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Topic: Importance of Chaturmaas Date:  06th August 2024 Speaker: HG Anant Sesha Prabhuji Hare Krishna. My humble obeisances in the divine lotus feet of Guru Maharaj and all the devotees. oḿ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaḿ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhutale srimate bhaktivedanta-swamin iti namine   namas te saraswate deve gaura-vani-pracharine nirvishesha shunyavadi pashchatya desha tarine   vancha-kalpatarubhyash cha kripa-sindhubhya eva cha patitanam pavanebhyo vaishnavebhyo namo namaha   jaya sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda sri-adwaita gadadhara shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare Today we will hear about chaturmaas. It starts from Dev Shyani Ekadashi every year which means, Maha Vishnu enters sleep for four months. In Madhurashtakam it is said: Geetham Madhuram, Peetham Madhuram, Bhuktham Madhuram,Suptham Madhuram, Roopam Madhuram, Thilakam Madhuram Madhurathipather akhilam Madhuram (Text 4)   Translation Sweet is thine song, Krishna, So is what you drink, Sweet is what you eat, Krishna, So is your sleep, Sweet are thine looks , Krishna, So is thine Thilaka, Hey king of all sweetness in this world, Everything about Thee is sweet. All the actions of Lord are sweet. In this world, our sleep is different from the sleep of Lord. Our sleep is Tamoguni. Our senses become action-less, we forget everything in our sleep Shloka When Lord sleeps, the world does not stop, his sleep is also divine. When we sleep, we snore but when he inhales millions of planet are produced and when he exhales many Vedas are produced. Sravana, Ashwin, Bhadrapada, and Kartik are the names of these four Chaturmaas. HG Srutakirti Prabhuji said that Srila Prabhupada says that my disciples cannot even chant 16 rounds properly and follow the four regulative principles, then what is the use of other rules and regulations. Do the simple things that I ask you to do. He said just chant 16 rounds and follow the four regulative principles. We have different vratas in Kartik maas, Purushottam maas, Chaturmaas, Bhishma Panchak so we should follow the bare minimum in these periods. But some devotees say that we should follow what Srila Prabhupada has said strictly. But we should also note the context in which Srila Prabhupada has said anything and to whom he has spoken to. So Srila Prabhupada didn’t encourage other fasts that much. Some devotee also said that  Srila Prabhupada has not said to sing Damodar ashtakam in Damodar mass. So we have to understand the context in which he said. Rupa Goswami has mentioned about Chaturmaas in his book The Nectar of Devotion. Sri Krsna, when he appeared as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, also used to follow Chaturmaas with his associates in Nilachala Dham. Sanatana Goswami also emphasised the need to follow Chaturmaas.  In Chaitanya Charitamrita, Srila Krishnaraj Kaviraj Goswami writes: Shloka Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to South India from Puri, then Vrindavan and for the last eighteen years he stayed in Puri. Since he stayed there, so all the associates also stayed there. Shloka Every year all Bengal devotees Advaita acharya, Nityanand Prabhu etc used to live with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Chaturmaas in Puri. Shloka He used to always dance, do sankirtan and he used to give prem bhakti to all. Gadadhar Pandit, Vakreshwar Pandit, Shankar Haridas had their permanent residence in Puri.  Shloka Shloka Ramananad Raya so they lived with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for eighteen years. Shloka Advaita acharya, Nityanand, Mukund, Srinivasa Thakur all of them used to live with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for four months. They used to come from Nawadwip, Kulin dham and many other holy places. Shloka Four months they stayed with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and saw Rathyatra from beginning, they came one month before Purnima, Gundicha Marjan and stayed until the end of Chaturmaasa.  Shloka In the first month, Janamastami and Nanda utsav are celebrated- Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to come  in Gopa Vesha.    Shloka They filled big pots of milk and butter and celebrated Janamastami. It is like Janamastami in Nilachal Dham. Just imagine you got the opportunity to celebrate Janamastami with Lord!  Shloka Jagannath Mahiti who is male but  became Yasoda and another devotee Kutiya became Nand Maharaj. So all the associates perform a Drama for Janamashtami. Shloka Pratap rudra, Kashi Mishra, Sarvabhauma Bhattachrya, everyone came and saw Krsna’s appearance. Everyone started dancing. Shloka All is mixed: milk, ghee, haldi and then it is thrown on each other. They are pools of milk and curd in which everyone is playing. So we don’t celebrate Janmashtami like this. Advaita Acharya said that you all are not Gopas as you all do not have a lathi and you all  do not know how to use it as well. So Advaita Acharya says that if you are a Gopa you should know how to play with it. So Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took it as a challenge and  played with it and rotated it like a chakra. He used to throw it up sometimes and sometimes between his legs, shoulders etc. Shloka Shloka Everyone was astonished to see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So he was moving the chakra like a ball of fire and he proved that he is gopa. Nityanand Prabhu also did the same. They acted as like Krishna Balram only. Pratap Rudra brought Jagannath’s vastra and all make turbans out of it and this is how they celebrated. Shloka So in the similar way, all the festivals which come up in Chaturmaas like Janamastami, Vaman Dwadashi, Kartik Maas, Vijaya Dashmi are celebrated by them. Shloka Now they have taken the form of  monkeys and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu became Hanuman himself. Shloka He breaks a branch of tree and he breaks into a palace. Shloka “Where is that, Ravana” in anger? I will kill him said Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Shloka In sharad purnima, Diwali, Damodar Maas, Uthana Ekadashi, he performs lila in this way. So then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asks everyone to go to their respective places after the Chaturmaas. In Festival of Devotion three day leave was difficult to take for devotees but the associates of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took four months leave Puri dham.  Shloka In Gundicha Marjan they meet again next year. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu  meets every devotee personally like Sri Advaita Acharya, Nityanand Prabhu and all. Following the footsteps of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami also performed these pastimes. Initially I didn’t wanted to share this pastime, but what to do? I cannot stop myself from narrating this pastime. Srila Santana Goswami in his book Hari Bhakti vilas mentions about lakhs of limbs of bhakti and Rupa Goswami in Nectar of Devotion says that he has mentioned only sixty-four limbs of bhakti. Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati, Bhaktivinod Thakur used to strictly follow this. Sri Chaitanya Maharaprabhu, reached South India in Ranganath and when he came to know that Chaturmaas has began so he stayed in Venkata Bhatta’s home. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Bhativinod Thakur, Srila Prabhupada also used to follow this Chaturmaas till he was in India. So we should do our basic devotional activities and after that we should follow this Chaturmaas. This is not final but we should do it regularly. So how can we know that a person is progressing from Tamoguna to Rajoguna and then Rajoguna to Satoguna? So that person will have vyakulta to attain Krishna and how can they please devotees, how will I progress in Krishna Consciousness. So a devotee thinks what else can I do for Krishna? What else can I do? So he takes vow in his life. We should practice as per our calibre, we should do as much as we can do in the direction of Guru and devotees. Santana Goswami says:  Shloka In Hari Bhakti Vilas,  Shloka We should pay our obeisances to Lord who is sleeping. His bed is filled with jewels. Shloka Hey Jagannath, all world sleeps when, you sleep when you wake up, everyone wakes up. Please be happy with us. Shloka We should pray to Krishna to increase our bhakti. Four months should be followed properly. Santa Kumar says: Shloka Dev shayani Ekadashi or Aashad Purnima comes first then Guru Poornima and then we follow it till Kartik Purnima. Shloka Why should we do Chatur maas? If we don’t follow Chatur Maas then that person should be considered as dead. Sanatana Goswami tells that in Shravan we should not eat green vegetables, in Bhadrapad maas we should not eat curd, Ashwin maas we should not have curd and urad dal in last month should be avoided. Shloka Those who does not follow Chatur Maas goes to hell. Those who over-eat, they go to hell. Shloka Rules are there, homah, chanting, Srimad Bhagavatam should be read, we should do this with extra sankalapa. We should to stuti of Lord. We should sing glories of Lord during Jhulan Yatra. Many stutis, ashtakams are there- Bhisma stuti which can be recited.  Visnu  Shloka Those who do it with Bhakti bhaav they achieve the highest destination. Even if we think in our mind, then also it is beneficial. It is not like doing offence based on the holyname. Sins of hundreds of years of life are destroyed by taking sankalpa of Chatur maas.  Shloka We should sleep on the floor in Chaturmaas, so he attains the destination of Vaishnavas.  Shloka Lord tells Yudhistra about Chatur maas and the fruits which on can get after following it. We should leave salt if we want to have good voice. We should leave oiling; you don’t need face washes and all. Do not have flower and bhoga related things and all the rasas should be given up. If one follows yoga in Chatur Maas then he attains a higher destination in the heavenly planets. If one leaves all the rasas then he can never be bad looking and he attains a beautiful form and never smells bad.  Sri Sri Gurv-ashtaka Eight Prayers to the Guru (Text 4) catur-vidha-sri-bhagavat-prasada svadv-anna-triptan hari-bhakta-sanghan kritvaiva triptim bhajatah sadaiva vande guroh sri-caranaravindam Translation The spiritual master is always offering Krishna four kinds of delicious food [analyzed as that which is licked, chewed, drunk, and sucked]. When the spiritual master sees that the devotees are satisfied by eating bhagavat-prasada, he is satisfied. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master. Legs also glow. Milk and curd if we leave we will attain Goloka. Cooked meals if we skip then we attain a son. If we sleep on the floor we attain bhakti. If we do not speak, we attain a day in Brahma loka. Srila Bhaktisiddhant Saraswati Thakur used to have rice through his mouth kept on floor without using his hands. We can touch the lotus feet of Lord Vithal in Pandharpur. Those who broom the mandir of Lord and he attains Rajpaath. If someone does Parikrama of the temple three times, then he is carried by hamsa to Vaikuntha after his death. If someone plays kartal in temple, he will reach Gandharva loka. If someone tells about Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad gita and one who makes flower garlands for the Lord he attains the abode of Lord who is like Vyasadev. Chaturmaas- naam japa sankalapa is important. Guru’s permission is important. Four months we should wake up early. We should donate in this month. We should follow all Ekadashis- nirjala. Tulsi seva is important. We should pray to Tulsi. We should pray obesiances to Tulsi to receive the mercy of Lord. Swadhaya, sadhana and  seva sankalpa and we should do some service of the Lord, Srila Prabhupada by serving his mission. We should do this for atleast four months. We should go in Kartik maas to temple. If someone goes to temple daily at 4am and do some seva so it is equivalent to doing service in dham. So if you do this for long periods it will become your lifestyle just twenty one days challenge. Shloka People will follow Navratri and they do bhoga. Our bhakti should be multipled after every Chaturmaas.  So I will stop here as time is up. I will cover this up next time.       

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