Nagara-Saṅkīrtana

The next day, 30 December, at 8 o’clock in the morning, Śrīla Gurudeva was placed in a sitting position on a palanquin decorated with flowers. Accompanied by thousands of devotees singing saṅkīrtana, he proceeded to the nearby Śrī Devānanda Gauḍīya Maṭha. An unprecedented scene took place as the inhabitants of Śrī Navadvīpa who resided on the path of the procession came out of their homes to offer him praṇāma, even from a distance.

Some offered āratī and some cried out,

“Jaya Śrīla Gurudeva! Jaya Śrīla Gurudeva!”

In Śrī Devānanda Gauḍīya Maṭha, Śrīla Gurudeva took darśana of his most worshipful gurupāda-padma, Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, and his senior Godbrother Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja, as well as jagad-guru Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda-Bihārī and Śrī Lakṣmī-Varāhadeva. In this way, he announced that now he had come to join them in Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma.

Śrīla Gurudeva’s Godbrothers and the devotees of Śrī Devānanda Gauḍīya Maṭha then offered āratī to Śrīla Gurudeva. Tears filled the eyes of nearly all at the sight of Śrīla Gurudeva coming before his own gurudeva. After taking darśana of his gurupāda-padma and offering him praṇāma, Śrīla Gurudeva proceeded to the steps of Pañca-veṇī, also known as Manipurī-ghaṭa, to have darśana and offer his praṇāmas to beautiful Gaṅgājī, just as he used to do during his manifest presence at the time of Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma parikramā. The saṅkīrtana party accompanying Śrīla Gurudeva was so large that all who saw it thought they were witnessing the performance of his Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma parikramā.