Page 40 - GOTIL (ENG) Sample

8 Glimpses of Traditional Indian Life

would gradually come after finishing their day’s work.
Sizable crowds would come, at least a few hundred
people every night. Bigger functions that were arranged
in advance would draw thousands of people, who would
walk up to twenty kilometers to attend. For special
occasions like these, women would dress in their best
sārīs and ornaments and maybe a little make-up —
nothing extravagant. Being simple villagers, they dressed
according to their means.

All the village dignitaries would one-by-one express
appreciation of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement’s
being spread all over the world. Overriding our protests
they would ridiculously overpraise us. Despite my
regularly urging him not to, a student of Dhaka University
who traveled with me for some time would introduce me
as a double Ph.D. from Oxford University even though I
never attended any university. The local speakers would
refer to us as paramahaṁsas, mahā-bhāgavatas, and other
exaggerated epithets. They often liked to speak a little
12
philosophy also, which was sometimes good in that
most Hindus in Bangladesh have at least rudimentary
knowledge of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava teachings — for instance,
that Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to save the fallen souls
of Kali-yuga by spreading the holy name. But not so good
was when they would include their own speculative ideas.

For many of the Bangladeshi Hindus, having Western
sādhus appear in their tranquil pastoral homes was
12. Paramahaṁsa and mahā-bhāgavata are terms used to denote
topmost devotees.