Dear friends of Goloka Dhama,

 

We are happy to greet you all with another edition of our monthly newsletter! We would like to share with you something about a very important upcoming festival on our Vaishnava Calendar.

 

As most of you might know we are speaking about Sri Narasimha Caturdasi which falls on 22 May this year. Our Deity department has decided to arrange the main celebration on 26 May which is a Sunday, which means the Abishek of the Lord will take place during Sunday Feast, as that might be more convenient for most devotees then to attend the program during the week.

 

Since the appearance of the Lord in His form as half human half lion is approaching

it is appropriate to set ourselves into the right mood to make the best of the

festival. Obviously we devotees are really good at arranging a big celebration!

Beautiful Kirtan, Katha, Abishek, feasting etc. Nevertheless that is not all that such a day

can offer to a devotee. Perhaps there is a much more profound meaning to that day.

To find that out it is most certainly helpful to search in the writings of our glorious

acharyas coming in the line of Srila Rupa Goswami. Nevertheless we are Gaudiya

Vaishnvas. Our Ishta-devatas are Sri Gaurasundara and Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Why do we as Gaudiyas then even have the need to worship Lord Vishnu in His form which can appear to be very ferocious? Well Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur prays in his Prayers to Lord Narasimhadeva in his Navadvipa Bhava Taranga as follows:

 

 e dusta hrdaye kama adi ripu chaya kutinati pratisthasa sathya sada raya hrdayasodhana

ara krsnera vasana nrsimha-carane mora ei to’ kamana

 “Within my sinful heart the six enemies headed by lust perpetually reside, as well as duplicity, the desire for fame, plus sheer cunning. Residing at the lotus feet of Lord Narasingha, I pray that he will mercifully purify my heart and give me the desire to serve Lord Krishna.”

 

kandiya nrsimha-pade magibo kakhana nirapade navadvipe jugala-bhajana bhaya

bhaya paya yan’ra darsane se hari prasanna hoibo kabe more daya kari

“Weeping, I will beg at the lotus feet of Lord Narasingha for the benediction of worshipping Radha and Krishna in Navadvipa, perfectly safe and free from all difficulties. When will this Lord Hari, whose terrible form strikes fear into fear itself, ever become pleased and show me his mercy?”

 

Here Thakur Bhaktivinod clearly shows us in which mood a worshipper of Lord Gaura and Sri Radha Madan Mohan should approach the lotus feet of Sri Narasimha Bhagavan. Thus let us all assemble and give our very best to arrange a most beautiful festival for our dear Lord in His protective form as Sri Narahari, keeping in mind the prayers of our Acharyas.

 

Jaya Guru and Gauranga! Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

 

With our gratitude for your support and on behalf of the community,

Your servant, Hari Vyasadeva das