Thu 21st July 2005-- First month of Chaturmasya begins.on 21 st

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Dear Devotees

PAMHO,AGTSGM,AGTSP

Tomorrow is the starting of chaturmasya . The

dates to be followed for these months, with some

details regarding the importance of these months are

as below.

yr hs

radhabhava gaur das

shyamadesh

 

 

Thu 21st July 2005-- First month of Chaturmasya

begins. (Fast from Shak, green leafy vegetables, for

one month)

 

-

Fri 19th, August 2005 ---Second Month of Chaturmasya

begins (Fasting from yogurt for one month)

 

 

Sun 18th,September 2005-- 3rd month of chaturmasya

begins (Fasting from milk for 1 month)

 

Mon 17th, October 2005-- Fourth month of chaturmasya

begins (fasting from Urad dahl for one month) KARTIKA

MONTH BEGINS

 

Wed 16th,November 2005 Chaturmasya ends KARTIKA MONTH

ENDS

 

CHATURMASYA VRATA (THE FOUR MONTHS)

 

Shrila Prabhupada states in the Shri Chaitanya

Charitamrita Madhya lila 4.169 purport:

 

"The Chaturmasya period begins in the month of Asadha

(June-July) from the day of Ekadasi called

Sayana-ekadasi, in the fortnight of the waxing moon.

The period ends in the month of Kartika

(October-November) on the Ekadasi day known as

Utthana-ekadasi, in the fortnight of the waxing moon.

 

 

This four-month period is known as Chaturmasya. Some

Vaisnavas also observe it from the full-moon day of

Asadha until the full-moon day of Kartika. That is

also a period of four months. This period, calculated

by the lunar months, is called Chaturmasya, but others

also observe Caturmasya according to the solar month

from Sravana to Kartika."

 

 

"Chaturmasya should be observed by all sections of the

population. It does not matter whether one is a

grhastha or a sannyasi. The observance is obligatory

for all asramas. The real purpose behind the vow taken

during these four months is to minimize the quantity

of sense gratification. This is not very difficult.

 

 

In the month of Sravana one should not eat spinach,

in the month of Bhadra one should not eat yogurt, and

in the month of Asvina one should not drink milk. One

should not eat fish or other nonvegetarian food during

the month of Kartika. ... On the whole, during the

four-month period of Chaturmasya one should practice

giving up all food intended for sense enjoyment."

 

 

 

 

Various vows and austerities during Chaturmasya and

Their respective results.

 

"O King, one who is My devotee and is fixed in vow,

whether man or woman, for the purpose of Dharma,

should accept these various austerities and

observances. I shall now describe to you all of them

along with their respective results.

 

01) No salt -- One's voice becomes sweet.

 

02) No oil -- One's life is prolonged and gets

progeny.

 

03) No oil massages -- One's body becomes beautiful.

 

04) No cooking with oil -- One's enemies are vanished.

 

05) No licorice and oil -- One becomes wealthy.

 

06) Give up wearing unoffered flowers -- One becomes a

Vidyadhara in Devapura.

 

07) Give up six kinds of tastes (spice, sour, bitter,

sweet, salty and harsh)-- One never becomes ugly,

smelly, or obtains a bad birth.

 

08) Practice of yoga -- One goes to Brahmaloka.

 

09) No betal nuts -- One becomes happy.

 

10) No cooked food (raw fruits & Vegetables) -- One

obtains purity.

 

11) No honey -- One becomes lustrous.

 

12) No yogert or milk -- One attains Goloka.

 

13) No cooking with earthen pots -- One gets . (?)

 

14) No hot food -- One gets offspring with a long

life.

 

15) Take rest on the ground or on stone -- One becomes

an associate of Vishnu.

 

16) One who gives up meat & honey is a yogi and muni.

 

17) No intoxicating liquors -- One becomes powerful

and free from disease.

 

18) Fast for one day -- One is honored in Brahmaloka.

 

19) No cutting of hair and nails -- One gets the

benefit of taking bath daily in Ganges.

 

20) No speaking of grama katha (nonsense) -- One's

order will never be

disobeyed.

 

21) Eat food on the ground without dish or plate --

One obtains a kingdom on

Earth.

 

22) Chant the mantra Namo Narayana -- One obtains the

result of giving in

charity 100 times.

 

23) Offer prayers to the Lord -- One gets the result

of giving cows in charity.

 

24) Touch the lotus feet of the Deity -- One becomes a

successful person.

 

25) Clean the temple of the Lord -- If one is king he

remains so for a Kalpa.

 

26) Circumambulating the temple three times offering

prayers -- At the time of death one will mount a swan

airplane and go to Vaikuntha.

 

27) Singing or playing musical instruments in the

temple of the Lord -- One goes to Gardharvaloka.

 

28) Take pleasure in studying the sastras -- One goes

to Vishnuloka.

 

29) Sprinkle water in the temple -- One goes to

apsaraloka.

 

30) Take bath in a holy place -- One's body becomes

pure.

 

31) Worship Lord Vishnu with flowers -- One goes to

Vaikuntha.

 

32) Eat panchagavya -- One gets the result of

observing candrayana fasting.

 

33) Eat one meal a day -- One gets the results of

performing an Agnihotra.

 

34) Eat at night only -- One gets the result of going

to all the places of

pilgrimage.

 

35) Eat at noon only -- One attains Devaloka.

 

36) Take food not obtained by begging or any

extraneous endeavor -- One gets

the results of opening water stands and digging wells.

 

37) Take bath daily -- One will never see hell.

 

38) No eating on a plate -- One gets the result of

bathing at Pushkara.

 

39) Eat on a leaf -- One obtains the result of living

at Kurukshetra.

 

40) Eat on a stone -- One obtains the result of

bathing at Prayog.

 

41) Giving up drinking to six hours -- One will not be

attacked by diseases.

 

42) During the Chaturmasya, garlands, caranamrta,

candana and water from the conshell of the Lord,

mahaprasadam, Deity garlands must be accepted.

 

In this way one who performs this vrata for the

satisfaction of Lord Kesava and Lord Gauranga becomes

satisfied himself. O best of the Pandavas, among My

devotees, he whoaccepts these vows and austerities

during the Chaturmasya goes to my abode at the time of

death, of this there is no doubt.

 

Vishnu Rahasya - Lord Brahma to Narada Muni.

 

 

 

 

If one accepts all these Vaisnava austerities and

observances with devotion, one attains the supreme

destination O Narada. One who desires within himself

to execute all these Vaisnava austerities and vows,

his sins obtained within one hundred births is

destroyed. If one is exclusively devoted, peaceful,

takes daily bath, is fixed in vow and worships the

Lord during these four months, he goes to the abode of

the Lord. He who accepts the austerity of sleeping on

the ground this time when the Vishnu Deity is sleeping

in yoga nidra underwater, he goes to the abode of

Laxmi.

 

 

 

 

Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita. Madhya-lila 4.169. purport

 

 

 

"One should carefully give up attachment for material

assets. People in general have spontaneous attachment

for house, household paraphernalia, clothes,

ornaments, wealth, wife and children's health, their

own health, eatables, trees, and animals. Some people

are so addicted to smoking, chewing pan, eating fish

and meat, and drinking alcohol that their practice of

spiritual life is obstructed.

 

 

The procedure for giving up grief is explained in the

Padma Purama:

 

sokamarsadibhir bhavair akrantam yasya manasam

katham tasya mukundasya sphurttih sambhavana bhavet

(8)

 

Within the heart of one who is full of anger or pride,

or lamentation on the state of his wife or sons, there

is no possibility of Krsna and Gauranga being

manifest.

 

One should accept only those things necessary for his

devotional life, as stated in the Naradiya Purama:

 

 

 

As one progresses in this way he offers prayers

similar to Prahlada Maharaja's in the Srimad

Bhagavatam (7.9.39):

 

naitan manas tava kathasu vikuntha-natha

sampriyate durita-dustam asadhu tivram

kamaturam harsa-soka-bhayaisanartam

tasmin katham tava gatim vimrsami dinah (11)

 

My dear Lord of the Vaikuntha planets, where there is

no anxiety, my mind is extremely sinful and lusty,

being sometimes so-called happy and sometimes

so-called distressed. My mind is full of lamentation

and fear, and it always seeks more and more money.

Thus it has become most polluted and is never

satisfied in topics concerning You. I am therefore

most fallen and poor. In such a status of life, how

shall I be able to discuss Your activities? O Krsna!

How will I get attachment for topics concerning You?

And how will I meditate on Your pastimes?

 

The Srimad Bhagavatam (7.9.40) explains how a living

entity attracted to sense objects such as form and

taste is completely vanquished:

 

jihvaikato 'cyuta vikarsati mavitrpta

sisno 'nyatas tvag-udaram sravanam kutascit

ghrano 'nyatas capala-drk kva ca karma-saktir

bahvyah sapatnya iva geha-patim lunanti (12)

 

My dear Lord, O infallible one, my position is like

that of a person who has many wives, all trying to

attract him in their own way. For example, the tongue

is attracted to palatable dishes, the genitals to sex

with an attractive woman, and the sense of touch to

contact with soft things. The

belly, although filled, still wants to eat more, the

ear, not attempting to hear about You, is generally

attracted to useless talks. The sense of smell is

attracted to yet another side, the restless eyes are

attracted to scenes of sense gratification, and the

active senses are attracted elsewhere. In this way I

am certainly embarrassed.

 

By taking shelter of the holy name, attachment

develops. The symptoms of this attachment are

described in the Srimad Bhagavatam (10.29.34):

 

 

Prabhupada mentions it to be done (in cc Madhya as an

austerity offered to the lord.

 

another deep meaning that is that like Ekadasi vrata,

it is meant to reduce the bodily conception of life.

as per BG 16.1-3, sattva samshuddhi, (for..Jnana yoga

vyavasthiti.. sense gratification is opposite of those

goals, so to promote it during the heavy rainy season

where sadhus can't go out and preach freely in India

it was done.

 

Eating green boiled papaya mixed with mung dhal rice

kitchri with whole black pepper and only cumin seeds

with

ginger root once a day was very sattvic and very

healthy.

 

The papaya ginger root and black peppercorns boiled

inside helped digestion which is weak during the rain.

No

doubt it also protects health too.

 

It was so sattvic it really mellows out the passion in

us. These are side benefits to be realized.

 

Of course it's tough (but not impossible) to follow it

while you travel around the world during Chaturmasya

instead of staying at one place. It's also a test on

your resolve to stick to your vows. Especially if you

remain strict with it even on the festival days like

Janmastami, SP Tirobhava, Radhastami, when all the

other devotees feast like

anything.

 

Text 398

 

tatra caturmasya-mahatmye

catur-varam bhramibhis tu

jagat sarvam caracaram

krantam bhavati vipragrya

tat tirtha-gamanadhikam

 

In the Skanda Purana, Caturmasya-mahatmya, it is said:

"O best of brahmanas, a person who four times

circumambulates the Lord attains the result of

circumambulating the entire universe filled with

moving and unmoving beings. He attains a result better

than going on all pilgrimages."

 

Text 399

 

tatraivanyatra

pradaksinam tu yah kuryat

harim bhaktya samanvitah

hamsa-yukta-vimanena

visnulokam sa gacchati

 

In the Caturmasya-mahatmya it is also said:

"A person who with devotion circumambulates Lord Hari

flies on a swan to Lord Visnu's world."

 

Hari bhakti vilasa eighth vilasa

 

 

 

 

_________

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