Question:
There is a craze for kirtan mela around the world. How do you see this rise in chanting the holy name?
Answer:
Well basically it’s very good. You know it’s a lot better to go a kirtan mela and get into the kirtan, it’s a lot better to do that than stay at home and watch Bollywood, Aiswarya and Abhisheik. No thanks! You want to destroy your Krishna consciousness as quickly as possible just watch Aiswarya and Abhisheik and just watch all that nonsense stuff, really. So it’s a lot better to be in a kirtan mela than to do that sort of thing or just any kind of materialistic type of activity.
Having said that, having said that, there are some important considerations also. You know if devotees are into kirtan mela but not into chanting sixteen rounds a day, minimum, that means there is something wrong.
If devotees are only into kirtan mela with other devotees, it’s just a whole devotee program but they’re also not interested in taking the kirtan out into the public, sankirtan. We quoted that line just a few minutes ago, kali-kaler dharma krsna-nama-sankirtana, that in the kali yuga the yuga dharma kali kaler dharma the specific religious activity for kali yuga is krsna nama sankirtana. Sankirtan means in public as distinct from a few of us getting together and having a kirtan together, which is nice, not that it is wrong at all, it’s nice, but sankirtan which is the yuga dharma means taking the chanting of the holy names out into public and chanting with the public.
So kirtan melas, we love them, we had the kirtan mela here, several months ago, wasn’t that just outstanding, it was just outstanding. But it can’t just end there, we’re meant to move forward, this means on the basis of our inspiration from kirtan mela we should now be inspired to take the kirtan out into the public. Yes. Not just keep it amongst ourselves, our little group. But to take it out.
If the kirtan mela worked, including our Mauritian kirtan mela, if it really worked and if it was really successful then more people would have become inspired, really inspired to take the kirtan out. It’s very nice in Mauritius, there is regular harinaam, it’s very nice, so more devotees should be going on that. If that’s happening then we know kirtan mela is really successful.
(Transcribed from a questions and answers session in Mahebourgh, Mauritius on 12-12-2015)