After cāturmāsya, dāmodara-vrata, ūrjā-vrata, what desire comes in your heart? What is your desire? To go in family, to jump in ocean, to go for karma, yoga, or bhoga? Where will you go? For example, complete year you learn and go to school, and follow all classes and subjects. Then you give exam and will understand if you get 50%, 60%, 70, 80, 90, 100% or you failed, getting zero percent. After the four months of cāturmāsya, and the month of purusottama-vrata, five months have passed. Then now what is the result? Do you run for your own business or material life? Do you go and choose, “You are my boyfriend.” “You are my girlfriend; give signature with the holy dhāma as witness.” Then your result comes as zero.
Now we will discuss what Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī described about this month in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. Sanātana Gosvāmī first offers pranama to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He gives caitanya, consciousness. Then he tells: This Agrahāyaṇa month is the highest month. This gives the highest result.
This month is Agrahāyaṇa masa, this month is how much high and great? How can one understand? Your Kārtika-vrata, Urjā-vrata is finished. That is Śrīmatī Rādhārānī’s month. After the vrata is finished, what is your aim and object and goal? If you were following Śrīmatī Rādhārānī’s footsteps, then you will be greedy to become Her pālya-dāsī. If you don’t have greed for this, how did you do Urjā-vrata, and Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā? How did you come to Vraja? You did not collect anything from Vraja-maṇḍala. You have not one drop of collection. You have zero. Śrīla Gurudeva called all to come to Vraja-maṇḍala, and follow vrata, follow tapa, niyama, and everything. After vrata and tapa you get new birth, life, mood, affection and love. Where? Tree what is your name? Phalena paricīyate.
‘You can understand my name and identity by my fruit.’ You will understand if my fruit is sweet or bitter. A mango, banana, grape—you can understand the nature of the tree by its fruit. What did I do for four months, or my complete life with Guru-pāda-padma? You will understand by the fruit. I don’t know anything, I have no knowledge, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to give pure consciousness. He came to teach and help the jīva’s progress.
Sanatana Gosvāmī wrote in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (14.1-5)—
agatyeka gatim natvā
hīna artha adhika sādhakam
caitanya devam likhyante
māsa puja mahotsavah
āgrahāyaṇiko māsa
māseṣu pravarah smṛtah
māsānām mārga śīrṣo’ham
ityukto mādhavena yah
snāna dāna vratārccādi
kriyāh saniyamam kṛtāh
māghādāviva mārge’smin
bhagavad bhakti bhūtidāh
tulasi kānane pūjyo
mārge māsi viceṣatah
bhagavān nṛtya gītādi
mahena saha vaiṣṇavaih
viśeṣataśca māse’smin
vastram śita nivāraṇam
citram bhagavate dadyāj
jāgajjāḍya haram hi tat
In this month, with Vaiṣṇavas, devotees, go in front of Tulasī; there one should sing and pray, “He Vṛndā-devī, he Paurṇamāsī, he Bhagavatī. In the past five months I did vrata, now I understand, that in Vṛndāvana-dhāma, to attain sevā adhikāra, you are the only authority and guardian. Now I pray to you, he Vṛndā-devī, give me shelter. He Vṛndāvana-dhāma, give me shelter.” Do kirtan there, pray and offer praṇāma. Then bathe Tulasī Devī, and perform her arcana.
Nārada Ṛṣi said that one should eat once a time in this month and should worship Lord Hari and pray with a strong mood. Everyday you should give mahā-prasāda to a sadhu, Vaiṣṇava or Brahmin. If possible, then feed many. Otherwise, definitely you should give mahā-prasāda to one bhakta. Why? If the followers of God are pleased, God will also be pleased? I am now practicing; if my heart is near the bhaktas, then service tendency will come in my heart. This is the mood of the vraja-devīs. The bhakta serves Vraja-maṇḍala and has no time. He is very busy. If I offer him prasādam, serve him and give him winter cloth, then automatically this flow will come in my heart. I will be related to the Vaiṣṇavas. Otherwise, if I offer bhoga, serve Vṛndā-devī, and God’s deities, but don’t serve the Vaiṣṇavas, and have no relation with the Vaiṣṇavas, then how will their heartfelt love come to me?
Vaiṣṇavas’ sevā is very important in this month. Once a time one should eat, and the complete time of the day should be reserved for bhajana and sevā. Then you will not lose your way. Like after four months of vrata, you will get vraja-bhāva and Vraja service mood from guru-varga and Vaiṣṇavas.
Mārge śirṣe tveka bhaktam
Kṛtvā yo’bhyarccayed harim
Bhojayitvā dvijān muktah
Syādityāha kalipriyah
Viṣṇu-dharma
Nārada Ṛṣi told, “One eats once a day in this month and offers bhoga to Śrī Hari, then gives prasāda to Vaiṣṇavas. With Hari’s mercy, in this month, one follows this vrata, and then desire will come to serve God and one will be permanently present in Viṣṇu-loka; not in Māyā-loka. One will not be in Māyā-dhāma. I stay here in dhāma, but have desire, “When will I leave? When will I play games? When will I open my laptop and play fighting games? Now we are in Viṣṇu-loka, but we stay in America, in Africa, in jungles of māyā. But after vrata, you will be permanently in Viṣṇu-loka. Viṣṇu’s area, persons, followers—you will be attached with everything connected to Viṣṇu.
The Gautamīya-taṅtra writes the results of this month. Before brāhma-muhūrta, you should bathe in Gaṅgā, Yamunā, any holy river, or pond, lake or well. Then after bathing, you should start your japa. Chant, and mindly worship your mantra devatā.
But first is Guru devatā. Be Guru devatatma.
bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād
īśād apetasya viparyayo ‘smṛtiḥ
tan-māyayāto budha ābhajet taṁ
bhaktyaikayeśaṁ guru-devatātmā
Śrīmad-bhāgavatam 11.2.37
I am afraid now; scared of māyā. I lost and forgot my nature, behaviour, etiquette, soul and the Supreme Soul. I am very afraid and scared. Then it is told, “Go to Gurudeva. Worship Guru-pāda-padma first, and make relation with Guru-pāda-padma, and pray to him. He will protect you.” Is Guru-pāda-padma alone? Guru is with his family, his followers. They are my protectors, friends and family. Worship Guru and his family by your mind. How? While doing japa and guru-mantra, first offer obeisance to Gurudeva, pray to Gurudeva’s lotus feet and worship Gurudeva and his family—all Vaiṣṇavas, and bhaktas. Everyday give them new cloth, bhoga, candana, mālā, āsana, pādya, arghya, ācamana—everything and follow good etiquette. Then you will no longer be afraid; you will be fearless. Then you care clean and pure. First do this guru-pūjā. Then do homa, give āhuti, ‘svāhā’. Offer to Guru and Vaiṣṇavas, “These senses, my mind—everything I offer to you. Protect and give treatment and save this. You know how to use this. I don’t know.” Then, one offers bhoga. One should make sweet rice with milk and date gur—that is very tasty. Offer that everyday. This is sweet in this month. Then God will be pleased with you. Offer for the whole month, then by the mercy of Mādhava, when you leave your body, you will go to God’s eternal abode.
For one month, if you offer this bhoga, sweet rice, with gur, and then you distribute that, each drop of that will help thousands of souls. They will also get liberation without vrata, tapa, japa. This is the rule of this month.
Therefore in all Viṣṇu temples, in this month, everyday they offer gur preparations, called pita-panna, payasa, kṣīra. With pure cows’ ghee and milk, and gur, they make many preparations and offer to Śrī Hari and then distribute prasādam, and invite, with harināma-saṅkīrtana. In the morning and afternoon they fast and then distribute in the evening. They save this at night and after bathing in the morning, they also distribute.
In the Śrīmad-bhāgavatam (10.22.1) it is told.
hemante prathame māsi
nanda-vraja-kamārikāḥ
cerur haviṣyaṁ bhuñjānāḥ
kātyāyany-arcana-vratam
This month is in the Hemanta season, and is called Mārga-śīrṣa or Agrahāyaṇa.
In this month, the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa says that the Nanda-gopa-kumārīs followed this vrata. They took haviṣyānna. From early morning to evening they chanted, dressed, decorated, served the deities of God, and chanted mantra; then in the evening time they cooked sweet rice and offered bhoga. Then distributed and took something.
Lord Janārdana was pleased with this kātyāyanī pūjā and He gave Himself. He promised—
ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham
Bhavagad-gītā 9.22
“For those who are always absorbed in thoughts of Me, and who worship Me with one-pointed devotion by every means, I Myself carry their necessities and preserve what they have.”
teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
Bhagavad-gītā 10.10
Upon those who perform bhajana to Me with love, yearning for My eternal association, I bestow the transcendental knowledge by which they can come to Me.
If anyone is satata-yukta, continuously following me and connected to me, then I will give them good intelligence.
In this month, the vraja-kumārīs followed this vrata.
Many people have question and they think, “This is a new program, where did this come from? No one follows this?”
I did not write Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. I am not Sanātana Gosvāmī. I am not our order distributor. I do not give this advice; śāstra says. If anyone desires, they can follow. If you don’t follow, this is your own desire. Why are you disturbed and have tension that others are following? By following this vrata, they say that one will go to Dvārakā Purī. I think they have desire to go to Dvārakā, therefore they always think of that place. They can’t remember Vraja-maṇḍala. If anyone asks about this, they say, “You will go to Dvārakā.”
Because they like Dvārakā, therefore they say, Dvārakā, Dvārakā, Dvārakā.”
The vraja-devīs followed this vrata, then Kṛṣṇa accepted them; He called everyone next śāradīya pūrṇimā. Under guidance of the nitya-siddha vraja-devīs, He sent them to get training how to serve in sevā kuñja in Vraja-maṇḍala.
Śāstra tells, pratrigraha, anyone who gives food, or presentations, one should not take in this month. Anything you take or touch, infection comes. Like one person goes to hospital for treatment and carefully takes treatment. If he goes outside of the hospital, infection can come; he is very weak, then any bacteria can catch him. During this vrata, if anyone gives charity, bribe, don’t be angry, disturbed or have tension, and don’t take. That thing will take and steal you and divide you. Another thing goes and makes a hole in your heart and stays there, then everything will be lost. All will leak out.
Sukadeva Gosvami said to Pariksit Maharaja, ‘sat-saṅgaḥ śevadhir nṛṇām’
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.2.30, ‘Continuously be in sat-saṅga. Not in asat sāṅga. Asat sāṅga will cheat you. They will taunt you; this is their nature and culture, they have this etiquette. They have no hari-kathā. They have no desire for vraja-sevā, they cultivate māyā day and night, and now their etiquette is like that. Therefore, don’t go to others in this month and take anything from them. If you take anything, that will steal your time, mind and nature. Therefore be careful.
Everyday, in this month, one should worship the Deity of Śrī Hari and take training near kātyāyanī, Bhagavatī Paurṇamāsī. She is Guru. Daily, in the morning, here is river, Yamunā. If not possible, then go to the lotus feet of Vṛndā-devī, Tulasī Devī and worship her directly.
The vraja-devīs had some good chance for kātyāyanī worship in Vraja-maṇḍala, near the Yamunā. And Bhagavatī Paurṇamāsī gave them this siddha mantra. If this is not possible for all, then they should worship Vṛndā-devī. In this month, one should worship Tulasī Devī.
In this month, one should offer oneself to Vṛndā-devī; then one will have no more relation with the body. The gopīs followed this vrata, and then in the end, they gave up all relation to the body—they took sannyāsa, Kṛṣṇa made them sannyāsīs. At three years age.
Śaṅkarācārya took sannyāsa at eight, madyacarya at twelve and Caitanya Mahāprabhu at 24. But the vraja-gopīs took sannyāsa at three years age, in the Yamunā’s water. They came out of the water with no relation to the body. This is not so called. They were completely renounced.
The result of this vrata is like that, one will have no more relation, affection attraction, one will get liberation from everything.
In this month, one should offer kṣīra made with gur, and then one will be very fortunate. Anything one does, japa or homa, everything will be successful. Therefore Bhagavatī, Paurṇamāsī, kātyāyanī, gave this mantra to the gopa kumārīs and they continuously followed this one month on the bank of the Yamunā.
After following, how did Kṛṣṇa accept them? We already heard this.
In front of Hari, the devotees offer bhoga, and then start kirtan. Then they forget everything. From morning there is nṛtya, kīrtana, saṅkīrtana rasotsava. They start rasotsava with saṅkīrtana rasa, therefore they are not hungry or thirsty. In four months of Cāturmāsya, there are four rasas. This month is mādhurya-rasa; after kātyāyanī-vrata, they got this rasa. They were greedy after cāturmāsya, and how to follow—Vṛndā-devī gave this suggestion and mantra.
We are very lucky to hear this from Sanātana Gosvāmī. From tomorrow, we will hear what Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura wrote in Sārārtha-darśini.
[CC-by-NDNC Bhakta Bandhav]