THE DIGNITY PERSONIFIED SHRI RAM’S APPEARANCE FESTIVAL

Wishing you all a pleased Ram Navami.

Ram Navami is a very famous festival celebrated throughout India and worldwide by all the devotees of Lord Shri Ramchandra.   

It is celebrated on the Navami tithi of Shukla paksha of Chaitra month every year. Lord Shri Ram is the 7th incarnation in the dashavtaras of Lord Vishnu. 

He appeared with His three brothers, Bharata, Laxmana and Shatrughna, in tretayuga. They appeared as the sons of King Dasharatha in the Surya dynasty of king Ikshavaku.

BUT WHY DOES GOD INCARNATE?

This curiosity, everyone wants to know, why does God take incarnation? Lord Krishna has answered Srimad Bhagavad Gita. As per BG 4.7

Lord Krishna says to Arjuna-

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛijāmyaham

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.”

In the very next verse of BG, Lord says –

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśhāya cha duṣhkṛitām
dharma-sansthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge 

“To deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants and re-establish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.”

SIGNIFICANCE OF RAMNAVAMI

The significance of the Ram Navami festival is that no matter how big the evil is, it has to be defeated by the good. Ravana, who had ten heads, Lord Ram defeated him with one arrow. Lord Ramchandra proved that He is the complete Lord of the six luxuries by killing him.

In Brahma vaivarta Purana, Lord Brahma vividly explained the definition of being the Lord. He said, “One who possesses all Aishwarya or riches, all virya or strength, all Yasha or fame, all shree or beauty, all gyana or knowledge, all vairagya or renunciation is called Bhagwan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

This proves that only God Ram is the greatest and the most influential personality in the universe. Therefore the defeat of Ravana was inevitable.

THE STORY OF LORD RAMA IS AS FOLLOWS

According to Bhagwatam Purana, Lord Vishnu had two gatekeepers, Jai and Vijay. Both of them were cursed by the four kumaras – Sanaka kumara, Sanatana kumara, Sanandana kumara and Sanat kumara. As per the curse, both of them had to take birth on earth three times as demons, and they would be the enemy of Lord Vishnu.

Both of them took birth as the sons of Pulasthya brahman. From birth, they were ruthless; they captivated many demigods and demi goddesses.

Seeing all this, Lord Vishnu appeared as the son of King Dashratha.

According to Valmiki Ramayana, King Dashratha had 353 queens. Only three queens were prominent, mother Kaushalya, mother Keikai and mother Sumitra. King Dashratha, who could move his chariot in ten directions, was a great, powerful and majestic king. 

However, he was disappointed in his life. He had no son who could become the future king of Raghukula dynasty, which was the reason for his constant despair. Due to this concern, Sage Vashishtha suggested that he perform the Putra kameshthi sacrifice. As a result of that sacrifice, he got a bowl full of kheer prasadam. He distributed that kheer equally among his three queens. Mother Kaushalya was the eldest of his three queens, so she got half portion of the kheer first. While honouring kheer prasadam, she thought that her child should be able to rule all over the earth. As a result, she received Lord Shri Ram in the form of her son.

Mother Keikai also honoured kheer prasadam, and she thought that her child should always follow the path of dharma. Thus, she received Bharata in the form of her son.

Mother Sumitra received two portions of kheer prasadam. She thought that her son should always serve the elder brothers with love and respect. As a result, she received two sons, Laxmana and Shatrughan. They were constantly engaged in the service of their elder brothers.

Lord Rama accepted queen Sita as His wife. Their entire life story is presented in the Ramayana book, composed by Sage Valmiki.

Ramayana is divided into seven parts:  

1. Bal kand
2. Ayodhya kand
3. Aaranya kand
4. Kishkindha kand
5. Sundar kand
6. Yudh kand
7. Uttar kand

Shri Ramchandra was known as Maryada Purushottam. He taught the whole society how to be an ideal son, an ideal brother, an ideal husband, an ideal friend, an ideal king and an ideal father.

When Ravana kidnapped, mother Sita in her husband’s absence and took Her to Lanka, Lord Ramchandra attacked Lanka with the help of monkeys and brought Sita back. Ravana represented lust, which is just the opposite of pure love.

Lord Ramchandra destroyed unrighteousness and restored dharma by killing Ravana.

We all should take shelter of Ramnaam on this auspicious occasion of Ram Navami so that all the lustful desires in our minds can be destroyed.

Hare Krishna

Around 500 years ago Lord Shree Krishna appeared in the form of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in this world. Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in 1486 in Mayapur, Bengal province, in phagun Purnima. His father was Shree Jagannath Mishra and mother was Shreemati Sachi Devi. He was the youngest son of his parents who later became famous by the name of “Nimai Pandit” and after accepting Sannyasa Ashram He was known as Lord Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. After presenting His divine pastimes for 48 years He left for His divine Abode from Jagannath Puri.

Who is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a very important and special incarnation of God. God has taken this form for the people in the age of quarrel and sorrow i.e. “Kali-Yuga” for their welfare. Most of the people even don’t know Him and also don’t even recognize Him. If anyone knows Him, they know Him as a saint or a devotee. Those who know Him they praise Him as a devotee which is not wrong because He has taken this incarnation just to teach us how to do “Bhakti” or become a pure devotee. However, it is not fully correct; He is undoubtedly a devotee of God but also God Himself.

Lord Shree Krishna advents just to show the people of Kali-Yuga how to do bhakti, but this is also a fact that people do not believe that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is God himself. They say, “We know that He was a great Saint, a great Devotee, has done a great work in devotional life but how can we believe that he was Personality of Godhead Krishna Himself?”

How to check authenticity of God

So, to answer this query, the first question arises, “How can we identify any incarnation of God?” especially in today’s era where we get to know about many self-declared Gods here and there. People are confused and don’t understand who is God actually?

So, the truth is that, no one can become God; God is not a position which can be acquired. God is always God and will remain to be God always either in past, present or future. God cannot become anything except God and the one who is not God cannot become God in any condition.

Now the main question arises, “How can we identify the incarnation of God, what is the proof?” In reply to this query we should seek answers from an authenticated source. There should be information about the incarnation in the scriptures. Information like His place of appearance, time of appearance, His looks, purpose of appearance, His father and mother name. All these information should be present in the scriptures in order to identify the incarnation of God. These entire details one can find in depth in scriptures for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. However, He is identified as secret incarnation of God.

Proof from Srimad Bhagavatam

God has hidden His real identity because He wanted to play the role of a devotee. The information can be found in Srimad Bhagavatam that God would come and spent His time doing the mass kirtan with His followers. This would do the welfare of human society. 

According to scriptures every age has his own religion and by following that we can attain love of Godhead. “Naam Sankirtan” is the only religion of this age and so it was preached by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This authenticate that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is none other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Proof from Mahabharata 

Second proof we can get from Mahabharata. When Bheeshma Dev was giving knowledge to Yudhisthira Maharaj there he pronounced Vishnu Sahasranama. He also described about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and told that Mahaprabhu body complexion would be like molten Gold, He would be very beautiful. He would accept Sannayas Ashram and would spread peace everywhere while doing the devotional service of God.

Proof from Chaitanya Upnishad 

There is one more proof that can be referred. We have 108 Upanishads out of which one is Chaitanya Upanishad, and can be found in Atharva Veda. From this upnishad we can know that Brahmaji has one great ascetic son Pipalad. He questioned to Brahmaji, “What is the easiest route of welfare for the people of most fallen age, Kaliyuga? Which mantra should they chant? Which Demigod should they worship?”

Brahmaji became very happy and replied, “Govind who resides in Goloka Vrindavan Dham, is the beautiful deity form of Spiritual World. He is beyond material senses and is the Controller and Originator of Infinite Universes. He is the Absolute Truth whose lotus feet are meditated upon even by great saints and demigods. That Lord Sri Krishna will appear in Kali-Yuga as Gaura on the bank of Ganga in Navdeep Nagar. He will be known as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu” Saying that, Brahmaji paid his obeisance unto the Lotus Feet of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Brahmaji very clearly told that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is God himself and He even foretold that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would spread happiness everywhere by chanting His own name:

Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Ram! Hare Ram!

Ram Ram Hare Hare

Brahmaji also added, “This is an absolute mantra and it can be known only through Devotional service.”

“He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who resides in everyone’s heart as Supersoul, parmatama. Whose feet are even worshipped by Anata Sheeshji and Lakshmiji. In Kali-Yuga, if someone wants to attain Lord Sri Krishna, it would be possible only by the path demonstrated by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu”.

In this way, many scriptures clearly define that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Lord Krishna Himself and He has taken this form to give love of Krishna to the people of Kali-Yuga using Hare Krishna Mahamantra.

Divine forms of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Apart from this if someone is God he should show his Universal form like Lord Sri Krishna has shown to Arjuna. Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had shown His universal form to Advaita Achraya. He presented his Varah form to Marari Gupt. Nityananda Prabhu who is Balrama Himself, Mahaprabhu presented Shatbhuj form in which he was playing flute from two hands as Krishna in Vrindavan, in the other two hands He was holding bow and arrow as Sri Ramchandra and in the other two hands He was holding Sannayas stick and kamandal as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He also presented His RadhaKrishna form to Ramananda Rai.

Transcendental pastimes of Mahaprabhu 

Now let’s talk about the third prospective to identify and authenticate the incarnation of God. One’s capability to do something divine and extraordinary; which cannot be done by any Human Being. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu performed so many divine activities which we can’t even imagine. Let us discuss one of such pastime.

When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu after accepting Sannyaas Ashram was performing Naam Sankirtana along with a servant, Balabhadra Bhattacharya, He reached in today’s Jharkhand. At that time it was a big and dense forest there. As Chaitanya Mahaprabhu passed, doing Hari Naam Sankirtana, even wild animals gave them route to pass and danced on Krishna’s name. Tiger and Deer started treating each other with love and affection. This was the effect of God and devotion. Even Trees are attracted towards Him. In that way Deer, Peacock, Monkey and Cow rendered service to Lord Krishna. Learning for all of us, when deer and tiger can live together then why not we humans belonging to different caste, country can live together?

Peace formula for the world

Today, war happens between nations belonging to different castes. Even they fight within themselves. But from the above example we can see that if Krishna’s name and devotion will be spread everywhere, there would be love, brotherhood, compassion and friendship. Thus, vanishing all the bad qualities, lack of knowledge and violence at once.

Thus, we can see and understand that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Lord Sri Krishna Himself, and there is practically no difference between the Teachings of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita and teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. As per the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the Hari naam Sankirtana movement will develop peace and love in the entire world. That’s why we should celebrate Gaur Purnima as the Appearance Day of God Himself.

If we try to understand Makar Sankranti in word form, the word Makar has been taken from Makar Rashi. Sankranti means entering. According to our ancient texts and Vedic calculations, time calculation is of two types.

The “Moon month Count” and “Solar Month Count” are based on the solar calendar. Sankranti means entering, the transition of the Sun, and the entry of the Sun, that is, the zodiac in which the Sun enters. It is called Makar Sankranti.

Types of the Solar Solstice

By the way, if seen, there are 12 types of Surya Sankranti, out of which four Mesh, Kark, Tula and Makar are prominent. The special significance of Makar Sankranti increases because the Sun God is Uttarayan on this day, that is, the journey of Lord Sun in the north direction. Before Sankranti, the Sun God is Dakshinayan. From the day of Sankranti, it travels in the north order, and this period is fixed for six months.

Lord Shri Krishna has told about Uttarayan in the Bhagavad Gita that people leave their bodies for six months from the day of Makar Sankranti, and they go to the higher planets. And those who leave their body in Dakshinayana go to the lower planets. It is said that there is an exception to every rule, something like this here too. Whoever is a devotee of the Supreme Lord, he leaves his body. Then after leaving the body in the time of Uttarayan and Dakshinayana, he reaches the abode of the Supreme Lord only. Supreme Lord Sri Krishna has told in the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 Verse 5 :

anta-kāle cha mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāstyatra sanśhayaḥ 

In this, the Supreme Lord has told that whoever remembers me the last time, that person attains my abode only. The rule of Uttarayana and Dakshinayana is there only till the person does not completely surrender to Supreme Lord.

How does Makar Sankranti occur? 

When the Earth revolves around the Sun in one full year, it is called the Solar System. If we talk about the calculation of demigods, then this one year of ours is equal to 1 day. That is, the demigods in 1 day do this circumambulation. There are 12 hours in the day and 12 hours in the night in 1 day of the demigods. That is why from the day of Makar Sankranti, the day of the demigods starts for the coming six months. From the day of Makar Sankranti, the demigods take baths early in the morning.

For this reason, on the day of Makar Sankranti, the importance of bathing, meditation and charity have been told. The day of Makar Sankranti is extraordinary, and all good work starts from the day of Makar Sankranti. Various dishes are prepared for this festival throughout India, and people also donate in large numbers. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the day of Makar Sankranti is also known as the Khichdi festival.

Makar Sankranti Significance and Celebration

The sun god is also worshipped on this day, and everyone donates rice dal khichdi to charity. After that, the khichdi is cooked and eaten. In Gujarat, in Rajasthan, kites are flown at the festival of Makar Sankranti. The celebration of Makar Sankranti in Andhra Pradesh lasts for three days. In Tamil Nadu, this festival is known as Pongal because, in Tamil Nadu, people celebrate this family for ten days when the new crop is harvested, and here dal rice khichdi is cooked in ghee.

In Maharashtra, make laddus of sesame and jaggery, give each other, and provide good wishes. In Assam, this festival is known as Megh Bihu, and in Punjab, this festival is celebrated one day before as Lohri. In West Bengal, the Ganga Sagar fair is held on the banks of the Hooghly River. The Maha Kumbh bath is also held because on this day, Ganga Maiya descended on Earth on the day of Makar Sankranti to save her ancestors behind Bhagirath. That is why bathing in Ganga Sagar is of great importance on the day of Makar Sankranti.

As you all know that from the heart of Makar Sankranti, the time of change of season, the transition of time, and shift in crop starts. The Sun has a direct effect on all new crops from the heart of Makar Sankranti. That is why the auspicious Uttarayan begins by performing ablutions on the day of Makar Sankranti, which is similar in the world, like Jyoti, Deep Light, Sun, worship of all the demigods and all the good works that start from the day of Makar Sankranti. To please the Sun, people worldwide worship the Sun God according to their beliefs and celebrate the festival of Makar Sankranti.

Who is the Sun God?

The most important fact here is that who this Sun God is. The answer to this has been told in our main book Brahma Samhita. The creator of the universe, Lord Brahma, suggests that the Lord of all the planets is the Sun God. Sun is like one eye of the Supreme Lord. 

The cycle of time moves according to the orders of the Sun God. Therefore, accept my obeisances to that Lord Shri Govind. That is, the Sun God does his work only according to the demands of the Supreme Lord Shri Govind.

Have you ever seen such a time from your birth till the present that even for one day, the Sun God has not appeared to anyone? Lord Suryadev (Sun) has always done this work in his fixed time to set on time and rise on time. Surya Dev is always performing his duty and responsibility in the right way by illuminating this entire universe like a Karma Yogi. 

Surya is the disciple of Lord Shri Krishna to get his inner light and divine knowledge. For this, Lord Shri Krishna has also told Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Text 1.

imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ
proktavān aham avyayam
vivasvān manave prāha
manur ikṣvākave ’bravīt 

First of all, I had given this knowledge of Bhagavad Gita to the Sun God Vivasvan, in this way, on the day of Makar Sankranti, the right way to please the Sun God would be that we should also worship him, take refuge in them, whose shelter by the Sun God illuminates himself, that is Lord Sri Krishna Himself and the most accessible means of his lair in this Kaliyuga, is the Hare Krishna Mahamantra:-

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

So all of you also chant this Maha-mantra to this holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and understand the true meaning of every festival and celebrate it and be happy always.

Maa Durga is a revered goddess for those who follow Sanatan Dharma. Hindus worship her all over the world in the form of Mother Shakti.

Generally, we have seen Maa Durga with ten hands with some weapons and ride over Lion, who displays his infinite powers. It is also concluded that she fights against demonic power who are trying to cause damages to peace, prosperity, and religion. Durga Puja, also known as Durgotsava or Shardotsava, is an annual Hindu festival celebrated in South Asia in which Goddess Durga is worshipped. 

Who is Maa Durga? 

According to Shastra, Maa Durga is an expansion of Mother Parvati, the wife of Lord Shiva. She takes the form of Navdurga and does all the upbringing of this world. Lord Sri Krishna also tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 9, text 10

mayadhyaksena prakrtih
suyate sa-caracara
hetunanena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate

This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. Therefore, by its rule, this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.

Durga Devi is the presiding deity of this material world. It is also believed that the person who is getting diverted from the spiritual world of Lord Krishna and going against the rules, they sent to this material world of Goddess Durga. The comparison of this material world is made with Durg, a type of Fort. This Fort is the correctional home of all the rebellious souls, where they spend their lives protecting Durga Devi, facing the Tritaap (Adhyatmika, Adhibhautika and Adhidaivika).

The trident in the hand of Goddess Durga is a symbol of reminding all the rebels who have come into this material world of Lord through Tritaap (Adhyatmika, Adhibhautika and Adhidaivika). Maa Durga is worshipped to get rid of these tritapas.

When a person comes to this material world, they have to face many sufferings like birth, death, old age, diseases, adhyatmika, adhibhautika and adhidaivika miseries. Goddess Durga takes care of all these things.

Therefore, worshipping Goddess Durga will help them get rid of these sufferings. However, if you want a permanent solution, you have to come out of this material world. 

To get rid of the cycle of birth and death, people worship Goddess Durga. As a result, such living beings get an opportunity to do devotion to the Lord. As a result, they get rid of Mahamaya, the potency of the Lord, and come under the protection of his own Shakti, Yogamaya. 

Srimad Bhagavatam also mentioned that the Gopis worshipped Mother Katyayani to get Lord Krishna as their husband. It is also mentioned in Brahma Samhita, Chapter 5, Text 44-

srishti-sthiti-pralaya- sadhana-shaktir eka
chayeva yasya bhuvanani vibharti durga
icchanurupam api yasya che cheshtate sa
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

The external potency Maya who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshipped by all people as Durga, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primaeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durga conducts herself.

The Lord presides over this material world objectively, and those who do not accept it are sent to this world of duality. Therefore, by coming in contact with a pure devotee, if the living entity understands that this material world is not his real home, he becomes free from here and goes to his original home in Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavana and attains bliss forever.

So on this Durga Puja, let us pray to Maa Durga to give us enough strength to get us out of this material world and go back home, back to Godhead. 

Narsingha means one who is half lion and half man incarnation of Shri Hari. Lord Narsinghdeva is also known as Vighna- Vinashak, as he protects his devotees from all sorts of obstacles. So, this is the special incarnation of the Lord to protect his devotees and their devotion.

Lord Ganesha, also known as Vighna- Harta, that blessing of being Vighna-Harta was given by Lord Narsinghdeva himself. Well, His form appears to be very fearful. But this form is the most loving, merciful & beautiful for his devotees.

Mother Sarasvati resides in the lotus mouth of Lord Narsinghdeva, and Mother Lakshami rests on his chest. This unique incarnation was to protect his beloved devotee, Prahlad, from his cruel father, Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu was a demon who won all three worlds and was always jealous of Lord Vishnu. But as his son, Prahlad was the devotee of Lord Vishnu. So because of False Ego & Jealousy, Hiranykashipu always tries to put Prahlad in miserable and dangerous situations to kill him. But in Inspite of all tortures, Prahlad always remains engaged in singing the names and glories of Lord Hari. This constant chanting of the Lord’s name always saved Prahlad from disasters.

By getting frustrated with so many plans to kill Prahlad, One-day Hiranyakashipu asked him, Who is Protecting you all the time? Is Your Lord present everywhere & in everything? Prahlad replied, Yes, He is omnipresent. Hiranyakashipu becomes angry and asks, is he also present in this Pillar? Again Prahlad replied, yes, He is.

Hiranyakashipu, ghastly, hammered that Pillar with his weapon. As a result, Pillar falls in breaks into pieces. Out of this Pillar, The most ferocious form of Lord Narsinghdeva appeared in front of Hiranyakashipu.
 

By considering this opponent as same as others. 

Hiranyakashipu just started fighting with him. But this time, He was proven wrong. So Lord Narsinghdeva killed him by tearing his stomach with his three highly sharp nails. He killed him so that every word of Lord Brahma’s boon was also fulfilled that either man or Animal would not kill Hiranyakashipu, Neither in the daytime nor at night, Neither inside nor outside the house, Neither on land nor in the sky, e.t.c.

Even after killing Hiranyakashipu, Lord Narsinghdeva was roaring, and everyone was fearful. No one was willing to go near him. But then Prahlad just went near him, withholding a garland for him.
 

After seeing him, Narsinghdeva becomes quiet and loves Prahlad by allowing him to sit on his lap. So, this incarnation is simply the most merciful incarnation of the Lord, which occurred merely to protect his devotee, Prahlad, as He killed Hiranyakashipu. May he similarly kills all demons like Hiranyakashipu, which resides within us, in the form of Lust, anger, greed etc.

Sripad Madhavacharya sings in the glory of Lord Narsinghdeva that our Human Heart is full of Anarthas, which are natural obstacles on the path of Bhakti. Even Vajra of Lord Indra is not capable of removing these anarthas. The only one capable of doing so is Lord Narsinghdeva and his shape nails. Only He can save us from these obstacles of devotional life.

So, Let’s celebrate this auspicious occasion of Narsingha Chaturdashi and Pray unto his Lotus feet always to protect us & our devotion.

Hare Krishna

Fasting Till Dusk

(Only Ekadashi Prasadam tobe taken)