Newsletter March 2022

Dear devotees and friends of Goloka Dhama,

Please accept our best wishes, all glories to our founder Acharya Srila Prabhupada!

Very soon will be the appearance day of Lord Caitanya and for our enhancing our meditation, we like to share with you a wonderful essay written by Harivyasa Prabhu. We will also share a report on the preaching department for year 2021.

Gaura Purnima is one of the most important annual festivals in the lives of Gaudiya Vaishnavas. All over the world devotees of the Lord assemble and chant: “Jaya Gauranga! Jaya Gauranga!” and make all kinds of beautiful festive arrangements, enhancing the atmosphere.

 

But why do we actually celebrate this most auspicious festival and what is the right mood behind our celebration?

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the full-moon evening in the month of Phālguna, an auspicious time full of auspicious symptoms, when Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advented Himself with the chanting of the holy name, Hare Kṛṣṇa.” (CC Adi 13.19)

 

A very general answer would be the appearance of Lord Sri Krishna in this age of Kali, in His form as the Golden Avatar Sri Cairanya Mahaprabhu in Nawadvip Dham, about 500 years ago. Nevertheless, even though this is reason enough to celebrate the occasion, it is of big help to gain a deeper understanding of the teachings of Lord Gaurachandra, in order to fully appreciate the festival and understand the gift, the Lord is distributing so mercifully, and without any form of discrimination, to every single one of us.

 

And what is that gift? Again, the general answer would be Krishna Consciousness, but perhaps it is the time to reflect on our personal experiences with the Lord in this form, and on the effect of His gift on our personal lives.

 

Try to contemplate on how colourful Sri Caitanya has made our lives, think about the lilas He relishes with You, and then think about the fact that we are only able to live a Krishna conscious life because of His mercy or His gift for us.

“And what is that gift?” Srila Prabhupada is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's gift for every single one of us. Through Him He is implanting the seeds of devotional service into the hearts of millions of people, giving everyone the chance to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Sri Caitanya's glorious movement .

 

So, a possible answer to the question of the right mood of entering the celebration of Gaura Purnima is gratitude. The beauty of gratitude is that it allows us to freely compose the sweetest prayers and give them to Mahaprabhu. Hence Gaura Purnima is the perfect occasion to express one's feelings of gratitude towards Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy.

 

Moreover, to enter that right mood of celebrating the appearance of Lord Caitanya, we should inform ourselves about the aspects of the Lord in His form as Gaurasundara, and thus gain understanding of the importance of performing service and properly celebrate the advent of Lord Gaurachandra.

 

To get that understanding, our Acharyas recommend to read books such as the Sri Caitanya-caritamrita by Srila Krisna Dasa Kaviraja Goswami and the Sri Caitanya-bhagavata by Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur: “The early life of the Lord is most fascinatingly expressed by the author of Caitanya-bhagavata, and as far as the teachings are concerned, they are more vividly explained in the Caitanya-caritamṛita.” (Srila Prabhupada).

 

In both of those transcendental works, written by great devotees of Sri Krishna Caitanya, one receives a bibliographical depiction of Mahaprabhu's life and those stories naturally help us to meditate deeply about the Lord.

There we find the answers to the “why” and “how” to celebrate this festival.

 

In fact, those works themselves reveal that Caitanya is non-different from Sri Krishna:

“In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the name of Kṛṣṇa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.” (CC Adi 3.52)

 

Furthermore they give examples and instructions on how to worship Sri Gauranga, as done in the maha-prakash-lila where the Lord is being worshipped in the house of Srivasa Thakura and where the confidential disciples of Mahaprabhu perform a great abisheka ceremony for His pleasure. The detailed depiction can be found in the Madhya-khanda chapters eight to ten in the Sri Caitanya-bhagavata.

 

In this way, such pastimes and stories of the Lord can improve our meditation and finally our relation to Lord Caitanya, since one has to gain knowledge about the Lord in order to develop love for Him.

 

Your servant,

Harivyāsadeva das