It was the most incredible experience of my life

It was the most incredible experience of my life drums.jpg (30626 bytes)

Chapter Six - Part One

One morning as I was washing my deity's paraphernalia, I glanced out at the small boat floating next to the ship. The devotees had left some of their clothes inside it and I also noticed some small fish that must have jumped inside the boat as it had sped back and forth bringing devotees from shore. Upon closer inspection I noticed that they had very sharp teeth. The captain's wife came along and pointed to them
"Piranhas," she said.
As we were going along, I remembered how last night I was trying to be merciful to these fish by throwing them back in the water when they jumped in our little boat. She told me that if you pick one up the wrong way and it's alive, it can easily bite off your finger. Hare Krsna!

The fresh water dolphins were always around the ship. One could see them coming up for air almost everywhere on the river. They were very graceful and pretty. As they came out of the water they made a loud blowing noise as they cleared their blowholes to bring in air. There are two kinds of dolphins here, black and red. They are archenemies and often fight. By nature's arrangement there are the good ones and the bad ones. The red ones will attack swimmers in the water, but there are many stories of the black ones coming to the rescue of people in the water in distress.

The local villagers related a recent event concerning the dolphins. One of the small village boys had fallen off a boat the week before our arrival. Not knowing how to swim, he was drowning. Suddenly a black dolphin came and pushed him towards a floating piece of grass and earth. Then she nudged him towards the shore. Meanwhile her mates chased away the red dolphins, who wanted to attack the boy.

Often you'll see paintings in the people's houses of dolphins. They worship the dolphin here.

The villagers in these towns are very inclined towards helping each other. Life is a struggle. There is not the competition for sense gratification there is in the big cities. To survive they must co-operate. I noticed that the children were also very well behaved. When we distributed prasadam they didn't push and shove, but waited for us to give an order as to how they should receive it.

One morning I saw two children coming past us in a small boat with a little engine. As they were chugging along they happened to pass an old man rowing his boat with great difficulty up the river. As they passed him the smaller of the boys reached out spontaneously and grabbed the rope that was attached to the old man's boat. Holding on to the rope, they pulled him up the river.

The captain and his wife were noticeably becoming more favourable. When I met him one morning, he greeted me by saying "Hare Krsna." And the day before his wife had commented that the prasadam they had eaten at the feast was the best food they had eaten in their lives. After Govardhana Puja feast, they both came on sankirtana with us, clapping, chanting and dancing. I asked him later what he thought of his first taste of sankirtana and he told me, "It was the most incredible experience of my life!"

One morning I noticed the hospital boat anchored near us. There are no hospitals for thousands of miles and the villagers don't really have doctors. There are old traditional jungle doctors and witch doctors with the ability to cure many diseases. However the sort of emergency that requires surgery, a person has little chance of survival. For other matters, the hospital boats come through periodically. If someone with serious injury can wait till the next boat arrives, he will receive treatment.

I wondered what would happen if one of the devotees needed emergency care. The chances of needing such treatment are greater in the jungle than back home.
Then I thought to myself, "Where is home for me? And where is a safe place in this material world?"

Srila Prabhupada said that a sannyasi should travel alone, even to dangerous places, to spread the sankirtana movement and learn how to depend fully on Krsna. He should never feel alone, knowing that Krsna is always with him. And he should always feel protected by the Lord. If Krsna is providing for all living entities, then why won't He provide for and protect His fully surrendered devotees? I admit that I am not fully surrendered but I am trying to please Srila Prabhupada by taking this sankirtana movement to this remote region of the world.