The Supreme Personality of Godhead has infinite incarnations and forms that descend into this material existence from time to time to perform various functions. In whichever form God incarnates that is perfectly suitable to carry out the operation. For instance, Lord Varahadeva had to pick planet earth from the depth of Garbhodak ocean, He was incarnated as a giant boar; He incarnated as Lord Narsimha in order to kill demon Hiranyakashipu, thus satisfying all conditions of Brahma’s benediction. Similarly, after looking at the most fallen condition of living entities in Kaliyuga, He decided to incarnate. The Supreme devotee of Lord is His eternal consort Shrimati Radharani, she is of golden complexion. Thus in Kaliyuga, Lord incarnated in a golden complexion and took the devotional mood of Shrimati Radharani. The purpose of the Lord’s incarnation was to distribute the love of Godhead via His different names which are nondifferent from Himself.

Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, incarnated as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to liberate the people of Kaliyuga from the repeated cycle of birth, death and to advance them back home back to Godhead. He didn’t consider the time, ability, or eligibility of the person, and without any discrimination, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu distributed Kirhsna prema to anyone and everyone. Love of Godhead, Krishna prema, is so fathomless that along with Mahaprabhu many of His pure devotees also appeared, chief among them was Balram ji. In Vrindavan pastimes, Balram ji was the elder brother popularly known as dau ji; in Ramayan pastimes, Balram ji was the younger brother, Lakshman ji. In Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes, Balram ji appeared as Nityananda Prabhu.

Lochan Das Thakur writes in his devotional song –

parama koruna, pahu dui jana nitai gauracandra
saba avatara-sara siromani kevala ananda-kanda

The two Lords, Nitai-Gauracandra, are very merciful. They are the essence of all incarnations. The specific significance of these incarnations is that They introduced a process of chanting and dancing that is simply joyful.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a yugavatar, He is not only yugavatar but chhannavatar too who has hidden His opulences. Mahaprabhu is the most magnanimous incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is non different from Krishna, His magnanimity is fathomless which can only be approached by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu.

Who is Nityananda Prabhu?

Krishna Das Kaviraj Goaswami explains in Chaitanya Charitamrit –  

saṅkarṣaṇaḥ kāraṇa-toya-śāyī garbhoda-śāyī ca payo ’bdhi-śāyī
śeṣaś ca yasyāṁśa-kalāḥ sa nityā-nandākhya-rāmaḥ śaraṇaṁ mamāstu – (CC Adi 1.7)

“May Śrī Nityananda Rāma be the object of my constant remembrance. Saṅkarṣaṇa, Śeṣa Nāga and the Viṣṇus who lie on the Kāraṇa Ocean, Garbha Ocean, and ocean of milk are His plenary portions and the portions of His plenary portions.” 

It means in Kaliyuga Shri Krishna incarnated as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Balram ji as Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda Prabhu is non different from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in all respects except bhaav, love. Shri Gauranga Mahaprabhu is the worshippable Lord who accepts service whereas Shri Nityananda Prabhu is the servant Lord who serves. Thus the Lord Himself demonstrates how one can serve God.

Cause of the spiritual & material world’s creation

In the spiritual world, Balram ji is the first expansion of Shri Krishna. From Balram ji the first quadruple expands – Sankarshan, Vasudev, Pradyumna, Anirudha. Sankarshan further expands into Mahasankarshan which later expands into a second quadruple – Sankarshan, Vasudev, Pradyumna, Anirudha. This expansion of the Lord as Sankarshan assists in the creation of the spiritual world, which is 3/4th of the Lord’s entire creation. It means that the innumerable number of Vaikutha dhaams are nothing but the expansion of Lord Balram ji to serve the Lord. To create the material world, Balram further expands Himself into three Viṣṇu – Maha Viṣṇu also known as Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.

Maha Viṣṇu (Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu) – Innumerable material universes come out of His body pores when He exhales. What to talk of this particular universe, we are unable to ascertain the beginning and end of this world. Such infinite universes are coming out from the body pores of Maha Vishnu, one can wonder how immense His form would be.

Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu – In each one of the universes the Lord enters as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. From the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu has sprung the stem of the lotus flower, the birthplace of Brahmā, who is the father of all living beings and the master of all the demigod engineers engaged in the perfect design and working of the universal order.

Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu – From Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu there is expansion of the Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who is the collective Paramātmā of all living beings. Paramātmā resides in all 84 lakh species of living entities as Supersoul. He is called Hari, and from Him, all incarnations within the universe are expanded.

All these three Viṣṇus are expanded from Balram ji aka Nityananda Prabhu!

Appearance and pastimes of Nityananda Prabhu

In 1474, Nityananda Prabhu appeared in the village Ekachakra of Bengal. He was born to a religious Bengali Brahmin, known as Pandit Hadai, and his wife, Padmavati. They are the real parents of Nityananda Prabhu in Goloka Vrindavan. At an early age, He used to re-enact various pastimes of the Lord with His friends. They all were amazed at how many details of the Lord’s pastimes Nityananda Prabhu knew at that age. When they ask Him, He would simply say, these all wereHis pastimes. They would all laugh and no one would believe Him. After a few years, in the company of a Sanyasi, he visited all the pilgrimages, then started living in Vrindavan. While residing there, he got to know that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had started the sankirtan movement. He came to meet Mahaprabhu and took permission. After that, He started preaching Krishna consciousness.   

It is impossible to get the mercy of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu without getting mercy of Shri Nityananda Prabhu. Whatever knowledge of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s life we have available today is only due to the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu. One gets the power to glorify and to preach from His Nityananda Prabhu because, in His AnantShesha form, He empowers. 

Mercy of Lord Nityananda Prabhu

Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, the author of Chaitanya Charitamrit, got instructions from Nityananda Prabhu in his dreams. Nityananda Prabhu instructed him to go to Vrindavan and all his desires would be fulfilled. Vrindavan Das Thakur, the author of Chaitanya Bhagwat, was also inspired by Nityananda Prabhu. This concludes that due to the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu only we get to know about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s life and pastimes. Therefore, Nityananda Trayodashi is of utmost importance to all devotees who are aspiring to Krishna prema. Nityananda Prabhu is Adiguru, who teaches us how to approach and take shelter of the lotus feet of Godhead. Therefore, to get love of Godhead, to get the mercy of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, to deliver the fallen souls of Kaliyuga we must have the mercy of Shri Nityananda Prabhu. Thus we should take shelter of His lotus feet and pray for His mercy, because Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu can’t deny and has to give shelter to someone if Nityananda Prabhu approves him. We know that Mahaprabhu was about to kill Madhai, but left him alive because Nityananda Prabhu intervened. That’s why Nityananda Trayodashi is of much significance for us.

How Balram ji serves the Lord in all mellows (rasas)

Shri Nityananda Prabhu serves the Lord in all five mellows, rasas. In shant rasa, Nityananda Prabhu is serving the Lord by expanding Himself in apparel, ornaments, vehicle, flag, bed, kartaal, mridanga, etc. In dasya rasa, He serves the Lord in the form of all cowherd boys. In sakhya rasa,He serves the Lord in the form of very intimate friends. In Vatsalya rasa, He serves the Lord as His elder brother. In madhurya rasa, he serves the Lord as Anang Manjari, younger sister of Shrimati Radharani ji.

Constitutional position of a living entity is to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead –  jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇa ‘nitya-dāsa’. If we love someone but we don’t serve then that is not true love and could be inspired by some ulterior motives. That’s why to love someone means to serve to please the beloved. We can only get the servitude attitude by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu.

Therefore, on this auspicious occasion of Nityananda Trayodashi, we should primarily pray and ask for his serving attitude and inculcate in letter and spirit. Anticipating the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, one should dedicate this human form of life in the service of the Lord and His devotees.

Hare Krishna,

            Shri Nityananda Prabhu Appearance day, fasting till noon.

Akshaya Tritya is considered the most auspicious day to start any new activity. It appears on the third day of Shukla paksha of Vaishakh month. The third day of Akshaya Tritya is utsava tithi, which means it falls on the same day every year. This utsava tithi in the Hindu calendar corresponds with the third day of Shukla paksha, which begins at sunset of each lunar day. The date will be determined based on various factors, such as which Vedic deity is worshipped that night and whether any auspicious event occurred on that particular moonless night. The next Akshaya Tritya will fall on May 3rd, 2022.

In the Hindu religion, Akshaya means that which is unlimited, unbroken. Therefore, this day is celebrated for eternal and permanent happiness, peace, and prosperity. Many great things happened on this day. For instance, 1500 years ago, Buddha was born in India, and he would later teach people about mindfulness and meditation and become known as the “Gautama Buddha.”

1.) Lord Parshuram Ji appeared on the day of Akshaya Tritya which is also known as Parshuram Jayanti. He is also known as Lord Krishna, and he is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord Keshav had a son named Sri Krishna, who became his 6th incarnation. Lord Parshuram was born to Queen Renuka and King Kushadhwaj, high-ranking devotees of Lord Vishnu.

kshatriya-rudhira-maye jagad-apagata-papam
snapayasi payasi samita-bhava-tapam
kesava dhrita-bhrigupati-rupa jaya jagadisa hare (Sri Dasavatara Stotra)

“0 Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who has assumed the form of Bhrigupati [Parasurama]! All glories to You! At Kurukshetra, You bathe the earth in the rivers of blood from the bodies of the demoniac Kshatriyas that You have slain. The world’s sins are washed away by You, and because of You, people are relieved from the blazing fire of material existence.”

2.) On Akshaya Tritya, Demigod Sun presented Akshaya Patra to Draupadi and Pandavas. This vessel was a divine vessel where Draupadi could prepare unlimited foodstuffs till she took prasadam.

However, it is essential to note that this vessel was not helpful on other days of the year, and on different days of the year, it would be filled with flowers and incense to cleanse it of its ill-gained impurities.

3- The Holy river Ganga appeared in this material world from the spiritual world on this day. First and foremost, the flow of the Ganga river was controlled by Lord Shiva on his matted hair, and then he released it on Gangotri.

Thus, mother Ganga and Gangotri Dham appeared on Akshaya Tritya.

4.) Akshaya Tritya is the day on which Lord Shri Krishna was welcomed back to Dwarka. Sudama, a close friend of Lord Shri Krishna, came to meet the Lord to secure his and his family’s future.

He presented the Lord with puffed rice, which he had received from friends from afar. The Lord was pleased to accept and consume those puffed rice. Thus the Lord gave him benediction for all his opulence.

5- On Akshaya Tritya, Lord Ganesha started writing Mahabharata, a great epic, under the supervision of Vedvyas Ji. Mahabharata is one of the important scriptures and contains Bhagavad Gita.

This work of fiction tells the tale of a warrior prince named Arjuna who strives to win his throne from his wicked uncle. Vedavyas first wrote down this epic on this auspicious day.

6.) On the day of Akshaya Tritya, the day before the summer solstice and significant because it is the first day of Anant Chaturdashi, a new cart is built for Lord Jagannatha. This cart will be used in rath yatra.

In this tradition, Lord Jagannatha and His brother Lord Baladeva Ji are taken on a procession from Jagannatha temple to Gundicha temple every year. The construction for this cart starts on that day.

7- Shri Madhvendra Puri Ji is an Indian spiritual master who was in his late 20s when he began exploring the path of spirituality. At 27, he renounced the world and became a wandering ascetic for five years before settling at Jagannath Puri. Shri Madhvendra Puri Ji is regarded as a perfect model of devotion to Lord Krishna. He has been celebrated in religious texts from various Gaudiya Vaishnavism traditions and has influenced other religious figures like Sri Radha Krsna devotees and Hare Krishnas.

Madhvendra Puri is an Indian spiritual leader born in Mumbai and lived there until he was eight years old. He proceeded to Jagannath Puri to get some sandalwood, but on the way, he stopped in a small village named Remuna. In Remuna, there was a magnificent and divine temple of Lord Gopinatha Ji, famous for His mahaprasad. It was said that His mahaprasad Kheer, sweet rice, was just like nectar. 

Madhavendra Puri desired to taste it, thinking he would also prepare similar food in Vrindavana and offer it to the Deity of Gopala. Then he immediately realized his offence that he had desired to taste the food before it was offered to the Lord. Repenting to his unholy thought, Madhavendra Puri left the temple. Procrastination is an undesirable habit: In less than a month, we will be launching our website, and our volunteer base will be expanded nationwide. We’re so excited! But some people are more excited than others. Unfortunately, in particular, one person is dragging their feet- and they’re just not going to do it by themselves.

Lord Gopinatha, or Krishna, is a prominent deity of Hinduism. He is also known as Gopinath, Govinda, and Keshava. He is a God of love and devotion who is considered the greatest avatar of Vishnu. In a dream that the temple priest had on that night, Lord Gopinatha instructed him to go to Madhavendra Puri and give him the pot of sweet rice which he had hidden under his garments. So the priest went to Madhavendra Puri, where Lord Gopinatha was so overwhelmed by ecstasy to learn everything from him that he continued his journey and reached Puri, collecting sandalwood and camphor.

Madhavendra Puri had gone on a pilgrimage to Haridwar, but he returned to Remuna on his way back. There, he had a dream in which the Gopala Deity at Vrindavan told him to grind the sandalwood into pulp, mix with camphor and apply it to the body of the Gopinatha Deity. Lord Gopala said that He was non-different from the Deity of Gopinatha. So Madhavendra Puri made all arrangements to carry out the order of Lord Gopala.

A tradition popularly known as Chandan yatra starts from the day of Akshaya Tritya and lasts for 21 days. Chandana-yatra celebrations, Chandana (sandalwood pulp) is applied to the Lord. It is considered very auspicious to start anything, and most people purchase gold on Ashaya Tritya. In Spiritual life, God’s name and His devotional loving service are priceless. That is why today, we should chant the names of God more and more or start chanting the names of God.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Hare Hare 

THE DIGNITY PERSONIFIED SHRI RAM’S APPEARANCE FESTIVAL

Wishing you all a pleased Ram Navami.

Ram Navami is a very famous festival celebrated throughout India and worldwide by all the devotees of Lord Shri Ramchandra.   

It is celebrated on the Navami tithi of Shukla paksha of Chaitra month every year. Lord Shri Ram is the 7th incarnation in the dashavtaras of Lord Vishnu. 

He appeared with His three brothers, Bharata, Laxmana and Shatrughna, in tretayuga. They appeared as the sons of King Dasharatha in the Surya dynasty of king Ikshavaku.

BUT WHY DOES GOD INCARNATE?

This curiosity, everyone wants to know, why does God take incarnation? Lord Krishna has answered Srimad Bhagavad Gita. As per BG 4.7

Lord Krishna says to Arjuna-

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛijāmyaham

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.”

In the very next verse of BG, Lord says –

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśhāya cha duṣhkṛitām
dharma-sansthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge 

“To deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants and re-establish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.”

SIGNIFICANCE OF RAMNAVAMI

The significance of the Ram Navami festival is that no matter how big the evil is, it has to be defeated by the good. Ravana, who had ten heads, Lord Ram defeated him with one arrow. Lord Ramchandra proved that He is the complete Lord of the six luxuries by killing him.

In Brahma vaivarta Purana, Lord Brahma vividly explained the definition of being the Lord. He said, “One who possesses all Aishwarya or riches, all virya or strength, all Yasha or fame, all shree or beauty, all gyana or knowledge, all vairagya or renunciation is called Bhagwan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

This proves that only God Ram is the greatest and the most influential personality in the universe. Therefore the defeat of Ravana was inevitable.

THE STORY OF LORD RAMA IS AS FOLLOWS

According to Bhagwatam Purana, Lord Vishnu had two gatekeepers, Jai and Vijay. Both of them were cursed by the four kumaras – Sanaka kumara, Sanatana kumara, Sanandana kumara and Sanat kumara. As per the curse, both of them had to take birth on earth three times as demons, and they would be the enemy of Lord Vishnu.

Both of them took birth as the sons of Pulasthya brahman. From birth, they were ruthless; they captivated many demigods and demi goddesses.

Seeing all this, Lord Vishnu appeared as the son of King Dashratha.

According to Valmiki Ramayana, King Dashratha had 353 queens. Only three queens were prominent, mother Kaushalya, mother Keikai and mother Sumitra. King Dashratha, who could move his chariot in ten directions, was a great, powerful and majestic king. 

However, he was disappointed in his life. He had no son who could become the future king of Raghukula dynasty, which was the reason for his constant despair. Due to this concern, Sage Vashishtha suggested that he perform the Putra kameshthi sacrifice. As a result of that sacrifice, he got a bowl full of kheer prasadam. He distributed that kheer equally among his three queens. Mother Kaushalya was the eldest of his three queens, so she got half portion of the kheer first. While honouring kheer prasadam, she thought that her child should be able to rule all over the earth. As a result, she received Lord Shri Ram in the form of her son.

Mother Keikai also honoured kheer prasadam, and she thought that her child should always follow the path of dharma. Thus, she received Bharata in the form of her son.

Mother Sumitra received two portions of kheer prasadam. She thought that her son should always serve the elder brothers with love and respect. As a result, she received two sons, Laxmana and Shatrughan. They were constantly engaged in the service of their elder brothers.

Lord Rama accepted queen Sita as His wife. Their entire life story is presented in the Ramayana book, composed by Sage Valmiki.

Ramayana is divided into seven parts:  

1. Bal kand
2. Ayodhya kand
3. Aaranya kand
4. Kishkindha kand
5. Sundar kand
6. Yudh kand
7. Uttar kand

Shri Ramchandra was known as Maryada Purushottam. He taught the whole society how to be an ideal son, an ideal brother, an ideal husband, an ideal friend, an ideal king and an ideal father.

When Ravana kidnapped, mother Sita in her husband’s absence and took Her to Lanka, Lord Ramchandra attacked Lanka with the help of monkeys and brought Sita back. Ravana represented lust, which is just the opposite of pure love.

Lord Ramchandra destroyed unrighteousness and restored dharma by killing Ravana.

We all should take shelter of Ramnaam on this auspicious occasion of Ram Navami so that all the lustful desires in our minds can be destroyed.

Hare Krishna

Around 500 years ago Lord Shree Krishna appeared in the form of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in this world. Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in 1486 in Mayapur, Bengal province, in phagun Purnima. His father was Shree Jagannath Mishra and mother was Shreemati Sachi Devi. He was the youngest son of his parents who later became famous by the name of “Nimai Pandit” and after accepting Sannyasa Ashram He was known as Lord Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. After presenting His divine pastimes for 48 years He left for His divine Abode from Jagannath Puri.

Who is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a very important and special incarnation of God. God has taken this form for the people in the age of quarrel and sorrow i.e. “Kali-Yuga” for their welfare. Most of the people even don’t know Him and also don’t even recognize Him. If anyone knows Him, they know Him as a saint or a devotee. Those who know Him they praise Him as a devotee which is not wrong because He has taken this incarnation just to teach us how to do “Bhakti” or become a pure devotee. However, it is not fully correct; He is undoubtedly a devotee of God but also God Himself.

Lord Shree Krishna advents just to show the people of Kali-Yuga how to do bhakti, but this is also a fact that people do not believe that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is God himself. They say, “We know that He was a great Saint, a great Devotee, has done a great work in devotional life but how can we believe that he was Personality of Godhead Krishna Himself?”

How to check authenticity of God

So, to answer this query, the first question arises, “How can we identify any incarnation of God?” especially in today’s era where we get to know about many self-declared Gods here and there. People are confused and don’t understand who is God actually?

So, the truth is that, no one can become God; God is not a position which can be acquired. God is always God and will remain to be God always either in past, present or future. God cannot become anything except God and the one who is not God cannot become God in any condition.

Now the main question arises, “How can we identify the incarnation of God, what is the proof?” In reply to this query we should seek answers from an authenticated source. There should be information about the incarnation in the scriptures. Information like His place of appearance, time of appearance, His looks, purpose of appearance, His father and mother name. All these information should be present in the scriptures in order to identify the incarnation of God. These entire details one can find in depth in scriptures for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. However, He is identified as secret incarnation of God.

Proof from Srimad Bhagavatam

God has hidden His real identity because He wanted to play the role of a devotee. The information can be found in Srimad Bhagavatam that God would come and spent His time doing the mass kirtan with His followers. This would do the welfare of human society. 

According to scriptures every age has his own religion and by following that we can attain love of Godhead. “Naam Sankirtan” is the only religion of this age and so it was preached by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This authenticate that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is none other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Proof from Mahabharata 

Second proof we can get from Mahabharata. When Bheeshma Dev was giving knowledge to Yudhisthira Maharaj there he pronounced Vishnu Sahasranama. He also described about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and told that Mahaprabhu body complexion would be like molten Gold, He would be very beautiful. He would accept Sannayas Ashram and would spread peace everywhere while doing the devotional service of God.

Proof from Chaitanya Upnishad 

There is one more proof that can be referred. We have 108 Upanishads out of which one is Chaitanya Upanishad, and can be found in Atharva Veda. From this upnishad we can know that Brahmaji has one great ascetic son Pipalad. He questioned to Brahmaji, “What is the easiest route of welfare for the people of most fallen age, Kaliyuga? Which mantra should they chant? Which Demigod should they worship?”

Brahmaji became very happy and replied, “Govind who resides in Goloka Vrindavan Dham, is the beautiful deity form of Spiritual World. He is beyond material senses and is the Controller and Originator of Infinite Universes. He is the Absolute Truth whose lotus feet are meditated upon even by great saints and demigods. That Lord Sri Krishna will appear in Kali-Yuga as Gaura on the bank of Ganga in Navdeep Nagar. He will be known as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu” Saying that, Brahmaji paid his obeisance unto the Lotus Feet of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Brahmaji very clearly told that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is God himself and He even foretold that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would spread happiness everywhere by chanting His own name:

Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Ram! Hare Ram!

Ram Ram Hare Hare

Brahmaji also added, “This is an absolute mantra and it can be known only through Devotional service.”

“He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who resides in everyone’s heart as Supersoul, parmatama. Whose feet are even worshipped by Anata Sheeshji and Lakshmiji. In Kali-Yuga, if someone wants to attain Lord Sri Krishna, it would be possible only by the path demonstrated by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu”.

In this way, many scriptures clearly define that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Lord Krishna Himself and He has taken this form to give love of Krishna to the people of Kali-Yuga using Hare Krishna Mahamantra.

Divine forms of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Apart from this if someone is God he should show his Universal form like Lord Sri Krishna has shown to Arjuna. Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had shown His universal form to Advaita Achraya. He presented his Varah form to Marari Gupt. Nityananda Prabhu who is Balrama Himself, Mahaprabhu presented Shatbhuj form in which he was playing flute from two hands as Krishna in Vrindavan, in the other two hands He was holding bow and arrow as Sri Ramchandra and in the other two hands He was holding Sannayas stick and kamandal as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He also presented His RadhaKrishna form to Ramananda Rai.

Transcendental pastimes of Mahaprabhu 

Now let’s talk about the third prospective to identify and authenticate the incarnation of God. One’s capability to do something divine and extraordinary; which cannot be done by any Human Being. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu performed so many divine activities which we can’t even imagine. Let us discuss one of such pastime.

When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu after accepting Sannyaas Ashram was performing Naam Sankirtana along with a servant, Balabhadra Bhattacharya, He reached in today’s Jharkhand. At that time it was a big and dense forest there. As Chaitanya Mahaprabhu passed, doing Hari Naam Sankirtana, even wild animals gave them route to pass and danced on Krishna’s name. Tiger and Deer started treating each other with love and affection. This was the effect of God and devotion. Even Trees are attracted towards Him. In that way Deer, Peacock, Monkey and Cow rendered service to Lord Krishna. Learning for all of us, when deer and tiger can live together then why not we humans belonging to different caste, country can live together?

Peace formula for the world

Today, war happens between nations belonging to different castes. Even they fight within themselves. But from the above example we can see that if Krishna’s name and devotion will be spread everywhere, there would be love, brotherhood, compassion and friendship. Thus, vanishing all the bad qualities, lack of knowledge and violence at once.

Thus, we can see and understand that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Lord Sri Krishna Himself, and there is practically no difference between the Teachings of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita and teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. As per the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the Hari naam Sankirtana movement will develop peace and love in the entire world. That’s why we should celebrate Gaur Purnima as the Appearance Day of God Himself.

If we try to understand Makar Sankranti in word form, the word Makar has been taken from Makar Rashi. Sankranti means entering. According to our ancient texts and Vedic calculations, time calculation is of two types.

The “Moon month Count” and “Solar Month Count” are based on the solar calendar. Sankranti means entering, the transition of the Sun, and the entry of the Sun, that is, the zodiac in which the Sun enters. It is called Makar Sankranti.

Types of the Solar Solstice

By the way, if seen, there are 12 types of Surya Sankranti, out of which four Mesh, Kark, Tula and Makar are prominent. The special significance of Makar Sankranti increases because the Sun God is Uttarayan on this day, that is, the journey of Lord Sun in the north direction. Before Sankranti, the Sun God is Dakshinayan. From the day of Sankranti, it travels in the north order, and this period is fixed for six months.

Lord Shri Krishna has told about Uttarayan in the Bhagavad Gita that people leave their bodies for six months from the day of Makar Sankranti, and they go to the higher planets. And those who leave their body in Dakshinayana go to the lower planets. It is said that there is an exception to every rule, something like this here too. Whoever is a devotee of the Supreme Lord, he leaves his body. Then after leaving the body in the time of Uttarayan and Dakshinayana, he reaches the abode of the Supreme Lord only. Supreme Lord Sri Krishna has told in the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 Verse 5 :

anta-kāle cha mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāstyatra sanśhayaḥ 

In this, the Supreme Lord has told that whoever remembers me the last time, that person attains my abode only. The rule of Uttarayana and Dakshinayana is there only till the person does not completely surrender to Supreme Lord.

How does Makar Sankranti occur? 

When the Earth revolves around the Sun in one full year, it is called the Solar System. If we talk about the calculation of demigods, then this one year of ours is equal to 1 day. That is, the demigods in 1 day do this circumambulation. There are 12 hours in the day and 12 hours in the night in 1 day of the demigods. That is why from the day of Makar Sankranti, the day of the demigods starts for the coming six months. From the day of Makar Sankranti, the demigods take baths early in the morning.

For this reason, on the day of Makar Sankranti, the importance of bathing, meditation and charity have been told. The day of Makar Sankranti is extraordinary, and all good work starts from the day of Makar Sankranti. Various dishes are prepared for this festival throughout India, and people also donate in large numbers. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the day of Makar Sankranti is also known as the Khichdi festival.

Makar Sankranti Significance and Celebration

The sun god is also worshipped on this day, and everyone donates rice dal khichdi to charity. After that, the khichdi is cooked and eaten. In Gujarat, in Rajasthan, kites are flown at the festival of Makar Sankranti. The celebration of Makar Sankranti in Andhra Pradesh lasts for three days. In Tamil Nadu, this festival is known as Pongal because, in Tamil Nadu, people celebrate this family for ten days when the new crop is harvested, and here dal rice khichdi is cooked in ghee.

In Maharashtra, make laddus of sesame and jaggery, give each other, and provide good wishes. In Assam, this festival is known as Megh Bihu, and in Punjab, this festival is celebrated one day before as Lohri. In West Bengal, the Ganga Sagar fair is held on the banks of the Hooghly River. The Maha Kumbh bath is also held because on this day, Ganga Maiya descended on Earth on the day of Makar Sankranti to save her ancestors behind Bhagirath. That is why bathing in Ganga Sagar is of great importance on the day of Makar Sankranti.

As you all know that from the heart of Makar Sankranti, the time of change of season, the transition of time, and shift in crop starts. The Sun has a direct effect on all new crops from the heart of Makar Sankranti. That is why the auspicious Uttarayan begins by performing ablutions on the day of Makar Sankranti, which is similar in the world, like Jyoti, Deep Light, Sun, worship of all the demigods and all the good works that start from the day of Makar Sankranti. To please the Sun, people worldwide worship the Sun God according to their beliefs and celebrate the festival of Makar Sankranti.

Who is the Sun God?

The most important fact here is that who this Sun God is. The answer to this has been told in our main book Brahma Samhita. The creator of the universe, Lord Brahma, suggests that the Lord of all the planets is the Sun God. Sun is like one eye of the Supreme Lord. 

The cycle of time moves according to the orders of the Sun God. Therefore, accept my obeisances to that Lord Shri Govind. That is, the Sun God does his work only according to the demands of the Supreme Lord Shri Govind.

Have you ever seen such a time from your birth till the present that even for one day, the Sun God has not appeared to anyone? Lord Suryadev (Sun) has always done this work in his fixed time to set on time and rise on time. Surya Dev is always performing his duty and responsibility in the right way by illuminating this entire universe like a Karma Yogi. 

Surya is the disciple of Lord Shri Krishna to get his inner light and divine knowledge. For this, Lord Shri Krishna has also told Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Text 1.

imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ
proktavān aham avyayam
vivasvān manave prāha
manur ikṣvākave ’bravīt 

First of all, I had given this knowledge of Bhagavad Gita to the Sun God Vivasvan, in this way, on the day of Makar Sankranti, the right way to please the Sun God would be that we should also worship him, take refuge in them, whose shelter by the Sun God illuminates himself, that is Lord Sri Krishna Himself and the most accessible means of his lair in this Kaliyuga, is the Hare Krishna Mahamantra:-

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

So all of you also chant this Maha-mantra to this holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and understand the true meaning of every festival and celebrate it and be happy always.

Diwali or Deepawali is the festival of lights. This festival is celebrated in the entire world with an extreme splurge. On this day people exchange best wishes and sweets with each other. Deepawali is the association of five festivals. It includes Dhanteras, Narak Chaturdashi, Deepawali, Govardhan and Bhai dooj.

Jollification Of Dhanteras

In our country, this festival is celebrated with extreme joy and happiness. The celebration of Deepawali starts from Dhanteras. And before this festival people do various preparation such as whitewashing their houses, cleaning etc.

On Dhanteras, people purchase multiple items required for Deepawali. On this day, no one lends their things to anyone. On this auspicious day, people buy new utensils, things, deities of Laxmi Ganesha to worship, sweets and gold and silver jewellery. The founder of ayurvedic medicine, Dhanwantari Vaidya, appeared with Amrit Kalash at sea. So Dhanteras is also considered as Dhanwantri Jayanti.

Importance Of Chhoti Deepawali

On the following day of Dhanteras comes Chhoti Diwali or Narak Chaturdashi. On this day, Lord Krishna killed Narakasur. Narakasur was a demon. On this day, Lord Krishna released the world from his terror. To commemorate the victory of good over evil, we celebrate this festival by lighting lamps.

Significance Of Deepawali

On the following day of Chhoti Deepawali, we celebrate Badi Deepawali. On this day, we forget our all grief and celebrate this festival with full enthusiasm. We celebrate this festival by returning Ayodhya of Lord Sri Ram with Sita Devi and brother Laxman after 14 years of exile. In another era, this was also the day when Lord Krishna performed His Damodar Lila of breaking the pots of butter and yoghurt and letting Himself be bound by Mother Yashoda. 

Preparation Of Deepawali

People make beautiful colourful rangolis at the entrance and light lamps at the centre of rangoli. Many people even make feet of Laxmi Devi at the door and decorate their house with a series of lamps. The light of lamps brighten the outside of the house and signifies the enlightenment of the inside. Everyone needs to be knowledgeable and happy. The gold and silver purchased in Deepawali signify prosperity. It is just an external wealth. The original required wealth in life is present inside us.

The True Wealth Of Life

In this material world, people are so obsessed with wealth, gold etc. But they do not understand the original wealth is love, peace, and harmony. There is no other wealth needed in life other than this to lead a happy life. So natural and actual luxury and the best knowledge make you realize what true life is and why it is so? And what should you do in life?

How A Person Can Attain True Happiness

A person’s character, peace and self-confidence is our actual property. When we proceed in life with the blessings of the Supreme Lord being a devotee, there cannot be any other wealth superior to this. You can realise it by serving Supreme Lord with complete love and devotion. One best example to understand the strength of the Supreme Lord is sea waves. When sea waves are attached to the sea, and a part of it also gets supreme power. We get the same strength from Supreme Lord when we stay connected with Him. So this festival of light illuminates our inside and outside both. It makes our life meaningful and shows the path to attain our goals.

With these illuminated lights on the next day of Deepawali comes Govardhan Puja. This festival is the real example of love and devotion towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. People know this with the name of Annakut also. On Govardhan pooja Godhan, i.e. people worship cows. In Shastra cow is said to be as sacred as the holy Ganga. The cow is noted as the Swaroop of mother Laxmi. As Laxmi Devi provides happiness and prosperity, a cow gives us milk that enriches our health, true wealth. 

Supreme Lord Sri Krishna performed the Govardhan Leela to establish glory Giriraj Govardhan. A pure devotee of Lord Krishna doesn’t have to perform any of the ceremonial functions enjoined in the Vedas, nor is he required to worship any demigods.

Observance Of Govardhan Puja

On the day of Govardhan Puja, people make Govardhan mountain using cow dung. On this day, people worship and do parikrama and offer various types of delicious bhoga offerings. The bhoga offerings are stacked like a small hill and presented to the Lord. Then it is distributed to everyone as prasadam. Hence, this festival is also called Annakuta Festival. 

Bhai Dooj

 In this series of festivals, the last but the important festival is Bhai dooj or bhaiya dooj. This festival is the symbol of the unbreakable bond of brother and sister. On this day, married women invite their brothers to their home, do tilak and ask their brothers to have a feast. On this auspicious day, brothers and sisters who live in one house have a feast together. If a brother and sister take a bath at Yamuna river and take meals at the bank of the river, then it is considered most auspicious and fortunate. This festival is also known as ‘Yama Dwitiya.

In this way, this series of festivals of lamps is an association of five auspicious festivals. These festivals are related and linked to our lives’ phases and enhance our consciousness and strength. It helps us understand reality, and it shows the way to achieve our goal of life that is transcendental loving devotional service towards the Supreme Lord wholeheartedly. So come, let’s celebrate this festival of light with jubilance and try to lighten our inside that is surrendering soul unto the lotus feet of Supreme Lord Krishna and chant the glories of Sri Krishna by His Holy Names.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Ram Hare Ram

Ram Ram Hare Hare.

I wish you a very Happy Krishna Conscious Deepawali.