Observing Purushottama Adhika Masa
→ ISKCON Malaysia

BY SIMHESWARA DASA

KUALA LUMPUR - Every year devotees get the opportunity to increase spiritual credits by taking part in the Kartik/Damodara Month Vrata. This year there is another special month for everyone to take advantage of and to earn 1000 times more spiritual benefits than the Kartik Month. And this month, the Purushotam Adhika Masa which begins on June 17 and ends July 16 (for Malaysia) happens only once every three years. For family members it will be the best time to take advantage and organize at least one day/night programme in your homes and hear from the Bhagavad Gita. All that needs to be done is to call our ISKCON centres (03-7980 7355 HQ) and arrange your home programme, invite your friends and relatives and join the bhajans, kirtan, Krishna katha and distribute Krishna prasadam to all.

  • A simple programme as this will bring many fold spiritual benefits to the host and all who participate.
  • What the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna says about this month and what many other great personalities say?
  • How to observe the Vrata?
  • How to break the Vrata after one month's observance?
  • What are the glories of Purushottama Masa?

HOW TO OBSERVE THE PURUSOTTAMA MASA VRATA

1. Attending mangalarati without missing, chanting before mangalarati.

2. Chant Hare Krsna Mahamantra extra rounds for entire month: 24, 32, 64, 108.

3. Maximum Benefits by Observing Vrata in Vrndavana, Mayapur or any ISKCON temple.

4. Offering daily a ghee lamp,flowers and tulasi leaves to Radha-Krsna Deities.

5. Daily parikrama to Tulasi Devi and mandira parikrama (4 times).

6. Daily read Srimad Bhagavatam Tenth Canto cp. 14 Brahma stuti.

7. Daily chanting astakas and bajans( like Jagannathastakam and vaisnavacharya bhajans).

8.Fast till noon and eat only fruits or just vegetables without any beans or grains. (like ekadasi for one month!) once a day if you can. Or just eat mahaprasadam. Take a vow according to your capacity to follow.

9. Take a vow to avoid mundane topics.

10. Be careful not to blaspheme any devotees, brahmanas, saints, cows, sastras or especially anyone observing the Purusottama Month Vrata.

HOW TO BREAK THE PURUSOTTAMA VRATA AFTER ONE MONTH?

1. Offer pushpanjali and dandavats to deities and vaisnavas.

2. Give charity to brahmanas to best of your ability. **Best charity to give Srimad Bhagavatam to qualified Vaisnava devotee brahmana. This charity will deliverall forefathers to Goloka dhama and the association of Lord Purusottam!***Other recommended gifts: new clothes, pairs of new shoes

3. Feed brahmanas with prasadam

BENEFITS OF OBSERVING PURUSOTTAMA VRATA

1. All the holy places in the world come to reside in the body.

2. One who observes Purusottama Month with faith and devotion will go back home, BTG to serve Radha-Govinda eternally in Goloka Vrndavana at the end of his life!

These are the recommended vratas described in Padma Purana Purusottama Masa Mahatyam.

Glories of Purusottama month (from Padma and Skanda Puranas)

Lord Sri Krishna:

"Purusottama month has all the power I have to bless its observer.

One who follows Purusottama vrata will destroy all his past sinful reactions.

Without performing Purusottama vrata, one cannot perform pure devotional service.

The value of Purusottama month is far more valuable than all other types of austerities and religious activities mentioned in the Vedas.

Anyone who observes Purusottama vrata will return to my abode, Goloka, at the end of his life".

Durvasa Muni:

"Just by bathing in a holy river during Purusottama month, one becomes sinless. The glory of all other months is not equal to one-sixteenth of the glory of the Purusottama month. By bathing in a holy place, giving charity and chanting the Holy Name Krsna during Purusottama month, all miseries are destroyed; one attains all kinds of perfection and fulfills all his desires

Valmiki Muni:

"By observing Purusottama vrata, one attains more benefit than performing one hundred horse sacrifices. All holy places live within the body of a Purusottama month vrati. Anyone who faithfully performs Purusottama vrata will go to Goloka Vrndavana".

Narada Muni:

"Purusottama month is the best of all months, vratas and austerities. Just by faithfully hearing the glories of Purusottama month, one attains krsna-bhakti and immediately nullifies his sinful reactions. One who performs Purusottama vrata properly will attain unlimited sukrti and go to the spiritual world.

Naimisaranya Sages:

"Merciful Purusottama month acts like a desire tree to fulfill a devotee's desire".

“Sacred Herb” in Vedic Ceremonies
→ The Enquirer

Cakṣuṣa’s wife Ākūti gave him a son named [Cāksuṣa] Manu. This illustrates that humanity (manu) has desire (ākūti) in their eyes (cakṣu). They covet everything they see.

Manu’s Empress, Naḍvalā delivered Manu twelve sons, representing twelve facets of the ceremonies that fulfill humanity’s desires like a flowing river (naḍvalā).

She named her first son after the result of these ceremonies: Puru (many blessings). She named the rest of her children after the ceremonial aspects crucial for bringing about these blessings.

Her second and third sons she named Kutsa and Trita. Kutsa (sacred herb) is mixed with Trita (water) to prepare the most important part of Vedic ceremonies: the sacred beverage soma. Soma is offered to the gods in expensive goblets, along with great wealth. Thus her fourth child was named Dyumna (wealth).

The conduct of a religious ceremony cannot be shallow or facetious. The empress therefore named her next three sons after the three qualities essential to the performers of religious ceremonies: Satyavān (truthful), Ṛta (lawful), Vrata (dedicated).

She named her next two children after the all important beginning and endings of the ceremonies: Agniṣṭoma (praises for the invocation of fire) and Atīrātra (concluding dedication). Both of these must be done with great care and intellect, so she named her next child Pradyumna (intelligence).

She named her final two children after the most basic, fundamental elements of the ceremony, the birch wood (Śibi) and kindling (Ulmuka).

— Translation of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.13.15-16

By Vraja Kishor dās [VrajaKishor.com]


Tagged: sacred herb, soma, vedic ceremony, vedic ritual

Bhagavatam-daily 237 – 11.11.43 – See various worshipable things as pathways to the supreme worshipable
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Bhagavatam daily Podcast:

Download by “right-click and save content”

Notable progress
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 22 May 2015, Cronulla, Australia, Intro to Kirtan)

Question: Just wondering, some persons have been chanting for quite some time now and have asked me and I would like to ask you, what sort of symptoms should we see in ourselves if we are really progressing in our attachment to the chanting? If we are really doing it properly, is there some way we can know that it is really working in a progressive sense?

1978-08-32When we are progressing, first we gain stability. The chanting offers us an anchor. It offers us something deeper, something spiritual and naturally we begin to inquire a bit more about the meaning, about where it comes from. We may read something like Bhagavad-gita, a Vedic text which gives us some understanding where we begin to realize that we are spirit and that is an important point. We all have bodies and bodies are machines.

Just like when you go into hospital sometimes and they change a part or they fix some loose screws. I mean, it is just like when the car goes to the garage, right. What is the difference? It is a machine. They treat it like a machine also. The body is described in Sanskrit as yantra – machine. So as part of advancement, our awareness becomes broader and deeper. When we begin to realize that we are spirit then a whole spiritual dimension opens to us. Then, there is Krsna. Between the individual spirit and Krsna, there is a relationship and that relationship is always there. You know, HE provides the energy for the sun and the sun shines. HE provides the taste in what we eat, in the vegetables. HE provides… That is the first relationship.

The second relationship is from our side, a sense of gratitude. We no longer just take everything for granted and just throw garbage on top of the planet but we develop a sense of gratitude for the gifts that we have received. We see that we are receiving gifts, and then we return those gifts by giving ourselves… by giving ourselves for higher values, by giving ourselves for other people.

cpt_snana-yatraSo as some of these qualities begins to manifest in us – this sense of giving, this sense of doing something for the good of all rather than just being on the take, that is where we begin to notice the change from chanting. Then we realize that we get strength of mind through this chanting. We get focus. We are able to control our mind and focus on a goal and as I said, it can go higher and higher until one chants with pure devotion until one realizes everything is here, just in this mantra. Everything!

But that is very high and not all of us can reach that level but at least for some time, we get some attachment to the chanting. That is a blessing because again it brings this positive energy into our life and again, we become compassionate. Just like when we say no meat-eating, that is due to compassion. It is compassion! If the animals would have voting rights, I am sure they would start a vegetarian party. They want to live and why not let them live. Like this, gradually, these kinds of qualities begin to develop. So the mantra brings about a change in quality because it makes us aware of the spiritual totality that we are part of and we begin to take that place as part of a whole rather than seeing ourselves as me and mine on a separated entity. So in that way, we are advancing.

CC daily 134 – M 6.196-97 – Krishna’s qualities pull our mind towards him – other spiritual goals don’t
→ The Spiritual Scientist

CC daily Podcast:

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Hare Krishna! Praying for the Welfare of Others Urmila Devi…
→ Dandavats.com



Hare Krishna! Praying for the Welfare of Others
Urmila Devi Dasi: In summary, for intercessory prayer to be part of pure devotional service to Lord Krishna, it should be free of desires outside of that service, and it should ask for something favorable to the Lord. Such prayers should not stem from excessive attachment to the world. We can engage in intercessory prayer to deepen our relationship with Krishna, to develop a mood of humility and compassion for others, and with a desire to glorify our beloved Lord.
“I am praying to Krishna to offer you all His strength in the discharge of His noble service.” “I am praying for your long life and prosperity in Krishna consciousness.” “I pray that Krishna may bless you with a long life with which to open many temples and that in this very lifetime you may return back to home, back to Godhead.” “I pray to Krishna that you all may use your intelligence for Krishna’s service and not for any personal ambition.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17902

Gauranga Festival in Ukraine, Day 2 (5 min video) Indradyumna…
→ Dandavats.com



Gauranga Festival in Ukraine, Day 2 (5 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Festivities continued throughout the weekend at the Gauranga Festival in Ukraine. The clear, fresh mountain air facilitated long and loud chanting of the holy names. Prasadam, cooked in ghee on open wood fires, was super excellent. And the association couldn’t be beat!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/OPVkTl

Being Run Over by Time or Keeping our Head Amidst the Tempest
→ Karnamrita.das's blog

Author: 
Karnamrita Das

(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed)
Uncontrollable time
[Republished from November 11, 2012]
Two weeks have passed since my last blog. During this time, I have reflected on the illusive, uncontrollable (though we try to use it) nature of time, of which life, as we known it, is inextricably intertwined. Hopefully we will be drawn to question the force of natural laws on us, and think of their purpose, and controller—the Law Maker. We have our individual life’s timing for significant or insignificant events—sometimes lethargy or stagnation—and then the larger field of our immediate surroundings, our country, and the whole planet, all of which can influence our decisions and how we go about things. We may feel like we are in a stagnant pool, going nowhere fast, or being diminished daily, while at other times we seem to be swept away by events much larger than ourselves or our family concerns. For Gaudiya Vaishnavas, the chaos that may surround and seem to threaten us, points to the lasting spiritual peace within, and the love of the soul for Krishna which enlivens us. Thus the blessing of upheaval or problems can be a motivation for spiritual practice. Life in the material world is always uncertain and changing, like unstable shifting sand, and still we try to avoid, or find shelter from this truth. Firm ground is the soul and its relationship to God.

read more

Sri Jagannath Ratha Yatra and Festival of India 2015 in NYC…
→ Dandavats.com



Sri Jagannath Ratha Yatra and Festival of India 2015 in NYC (Album with professional HR photos)
Jagannatha Ratha Yatra festival celebrated by the Hare Krishna devotees on New York’s Fifth Avenue, New York City. This festival is held in a mood of love and devotion and invokes universal peace, harmony, and good will for all creation
See them here: http://goo.gl/jdj3HM

Hare Krishna! Radhanath Swami Speaks on Happiness at Wedding…
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Hare Krishna! Radhanath Swami Speaks on Happiness at Wedding Wire in D.C.
On June 10th, 2015 Radhanath Swami was invited to take part in the speaker series hosted by Wedding Wire where he was interviewed by Wedding Wire CEO Tim Chi on the subject of Happiness. Wedding Wire is a young Washington DC-based company that specializes in helping couples-to-be find anything they might need to make their wedding day as perfect as possible. They are also one of the most highly recommended companies to work for in the DC area. Tim Chi helped create a culture of friendship and teamwork among his growing staff of 200+ employees and has near 100% turnout on days of company wide service to help in the local DC community.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17897

Hare Krishna! Memories of Brahmananda Dasa Much can be said…
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Hare Krishna! Memories of Brahmananda Dasa
Much can be said about our dear godbrother Bramhananda, but you know some devotees are just special. Just seeing him could make one smile and as one of Prabhupada’s original “white elephants” his efforts to serve him “in the day” are legendary. As one of the heavy pullers of our “mule team” for Prabhupada, those early devotees did so much for him. They cleared and paved the way for later devotees and enlivened many. Days were glorious but rigorous, filled with exhaustion and sweet surrender. Time moves on but it just won’t be the same without him around…yet we are happy for him.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17892

Nityananda Trayodasi Chinese Translation
→ Nitaiprasada

In this lecture Guru Maharaja explaining about the meaning of Nitai Kamala song, on how we need to get mercy from Lord Nityananda to attain the lotus feet of Radha and Krishna. It is said with mercy from Lord Nityananda we can get Lord Gaurangga mercy and with Lord Gaurangga mercy's we can attain loving service to Radha and Krishna. Sometime it is said to attain Lord Nityananda mercy we can try to get mercy from Jagai and Madhai.

In his song Kabe Habe Bolo, Bhaktivinoda Thakur write "When will I can get the mercy of Lord Nityananda?" when you get the mercy of Lord Nityananda you get out of maya, when you get out of maya you can go to marketplace of holy name.

In the marketplace of holy name you can buy the holy name, sale the holy name or even you can steal the holy name... Bhaktivinoda continued you better to hurry because Jagai and Madhai is taking everything... and what is the price of holy name? the price is faith...

Guru Maharaja then mention that Nityananda is Balaram himself just like Sri Gaurangga is Krishna. When Lord Nityananda just a kid, He made drama of Krishna lila, he was just under 12 years old and haven't studied yet.

But, He did the very elaborate drama of Krishna lila, with all of the avatars. Many people watched it, and they all wonder "How can you know all these pastimes?" and then he will answer: "Well, this is my Lila, so I know it." and the people just laugh because they think this is just a little boy talking.

The lecture continued with more Nityananda Lila, how he travel all of India, staying in Vrndavana and then met Sri Gaurangga Mahaprabhu in Navadvipa.

Please listen the audio for more nectar. Hare Krishna.

You Also Force Maya
→ Japa Group

Two things will go on and this chanting of Hare Krishna will conquer. As maya is forcing you to drag you from Krishna consciousness, you also force maya by chanting Hare Krishna. There is fight. And maya will go away!

Srila Prabhupada Conversation 23/12/68

New Vrindaban’s 24 Hour Kirtan to Transport Partipants to…
→ Dandavats.com



New Vrindaban’s 24 Hour Kirtan to Transport Partipants to Vrindavana Dhama
The ninth annual 24 Hour Kirtan festival in New Vrindaban, West Virginia is set to give North American participants the experience of the 24 Hour Kirtan that runs 365 days a year in the original Vrindavana Dhama, India without having to travel thousands of miles. Around 600 devotees from all over the U.S. and Canada are expected to converge in the beautiful rural community that founder Srila Prabhupada called “a new place of pilgrimage for you Western devotees.” During a 1972 visit he also commented, “This Vrindaban, that Vrindavan, no difference.” The devotee participants will be joined by two groups of students, one from Cleveland State University and one from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, attending for the first time.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17889

Hare Krishna! The Ecstasy of Insignificance: Happiness Through…
→ Dandavats.com



Hare Krishna! The Ecstasy of Insignificance: Happiness Through Reality
A feeling of insignificance and a humble service attitude come not by astuteness, not by knowing some tricks, but by simple steadfastness in the process of Krishna consciousness. The Srimad-Bhagavatam tells us that Krishna showers all benedictions on those who consider themselves insignificant. Seeing them as significant, by His causeless mercy He shares with them the sweetness of devotional service. Insignificance is so inconceivably ecstatic that the Lord Himself desires it, as Srila Prabhupada describes: “Krishna says in Chaitanya-charitamrita, you will find, ‘Everyone worships Me with awe and veneration. But if anyone worships Me without any awe, veneration, and treats Me as insignificant, I like that. I like that.’
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17886