with practically nothing. Still he was so happy. And his bright eyes, shiny teeth and glowing skin confirmed his abstinence from all vices. I decided to meet him.
I went to the boy who hosted his discourse and asked his address. I came to know that he lives with many similar people in a monastery cum temple, not very far fro the hostel. The next evening, I was on the way to the temple. I came to know that his name is Sri Vallabh Das. I asked a man at the temple, and I was guided to a small room. I knocked, and came a sweet voice, “please come in”. I entered. He was sitting on the floor, reading a book. The moment he saw me, the same smile appeared on his face, and he greeted me with the same words. “Hare Krishna”, he said, “please have some prasad.” Before I could understand, he handed me a paper bowl filled with sweet rice. I put little in my mouth. I had never tasted such delicious sweet rice. I gulped it all. He asked me about myself, and I answered. Suddenly he asked, “Did you have your dinner? I guess not.” I replied, “No. I shall have it after I reach hostel.” He said, “Have it with me. It’s time. We shall talk more on dinner.” I was hungry, so I accepted his offer. We walked towards a hall, where I found approximately 25 people, most of them monks of similar age and appearance. As I passed by, many smiled at me. I sat down. Sri Vallabh brought me a plate. It was full of varieties – rice, wheat bread, vegetable curries, salad, fried pulses, yogurt and sweets. Also there was a sweet drink which tasted like nectar. I ate to my full satisfaction. However, I noticed that Sri Vallabh as well as others were also relishing the food. But unlike me, none of them overate. During the meals, I asked Sri Vallabh, “Please tell me. Why are you so happy? How can I become as happy as you?”
He smiled, and put a hand on my shoulder. His care and warmth won my heart. He started speaking the philosophy of the Hare Krishnas, that actually we are all by nature full of joy. We are part and parcels of the Supreme Lord, and just as a spark has all the qualities of fire, we possess qualities of God, but only in minute quantities. So, just as the Lord is full of joy, is eternal and full of knowledge, so are we. But the problem with us is that we have forgotten the Lord, who is also our loving and caring father. But because we have forgotten him, we have become like orphans. We have forgotten of the protection, love and care our loving father provides us, and therefore appear fearful and insecure in this world. Any happiness of this world is just a temporary relief from our sufferings, which will inevitably strike back in due course of time.
Das explained that the only way to become fully happy and satisfied in life is to connect ourselves back to the Supreme Lord. He mentioned that there is a specific and bona fide way to do so, which is accepted and followed by all bona fide world religions – The chanting of the holy names of God. Christians chant on rosary, Muslims chant the 99 names of Allah, the almighty, and the Hindus chant many names of Lord, out of which the Hare Krishnas chant –
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare.
At the end, Das invited me to attend the morning program at the temple. Whatever he spoke made perfect sense to me. So I promised that I would attend. The next Sunday, I went to the temple early mornings at 4.30 am. I was amazed at the sight. Approximately 30 people, monks as well as some others were standing in front of idols (later I came to know they are called deities), singing beautiful Sanskrit prayers in chorus, raising their arms high above their heads. Gradually, the prayers changed from soft to loud, slow to rapid, and the music supporting the song grew louder and louder. Slowly, everyone present around started dancing – slow and graceful to start with, but soon it became loud and forceful. To the extent that I felt as if all of them have gone wild. But surprisingly, I found no one was drunk, no one was hitting other. Rather, everyone was trying to help and encourage everyone else. The only one who didn’t dance was me, for I had never seen such a scene in a temple.
After the ceremony got over, I caught hold of Das, who was glad to see me. Again, we had delicious breakfast together, but this time, I had a number of questions for him. Das was very kind, open and patient, while I was inquisitive at some times and challenging at others. But Das never lost patience. I asked him about these strange practices. Das told me that just as we have a form, our father also has a form. So, why can’t the supreme father have a form? But God’s form is not like ours. Our form is temporary, but God’s form is eternal. I also asked him about dancing in front of deities, and he explained that just as the postal department has many mail boxes throughout the city, which are capable of delivering our mail anywhere if we put in it, the Lord appears in his deity form and by connecting to this form, serving this form etc, we can connect to the Lord. All this made perfect sense to me. I slowly began to delve deeper into the philosophy. But what attracted me the most was the selfless love which these people provided. Slowly, I volunteered to offer some minor services. I started chanting the names of Lord,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
First one round on beads, which gradually increased to 16 rounds, the basic minimum recommended. Now I am a practicing Hare Krishna devotee for about 15 years, and to this date, I can confirm that this was the most wonderful gift I’ve received in my life. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.