in puja balarama wears peacock feather or crows feathers?

[Guest guest]

Dear Vaisnavas,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

It is interesting to see the peacock feather discussion resurface from a

different angle.

 

> re: balabhadra sahasra nama stotrum verse 103

>

> almost all the time, we see in Iskcon that peacock feathers are on gaura

> Nitai, Jagannatha,+ Baladev (of the puri Lord threesome), Krsna and

> Balarama (vraja deities, and sometimes Nrsimhadeva also.

>

> yet I've just found this verse in balabhadra sahasra nama stotrum from

> garga samhita. it appears to support that Balarama does not wear peacock

> feathers but instead decorates Himself with crow feathers.

>

> crows have a reputation of being and are considered low class, Yet

> evidentally, by this pramana inconceivably Balarama apparently

> non=the+less likes their feathers to decorate Himself.

>

> since the crow is lowclass, yet the sloka refers to it, It'd appear that

> Perhaps He must like their colour and softness,

>

> Thus with this praman in hand, shouldn't we offer this to Balarama,

> instead of the usual peacock feathers, (or no feather at all)?

>

> or is there a pramana that others know about, to support that it's ok to

> put peacock feathers on His turbans and head peices....

 

As far as I can see it is all right to decorate anyone with a peacock

feather. It does not make them Krsna.

 

In the NOD there is a description of a cowherd boy, Mandalibhadra, wearing a

peacock feather. Srila Prabhupada told Narottamananda prabhu, who was the

head pujari in Vrndavana at the time, that Radharani could wear a peacock

feather. There is a photo of Srila Prabhupada wearing a hooded sweater that

has peacock feathers on the end of the drawstrings for the hood.

 

If all these personalities can wear peacock feathers then why can't Lord

Balarama?

 

As far as Lord Caitanya wearing a peacock feather, Jananivasa prabhu asked

Srila Prabhupada if Lord Caitanya could wear a peacock feather, he

responded, "Of course. Why not? He is Krsna." According to Malati Srila

Prabhupada told her that Lord Caitanya must always wear a peacock feather.

 

> .. or by pramana, only Krsna gets peacock feather?

 

There is no restriction on others wearing a peacock feather, just that Krsna

must always wear a peacock feather.

 

> I've never seen any iskcon wide standards for this, so in the absence of

> any standards, people just assume "all vishnu tattva like Peacock

> feathers".

 

Based on the instructions given by Srila Prabhupada in his books and

personal instructions to devotees the above are the guidelines that ISKCON

Deity Worship Ministry is giving for ISKCON.

 

> I've heard that Gauranga and Nitai should not have them either. in fact

> Krsna kathamrta mag came out with an article precisely explaining why

> Gaura Nitai don't wear them.

 

Yet Srila Prabhupada has given instructions that it either can be done or

must be done. I know which I would choose to follow.

 

 

Your servant,

Nrsimha Kavaca dasa

 

Please visit our website: http://www.deityworship.com