New Sannyasi for Iskcon.
Halayudha Prabhu recently took sannyasa from HH Radha Govinda Maharaja. This was the first-time a sannyasa ceremony has ever taken place at the ISKCON Bhubaneswar temple.
Over 2,000 devotees, joyously came to take part in the ceremony.
His name now is Haladhara Maharaja. Haladhara Maharaja ki jaya!
Madhavananda das: Halayudha has been preaching in Odisha for many years and is deeply loved by thousands of devotees for his expertise in speaking krishna-katha, his sastric knowledge, sweet nature, renunciation, and complete lack of political behavior.
After the ceremony was completed, Haladhara Maharaja asked me, "Should I begsome alms now?"
"Yes", I said, "I think that would be appropriate."
"What mantra should I chant when asking for bakshish?" he asked.
"You can say, bho mata, (or bho pita), bhavati bhiksham dehi - "O respected mother, (or father), please give me some alms."
earing an announcement that Maharaja was going to accept his first donations, the crowd of devotees became wildly ecstatic. Suddenly there was a huge crush as everyone started pulling out large rupee notes and pushing to get close enough to offer something to him.
Afterwards I laughed and told him, "Maharaja, I think you got a pretty good collection today. You must have gotten enough to make a start on building a new temple."
"No." he said with a serious look on his face, "whatever I collected today, I'll give everything to the temple here."
I was touched by his natural simplicity, humility, and genuine appreciation for the devotees. It's inspiring to see such a good hearted devotee who can nicely represent Gour Govinda Maharaja. We wish him all success in his preaching efforts.