Yudhisthira Maharaj said, "O Janardana, O protector of all beings, what is the name of the Ekadasi that comes during the dark fortnight (Krishna paksha) of the month of Karttika (October - November)? Please impart this sacred knowledge to me.
The Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna then spoke as follows, "O lion among kings, please listen as I narrate to you. The Ekadasi that occurs during the dark part of the month of Karttika is called Ramaa Ekadasi. It is most auspicious, for it at once eradicates the greatest sins and awards one the passage to the spiritual abode. I shall now narrate to you its history and glories.
King Dashrath ruled the rich and prosperous city of Ayodhya. He had three wives and Kaikayi was his favourite. She saved his life in a war at a very crucial time. Dashrath granted her two favours for saving his life.
Dashrath had four sons. Rama, the oldest, was everybody's favourite. He was married to the beautiful and devoted Sita. Just before Ram's coromation, Kaikayi reminded Dashrath of her two favors. She told him to crown Bharat as king and to banish Ram to the jungle for fourteen years. Her wishes were granted.
While engaged with the brahmanas who were too much involved in the performance of Vedic sacrifices, Krishna and Balarama also saw that the cowherd men were preparing a similar sacrifice in order to pacify Indra, the King of heaven, who is responsible for supplying water. As stated in the Caitanya-caritamrita, a devotee of Krishna has strong and firm faith in the understanding that if he is simply engaged in Krishna consciousness and Krishna’s transcendental loving service, then he is freed from all other obligations. A pure devotee of Lord Krishna doesn’t have to perform any of the ritualistic functions enjoined in the Vedas; nor is he required to worship any demigods. Being a devotee of Lord Krishna, one is understood to have performed all kinds of Vedic rituals and all kinds of worship to the demigods. One does not develop devotional service for Krishna by performing the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies or worshiping the demigods, but it should be understood that one who is engaged fully in the service of the Lord has already fulfilled all Vedic injunctions.
Srila Prabhupada was born Abhay Charan De on September 1st 1896 in Calcutta, India. His father was Gour Mohan De, a cloth merchant, and his mother was Rajani. His parents in accordance with Bengali tradition, employed an astrologer to calculate the child's horoscope, and they were made jubilant by the auspicious reading. The astrologer made a specific prediction: When this child reaches the age of seventy, he would cross the ocean, become a great exponent of religion, and open 108 temples.(Satswarupa das Goswami. 1987. "Your Ever Well-wisher". page x.)
It is noteworthy that in that very same year, 1896, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's book was accepted into McGill University in Canada, a pilot light for preaching in the West.
"Thus Sri Krishna, along with His elder brother Balarama, passed the childhood age known as kaumara and stepped into the age of pauganda, from the sixth year up to the tenth. At that time, all the cowherd men conferred and agreed to give those boys who had passed their fifth year charge of the cows in the pasturing ground. Given charge of the cows, Krishna and Balarama traversed Vrindavana, purifying the land with Their lotus footprints."
Sri Gadadhara dasa Thakura previously lived at Navadwip. When the Lord went to live at Nilacala Sri Dasa Gadadhara also there to be with Him. Later on Mahaprabhu sent him back with Nityananda Prabhu to preach in Bengal. He first stayed at Eriyadahagram, which is situated on the banks of the Ganges. Then he spent some time in Navadwipa, taking care of Saci Mata and Visnupriya, but after their disappearance he came to live at Katwa, where Mahaprabhu had accepted sannyasa from Kesava Bharati.
"Dhananjaya Pandit was a very rare soul. Nityananda Prabhu was always present in his heart."
His Sripat is at Sitalgram, Mangal Kota Khana, Barddhaman district. There is a railway station at Kaicor on the metre gauge line from Katwa to Barddhaman. If one gets down at Kaicor, then it is about a twenty minute walk to the village of Sitalgram.
This kind of 5 day fast is also prescribed for the last 5 days of Kartika (Damodara) Month and it is known as "Bhisma Pancaka". During that vrata puja offerings to the Lord are also prescribed. I am listing them below. There are also mantras that go with these offerings. However, I didn't find any specific mention about this for Purusottama month. In the Padma Purana it only stated that in addition to ekadasee one can observe a "pancaratrika" fast until amavasya. Here are offerings prescribed for Bhisma Pancaka.
As there is not much mention of Sri Lokanatha Goswami in Vaishnava literatures, similarly there is not much mention either of Sri Bhugarbha Goswami, who was his very close friend. Following Mahaprabhu's order, they both came to live at Vraja dham. Their hearts were inseparable.
Bhugarbha Goswami was Lokanatha’s closest friend and constant companion. He was Prema Manjari in Vraja (Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika 187).
Sri Kasisvara Pandita Gosvami had a temple near Sri Rampura at Catara. Mahaprabhu sent him to Vrindavana later on in his life. His disciple was Sri Govinda Gosai, the pujari of Sri Govinda Deva.
When Srila Rupa Gosvami discovered Sri Govinda Deva's Sri Vigraha at Gomati tila, he immediately sent word to Mahaprabhu at Puri. Mahaprabhu in turn requested Sri Kasisvara Pandita to go to Vrindavana. Kasisvara however expressed that "to have to give up your association will cause my heart to be split in two. Therefore please consider how I can honor your request without giving up my life."
Sri Narahari Sarkar Thakura was born at Sri Khanda. Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami describes that the residents of Sri Khanda formed a branch of the desire tree of love of God. "Sri Khan davasi (the residents of Sri Khanda) Mukunda and his son Raghu nandan were the thirty ninth branch of the tree, Narahari was the fortieth, Chiran Jiva the forty first and Sulocana the forty second. They were all big branches of the all merciful tree of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They distributed the fruits and flowers of love of Godhead anywhere and everywhere. Srila Jagannatha das Babaji Maharaj once stated - "Navadwip is the abode of Goloka. Vrindavana is the abode of Gokula. And Sri Khanda is the abode of Vaikuntha."
Suta Goswami said, "O learned brahmanas, long ago Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, explained the auspicious glories of Sri Ekadasi and the rules and regulations governing each observance of fasting on that holy day. O best of the brahmins, whosoever hears about the origins and glories of these sacred fasts on the Ekadasi days goes directly to the abode of Lord Vishnu after enjoying many different kinds of happiness in this material world.
Sri Saranga Murari Thakura used to reside at Modadrumadwipa Mam-gachi, where his Deities of Sri Sri Radha-Gopinath are still present. There is also a Bakul tree there which is perhaps existing since the time of Saranga Thakura. There is a local legend concerning this tree. One day when Mahaprabhu came there, he noticed that the Bakul tree in the courtyard of Saranga's temple was dying. So he asked Saran-ga, "This Bakul tree is dying, so what are you going to do?"
Congratulations you have taken one giant step towards giving a sanctified healthy meal to an underprivileged Indian.
Face the fact: (Source Global Huger Index 2017)
India is world’s second largest food producer yet it is home to world second biggest undernourished population. Source FAO 2015 25 % of all hungry people worldwide live in India. 44% of Indian Children below the age of 5 are underweight. Out of Worst hunger struck 119 countries India is at 100
What does a healthy human being need?
A balanced diet is one that helps a person maintain or improve health. It includes carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, proteins, roughage, water, and minerals. The amount of these nutrients varies with gender, age, occupation, climate and region. However, at ISKCON Punjabi Bagh, we understand that a complete meal is not just numbers and formulae. It is not just chopped-up vegetables and boiled grains. It is love that is the primary constituent of a healthy meal. The same love that a mother pours while she is at work in the kitchen, the same love that a father ploughs when he is toiling in the office, and the same love that siblings share when they fight.
How does ISKCON Punjabi Bagh satisfy this hunger?
We, at ISKCON Punjabi Bagh, understand that apart from a person’s body craving for satisfaction of the stomach, the satisfaction of the person occupying that body is also of primary importance. We solve this eternal craving of the soul through World’s Largest vegetarian Non-Profit Food Relief program called the Hare Krishna Food-for-Life.
Each meal is not only delicious but is also prepared with full attention to personnel & infrastructure hygiene. The food so prepared is first offered to the almighty Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna, therefore, although its quantity remains unchanged but qualitatively it is transformed from meal to Prasadam. Such sanctified meals on the one hand fulfil the basic necessity of the body and on the other purify the consciousness of a person. The fortunate people who receive Prasadam meals develop all good human qualities such as kindness, truthfulness, cleanliness, and gain immense control over the agitations of mind. No other food item in the world can offer such spiritual benefits.
Is it really World’s Largest?
Yes, ISKCON volunteers provide up to 2,000,000 (Two Million) free meals every day. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON, instructed his disciples that no one should sleep hungry within a 10 mile radius of a Hare Krishna centre. Keeping true to His Divine Grace’s instructions, every centre based on the available resources tries to serve nutritious meals free of cost to every person who gives the temple an opportunity to serve. This includes visitors, pilgrims, and residents of neighbouring areas. In fact, monthly processions are also accompanied by free distribution of food. Apart from this, special relief packages are designed and dispatched to areas affected by natural calamities.
Can non-ISKCON people contribute?
We are all children of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This makes us God-brothers & God-sisters. Therefore, we encourage the more fortunate brothers and sisters to come forward and help the less fortunate ones. This can be achieved by sponsoring meals for the homeless, disadvantaged children, pilgrims and slum dwellers. We have created this web-page specifically for reaching out to people who have a big heart and a little time, energy and resources to spare. Your small contribution here can make 2 square meals possible for unprivileged brethren.
Where will my money go?
As every ISKCON temple is completely financially independent of the other, all money donated to ISKCON Punjabi Bagh temple is utilized locally within New Delhi. At times, we also travel the Indian sub-continent and distribute free Prasadam across the length and breadth of India.
No money from your donation is transferred outside the country without explicitly mentioning it. ISKCON centres worldwide manage their funds locally for the benefit of that region’s local population.
Because of this reason,currently, ISKCON Punjabi Bagh also does not accept any donations from foreign countries for the Food for Life program. In case, you are eager to contribute we suggest getting in touch with an ISKCON centre in your neighbouring area. The complete list of ISKCON centres world wide can be found here: http://centers.iskcondesiretree.com/ Hopefully, at a later time, when people all over the world have transcended the boundaries of nationality, colour, language, ethnicity and politics, we might be able to extend ourselves to help all children of God irrespective of geographical location.
I am still not sure if I want to contribute!
No Problem, we thank you for taking out time to read about the Hare Krishna Food for Life program. we suggest that you scroll through the rest of the website. It is highly probable that you will find another social cause that is worth investing your time and resources in such as education, organic farming, sustainable living and much more.
