To Russia With Love

In the crisp autumn air the chime of the kartals and the beat of the mrdanga drum rang clear as we chanted and danced our way through the cobblestones streets of Moscow. The Moscowvites,many of them hearing the holy names of Krsna for the first time,looked on with interest, witnessing a prophecy made over 500 years ago by the the Supreme personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu,that the chanting of Hare Krsna would go to every town and village of the world.

Weaving our way through the crowds the chanting reverberated off the old building, many of them decorated with the symbol of communism, the famous hammer and sickle. Born and bred in America, “the land of the free”, I never imagined I would one day be chanting and dancing through the streets of Moscow, proclaiming the glories of God. But here I was with my Russian Godbrothers, embracing a common ideal, transcending all barriers in our service to the Lord.

Lord Caitanya had proclaimed the chanting of Hare Krsna to be the most effective means of God realization in the present age of Kali.Previously great sages had thought that His prediction applied only to India, where people could appreciate such a God conscious message. Who would have imagined it would come true in the Soviet Union, where the practice of religion was conspicuous by its absence! Our spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada carried that message to Russia himself in 1975, planting the seeds of Krsna Consciousness that have now matured into a genuine spiritual movement in the heart of the communist world.

As our kirtana party paused beneath a statue of Lenin in a small square in the center of the city, a crowd gathered, staring curiously at the devotees, their fellow countrymen, some of whom were in traditional Vedic attire. The contrast was evident: smiling devotees dancing in colorful robes and saris and the Moscowvites in greys and brown stolidly staring back.Visvamitra das spoke convincingly to the crowd about the nature of the miseries of material life and the joy of Krsna consciousness. He spoke with realization, having spent 3 years in a labour camp for his Krsna conscious religious beliefs. His words touched the people. Just behind him, one old Russian woman, her face lined with age and with two grandchildren in tow, pulled continuously at her skirt, holding up her handkerchief full of rubles, indicating she wanted one of the Russian Bhagavad Gitas he was presenting to the crowd.

While he was speaking other devotees went through the crowd distributing more of Srila Prabhupada’s books. Ananda Caitanya spoke with one Russian soldier, just back from the war zone in Afganistan.The soldier, loyal to his country, inquired what the devotees could offer the Soviet Union in this changing time. He listened intently as Ananda Caitanya explained the true purport of glasnost and perestroika, or “openness and the need or reformation”.

“The freedom to pursue religious life,” Ananda Caitanya explained. “is in fact, the right of every human being and the ability to inquire about God is our special prerogative. The openness of glasnost is giving us, as Soviet devotees, the opportunity to express these cherished rights and thus give our fellow countrymen the opportunity to achieve the highest goal of life, love of God. Our contribution to Perestroika, or reformation, is to help rebuild our society with principles based on God consciousness.”

Placing a Bhagavad Gita in the soldier’s hand, he continued,” A society based on the principles of religion, with God in the center, is the perfect conception of communism…but spiritual communism. Rather than everything belonging to the State, everything actually belongs to God, and therefore should be used in His service.” The soldier pondered the words, and after a few moments reached in his pocket taking out 50 rubles (1/4 of the average wage for a Russian worker) and handed it to Ananda Caitanya for a Bhagavad Gita. “No small donation for a soldier!”, I mused to myself.

After some time we left the square and began chanting through the streets again. Soon the Kremlin came into full view and I could only help but smile to myself thinking that the awakenings of religious freedom here were bringing the chanting of God’s names to the cradle of the communist world. From the offices near the Kremlin, faces stared out in disbelief. “Conservatives in the Politburo?”, I thought to myself, “Haven’t they heard of the recent changes? Sweeping reforms have brought the Hare Krsna Movement from the underground to the streets of Moscow. The times are changing.”

As I looked upon the faces of the Soviet devotees immersed in kirtana, eager to share that bliss with their fellow countrymen, I remembered their darker years imprisoned in labour camps and psychiatric hospitals. They had persevered in the most difficult times. But things were changing now, with glasnost and perestoiks, as the true purport of these poignant expressions became manifest in the devotees openness to express their love for God and their offer of the real means towards reformation.

As evening fell, and the crowded streets emptied, we started back for home. I couldn’t help but think that the eagerness of the Moscowvites for spiritual knowledge that day was always there and now that times had changed it poured forth with renewed enthusiasm. The photos on these pages give evidence to those truths and remain beacons of light for others struggling for such religious freedom.


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