Wives exclaimed Krishna Consciousness birthday party as the best

A few cream products of India; the professionals working or studying in Germany's border city with The Netherlands were the guests invited at the birthday party of Siddhi Bhardwaj, a little girl whose parents Om Prakash Bhardwaj and Uma mataji holds high post at a university located in Aachen. Being educated, they have the opportunity to come across the globe and show their expertise. It would be even better if they cultivate Krishna consciousness because that will add spiritual value in whatever they would do.

Hare Krishna to you Siddhi

Having seen this lovable family several times at Radhadesh and their children getting into peer group association with ours, we are found touched to each other and of course in Krishna consciousness community we all are one family. 

In this family spirit we the Vedic cultural home in Boxtel, Netherlands, were invited to visit this Bhardwaj family several times, but each request was diverted to who should visit first to whom. We have also invited them to our cultural program we organise every 3rd Saturdays. Then one day, the deal was made that if the Vedic cultural programs such as bhajan, kirtan glorification of the Lord Krishna is to be held, we shall always come together. Then the day was fixed on their daughters birthday on 26th October, that the birth day party will have the Lord Krishna in the center. We drove to them for this event of high auspiciousness. 

Normally people do organize feasting or parties but the general mood is to get together, eat, (mostly non sanctified food and even meat and wine), sing the film songs or shake in the modern disco and get exhausted physically and materially with out any gain or achieve any higher purpose. This way of none sense social get- together should be actually avoided because it serves no higher purpose of life, nor pleases any one at the end. Or it needs to be modified and tuned only into Krishna consciousness so that piety will be achievable for all those engaged in such events.

Srila Prabhupada advices to center our activities in the loving service to the Lord Krishna so that our human form of life will be meaningful. He has appealed to Indians to purify their existence and help others also develop the higher consciousness; to become Krishna conscious. So, the Indians spread in the Western countries have bigger responsibilities to exhibit that they are elevated to Krishna consciousness- the most amicable art of living in conjunction to the Vedic wisdom. It will be shameful and detrimental to Hinduism if parties such as birthday or Dipavali tempts only to gratify the senses in place of focusing it to please the supreme divine.

We the Krishna conscious cultured cream product of the world have more elevated options and solutions to every piece of activities that would draw higher results. If you were in this birthday party you would have really liked it what we did. 

We set an altar for the Lord Krishna and Yasoda Damodar in the sitting room of the host- Bhardwaj although they had an altar in a corner of their house. It is the Indian tradition that they do provide a space for the almighty in their home. We have taken the harmonium, kartals and mrdanga and our daughter Kesavi makes brilliant use of it tuned into mahamantra- Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.  

It was Damodar month so after singing this mantra for about an hour we sang Damodar Astakam and offered lamps to the lord collectively. Everyone was fully engaged. There were about 30 adults and many children. They all sat on the floor and sang this mahamantra. It was spiritually charged and ecstatic. All of them were very happy. In addition, Bhagavad Gita As It Is edition was put forward and from its chapter 10: 25 the message of the Lord Krishna was explained in which it is mentioned that singing in devotion this maha mantra is the highest form of religion, the devotional service, the Japa Yagya recommended for this modern age of quarrel and hypocrisy. At the end prasad was served that was offered to Krishna which means clean cooking vegetarian dishes without onion and garlic. Such dishes acts as the diet while the mantra as the medicine.

Om Prakash prabhu with the children
offering Damodar lamps

One day later, Om Prakash Bhardwaj phoned us and said, 'the birthday party in Krishna consciousness was very very wonderful and everybody liked it'. I asked him, 'how did you know that all of your guests liked it?' He replied; 'the wives were telling to their husbands that this way  of celebrating the birthday is very nice that they liked it very much!' 'Their husbands also agreed indeed, and said; ' yes! we were very happy'. 

Whey were they happy on that moment? After all the birthday party did not have disco, hot drinks, buffet and a big show? Yet all of the participants were jubilant!  The answer is; if we engage our senses to glorify and satisfy the supreme Lord Krishna, whose part and parcels we are in reality, we will derive happiness from within, our soul gets nourished by the Maha Mantra Hare Krishna and we will be happy. 

Gautam. naamhat@hotmail.com