calendar

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Pamho. Agtsp

 

Next is what could be a resume of all the informations received about the

calendar festivals:

 

Gopastami

-A day when Sri Radha dresses as a cowherd boy (Adipurusa Dasa)

-Krsna goes out with the cows to graze. On this day the goshallas

are cleaned by all the devotees, and the cows are worshiped and offered

nice prasada (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

-Gopastami is also the day when krsna was put in charge of the calves (Bhanu

Swami).

 

Gosthastami

-Day the vrajavasi's (Krishna's eternal associates) are

worshiped (Mahamantra Dasa).

 

Jagadatri-puja

-Worship of the goddess Jagadatri, Durga (bhakta Jan Mares).

-Jagaddhatri Puja: The day of worshipping one form of Mahamaya called

Jagaddhatri - the maintainer of the material world (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

 

 

Odan-sasthy

- When Lord Jagannatha gets new woolen garments. Described

in CC in connection with Pundarika Vidyaniddhi (Urmila dd).

-Odan sasti: Offering of starched cloth to Lord Jagannath (Dhira-Krsna

Dasa).

 

Krsna-pusya abhiseka

- When Krsna is "bathed" with flowers (Urmila dd)

-Krsna pusya abhiseka: during the morning puja the deity or salagram is

bathed in pure ghee. (pusya means ghee, it's not puspa - flowers)

(Dhira-Krisna Dasa)

-Krsna pusya abhiseka= is not a flower bath but a ghee bath pusya means

nourishing (Bhanu Swami).

 

Ganga-sagara-mela

-Ganga Sagara mela: The anniversary of when the 60,000 sons of Maharaja

Sagar were liberated by Mother Ganges (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

-Ganga sagara mela is a festival held at the mouth of the Ganga in memory of

bhagirath bringing the ganga down (Bhanu Swami).

-Ganga-sagara-mela-Day (usually in January) where deity of Lord Kapila

appears for darshan at Ganga Sagar(island in Ganga right at bay of Bengal).

Lakhs of devotees attend this function (Maha-mantra Dasa).

 

Vasanta-pancami

-Beginning of the spring (Adipurusa Dasa).

-Vasanta pancami: first day of spring. Offer many flowers, leaves and new

grass shoots to decorate the Deities (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

 

Bhismastami

Bhismastami: appearance of Bhismadeva (Dhira-Krsna Dasa)

 

Krsna-madhura-utsava

 

Damanaka-ropana-dvadasi

-The day of the 'binding rope' (Adi-purusa Dasa)

-Damanaka ropana dvadasi: the damanaka tree is planted and worshiped on that

day (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

-Damanaka ropana= this is a day for planting damanaka trees (Bhanu Swami).

 

Krsna-vasanta-rasa

-Springtime rasa (Adi-purusa Dasa)

-Krsna vasanta rasa: Krsna's rasa dance with the gopis in the spring

(Dhira-Krsna Dasa)

-KŠa-vasanta-rasa: Lord Krsna's Vasanta season's rasa pastime celebration

(Vidvan-Gauranga Dasa).

 

Aksaya-tritiya

-Aksaya-trtiya: If I am not mistaken, this is the day that Treta-yuga

began (Shyamasundara Dasa).

-Aksaya tritiya: commemorates the beginning of Satya yuga. Auspicious day to

start a new project. On this day sesame was created for the purpose of

yajna. One could perform a yajna and offer sesame (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

-Aksaya tritiya- appearance day of satya yuga (Bhanu Swami)

-Aksaya-tritiya-Day when in Lord Badrinath and Lord Kedarnath temples open

for public worship in the Himalayas (Maha-mantra Dasa)

 

Jahnu-saptami

Jahnu-saptami: Must be the day when Jahnu Muni either drank or released the

Ganga. Sorry. 8-) (Bhakta Jan Mares)

-Jahnu saptami: perhaps the Ganga emerged from his ear on that day

(Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

 

Rukmini-dvadasi

-Rukmini-dvadasi: Appearance of Srimati Rukmini Devi (Shyamasundara Dasa)

-rukmini dvadasi= appearance of Rukmini (Bhanu Swami)

 

Krsna-pula-dola, salila vivaha

-Phula dola= flower swing festival (Bhanu Swami)

-Krsna Phula Dhola, Salila Vihara: Boat festival. In the summer the Deities

of Radha and Krsna are taken on a lake in a boat (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

 

Jala-dhana of Saligrama-tulsi

-Jala-dhana of Saligrama-tulsi: During the hot summer season a pot with a

hole in the bottom is hung over the tulsi plant (or is it the saligram

sila or both??) and water is thus continually dripped over them to keep them

cool. At the end Saligrama and Tulsi get married (Shyamasundara Dasa).

-Salagram and Tulsi Jala Dan: in the hot season in India a pot of dripping

water is placed over Tulasi and Salagram to keep them cool. This may not be

practical in the west as it is quite cold during this season (Dhira Krsna

Dasa).

-Jala dan= droppng water on salagram in the hot season from a pot with a

hole in the bottom (Bhanu Swami)

-But we have seen this pot of water placed only on top of Tulasi plants. Is

this another way of doing it? (Sumithra Krsna Dasa)

 

Hera pancami

-see CC mad 14 (Adipurusa Dasa)

-Hera pancami: How Lord Caitanya observed this fesitval is described in CC

-Hera pancami: This is when the Rathayatra returns from the Gundica Mandira

(Shyamasundara Dasa).

-Hera Pancami: takes place three days after Lord Jagannatha's chariot

festival. Commemorates Rukmini devi's visit to Vrndavana to bring Krsna back

to Dwaraka (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

 

Guru-purnima

- worship of Sri Vyasa and Guru (Adipurusa Dasa)

-Guru-purnima: Worship the guru--vyasapuja. We do this daily (Shyamasundara

Dasa).

-Guru (Vyasa) Purnima: appearance of Srila Vyasadeva. Generally we do not

celebrate (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

-Appearance day of Srila Vyasadeva, as far as I heard. Not so sure of this

one (Vidvan-Gauranga Dasa).

 

Nandotsava

-Nanda Maharaja's festival honouring the birth of the son, Krsna (Adipurusa

Dasa)

-Nandotsava: When Nanda Maharaja celebrated the birth of Lord Krsna, the

day after his birth. This coincides with Srila Prabhupada's birth day.

-Nandotsava: the day after Krsna Janmasthami. Nanda Maharaja's feast

commemorating Lord Krsna's appearance (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

-Nandotsava: The celebration of Nanda Maharaja; one day after Janmashtami

(Vidvan Gauranga Dasa).

 

Lalita-sasti:

-Lalita sasti: Lalita devi's appearance (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

-Lalita-sasti:Appearance of Lalita Sakhi (Mahamantra Dasa).

-Lalita-sasti: Appearance day of Sri Lalitaa-devii; two days before

Raadhaashtami (Vidvan-Gauranga Dasa)

 

Radha-kunda prakata

-Appearance of Radha-kunda (Adipurusa Dasa)

-Radha-kunda prakata, Bahulastami: It appears that these both are the same:

appearance day of Sri Radha Kunda (Vidvan-Gauranga Dasa).

 

Bahulastami

-Bahulastami: The eighth day of the waning moon in the month of Kartik (Sept

-Oct). The appearance day of Syamakunda and Radhakunda (Dhira-Krsna Dasa)

Bahulastami= appearance of Radha kunda (Bhanu Swami).

 

Go-krida

 

Bhisma-pancaka

-Should be Bhima. Don't know what Bhima-pancaka is but pancaka in general is

a five day period (Dhanista through Revati naksatras) inauspicious for the

Vedic rituals. Ref.:Garuda Purana 2.4.176-9. (bhakta Jan Mares)

-Why not Bhisma? Devotees in Vrndavana following this five days fast. It can

be done only in Vrndavana at the end of Kartika. I was told there that this

fast was prescribed by grandfather Bhisma, therefore it is Bhisma pancaka.

Is it right or that is speculation? (Sasvata Dasa)

-Sorry for the incomplete reference. Shyamasundara P. in his Vedic Astrology

conf. said (text 343454 on 14-Jan-94) regarding the calendar program:

"These bugs may not be software related but translation problems as in the

example of Bhisma Pancaka discussed some time ago on COM. It actually turned

out to be Bhima Pancaka after more research was done." Hope this helps.

(Bhakta Jan Mares)

-Bhisma Pancaka: commemorates Bhisma's last 5 days on earth when he

instructed Yudhisthira Maharaja. If one fasts for 5 days eating only panca

gavya, one gets the benefit of performing the full caturmasya vrata. The

fast is broken on the 5th day at moonrise (Dhira-Krsna Dasa).

-Bhisma-pancaka-Bhisma attained liberation on this day.(might be bhismastami

though) one of the two days-He left his body. Suggest Read SB 1.9.35-43 on

those days (Mahamantra Dasa).

-Bhisma-pancaka: Also called Visnu Pancaka. Recommended in many sastras and

also in the Hari Bhakti Vilasa. It is said that devotees, if possible, can

do some fasting. Some devotees do it here in mayapur, by taking only

ekadasi-prasada for these five days. (The real one is very technical and too

difficult.)

-Bhima pancaka= five days of fasting on these days is equivalent of whole

caturmasya fast= Bhima could not fast so this provision was made (Bhanu

Swami)

-Bhima pancaka is the five-day period at the end of Caturmasya. The fast can

be observed by eating unsalted kitrie once a day for the final five days,

and the benefit is the same as following the entire four months of

Caturmasya. It is somewhat like Bhima-nirjala-ekadasi in that one can get

the benefit of the longer vrata by doing a shorter tapasya (Ram-prasad Dasa)

-As I have understood it from years of following it, it is Bhima pancaka

and refers to the last 5 days of Caturmasya. As with Pandava nirjala

ekadasi this was a concession for Bhima as he could not follow caturmasya.

If he followed these 5 days he got the benefit of the whole caturmasya.

That's my understanding (Chaturatma Dasa)

-I saw in Vrndavana devotees were following very heavy one [fast], like

first day only little cow dung, second - cow urine, third - ghee, then

yogurt and milk. Something like that. Can anybody, please, tell how one

should follow it correctly. I was told also, that the real benefit of this

fast that is one will "hold" pure devotion to Krsna in his hand. But one can

observe this vrata only in Vraja. (why is that?) (Sasvata Dasa)

-After following and inquiring about the various paths of

following caturmasya for several years I can tell you the following. Keep

in mind that those living in the dhama may have access and info that I do

not have. With that in mind...I have not heard of or read the panchgavya

type of fast you mention related to caturmasya or anywhere. I also had not

heard that this can only be done in Vraja until it was posted here. Is

there some sastric quote for this? Many of the practices we follow are

traditionally done only in the dhama but fortunate for us, Prabhupada

brought these things outside the boundaries of India. Myself and others have

performed the Bhima pancaka a few times and it is quite a nice service to

take up. The austerity is wonderful to tell the truth. Depending on the

person and the work situation the fasting varied. One fasted from only

foods grown on his land, another only took milk those five days,

another took only water, another ate only once in the day, all of these were

of course without spice, sweet, ghee, etc. I feel the main point is to

perform austerity, and inhance one's devotional practices. Increase japa,

reading, kirtan, preaching. This is what we have seen to be the real mood

of accepting austerity (Chaturatma Dasa).

 

Thank you very much to all the devotees participating.

Ys.

Bhagavata-Purana Dasa