Holi- a spring festival- time for SPIRITUAL cleansing- !!

[Guest guest]

Safar, Holi Greetings! WE enjoyed your post a lot! the spirit of the

season is here. Time to forget old differences and move on. Holi is

one festival where caste, gender differences are overlooked. This is

one festival when there is noo sense of inequality as rich mingle

with the poor and men and women embrace one another in a spirit of

friendship and unconditional love.

 

Basant - the spring season - is called the Lord of all seasons.

Rituraj Basant. Kalidasa has penned some bautiful lines on the vasant

ritu. More on this in another post.

 

spring is the season of love and a season for spiritual cleansing and

purification.

 

"Holi also means "sacrifice". Burn all the impurities of the mind,

such as egoism, vanity and lust, through the fire of devotion and

knowledge. Ignite cosmic love, mercy, generosity, selflessness,

truthfulness and purity through the fire of Yogic practice. This is

the real spirit of Holi. Rise from the mire of stupidity and

absurdity and dive deep into the ocean of divinity." says swami

Shivananda.

 

The swami says...

 

The call of Holi is to always keep ablaze the light of God-love

shining in your heart. Inner illumination is the real Holi. The

spring season is the manifestation of the Lord, according to the

Bhagavad Gita. Holi is said there to be His heart.

 

Holi is always synonymous with Mdhurya-lila or rasa -lila.. In the

Brindavan dham, Lord krishna played 'holi' with the gopis and his

divine consort srimati Radharani.

 

Madhava means the husband of the Goddess of fortune (ma–Goddess,

dhava–husband). In Madhava, resides his eternal consort, Madhavi

(radha) The two are one! The Individual soul (jivatma) merging with

Pramatma (the super soul) .

 

Madhava also means spring. In Srimad Bhagvat e Gita, Krsna identifies

himself with spring, the season of love. Among seasons, I am spring,

declares lord Krishna.

 

The song of God is ultimately a doctrine of divine love that reaches

its zenith in Radha's love for Madhava. (madhurya rasa)

 

Mad is the Sanskrit root from which madhu (honey) is derived. Thus

Madhava also indicates intoxicated passion and madness (mada)- this

is god intoxication....

 

in this season of love, the gopikas play 'holi' with their lord and

master nandlal!!! *lal* means darling ! lal also means the

color 'rad' - so literally the gopis immerse 'krishna' in a ocean

of 'love' - He is all 'red' full of 'passion' and 'compassion' for

his beloved gopis.... this is 'transcendental love' - 'rasa lila' of

the highest kind... not to be confused with ordinary ' conjugal love'-

 

on the happy occassion of HOLI, here are some lovely verses from

Madhurashtakam by vaishnava saint Vallabhacharya! enjoy!

 

1) adharam madhuram vadanam madhuram

nayanam madhuram hasitam madhuram

hrdayam madhuram gamanam madhuram

madhuradhi-pater akhilam madhuram

 

 

His lips are sweet, His face is sweet His eyes are sweet, His smile

is sweet His heart is sweet, His gait is sweet—

Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!

 

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(2) vacanam madhuram caritam madhuram

vasanam madhuram valitam madhuram

calitam madhuram bhramitam madhuram

madhuradhi-pater akhilam madhuram

 

 

His words are sweet, His character is sweet His dress is sweet, His

belly-folds are sweet His movements are sweet, His wandering is sweet—

Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!

 

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(3) venur madhuro renur madhura

panir madhura padau madhurau

nrtyam madhuram sakhyam madhuram

madhuradhi-pater akhilam madhuram

 

 

His flute is sweet, His foot-dust is sweet His hands are sweet, His

feet are sweet His dancing is sweet, His friendship is sweet—

Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!

 

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(4) gitam madhuram pitam madhuram

bhuktam madhuram suptam madhuram

rupam madhuram tilakam madhuram

madhuradhi-pater akhilam madhuram

 

 

His singing is sweet, His yellow cloth is sweet His eating is sweet,

His sleeping is sweet His beauty is sweet, His tilaka is sweet—

Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!

 

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(5) karanam madhuram taranam madhuram

haranam madhuram ramanam madhuram

vamitam madhuram shamitam madhuram

madhuradhi-pater akhilam madhuram

 

 

His deeds are sweet, His liberating is sweet His stealing is sweet,

His love-sports are sweet His oblations are sweet, His tranquility is

sweet—

Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!

 

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(6) gunja madhura mala madhura

yamuna madhura vici madhura

salilam madhuram kamalam madhuram

madhuradhi-pater akhilam madhuram

 

 

His gunja-berry necklace is sweet, His flower garland is sweet His

Yamuna river is sweet, His ripples are sweet His water is sweet, His

lotuses are sweet—

Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!

 

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(7) gopi madhura lila madhura

yuktam madhuram bhuktam madhuram

hrishtam madhuram shiishtam madhuram

madhuradhi-pater akhilam madhuram

 

his gopis are sweet , his past times are sweet,

his "mischiefs' are sweet , his eating is sweet

his heart is sweet, his morals are are sweet

Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness

 

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(8) gopa madhura gavo madhura

yaishtir madhura Shrishtir madhura

dalitam madhuram phalitam madhuram

madhuradhi-pater akhilam madhuram

 

 

His gopas are sweet, His cows are sweet His staff is sweet, His

creation is sweet His trampling is sweet, His fruitfulness is sweet—

Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!

 

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This is what vaishnavites call Bhakti-rasa-amrita -sindu! ocean of

transcendental bliss and necterean krishna prema!

 

Jaya radhe ! radhe! shri radha-krishna ki jai! Brindavan dj ham ki

jai! Rasa-lila ki jai!