The Māyāpur Project

Spreading the Bliss In Bengal

By Bhakti Puruṣottama Swami

Bhakti Puruṣottama Swami has been active with ISKCON Māyāpur’s Nāma Hāṭṭa program since its inception in 1981. The program helps people in towns and villages throughout Bengal practice Kṛṣṅa consciousness in their homes and among themselves.

A former science student, Bhakti Puruṣottama became a Kṛṣṅa devotee in 1978 and accepted sannyāsa, the renounced order of life, in 1985. Today, as a member of the Māyāpur temple’s administrative council, he oversees a variety of projects, including book distribution, college programs, correspondence courses, as well as the Nāma Hāṭṭa. Here Bhakti Puruṣottama Swami comments about the growth of Māyāpur’s extensive Nāma Hāṭṭa network.

NĀMA HĀṬṬA LITERALLY means “the market-place of the holy name.” Lord Nityānanda (Lord Caitanya’s chief associate) initiated the Nāma Hāṭṭa program, and it was later revived by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. His son Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura started five hundred Nāma Hāṭṭa centers. Śrīla Prabhupāda's followers began the Māyāpur Nāma Hāṭṭa during early 1980s, with bylaws based upon Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s book Godruma Kalpatavi.

Today eighteen hundred Nāma Hāṭṭa centers are registered with our office. About forty-five brahmacārīs (celibate students) serve these centers as field preachers and office staff. Fifteen to twenty thousand people are connected to ISKCON through the Māyāpur Nāma Hāṭṭa. Among them, about one thousand are initiated or ready for initiation and on a waiting list.

Nāma Hāṭṭa members learn to do everything one does while living in a full-scale Kṛṣṅa temple. We teach them how to chant Hare Kṛṣṅa, perform maṅgala-ārati, offer food, put on tilaka, and sing bhajanas. They also learn Kṛṣṅa conscious philosophy in depth, because here in Bengal people are often misled by the philosophy “all paths lead to the same destination.” And many bogus new “Gods” take advantage of innocent people in the name of religion. We train our Nāma Hāṭṭa members carefully so they will be protected.

In the winter I enjoy three to four months traveling with sixty devotees to put on Nāma Hāṭṭa festivals. In each location, we conduct a festival program arranged by local Nāma Hāṭṭa members. The programs include bhajana, kīrtana, ārati, Bhagavad-gītā class, Kṛṣṅa conscious cinema and drama, prasādam distribution, and even a Rathayātrā. The programs last two days, with ten to fifteen thousand people attending each day. Local Nāma Hāṭṭa members cover all the costs.

Many of the countless villages of Bengal still have no Nāma Hāṭṭa, but where only one family practices Kṛṣṅa consciousness we establish a Śraddhā Kuṭīr, or “faith center,” which can develop into a Nāma Hāṭṭa. Often these people began their connection with the program during a visit to Māyāpur. Guests usually attend the morning kīrtana in the temple, and we invite them to chant one round of japa. Those who want more information leave their address, and we’re now in touch with about seven hundred people by letter and phone.

Often young people from Nāma Hāṭṭa families want to move into the temple for more intensive training. Later, if they return to their village, there is no problem, because their family also practices Kṛṣṅa consciousness. It is nice protection for their devotional lives.

One year we began involving our Nāma Hāṭṭa members in book distribution. Since then, with their help, our team of seventy full-time book distributors have distributed more of Śrīla Prabhupāda's books than any other ISKCON center.

The Nāma Hāṭṭa program is now spreading to cities, including Calcutta. We are building a special building to accommodate all the Nāma Hāṭṭa members visiting Māyāpur.

Overall, the Māyāpur temple is expanding very rapidly. Since Prabhupāda's Samādhi opened in 1996, thousands of tourists come every day. Over seven hundred devotees serve full time in the temple, including three hundred brahmacārīs. The temple offers support programs both for those who want to remain lifetime celibates and for those who want to marry. In this way devotees are feeling more secure and can practice Kṛṣṅa consciousness without anxiety.

I feel more than ever that Māyāpur is manifesting as a Kṛṣṅa conscious city, and I am very happy to be part of it. At first I was attracted to devotional service to protect myself from material bondage. I saw ISKCON as the best way to stay engaged in serving the Lord. Now the greatness of the philosophy Śrīla Prabhupāda taught has encouraged me to help teach it. The taste of the philosophy is sweet, and to teach it is even sweeter. It is kevala ānanda kanda—“simply filled with bliss.”

The Māyāpur Project

The Māyāpur Project

An Ideal Education For A Practical Future

In a traditional village environment, students prepare for a Kṛṣṅa conscious life in the modern world.

ŚRĪLA PRABHUPĀDA would often speak of ISKCON as an educational institution, and education will be an essential function of the Śrī Māyāpur Project. A beginning for developing education in Māyāpur has been in place for some time in the form of the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula, a boys boarding school. In line with the traditional Vedic model, the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula gives boys both spiritual and occupational training. Mahāmāyā Devī Dāsī spoke with Vedasāra Dāsa, the school’s principal, about the school today and its plans for the future.

Mahāmāyā Devī Dāsī: Can you say something about the history of the gurukula?

Vedasāra Dāsa: Śrīla Prabhupāda started the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula here in 1974. He brought a few Nepali brāhmaṅas to teach a dozen or so students. At that time the gurukula was located in what is now Śrīla Prabhupāda's bhajana kuṭir.* Since then four schools have developed on the Māyāpur property. Three are day schools. Our school, which is a boys’ boarding school, is called the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula Village (BGV). It’s next to the goshala [fields and barns where cows are tended].

MDD: What is your service in the gurukula?

VD: I have been the BGV principal for the last two years. Most of my life was spent in the gurukula. I was a student for twelve years, after which I became an ashram teacher and eventually the ashram coordinator.

MDD: How many boys are in the school now?

VD: We have thirty-five students, ages eight to eighteen, out of which twenty-six are teenagers. Half of the students are from India, half from abroad.

MDD: What subjects are taught?

VD: Because it’s a boarding school, we teach academic subjects and, in the ashram, a give devotional training. The ashram subjects are Temple Mantras, Vedic Mantras, Deity Worship, Philosophical Debate, Vaiṣṅava Etiquette, Bhakti Śāstrī [scripture study], Bhagavad-gītā Verses, and Cāṅakya Nitiśāstra [moral instructions of the sage Cāṅakya]. We have four ashram teachers.

The academic subjects are English, French, Spanish, Italian, Sanskrit, Bengali, Arts, Science, Geography, Mathematics, World History, and World Religions. We have seven academic teachers.

We also teach vocational subjects: Cooking, Carpentry, Tailoring, Computer, Mṛdaṅga [drum], Electricity, Harmonium, and Deity Dressmaking. We have eight vocational teachers.

MDD: What are the boys’ days like?

VD: They get up at 3:30 in the morning to begin their spiritual program. They have academic classes during the day, and extracurricular activities from 4:00 to 5:30. We have full-size basketball and volleyball courts, a soccer field, a simple exercise room, and a swimming pond. The boys regularly go to the Ganges. I think it’s important that teenage boys engage in sports to release their excess energy in a healthy way.

MDD: What are the school’s plans for the future?

VD: We want to be better equipped to help the older teenage boys find an identity.

MDD: How do parents feel about enrolling their sons in the school?

VD: We have a waiting list of about thirty Western boys and fifty Indian boys. Their parents are eager to admit them into the school. Most parents who visit the school come away with a positive impression.

MDD: How do you view Śrīla Prabhupāda's instructions on gurukula?

VD: Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted us to produce high-quality devotees with excellent character and also basic academic qualifications. I think Śrīla Prabhupāda's instructions will be most effective when the entire ISKCON social infrastructure is stable and healthy. To fulfill Śrīla Prabhupāda's vision for a class of high-quality devotees, we must bring up our children in an emotionally and spiritually stable family environment.

MDD: Are you committed to this project?

VD: Yes, I would certainly like to spend a good part of my life in education, building up a nice gurukula for the upcoming generation. My special interest is in working with older teenage boys and helping them to get situated after graduation. Dedicated and mature devotees are getting involved and showing commitment to the project. One thing that keeps me going is the heartfelt appreciation of both parents and kids. I want to give the next generation a positive Kṛṣṅa conscious experience.

MDD: What is the involvement of the parents of the boys? Do you have a parent/teacher association?

VD: Because we’re an international school with parents scattered far and wide, a PTA per se is not practical. But we keep in close contact with the parents. We strongly encourage all parents and children to keep in regular touch. Parents are advised to write at least every two weeks and telephone once a month. Several parents are working with the school as teachers or administrators.

MDD: Tell me about the older boys and their program—taking the GCSE, their vocational training, and so on.

VD: Senior students study for their British GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education). The students take the exams in Calcutta at the British consulate, and the exams are sent to England for marking. The students receive the same diploma from the University of London as any student in Britain. This is an internationally recognized high school diploma. One of our recent graduates, Nārāyaṅa Dāsa, went straight into an American university.

In addition, the seniors take the Bhakti Śāstrī exam, a six-hour examination on four of Śrīla Prabhupāda's books. Eight boys recently took this exam; four passed with honors, and the other four with high honors.

We try our best to equip the students for life after the gurukula by training them according to their propensities. With their learned skill, trade, or profession, they can offer service to ISKCON or support themselves and their future families.

Vocational training comes in three stages. In the first stage, the boys spend about two years experimenting with the options available. When they have settled on their chosen skill, they receive another two years of more serious training in that area. Stage three is an apprenticeship with a senior skilled devotee. For example, a recent Indian graduate, Gautama Dāsa, is in a two-year apprenticeship course with Dīna Caitanya Dāsa, a Swiss devotee, learning all about construction management.

These three divisions are an integral part of the BGV’s efforts to meet the individual needs of the boys.

Twenty-two-year-old Vedasāra Dāsa was born in Bhutan (near China), and raised in Assam. He joined the Bhaktivedanta Swami Gurukula at age six and has been there ever since.