IN THE WOODS AND IN THE SWEAT

Saturday, April 26th, 2025

Bras D'eau, Mauritius

Akilananda, Danapati, and I had just left from the Krishna Balarama temple where the late Kadamba Kanana Swami was honoured on his birth anniversary.  I shared my poem detailing the glories of this great monk before heading for an annual Ratha Yatra fest.  Along the way we stopped at a national park at Bras D’eau where there was a lovely tall growth of trees amidst the volcanic soil.  There are nature trails throughout the forest.  You might get disappointed to find practically no wildlife.  The odd lizard, bird, not much else.  Let’s not forget when European settlers came in, the unique bird, the dodo, became extinct.   Sad news!

Upon arrival at the village Petite Raffray (I don’t know why it’s called a village at population 45,000) we met local monk, Sundar Chaitanya Swami, at the microphone hitched to modest cart of Jagannatha, chanting that Hare Krishna mantra away.  Local show owners and residents came out of their doors to greet the chanters and the Lord.  Young and old formed the parade and it was young and old that stood by in reverence to the ancient practice of a holy procession.

The swami handed me the mic and from there I led the kirtan almost to its completion.  What a lengthy stretch it was.  Although the time of day was late afternoon and going into the dark, our collective sweat was plenty.  There was much joy in the celebration.

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU!

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