Nityananda Trayodasi Pictures

I worship Lord Nityananda, the limitless root of the tree of devotional service. He said to Lord Chaitanya, “O brother, the people are all becoming infected by the sins of Kali-yuga. How will they atone for these sins? Please give them a way to easily approach You.”
- From Nityanandashtaka by Srila Vrindavan Das Thakura.

Thank you Nitai!

India Series- Chennai

After almost 4.6 years we were finally leaving for India. Tickets were booked in the last minute. I could not believe my ears and literally pinched myself even as I packed our bags. A trip to India is always filled with excitement and also some trepidation. Excitement at being able to meet with family and visit holy places and trepidation because you are about to give your practical examination. All the Bhagavad Gita theory that you have painstakingly studied is about to be tested. Have you sharpened your weaponry? Is your armor ready to take the force of the enemies arrows? What follows in this series are some of my realizations at various locations during my travel, an attempt to share my experiences from my point of view. It is an attempt to understand the evolution of my own thinking over the years. I thank my spiritual mentors heartily for making this a wholesome learning experience for me.

Our first stop was Chennai. As soon as we landed we experienced a melange of colors, odors, sounds and sights. The streets of Chennai were busy even at 1 AM in the night. There was a festival of sorts happening on the streets at that odd hour in the night. Traveling by a taxi there is an experience in itself. You get the thrill of being in scary roller coaster ride and are forced to intensely chant the holy names taking shelter of Krishna even more. In the Mahabharat when the Yaksha asks Yudhisthira what the most amazing thing was, he must have thought about the future India and the people there. It is truly amazing! People start their day at the crack of dawn and work like ants till the end of night. When one steps out of the home there is no guarantee that they will make it back home. Yet they refuse to accept this dimension of life which stares them in the face. Spirituality is  a fad and having a guru is fashionable. The practice of spirituality is practically non-existent, only in theory does it exist. It begins and ends with shows on the television and no effort is made by the preachers or the practitioners to apply it in their daily lives. Note: for any spiritual opportunist there is a great potential for preaching, starting with shaking off the firm belief of the Sri Vaishnavas that Mukti is everything and that Mukti is guranteed by taking shelter of a Guru, surrendering unto him and going through the processes of Samasrayanam and Para Samarpanam in a ritualistic way. These processes that are akin to our own initiation have lost meaning over the years and have merely become rituals that are performed towards achieving Liberation. These experiences strengthened the meaning of my own initiation and the increased the urgency to aspire to become an instrument in Srila Prabhupada's movement.

In a  class HH Dhanurdhar Maharaja mentioned that a good way to beat gross lusty desires is to observe the by products that leave the body in our daily upkeep rituals and hence understand the make up of the body as being temporary and material in nature. In India and in Chennai, the open sewers and the garbage dumps are a stark reminder of the composition and temporary, decomposing nature of our material body, yet lust abounds. One can strongly feel the presence of Mayadevi and bow down to her supreme position in the overall plan of the Lord. As any seasoned Kshatriya would do, its is better to surrender to Mayadevi considering her as a superior agent,  as one who can assume the role of Yogamaya and take us to Krishna.  By becoming a surrendered servant rather than opposing her might we are extending a hand to make her an ally. I had renewed respect for those in the renounced order of life, simply because, inevitably your senses are subject to an invasion by the agents of Maya who abound everywhere.

Another amazing feature is the interplay that exists between nature and the humankind...Atleast on two occasions we spotted snakes that were hurrying some place. This scared my daughter who thought they were meant to be be in other habitats not really the city or its suburb in our case.

The good things that still haven't changed are the simplicity of life, the monotony of the daily activities which adds a feeling of orderliness and routine and eventually becomes a habit. Piety is a way of life and almost everyone is into some form of worship even though it is with the fruit in mind.

The highlight of the trip was our visit to the Singaperumal temple, a temple dedicated to Lord Narasimhadeva and Lakshmi devi. Built by the Pallava rulers, the temple sits atop a hillock and has a powerful deity of Lord Narasimhadev, self manifested from a single rock. Lord Narasimha here manifests a third eye. It is a very powerful place. Unfortunately,  i do not have pictures of the temple or the deity, but Google pulls up a few. 

Another wonderful part of the trip was the presence of Jagannath Baladev and Subhadra, all along with us during all our travels. We had no dearth for prasadam throughout, thanks to Them. Here are some pictures from Chennai.

Jagannath with a garland of Parijata flowers.

Dressed for Winter, Odana Shasthi.

Everyone loves gifts. Handmade gifts are even special. On the ocassion of Odana Shasthi,  Sri Jagannatha in Puri Dham is specially offered starched clothes, to mark the onset of Winter. Our Jagannatha received specially made woollen shawls hand knitted with love from Ajay Govinda Prabhu's mother.. Here are some pictures.

Here is a description of the festival by Srila Prabhupada :
(source ISKCON desiretree)
Srila Prabhupada briefly described the ritual of Odana Sasthi in his purport to Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya lila 16-78:

"At the beginning of winter, there is a ceremony known as the Odana-sasthi. This ceremony indicates that from that day forward, a winter covering should be given to Lord Jagannatha. That covering is directly purchased from a weaver. According to the arcana-marga, a cloth should first be washed to remove all the starch, and then it can be used to cover the Lord."

Odana Sasthi is also described in Caitanya Bhagavata, Antya lila:

Around this time, the festival of Odana Sasthi began at Puri and Lord Jagannatha was dressed in new clothes--all starched. Although starched cloth is considered improper and impure, the purjaris nevertheless dressed Him in this way. On this day the ceremony of 'wearing new starched clothes' was being celebrated with pomp and grandeur. Sri Gaurasundara watched the ceremony along with the devotees. Lord Jagannatha was dressed in various bright colored starched clothes (white, pink and green), and was decorated with garlands and flowers. Varieties of festive music played and Mahaprabhu enjoyed the festival with great pleasure until late in the evening. He then returned to His residence along with His devotees. On the way home the two friends, Svarupa Damodara and Sri Vidyanidhi, raised a discussion regarding the Lord's starched clothes.

Vidyanidhi said, "In this part of the country there is considerable discussion regarding Sruti and Smrti, yet how is it that the Lord is dressed in un-holy starched clothing?
Svarupa Damodara replied, "Perhaps it is the custom of this place.

If it is the custom, then where is the fault? Had it not been the wish of the Lord, the King would have forbidden it."

Vidyanidhi replied, "God can do whatever He likes, but why should His priest attendants put starched clothes on Him.? Starched cloth is so un-holy that the hand which has touched it has to be washed. These things are not decided by the estate officers. I see that the King also wore starched cloth on his head today."

Svarupa Damodara said, "Brother, perhaps there is nothing wrong in using this cloth on the day of Odana Sasthi. Because the Lord Himself has appeared on this earth in the form of Jagannatha Deva, rules and regulations are not applicable to Him."

Vidyanidhi protested, "Jagannatha Deva is the Lord, He is omniscient. But can these people be like Him? Are they beyond all rules and regulations?" In this way the two friends discussed in a jovial mood until reaching their residence, then took rest.

That night Vidyanidhi dreamed that Jagannatha and Balarama were very annoyed with him. They slapped Vidyanidhi on his two cheeks and said, "I have no caste, and neither do my attendants. It is I who have made the rules which you think there is deviation from." Weeping, Sri Pundarika Vidyanidhi put his head on the feet of Jagannatha and said, "Oh Lord, I have been rightly served according to my offence. Today is very auspicious for me, Your good hand has touched my forehead. I do not now what good deed I performed in my previous birth to have such a benediction." The Lord then disappeared. When Vidyanidhi awoke in the morning, he found that his two cheeks were swollen as a result of the slapping by Sri Jagannatha and Balarama.

Every morning Svarupa Damodara came to Vidyanidhi's place and they went to the Jagannatha Mandira for darsana together. That morning Svarupa Damodara arrived as usual, but found Vidyanidhi still lying in bed. When he inquired as to why he was still in bed, Vidyanidhi called him to his side and explained his extraordinary dream. Hearing this and seeing Vidyanidhi's swollen cheeks, Svarupa Damodara was overwhelmed with joy. He said, "I don't know of any other such instance where the Lord has punished a man in his dream, but today I have seen this with my own eyes. Is there any man so fortunate as you in the three worlds?" Svarupa Damodara joyfully praised Sri Vidyanidhi. As a friend feels delighted at the well-being of his friend, so Svarupa Damodara thought himself extremely lucky because of Pundarika Vidyanidhi's fortune.

Here is the loving mother who made  the wraps.

In Praise of Radharani's Braid.

If we look at the sciptures, very often we have verses praising different features of the Lord. To give an example, we hear Satyavrata Muni praising the belly of Lord Krishna and also praising the ropes that bind the belly of the Lord. In the Sri Sampradaya,we have Sri Vedanta Desikan,who wrote an epic composition consisting of 1008 verses praising the footwear of Sri Ranganatha of Srirangam, in response to a challenge posed by a sanskrit scholar. The entire composition was completed overnight and completely defeated the opponent who managed to come up with a hundred verses. With this background information, i am presenting here two verses, one from Srila Krishna das Kaviraj Goswami's Govinda Lilamrita and another from Srila Rupa Goswami's chatuh pushpanjali. Both these verses beautifully sum up the exquisite beauty of Simati Radharani's hair. Here it is for your reading pleasure. Also attached are some pictures of Sri Radha Vrindavanchandra who were visiting us from a friend, to further the envisioning of the descriptions provided in the below mentioned verses. All Glories to Srimati Radharani! All glories to her supremely beauiful braid. Some pictures are Repetitive but Krishna always appears beautiful, each and very moment and so in that mood we are putting this up for your viewing pleasure. The verses: Hanging down Her back, Srimati Radharani's braids are decorated with flowers, tied with ribbons, and pressed by the cluster of necklaces at Her neck. I think these braids are actually a serpent climbing a staircase mercifully created by demigod Brahma from the foothills of Srimati Radharani's hips up to the mountain summit of Her head. 94- Upon Srimati Radharani's arms Visakha then placed flower garland, a blue ribbon, and the golden armlet. In his Catu-puspanjalih [Stava-mala], Srila Rupa Gosvami says: "O Queen of Vrndavana, Sri Radha, I worship You. Your fair complexion is more resplendent than molten gold, the color of Your sari the hue of a blue lotus flower. Your beautiful braided hair is long and raven-black, its coiffure studded with many brilliant gems, like the shining black hood of a cobra. "Even the beautiful lotus in full bloom or the rising full moon offers no comparison to Your breathtaking face, for it is much more exquisite. Your shining forehead is marked by a tidy saffron tilaka. "The arches of Your elegant eyebrows put to shame Cupid's bow. Your cascading black tresses sway, and the dark mascara on Your roving eyes makes them look like restless black partridges. Chatuh Pushpanjali Stava mala