Shrimad Bhagvat Katha held on Royal Caribbean Cruise

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Jaya Travel & Tours organized a week-long cruise aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship with the spiritual teachings of Shrimad Bhagvat by Shri Rameshbhai Oza, popularly known as Pujya Bhaishree.

The cruise departed from Seattle on July 14 and it brought together about 800 devotees from around the world who are also members of the Board of Trustees of the Sanskruti Foundation USA.

Karshni Gurusharanananda Swami of the Udasin Ashram in Raman, Reti Gokul and Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati, the spiritual head of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh were also spreading their religious spirit on this unique cruise.

Specially prepared Jain vegetarian meals were available onboard, round-the-clock and a satsang was held daily with the readings of Shrimad Bhagvat, reiterating the childhood stories of Lord Krishna with bhajans sung by Pujya Bhaishree.

The cruise featured cultural programs as well with comedy sessions by Sri SaiRam from Gujarat and musical features such as Raas-Garba.

While everyone took time for some shore excursions whenever the ship was docked on land, Pujya Bhaishree and Pujya Muniji took a helicopter ride over a glacier and walks in parks.

Having the Srimad Bhagvat Katha aboard a cruise ship changed the atmosphere from ‘fun and relaxing’ to ‘divine and relaxing’ and as per from Pujya Bhaishree’s instructions, the pothi or holy book of Shrimad Bhagvat, rested in a devotee’s room each night, instead of residing in a single location as per tradition so that bhajans could be sung at different locations each day.

“Nearly a year of hard work, planning, and reaching out to the Indian community and Americans around the world, paid off. Hearts overflowed with joy, tears welled up in our eyes as the participants of the cruise personally experienced the presence of Lord Sri Krishna,” said Arvin Shah, founder and CEO of Jaya Travel.

“It was indeed heartening to see the nearly 800 participants from around the world have a unique experience of the divine and at the same having a memorable cruise with the inspiring presence of Pujya Bhaishree Rameshbhai Oza, Karshni Gurusharanananda Swami, and Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati,” he added.

According to the holy book of Shrimad Bhagvat, Lord Krishna himself is an infinite ocean residing within this Holy Scripture which is itself an ocean of love and devotion thus having such a katha on a cruise was iconic.