Past Events

The day for worship of a form of Mahamaya called Jagaddhatri, “the maintainer of the material world.” (Vaisnavas do not usually observe this festival.)

Lord Brahma said to Narada Muni, “Dear son, O best of the sages, I shall narrate to you the glories of Haribodhini Ekadasi, which eradicates all kinds of sins and bestows great merit, and ultimately liberation, upon the wise persons who surrender unto the Supreme Lord. “O best of the brahmanas, the merits acquired by bathing in the Ganges remain significant only as long as Haribodhini Ekadasi does not come. This Ekadasi, which occurs during the light fortnight of the month of Kartika, is much more purifying than a bath in the ocean, at a place of pilgrimage, or in a lake. This sacred Ekadasi is more powerful in nullifying sin than one thousand Asvamedha sacrifices and one hundred Rajasuya sacrifices.”

The spiritual master of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, appeared early in the nineteenth century.

This kind of 5 day fast is also prescribed for the last 5 days of Kartika (Damodara) Month and it is known as “Bhisma Pancaka”. During that vrata puja offerings to the Lord are also prescribed. There are also mantras that go with these offerings. However, I didn’t find any specific mention about this for Purusottama month. In the Padma Purana it only stated that in addition to ekadasee one can observe a “pancaratrika” fast until amavasya. Here are offerings prescribed for Bhisma Pancaka.

End of Caturmasya

Bhugarbha Goswami, along with his intimate friend Lokanatha Goswami, located lost sacred places in Vrndavana by the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Kasisvara Pandita served as Lord Caitanya’s bodyguard in Jagannatha Puri. Another of His services was to distribute prasadam after kirtana.

Lord Krsna’s autumn rasa dance with His girlfriends.

Marriage of Shalagrama and Tulasi written by Sri Padmanabha Gosai. Shri Vasishthaji said that what I have heard in ancient times from Lord Brahma about the marriage of Tulasi I will now describe according to what is written in the Narada-pancaratra. First one should plant Tulasi either in the house or the forest, and after three years one may perform her marriage. The auspicious times when one may perform the marriage of Shalagrama and Tulasi are described as follows. When the sun is moving in the north, Jupiter and Venus are rising, in the month of Kartika, from the Ekadashi to the full moon in the month of Magha, and when constellations that are auspicious for marriage appear, especially the full moon day. – First one should arrange a place for sacrifice (yajna-kunda) under a canopy (mandapa). Then after performing shanti-vidhana, one should install sixteen goddesses, and do the shraddha ceremony for his female maternal ancestors.

Nimbarkacharya was the principal acarya in the Kumara sampradaya, one of the four main lines of Vaisnava teachers and disciples. He preached Krsna consciousness about 300 years before the advent of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

This kind of 5 day fast is also prescribed for the last 5 days of Kartika (Damodara) Month and it is known as “Bhisma Pancaka”. During that vrata puja offerings to the Lord are also prescribed. There are also mantras that go with these offerings. However, I didn’t find any specific mention about this for Purusottama month. In the Padma Purana it only stated that in addition to ekadasee one can observe a “pancaratrika” fast until amavasya. Here are offerings prescribed for Bhisma Pancaka.

Krishna Steals the Garments of the Unmarried Gopis This chapter describes how the marriageable daughters of the cowherd men worshiped Katyayani to get Lord Sri Krishna as their husband, and how Krishna stole the garments of the young girls and gave the girls benedictions. During the month of Margasirsha, every day early in the morning the young daughters of the cowherds would take one another’s hands and, singing of Krishna’s transcendental qualities, go to the Yamuna to bathe. Desiring to obtain Krishna as their husband, they would then worship the goddess Katyayani with incense, flowers and other items.