Nagpur :- The 75th birthday of Srila Lokanath Swami Maharaj, the beloved disciple of ISKCON founder Acharya A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, was celebrated with a three-day program called Amrit Mahotsav. On the first day, Prabhupada’s disciples gathered to remember and praise their guru, Srila Prabhupada.
The second day’s program began with Mangal Aarti at 4:30 am, followed by Narasimha Aarti. At precisely 5:15 pm, the Shikshastakam, composed by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, was sung. Thousands of devotees, both in person and online, participated in the collective chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra: “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare.”
Vyas Pooja Utsav Samiti spokesperson Dr. Shyamsundar Sharma mentioned that after the chanting, Lokanath Maharaj’s disciples shared their experiences and memories of their Guru Maharaj. This session was conducted by Sanak Sanatan Prabhu from America, with translations from English to Hindi by Anantshesha Prabhu and from Hindi to English by Harikirtan Prabhu.
Prominent devotees who shared their praises included Yamuna Mataji and Paramdham Prabhu from America, Simheswar Prabhu from New Jersey, Gaura Chand Prabhu from Alachua, Shriram Pandit Prabhu from Vrindavan, Ladli Mataji from Santiago America, Kulshekhar Prabhu from South Africa, Sakhivrinda Mataji, and Sundarachal Prabhu from Mauritius. They expressed how the Zoom platform provided them with the company of Guru Maharaj and devotees from around the world, which energized them for the entire day.
Krishna Keshav Prabhu from South Africa and Jai Govind Prabhu from Zambia shared that under Maharaj’s guidance, they conducted pad yatras and rath yatras in Zambia, attracting about four thousand participants. They credited the grace of Guru Maharaj and Radha Shyam Sundar for such a gathering in a small city. Additional speakers included Ramchandra Prabhu from New Jersey, Govardhan Prabhu from New Delhi, Rishikesh Prabhu from Boston, Gadhdhar Pandit from Solapur, and Nityakirti Mataji from Mumbai.
Prabhupadanuga Smritiyotsava
After a short break, the program of Prabhupadanuga Smritiyotsava resumed. This segment was dedicated to remembering the disciples of Srila Prabhupada who had departed for Golok Dham.
First, Bhakti Dhir Damodar Swami Maharaj from South Africa spoke about the qualities of Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaj. He also mentioned Brahmananda Prabhu, highlighting his contributions to West Africa. Originally from America, Brahmananda Prabhu did not believe in racial distinctions and played a crucial role in spreading Krishna consciousness in West Africa through British radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines.
Sarvabhoum Prabhu from Pakistan (an MBBS doctor from Karachi Medical College) shared a story about Srila Prabhupada being challenged by a journalist to preach in Pakistan. Accepting the challenge, Prabhupada sent Brahmananda Prabhu to West Pakistan and Garg Muni to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Despite facing hostility, Brahmananda Prabhu’s efforts laid the foundation for the 14 ISKCON centers in Pakistan and the construction of a large Radha Krishna temple started.
Sarvabhoum Prabhu also provided interesting details about Nrisinha Chaitanya Prabhu and Vibhu Chaitanya Prabhu.
Toshan Krishna Prabhu spoke about the many temples built by New York devotees, including contributions to land purchases in Los Angeles, the Rukmani Dwarkadhish temple in Mumbai Juhu, and the construction of the temple in Vrindavan.
Manjari Mataji remembered Bhakti Swaroop Damodar Maharaj, noting his background as a great scientist who organized four major conferences of the world’s top scientists to promote Krishna consciousness.
Garg Muni Prabhu shared detailed information about Brahmananda Prabhu via video, mentioning that he was the first person in ISKCON history to dance to the Hare Krishna Mahamantra kirtan sung by Prabhupada at Tompkins Square Park.
Bhakti Prem Swami Maharaj, while recalling Bhakticharu Swami Maharaj, humbly attributed his own honor to Bhakticharu Swami Maharaj.
Sitaram Prabhu, a Hindi professor from Russia, reminisced about Anantashanti Prabhu, originally named Anatoly, who met Prabhupada during his first visit to the Soviet Union and embraced Krishna consciousness despite the illegal status of preaching there at the time. ISKCON has since flourished in Russia.
ISKCON Vrindavan’s Chief Financial Officer, Vishwanam Prabhu, recounted how Yashomati Nandan Prabhu built 15 temples in Gujarat while being a householder.
Sundar Chaitanya Swami Maharaj from Mauritius remembered Kadam Kanan Swami Maharaj from America, who spread Krishna Bhakti worldwide. Notably, he performed an outstanding kirtan in London despite being told by doctors that his life was nearing its end. Even then he was doing kirtan with the same enthusiasm. After some time he came to Vrindavan and went to Golok. Sundar Chaitanya Maharaj also praised Bhakti Tirtha Maharaj and Bhakti Charu Maharaj.
Mahadevi Mataji told about Yamuna Mataji of America that she was a great artist. Prabhupada personally taught her to prepare different dishes for prasad of Bhagwan. Yamuna Mataji made an album in collaboration with George Harrison, owner of the Beatle rock band in London, “Govindam Adi Purusham Tamham Bhajami”. When Prabhupada heard this album, tears of joy started flowing from his eyes. At the same time, Prabhupada announced that this album will be played in every ISKCON temple of the world everyday at 7.15 am during the Shringar Aarti. All the temples of the world are still following this ritual.
Finally, Srila Loknath Swami Maharaj told that Prabhupada had 5000 disciples. He built a total of 108 ISKCON temples all over the world. Giving information about the establishment of ISKCON, he told that at the age of 70, Prabhupada was sitting in a rented room in New York with ten to twelve hippie boys. All of them had become followers of Prabhupada. Prabhupada asked, “I want to form an organization, will you support me?” The boys asked what we have to do for this. Then Prabhupada said that I have four conditions, you will have to be follow it. These are 1) No one will consume intoxicants, even tea and coffee. 2) You will not have illegal relations with women. 3) You will not eat meat, fish, not even garlic and onion. 4) You will never gamble. After listening to these conditions, everyone started looking at each other. Then Prabhupada asked everyone who is ready to accept these conditions. Then everyone raised their hands together and ISKCON was formed. One of them Shyamsundar Prabhu was given the responsibility of its registration. These ten to twelve people almost all became sannyasis. With their help, Prabhupada made 5000 disciples and 108 temples.
After the lunch break at four in the afternoon, the children of Gurukul and Jagannath Prabhuji did Mangalacharan with Vedic mantras. After that, in the 75th year, jal and prasad from 75 pilgrimages were dedicated to Srila Loknath Swami Maharaj. After this, the Adhivas program started in which various types of bhajans were performed. In the end, in the cultural program, Odissi dance and the second part of the drama on the biography of Srila Loknath Swami Maharaj was presented.
