Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“Shri Ramesh Baba Ji Maharaj is the greatest saint of Braj,” Brahmini said. “In fifty-
eight years, he never leaves Braj. When he came, there were robbers at Maan Mandir. They
gave troubles to Shri Ramesh Baba Ji Maharaj. They threatened him and brought twelve
guns. But Shri Ramesh Baba Ji Maharaj didn't yield. He's doing so many good works for
India, specifically Braj. Braj has so many sacred places, but they are in a state of immense
destruction.”
I perked up when he got to the Yamuna. “Yamuna River is also in very bad condition,”
he intoned. “From New Delhi fresh water is not coming to Braj. It is stopped at the dam at
Wazirabad. And instead of water, only stool and urine is coming to Braj. So yatra started
two weeks ago in Allahabad, where Yamuna has confluence with Ganga. When yatra gets
to New Delhi one month from now, millions of people will come to protest to the prime
minister.”
Stool and urine, I scribbled in my notebook. Millions of people. Prime minister.
“Shri Ramesh Baba Ji Maharaj's programs are not just for Braj,” Brahmini said. “Not
just for all of India. But for all of the world.” He emphasized more than once that they ac-
cepted no money from the people who came to Maan Mandir, that free meals were given
to all comers.
The most important part of their work, he said, was in the chanting of the holy names of
God—specifically those of Krishna and of Radha, his lover and counterpart. Radha, milk-
maid of milkmaids, was Krishna's true love when he roamed the hills of Braj—never mind
that she was married—and their relationship was so important to these particular followers
of Krishna that they rarely spoke of one without the other.
“So much power is in the holy name of God,” Brahmini said. “You want to make sure
that as many people hear the name of God as possible.” Maan Mandir had been distribut-
ing megaphones to devotees in small villages, so they could circulate through town every
morning, chanting Hare Krishna, spreading the names of God. The program had reached
thirty thousand villages so far.
I took a moment to mourn a million quiet village mornings ruined by amplified chant-
ing. But Brahmini assured me it was worth it. “People and animals are salvated only by
hearing it,” he said. “The entire atmosphere of the village is purified.”
Holy names could do more than purify village life. They were critical for the broader
environment, a spiritual action necessary to confront the irreversible destruction predicted
by scientists. “Only by chanting of holy names, the future and environmental problems can
be saved,” Brahmini said. “He was a great environmentalist also, Lord Krishna was.”
In the evening we went to see Shri Baba preach. The sermon—or maybe it was a con-
cert—took place in a breezy, square room in one of the buildings down the hill from the
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