From a snow-filled Simhachalam, Kadamba Kanana Swami made his way up north to the United Kingdom. His first stop there was in Leicester, where he stayed at the home of Puskara and Hara for two days. Using that as his base, Maharaja attended a six-hour kirtan program on Saturday afternoon (16 February) that was dedicated to Sri Advaita Acarya, whose appearance day was celebrated. Maharaja started-off by explaining the extraordinary role of Advaita Acarya:
[quote]Only Krsna himself, only Bhagavan himself can give Krsna prema. Therefore Advaita Acarya wanted that somehow or other Krsna would appear. One day he was reading in one scripture that if you offer the Lord just some ganga jal and some tulasi leaves then the Lord has nothing in his possession to give in exchange and therefore all he can do is give himself. When Advaita Acarya saw that he thought, ‘This is it, this is it! I found it!’ Therefore sometimes they say that Advaita Acarya was worshipping the Salagrama Sila with ganga jal and tulasi leaves. But I think that maybe it wasn’t worship. I think it was a conspiracy! He forced, he simply forced Lord Caitanya to appear in this world![/quote]
After a short introduction, Maharaja then went full-steam into a two-hour rocking kirtan. It was low key for the first five minutes but shortly thereafter, everyone was on their feet dancing until eventually Maharaja himself got up to chant and dance in the midst of the crow of ecstatic devotees.
On Sunday, an initiation ceremony was held were Hina Mataji and Bhakta Dean were initiated. In his class, Maharaja gave the analogy of how he first peacefully loads up their little boats with all sorts of good advice before he suddenly gives them a big push and sends the boats out on the ocean. The big push of course is the actual initiation, where Maharaja gave them nama-diksa and named them Harsarani Devi Dasi and Devananda Dasa.
On Monday, Maharaja then travelled to London to the Bhaktivedanta Manor. He took a break there for two days to rest for the journey to Vrndavana and just gave one Srimad Bhagavatam class on Tuesday morning (19 February). The class centered on the glories of Madhvacarya, since it was the anniversary of his disappearance day. Maharaja elaborated on Madhvacarya’s role in the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya and the mysteries of our disciplic succession.
Below you can find the classes that Maharaja gave during his stay in England. To download them, just right-click on a title and “save target as”. Further down, you will find a slide-show depicting the events. If you cannot view it, just visit flickr!
KKS – Advaita Acarya – 16 February 2013 in Leicester, England
KKS – Initiation, BG. 4.37 – 17 February 2013 in Leicester, England
KKS – SB.8.5.13 – 19 February 2013 in London, England
