A Glimpse in the life of Sripad Aindra Prabhu

Aindra Prabhu was born in Virginia, U.S.A in 1953 in an artistic family. His father played bluegrass music, his mother the harp, his brother the bass, and he himself took to the guitar—as well as other instruments and crafts. He happened to meet the devotees in Washington D. C. in the summer of 1973 while they were out on street sankirtana. Aindra Prabhu eagerly joined in, followed them back to the temple, and moved in more or less right away. A few months later, on Nityananda Trayodasi, he was initiated into the Gaudiya-sampradaya and given the name Aindra Dasa by Srila Prabhupada.

The 24-hour kirtana revival began on the Rama-vijaya-dasami of 1986. That day commemorates the vijaya (victory) of Lord Ramacandra over the demon Ravana. But the param vijayate, the supreme victory, Lord Caitanya declared, is sri krsna sankirtanam, the loud chanting of the Holy Names of Krishna, because that chanting conquers not only bad qualities but ultimately birth and death as well. Not only that, but it is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss and enables us to fully taste the nectar we always hanker for.

And so, on the auspicious day of Rama-vijaya-dasami, the 24-hour kirtana started under the auspices of Aindra Prabhu, and it remained so for the next twenty-four years. As Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa at the age of twenty-four and performed sankirtana, both publicly and privately, for the next twenty-four years, Aindra Prabhu also journeyed to Vrindavan twenty-four years ago with the intention of dedicating his body, mind, and soul to the sankirtana movement—which he did, also for a period of twenty-four years.

Aindra Prabhu had the potency to stay in one place and affect the world, but those who travel can also affect the world. The real point is the intensity of purpose: letting go of petty, mundane attachments, and focusing on our goal. This is Aindra Prabhu’s example and our challenge. And we can take heart from the example of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who preached vigorously in Bengal and fought against many deviant sects but later became discouraged because the deviant groups he had fought to expose, and whom he had subdued for some time, were coming back again. In his despondent state, he had a dream in which Caitanya Mahaprabhu told him to go to Jagannatha Puri and establish a bhajana-kutira near Haridasa Thakura's samadhi and just chant the holy names there. His chanting, Mahaprabhu told him, would purify the whole world.