Gauranga Jayate
Yadi Gaura na haite, tabe ki haite…..this song by Srila Bhakti Vinoda Thakur vocalizes my sentiments this Gaura Purnima. The very thought of Sri Gaura Chandra not being there is frightening. I had fallen deeply into the ditch of this illusionary world and saw no hope of ever coming out. It was dark, lonely and miserable. Trying to satisfy my never ending desires by various means and then getting frustrated by not achieving them the way I wanted it. It was very hopeless. Wandering from one sense enjoyment to other, hoping of quenching my thirst, but all I encountered were mirages. Oh! Mahaprabhu! You so mercifully took me into your care and gave me some respite. I had no qualification, no desire to be rightfully situated in association of devotees and chanting of holy name. But you being the most merciful person ever introduced me to this movement of your pure devotee: Srila Prabhupada. Mahaprabhu! Perhaps my fallen condition was the only qualification by which I deserved your mercy. If you are the wellwisher and purifier of fallen souls then I’ve got a doctorate in Sinful activities. I was and still am engaged in such abominable activities by speech, mind and body. Fallen soul like me made Krishna appear as Sri Gaura Raya on the auspicious full moon night of phalgun, from the womb of mother Sachi. Sachinandana is non other than Sri Sri Radha Krishna who appeared to bestow Vrajabhakti to undeserving people alike. Nimai born under the neem tree established the principle of chanting of the holyname.
I observed the Gaura Purnima Festival in pune this year. It started the day before. I packed my stuff and reached the temple at 8:30 pm. To my frustration of which I was quite ashamed later on, there was no dinner prasadam left. And the thought of fasting sent me out looking for some satvic food item on MG Road. Well, by the time I came back to temple, poha prasadam was prepared which all devotees were relishing. If only I had paitently depended on Krishna. Foolish me.
AGP was in his uniform and on duty, that included overseeing and helping out in almost any activity related to deities throughout the night. Pritam Prabhu, Deepesh Prabhu, Amit Prabhu, Cp all were staying back for the mangala arotik. We finally slept and woke jp on the auspicious day when the moon of Sri Gaura Raya appeared in Nadiya, Mayapur.
Sri Sri Gaura Nitai were so effulgently beautiful. Their beauty was dumbfounding and startling. The pujaris at Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari had done a great job. The altar was bedecked with stunning floral arrangements. HG Radhe Shyama Prabhu sang the Guruvashtaka prayers. All the devotees were feeling immense joy in taking darshans of their lordships Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari.
After the morning program, the japa session commenced. And today was nirjal fasting till moonrise. It was to be a difficult day ahead. Chanting with dry mouth and throat. Ahem!! It’s gonna be tough.
Finally the awaited moment arrived and the lordships were ready to give darshans to the exited crowd of devotees. The pujari came out and blew the conch 3 times, making the heartbeats of the devotees race in excitement. The curtains opened and the altar was filled with white smoke creating a mystic ambiance. The altar also sported a water fountain. Their lordships were dresses in a mauve outfit and decorated with flowers and jewellery. Gaura Nitai were bestowing their causeless mercy to whoever wanted it that day. Lord was welcomed with the Govindam Adi Purusham Prayers and then the SachiSuta – Ashtaka Prayers were sung to glorify the most benevolent Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu – the beautiful son of Mother Sachi. We’d been singing this prayer every morning the whole month. 
Thereafter was a lecture by HG RadheShyama Prabhu on the appearance and childhood pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It went on from 9 to 10:30. As it was complete fasting, so series of lectures and kirtans were scheduled for the day. At 11 there was a lecture by HG Sri Guru Charan Prabhu and then in temple hall by HG Gaura Lila Prabhu. In the meanwhile I was busy fighting thirst and endeavoring to somehow complete 25 rounds of chanting. I finally got to do 32. The afternoon was difficult to pass. Temple devotees were engaged in preparing for the evening’s festivals. A magnificent altar was prepared for doing abhisheka. Two beautiful peacocks were also made by devotees themselves which augmented the magnificence of the stage.
Somehow I made it to 5 pm, by partly sleeping and chanting. Took a bath and felt really fresh. Also many of the devotees including HG Jugal Kishor Prabhu and HG Sachinandan prabhu were not there as they had gone to Mayapur yatra with HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja. Finally the time arrived when their lordships arrived at the stage for the pleasure of their devotees and to show a nev
er seen before pastime to the newcomers. The deities changed hues as the abhisheka progressed. HG Sundarvar Prabhu so kindly agreed to take pics from upclose on the altar. Devotees are so nice and so understanding. The abhisheka concluded by giving their lordships a water shower. After which HG Murari Prabhu gave a lecture.
I was backstage most of the time. Do not misunderstand that I was doing any seva or anything. So I got an opportunity to go inside the deity backroom to keep utensils used for the abhisheka. Broke my fast there with hot honey-ginger water. It felt like nectar. Never had I experienced such a fulfilling experience. The thirst was quenched.
Then I got busy with attending to the big guest list I’d invited for the event. Varun, Nipun, Anil, Dilip, Nupur, Krunal, Anand, Rinkesh, and most importantly Himanshu Bhaiya and bhabhi. Then sat down to feast on the wonderful ekadasi prasadam while talking as usual to AGP, Krunal, Amt Prabhu et al.
After seeing them off, I went to Muralidhar. For tomorrow again I had to get up early to attend the glorious mangala arotik on the Jagannath Mishra Festival Day.
Yadi Gaura na haite, tabe ki haite…..this song by Srila Bhakti Vinoda Thakur vocalizes my sentiments this Gaura Purnima. The very thought of Sri Gaura Chandra not being there is frightening. I had fallen deeply into the ditch of this illusionary world and saw no hope of ever coming out. It was dark, lonely and miserable. Trying to satisfy my never ending desires by various means and then getting frustrated by not achieving them the way I wanted it. It was very hopeless. Wandering from one sense enjoyment to other, hoping of quenching my thirst, but all I encountered were mirages. Oh! Mahaprabhu! You so mercifully took me into your care and gave me some respite. I had no qualification, no desire to be rightfully situated in association of devotees and chanting of holy name. But you being the most merciful person ever introduced me to this movement of your pure devotee: Srila Prabhupada. Mahaprabhu! Perhaps my fallen condition was the only qualification by which I deserved your mercy. If you are the wellwisher and purifier of fallen souls then I’ve got a doctorate in Sinful activities. I was and still am engaged in such abominable activities by speech, mind and body. Fallen soul like me made Krishna appear as Sri Gaura Raya on the auspicious full moon night of phalgun, from the womb of mother Sachi. Sachinandana is non other than Sri Sri Radha Krishna who appeared to bestow Vrajabhakti to undeserving people alike. Nimai born under the neem tree established the principle of chanting of the holyname.
I observed the Gaura Purnima Festival in pune this year. It started the day before. I packed my stuff and reached the temple at 8:30 pm. To my frustration of which I was quite ashamed later on, there was no dinner prasadam left. And the thought of fasting sent me out looking for some satvic food item on MG Road. Well, by the time I came back to temple, poha prasadam was prepared which all devotees were relishing. If only I had paitently depended on Krishna. Foolish me.
AGP was in his uniform and on duty, that included overseeing and helping out in almost any activity related to deities throughout the night. Pritam Prabhu, Deepesh Prabhu, Amit Prabhu, Cp all were staying back for the mangala arotik. We finally slept and woke jp on the auspicious day when the moon of Sri Gaura Raya appeared in Nadiya, Mayapur.
Sri Sri Gaura Nitai were so effulgently beautiful. Their beauty was dumbfounding and startling. The pujaris at Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari had done a great job. The altar was bedecked with stunning floral arrangements. HG Radhe Shyama Prabhu sang the Guruvashtaka prayers. All the devotees were feeling immense joy in taking darshans of their lordships Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari.
After the morning program, the japa session commenced. And today was nirjal fasting till moonrise. It was to be a difficult day ahead. Chanting with dry mouth and throat. Ahem!! It’s gonna be tough.
Finally the awaited moment arrived and the lordships were ready to give darshans to the exited crowd of devotees. The pujari came out and blew the conch 3 times, making the heartbeats of the devotees race in excitement. The curtains opened and the altar was filled with white smoke creating a mystic ambiance. The altar also sported a water fountain. Their lordships were dresses in a mauve outfit and decorated with flowers and jewellery. Gaura Nitai were bestowing their causeless mercy to whoever wanted it that day. Lord was welcomed with the Govindam Adi Purusham Prayers and then the SachiSuta – Ashtaka Prayers were sung to glorify the most benevolent Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu – the beautiful son of Mother Sachi. We’d been singing this prayer every morning the whole month. 
Thereafter was a lecture by HG RadheShyama Prabhu on the appearance and childhood pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It went on from 9 to 10:30. As it was complete fasting, so series of lectures and kirtans were scheduled for the day. At 11 there was a lecture by HG Sri Guru Charan Prabhu and then in temple hall by HG Gaura Lila Prabhu. In the meanwhile I was busy fighting thirst and endeavoring to somehow complete 25 rounds of chanting. I finally got to do 32. The afternoon was difficult to pass. Temple devotees were engaged in preparing for the evening’s festivals. A magnificent altar was prepared for doing abhisheka. Two beautiful peacocks were also made by devotees themselves which augmented the magnificence of the stage.
Somehow I made it to 5 pm, by partly sleeping and chanting. Took a bath and felt really fresh. Also many of the devotees including HG Jugal Kishor Prabhu and HG Sachinandan prabhu were not there as they had gone to Mayapur yatra with HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja. Finally the time arrived when their lordships arrived at the stage for the pleasure of their devotees and to show a nev
er seen before pastime to the newcomers. The deities changed hues as the abhisheka progressed. HG Sundarvar Prabhu so kindly agreed to take pics from upclose on the altar. Devotees are so nice and so understanding. The abhisheka concluded by giving their lordships a water shower. After which HG Murari Prabhu gave a lecture.
I was backstage most of the time. Do not misunderstand that I was doing any seva or anything. So I got an opportunity to go inside the deity backroom to keep utensils used for the abhisheka. Broke my fast there with hot honey-ginger water. It felt like nectar. Never had I experienced such a fulfilling experience. The thirst was quenched.Then I got busy with attending to the big guest list I’d invited for the event. Varun, Nipun, Anil, Dilip, Nupur, Krunal, Anand, Rinkesh, and most importantly Himanshu Bhaiya and bhabhi. Then sat down to feast on the wonderful ekadasi prasadam while talking as usual to AGP, Krunal, Amt Prabhu et al.
After seeing them off, I went to Muralidhar. For tomorrow again I had to get up early to attend the glorious mangala arotik on the Jagannath Mishra Festival Day.
