“Drench yourself in the colour of the Lord.” – Paramahamsa Viswananda

Paramahamsa Viswananda, founder of Bhakti Marga is very popularly known as the “Revolutionary Guru.” Through His Grace and Unconditional love, he has caught the attention of many devotees across the world who are searching for a Sat Guru that can lead them on the path towards God Realisation.

His Bhakti Marga mission is head-quartered just outside of Frankfurt Germany, in a large ashram accommodating more than 100 permanent residents and hundreds more guests during celebrations of festivals. Here Guruji speaks about the significance of Holi and the celebrations in Vrindavan.

1. How do you start your day on Holi Guruji?

Holi is the most beautiful and joyous time of the year in Vrindavan. Holi always begins with the worship of Sri Krishna. We perform abhishekam on Giridhari (which is the original deity that belonged to the Saint Meera Bai 500 years ago).

2. Holi according to you is?

Holi is the celebration of Divine love. Like the saints of India, they are absorbed in the love of God, they constantly repeat the Divine name of God. As a result, their egos and pride are purified and what remains is only the Lord. The colours represent the saints that have completely transformed themselves and are drenched in the colour of the Lord.

3. What is the significance of the festival?

The path of Bhakti is to forget about ourselves and to focus the mind on the Lord- to be drenched completely in the love of God- Holi is the festival of love.

4. Your Darshan at Vrindavan on Holi is greatly spoken about.

Please tell us about Darshan

Darshan means Divine sight and then you have something that’s inside of you clicking, something deep inside is touched. That is the connection, that is Darshan. I look at the beauty of your soul, I look at that soul in front of me – what does that soul want? The inner beauty is what I see.

5. Tell us a little bit about the celebration.

First, we start off with the abhishekam to lord Sri Krishna and offer the Holi colours to Him first. From there we make our way outside to start the Holi festival. Everyone is dancing, singing harinaam, jumping around throwing colours at each other. We have such fun and can play for hours. One does not feel tired during this time because the Lord is energizing them with his love.

6. What brings you to Vrindavan without fail on this particular day?

Vrindavan is the heart of the Universe. The Lord is always calling us home, He wants us to be with Him again. Holi reminds us that we are not our mind, but we are a part of him. Our external identities get washed away with the colours and everyone starts to look the same. This shows us that we all are a part of something bigger than ourselves, that we all belong to God. In the end everyone is in dark colours (black ) like lord Sri Krishna.

7. Tell us that one thing you definitely do on the festival day.

One thing that we do on this day is play Holi and have fun with the Lord. This is a time for us to let go of all our doubts and worries and just enjoy the presence of the Lord.

8. What is your message for your devotees on Holi?

To remember we belong to Him as eternal servants. But in actuality, God is always serving us, helping us every step of the way, guiding us home, leading us back to Him. For he is our true beloved and there is truly nothing besides his eternal love for us.