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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for ISKCON Punjabi Bagh,
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DTSTART:20260101T000000
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260402
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260403
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260123T082510Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260403T065318Z
UID:47861-1775088000-1775174399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Appearance Day of Srila Syamananda Prabhu 2nd April 2026
DESCRIPTION:Syamananda Prabhu\, a disciple of Hrdaya Caitanya\, established the temple of Sri Radha-Syamasundara in Vrndavana.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/appearance-day-of-srila-syamananda-prabhu-2nd-april-2026/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Syamananda-Prabhu1.jpg
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260402
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260403
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260123T080356Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260403T065311Z
UID:47859-1775088000-1775174399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Appearance Day of Srila Vamsivadana Thakura 2nd April 2025
DESCRIPTION:Sri Vamsivadananda Thakura Appearance Day. Vamsivadananda Thakura wrote many sweet poems expressing his devotion to Krsna.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/appearance-day-of-srila-vamsivadana-thakura-2nd-april-2025/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Sri-Vamsivadananda-Thakura.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260402
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260403
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260123T075827Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260403T065305Z
UID:47857-1775088000-1775174399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Sri Krishna Vasanta Rasa 2nd April 2026
DESCRIPTION:Lord Krishna’s springtime rasa dance. The purnima or full moon of Damodara month is the second full moon of the autumn season\, and rasa lila is again celebrated.  \nThis second rasa yatra is celebrated more in Bengal\, whereas the first one is celebrated more in Vrndavana. On this day one should perform full worship of Radha and Krsna with many flowers\, and place them in a rasa mandapa surrounded by the gopis. Sri Krishna Vasant Rasa is similar excepting that it is in the Spring (Vasant)\, at this time everyone dresses in yellow. On this full moon night the devotees usually leave out pots of sweet rice payasam for the Lord to enjoy during His rasas.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/sri-krishna-vasanta-rasa-2nd-april-2026/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Krishna1.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260402
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260403
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260123T075608Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260403T065259Z
UID:47855-1775088000-1775174399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Sri Balarama Rasayatra 2nd April 2026
DESCRIPTION:Lord Balarama’s springtime rasa dance with His cowherd girlfriends. Krsna performs rasa lila of two varieties\, one in the autumn season and one in the spring season\, on vaisakha purnima. \nBalarama also performs rasa dance at this time. In order to keep the gopis in Vrndavana satisfied\, Lord Balarama stayed there continually for two months\, namely the months of Caitra and Vaisakha. For those two months he kept himself among the gopis and he passed every night with them in the forest of Vrndavana in order to satisfy their desire for conjugal love. Thus Balarama also enjoyed the rasa dance with the gopis during those two months.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/sri-balarama-rasayatra-2nd-april-2026/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/balarama_rasayatra.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260330
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260331
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T130847Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260403T065250Z
UID:47760-1774828800-1774915199@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Damanaka Ropana Dvadasi 30th Mar 2026
DESCRIPTION:The following days the following is observed in Jagannath Puri. This festival is celebrated on the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the bright fortnight of Chaitra (April). \nDeities of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna are taken in procession to the Jagannath Ballava Math. There the Deities get Their Dayana leaves from the garden at the math. On the fourteenth\, the leaves are offered to Lord Jagannath\, Lady Subhadra and Lord Balarama. “Damanaka is a particular type of flowering tree\, Artemisia indica. In modern Oriya it is called daana. It is one of the two favorite flowers of Lord Jagannath\, the other being campaka. It is said that Lord Jagannath comes to the Jagannath Vallabh garden in Puri to steal these flowers. Aropana means to plant. On this dvadashi there is a ritual planting of the daana tree.”
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/damanaka-ropana-dvadasi-30th-mar-2026/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Damanaka-Ropana-Dvadasi.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260329
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260330
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T130742Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260403T065244Z
UID:47758-1774742400-1774828799@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Kamada Ekadashi 29th Mar 2026
DESCRIPTION:The untold glories of Kamada Ekadasi are described in the Varaha Purana in a delightful conversation between Maharaj Yudhistira and Sri Krsna.The king asked: “My dear Lord\, crowning jewel of the yadu dynasty. Please enlighten me about the nature of this most auspicious day. Kamada Ekadasi. Please accept my humble obeisances and advise me how one should observe this Ekadasi that falls during the month of Chaitra while the moon is waxing. Please also describe what the benefits of such observance are and advise me how to reap the result.” \n“Sri Krsna replied: “My dear maharaja Yudhisthira\, please hear attentively the description of this Ekadasi day which has been recorded in the ancient Purana. One time Maharaja Dilip\, the great grandfather of Sri Ramacandra\, asked his dearly beloved and most magnanimous spiritual master Vasistha\, about the name and procedure for observing this Ekadasi\, ‘Kamada’ which occurs during the month of Chaitra (March/April.) \n“The saintly & sagacious Vasistha replied\, ‘O my dear King\, naturally i will fulfill your desire to hear the glories of this Ekadasi day. The name of this inscrutably alligned\, constellatory opportunity is Kamada. The essence of such a day is the realisation of the delineation of lust and love; and knowing the difference between the two. This sacred Ekadasi burns all one’s sinful reactions to ashes and awards the observer the privelege of having an intelligent and confident son. Now\, please hear the glories of this Ekadasi.” \n“Once\, in the city of Ratnapura (Bhogipura) there was a great and venerable king known by the name of Pundarika. He was accompanied by his joyful and kindly munificent subjects which included the Gandharvas\, Kinnaras and the Apsaras. In that sweetly opulent city there lived a fantastically beautiful Apsara named Lalita and a handsome\, regal Gandharva known as Lalit. They lived happily as husband and wife and were consistently overwhelmed by each other’s love; to the point of madhness. They were constantly engaged in sporting activities and relished each others company until their association burned at the heartstrings and knarled their brains to the point of exhaustion.” \n“One time in the court of King Pundarika many Gandharva’s were engaged in blissful frivolities\,  they were singing and dancing and covorting in great bliss. Lalit sang with the Gandharvas although his wife did not\, rather she danced in great ecstacy with the many joyous Apsaras. Due to the pangs of separation that Lalit was experiencing in separation from his devoted wife\, he felt intense hankering and dove into an ocean of tears. His innunciation during his singing grew weaker and he forgot the words to many songs that he knew off by heart.” \n“Oh king\, in that assembly there was one serpent from the Patala Region\, he went by the name of Karkotaka and knew well the mystery of this situation. He complained in a greatly thunderous voice\, “O lalit you have spoiled the perfomance here by your attachment to your wife\, you have upset the taal (rhythm) of the piece and distracted the singers. Therefore i curse you to be a man-eater cannibal.’ \n“Being thus cursed by such a serpentine character\, Lalit immediately transformed into a great demon and all could see there was fearsome fire in his eyes. When lalita saw her husband’s terrifying form she was extremely hurt and distressed. In intense pain and distress she spent her days and nights simply thinking of where to go\, what to do and who to see. However\, her fears allayed she felt no understanding of where she was\, what she was doing and who she was seeing. She was simply lost on an ocean of delinquent separation. Surrendering all embarrassment she lived with her husband in the forest.” \n“Once\, while wandering within the dense forest with her husband\, Lalita saw the most sacred ashrama of the sage and Sringi situated at the peak of the Vindhiya Mountain. Lalita immediately went there and offered her respectful obeisances to the sage. Upon seeing this lady\, the sage inquired\, ‘O beautiful one\, who are you and where do you come from? Why have you come here and what duty will you perform here?’ \n“Lalita replied: “O great soul\, I am the daughter of the great and kind hearted Gandharva named Viradhanva. My name is Lalita and I live in this forest with my husband. He has been cursed by a ferocious serpent and is now in the form of a demon. O brahmana! I am greatly indebted to you for your kind darshan and have no means of rescuing my husband myself. Please\, as a great brahmana you must surely have the ability to help. If there is at all some way of atonement that will remove this horrendous afflication\, then please; tell me!” \n“After hearing Lalita’s pathetic request\, the sage Sringi said\, ‘O daughter of the Gandharva\, in a few days time during the waxing Moon of the Chaitra month. There is a munificent Ekadasi day\, known as Kamada. By observance of this day all one’s sinful reactions can be completely annhiliated. By following this (vow) and giving the entire merit to your husband\, all one’s desire’s will be fulfilled. Then\, by the influence of this merit your husband will immediately become freed from the curse.” \n“O King! Being instructed in this way by the sage\, Lalita gladly observed the vow of this Ekadasi. On the day of Dvadasi\, Lalita gladly sat in front of the brahmanas and the Supreme Lord Vasudeva and announced: “I have observed the Ekadasi vrata as you reccomended\, I have abstained from food and water for the duration and am now gladly offering my results unto my dearest husband. I pray that my piety will remove his demoniac condition and alleviate our suffering.” \n“As soon as Lalita had finished her prayer\, her husband-turned-demon\, ‘Lalit’ became freed from the reactions of his sins and regained his divine Gandharva form. From that time on Lalit and Lalita lived happily together.” \n“Lord Krsna concluded\, “O Maharaja Yudhisthira! O best of kings! Anyone who hears the narration of this most charmingly blissful day should certainly observe it to the best of his ability. There is no better vow as it can eradicate even the sin of killing a brahmana and easily counteracts demoniac curses.”
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/kamada-ekadashi-29th-mar-2026/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Ekadashi.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260327
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260328
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T130625Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260403T065237Z
UID:47756-1774569600-1774655999@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Rama Navami 27th Mar 2026
DESCRIPTION:Lord Sri Ramacandra is a powerful incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as an ideal king. He appeared in the Treta-yuga\, more than two million years ago. \nThis is a verse from Brahma-samhita in which the incarnation of Lord Ramacandra is described. Ramadi. Not only Rama\, but there are many other\, innumerable incarnations. They are compared with the waves of a river. As the waves of the river or the waves of the ocean cannot be counted\, similarly\, how many incarnations are there of the Supreme Lord it is not possible to count. But out of them\, the principal names are mentioned in the sastras. Therefore it is said ramadi. Ramadi means Rama and also other\, many incarnations. And they are existing. Not that one incarnation appeared and it is finished. No. Not like that. Just like Lord Ramacandra appeared on this planet\, say millions of years before. He appeared in the Treta-yuga. Treta-yuga means… We have passed only five thousand years of this age\, Kali-yuga. Before that\, there was Dvapara-yuga. Dvapara-yuga means 800\,000 years. And before that\, there was Treta-yuga\, which continued for twelve hundred thousands of years. That means at least two million years before Lord Ramacandra appeared on this planet.  \nramadi murtishu kala-niyamena tishthan\nnanavataram akarod bhuvaneshu kintu\nkrishnah svayam samabhavat paramah puman yo\ngovindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami \nSo now Lord Ramacandra appeared in Ayodhya. There is a place in Ayodhya\, in northern India. There He appeared. As Krishna appeared in Mathura… That is also northern India. And Mathura is about ninety miles down southward from New Delhi. You have heard the name of New Delhi\, the capital of India. So Ayodhya is also situated about five hundred miles northeast of New Delhi. So Lord Ramacandra appeared on this day. Today is called Sri Rama Naumi. On the ninth day of the moon Lord Ramacandra appeared. His father was the king of Ayodhya\, and he had three wives. So out of… No. He had two wives. So out of two wives he got four sons. Ramacandra is the eldest son. The life and activities of Lord Ramacandra is… [break] …in a book which is called Ramayana. You have heard the name of Ramayana. Ramayana is also accepted as history. Vedic literatures are histories also. \nThe Puranas\, the Srimad-Bhagavatam\, Mahabharata\, and Ramayana\, they are counted amongst the history. The history of Ramacandra is that His father wanted to retire. Dasaratha\, Maharaja Dasaratha. And he decided to enthrone Lord Ramacandra and retire. So everything was settled\, but just one day before\, his youngest wife turned the whole thing into different way. Sometimes Maharaja Dasaratha was suffering from what is called whitlow\, some trouble in the finger? And this queen served him very nicely\, and he was pleased. And he said\, “My dear Sarmishtha\, if you want some benediction from me\, I can give you.” And she replied that “I shall ask you for the benediction when I require it. Not now.” So just one day before Lord Ramacandra’s coronation\, she approached her husband Maharaja Dasaratha and reminded him\, “My dear husband\, you promised to give me some benediction\, and I told you that I shall ask you when I require it.” Maharaja Dasaratha said\, \n“Yes\, I remember. You want some benediction just now?” She said\, “Yes.” “And what is that?” She said that “Ramacandra cannot be seated on the throne. My son should be coronated\, Bharata.” He was surprised. It is a big demand. So he said\, “All right. That will be done. Your son.” Because formerly\, the kings… Not only formerly\, even up to date\, there are many kshatriya kings in India. They have more than one wife. And they are\, naturally\, there is rivalry between different wives. So the same thing. Human psychology is the same. Even two million years ago the same mentality was there\, and she asked that “My son should be the king\, not Ramacandra.” Ramacandra happened to be the son of Kausalya\, the elder queen. \nSo Maharaja Dasaratha agreed and called for Ramacandra. “My dear boy\, your…” She asked also that… She was very diplomatic. She wanted that Ramacandra go to forest for fourteen years. The idea was political\, that “The king may agree to install my son just now. Now\, after a few days\, this Ramacandra may come with His army\, and there may be some difficulty to continue the kingdom.” So she wanted that Ramacandra should go to the forest and He should not come back till the end of fourteen years from this day. So Maharaja Dasaratha agreed. Because he was kshatriya. Just see the promise. \nA kshatriya never goes back from the promise\, never refuses any challenge. If a kshatriya is challenged by somebody\, that “I want to fight with you\,” oh\, he cannot refuse. This is kshatriya spirit. He cannot say that “I am now busy.” Suppose somebody comes to you\, that “I want to fight with you.” You may say\, “What nonsense fight? I have no time. We are in the temple.” But a kshatriya cannot deny that. A kshatriya at once must accept. “Oh\, yes. Come on.” And the weapon should be\, if he has no sword or weapon\, he should be supplied weapon and fight. This is kshatriya spirit. They were highly charitable and chivalrous and keeping promise and with a great tendency for ruling over. They shall rule over. Administrators. Their business is… \nThere are different prescription for different classes of men for their livelihood. The brahmanas\, they can pull on their livelihood by six ways. Pathana pathana yajana yajana dana pratigraha. Six. And they must be qualified with twelve high qualities. We have many times discussed. Out of that qualification\, truthfulness is the first item for a brahmana. A kshatriya may speak lies. That is allowed\, because he has to be diplomat\, politician. But a brahmana\, oh\, he’s not allowed to speak lie. \n This is the system\, caste system or varnasrama system. Everyone was trained. Because these four classes of men are required in a society. For proper upkeep of society\, one class of men must be very intelligent\, highly qualified\, with all good qualities. They must be trained in that way\, ideal character so that people can see and follow them. Therefore brahmanas were taken to so much respect because they’re ideal character\, learned\, and godly\, knows the science\, spiritual science. Therefore they’re held in high estimation and topmost of the society. The next\, the administrator\, administrative class\, kshatriyas. \nThey are trained how to kill. The kshatriyas were allowed to hunt in the forest to learn the art of killing because that was necessity for the kshatriyas. Kshatriya\, if he… If the king\, if he finds somebody is doing wrong\, he can immediately chop off his head if he likes. The king was so powerful. And it is not that if there was some war\, it is not that the president or the king shall sit down comfortably at home and ordinary soldiers will go and lay down their life. No. Formerly\, the king or the head of the state\, he should first of all go there in the fight. You see in the picture\, the chief men of the fighting in the Kurukshetra\, both sides\, they were arrayed\, this side\, that side\, with their chariot. \nNot that the head man\, the chief man\, or the commander is taking shelter back side\, protecting himself\, and poor soldiers are (chuckles) thrown into the fighting. No. These were kshatriya spirit. And it is necessary that a class of men should be trained up in that way\, kshatriya\, fighting men. In India\, because this training was there since a very long time\, so there is no difficulty in recruiting soldiers there. \nThere is a class of men\, they are very much forward in fighting still. They are called… Just like the Gurkhas\, the Nepalese. You have heard the name of Nepal. Still a small state\, independent state. They are not within India. Between China and India. The whole Nepal population\, they are kshatriyas. Oh\, they are very good fighters. Similarly\, the Sikhs\, the Jatas. There are classes. So they’re always forward for fighting. And you’ll be surprised that the British Empire was voluntarily liquidated because they lost India. The Britishers\, they understood that because we are now losing India\, there is no more possibility to keep our eastern empire. Therefore they liquidated. Why? Actually\, the whole British Empire were being administered or managed by Indian soldiers\, these Sikhs and Gurkhas. They extended their empire. After taking their position with India\, they extended British Empire in the Middle East and Far East simply by these Sikhs and Gurkha soldiers. They got supremacy on the Burma and everywhere. \nSo there is necessity of a class of fighting men. You are finding in your country difficulty in recruiting because the recruiting process is wrong. You are recruiting from persons… You are training persons just like sudras\, and you want them to fight. How they can fight? It is not possible. So as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita\, that catur-varnyam maya srishtam guna karma vibhagasah… [Bg. 4.13]. Lord Krishna said that “The four classes or orders of the society\, brahmana\, kshatriya\, vaisya\, sudra\, is planned by Me according to work and quality.” So this kshatriya quality men is also required\, the brahmana quality of men is also required\, the mercantile community\, they are also required\, and the laborer class\, they are also required. Of course\, laborer class\, they do not require any training. Laborer class means one who cannot do anything\, neither become brahmana\, nor become kshatriya\, nor become vaisya. That means the last balance of the population\, they are called laborer class\, sudra. Sudra means one who has no training. Sudra has no samskara. Samskara means training. Everyone is accepted as sudra by birth. Janmana jayate sudra. Janmana means by birth. By birth\, everyone is born a sudra\, a fourth-class man. It is to be accepted\, and actually so. Just like a child\, innocent child\, what does he know? He has to be trained. Either you train him as a brahmana or train him as a kshatriya or train him as a vaisya. Or otherwise\, he is sudra already\, born sudra. Sudra has no training. Everyone\, the basic principle\, basic foreground\, everyone\, it is accepted sudra. Now\, if you train him as a brahmana\, then he becomes a brahmana. If you train him as a kshatriya\, then he becomes a kshatriya. If you train him as a vaisya… So I think this is\, this system is very scientific so that if you want help of a really intelligent man or God realized man\, it is ready\, the brahmana class. Just like if you require the help of a lawyer\, we have got so many lawyers. If you require the help of medical man… Because there are trained men. Similarly\, the society requires to train a certain class of men to become brahmanas. Just like we are training the Krishna conscious. The Krishna consciousness is meant for the brahmanas. \nThey are not meant for fighting because they are not being trained for fighting. They have been trained for becoming brahmanas. Who is brahmana? Brahma janati iti brahmana. The four divisions are described like this. Janmana jayate sudrah\, everyone is born sudra. That is accepted. Samskarad bhaved dvijah. Now if you train him\, never mind in which family he’s born\, you have to train him. Just like boys are sent to school for being trained. So everyone is accepted as sudra\, but you now train him. He goes to the guru-griha. \nGuru-griha means teacher’s house. Formerly\, for being trained\, there was no such big scale school and colleges. Every village… Still\, fifty years before in India\, in every village there was a small school conducted by the brahmana\, and the village children would be trained up there. So he was sent for training. And there was no school fee. The boys will go there\, and on behalf of the teacher or spiritual master\, they will go\, brahmacari\, door to door\, and beg and bring forth alms\, rice\, dahl\, grains\, and everything. That was the system. There was no school fee. There was no problem how to send a boy to the school. Samskara. Now he’s trained up. The teacher sees the psychology of the boy\, in which way he should be trained. Either he should be trained as a vaisya or he should be trained as a kshatriya. So everyone was trained like that\, but generally\, the son of a kshatriya… Just like Maharaja Ramacandra or Arjuna\, from the very beginning they were trained as kshatriya. \nNaturally\, if somebody is the son of a medical man his father trains him to become a medical man in future. That is the natural tendency. If the boy is different altogether that is another question\, but naturally\, that is the tendency. So a kshatriya’s son was trained as kshatriya. A brahmana’s son was trained as a brahmana and a vaisya’s son was trained as a vaisya\, and sudra had no training. So gradually this became a caste system. Brahmana’s son became brahmana. Because formerly\, the training was there. But when it is vitiated\, although a person born in the family of a brahmana\, he is doing the work of a sudra. So according to Vedic scripture\, one is classified according to his work and quality\, not by birth. That is the classification of sastra. Just like in the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says catur-varnyam maya srishtam guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg. 4.13]. Guna means quality and karma means work. One must be qualified for the work and he must actually work. Then he is counted classified into that\, I mean to say\, category. Just like if you are simply trained or educated as a lawyer\, and if you are not practicing in the court\, nobody comes to you to consult as a lawyer. \nNobody cares for you. You must be practicing also. Similarly\, to become a brahmana means first of all\, he must know what is Brahman and he must be actually situated in the activities of Brahman. So devotional service are activities of Brahman. Activities in Krishna consciousness means activities in Brahman. Brahme carati iti brahma brahmacari. Carati means acts. Actually\, he acts in life\, applies the principles of brahmana in his life\, he is called brahmacari. So these were the trainings.\nSo just see how the training was\, that a kshatriya cannot refuse his promise. So Maharaja Dasaratha\, he fulfilled the promise of his youngest wife and asked his son\, eldest son Ramacandra\, “My dear boy\, You’ll have to go to forest for fourteen years. That is the desire of Your youngest mother. And I promised that I shall fulfill her promise\, uh\, request. So please accept.” Ramacandra said\, “Yes father\, I am ready.” Just see. This is the quality. Out of the six opulences of God\, this is one quality. \naisvaryasya samagrasya\nviryasya yasasah sriyah\njnana-vairagyayos caiva\nshannam bhagam itingana\n(Vishnu Purana 6.5.47) \nHow one becomes God? God is not manufactured by vote. There are definition who is God. God must be the proprietor of all the riches. Aisvaryasya samagrasya. Samagra means all. Nobody can compete with Him. Here\, in this world\, material world\, I am rich man\, and there is another rich man who can compete with me. There is another rich man who can compete with him. But nobody can compete with God in richness. That is one qualification of God. Nobody can say that “I am richer than God.” You can say “I am richer than Ford or Rockefeller” or this or that. You can say. But nobody can say that “I am richer than God.” Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita it is said mattah parataram nanyat asti kincid dhananjaya. Mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya [Bg. 7.7]. Dhananjaya is a name of Arjuna\, and Krishna said that\, “My dear Arjuna\, there is nobody greater than Me.” So if anyone claims that he is God\, he must prove by practical example that nobody is richer than him. That is the first. But unfortunately\, we are accepting so many Gods. A rascal in the street\, he also claims that “I am God.”  \nSo similarly\, the other qualification\, nobody can be stronger than God\, nobody can be wiser than God\, nobody can be more beautiful than God\, and nobody can be more renouncer than God. So here Ramacandra\, Lord Ramacandra exhibited the quality how He renounced the whole kingdom simply on the order of His father\, His obedience to father. He could have argued with His father\, “My dear father\, you\, simply for keeping your promise and actuated by the dictation of a woman\, you are doing this. Let us stop it. Everyone is expecting that tomorrow My coronation will be there\, and they love Me so much.” Because He… Just like Krishna was so much loved\, similarly\, Lord Ramacandra was the life of the people. They were very much expecting that Ramacandra was going to be enthroned tomorrow. So how they were celebrating\, how they were decorating the whole city. Everything. He never argued. He accepted immediately: “Yes\, father. I am ready.”  \n So then one of the brothers\, Lakshmana\, He also requested Ramacandra\, “My dear brother\, You also take Me. I am Your constant companion. I must go with You.” So He said\, “That’s Your wish. Voluntarily\, if You want to come\, You can come with Me.” Then Sita\, His wife\, young wife\, She also said\, “I’ll go with You.” Ramacandra requested His wife\, “Oh\, you cannot go with Me. It is very difficult. You are a king’s daughter\, and you are brought up in so nice way\, and you are so beautiful. You cannot go. You cannot take the trouble of living in the forest.” So she said\, “Oh\, I am Your wife. Married wife. So I must go even if You go to hell.” This is ideal wife. She could have refused: “Oh\, Your father has ordered to go to forest. You can go. I shall go to my father’s house or I shall remain here.” No. This is ideal wife. She must be prepared to accept any circumstances of the husband. Not that when the husband is rich the wife is very faithful\, and when he has come down to be poor or he’s going to forest the wife gives up his company. No. Wife means better half. She must abide. \nJust like\, it is said\, just like a shadow follows the reality\, similarly\, the wife is the shadow of the husband. Wherever the husband goes\, she must go. Whatever the husband wants\, she must carry out. Of course\, in this country this interpretation is taken differently\, that wife is made a slave. But actually\, it is not so. When Sita was kidnapped in the jungle\, Ramacandra expected that\, that she was beautiful\, she was young\, and “We shall be in open jungle. It may be some demons may come\,” and actually it so happened. So for Sita\, Lord Ramacandra massacred the whole family of Ravana. Only for Sita. So as the husband\, so the wife. The wife was so faithful that she could not remain alone. She must accompany the husband even in the forest. And the husband was so faithful that\, “Oh\, my wife has been kidnapped.” So He massacred the whole family of Ravana. \nSo these are ideal history how… Ramacandra\, Lord Ramacandra appeared on this world to educate or to place ideal example of a king. How the king should be. Therefore when there is good government… The example is given\, Rama-rajya. Rama- rajya. It is the kingdom of Lord Rama. Because everyone was happy\, everyone. There are so many instances in the life of Ramacandra. One brahmana… Not brahmana exactly. Somebody came to Ramacandra. Because at that time there was no court like this\, that you have to go to a court and apply with stamp fee. Then your judgment will be delivered after six years. It is not like that. Anyone who has got some complaint\, he should… The king used to sit in the open audience\, and the citizens were allowed to approach the king and place their complaints. Because there was no complaint practically. Everyone was happy. Very minor complaint. So somebody came to Ramacandra\, and he charged Ramacandra\, “My dear king\, my son has died. How is that\, in the presence of his father\, son can die? There must be something wrong in Your government.” Just see. The charge is “Why my son has died before my death? This is unnatural.” So there was nothing unnatural. The king was responsible even for severe cold\, severe heat. That we get from history of Srimad-Bhagavatam. That is stated. So the kings were so much responsible. They were always thinking of the happiness of the citizens\, and the citizens were also so nice. \nOne citizen approached Lord Ramacandra and His next assistant\, His brother\, Lakshmana\, informed Him that “He is a brahmana. You were absent on Your tour for\, I think for a fortnight or a month\, and this brahmana has not eaten even a drop of water during Your absence.” Why? “Because he comes here to see You\, darsana.” Just like we come here in the temple to see the Deity. So Lord Ramacandra was present personally. So he used to come. After seeing Ramacandra\, offering his obeisances\, then he would go home and take something\, his breakfast. That was his vow. And because he could not see for a fortnight or a month Lord Ramacandra because He was out on political tour\, he did not eat even. Just see. The citizens were similar to the king. So at that time\, there was a statue of Ramacandra which was being worshiped in the family from Maharaja Ikshvaku. Maharaja Ikshvaku\, the son of Manu\, happens to be the forefather of the family in which Ramacandra appeared. So he was devotee of Lord Rama\, and he was worshiping the statue of Lord Rama. So that statue was being worshiped by the family one after another. But when Ramacandra was actually present He kept that statue in the closet of the room\, and when this brahmana approached and Ramacandra was informed by Lakshmana that he is so steady and strong in his vow\, so Ramacandra ordered that he may be delivered that statue so that in My absence he can offer respect to the statue and do with this. That form\, I mean to say\, statue\, or arca of Ramacandra is still existing in South India. It is being worshiped from that time. \nSo these were the dealings of Ramacandra. Then He\, His younger brother Lakshmana and His wife went to the forest\, and His wife was kidnapped by the diplomacy of the demon Ravana\, and there was fight between Rama and Ravana. Ravana was very\, materialistically\, he was very strong. But the thing is for fighting with Ravana\, Ramacandra did not come back to His kingdom and take His army. No. He did not come back because He was ordered to live in the forest. So He organized army with the jungle animals\, the monkeys. The monkeys. He fought with Ravana\, an organized materialist\, with the monkeys. You have seen the picture. And He constructed a bridge between India’s last point to the other side. Ceylon is considered to be the kingdom of Ravana. So there was a bridge\, and the stones were floating.  \nSo there are so many historical incidences in the life of Ramacandra\, and we should remember\, because if we remember why we are observing today fasting for Ramacandra… There were many kings like Ramacandra. Because the kings were trained in that way. Maharaja Yudhishthira was also as good as Ramacandra\, and Maharaja Parikshit was as good. There were many such kings. But we are not concerned because He was a king. He is the King of all kings\, paramesvara. Because He is God\, therefore we are observing today. Ramadi-murtishu kala-niyamena tishthan [Bs. 5.39]. So He is not original form of God. The original form of God is Krishna\, and Krishna expands Himself in various other forms. Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs. 5.33]. Ananta-rupam means millions and millions. The Manu is also incarnation of Krishna. So in one day of Brahma there are fourteen Manus. So Brahma lives for one hundred years. Just see how many incarnation of Manus are there even for one Brahma\, and there are innumerable Brahmas also. So\, as stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that nobody can count how many incarnations are there\, but some of the chief incarnations are mentioned\, and Lord Ramacandra is one of them. So Lord Ramacandra\, He killed Ravana and He installed his brother. \nHis brother was devotee\, Vibhishana. So He did not go to conquer Ceylon\, because He was emperor. He went to punish that culprit Ravana\, and He installed his younger brother Vibhishana in that… And He came back with Sita\, and again He was installed after fourteen years\, and His brother was so faithful that so long His eldest brother was away\, Ramacandra requested Him that “Your mother wants that You should be king\, and I also wish that in My absence You should be king.” Bharata\, He was so faithful brother\, He replied\, “No. You are king. So long You are living\, nobody can be king. So I cannot be king.” Then He requested\, “At least You administer.” Because after the departure of Lord Ramacandra\, Maharaja Dasaratha died out of the shock because Ramacandra was very pet son\, eldest son. He was going to be king\, and by his order He was sent to the forest. The father could not tolerate the shock. He died. \nSo Ramacandra’s life\, God’s activities\, pastimes\, if we hear\, that means we are associating with Ramacandra. There is no difference between His form\, His name\, His pastimes\, and Himself. He’s absolute. Therefore either you chant the holy name of Rama or you see the statue of Rama or you talk of His pastimes\, transcendental pastimes\, everything\, that means you are associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So we take advantage of these days when the incarnation of God appears or disappears\, and we try to associate with Him. By His association we become purified. Our process is purification. Krishna consciousness means simply we are purifying our consciousness. From the birth\, as I have explained\, everyone is sudra. \nSudra means one who laments. That is called sudra. For a slight loss or slight inconvenience\, one who laments\, he is called sudra. And brahmana means one who tolerates. A sudra has no toleration. So kalau sudra sambhava. Kalau means… This age is called Kali. So it is the statement of the sastras that in this age the whole population is sudra. And formerly also\, by his birth\, everyone was considered sudra\, but there was training\, samskara. At the present moment\, there is no samskara\, there is no training. The training is only for earning livelihood. No other training. How one can earn money and enjoy senses that is the training at the present moment. But actually\, to make successful the human life or the mission of human life\, the Vedic culture is very nice. And by spreading Krishna consciousness\, by adopting the process of Krishna consciousness\, you can revive that cultural life\, sublime life. If not wholesale\, if there are a few people trained up in this line\, and they become ideal examples to the society\, immense benefit can be derived from their examples of life.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/rama-navami-27th-mar-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260323
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260324
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T130447Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260324T122300Z
UID:47754-1774224000-1774310399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Appearance Day of Sri Ramanujacharya 23rd Mar 2026
DESCRIPTION:Ramanujacharya was the principal acarya in the Sri sampradaya\, one of the four main lines of Vaisnava teachers and disciples. His Vedanta-sutra commentary Sri-bhasya establishes the doctrine known as Visistadvaita\, “qualified nondualism.”
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/appearance-day-of-sri-ramanujacharya-23rd-mar-2026/
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260316
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260317
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T130337Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260317T125933Z
UID:47752-1773619200-1773705599@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Disappearance Day of Sri Govinda Ghosh 16th Mar 2026
DESCRIPTION:Govinda Ghosh\, an intimate associate of Lord Caitanya\, was known for his sweet kirtanas at the annual Jagannatha Puri Ratha- yatra festival. Lord Caitanya would at once begin to dance whenever Govinda Ghosh would sing.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/disappearance-day-of-sri-govinda-ghosh-16th-mar-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260315
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260316
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T130226Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T061318Z
UID:47750-1773532800-1773619199@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Papamochani Ekadashi 15th Mar 2026
DESCRIPTION:The venerable glories of Papamocani Ekadasi are given in the Bhavisyottara Purana\, during a conversation between Sri Krsna and Maharaja Yudhistira.\nThe eldest of the pandavas\, Yudhistira\, asked Lord Krsna. “O Lord\, You have kindly narrated the glories of Amalaki Ekadasi. Now please describe unto me the details of the Ekadasi which occurs during the waning Moon in the Chaitra month (March/April) What is this Ekadasi called\, and what is the procedure for observing it?” \nLord Krsna replied: “O unrivalled King\, this Ekadasi is known as Papamocani\, please listen carefully as I describe it’s glories unto you. In the dim recesses of the misty past this Ekadasi was discussed between the Sage Lomasa and King Mandata. This Papamocani Ekadasi falls during the waning Moon in the month of Chaitra. By carefully observing this Ekadasi day all one’s sinful reactions will be nullified\, one need never fear taking birth as a ghost; it can also award eight kinds of mystic perfection.” \n“The great Sage known as Lomasa said: ‘In an ancient time\, Kuvera\, the treasurer of the demigods\, boasted a heavenly forest known as Caitraratha. The weather was always pleasant there\, and exhibited an eternal springtime atmosphere. Many heavenly society girls such as the Gandharva’s and Kinnaras would come to that celestial forest to enjoy sporting in it’s blissful surroundings. King Indra and many other demigods would also come there to enjoy many varieties of exchanges. \n“There was also a sage known as Medhavi residing in the forest; he was a staunch devotee of Shiva and was engaged in performing great austerities. The Apsaras\, or heavenly dancing girls tried to disturb the sage in various ways. Of all the Apsaras one was most celebrated and famous\, her name was Manju Ghosh and she devised a cunning plan to captivate the mind of the sagacious saint. She built a house situated just near to the sage’s ashrama and began to sing sweetly whilst playing enchanting melodies on a Vina. Upon witnessing Manju Ghosh’s salubrious beauty\, adorned as she was with sandalwood pulp\, fragrant garlands and divine ornaments\, the cupid who is a forsworn enemy of Lord Shiva tried to conquer the sage by way of revenge against Lord Siva. The cupid had once been burnt to ashes by Lord Shiva and thus remembering this previous insult conspired to humiliate Shiva’s devotee. \n“He entered the body of the sage Medhavi just as Manju Ghosh approached him playing on her vina\, singing sweetly and casting seductively arrowed glances from the quiver of her eyes. The sage Medhavi became intoxicated with desire and enjoyed with the beautiful Apsara for many years. So absorbed he was in enjoying in this way he lost all sense of time\, even the ability to discriminate between day and night. \n“Henceforth\, when Manju Ghosh grew tired of the Medhavi sage\, she decided to return to her own abode. She said to Medhavi\, ‘O great sage please allow me to return to my home in the heavenly planets.’ \n“The sage replied: ‘O beauty incarnate\, you have only arrived here in the evening\, at least stay until morning and then depart.’ Upon hearing these words Manju Ghosh became frightened and stayed with Medhavi for a few more years. In this way although she stayed with the sage for fifty-seven years\, nine months and three days\, it still only appeared to the Sage to be half a night. Manju Ghosh asked again for permission to leave but the sage replied: “O attractive one\, This is only morning\, please wait until I have completed my morning rituals.” The beautiful Apsara then smiled and said: ‘O great sage\, how long will your rituals take? Have still not finished yet? You have been enjoying with me for many years\, please consider the actual value of time.’ On hearing these words the Sage came to his senses and realised the length of time that had passed. ‘Alas\, O beautiful lady\, I have simply wasted fifty-seven years of my valuable time. You have ruined my life\, spoiled all of my austerities and condemned me to madness!’ The eyes of the Medhavi Sage filled with tears and his body convulsed as he cried. Raising his head\, his eye’s turned red with anger\, and in a fearsome voice he cursed Manju Ghosh with the following words: “O evil one\, you have behaved with me exactly like a witch. Therefore you will immediately become a witch\, O sinful unchaste Lady! Shame on you.’ \n“After being cursed by the Sage\, Manju Ghosh humbly replied\, ‘O best of the brahmanas! Please withdraw your heavy-duty curse\, I have spent many years in your company\, bringing you pleasure beyond your wildest dreams! Surely for this reason you can forgive me. Please be kind to me.” \n“The sage replied: ‘O gentle one\, What will I do now? You have destroyed my wealth of austerity. Still\, I will give you a chance to free yourself from this curse. The Ekadasi that falls during the waning Moon of the Chaitra month is called Papamocani. If you observe this Ekadasi very strictly\, all your sinful reactions will destroyed and you will be free of this crippling curse.” \n“After speaking these words Medhavi returned to the ashrama of his father\, Cyavana Rsi. As soon as Cyavana Rsi saw his pathetic son he became extremely disappointed: “Alas\, alas my son\, O what have you done? You have are ruined you should not have spoiled yourself in this way.” \n“The young sage Medhavi replied: ‘O father\, I have committed great sins in the company of a beautiful Apsara\, please instruct me how I can be freed from the sinful reactions.’ \n“Cyavana Rsi replied: ‘O my son\, there is an Ekadasi that falls in the waning Moon of the month of Chaitra\, this Ekadasi will destroy all your sinful reactions. Therefore you should follow this Ekadasi but you should know that I am most disappointed in you!” \n“Thereafter\, the sage Medhavi observed Papamocani Ekadasi and regained his elevated status as a sage of great repute. At the same time Manju Ghosh carefully observed Papamocani Ekadasi and got liberated from her accursed form\, regained her bodily attractiveness and returned to the heavenly strata. \n“After narrating this story to King Mandata\, sage Lomasa concluded as follows: ‘My dear King\, anyone who observes this Ekadasi will have all his sinful reactions annihilated. Simply by reading or hearing of this glorious Ekadasi day one achieves the result of donating one thousand cows in charity. All kinds of sinful reactions arising from: killing a brahmana\, killing an embryo\, drinking wine\, and associating with one’s Guru’s wife are completely uprooted by observing Papamocani Ekadasi. Therefore everyone should take advantage of this most auspicious and magnanimous opportune day.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/papamochani-ekadashi-15th-mar-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260311
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260312
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T125622Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260312T060449Z
UID:47748-1773187200-1773273599@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Appearance Day of Sri Srivasa Pandita 11th Mar 2026
DESCRIPTION:Srivasa Pandita\, or Srivasa Thakura\, was a member of the Panca- tattva\, consisting of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His four immediate expansions and energies.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/appearance-day-of-sri-srivasa-pandita-11th-mar-2026/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Srivasa.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260304
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260305
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T125508Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260305T125459Z
UID:47746-1772582400-1772668799@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Festival of Jagannatha Misra 4th Mar 2026
DESCRIPTION:Jagannatha Misra appeared as the father of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. \nSRI CAITANYA BHAGAVATA\nAdi Lila Chapter 3. \n1. Even before He took his birth\, the Lord propagated the chanting of His holy name.\n2. Streams of people went for their bath in the Ganga at the time of the eclipse and all the way they chanted the Lord’s name.\n3. Some\, who from their birth never once uttered the Lord’s name\, now chanted that name on their way to the Ganga.\n4. The sound of chanting emanated from every direction and the Supreme Lord\, the best of the brahmins\, smiled to Himself as He made His appearance.\n5. Sri Jagannatha Misra and Srimati Sacidevi glanced at their child’s beautiful face and were over come with unbounded joy.\n6. Ladies stood around the child not knowing what to do; fussily they ululated in jubilation.\n7. Relatives and friends hurried to see the new born child; Sri Jagannatha Misra’s house was a scene of great exultation.\n8. Srimati Sacidevi’s father\, Sri Nilambara Cakravarti\, found esoteric and wonderful signs in every house of the child’s astrological chart.\n9. Sri Cakravarti was astounded by the baby’s beauty and saw all divine symbols on His person.\n10. A much accepted prophesy in Bengal was that someday a king would be born in Bengal as a brahmin’s son\, so Sri Cakravarti thought that only the future would prove whether this was the child.\n11. In the presence of all\, Sri Nilambara Cakravarti\, an expert astrologer\, began explaining the ramifications of different astrological signs in the Lord’s chart.\n12. The further he delved into the child’s exalted chart\, the more difficulty he found in describing the Lord’s position.\n13. The child will conquer Brhaspati (the sign for learning and education) and be a scholar; He will be a natural repository of all divine qualities.\n14. Present in that gathering was a great saint in the guise of a brahman who made predictions on the Lord’s future.\n15. The brahman said\, “This child is the Supreme Lord Narayana Himself. He will establish the essence of all religion.\n16. “He will initiate a wonderful preaching movement and deliver the whole world.\n17. “He will give everyone that which is forever desirable even by Lord Brahma\, Lord Siva or Srila Sukadeva Gosvami.\n18. “Upon seeing Him people will feel compassion for all living entities and become callous toward material pains and joys. This will be the great benediction for the whole world.\n19. “Not to mention ordinary men\, even hard-core atheists will worship the child’s lotus feet.\n20. “He will be glorified throughout the entire creation and people from all orders of life will come to worship Him.\n21. “He is the personification of pure Bhagavat religion (eternal religion)\, the benefactor of brahmanas\, cows and devotees and the affectionate\, devoted son of His parents.\n22. “This child has come to accomplish great works\, just as the Supreme Lord Narayana incarnated to re-establish religious principles.”\n23. “Who can explain the imports of this child’s exalted astrological and esoteric symptoms?\n24. “How fortunate you are\, Sri Jagannatha Misra\, a leader amongst men. I offer my obeisances to you\, the illustrious father of this child.\n25. “I feel greatly fortunate that I could calculate his astrological chart. His name accordingly will be Sri Visvambhara.\n26. “He will be known to all as Navadvipa-Chandra (the moon of Navadvipa). He is spiritual bliss personified.”\n27. The brahmin did not speak further about Lord Caitanya’s pastime of accepting the renounced order of sannyasa since that would disturb the loving emotion of His parents.\n28. Sri Jagannatha Misra was enthralled with ecstasy over the descriptions of his son. He immediately wanted to offer gifts to the brahmin.\n29. He was a poor man with few possessions\, yet feeling great jubilation Sri Misra fell at the brahmin’s feet and cried.\n30. The brahman also caught Sri Misra’s feet\, and everyone present\nshouted “Hari\, Hari” in great joy.\n31. The relatives and friends were all praise for the child\, and they blessed Him as they heard the super-natural predictions about His future.\n32. Soon the musicians arrived playing their respective instruments – clay drums\, flutes and shanhai (a reed instrument) – and filled the air with wonderful music.\n33. Ladies from the higher planets mingled freely yet unnoticed with the ladies from earth in this wonderful gathering.\n34. The mother of the demigods (Aditi) smiled and placed her right hand holding auspicious grass and paddy on the child’s head to bless him saying\, “Long life”.\n35. “Please remain eternally in this material world and manifest Your pastimes”. This explained the expression “Long life”.\n36. Srimati Sacidevi and the others noticed the extraordinary beauty of these ladies but they hesitated to inquire about their identity.\n37. The demigods respectfully took the dust from Sacidevi’s feet\, and she lost her speech in extreme exultation.\n38 & 39. Neither the Vedas nor Lord Ananta Sesa could describe the waves of jubilation that drowned Sri Jagannatha Misra’s house. Entire Nadia seemed to be present at Sacidevi’s house to experience that indescribable joy.\n40. Wherever the people were – in their houses\, or on the banks of the Ganga\, or on the streets\, – they all loudly chanted the Lord’s name.\n41. Everyone jubilantly celebrated the Lord’s birth\, unknowingly thinking the festivity was actually for the lunar eclipse.\n42. Lord Caitanya appeared on the full moon night of the month of Phalguna; this day is the most worshippable by Lord Brahma and other great personalities.\n43. This day of the Lord’s appearance is the holiest of holy occasions; this day is devotion personified.\n44 & 45. Lord Caitanya appeared on the full moon night of Phalguna and Lord Nityananda appeared on the 13th night of the waxing moon. Both these days are all auspicious and transcendental occasions.\n46. If one properly follows these two holy occasions he develops love of Godhead and cuts asunder the knots of material illusion.\n47. The appearance days of pure Vaishnava devotees like the appearance day of the Supreme Lord\, are also all auspicious and transcendental.\n48. Whosoever hears the narrations of Lord Caitanya’s birth is freed from all miseries in life and in death.\n49. Anyone who hears Lord Caitanya’s pastimes immediately gets love of God and becomes his eternal servitor; he comes with the Lord each time He advents in this material world.\n50. The Adi Khanda text is wonderful to hear because it contains descriptions of Lord Caitanya’s appearance.\n51. The Vedic literature describes these pastimes of the Lord as eternal\, although He sometimes appears and sometimes disappears.\n52. Lord Caitanya’s pastimes have no beginning and no end; I write them down by the mercy of the Lord.\n53. I offer my humble obeisances at the Lord’s feet and at the feet of all His devotees. I pray that I may be excused from all offenses.\n54. I\, Vrndavana dasa\, offer this song to the lotus feet of my life and soul\, Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya and Lord Sri Nityananda Prabhu. \nSRI CHAITANYA BHAGAVATA.\nAdi Lila Chapter 4. \n1. All glories\, all glories to the lotus feet-eyed\, moon-like Lord Caitanya; all glories\, all glories to all Your loving devotees.\n2. O Lord\, look upon me mercifully so that my delusion is dispelled and I may be able to serve and worship You day and night.\n3 & 4. The wonderful appearance of the Lord increased the happiness of everyone in Srimati Sacidevi’s house. Both Sri Jagannatha Misra’s and Srimati Sacidevi’s hearts heaved joyous waves while looking at the Lord’s beautiful face.\n5. Sri Visvarupa would pick up his brother in his arms and smile gleefully at the Supreme Lord\, the abode of all transcendental joys.\n6. Friends and relatives lingered\, surrounding the Lord affectionately all the time.\n7. Some chanted mantras of enchantments in the Lord’s room for His protection. The Vishnu Raksa mantra (invoking Lord Vishnu’s protection) or Devi mantra (invoking Durga devi’s protection) were chanted while some people circumambulated the Lord’ house.\n8. And when the Lord would cry\, shedding tears from His lotus eyes\, only the sound of the holy name of Krsna would pacify Him.\n9. Finally everyone understood the secret message and whenever the Lord cried\, they immediately chanted Lord Hari’s name.\n10. The demigods were in a jovial mood and decided to play some practical jokes on the people who always surrounded Nimai.\n11. A demigod in a spiritual body stole quietly about the house\, unseen by human eyes. When the peopled saw a shadowy figure slither past they exclaimed\, “There goes a thief!”\n12. Terror-stricken\, some of them loudly chanted “Nrsimha! Nrsimha!”\, while others murmured the Aparajita Stotra (prayers to Parvati devi\, wife of Lord Shiva) for protection.\n13. While many persons were going around the house chanting all different mantras and prayers\, a great commotion was heard from inside Srimati Sacidevi’s house.\n14. The demigods had assembled to see the Lord\, but the people outside thought that thieves were entering.\n15. Some shouted\, “Catch the thief! Thief!”\, while others continuously chanted\, “Nrsimha\, Nrsimha”.\n16. A brahmin priest endowed with powers of exorcising ghosts threatened the invisible demigods\, “You’re lucky you got away today\, but you do not know the tremendous power of Lord Nrsimha-deva.”\n17. Unseen by anyone\, the demigods laughed to themselves. In this way a month passed.\n18. Completing her one-month of confinement\, the period of contamination after childbirth\, Srimati Sacidevi went for a bath in the Ganga with the other ladies.\n19. Amongst singing and joyous clamor Sacidevi bathed in the Ganga. She worshipped Ganga devi and thereafter she worshipped a village goddess called Sasthi.\n20. After worshipping different demigods in accordance with proper rites Sacidevi returned with the satisfied ladies.\n21. According to the social custom\, Sacidevi respectfully offered all the ladies roasted paddy\, bananas\, oil\, vermilion powder\, betel nuts and betel leaf.\n22. The ladies in turn blessed the child and offered respects to Sacidevi before they returned to their respective homes.\n23. In this way the Supreme Lord Caitanya performed His childhood pastimes. Without the Lord’s mercy these pastimes are incomprehensible.\n24. The lord as a child cried frequently. His real intention in crying was to induce everyone to chant the Lord’s holy name.\n25. The ladies tried one way or another to pacify Him\, but He cried all the more.\n26. As soon as they chanted “Hari\, Hari”\, a beaming smile spread across the Lord’s exquisite moon-like face.\n27. Discovering that this pleased the Lord\, everyone got together and repeated Lord Hari’s name while clapping their hands.\n28. Happily everyone performed congregational chanting and Saci devi’s house resounded with the Lord’s name.\n29. Unknown to all\, Lord Caitanya’s childhood pastimes in Sri Jagannatha Misra’s house were a facsimile to Gopala Krsna’s childhood pastimes.\n30 & 31. When no one was present in a room\, He would intentionally scatter things around after pouring milk\, butter or oil on the floor.\n32. Forewarned that mother Saci devi was approaching\, He would quickly lay down and start crying.\n33. Mother Saci devi would pacify Him by repeating Lord Hari’s name until she noticed the different substances spread all over the floor.\n34. “Who has scattered the rice\, wheat and dahl? Why are these broken pots of curd and milk on the floor?\n35. No one could understand who had done this. There was only the four-month-old baby in the house.\n36. Curiosity drew everyone to that room\, but they could not find any trace of the culprit.\n37 & 38. Some conjectured\, “A demon or ghost must have come\, but due to the effect of the mantras it could not harm the baby. Angry that it could do nothing to the child\, it threw everything around and escaped”.\n39. This incident left Sri Jagannatha Misra quite perplexed\, but thinking it a providential interference\, he did not comment.\n40. In spite of the extensive damage\, both Sri Jagannatha Misra and Sacidevi felt their sorrows soothed by just looking at the child’s face.\n41. Days passed wrapped in mystery until the day of the name giving ceremony arrived.\n42. Sri Nilambara Cakravarti and other learned scholars and friends assembled there.\n43. Respectable\, chaste ladies who looked as fresh and glowing as Laksmi devi\, the goddess of fortune\, attended the ceremony in beautiful saris.\n44. Everyone discussed which name the child would have. Some ladies made one suggestion while other ladies made another.\n45. “This child will have no younger brother or sisters\, so being the last child of the family\, he should be named Nimai”\, said one lady.\n46. After considering all points the scholars said there was one name appropriate for the child.\n47. As soon as He was born\, famine ended in the land and the farmers were blessed with the long-awaited rain.\n48. Happy and healthy conditions returned to the land at His birth. It was similar to the ancient story of Lord Narayana protecting and upholding the universe during devastation.\n49. Hence\, His name should be Sri Visvambhara (sustainer of the world). This is confirmed in His horoscope\, for He is the brightest torchbearer of His family.\n50. The name Nimai that the respected ladies gave will be His second name.\n51. The name was given at an auspicious moment when all the planetary indications were right and amidst readings of ”Bhagavad Gita\, Srimad Bhagavatam\, and the Vedas\, etc. by the brahmins.\n52. The demigods and humans assembled together on this occasion and offered benedictions. They chanted Lord Hari’s all-auspicious holy names while blowing conch shells and ringing bells.\n53. Rice\, paddy\, books\, roasted paddy\, coins\, gold and silver were placed for the child to hold (testing the child’s tendency).\n54. Sri Jagannatha encouraged his son\, “My dear Visvambhara\, take whatever your heart desires”.\n55. Sacidevi’s son\, the Supreme Lord\, ignored all items and picked up the ”Srimad Bhagavatam and embraced it.\n56. The ladies loudly glorified the Lord. Everyone was impressed and said\, “He will be a great scholar”.\n57. Some commented that the child would turn out to be an elevated Vaishnava devotee with the extraordinary capacity to easily grasp the imports of the scriptures.\n58. Whoever saw Lord Visvambhara’s enchanting smile became drenched in showers of bliss.\n59. Once the ladies had the child on their laps\, they would not put Him down. This child\, the Supreme Lord\, is almost unapproachable even by demigods.\n60. And whenever the Lord started crying the ladies clapped their hands and chanted Lord Hari’s name.\n61. Hearing the chanting the Lord swayed blissfully as though he were dancing on their laps. This excited the ladies who in turn increased their chanting.\n62. The Supreme Lord\, by His desire\, had everyone constantly chanting the Lord’s name\, on any available pretext.\n63. The Vedas\, ”Srimad Bhagavatam and other scriptures conclude that no undertaking reaches success without the Supreme Lord’s desire.\n64. Sacidevi’s son\, the Supreme Lord Caitanya\, grew day by day\, motivating everyone to chant His own holy name.\n65. When the Lord began to crawl on His knees He looked most charming. The small ankle bells on His feet were pleasing to hear.\n66. The Lord fearlessly moved around everywhere\, catching anything he saw – fire\, snakes\, anything.\n67. One day a snake slithered through the courtyard and the Lord caught hold of him simply to enact another pastime.\n68. The Lord lay down on the coils of the snake.\n69. When the residents of the house saw Him they screamed in alarm\, but the Lord calmly smiled and remained in that relaxed position.\n70. The people shouted\, “Garuda! Garuda!” while Nimai’s parents waited in anxiety.\n71. The snake\, who was really Lord Ananta Sesa\, started to slither away when he heard all the crying and commotion\, but little Nimai tried to stop him.\n72. The ladies rushed over and grabbed up the Lord in their arms\, each one blessing Him that he might have a long life.\n73. Some relatives tied a talisman on Nimai for his protection\, while some chanted benediction hymns and others poured Ganga water on different parts of His body.\n74. Some of them thought that the child had got a new life while others realized that the snake was Ananta Sesa.\n75. The Supreme Lord Caitanya who was radiant like the moon\, tried repeatedly to go back to the snake\, but everyone stopped Him.\n76. These pastimes are not revealed even in the Vedas\, and anyone who hears them is free from the bite of the serpent of material illusion.\n77. Lord Caitanya\, the pleasure of Sacidevi soon toddled about the house.\n78. Lord Caitanya’s extraordinary beauty eclipsed the beauty of millions of cupids: even the radiant moon longed to behold the Lord’s beauty.\n79. Curly locks decorated His exquisitely formed head and with lotus-shaped eyes He looked like Gopala Krsna.\n80. His long arms stretched to His knees. He had an expansive chest and reddish pink lips. All His limbs were beautifully formed.\n81. His brilliant sun-red complexion was always attractive and His fingers\, hands and feet were like blooming lotuses.\n82. The Lord’s reddish complexion sometimes cause Sacimata anxiety; as the child ran about she kept thinking she could see red\, gaping wounds.\n83. Sacidevi and Sri Jagannatha Misra were always struck with great wonder at the Lord’s beauty. Although they were needy\, their son was a source of unending joy for them.\n84. Together in seclusion they whispered to each other\, “I wonder what great personality has come as our son.\n85. “An elevated and distinguished personality has taken birth in our house; perhaps this will terminate all our material miseries.\n86. “I have never heard of any other child as wonderful as ours. He smiles and dances without stopping when he hears the chanting of Lord Hari’s name.\n87. “When He cries no amount of consoling will calm Him\, but when He hears loud chanting of Lord Hari’s name He stops crying and listens.\n88 & 89. “From early morning the ladies surrounded the Lord and loudly sing Lord Hari’s name; they clap their hands in rhythm and the Lord dances gleefully.”\n90.The Lord playfully rolled in the dust\, then laughing he would jump into his mother’s lap.\n91.The Lord danced\, moving His body in such a manner that no one can contain his laughter.\n92. Nobody could understand how the Lord through his childish pranks motivated everyone to chant the holy name.\n93. The Lord was so vivacious and restless\, fleeting in and out of the house\, that no one could catch Him.\n94. Venturing out on His own\, Nimai wanted to taste whatever he saw – roasted rice\, banana\, sandesh\, etc.\n95. The Lord was so extremely attractive that strangers gave him whatever he requested.\n96 & 97. Strangers gave Him sandesh or banana\, and pleased with His gifts the Lord returned home. He then distributed the food to those ladies who sang Lord Hari’s name.\n98. Everyone merrily applauded the child’s ingenuity and continuously sang Lord Hari’s name.\n99. The Lord wandered freely in and out of the house\, whether morning\, noon\, evening or night.\n100. Daily He went to a friendly neighbor’s house and mysteriously stole from him.\n101. In some houses He drank all the milk and in others He ate all the rice. Wherever He found nothing to eat He was satisfied to break all the earthen pots.\n102. If He found a small child in any house He would tease him to tears\, but when He was observed He fled.\n103. But if by chance some one caught Him\, Nimai would catch the person’s feet and plead.\n104. “Please let me go this one last time; I shall never come back again. I will never steal anymore. Please be merciful.”\n105. Astounded by the boy’s sharp intelligence\, no one could remain angry with Him. Ultimately everyone was affectionate towards Him.\n106. People were naturally captivated just by seeing Him\, and parents loved Him more than they loved their own children.\n107. The Lord of Vaikuntha\, Lord Caitanya\, passed His childhood in this manner\, moving and mischievous.\n108 & 109. One day two thieves saw the Lord roaming about the streets alone. Seeing His fine ornaments\, they conspired to steal them.\n110. One of the thieves picked Him up saying “Oh dear! Oh dear!”\, while the other joined him saying\, “Where have you been for so long?”\n111. “Come quickly home\, dear”\, the thieves said. The lord smiled and replied\, “Yes\, let us go home.”\n112. Busily the two thieves sped away with the Lord in their arms while the street onlookers ignorantly thought that the rightful guardians had taken their child.\n113. Teeming thousands of people were on the streets\, but all were strangers to each other. The thieves were happy with themselves and with the ornaments on the child.\n114. Overtaken by greed the thieves were trying to eat the imaginary pie-in-the-sky thinking they would surely steal the golden bangles.\n115. They carried Him on their shoulders toward their hideout while the Lord rode along chuckling to Himself.\n116. One thief passed a sandesh into the Lord’s hand\, while the other said comfortingly\, “We have almost reached home”.\n117. The thieves had kidnapped the Lord and run far away when the Lord’s relatives began to search for Him.\n118. “Visvambhara! Come home\, Nimai!” they shouted .\n119. Everyone grew frantic and restless like fish out of water.\n120. In distress they remembered Lord Govinda while far away the thieves carried Nimai toward their house.\n121. Deluded by the Supreme Lord’s illusory potency “maya”\, the thieves mistook the way to their hideout; they arrived instead at the residence of Sri Jagannatha Misra.\n122. The bewildered thieves thought they were in their own house\, so they busied themselves trying to remove the Lord’s ornaments.\n123. “Get down now. We are home.” said the thieves\, and the Lord replied\, “Yes\, yes put me down.”\n124. Inside Sri Jagannatha Misra’s house everyone sat around with their heads in their hands in utter despair.\n125. The beguiled thieves took the Lord down from their shoulders\, thinking the house to be their own.\n126. As soon as Nimai was on the ground He ran straight to his father. A joyous uproar shook the house as the relatives loudly chanted\, “Hari\, Hari”.\n127. An understandable transformation overwhelmed the people as if life had returned to their bodies.\n128. The thieves realized that the house was not their own\, but they could not recognize where they were.\n129. Taking advantage of the commotion\, the fearful thieves stealthily left the place without being noticed by anyone.\n130. Reflecting on the strange and wonderful incident\, the thieves thought\, “Who is playing tricks with us?”\n131. “Candidevi (goddess Durga) certainly saved us today\,” they said after regaining their composure. Then they embrace each other.\n132. The thieves actually gained immeasurable piety and good fortune because they carried the Supreme Personality of Godhead on their shoulders.\n133. In Sri Jagannatha Misra’s house the happy relatives asked\, “Who brought the child back? We should offer him nice gifts and tie a turban on his head.”\n134. Some one said\, “I saw two persons come with the child\, put him down and leave\, but I do not know which direction they went after that.\n135. Everyone was surprised that whoever brought the child back did not stay to be acknowledged.\n136. They turned to Nimai and asked\, “Our dear child\, tell us who brought you back. We are puzzled.”\n137 & 138. The Lord replied\, “I went to the banks of the Ganga but I lost my way home and was roaming about in the town. Two persons took me in their arms and brought me home”.\n139. “The words of the scriptures are never wrong\, The unseen hand of God always protects children\, old persons and the helpless\, “they all said.\n140. Being bewildered by the Lord’s illusory energy “maya” the relatives conjectured in many ways.\n141. The Supreme Lord performed His wonderful pastimes in this manner; no one can understand them without the Lord’s direct mercy.\n142. Whoever hears these narrations – which are a mystery even in the Vedas – can easily get undeviating devotion at Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet.\n143. I\, Vrndavana dasa\, offer my humble song at the lotus feet of Sri Krsna Caitanya and Sri Nityananda Prabhu\, who are my life and soul.
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260303
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260304
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T123242Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260305T125452Z
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SUMMARY:Appearance of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu 3rd Mar 2026
DESCRIPTION:Gaura Purnima the appearance anniversary of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu\, who is Krsna Himself in the role of His own devotee. He appeared in 1486 in Mayapur\, West Bengal. \n“This account originally appeared in a short work by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura entitled\, ‘Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: His Life and Precepts.’ (dated 20th August 1896.)” This was taken from “Prologue” to “Teachings of Lord Caitanya” (A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. 1974. pages xiii-xxii.)\n“Caitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur in the town of Nadia just after sunset on the evening of the 23rd Phalguna (1407 Sakadba)\, answering to the 18th of February 1486 of the Christian Era. The moon was eclipsed at the time of His birth\, and the people of Nadia were then engaged\, as was usual on such occasions\, in bathing in the Bhagirathi with loud cheers of Haribol. His father\, Jagannatha Misra\, a poor ‘brahmana’ of the Vedic order\, and His mother\, Saci-devi\, a model good woman\, both descended from ‘brahmana’ stock originally residing in Sylhet. Mahaprabhu was a beautiful child\, and the ladies of the town came to see Him with presents. His mother’s father\, Pandita Nilambara Cakravarti\, a renowned astrologer\, foretold that the child would be a great personage in time; and he\, therefore\, gave him the name Visvambhara. The ladies of the neighbourhood styled him Gaurahari on account of His golden complexion\, and His mother called Him Nimai on account of the ‘nimba’ tree near which He was born. Beautiful as the lad was\, everyone heartily loved to see Him every day. As He grew up He became a whimsical and frolicsome lad. After His fifth year\, He was admitted into a pathasala where He picked up Bengali in a very short time. \n“Most of His contemporary biographers have mentioned certain anecdotes regarding Caitanya which are simple records of His early miracles. It is said that when He was an infant in His mother’s arms He wept continually\, and when the neighbouring ladies cried ‘Haribol’ He used to stop. Thus there was a continuation of utterance of ‘Haribol’ in the house\, foreshewing the future mission of the hero. It has also been stated that when His mother gave Him sweetmeats to eat\, He ate clay instead of the food. His mother\, asking for the reason\, He stated that as every sweetmeat was nothing but clay transformed\, He could eat clay as well. His mother\, who was also the consort of a ‘pandita’\, explained that every article in a special state was adapted to a special use. Earth\, while in the state of a jug\, could be used as a water pot\, but in the state of a brick such a use was not possible. Clay\, therefore in the form of sweetmeats was usable as food\, but clay in its other states was not. The lad was convinced and admitted His stupidity in eating clay and agreed to avoid the mistake in the future. Another miraculous act has been related. \nIt is said that a brahmana on pilgrimage became a guest in His house\, cooked food and read grace with meditation upon Krsna. In the meantime the lad came and ate up the cooked rice. The ‘brahmana’\, astonished at the lad’s act\, cooked again at the request of Jagannatha Misra. The lad again ate up the cooked rice while the ‘brahmana’ was offering the rice to Krsna with meditation. The ‘brahmana’ was persuaded to cook for the third time. This time all the inmates of the house had fallen asleep\, and so the lad showed Himself as Krsna to the traveller and blessed him. The ‘brahmana’ was then lost in ecstasy at the appearance of the object of his worship. \nIt has also been stated that two thieves stole away the lad from His father’s door with a view to purloin His jewels and gave Him sweetmeats on the way. The lad exercised His illusory energy and deceived the thieves back towards His own house. The thieves\, for fear of detection\, left the boy there and fled. Another miraculous act that has been described is the lad’s demanding and getting from Hiranya and Jagadisa all the offerings they had collected for worshiping Krsna on the day of Ekadasi. When only four years of age He sat on rejected cooking pots which were considered unholy by His mother. He explained to His mother that there was no question of holiness and unholiness as regards to earthen pots thrown away after the cooking was over. These anecdotes relate to His tender age up to the fifth year. \n“In His eighth year\, He was admitted into the tola of Gangadasa Pandita in Ganganagara close by the village of Mayapur. In two years He became well read in Sanskrit grammar and rhetoric. His readings after that were of the nature of self-study in His own house\, where He had found all-important books belonging to His father\, who was a ‘pandita’ himself. It appears that He read the ‘smrti’ in His own study\, and the ‘nyaya’ also\, in competition with His friends\, who were then studying under the celebrated ‘pandita’ Raghunatha Siromani. \n“Now\, after the tenth year of His age\, Caitanya became a passable scholar in grammar\, rhetoric\, the ‘smrti’ and the ‘nyaya’. It was after this that his elder brother Visvarupa left his house and accepted the ‘ashrama’ (status) of a ‘sannyasi’ (ascetic). Caitanya\, though a very young boy\, consoled His parents\, saying that He would serve them with a view to please God. Just after that\, His father left this world. His mother was exceedingly sorry\, and Mahaprabhu\, with His usual contented appearance\, consoled His widowed mother. \nIt was at the age of 14 or 15 that Mahaprabhu was married to Laksmidevi\, the daughter of Vallabhacarya\, also of Nadia. He was at this age considered one of the best scholars of Nadia\, then renowned seat of ‘nyaya’ philosophy and Sanskrit learning. Not to speak of the ‘smarta panditas’\, the ‘Naiyayikas’ were all afraid of confronting Him in literary discussions. Being a married man\, He went to Eastern Bengal on the banks of the Padma for acquirement of wealth. There He displayed His learning and obtained a good sum of money. It was at this time that He preached Vaisnavism at intervals. After teaching him the principles of Vaisnavism\, He ordered Tapanamisra to go to and live in Benares. During His residence in East Bengal\, His wife Laksmidevi left this world from the effects of snake bite. On returning home\, He found His mother in a mourning state. \nHe consoled her with a lecture on the uncertainty of human affairs. It was at His mother’s request that He married Visnupriya\, the daughter of Raja Pandita Sanatana Misra. His comrades joined Him on His return from pravasa or sojourn. He was now so renowned that He was considered to be the best pandita in Nadia. Kesava Misra of Kashmir\, who had called himself the Great Digvijayi\, came to Nadia with a view to discuss with the ‘pandita’ of that place. Afraid of the so-called conquering pandita\, the tola professors of Nadia left their town on pretence of invitation. Kesava met Mahaprabhu at the Barokona-ghata in Mayapur\, and after a very short discussion with Him he was defeated by the boy\, and mortification obliged him to decamp. Nimai Pandita was now the most important ‘pandita’ of His times. \n“It was at the age of 16 or 17 that He travelled to Gaya with a host of His students and there took His spiritual initiation from Isvara Puri\, a Vaisnava ‘sannyasi’ and a disciple of the renowned Madhavendra Puri. Upon His return to Nadia\, Nimai Pandita turned religious preacher\, and His religious nature became so strongly represented that Advaita Prabhu\, Srivasa and others who had before the birth of Caitanya already accepted the Vaisnava faith were astonished at the change of the young man. He was then no more a contending ‘naiyayika’\, a wrangling ‘smarta’ and a criticizing rhetorician. \nHe swooned at the name of Krsna and behaved as an inspired man under the influence of His religious sentiment. It has been described by Murari Gupta\, an eye-witness\, that He showed His heavenly powers in the house of Srivasa Pandita in the presence of hundreds of His followers\, who were mostly well-read scholars. It was at this time that He opened a nocturnal school of ‘kirtana’ in the compound of Srivasa Pandita with His sincere followers. There He preached\, there He sang\, there He danced\, and there He expressed all sorts of religious feelings. Nityananda Prabhu\, who was then a preacher of Vaisnavism and who had then completed His travels all over India\, joined Him at that time. In fact\, a host of ‘pandita’ preachers of Vaisnavism\, all sincere at heart\, came and joined Him from different parts of Bengal. Nadia now became the regular seat of a host of Vaisnava ‘acaryas’ whose mission it was to spiritualize mankind with the highest influence of the Vaisnava creed. \n“The first mandate that He issued to Prabhu Nityananda and Haridasa was this: ‘Go\, friends\, go through the streets of the town\, meet every man at his door and ask him to sing the name of Hari with a holy life\, and you then come and report to Me every evening the result of your preaching.’ Thus ordered\, the two preachers went on and met Jagai and Madhai\, two most abominable characters. They insulted the preachers on hearing Mahaprabhu’s mandate\, but were soon converted by the influence of ‘bhakti’ (devotion) inculcated by their Lord. The people of Nadia were now surprised. They said\, ‘Nimai Pandita is not only a gigantic genius\, but He is certainly a missionary from God Almighty.’ From this time to His twenty-third year\, Mahaprabhu preached His principles not only in Nadia but in all important towns and villages around His city. In the houses of \nTo his followers he showed miracles\, taught the esoteric principles of ‘bhakti’ and sang His ‘sankirtan’ with other bhaktas. His followers of the town of Nadia commenced to sing the holy name of Hari in the streets and bazaars. This created a sensation and roused different feelings in different quarters. The ‘bhaktas’ were highly pleased. The ‘smarta brahmanas’ became jealous of Nimai Pandita’s success and complained to Chand Kazi against the character of Caitanya as un-Hindu. The Kazi came to Srivasa Pandita’s house and broke a ‘mrdanga’ (‘khola’ drum) there and declared that unless Nimai Pandit ceased to make noise about His queer religion he would be obliged to enforce Mohammedanism on Him and His followers. This was brought to Mahaprabhu’s notice. \nHe ordered the townspeople to appear in the evening each with a torch in his hand. This they did\, and Nimai marched out with His ‘sankirtan’ divided in 14 groups\, and on His arrival in the Kazi’s house\, He held a long conversation with the Kazi and in the end communicated into his heart His Vaisnava influence by touching his body. The Kazi then wept and admitted that he had felt a keen spiritual influence which had cleared up his doubts and produced in him a religious sentiment which gave him the highest ecstasy. The Kazi then joined the sankirtan party. The world was astonished at the spiritual power of the Great Lord\, and hundreds and hundreds of heretics converted and joined the banner of Visvambhara after this affair. \n“It was after this that some of the jealous and low-minded ‘brahmanas’ of Kulia picked a quarrel with Mahaprabhu and collected a party to oppose Him. Nimai Pandita was naturally a soft-hearted person\, though strong in His principles. He declared that party feelings and sectarianism were the two great enemies of progress and that as long as He should continue to be an inhabitant of Nadia belonging to a certain family\, His mission would not meet with complete success. He then resolved to be a citizen of the world by cutting His connection with His particular family\, caste and creed\, and with this resolution He embraced the position of a ‘sannyasi’ at Katwa\, under the guidance of Keshava Bharati of that town\, on the 24th year of His age. His mother and wife wept bitterly for His separation\, but our hero\, though soft in heart\, was a strong person in principle. He left His little world in His house for the unlimited spiritual world of Krsna with man in general. \n“After His ‘sannyasa’\, He was induced to visit the house of Advaita Prabhu in Santipura. Advaita managed to invite all His friends and admirers from Nadia and brought Sacidevi to see her son. Both pleasure and pain invaded her heart when she saw her son in the attire of a ‘sannyasi’. As a ‘sannyasi’\, Krsna Caitanya put on nothing but a ‘kaupina’ (two pieces of cloth\, a loin cloth) and a ‘bahirvasa’ (outer covering). His head was without hair\, and His hands bore a ‘danda’ (stick) and a ‘kamandalu’ (hermit’s water pot). The Holy Son fell at the feet of His beloved mother and said\, “Mother! This body is yours\, and I must obey your orders. Permit me to go to Vrndavana for My spiritual attainments.” \nThe mother\, in consultation with Advaita and others\, asked her son to reside in Puri (the town of Jagannatha) so that she might obtain His information now and then. Mahaprabhu agreed to that proposition and in a few days left Santipura for Orissa. \nHis biographers have described the journey of Krsna Caitanya (that was the name He got after His ‘sannyasa’) from Santipura to Puri in great detail. He travelled along the side of the Bhagirathi as far as Chatrabhoga\, situated now in Thana Mathurapura\, Diamond Harbour\, 24 Parganas. There He took a boat and went as far as Prayaga-ghata in the Midnapura District. Thence He walked through Balasore and Cuttack to Puri\, seeing the temple of Bhuvanesvara on His way. Upon His arrival at Puri He saw Jagannatha in the temple and resided with Sarvabhauma at the request of the latter. \nSarvabhauma was a gigantic ‘pandita’ of the day. His readings knew no bounds. He was the best ‘naiyayika’ of the times and was known as the most erudite scholar in the Vedanta philosophy of the school of Sankaracarya. He was born in Nadia (Vidyanagara) and taught innumerable pupils in the ‘nyaya’ philosophy in his tola there. He had left for Puri some time before the birth of Nimai Pandita. His brother-in-law Gopinatha Misra introduced our new sannyasi to Sarvabhauma\, who was astonished at His personal beauty and feared that it would be difficult for the young man to maintain ‘sannyasa-dharma’ during the long run of His life. Gopinatha\, who had known Mahaprabhu from Nadia\, had a great reverence for Him and declared that the ‘sannyasi’ was not a common human being. On this point Gopinatha and Sarvabhauma had a hot discussion. \nSarvabhauma then requested Mahaprabhu to hear his recitation of the Vedanta-sutras\, and the latter tacitly submitted. Caitanya heard with silence what the great Sarvabhauma uttered with gravity for seven days\, at the end of which the latter said\, ‘Krsna-Caitanya! I think You do not understand the Vedanta\, for You do not say anything after hearing my recitation and explanations.’ The reply of Caitanya was that He understood the sutras very well\, but He could not make out what Sankaracarya meant by his commentaries. Astonished as this\, Sarvabhauma said\, ‘How is it that you understand the meanings of the ‘sutras’ and do not understand the commentaries which explain the ‘sutras’? All well! If You understand the ‘sutras’\, please let me have Your interpretations.’ Mahaprabhu thereon explained all the ‘sutras’ in His own way without touching the pantheistic commentary of Sankara. The keen understanding of Sarvabhauma saw the truth\, beauty and harmony of arguments in the explanations given by Caitanya and obliged Him to utter that it was the first time that he had found one who could explain the Brahma-sutras in such a simple manner. He admitted also that the commentaries of Sankara never gave such natural explanations of the Vedanta-sutras as he had obtained from Mahaprabhu. He then submitted himself as an advocate and follower. In a few days Sarvabhauma turned out to be one of the best Vaisnavas of the time. When reports of this came out\, the whole of Orissa sang the praise of Krsna Caitanya\, and hundred and hundreds came to Him and became His followers. In the meantime Mahaprabhu thought of visiting Southern India\, and He started with one Krsnadasa Brahmana for the journey. \n“His biographers have given us a detail of the journey. He went first to Kurmaksetra\, where He performed a miracle by curing a leper named Vasudeva. He met Ramananda Raya\, the Governor of Vidyanagara\, on the banks of the Godavari and had a philosophical conversation with him on the subject of ‘prema-bhakti’. He worked another miracle by touching (making them immediately disappear) the seven ‘tala-trees’ through which Ramacandra\, the son of Dasaratha\, had shot His arrow and killed the great Bali Raja. He preached Vaisnavism and ‘nama-sankirtana’ throughout the journey. At Rangaksetra He stayed for four months in the house of one Venkata Bhatta in order to spend the rainy season. There He converted the whole family of Venkata from Ramanuja Vaisnavism to Krsna-bhakti\, along with the son of Venkata\, a boy of ten years named Gopala\, who afterwards came to Vrndavana and became one of the six Goswamis or prophets serving under their leader Sri Krsna Caitanya. Trained up in Sanskrit by his uncle Prabodhananda Sarasvati\, Gopala wrote several books on Vaisnavism. \n“Sri Caitanya visited numerous places in Southern India as far as Cape Comorin and returned to Puri in two years by Pandepura on the Bhima. In this latter place He spiritualized one Tukarama\, who became from that time a religious preacher himself. This fact has been admitted in his ‘adhangas’\, which have been collected in a volume by Mr. Satyendra Nath Tagore of the Bombay Civil Service. During His journey He had several discussions with the Buddhists\, the Jains and the ‘mayavadis’ in several places and converted His opponents to Vaisnavism. \n“Upon His return to Puri\, Raja Prataparudra-deva and several ‘pandita brahmanas’ joined the banner of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He was now twenty-seven years of age. In His twenty-eighth year He went to Bengal as far as Gauda in Mald. There He picked up two great personages named Rupa and Sanatana. Though descended from the lines of Karnatic brahmanas\, these two brothers turned demi-Moslems by their continual contact with Hussain Shah\, the then Emperor of Gauda. Their names had been changed by the Emperor into Dabir Khas and Sakara Mallik\, and their master loved them heartily since they were both learned in Persian\, Arabic and Sanskrit and were loyal servants of the state. The two gentlemen had found no way to come back as regular Hindus and had written to Mahaprabhu for spiritual help while He was at Puri. Mahaprabhu had written in reply that He would come to them and extricate them from their spiritual difficulties. Now that He had come to Gauda\, both the brothers appeared before Him with their long-standing prayer. Mahaprabhu ordered them to go to Vrndavana and meet Him there. \n“Caitanya returned to Puri through Santipura\, where He again met His dear mother. After a short stay at Puri He left for Vrndavana. This time He was accompanied by one Balabhadra Bhattacarya. He visited Vrndavana and came down to Prayag (Allahabad)\, converting a large number of Mohammedans to Vaisnavism by argument from the Koran. The descendant of those converts are still known as Pathana Vaisnavas. Rupa Goswami met Him in Allahabad. Caitanya trained him up in spirituality in ten days and directed him to go to Vrndavana on missions. His first mission was to write theological works explaining scientifically pure ‘bhakti’ and ‘prema’. The second mission was to revive the places where Krsnacandra had in the end of ‘Dvapara-yuga’ exhibited His spiritual ‘lila’ (pastimes) for the benefit of the religious world. Rupa Goswami left Allahabad for Vrndavana\, and Mahaprabhu came down to Benares. There He resided in the house of Candrasekhara and accepted His daily ‘bhiksa’ (meal) in the house of Tapana Misra. Here it was that Sanatana Goswami joined him and took instruction for two months in spiritual matters. The biographers\, especially Krsnadasa Kaviraja\, have given us details of Caitanya’s teachings to Rupa and Sanatana. Krsnadasa was not a contemporary writer\, but he gathered his information from the Goswamis themselves\, the direct disciples of Mahaprabhu. Jiva Goswami\, who was the nephew of Sanatana and Rupa and who has left us his invaluable work of Sat-sandarbha\, has philosophized on the precept of his great leader. We have gathered and summarised the precepts of Caitanya from the books of those great writers. \n“While at Benares\, Caitanya had an interview with the learned ‘sannyasis’ of that town in the house of a Maratha ‘brahmana’ who had invited all the ‘sannyasis’ for entertainment. At this interview\, Caitanya shewed a miracle which attracted all the ‘sannyasis’ to Him. Then ensued reciprocal conversation. The ‘sannyasis’ were headed by their most learned leader Prakasananda Sarasvati. After a short controversy\, they submitted to Mahaprabhu and admitted that they had been misled by the commentaries of Sankaracarya.\nIt was impossible even for learned scholars to oppose Caitanya for a long time\, for there was some spell in Him which touched their hearts and made them weep for their spiritual improvement. The ‘sannyasis’ of Benares soon fell at the feet of Caitanya and asked for His grace (‘krpa’). Caitanya then preached pure ‘bhakti’ and instilled into their hearts spiritual love for Krsna which obliged them to give up sectarian feelings. The whole population of Benares\, on this wonderful conversion of the ‘sannyasis’\, turned Vaisnavas\, and they made a master ‘sankirtana’ with their new Lord. After sending Sanatana to Vrndavana\, Mahaprabhu went to Puri again through the jungles with His comrade Balabhadra. Balabhadra reported that Mahaprabhu had shown a good many miracles on His way to Puri\, such as making tigers and elephants dance on hearing the name of Krsna. \n“From this time\, that is\, from His 31st year\, Mahaprabhu continually lived in Puri the house of Kasi Misra until His disappearance in His forty-eighth year at the time of sankirtana in the temple of Tota-gopinatha. During these 18 years\, His life was one of settled love and piety. He was surrounded by numerous followers\, all of whom were of the highest order of Vaisnavas and who were distinguished from the common people by their purest character and learning\, firm religious principles and spiritual love of Radha-Krsna. Svarupa Damodara\, who had been known by the name of Purusottamacarya while Mahaprabhu was in Nadia\, joined Him from Benares and accepted service as His secretary. \nNo production of any poet or philosopher could be laid before Mahaprabhu unless Svarupa had passed it as pure and useful. Raya Ramananda was His second mate. Both he and Svarupa would sing while Mahaprabhu expressed His sentiments on a certain point of worship. Paramananda Puri was His minister in matters of religion. There are hundreds of anecdotes described by His biographers which we do not think it meet here to reproduce. Mahaprabhu slept short. \nHis sentiments carried Him far and wide in the firmament of spirituality every day and night\, and all His admirers and followers watched Him throughout. He worshipped\, communicated with His missionaries at Vrndavana\, and conversed with those religious men who newly came to visit Him. He sang and danced\, took no care of Himself and of-times lost Himself in religious beatitude. All who came to Him believed in Him as the all-beautiful God appearing in the nether world for the benefit of mankind. He loved His mother all along and sent her ‘mahaprasada’ now and then with those who went to Nadia. He was most amiable in nature. Humility was personified in Him. His sweet appearance gave cheer to all who came in contact with Him. He appointed Prabhu Nityananda as the missionary in charge of Bengal. He dispatched six disciples (Goswamis) to Vrndavana to preach love in the upcountry. This he markedly did in the case of Junior Haridasa. He never lacked in giving proper instructions in life to those who solicited them. This will be seen in His teachings to Raghunatha dasa Goswami. His treatment to Haridasa (senior) will show how He loved spiritual men and how He defied caste distinction in spiritual brotherhood.”\n(Thakura Bhaktivinoda. 20th August 1896.) \nReason for appearance \nLord Krishna thought in Goloka\, “I shall personally inaugurate the religion of the age; nama-sankirtana\, the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord in the form of Lord Gauranga. By accepting the role of a devotee\, I shall make the whole world dance in ecstasy\, and thus realize the four mellows of loving devotional service. In this way\, I shall teach devotional service to others by personally practicing it\, for whatever a great personality does\, common people will follow. Of course\, My plenary portions can establish the religious principles for each age\, but only I can bestow the kind of loving devotional service which is performed by the residents of Vraja.” \nBesides this secondary reason for Lord Krishna to appear once more\, taking the form of a devotee\, there is another confidential purpose of a very personal nature. Even though Lord Krishna had tasted the essence of loving mellows by performing His conjugal pastimes in the company of the gopis\, He was not able to fulfill three desires. \nTherefore\, after His disappearance\, the Lord thought\, “Although I am the Absolute Truth\, and the reservoir of all rasas\, I cannot understand the strength of Radharani’s love\, with which She always overwhelms Me. Indeed\, the love of Radharani is My teacher\, and I am Her dancing pupil\, for Her love makes Me dance in various novel ways. Whatever pleasure I get from tasting My love for Srimati Radharani\, She relishes ten million times more\, by Her love. Although there is nothing greater than Radha’s love\, since it is all pervading\, it nonetheless expands constantly and is completely devoid of pride. There is nothing purer than Radha’s love\, and yet its behavior is always perverse and crooked.” \n“Sri Radhika is the highest abode of love\, and I am its only object. I taste the bliss to which the object is entitled\, but Radha’s pleasure is ten million times greater than Mine. Therefore\, My mind becomes mad to taste the pleasure that is experienced by the abode of love\, although I cannot do so. Only if I can somehow become the abode of that love\, will I be able to experience its joy.” \nThis was one desire that increasingly blazed in Lord Krishna’s heart. Then\, upon seeing His own beauty\, Lord Krishna began to consider as follows: “My sweetness is unlimitedly wonderful. Only Radhika can taste the complete nectar of My sweetness\, by the strength of Her love\, which acts just like a mirror whose clarity increases at every moment. Although My sweetness\, being without limit\, seemingly has no room for expansion\, it shines forth with newer and newer beauty\, and thus constantly competes with the mirror of Radharani’s love\, as they both go on increasing without admitting defeat.” “Devotees taste My sweetness according to their respective love\, and if I see that sweetness reflected in a mirror\, I also become tempted to taste it\, although I cannot. Upon deliberation\, I find that the only way I can relish My sweetness is to take the position of Srimati Radharani.” \nThis was Lord Krishna’s second desire\, and His third desire was expressed while thinking as follows: “Everyone says that I am the reservoir of all transcendental bliss\, and indeed\, all the world derives pleasure from Me alone. Who then could give Me pleasure? I think that only someone having a hundred times more qualities than Myself could give pleasure to My mind\, but such a person is impossible to find.” \n“And yet\, in spite of the fact that My beauty is unsurpassed\, and gives pleasure to all who perceive it\, the sight of Srimati Radharani gives pleasure to My eyes. Although the vibration of My flute attracts everyone within the three worlds\, My ears become enchanted by the sweet words spoken by Radharani. Although My body lends its fragrance to the entire creation\, the scent of Radharani’s limbs captivates My mind and heart. Although there are various tastes due to Me alone\, I become charmed by the nectarean taste of Radharani’s lips. Although My touch is cooler than ten million moons\, I become refreshed by the touch of Srimati Radharani. Thus\, in spite of the fact that I am the source of happiness for the entire world\, the beauty and attributes of Sri Radhika are My very life and soul.” \n“My eyes become fully satisfied by looking at Srimati Radharani\, and yet\, when She gazes at Me\, She feels even greater satisfaction. The whispering murmur of the bamboo trees that rub against one another steals away Radharani’s mind\, for She thinks it to be the sound of My flute. She embraces a tamala tree\, mistaking it for Me\, and thus She considers\, ‘I have gotten the embrace of Krishna\, and so now My life has become fulfilled.’ When the fragrance of My body is carried to Her by the wind\, Radharani becomes blinded by love and tries to fly into that breeze. When She tastes the betel nut that has been chewed by Me\, She merges into an ocean of joy\, and forgets everything else.” \n“Thus\, even with hundreds of mouths\, I could not express the pleasure which Radharani derives from My association. Indeed\, upon seeing the luster of Her complexion after Our pastimes together\, I consider My own happiness to be negligent. Expert sexologists say that the happiness of the lover and the beloved are equal\, but they do not know the nature of transcendental love in Vrindavana. Because of the indescribable pleasure which Radharani experiences\, I can understand that there is some unknown mellow within Me that controls Her entire existence.” \n“I am always very eager to taste the joy that Srimati Radharani derives from Me\, and yet\, in spite of endeavoring\, I have been unable to do so. Therefore\, in order to fulfill My three desires\, I shall assume Sri Radhika’s bodily complexion and ecstatic loving sentiment\, and then descend as an incarnation.” \nDesiring to understand the glory of Radharani’s love\, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love\, and the happiness that She feels upon realizing the sweetness of His love\, the Supreme Lord\, Gauranga-Krishna\, decided to appear in a form that was richly endowed with Her emotions. First of all\, the Lord had His respectable superiors incarnate on the earth\, such as His mother and father\, Sri Sachidevi and Jagannath Mishra. In addition\, there was Madhavendra Puri\, Keshava Bharati\, Ishvara Puri\, Advaita Acharya\, Srivas Pandita\, Thakur Haridas\, Acharyaratna and Vidyanidhi. \nBefore the appearance of Lord Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu\, all of the devotees in the Navadvip area used to gather at the house of Advaita Acharya. In these meetings\, Advaita Acharya preached on the basis of Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam\, decrying the paths of philosophical speculation and fruitive activity\, and firmly establishing the super excellence of devotional service. In the house of Advaita Acharya\, the devotees took pleasure in always talking about Krishna\, worshipping Krishna\, and chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. \nHowever\, Advaita Acharya felt very pained to see how practically all the people of the world were devoid of Krishna consciousness and completely merged into material sense enjoyment. Knowing that no one can gain relief from the cycle of repeated birth and death without taking an interest in the devotional service of the Lord\, Advaita Acharya compassionately pondered over the means whereby people could become delivered from the clutches of maya. \nAdvaita Acharya thought\, “Only if Lord Krishna personally appears and preaches the path of devotional service by His own example\, will liberation become possible for all people. Therefore\, I shall worship the Lord in a purified state of mind and constantly petition Him with all humility. Indeed\, my name Advaita will be fitting only if I am able to induce Lord Krishna to inaugurate the sankirtan movement of chanting the holy name\, which is the only religion for this age.” \nWhile Advaita Acharya thought about how to satisfy Krishna by His worship\, the following verse came to mind: “Sri Krishna\, who is very affectionate toward His devotees\, sells Himself to one who offers Him merely a tulasi leaf and a palmful of water.” (Gautamiya-tantra) \nAdvaita Acharya considered the meaning of this verse in the following way: “Lord Krishna cannot find any way to repay the debt which He owes to one who offers Him a tulasi leaf and water. Therefore\, the Lord concludes\, ‘Since there is nothing in My possession which is equal to a tulasi leaf and water\, I will liquidate the debt by offering Myself to the devotee.’ ” Thereafter\, while meditating upon the lotus feet of Sri Krishna\, Advaita Acharya constantly offered tulasi buds in water from the Ganga. While thus engaged in worship\, Advaita Acharya petitioned Krishna to appear by His loud cries\, and this repeated invitation attracted the attention of the Lord\, causing Him to descend. \nSri Upendra Mishra\, a brahmana who was formerly the gopala named Parjanya\, the grandfather of Lord Krishna\, was a great devotee and scholar. One of Upendra’s seven sons\, Jagannath Mishra\, moved from Srihatta to the banks of the Ganga at Nadia\, and then married Srimati Sachidevi\, the daughter of Nilambar Chakravarti\, who was formerly Gargamuni. \nBefore the appearance of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu\, Jagannath Mishra (who was formerly Nanda Maharaja) begot eight daughters in the womb of Sachidevi (who was formerly Yashoda)\, but just after birth\, they all died. Being very aggrieved at the loss of his children\, one after another\, Jagannath Mishra worshiped Lord Vishnu\, while desiring a son. Thereafter\, Sachimata gave birth to a baby boy named Vishvarup\, who was an incarnation of Lord Baladev. Being very pleased\, the mother and father began to serve the lotus feet of Lord Govinda even more devotedly\, because they realized that their happiness was by His mercy. \nThen\, in the month of Maagh (18th February 1486) of the year 1406\, Shaka era\, Lord Krishna entered the bodies of both Jagannath Mishra and Sachidevi. Thereafter\, Jagannath informed his wife\, “I see many wonderful things! Your body seems to be effulgent\, and it appears as if the goddess of fortune is personally residing in our house. Wherever I go\, everyone offers me respect\, and even without asking\, they give me money\, cloth and grains.” Sachimata replied\, “I also see wonderfully brilliant beings\, appearing in the sky\, as if offering prayers.” \nJagannath Mishra then said\, “In a dream I saw the effulgent abode of the Supreme Lord enter into my heart. Then\, from my heart it entered your heart\, and thus I can understand that a great personality will soon take birth.” \nAfter this conversation\, both husband and wife felt very jubilant\, and with great care and attention they rendered service unto the household Shalagrama-shila. \nHowever\, when Sachimata’s pregnancy approached the thirteenth month\, and still there was no sign of delivery\, Jagannath Mishra became very apprehensive. At that time\, Nilambara Chakravarti made an astrological calculation and predicted that the child would be born that very month\, taking advantage of an auspicious moment. \nThus it so happened that on the evening of the Phalguni purnima\, in the year 1407 Shaka era\, corresponding to the modern year 1486\, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu made His appearance at Navadvip. At this time\, Rahu considered\, “When the spotless moon of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is about to become visible\, what need is there for a moon which is full of black marks?” Thinking in this way\, Rahu covered the full moon\, and so all of the Hindus went to the banks of the Ganga in order to bathe and chant the names “Krishna” and “Hari”. While the Hindus were thus vibrating the holy names of the Lord\, the Mohammedans jokingly imitated them. In this way\, at the time of Lord Chaitanya’s appearance\, everyone was engaged in chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. \nIn all directions and within everyone’s mind there was peacefulness and joy. In Shantipur\, Advaita Acharya and Haridas Thakur began chanting and dancing in a very pleasing mood\, although no one could understand why they did so. While laughing again and again\, they also went to the Ganga\, and at that time\, Advaita Acharya took advantage of the lunar eclipse to distribute all kinds of charity to the brahmanas. Upon seeing how the whole world had become jubilant\, Haridas Thakur addressed Advaita Acharya in great astonishment\, “Since Your dancing and distribution of charity appears very pleasing to me\, I can understand that You have some very special purpose.” \nIn Navadvip\, Srivas Thakur and Acharyaratna\, who was also called Chandrashekhar\, immediately went to bathe in the Ganga\, and while chanting the holy name of the Lord in great jubilation\, they also gave charity by dint of mental strength. Indeed\, wherever they were situated\, all of the devotees danced\, chanted and gave charity on the plea of the lunar eclipse\, their minds overwhelmed with joy. Even in the heavenly planets\, chanting and dancing was going on\, for the demigods were very eager to witness the transcendental appearance of the Lord.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/appearance-of-sri-gauranga-mahaprabhu-3rd-mar-2026/
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CREATED:20260115T123033Z
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SUMMARY:Disappearance of Sri Madhavendra Puri 28th Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:Madhavendra Puri was the spiritual master of the spiritual master of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Madhavendra Puri established the worship of the Gopala Deity.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/disappearance-of-sri-madhavendra-puri-28th-feb-2026/
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260228
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T122350Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260302T123929Z
UID:47740-1772150400-1772236799@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Amalaki Vrata Ekadashi 27th Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:This Ekadasi is described in the Brahmanda Purana in a conversation between King Mandhata and the great sage Vasistha. The mighty King known as Mandhata enquired from Vasistha Muni\, “O most fortunate sage\, please be merciful unto me and kindly describe unto me a vow\, by whose observance I may attain all auspiciousness.” \nThe famous sage replied\, “O King\, I will explain to you the glories of and history of Amalaki Ekadasi\, by following of which one receives all auspiciousness in their lives. The piety accumulated by observing this great Ekadasi undoubtedly destroys all sinful reactions and easily awards one liberation. It also gives the benefit of offering one thousand cows in charity. \n“A long time ago\, when the world was very ancient there was a magnificent city called Vaidisa. The city was home to many healthy\, prosperous brahmanas\, ksatriyas\, vaisyas and sudras. O lion-hearted King\, there were no atheists in this city at all and the citizens had not even heard of sin. The  air was always filled with the sound of Vedic mantras\, chanted by the expert priests\, and everyone was very contented by the religious atmosphere. \nIn this fabulous city there lived an honest and pious King named Caitraratha who was born the son of King Pasabinduka\, a lordly member of the dynasty of the moon. King Caitraratha had abounding strength\, beauty\, opulence and wealth; he was well in the scriptures and his citizens loved him. Because of the religious fervour of the people\, they would all always follow Ekadasi. Due to such devotional service unto Lord Visnu the people remained happy in their prosperous kingdom\, there were no poor or miserly people to be found anywhere! \nOne propitious year Amalaki Ekadasi mixed with Dvadasi during the waxing moon in the month of Phalguna (February/March). Realising this Ekadasi was very powerful the King and his subjects prepared to observe the vow with great and special care. Early in the morning they bathed in the river and went to offer puja at the temple of Lord Visnu who resided on the river bank. Within the temple there was an amalaki and the King offered due respect by placing a pitcher of water\, an umbrella\, cloth\, shoes\, and five kinds of precious jewels at the base of the tree. He went on to worship Lord Parasurama with a beautiful canopy\, gold\, diamonds\, rubies\, pearls\, sapphires and very fragrant incense. The sages prayed thus: “O great Lord Parasurama\, son of Renuka\, O you who takes shelter of this amalaki tree\, O bestower of liberation\, We offer our respectful obeisances unto you.” They further offered poetic prayers to the amalaki tree. “O Amalaki\, sustainer of the universe\, O offspring of Lord Brahma\, O destroyer of sins\, We offer our respectful obeisances unto you.” \nAfter offering these prayers the King and his subjects proceeded to remain awake throughout the night\, they stayed in that Visnu temple and sang songs of glorification to the Supreme Lord and the Amalaki tree. By providences will a hunter arrived on the scene. The hunter made is livelihood by killing animals and had never seen such a sight before. He was bewildered by the company sitting peacefully and chanting to the Lord. He decided to sit down as well and observe the sankirtan of the Lord. By way of great fortune he unknowingly took darshan of Lord Damodar who was seated atop the pitcher of water. He stayed awake all night and despite his hunger he did not eat anything\, nor did he kill any animals. \nIn the morning the King and his courtiers returned to their palace and the hunter also returned home. Many years later the hunter left his body\, but despite his sinful life he received liberation simply by the grace of Amalaki Ekadasi. In his next life the hunter became a King with many elephants\, horses\, chariots and a large army. He was known by the name of Vasurath\, son of a powerful King called Vidurath who ruled the famous city of Jayanti. King Vasurath ruled over one million villages\, was as effulgent as the sun and as powerful as Lord Visnu. He was truthful\, tolerant and fixed in his occupational duties. Thus he was a great devotee. \n“One day Vasurath lost his way while hunting in the forest. He was extremely fatigued and afflicted with hunger. Finding no alternative the King lay down to sleep in the dense forest\, with no pillow he slept on the bare earth. While sleeping in the way a band of nomadic mlecchas came across the King and thinking him their enemy proceeded to beat him with their various weapons. Strangely enough none of the weapons caused even a slight disturbance to the saintly King. Bemused by this magic the mlecchas turned to run away\, fearful for their lives. At that moment an effulgent goddess appeared before them holding a a disc in her hand. She was adorned with various shining ornaments and fragrant sandalwood paste. Raising her arm she flung the disc at the mlecchas and killed them outright. \nWhen the King woke up he was astonished by the gruesome scene and became frightened. Seeing that his fearsome enemies were all dead the King exclaimed: “Who is my protector who has slain these enemies for me? I offer my heartfelt gratitude to such a well wishing benefactor.” Just then a voice from sky thundered: “Who else but Lord Kesava is capable of protecting His surrendered souls? He alone is the maintainer of the surrendered devotees and the universe.” After hearing this voice in the sky the King’s heart melted in devotional ecstasy. Knowing that he had been saved by the Supreme Lord he considered himself very fortunate. With increased faith and determination he returned to his palace and ruled just like Indra\, without obstacle or hindrance. \nThe sage Vasistha concluded\, “My dear King Mandhata! Anyone who observes this sacred vow of Amalaki Ekadasi undoubtedly achieves liberation and returns the abode of Lord Visnu.”
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/amalaki-vrata-ekadashi-27th-feb-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260221
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260222
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T121542Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260225T060654Z
UID:47738-1771632000-1771718399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Appearance Day of Sri Purusottama Dasa Thakura 21st Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:Purusottama Dasa Thakura was a great devotee of Lord Nityananda. In Goloka Vrndavana\, Purusottama Dasa Thakura serves Lord Balarama as a cowherd boy.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/appearance-day-of-sri-purusottama-dasa-thakura-21st-feb-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260218
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260219
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T121245Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T075208Z
UID:47736-1771372800-1771459199@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Disappearance Day of Sri Rasikananda 18th Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:Rasikananda Prabhu preached Krsna consciousness in northern Orissa after the disappearance of Lord Caitanya. He was the principal disciple of Syamananda Gosvami. \nAccepting the order of his guru\, Sri Syamananda\, on his head\, Rasikananda preached the message of Sri Gaursundar in the world for approximately 16 years. Thereafter he entered into his eternal pastimes through the lotus feet of Gopinatha at Remuna. On the first day of the bright fortnight in the month of Phalguna\, Sakabda 1574 (1652AD)\, Rasikananda quietly slipped out of the village Santa without anyone’s notice and walked to Remuna. Arriving there\, he discussed Krsna-katha with the devotees there for a while and instructed everyone to serve Sri Krsna with devotion. Then\, after requesting them to begin sankirtana\, he entered the temple of Sri Gopinatha\, and after touching Kshira-chora Gopinatha’s lotus feet\, which bestow complete fearlessness\, he entered into their ultimate shelter. \nRasikananda prabhu’s samadhi is at the Temple of Kshira-chora Gopinath at Remuna just in front and to the right as you go in the main gate\, with the temple to the left\, and admin’ offices straight ahead \nHis Life \nBirth \nAround 1590 AD (Sakabda 1512)\, on the first day of the bright fortnight of the month of Kartik\, during the night of the festival Dipamalika\, when the houses are decorated with rows of lamps\, Sri Rasikananda Deva made his appearance in this world. His father was Sri Acyuta Deva\, the king of Rohini. \nThe village of Rohini or Royni was situated within the country known as Mallabhumi\, encompassed on one side by the Suvarnarekha River (Suvarna meaning golden and rekha\, a line). This Suvarnarekha River cleansed the sins of all the local people. Near Royni was another village of the name Barayita\, by the side of which flowed the Dolanganadi River\, whose banks were adorned with beautiful gardens. Raja Acyuta Deva very affectionately maintained his subjects and was famous for impeccably observing the rites attendant upon kings. In the village of Royni the son of King Acyuta appeared as the sun appears in the eastern sky and became dearly beloved by the people. He was known as Rasikananda and also Murari. \nYouth \nAt a very young age he became quite proficient in all of the scriptures. He was very devoted to his parents\, especially his mother\, whose name was Bhavani. His father married him at very young age. Murari’s wife Syamadasi was a treasure chest of good character who hailed from the village of Ghonta Sila\, not far from Royni on the banks of the Suvarna Rekha\, where in earlier ages the Pandavas had lived in exile. \nMeeting his Guru \nOne day\, Murari was sitting in a lonely place\, wondering when and where he might become so fortunate as to get shelter at the lotus feet of a spiritual preceptor. Just then a voice from the sky addressed him\, “Don’t be in anxiety\, you will become the disciple of Sri Syamananda.” Having heard this proclamation\, Rasik Murari became very jubilant\, and began to repeatedly murmur the name Syamananda\, as though chanting japa. a Pandit \nMoment to moment his eagerness increased without diminition\, as tears flowed from his eyes by his chanting of the name of Syamananda. He was in such a state that he spent most of the night sleeplessly\, calling to his master Syamananda. Finally\, towards the early morning\, he drifted off to the land of dreams\, where he saw his spiritual master\, the very figure of charm and grace. Smilingly\, Syamananda informed him\, “When tomorrow the eastern sky becomes tinged with pink\, you will obtain me.” Saying this\, Syamananda disappeared. Rasikananda’s heart began to swell in ecstatic bliss. Then\, with the first rays of morning which dispel the dense darkness of the world\, the wise Murari sat silently watching the path. After some time Syamananda approached from the distance\, looking as effulgent as the sun and surrounded by his disciples like Sri Kishora dasa and others. His smiling face was like the lotus flower that opens to greet its friend- the sun\, and his chest was as broad as a door. His captivating appearance was made all the more irresistable by the sweet sounds of ‘Sri Krsna Caitanya-Nityananda’ emanating from his lotus mouth. Absorbed in intense love he moved along the path like the clouds move in the sky. When Rasika caught sight of this divine form\, he fell down in front of him to touch his lotus feet. In great ecstasy Shyamananda embraced him and began to bathe him with his tears of ecstatic love. \nLife devoted to Preaching \nSri Rasika Murari then felt himself to be one of the most fortunate living beings within this universe. On an auspicious day Syamananda initiated Rasika and his wife in Radha-Krsna mantra. After that\, Rasikananda began to travel with his guru\, during which time he became a very intimate disciple. Syamananda then bestowed upon him the service of Sri Radha- Govinda Deva at Sri Gopiballabhapur. Rasikananda became totally engaged in their Lordships service\, and the devotees were charmed by his excellent services. At Gopiballabhpur and other places he began to seriously take up the preaching the message of Sri Gaura-Nityananda. By his influence many atheists and non-believers were transformed into devotees of Sri Gaura-Nityananda. “By the tremendous influence of Rasikananda’s preaching\, many rogues\, robbers and atheists were delivered from their sinful activities and received his mercy. He distributed the jewel of devotion as he travelled from village to village\, in the company of his disciples. \nOne day he even converted a wild elephant which was sent for his destruction into his disciple and engaged him in the service of Krsna and the Vaisnavas. That wicked miscreant who sent the elephant bowed at his feet when he realised his mistake. It is not possible to count the number of living entities that were extricated from the ocean of material existence by Rasikananda Deva’s association. He was always intoxicated with the chanting of the Holy Name. Who cannot but be overwhelmed by hearing about his uncommon qualities?” [B.R. 15.86] Many virtuous kings and zamindars such as the king of Mayurbhanj named Vaidyanatha Bhanj\, the king of Patashpur known as Gajapati and Candrabhanu\, the king of Moyna\, took shelter at his lotus feet. What to speak of those pious and noble gentlemen\, even the sinful zamindar Bhima\, Suba Ahmadbeg and the wicked atheist Srikar also surrendered themselves at his lotus feet. Another vicious\, wild elephant was tamed by Rasikananda’s transcendental influence and henceforward was known as Gopala das. Later\, two jungle tigers likewise gave up their ferocious nature. \nLove for Lord Jagannath \nOne year\, during Lord Jagannatha’s Ratha-yatra festival\, Rasikananda Deva was preaching somewhere in the country\, but when he realised that it was time for Ratha-yatra he dropped everything and rushed like the wind in order to come to Nilacala in time for the festival. \nBut in the meantime the festival had already begun. Lord Jagannath\, Who felt reciprocal separation from His dear devotee Rasikananda\, caused the Rath to stop. Though the king summoned his elephants to push the Ratha\, under no circumstances could they budge it\, not even an inch. Then Lord Jagannatha\, seeing that the king was becoming frustrated\, informed him that he was waiting for His devotee Rasika. \nFinally Rasikananda Deva arrived\, carrying with him many offerings of silk clothes and other presents. He fell down to offer his dandavats before Lord Jagannatha\, and the king requested him to pull the rope at which the cart began to easily move along the road\, just as the clouds move in the sky. Later the king requested Rasikananda to accept a gift of land so he might establish a temple there. Rasikananda requested the place known as Fultota Math\, which is now known as Kunja Math. There he installed the Deity of Sri Bat Krsna. The Deity is now known as Sri Sri Radha-Rasika Raya. \nLineage \nSri Rasikananda had three sons: Sri Radhananda\, Sri Krsna-Govinda and Sri Radha-Krsna. The present servants of Sri Sri Radha-Govindadeva at Gopiballabhapur are their descendents. He composed Sri Shyamananda-sataka\, Srimad Bhagavatastaka as well as other hymns and songs. His Sripat Gopiballabhpur can be reached from Calcutta by taking a train to Khavagpur\, and a bus to Gopiballabhpur from there. There is also a temple of Rasikananda at Puri.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/disappearance-day-of-sri-rasikananda-18th-feb-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260218
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260219
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T120711Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T075202Z
UID:47734-1771372800-1771459199@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Disappearance Day of Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji 18th Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji Maharaja lived for 140 years. He took diksa from Sri Madhusudana Dasa Babaji and did bhajana for many year at Surya Kunda in vrindavana.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/disappearance-day-of-srila-jagannatha-dasa-babaji-18th-feb-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260216
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260217
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T120030Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T081752Z
UID:47732-1771200000-1771286399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Siva Ratri 16th Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:Siva Ratri worship of Lord Siva. Devotees may bathe a Siva-linga in water and panca-gavya (five substances from the cow) and offer Krsna-prasada to Lord Siva. Fasting is optional for Vaisnavas. \nEvery lunar month on the 13th or 14th day of the dark half of the moon phase there is a Shivaratri but in the Vedic month of Phalgun (February-March) there is a Maha Shivaratri. The ceremony takes place mainly at night\, which is observed in the honour of Lord Shiva\, who was married to Parvati (Mother Durga) on this day. \nDevotees of Lord Shiva generally observe a strict fast on this day and some go to the extent of a nirjal fast i.e. they do not even have a sip of water. \nThey stay awake the entire night. The Shiva lingam is worshipped throughout the night by washing it every three hours with milk\, yogurt\, ghee\, honey and so forth\, whilst chanting of the mantra “Om namah shivaya”\, continues. Offering of bael leaves are made to the Lingam. Bael leaves are very sacred (as Tulsi to Lord Vishnu and dhar to Mother Durga are very pleasing to Them) and Lord Shiva becomes pleased with that offering. Many different hymns glorifying Lord Shiva are sung with intense fervour and devotion. Aspirants perform japa of the Panchakshara mantra “ Om namah Shivaya” \nHe who utters the names of Lord Shiva during Shivaratri with perfect devotion and concentration is freed from all sins that he/she have committed. He/she reaches the abode of Lord Shiva and resides very happily there. \nNOTE: the Vaishnavas however worship Lord Shiva on this day in order to receive His blessings to become a better devotee of Lord Krishna (Vishnu) and not to attain residence in the abode of Shiva. \nWhen creation was completed Lord Shiva and Parvati Mata went to live on the top of Mount Kailash. \nParvati asked\, “O adorable lord\, which of the many rituals observed in your honour pleases you the most.”  \nThe Lord replied\, “the fourteenth night of the new moon in the dark fortnight during the month of Phalgun\, is my favorite day. It is called Maha Shivaratri. My devotees give me great joy and happiness bymere fasting than by ceremonial baths and offerings of flower\, sweets and incense.” \n“The devotee observes strict spiritual discipline in the day and worships me in four different forms during each of the four successive three hour periods of the night. The offering of a few bael leaves is more precious to me than precious jewels and flowers. My devotee should bath me in milk  in the first period\, in yogurt in the second period\, in ghee in the third\, and in honey in the fourth  and the last. In the morning he should feed Brahmins (that is if this is possible)\, and after doing   that he/she breaks his/her fast. No ritual can compare with this simple routine in sanctity.”    \nParvati was deeply impressed by the words of her husband. She repeated this to her friends\, who in turnpassed it on to everyone else. Thus the sanctity of Maha Shivaratri was broadcast all over the world. \nThe Shivaratri fast is aimed at controlling a persons’ two biggest vices (rajas – the quality of passionate activity) and (tamas – that of inertia). \nAt many ashrams around the world Shivaratri is celebrated in the following manner. \nAspirants fast the whole day\, many of them without taking a single drop of water. Some ashrams perform a grand havan (fire yajnas) to Lord Shiva for peace and welfare of all. The whole day is spent in chantinge of the mantra “Om namah Shivaya” and in meditation upon the Lord. At night all assemble in the temple and chant this mantra and during the four quarters of the night the Shiva lingam is worshipped with intense devotion. \nSrila Prabhupada says – \nDemon Sankhacuda Killed – taken from Krsna Book (Chapter 34.) \n“Once upon a time\, the cowherd men of Vrindavana\, headed by Nanda Maharaja\, desired to go to Ambikavana to observe the Siva-ratri ceremony. The rasa-lila was performed during the autumn\, and after that the next big ceremony is Holi\, or the Dolayatra ceremony. Between the Dolayatra ceremony and the rasa-lila ceremony there is one important ceremony called Siva-ratri\, which is especially observed by the Saivites\, or devotees of Lord Siva. Sometimes the Vaishnavas also observe this ceremony because they accept Lord Siva as the foremost Vaishnava. But the function of Siva-ratri is not observed very regularly by the bhaktas\, or devotees of Krishna. \nUnder the circumstances\, it is stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam that Nanda Maharaja and the other cowherd men “once upon a time desired.” This means that they were not regularly observing the Siva-ratri function but that once upon a time they wanted to go to Ambikavana out of curiosity.” \n“…observing Siva-ratri\, Nanda Maharaja and all the cowherds men\, they increased their attachment for Krishna. That is wanted.” \n– ( Srila Prabhupada. 1st May 1974\, Morning Walk excerpt\, Bombay\, India.) \n“In this verse Lord Siva is described as midhushtama\, the best of the benedictors. He is also known as Asutosha\, which indicates that he is very quickly satisfied and very quickly angered. It is said in Bhagavad-gita that less intelligent persons go to the demigods for material benedictions. \nIn this connection\, people generally go to Lord Siva\, and because he is always quickly satisfied and gives benedictions to his devotees without consideration\, he is called midhushtama\, or the best of the benedictors. Materialistic persons are always anxious to get material profit\, but they are not serious about spiritual profit. \nSometimes\, of course\, it so happens that Lord Siva becomes the best benedictor in spiritual life. It is said that once a poor brahmana worshiped Lord Siva for a benediction\, and Lord Siva advised the devotee to go to see Sanatana Gosvami. \nThe devotee went to Sanatana Gosvami and informed him that Lord Siva had advised him to seek out the best benediction from him (Sanatana). Sanatana had a touchstone with him\, which he kept with the garbage. On the request of the poor brahmana\, Sanatana Gosvami gave him the touchstone\, and the brahmana was very happy to have it. He now could get as much gold as he desired simply by touching the touchstone to iron. But after he left Sanatana\, he thought\, “If a touchstone is the best benediction\, why has Sanatana Gosvami kept it with the garbage?” He therefore returned and asked Sanatana Gosvami\, “Sir\, if this is the best benediction\, why did you keep it with the garbage?” Sanatana Gosvami then informed him\, “Actually\, this is not the best benediction. But are you prepared to take the best benediction from me?” The brahmana said\, “Yes\, sir. Lord Siva has sent me to you for the best benediction.” Then Sanatana Gosvami asked him to throw the touchstone in the water nearby and then come back. The poor brahmana did so\, and when he returned\, Sanatana Gosvami initiated him with the Hare Krishna mantra. Thus by the benediction of Lord Siva the brahmana got the association of the best devotee of Lord Krishna and was thus initiated in the maha-mantra\, Hare Krishna\, Hare Krishna\, Krishna Krishna\, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama\, Hare Rama\, Rama Rama\, Hare Hare.(Srila Prabhupada. Srimad Bhagavatam 4:7:7. purport.) \n“Vaishnavanams yatha Shambu – Lord Shiva is the greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu.” \nStory – The unknown fast \nIn the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata\, Bhishma\, whilst resting on a bed of arrows and discoursing on Dharma\, refers to the observance of Maha Shivaratri by King Chitrabhanu. The story goes as follows. \nOnce\, King Chitrabhanu was observing a fast with his wife\, and it was the day of Maha Shivaratri. The sage Ashtavakra came on a visit to the king’s court. \nThe sage asked\, “ O king why are you observing a fast today?” King Chitrabhanu explained the reason\, as he had the gift of remembering the incidents of his previous birth. \nThe king said to the sage\, “in my past birth I was a hunter in Varanasi (Kashi). My name was Suswara. My livelihood was to kill and sell birds and animals. One day\, I was overtaken by the darkness of night. Unable to return home\, I climbed a tree for shelter. It happened to be a bael tree. I had shot a deer that day\, but I did not have time to take it home. I bundled it up and tied it to a branch on the tree. As I was tormented by hunger and thirst\, I kept awake throughout the night. I shed profuse tears when I thought of my poor wife and children who were starving and anxiously awaiting my return. To pass away time that night I engaged myself in plucking bael leaves and dropping them down onto the ground. “The day dawned and I returned home and sold the deer. I bought some food for myself and for my family. I was about to break my fast when a stranger came to me\, begging for food. I served him first and then took my food.” \n“ At the time of death\, I saw two messengers of Lord Shiva\, they were sent down to take me to his abode. I then learnt for the first time of the great merit I had earned but the unconscious worship of Lord Shiva during the night of Shivaratri. They told me that there was a lingam under that tree and that I had dropped the leaves on that Lingam. My tears\, which I had shed out of pure sorrow for my family\, fell onto the Lingam and washed it. And I had fasted all day and all night. Thus\, I unconsciously worshipped Lord Shiva on that most auspicious day.” “I lived in the abode of the Lord and enjoyed divine bliss for long ages. And now I am reborn as Chitrabhanu.” \nSlokas and Quotes from the Scriptures \nBrahma Samhita chapter 5 TEXT 45 \nksiram yatha dadhi vikara-visesa-yogat\nsanjayate na hi tatah prthag asti hetoh\nyah sambhutam api tatha samupaiti karyad\ngovindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami \nSYNONYMS \nksiram–milk; yatha–as; dadhi–yogurt; vikara-visesa–of a special transformation; yogat–by the application; sanjayate–is transformed into; na–not; hi–indeed; tatah–from the milk; prthak–separated; asti–is; hetoh–which is the cause; yah–who; sambhutam–the nature of Lord Siva; api–also; tatha–thus; samupaiti–accepts; karyat–for the matter of some particular business; govindam–Govinda; adi-purusam–the original person; tam–Him; aham–I; bhajami–worship. \nTRANSLATION \nJust as milk is transformed into curd by the action of acids\, but yet the effect curd is neither same as\, nor different from\, its cause\, viz.\, milk\, so I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whom the state of Sambhu is a transformation for the performance of the work of destruction. \nPURPORT \n(The real nature of Sambhu\, the presiding deity of Mahesa-dhama\, is described.) \nSambhu is not a second Godhead other than Krsna. Those\, who entertain such discriminating sentiment\, commit a great offense against the Supreme Lord. The supremacy of Sambhu is subservient to that of Govinda; hence they are not really different from each other. The nondistinction is established by the fact that just as milk treated with acid turns into curd so Godhead becomes a subservient when He Himself attains a distinct personality by the addition of a particular element of adulteration. This personality has no independent initiative. The said adulterating principle is constituted of a combination of the stupefying quality of the deluding energy\, the quality of nonplenitude of the marginal potency and a slight degree of the ecstatic-cognitive principle of the plenary spiritual potency. \nThis specifically adulterated reflection of the principle of the subjective portion of the Divinity is Sadasiva\, in the form of the effulgent masculine-symbol-god Sambhu from whom Rudradeva is manifested. In the work of mundane creation as the material cause\, in the work of preservation by the destruction of sundry asuras and in the work of destruction to conduct the whole operation\, Govinda manifests Himself as guna-avatara in the form of Sambhu who is the separated portion of Govinda imbued with the principle of His subjective plenary portion. \nThe personality of the destructive principle in the form of time has been identified with that of Sambhu by scriptural evidences that have been adduced in the commentary. The purport of the Bhagavata slokas\, viz.\, vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh\, etc.\, is that Sambhu\, in pursuance of the will of Govinda\, works in union with his consort Durgadevi by his own time energy. He teaches pious duties (dharma) as stepping-stones to the attainment of spiritual service in the various tantra-sastras\, etc.\, suitable for jivas in different grades of the conditional existence. In obedience to the will of Govinda\, Sambhu maintains and fosters the religion of pure devotion by preaching the cult of illusionism (Mayavada) and the speculative agama-sastras. \nThe fifty attributes of individual souls are manifest in a far vaster measure in Sambhu and five additional attributes not attainable by jivas are also partly found in him. So Sambhu cannot be called a jiva. He is the lord of jiva but yet partakes of the nature of a separated portion of Govinda. (Sri Brahma Samhita\, translation by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad.) \nLord Krishna (Vishnu) is in this analogy considered to be likened to Milk. Milk is the origin of so many dairy products – Krishna tu bhagavan swayam\, and so Krishna or Vishnu is the origin of everything. When Krishna wants activity overseen of the modes of Tamo guna He expands Himself transforming His supreme powers to act in that way\, as no-one else could\, and in that state He is Shambu – Shiva. So it may be seen that milk that is transformed becomes yogurt\, but that yoghurt can never again become milk\, this is presented in Brahma samhita 5:45. \nvrndavanavani-pate! Jaya soma soma maule\nsanaka-sanandana-sanatana-naradedya\ngopisvara! Vraja-vilasi-yugangri-padme\nprema prayaccha nirupadhi namo namaste \n“O gatekeeper of Vrndavana! O Soma\, all glories to you! O you whose forehead is decorated with the moon\, and who is worshipable by the sages headed by Sanaka\, Sanandana\, Sanatana and Narada! O Gopisvara (Shiva)\, desiring that you bestow upon me that prema for the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava who perform joyous pastimes in Vraja-dhama\, I offer obeisances unto you time and again.” \nQuotes from Vaishnava smriti compilation Hari Bhakti Vilas of Srila Gopal Bhattar Goswami\, and the Dikdarshini Tika of Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhupada. \nSiva ratri vrtam krsna catur-dasyantu phalgune\nVaisnaver api tat karyam sri krsna pritaye sada \n(hari bhakti vilasa 14/187 from gautamiya tantra) \nOn the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Phalguna (February-March)\, for the pleasure of Lord Sri Krsna\, a Vaisnava should always take a vow to fast. (It is called Siva Ratri\, or the night of Lord Siva.) \nParat parataram yanti narayana parayanah\nNate tatra gamisyanti ye dvisanti mahesvaram \n(Hari Bhakti Vilasa 14/189 from Kurma Purana the Supreme Lord speaks to Bhrgu Muni) \n(One who avoids fasting on Siva Ratri or the “night of Lord Siva”\, he becomes very offensive. Whatever offenses one accumulates by not fasting on Siva Ratri day is explained here.) The destination of the Supreme Personality of Godhead\, Lord Narayana\, is certainly in the spiritual world. But if one is envious of Lord Sri Siva\, he does not attain the spiritual world. \nYani kany atra lingani sthavarani carani ca\nTesu sankramate devas tasyam ratrau yato harah\nSivaratris tatah prokta tena sa hari vallabhah \n(Hari Bhakti Vilasa 14/200 from Skanda purana\, Nagara khanda) \nWhatever deities of Lord Siva that can be found on this earthly planet\, on the night of this fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Phalguna\, Lord Siva\, who is a leading demigod\, enters into them. For this reason\, this day is called Siva Ratri. For this reason\, this day is very dear to Lord Sri Hari. \nSri krsne vaisnavanantu prema bhakti vivardhate\nKrsna bhakti rasa sara rudra anukampaya  \nvarsi (hari bhakti vilasa 14/221 from skanda purana)  \nBeing a Vaisnava\, if somebody fasts on Lord Siva’s night (Siva Ratri day)\, by the mercy of him (Lord Siva) who is diving in the ocean of the mellow of devotion to Krsna\, one’s devotion to Krsna increases rapidly.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/siva-ratri-16th-feb-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260214
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260215
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T115525Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260216T062841Z
UID:47730-1771027200-1771113599@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Disappearance Day of Sri Isvara Puri 14th Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:Isvara Puri was the spiritual master of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Even though Lord Caitanya\, the Supreme Godhead\, did not need a spiritual master\, He accepted Srila Isvara Puri as His guru to establish the importance of accepting a spiritual master.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/disappearance-day-of-sri-isvara-puri-14th-feb-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260213
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260214
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T115318Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260214T061001Z
UID:47728-1770940800-1771027199@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Vijaya Ekadashi 13th Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:Yudhisthira Maharaj said\, “Oh Lord Sri Krishna\, O glorious son of Vasudeva\, please be merciful to me and describe the Ekadasii that occurs during the dark fortnight of the month of Phalguna (February-March)”\nLord Sri Krishna replied\, “Oh Yudhisthira\, Oh king of kings\, gladly I shall tell you about this great fast\, known as Vijaya Ekadasii. Whoever observes it certainly achieves success in this life and the next. All the sins of one who fasts on this Ekadasii and hears its sublime glories are eradicated. \n“Narada Muni once asked lord Brahma\, who sits on a lotus flower about the Vijaya Ekadasii. Sri Narada said\, ‘Oh best of all the demigods\, kindly tell me the merit one can achieve by faithfully observing Vijaya Ekadasii.’\n“Narada’s great father then replied\, ‘My dear son\, this oldest of fasting days is pure\, and it nullifies all sins. I have never revealed this to anyone until today\, but you can understand beyond any doubt that this Ekadasii bestows the result indicated by its name… (Vijaya meaning Victory). \n“When Lord Rama was exiled to the forest for fourteen years\, He\, the goddess Sita\, and His divine brother Lakshmana stayed at Panchavati as mendicants. Mother Sita was then kidnapped by the demon Ravana\, and Lord Rama seemingly became bewildered like an ordinary man by distress. While searching for His beloved consort\, the Lord came upon the dying Jatayu and thereafter killed His enemy Kabandha.. The great devotee-vulture Jatayu returned to Vaikuntha after telling Rama how His dear Sita had been abducted by Ravana. \n“ ‘Later\, Lord Rama and Sugriva\, the king of the monkeys\, became friends. Together they amassed a grand army of monkeys and bears and sent HanumAnji his minister to Sri LankA\, where he was able to see Janaki (Srimati Sita devi) in an Ashoka grove garden. He delivered Lord Rama’s message and showed the ring proving his authenticity for rendering such great service to the Supreme Lord Sri Rama.“ ‘With the help of Sugriva\, Lord Rama proceeded toward Sri Lanka. Upon arriving at the shore of the ocean with the army of monkeys\, He could understand that the water was uncommonly deep and hostile. Thus He said to Lakshmana\, “Oh son of Sumitra\, how can We earn enough merit to be able to cross this vast ocean\, the unfathomable abode of Varuna deva? I can see no easy way to cross it\, teeming as it is with sharks and other ferocious aquatics.” \n“ ‘Lakshmana replied\, “Oh best of all beings\, Oh origin of all the devas\, Oh primal personality\, the great sage Bakad Albhya lives on an island just four miles from here. Oh Raghava\, he has seen many BrahmAs come and go\, so aged and wise is he. Let us go to him\, take his darshan (audience) and ask him how We can safely reach Our goal.” \n“ ‘So Rama and Lakshmana proceeded to the humble Ashrama of the incomparable Bakad Albhya Muni. Approaching him\, the two Lords paid Their respectful obeisances to him as if he were a second Vishnu. Bakad Albhya could immediately understand\, however\, that Sri Rama was actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead\, who for His own reasons had appeared on the Earth and was enacting just like a human being.\n“ ‘ “Rama\, “ said BakadAlbhya\, “Oh best of the human beings\, why have You come to my lowly abode?”\n“ ‘The Lord replied\, “Oh great\, twice born brahmin\, I have come here to the ocean shore with My phalanx of monkey and bear warriors in order to cross the sea and conquer LankA and its demon horde headed by Ravana. Oh greatest of sages\, please be merciful unto Me and please tell Me how I can cross this vast ocean. That is why I have come to your Ashrama today.”\n“ ‘The sage said\, “Oh Lord Sri Rama\, I shall tell you of the most exalted of all fasts\, observing which You will surely conquer Ravana and be eternally glorified. Kindly now listen with full attention. \n“ ‘ “On the day before Ekadasii\, fashion a water pot of gold or silver\, or even copper. Even clay will do if these metals are unavailable. Fill the pot with pure water and then decorate it nicely with mango leaves. Cover it and place it near a holy altar upon a mound of seven grains (the seven grains are barley\, wheat\, rice\, corn\, chickpeas\, kukani\, and dahl or peas). Now take Your morning bath\, decorate the water pot with flower garlands and sandalwood paste\, and inn the concave lid atop the pot place there the barley\, pomegranate\, and coconut. Now with great love and devotion worship the water pot Deity form and offer Him incense\, sandalwood paste\, flowers\, a ghee lamp\, and a plate of sumptuous foods. Remain there awake that night beside this sacred pot. On top of the lid filled with barley\, etc.\, place a golden murthy of Lord Sri Narayana.\n“ ‘ “When Ekadasii dawns\, take Your morning bath and then decorate the water pot with fine sandalwood paste and garlands. Then worship the pot again with first class incense\, lamps\, sandalwood paste and flowers dipped in sandalwood paste\, and then devoutly/devotedly place many kinds of cooked food\, pomegranate\, and coconut before the water pot. Then remain awake over night. \n“ ‘ “When the Dwadasi dawns\, take the water pot to the bank of a holy river\, or even to the shore of a small pond. After worshipping it again properly\, Oh King of kings\, offer it with all the aforementioned ingredients to a pure hearted brahmin\, expert in the Vedic sciences. If You and Your military commanders observe the Vijaya Ekadasii in this way\, You will surely be victorious in every way.” \n“” ‘Lord Sri Ramachandra Bhagavan\, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\, did just as Bakad Albhya Muni instructed\, and thus He conquered all demoniac forces. Similarly\, anyone who observes the Vijaya Ekadasii in this way will always be victorious in this mortal world\, and after leaving this world he/she will reside forever in the anxiety free realm of the Kingdom of God known as the Vaikunthas.” \n“ ‘Oh Narada\, my son\, from this history you can understand why one should observe this Ekadasii fast properly\, strictly following the rules and regulations. This fast is powerful enough to eradicate all one’s sinful reactions\, even the most abominable ones.” \nLord Sri Krishna concluded\, “Oh Yudhisthira\, anyone who reads or hears this history will attain the same great merit as that which is earned by performing a horse sacrifice on days of yore.” \nThus ends the narration of the glories of Phalguna-krsna Ekadasii or Vijaya Ekadasii\, from the Skanda Purana. \nThese stories have been summarized and slightly changed\, abbreviated or added to from how they are found in the celebrated book\, “Ekadasi: The Day of Lord Hari” 1986. HH Krishna Balaram Swami. Bhaktivedanta Institute Press.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/vijaya-ekadashi-13th-feb-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260206
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260207
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T115033Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260207T064145Z
UID:47726-1770336000-1770422399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Disappearance Day of Srila Gour Govinda Swami 6th Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaj appeared on the 2nd of September in the Gaurabda year 443 (1929 A.D.) in Orissa\, India. Both his parents were devotees of Krishna and Jagannath\, as were their ancestors up to the time of Sri Syamananda Prabhu.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/disappearance-day-of-srila-gour-govinda-swami-6th-feb-2026/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Srila-Gour.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260206
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260207
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T114820Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260207T064128Z
UID:47724-1770336000-1770422399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Disappearance Day of Sri Purusottama Dasa Thakura 6th Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:Purusottama Dasa Thakura was a great devotee of Lord Nityananda. In Goloka Vrndavana\, Purusottama Dasa Thakura serves Lord Balarama as a cowherd boy.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/disappearance-day-of-sri-purusottama-dasa-thakura-6th-feb-2026/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Sri-Purusottama.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260206
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260207
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T114610Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260207T064121Z
UID:47721-1770336000-1770422399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Appearance Day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura 6th Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was the spiritual master of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura powerfully spread the teachings of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the early twentieth century.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/appearance-day-of-srila-bhaktisiddhanta-sarasvati-thakura-6th-feb-2026/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Bhakti-Siddhanta-Sarswati-Takur.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260201
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260202
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260115T114116Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260202T124427Z
UID:47717-1769904000-1769990399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Sri Krishna Madhura Utsava 1st Feb 2026
DESCRIPTION:There are various festivities where Lord Krishna’s rasa lila is celebrated – this festival being just one of them. The purnima or full moon of Damodara month is the second full moon of the autumn season\, and rasa lila is again celebrated. \nThis second rasa yatra is celebrated more in Bengal\, whereas the first one is celebrated more in Vrindavana. On this day one should perform full worship of Radha and Krishna with many flowers\, and place them in a rasa mandapa surrounded by the gopis. \nSri Krishna Vasant Rasa is similar excepting that it is in the Spring (Vasant)\, at this time everyone dresses in yellow. On this full moon night the devotees usually leave out pots of sweet rice payasam for the Lord to enjoy during His rasas.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/sri-krishna-madhura-utsava-1st-feb-2026/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Utsava.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260130
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260131
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260110T074738Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260202T124410Z
UID:47710-1769731200-1769817599@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Varaha Dvadasi 30th Jan 2026
DESCRIPTION:Varahadeva is the boar incarnation Sri Krsna. He assumed the form of a boar to lift the drowning planet earth from the Garbhodaka Ocean with His tusks. \nThe demon Hiryanyaksa had thrown the planet earth into this ocean\, but the Lord stabbed the demon with His tusks and saved the earth. After describing the appearance of the white Boar Incarnation that had appeared during the Svayambhuva devastation\, Maitreya next described the red Boar Incarnation that had appeared during the Chakshusha devastation. Maitreya related these pastimes to Vidura in the same manner in which he had heard them long ago when Lord Brahma had narrated them to the demigods. \nOnce upon a time\, at sunset\, Kashyapa\, the son of Marichi\, was offering oblations to Lord Vishnu into the sacrificial fire. At this time\, his wife\, Diti\, approached him due to being greatly afflicted by sex desire. Without trying to attract him gradually by her bodily expressions\, the beautiful Diti frankly begged her husband\, “O learned one\, Cupid is forcibly distressing me with his arrows\, just as an elephant troubles a banana tree. I want to have sons like my co-wives and so you should be merciful to me.” “My father\, Daksha\, had separately asked each of his daughters\, whom we preferred to marry. Then\, after understanding our intentions\, he handed over thirteen of his daughters to you\, and we have been faithful to you ever since that time. O lotus-eyed one\, when someone in distress approaches a great person\, his pleas should never go in vain.” \nThe hen-pecked Kashyapa could have strongly refused his wife\, but because he was also sexually inclined\, he tried to pacify Diti\, who had become very poor-hearted and talkative\, due to the contamination of lust. Kashyapa said\, “O afflicted one\, I shall soon gratify your desire. It is only due to having a good wife that a man like me can cross over the great ocean of material existence. Indeed\, a wife is so helpful that she is called the better half of a man’s body. Just as a military commander can easily conquer invaders while remaining protected within a fort\, so a man can conquer his senses by taking shelter of a good wife. For this reason\, a man could never repay his wife for all the benefit that he derives from her\, even if he were to try to do so during his entire lifetime\, or even after death.” \n“My dear Diti\, although I cannot sufficiently repay you\, I will satisfy your sex desire for the purpose of begetting children. I only request you to wait for a few minutes so that I may not become subject to criticism. The present moment is most inauspicious because at this time Lord Shiva rides upon his bull carrier\, accompanied by his horrible ghostly companions. He gives such ghosts the chance of getting a gross material body by placing them into the wombs of women that indulge in sexual intercourse during this forbidden period. Lord Shiva is your sister’s husband\, and with his three eyes\, he will see your forbidden act.” \nIn spite of receiving such good instructions from her husband\, Diti was so oppressed by sex desire that she caught hold of Kashyapa’s clothes just like a shameless prostitute\, and thus she practically forced him to gratify her lusty urge. After offering obeisances unto worshipful fate\, Kashyapa lay down with Diti in a secluded place. After finishing the forbidden act\, Kashyapa purified himself by bathing and once again sat down to chant the Gayatri mantra\, while meditating upon the impersonal aspect of the Absolute. Meanwhile\, after having gratified her lust\, Diti came to her senses. With her head lowered in shame\, she approached her husband and said\, “My dear brahmana\, please insure that my embryo is not killed by Lord Shiva\, because of the great offense that I have committed against him.” \nDiti then prayed for Lord Shiva’s mercy in a very clever manner: “Let me offer my obeisance unto the angry Lord Shiva. He is so great that he can immediately destroy my embryo\, but at the same time he is so merciful and forgiving. Lord Shiva is known as the lord of all women\, who are excused even by uncivilized hunters\, and therefore I beg him to spare me from his wrath.” \nAs Diti stood before him\, trembling due to fear of his anger\, Kashyapa said\, “Because of your polluted mind\, the improper time\, your disobedience\, and your neglect of the demigods\, your conception will produce two abominable sons who will create havoc within the world by killing innocent persons\, torturing women\, and enraging the great souls. As a result\, the Supreme Lord will incarnate to kill them\, just as Indra smashes mountains with his thunderbolt.” \nDiti replied\, “O my husband\, it is a great relief for me to know that my sons will be killed by the all-merciful Supreme Lord\, rather than the wrath of the brahmanas. One who offends the brahmanas or causes fear to others is so condemned that even those who are already in hell\, or who are of the degraded species in which he will later on appear\, feel no compassion toward him.” \nKashyapa then informed Diti\, “Due to your repentance and firm faith in the Supreme Lord\, as well as your adoration for Lord Shiva and myself\, one of your grandsons will be a greatly exalted devotee whose fame will rival that of the Lord Himself. Because of his great devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead\, others will follow in his footsteps\, and because of his having satisfied the Supreme Lord\, everyone will become pleased with him. As a first-class devotee\, your grandson will be able to see the Supreme Lord\, within and without; he will be a reservoir of all good qualities; and he will feel very pained to see the suffering of the conditioned souls in this material world.” \nAfter hearing about the glories of Prahlada\, Diti became very pleased. But\, because she could understand that her sons would cause great disturbances to the demigods\, she continued to bear the powerful embryos for one hundred years without giving birth. Still\, the force of Diti’s pregnancy disturbed the entire universe\, and the light of sun and moon became impaired. \nAfter observing this fearful condition\, the demigods approached Lord Brahma and submitted\, “O lord\, just see this darkness that is expanding in all directions. O sustainer of the universe\, who knows the intentions of all living entities\, Diti’s pregnancy has caused this great disturbance\, and thus our work has become suspended. Please be merciful unto us\, for we have fallen into a very miserable condition.” \nIn response\, Lord Brahma informed the demigods of what had happened long ago. After having travelled all over the material creation\, the four sages Sanaka\, Sanatana\, Sanandana and Sanat-kumara\, entered the spiritual sky\, wherein the Vaikuntha planets are situated. They were able to do this due to being freed from all material contamination. In the abode of Lord Narayana\, the residents have forms similar to that of the Supreme Lord\, and everyone is engaged in His unalloyed devotional service. There are many forests full of desire-trees\, and throughout all seasons they are filled with fruit and flowers. \nWhile flying in their airplanes\, along with their consorts\, the inhabitants of Vaikuntha eternally sing of the character and pastimes of the Supreme Lord. Although the consorts that crowd the airplanes have large hips and beautifully smiling faces\, they cannot stimulate the passion of the residents of Vaikuntha. This means that in Vaikuntha there is the enjoyment of the association with the opposite sex\, but there is no sexual relationship\, because everyone is fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness. When the king of bees hums in a high pitch\, singing the glories of the Lord\, the cuckoos\, cranes\, chakravakas\, swans\, parrots and peacocks temporarily stop their singing to listen. Although flowers\, such as the champaka\, bakula\, parijata and lotus are transcendentally fragrant\, they are still conscious of tulasi’s austerities\, and of how the Lord prefers to garland Himself with her leaves. The ladies of Vaikuntha are as beautiful as the goddess of fortune\, and yet they are sometimes seen cleaning the marble walls\, just to receive the grace of the Supreme Lord\, even though there is practically no dust. \nUpon reaching the outskirts of Vaikuntha\, the four Kumaras felt an unprecedented transcendental happiness. Then\, after easily passing through six gates\, the sages saw two doormen at the seventh gate that had similar bodily features and carried strong maces. They were four-armed and of bluish complexion\, and due to their arched eyebrows\, discontented nostrils and reddish eyes\, they appeared somewhat agitated. The four Kumaras had opened doors everywhere without any conception of “ours” and “theirs”\, and so they innocently began to pass through the seventh gate. The sages\, who had nothing to cover their bodies but the atmosphere\, looked just like five-year-old boys\, although they were the oldest created beings\, next to Brahma.\nDue to possessing a disposition quite unpalatable to the Lord\, the two gatekeepers rudely blocked the Kumaras’ entrance with their staffs. The Lord is always anxious to serve great sages\, and thus the Kumaras were never to be prohibited from entering Vaikuntha. The boy-sages had been very eager to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead\, and so upon being checked by the Lord’s two chief doorkeepers\, they immediately became agitated. Their eyes red with rage\, the Kumaras exclaimed\, “Who are these persons who are engaging in the Lord’s service and yet have developed a discordant mentality? They must be imposters\, and so they suspect others to be just like themselves. In Vaikuntha there is perfect harmony between the Supreme Lord and the other inhabitants. These two persons are dressed like the residents of Vaikuntha\, but where has this seed of disharmony come from? Because of seeing duality\, they have become contaminated. Therefore\, they should be put into the material world\, where everyone is conceived of as being either a friend or an enemy.” \nWhen the gatekeepers realized that they were being cursed by the brahmanas\, they at once became very afraid. After falling down at the Kumaras’ feet\, they begged\, “You are correct in punishing us for having neglected such great souls as yourselves. Still\, in consideration of our repentance\, we pray that you mercifully insure that the illusion of forgetting the Supreme Personality of Godhead will not overwhelm us as we fall down.”\nJust at that moment\, the Supreme Lord\, having learned of this incident\, came there on foot accompanied by the goddess of fortune. Thus\, the four Kumaras saw Lord Vishnu before them\, Whom they had formerly seen only within their hearts while being absorbed in the ecstatic trance of meditation.\nThe Lord’s beautiful blackish body was dressed in bright yellow cloth\, and around His neck hung a garland of fresh flowers that was encircled by humming bees. While resting one of His hands upon Garuda’s shoulder\, the Lord twirled a lotus flower in another. Indeed\, His beauty was so excellent that it defeated the pride of the goddess of fortune\, and thus the Kumaras looked at Him with unsated eyes. \nAs the Kumaras joyfully bowed their heads\, the breeze that carried the aroma of tulasi leaves from the toes of the Lord’s lotus feet entered their nostrils\, causing a spiritual transformation in their body and mind\, even though they had been fully attached to the impersonal Brahman. In other words\, the Kumaras became converted from impersonalists that had desired to merge into the Lord’s brahmajyoti\, to devotees who desire to render service to the Lord. \nAfter seeing the Lord’s transcendental body\, the Kumaras advanced to the stage of constant meditation upon His personal feature. Their anger having subsided\, the four sages prayed\, “Our dear Lord\, whatever we had heard about You from our father\, Lord Brahma\, has now been confirmed by Your kind appearance before us. We now understand that the most elevated transcendentalists are those that constantly engage in hearing about Your pastimes\, without caring for any other benediction\, including liberation.” “O Lord\, we don’t mind being born in any hellish condition\, as long as our hearts and minds are always engaged in Your devotional service.” \nBy dint of the Lord’s presence\, the Kumaras realized that it had been improper for them to curse the doorkeepers\, in spite of the offense that had been committed. \nThe Supreme Lord then said\, “These attendants of Mine\, Jaya and Vijaya\, have committed a great offense against you by ignoring My desire. I approve of the punishment that you have awarded to My servants. Indeed\, since these doormen are My servants\, I consider Myself to be the one that has offended you\, and for this reason\, I seek your forgiveness. Whatever wrong a servant commits causes people in general to blame the master\, just as a single spot of white leprosy is considered to pollute the whole skin.” \n“For Me\, the brahmanas are the most worshipable personalities\, and so I am prepared to cut off My arm if its conduct proves to be hostile toward you. Because I am the servant of My devotees\, My lotus feet have become so sacred that they immediately purify one of all sins. I do not enjoy the offerings that are made into the sacrificial fire with as much relish as I enjoy the delicacies cooked in ghee that are offered to the mouths of the brahmanas who have dedicated their lives unto Me.” “The Ganga is the remnants of water left after washing My feet\, and it sanctifies the three worlds. If I can take the dust of the Vaishnavas’ feet upon My head\, then who would refuse to do the same? These servants of Mine have offended you due to not knowing My mind. Still\, I will consider it a great favor if you allow them to return to My presence soon\, after reaping the consequences of their transgression.” \nAfter hearing with wide-open ears\, the Lord’s extremely humble and beautiful speech\, which was difficult to comprehend due to its profound import\, the Kumaras pondered over its meaning for some time. Although the sages could not understand the Lord’s actual intention\, a thrill passed through their bodies due to the delight of simply beholding Him. Understanding their fault in cursing the Lord’s faultless servants\, the Kumaras said\, “O Lord\, we cannot understand Your plans\, for You have spoken as if we had done something good for You. Your adoration of the brahmanas is meant to teach others\, for it is You who are the supreme worshipable Deity.” “O Lord\, whatever punishment You wish to award to these two innocent persons\, or to us\, we shall accept without duplicity.” \nThe Lord replied\, “O brahmanas\, I have already ordained the punishment that you inflicted upon Jaya and Vijay\, and thus they will have to accept birth in a demoniac family. But\, by concentration of their minds upon Me in anger\, they will always remain connected with Me\, and soon thereafter\, they will return to My abode.” \nIt is to be understood that the Lord Himself engineered the cursing of Jaya and Vijaya. Ordinarily\, there is no possibility that the Kumaras could become so angry\, that the Lord could neglect His gatekeepers\, or that anyone could return to the material world after reaching Vaikuntha. Sometimes\, the Lord desires to fight\, and because there are no enemies in Vaikuntha\, He incarnates into the material world for this purpose. The Lord only likes to perform His pastimes along with His associates\, however\, and so He chooses a devotee to play the part of His enemy. Then\, after making a temporary show of fighting\, the Lord recalls His devotee to the spiritual world. \nThereafter\, the four Kumaras circumambulated the Lord\, offered their obeisances\, and departed from the gates of Vaikuntha. The Lord then ordered Jaya and Vijaya\, “Depart from here\, but do not be afraid. I could have nullified the brahmanas’ curse\, but I chose not to do so. Lakshmi\, whom you had once stopped at the gate while I was sleeping\, already predicted your fall. Although seven births in the material world are your designated punishment\, I want you to accept three demoniac births instead. By practicing mystic yoga in anger\, you will become quickly cleansed of your sinful reactions\, and thus be able to return to Me in a very short time.” \nAfter saying this\, the Lord departed\, and Jaya and Vijaya\, who had become morose and pale because of the brahmanas’ curse\, fell down from Vaikuntha. As they were falling\, the Kumaras reassured them that after three demoniac births\, they would once again return to Vaikuntha. The demigods\, who were observing all of this from their celestial airplanes\, let out a great roar of disappointment\, and thereafter\, Jaya and Vijaya entered Diti’s womb\, after being covered by Kashyapa’s powerful semen. \nLord Brahma then concluded by informing the demigods\, “It is the prowess of these twin demons that has disturbed you\, by minimizing your own potency. I have no remedy for this situation\, however\, for all of this is taking place by the desire of the Lord. Rest assured that the Supreme Lord will come to our rescue\, and so do not bother to speculate any longer about the dense darkness that is covering all directions.”\nAfter hearing this\, the demigods became relieved from their fear and returned to their respective abodes. Meanwhile\, after bearing her embryos for one hundred years\, Diti gave birth to twin sons who were great demons. At this time\, there were many fearful natural disturbances\, such as earthquakes\, and raging fires were seen burning everywhere. The inauspicious planets\, such as Saturn and Mars\, outshone the auspicious ones like Venus and Jupiter; and comets\, meteors and thunderbolts appeared in the sky. Fierce winds made a displeasing hissing noise and uprooted great trees; and due to the covering of clouds\, all became shrouded in darkness. The ocean became highly agitated\, and all of the lotuses that grew within the rivers and lakes withered. \nSolar and lunar eclipses occurred repeatedly\, and from the mountain caves came sounds like the rattling of chariots. She-jackals vomited fire while crying out ominously\, and asses ran here and there in herds\, striking the earth with their hard hooves and braying loudly. Being frightened by the braying asses\, birds flew shrieking from their nests\, and cows passed stool and urine due to fear. Indeed\, the terrified cows yielded blood instead of milk\, and the clouds rained puss instead of water. The deities in the temples shed tears\, and trees fell down even though there were no gusts of wind. \nUpon seeing all of these evil omens\, everyone except the four Kumaras became seized by fear. Not knowing about the fall of Jaya and Vijaya and their subsequent birth as demons\, everyone thought that the dissolution of the universe was at hand. \nKashyapa named the first-born\, who was formerly Jaya\, Hiranyaksha and the one who was conceived first\, who was formerly Vijaya\, was named Hiranyakashipu. Soon after their birth\, the demoniac twins exhibited uncommon bodily features\, and their steel-like frames became so tall that they seemed to touch the sky. Indeed\, they blocked the view in all directions\, and as they walked\, the earth shook with every step.\nAfter performing great austerities\, Hiranyakashipu received benedictions from Lord Brahma\, and as a result\, he became unafraid of death and very proud. Being most powerful\, Hiranyakashipu was able to bring the entire three worlds under his control. His brother\, Hiranyaksha\, had also received Brahma’s benediction of near-immortality\, and so he became similarly powerful and conceited. \nTo satisfy his elder brother\, Hiranyaksha took his club and began to travel all over the universe\, with a fighting spirit. Because no one was able to kill him due to Brahma’s benediction\, even the demigods fearfully hid upon seeing Hiranyaksha\, just as snakes hide out of fear of Garuda.\nWhen Hiranyaksha thus saw Indraloka vacant\, he roared loudly\, understanding that the demigods had admitted defeat without even fighting. After returning from heaven\, Hiranyaksha sportingly dove deep into the ocean\, and upon seeing him\, all of the great aquatics panicked and fled. Finally\, after moving about in the ocean for many years\, Hiranyaksha reached Vibhavari\, Varuna’s capital. Just to make fun of the lord of the waters\, Hiranyaksha fell at his feet and smilingly begged\, “Give me battle\, O supreme lord!” \nUpon seeing Hiranyaksha’s arrogance\, Varuna became enraged. Still\, he curbed his anger by means of intelligence and replied\, “O dear one\, I have given up fighting because I am too old. You are so skilled in battle that I can see no one else but the most ancient person\, Lord Vishnu\, who can satisfy you.” \n“O chief of the Daityas\, I suggest that you approach Him\, and thus become rid of your pride by lying down dead upon the battlefield\, surrounded by carnivorous animals.” \nWithout paying any more heed to Varuna\, Hiranyaksha departed. Then\, when he happened to meet the great sage Narada\, the demon learned the whereabouts of the Supreme Lord. After once again entering the depths of the ocean\, Hiranyaksha saw the all-powerful Supreme Lord in His boar incarnation bearing the earth upwards\, while keeping her on the ends of His tusks. Upon seeing the Lord\, the demon laughingly exclaimed\, “An amphibious beast! O best of the demigods\, dressed in the form of a boar\, the earth belongs to us\, the inhabitants of the lower regions\, and so I cannot allow You to take it away from my presence. You rascal! Today I shall enliven my kinsmen by killing You. When You fall down dead with Your skull smashed by my mace\, the demigods and rishis who offer You oblations in sacrifice will also cease to be\, just like a tree that can no longer live without roots.” \nAlthough the Lord was certainly pained to hear such abusive language\, He tolerated it so that He could continue carrying the earth\, which had become very frightened. \nAs Lord Varaha rose out of the water\, Hiranyaksha chased Him and roared\, “Are You not ashamed of Yourself for running away after being challenged by an adversary? There is nothing that is reproachable for shameless creatures like You!” \nDespite these harsh words\, Lord Varaha calmly placed the earth upon the surface of the water and then empowered her with the capacity to float. At this time\, Lord Brahma and the other demigods praised the Lord for His wonderful act of lifting up the earth\, and they showered flowers upon Him. Then\, to express His terrible anger\, the Lord replied\, “Indeed\, We are creatures of the jungle and are searching for hunting dogs like you. One who is freed from the entanglement of death has no fear from the loose talk in which you are indulging\, for you are bound up by the laws of death. Now\, give up your foolish talk and attempt to kill Me. One may be very proud\, but he does not deserve a seat in an assembly if he fails to fulfill his promise.” \nBeing thus challenged\, Hiranyaksha became very angry and agitated\, and his whole body began to tremble. While hissing indignantly\, the demon sprang at the Lord and tried to strike Him with his powerful mace. By moving aside\, however\, the Lord dodged the blow\, and then with His own mace\, He attempted to smash Hiranyaksha’s forehead. Being an expert fighter\, the demon blocked the blow with his own mace\, however\, and thereafter\, a fierce encounter took place. \nAs both combatants struck one another repeatedly with their strong clubs\, the smell of blood that flowed from their wounds made them more and more furious. Being very eager for victory\, both the Lord and the demon exhibited wonderful maneuvers\, so that the battle looked like a contest between two powerful bulls for the sake of a cow. \nLord Brahma had been staying in the sky\, along with all of the demigods and celestial rishis\, so that he could witness the terrible fight that was being waged for the sake of the earth. Becoming somewhat anxious\, he addressed Lord Varaha\, “My dear Lord\, Hiranyaksha has always oppressed the demigods\, brahmanas\, cows and other innocent creatures. There is no need for You to play with this serpentine demon any longer\, for he is very skilled in utilizing mystic powers\, and he is most arrogant and wicked.” “My dear infallible Lord\, please kill him before the demoniac hour of twilight arrives and thus increases his strength. The auspicious period called abhijit began at noon and has almost passed. Therefore\, please dispose of Your formidable enemy quickly and thus establish peace within the world.” \nIn response\, the Lord heartily laughed\, while at the same time He accepted Brahma’s prayers with a glance that was laden with love. Then\, as Hiranyaksha fearlessly stood nearby\, Lord Varaha suddenly sprang at him while aiming His mace at the demon’s chin. \nHiranyaksha blocked the blow with his own mace\, however\, and as a result\, the Lord’s club slipped from His hand. That blazing mace looked splendid while whirling around and around as it fell\, and a great cry of alarm arose from the onlooking demigods and rishis. Still\, even though he had an excellent opportunity to strike his unarmed foe\, Hiranyaksha respected the etiquette for single-combat by refraining from doing so. This kindled the Lord’s fury even more\, however\, and He invoked His Sudarshana chakra. As this wonderful disc revolved in the Lord’s hand\, while He was at close quarters with His enemy\, the demigods and rishis exclaimed\, “May victory be Yours!” “Dispatch him at once!” “Don’t play with the demon any longer!”\nSeeing Lord Varaha before him with the Sudarshana chakra in His hand\, Hiranyaksha resentfully bit his lip and began to hiss like a serpent. Then\, that great demon with fearful tusks suddenly sprang into the air while wielding his club\, and while doing so\, he shouted\, “You are slain!”\nAs Hiranyaksha tried to strike Him\, Lord Varaha playfully kicked the mace from his hand with His left foot and then said\, “Pick up your weapon\, since you are so eager to conquer Me.” \nBeing so challenged\, Hiranyaksha picked up his mace and then hurled it impetuously while roaring loudly. Without even flinching\, however\, Lord Varaha easily caught the mace in His hand\, and so the demon felt greatly humiliated. Being reluctant to take back his weapon when the Lord offered it to him\, Hiranyaksha instead picked up a flaming trident and violently hurled it. As the trident blazed brightly while soaring through the sky\, Lord Varaha tore it to pieces by releasing His Sudarshana chakra. At this\, the demon became more enraged\, and while letting out a loud roar\, he rushed at Lord Varaha impetuously. After striking the Lord on the chest with his hard fist\, Hiranyaksha immediately disappeared. \nThe Lord was not disturbed in the least by the blow\, however\, any more than an elephant would feel hurt being struck by a flower garland. Thereafter\, Hiranyaksha employed many conjuring tricks against the Lord\, Who is Yogeshvara\, and all who saw the magical display thought that the dissolution of the universe was at hand. \nFierce winds began blowing and the dust that was raised created darkness in all directions. Torrents of stones fell from the sky\, along with showers of puss\, hair\, blood\, stool\, urine and bones- accompanied by lightning and thunder. Mountains discharged various weapons\, and naked demonesses with their hair hanging loose suddenly appeared\, carrying tridents. Hosts of Yakshas and Rakshasas were heard uttering cruel and savage slogans as they marched on foot or rode upon horses\, elephants and chariots. \nBy releasing His Sudarshana chakra\, however\, the Lord was able to dispel all of these illusions\, and at that moment\, a shudder of terror passed through Diti’s heart. While recalling the words of her husband\, blood began to flow from her breasts. \nWhen Hiranyaksha saw that his magical creations had been dispelled\, he once again made himself visible. In a fit of rage\, he tried to crush the Lord within his arms as a last resort. But\, to his great surprise\, after trying to grab the Lord\, the demon found that He was still outside the circle of his arms. Then\, as Hiranyaksha angrily struck Him with his fists\, Lord Varaha slapped him indifferently at the root of the ear\, making him stagger backwards. With his eyeballs bulging out of their sockets\, his hair scattered\, and his limbs broken\, the great demon fell down dead\, like an uprooted tree. \nLord Brahma and the other demigods quickly arrived at that spot\, to see the slain body of the demon close up. Still biting his lip\, Hiranyaksha’s bodily luster had not faded\, in spite of the absence of the soul\, because the Lord’s lotus foot remained touching it. Lord Brahma admiringly said\, “Oh\, who could meet with such a blessed death? This fortunate demon was struck by the lotus foot of the Lord\, upon Whom yogis meditate in mystic trance in the hopes of gaining liberation from their unreal\, material bodies.” \nThereafter\, the demigods expressed their great appreciation for the Lord’s having assumed His Varaha form and relieving them of their agonizing fear of the demon. After receiving the demigods’ praises\, the Lord returned to His own abode in the spiritual world\, where there is always an uninterrupted festival going on. \nSuta Gosvami concluded his narration by saying\, “O brahmanas\, anyone who hears\, chants\, or takes pleasure in the wonderful description of Lord Varaha’s killing of Hiranyaksha is at once relieved from the results of all kinds of sinful activities\, including the killing of a brahmana.”
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/varaha-dvadasi-30th-jan-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260129
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260130
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20260110T074437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260202T124322Z
UID:47708-1769644800-1769731199@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Bhaimi (Jaya) Ekadashi 29th Jan 2026
DESCRIPTION:It is said that if one observes upavasa on this day then one receives entrance to Visnu’s abode\, even though one has not performed the other vratas of the year.\nYudhisthira Maharaj said\, “Oh Lord of the lords\, Sri Krishna\, all glories unto You! Oh Master of the universe\, You alone are the source of the four types of living entities those born from eggs\, those born from perspiration\, those born from seeds and those born from embryos. You alone are the root cause of all\, Oh Lord\, and therefore You are the creator\, maintainer and destroyer. \n“My Lord\, You have so kindly explained to me the auspicious day known as Sat-tila Ekadashi\, which occurs during the dark fortnight (krishna paksha) of the month of Magha (January February). Now please explain to me the Ekadashi that occurs in the light fortnight (shukla or Gaura paksha) of this month. By what name is it known\, and what is the process for observing it? Who is the presiding Deity that is to be worshipped on this sublime day\, which is so very dear to You? \nLord Sri Krishna replied\, “Oh Yudhisthira\, I shall gladly tell you about the Ekadashi that occurs during the light half of this month of Magha. This Ekadashi obliterates all kinds of sinful reactions and demoniac influences that may be affecting the spirit soul. It is known as JayA Ekadashi\, and the fortunate soul who observes a fast on this sacred day is relieved of the great burden of ghostly existence. Thus there is no better Ekadashi than this\, for it truly bestows freedom from birth and death. It is to be honoured very carefully and diligently. So I as you to listen to Me very attentively\, Oh Pandava\, as I explain a wonderful historic episode regarding this Ekadashi\, an episode that I have already related in the Padma Purana. \n“Long\, long ago in the heavenly planets\, Lord Indra ruled his celestial kingdom very nicely\, and all the devas (demigods) living there were very happy and content. In Nandana Forest\, which was beautifully graced with Parijata Flowers\, Indra drank ambrosia whenever he liked and enjoyed the service of fifty million celestial maidens\, the Apsaras\, who danced in ecstasy for his pleasure. \n“Many singers\, led by Pushpadanta\, sang in sweet voices beyond compare. Chitrasena\, Indra’s chief musician was there in the company of his wife MAlini and his handsome son Malyavan. An Apsara named Pushpavati became very much attracted to Malyavan; indeed Cupid’s sharp arrows pierced the core of her heart. Her beautiful body and complexion\, along with the enchanting movements of her eyebrows\, captivated MAlayavAn. \n“Oh King\, listen as I describe the splendid beauty of Pushpavati: She has incomparably graceful arms with which to embrace a man like a fine silken noose; her face resembles the Moon; her lotus eyes reached almost to her lovely ears\, which were adorned with wonderful and costly ear-rings; her thin\, ornamented neck looked like a conch\, having three lines; her waist was very slender\, the size of a fist; her hips were broad\, and her thighs like the trunks of banana trees; her naturally beautiful features were complemented by gorgeous ornaments and garments; her breasts were highly raised emphasizing her prime of youth; and to look upon her feet was to behold newly grown red lotuses. \n“Seeing Pushpavati in all her heavenly beauty\, Malyavan was bewitched at once. They had come with the other performers to please Lord Indra by singing and dancing enchantingly\, but because they had become so enamored of each other\, pierced through the heart by the arrows of Cupid\, lust personified\, they were utterly unable to sing or dance properly before the lord and master of the heavenly realms. \nTheir pronunciation was wrong and their rhythm careless. Lord Indra understood the source of the errors at once. Offended at the discord in the musical performance\, he became very angry and screamed\, “You useless fools! You pretend to sing for me while in a stupour of infatuation with each other! You are mocking me! I curse you both to suffer henceforth as pisAchas (hobgoblins). As husband and wife\, go to the earthly regions and reap the reactions of your offenses.’ \n“Struck dumb by these harsh words\, Malyavan and Pushpavati at once became morose and fell from the beautiful Nandana Forest in the kingdom of heaven to a Himalayan peak here on planet Earth.\nImmeasurably distressed\, and their celestial intelligence vastly diminished by the effects of lord Indra’s fierce curse\, they lost their sense of taste and smell\, and even their sense of touch. It was so cold and miserable high on the Himalayan wastes of snow and ice that they could not even enjoy the oblivion of sleep. \n“Roaming aimlessly hither and thither in those harsh altitudes\, Malyavan and Pushpavati suffered more and more\, from one moment to the next. Even though they were situated in a cave\, because of the snowfall and cold their teeth chattered ceaselessly\, and their hair stood on end because of their fright and bewilderment. \n“In this utterly desperate situation\, Malyavan said to Pushpavati\, ‘What abominable sins did we commit to have to suffer in these pisAcha bodies\, in this impossible environment? This is absolutely hellish! Though hell is very ferocious\, the suffering we are undergoing here is even more abominable. Therefore it is abundantly clear that one should never commit sins”. \n“And so the forlorn lovers trudged onward in the snow and ice. By their great good fortune\, however\, it so happened that very day was the all auspicious JayA Ekadashi\, the Ekadashi of the light fortnight of the month of Magha. Because of their misery they neglected to drink any water\, kill any game\, or even eat whatever fruits and leaves were available at that altitude\, they unknowingly observed Ekadashi by fasting completely from all food and drink. Sunk in misery Malyavan and Pushpavati collapsed beneath a Pipal tree and did not even try to get up. The Sun had set by that time. \n“The night was even colder and more miserable than the day. They shivered in the frigid snowfall as their teeth chattered in unison\, and when they became numb\, they embraced just to keep warm. Locked in each other’s arms\, they could enjoy neither sleep nor sex. Thus they suffered through the whole night under the powerful curse of the deva Indra. \n“ Still\, Oh Yudhisthira\, by the mercy of the fast they had by chance (unknowingly) observed on Jaya Ekadashi\, and because they had remained awake all night\, they were blessed. \nPlease hear what happened on the next day. As DwAdasii dawned\, Malyavan and Pushpavati had given up their demoniac forms and were once again beautiful heavenly beings wearing lustrous ornaments and exquisite garments. As they both looked at each other in amazement\, a celestial airplane (vimana) arrived on the spot for them. A chorus of heavenly denizens sang their praises as the reformed couple stepped into the beautiful aircraft and proceeded directly to the heavenly regions\, buoyed up by the good wishes of everyone. Soon Malyavan and Pushpavati arrived at AmarAvati\, Lord Indra’s capital city\, and then they immediately went before their lord (Indradev) and offered him their cheerful obeisances. \n“Lord Indra was astonished to see that they had been transformed\, restored to their original status and forms so soon after he had cursed them to suffer as demons far\, far below his celestial kingdom. Indradev ask of them\, ‘What extraordinary meritorious deeds have you performed so that you could give up your pisAcha bodies so quickly after I cursed you? Who released you from my irresistible curse? \n“Malyavan replied\, ‘Oh lord\, it was by the extreme mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead\, Lord Sri Krishna (Vasudeva) and also by the powerful influence of the Jaya Ekadashi\, that we were released from our suffering condition as pisAchas. This is the truth\, Oh master: Because we executed devotional service to Lord Vishnu (even performed unknowingly by ajnAta sukriti) by observing the day most dear to Him\, we have happily been restored to our former status.” \n“Indradev then said\, ‘Because you served the Supreme Lord Sri Keshava by observing Ekadashi\, you have become worshippable even by me\, and I can see that you are now completely purified of sin. Whosoever engages in devotional service to Lord Sri Hari or Lord Shiva becomes praiseworthy and worshippable even by me. Of this there is no doubt.’ Lord Indradev then gave Malyavan and Pushpavati free rein to enjoy each other and wander about his heavenly planet as they wished. \n“Therefore\, Oh Maharaj Yudhisthira\, one should strictly observe a fast on the sacred day of Lord Hari\, especially on this Jaya Ekadashi\, which frees one from the sin of killing even a twice born brahmin. A great soul who observes this fast with full faith and devotion has in effect given all kinds of charity\, performed all kinds of sacrifice\, and bathed in all the Holy places of pilgrimage. Fasting on Jaya Ekadashi qualifies one to reside in Vaikuntha and enjoy unending happiness for billions of yugas indeed\, forever as the soul is eternal. Oh great king\, Lord Sri Krishna continued\, one who even hears or reads these wonderful glories of Jaya Ekadashi achieves the blessed merit attained by performing an Agnistoma fire sacrifice\, during which the hymns from the Sama-veda are recited.” \nNotes: Kamadeva\, lust personified\, has five names according to the Amara-kosha dictionary: kandarpa darpako ‘nanga Kamah pancha-sharaih smarah “Cupid has five names; (1) Cupid; (2) Darpaka\, ‘he who prevents future events’; (3) Ananga\, ‘he who has no physical body’; (4) Kama\, ‘lust personified’; and (5) Pancha-sharaih\, ‘he who holds five arrows’ “. \nKandarpa: In the tenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita (BG 10:28.) Lord Sri Krishna says\, prajanash casmi kandarpah; “Of causes for procreation\, I am Kandarpa”. The word Kandarpa also means “very beautiful”. Kandarpa appeared as Lord Krishna’s son Pradyumna in Dwaraka.\nDarpaka: This name indicates that Cupid can perceive what is to take place and prevent it from happening. Specifically\, he tries to impede pure spiritual activity by alluring one’s mind and forcibly engaging one in material sense enjoyment.\nAnanga: Once\, when Cupid disturbed the meditation of Lord Shiva\, that powerful deva (demigod) burned him (Cupid) to ashes. Still\, Shiva gave Cupid the benediction that he would act in the world even without a physical body like a ghost.\nKama: In Bhagavad Gita BG 7:11.) Lord Sri Krishna says\, dharmaviruddho bhuteshu kamo’smi: “I am sex life which is not contrary to religious principles.”\nPancha-sharaih: The five arrows with which Cupid pierces the mind of the living entities are taste\, touch\, sound\, smell\, and sight.\nThese are the five names of the empowered deva Cupid\, who enchants all living entities and makes them do whatever he wants. Without receiving the mercy of Guru and Krishna one cannot resist his power.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/bhaimi-jaya-ekadashi-29th-jan-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260128
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260129
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20251229T133926Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260129T101931Z
UID:47549-1769558400-1769644799@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Sripada Ramanujacarya Disappearance Day 28th Jan 2026
DESCRIPTION:Ramanujacharya was the principal acarya in the Sri sampradaya\, one of the four main lines of Vaisnava teachers and disciples. His Vedanta-sutra commentary Sri-bhasya establishes the doctrine known as Visistadvaita\, “qualified nondualism.”
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/sripada-ramanujacarya-disappearance-day-28th-jan-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260127
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260128
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20251229T133609Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T065801Z
UID:47547-1769472000-1769558399@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Sripada Madhvacarya Disappearance Day 27th Jan 2026
DESCRIPTION:Madhvacharya is the principal acharya\, or spiritual teacher\, in in the Brahma-sampradaya\, the Vaisnava disciplic line from which the Gaudiya sampradaya descends. He was born in Udupi\, South India\, in the early thirteenth century.
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/sripada-madhvacarya-disappearance-day-27th-jan-2026/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260126
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260127
DTSTAMP:20260519T231520
CREATED:20251229T133351Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T065750Z
UID:47545-1769385600-1769471999@www.iskconpunjabibagh.com
SUMMARY:Bhismastami 26th Jan 2026
DESCRIPTION:Bhishma’s name in his boyhood was Devavrata. He was the eighth son of Shantanu\, a king of the lunar dynasty and Gangadevi. This boy was the human embodiment of Dyau\, one of the Ashthavasus. Shantanu\, his father was the re-birth of another king\, Mahabhisheka. The story concerning this is given in the Mahabharata as follows: \nKing Mahabhisheka after his death\, attained Vishnuloka. Once he went to visit Brahma at Satyaloka. At that time Ganga devi was also present in Brahma’s assembly. In that pious atmosphere\, a gentle breeze began to blow and Gangadevi’s clothes were slightly deranged. Just at that moment Mahabhisheka took a stealthy glance at her and she also returned that glance. This was noted by Brahma who turned both of them into human beings by a curse. Gangadevi begged pardon and Brahma lifted the curse and blessed her that the Ashthavasus would come to the earth to be born as her sons and that afterwards she could come back to heaven. After that Gangadevi was born as a mortal woman in the world under the name Ganga and she spent her days in the forests near the Ganga river valleys. \nIn those days the ruler of the lunar dynasty was a king named Pratipa. Having no children he went to the bank of the Ganga and performed tapas there. Gangadevi who was moving about in the forests nearby\, saw the king deeply absorbed in tapas. She approached him and sat on his right thigh. She wanted the king to be her husband. He explained to her that the right thigh is the proper seat of the daughter-in-law and so she would become his son’s wife in due course. In due course of time\, Pratipa has a son\, Shantanu\, born to him. When Shantanu grew up into a young man\, one day he went for a hunt to the Ganga-valley and there he met Gangadevi. He fell in love with her at first sight and courted her. Gangadevi agreed to become his wife on the condition that he should not say anything to displease her and if he violated that condition she would leave him. The king accepted the condition and they became man and wife. \nAt about that time\, the wife of Dyo\, one of the Ashthavasus\, happened to see the sacrificial cow of the sage Vasishtha and wished to have it. She expressed her desire to her husband\, Dyo. Dyo with the other seven vasus went and took away by force Vasishtha’s cow. Vasishtha in his anger cursed the Ashthavasus to be born as mortals. they repented and begged pardon from Vasishtha. The sage told them that all of them would be born as the sons of Gangadevi and all except Dyo\, who actually stole the cow\, would return to heaven at the time of birth itself. As for Dyo\, he would continue to live in the world for a long time\, as an adventurous hero. \nGangadevi became pregnant and gave birth to her first child. She carried the child to the river Ganga and threw it into the river. Shantanu who followed her up to the river bank\, did not say anything against her\, remebering his promise. \nSeven children were born to her and she threw all of them into the river in this way. When she gave birth to the eighth child Shantanu insisted that he would not allow her to throw away that child in the river. As he had violated the conditions of his promise\, the angry Gangadevi left the palace with her child. She named it Devavrata and brought him up in the forest. The sage Vasishtha and Gangadevi taught him all branches of knowledge. Thirtytwo years later\, the king went to the same forest for hunting. He saw a handsome by stopping the flow of the river Ganga. Getting interested in the boy\, the king approached him. But by that time he had disappeared. The king prayed to Gangadevi to give back the child. She appeared with the child and after handing over the child to him vanished. The king returned to the palace with the child (Mahabharata\, Adi Parva\, Chapters 95-100.) \nThe name of Bhishma:\nDevavrata was anointed\, as heir-apparent. One day king Shantanu reached the forest near the Ganga river valley\, for hunting. As he was hunting absorbed in the beauty of the forest scenery\, he felt the perfume of musk filling the air in the forest. He wondered from where it could come. He went on and on trying to find out the source of this smell until he reached the cottage of a fisherman. The fisherman had a daughter named Satyavati. It was from her that the fragrance of musk spread all around (Satyavati’s original name was Kali. The fisherman got her from the stomach of a fish. Since she had a smell of a fish she got the name Matsyagandhi. She used to assist a fisherman in his work as a ferryman in the river Ganga. Once the sage Parasara happened to get into her boat and fell deeply in love with her. The sage removed the smell of fish from her and gave her the perfume of musk instead. By this mystic power he created a mist at noon and under its cover\, he had a sexual union with her. As a result of it the child Krsna (Vyaasa) was born. The child immediately left the mother to perform tapas in the forest after promising to return to her whenever she wished for his presence. Although she gave birth to a child\, Parasara blessed her that she would again remain a virgin. The whole episode remained a secret. As usual\, Satyavati returned to the fisherman’s cottage in the evening and continued to live with him. It is at this stage that Shantanu was attracted by the perfume of musk and came to the cottage where he met Satyavati. \nThe king fell in love with her at first sight. He asked the fisherman to give the girl in marriage to him. But the brave fisherman did not yeild to the king’s demand immediately. He laid down several conditions; one of which was that Satyavati’s sons should succeed to the throne of Shantanu. The king was in a fix. Devavrata was the eldest son and heir-apparent. To deny kingship to his sons would be highly improper. Unable to find a solution to this difficult problem\, the king returned to the palace\, much depressed and gloomy. there he avoided all company and took to his bed\, passing his time in sadness and solitude. \nWhen Devavrata knew about hism father’s condition\, he called the Ministers and asked them about it. They told him everything in details. At once\, without informing even his father\, Devavrata went to the fisherman’s cottage on the bank of the river Ganges and begged for Satyavati on behalf of his father. the fisherman repeated his former condition. Devavrata agreed that Satyavati’s son shall be given the right of kinship. The fisherman pointed out that disputes were likely to arise between Devavrata’s sons and Satyavati’s children regarding the right of succession to the throne. At once Devavrata stood up and made a solemn pledge (drdavrata) that he would remain a bachelor for life. The fisherman gave Satyavati to Devavrata to be taken to the king. Devavrata took her to the palace and presented her to his father. The king\, when he came to know of the part played by his son in that matter\, rose from his bed and embraced Devavrata with tears of joy and gratitude. the gods showered flowers on the scene. Because he had taken such a solemn oath\, it was decalred that henceforth he would be known by the name BHISHMA. The loving father Shantanu also gave him a boon that Bhishma would die only when he wished. (Mahabharata. Adi Parva\, Chapter 100.)
URL:https://www.iskconpunjabibagh.com/event/bhismastami-26th-jan-2026/
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