(HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, 8th August 2012, Slovenia, The Balkans Lecture: SB 1.3.28)
Devotee: What was the most ecstatic kirtan?
Maharaja: Well, every kirtan is ecstatic. The kirtan that you are performing is the most ecstatic… It’s always ecstatic. Of course, when the mercy goes out, then I must say that is especially ecstatic. We see that when the kirtan goes out to those who are suffering, they start to chant. In Africa, we had some really nice kirtans with people who lived in the squatter-camps, along the railway line.
One time, we went with a group of students. As soon as we started with the kirtans then the people came running out of their houses and immediately embraced the kirtan party. The kirtan party had already been there before so they knew a little bit of the Maha Mantra and they started to chant along. Then it got more and more fired up and one devotee started saying: Haribol, Haribol! Some African ladies figured it out immediately and so everyone was singing: Haribol, Haribol!
They were 500 kids and one devotee did some fancy dancing steps and all 500 kids started doing the same fancy dancing steps. That was pretty ecstatic! There were kids with a plastic garbage can – they cut it in half and made it into a cart; at one point the kids were sitting in the cart and the matajis were jumping around them.
Then the lady who was leading the kirtan, was singing cheek to cheek with a child who lived at the railway line. These people, although they were not regular devotees, they had so much fun while chanting Hare Krishna! They can never forget it and they’ll will never have fun like this… definitely not! They will obviously be waiting again and saying: When is the kirtan party coming again? That was a really good kirtan!
