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EDITORIAL  The Kartika Month BY MURLI KRISHNA DAS EDITORIAL, Oct 12 (VNN) — Sri Bhakti-sandarbha - An Essay on Devotional Service by Srila Jiva Goswami Anuccheda 299 5 Now Kartika will be described. In the Skanda Purana it is said: "O child, all holy places reside in the month of Karttika, which is eternally dear to Lord Krsna. Whatever pious deeds one performs to please Lord Visnu during the month of Kartika brings a benefit that is eternal. O Narada, I speak to you the truth. 6 "A person who refuses to follow the vow of this month, which is very dear to Lord Damodara, loses his pious deeds and takes birth as an animal.) (found in the Padma Purana of Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa, spoken by Satyavrata Muni in a conversation with Narada Muni and Saunaka Rsi) "In the month of Kartika one should worship Lord Damodara and daily recite the prayer known as Damodarastaka, which has been spoken by the sage Satyavrata and which attracts Lord Damodara. "(Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa 2.16.198) (Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya by Thakur Bhaktivinod- ... Whoever reads the Puranas here during the month of Kartika becomes free from all distress, becomes absorbed in the pastimes of Gauranga, and easily attains Vrndavana... ... On the bank of the Gomati during Ekadasi in the holy month of Kartika, I will hear stories about Sri Caitanya.) (CCM22.127) "(34) One should surrender to Krsna in all respects. (35) One should observe particular vows like kŠrtika-vrata. These are some of the sixty-four important items of devotional service.) Mathura Parikrama by Narahari Chakravarti Thakur ...Also in the Padma Purana it is stated that anyone who once enters the janma-grha [birthplace] of Kesava during the month of Kartika achieves the eternal Absolute Truth, Sri Krsna... ...Raghava Pandita said that according to the Puranas there is no limit to the glories of Radha-kunda. In the Adi-varaha Purana, Mathura-khanda, it is stated that if a devotee of Visnu offers a lamp to Radha-kunda during the month of Kartika, he will be able to see the entire universe. In Padma Purana, Kartika Mahatmya, it is stated: "Radha-kunda is very dear to Sri Hari and is situated near Govardhana Hill. By taking bath in Radha-kunda on the eighth day of the waning moon in the month of Kartika [Bahulastami], one can greatly please Lord Hari, who enjoys His pastimes there. This kunda is as dear to Krsna as Radha Herself. Amongst all the gopis, She is the most dear to Krsna. It is the duty of the devotees to bathe in the Radha-kunda during the month of Kartika and thereafter worship Lord Janardana. This simple worship pleases Krsna as much as one does by worshiping Janardana on the day of Uthana-ekadasi."....... In WORSHIP OF TULASI DEVI ...Because Tulasi was born on the lunar day of the full moon in the month of Kartika, Lord Hari prescribed this day for her worship. Whoever worships her on this day will be freed from all sins and go to Vaikuntha. Whoever, out of reverence, gives Lord Visnu a Tulasi leaf in the month of Kartika, will gain the same benefit obtained by giving the gift of ten million cows. ..... Mother Yasoda Binds Lord Lord Krsna SB 10.9 Summary While mother Yasoda was allowing Krsna to drink her breast milk, she was forced to stop because she saw the milk pan boiling over on the oven. The maidservants being engaged in other business, she stopped allowing Krsna to drink from her breast and immediately attended to the overflowing milk pan. Krsna became very angry because of His mother's behavior and devised a means of breaking the pots of yogurt. Because He created this disturbance, mother Yasoda decided to bind Him. These incidents are described in this chapter. One day, the maidservants being engaged in other work, mother Yasoda was churning the yogurt into butter herself, and in the meantime Krsna came and requested her to allow Him to suck her breast milk. Of course, mother Yasoda immediately allowed Him to do so, but then she saw that the hot milk on the oven was boiling over, and therefore she immediately stopped allowing Krsna to drink the milk of her breast and went to stop the milk on the oven from overflowing. Krsna, however, having been interrupted in His business of sucking the breast, was very angry. He took a piece of stone, broke the churning pot and entered a room, where He began to eat the freshly churned butter. When mother Yasoda, after attending to the overflowing milk, returned and saw the pot broken, she could understand that this was the work of Krsna, and therefore she went to search for Him. When she entered the room, she saw Krsna standing on the ulukhala, a large mortar for grinding spices. Having turned the mortar upside down, He was stealing butter hanging from a swing and was distributing the butter to the monkeys. As soon as Krsna saw that His mother had come, He immediately began to run away, and mother Yasoda began to follow Him. After going some distance, mother Yasoda was able to catch Krsna, who because of His offense was crying. Mother Yasoda, of course, threatened to punish Krsna if He acted that way again, and she decided to bind Him with rope. Unfortunately, when the time came to knot the rope, the rope with which she wanted to bind Him was short by a distance equal to the width of two fingers. When she made the rope longer by adding another rope, she again saw that it was short by two fingers. Again and again she tried, and again and again she found the rope too short by two fingers. Thus she became very tired, and Krsna, seeing His affectionate mother so tired, allowed Himself to be bound. Now, being compassionate, He did not show her His unlimited potency. After mother Yasoda bound Krsna and became engaged in other household affairs, Krsna observed two yamala-arjuna trees, which were actually Nalakuvara and Manigriva, two sons of Kuvera who had been condemned by Narada Muni to become trees. Krsna, by His mercy, now began to proceed toward the trees to fulfill the desire of Narada Muni. Damodarastaka (PDF) Kartik Mahatmya (PDF) Contact VNN about this story  Send this story to a friend
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