Thursday, March 31, 2011

Arrival in Puri Dham

Our train ride was pretty uneventful except that the AC was broken in our car so we were re-seated in another car. Gourangapada Maharaj called us to check if our train was running late, which compartment we were seated etc. He called again to let us know that someone would meet us at the station and there was prasadam waiting for us at the ashram. "Wonderful!" I exclaimed, I really couldn't contain my joy. When we arrived in Puri a gentleman in karmi dress greeted us, "Are you Madri devi dasi?" "Yes, I'm Madri." He seemed like a Vaishnava but kept no Vaishnava dress. This was strange because unlike in the West, you could immediate spot Vaishnavas by their proud dress. I couldn't be sure who I was dealing with and asked his name, "I'm Jaya Krishna." he answered, but it was too loud at the station. "Prabhu, did he say Jaya Keshava or Jaya Krishna?" I asked my husband. He also couldn't hear over the trains and bustle of the crowds, "We can ask him again at Maharaj's ashram." he said. We took an auto-rickshaw to the ashram and were exhausted but excited to finally meet with our sweet Maharaj. When we arrived we spent so much time chatting and discussing everything. Maharaj introduced us to his crew and we happily took prasad and finally went to bed...

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