Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj travelled to the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh this week. He completed an intense five-day schedule, visiting three towns separated by 3–5 hours drive where he led several programmes a day. His trip was organised by Sripad B. N. Shanta Maharaj and the community of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math’s devotees in South India.
In his preaching Srila Acharya Maharaj emphasised the teachings given specifically by Sriman Mahaprabhu: to practice devotion by engaging in Hari-nam-sankirtan rather than simply puja; to engage in service solely for the satisfaction of Krishna rather than the satisfaction of oneself; and to aspire for the service of the Vaishnav rather than the service of Krishna Himself. In South India the worship of Krishna directly—the worship of Krishna without the shelter of His devotee—is predominant; Srila Acharyadev pointedly emphasised the radical focus upon anugatya-bhajan which is the life of the Gaudiya sampraday.
Srila Acharyadev’s preaching was very well received: hundreds of people attended his lively discourses, numerous persons accepted initiation, and more than forty people confirmed they would join the Gaur Purnima festival in Nabadwip this year. Two temples were donated to Srila Acharyadev’s care and he accepted them in order to fulfil Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj’s long-standing desire to make a temple of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in South India.
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