WHAT CAN I SAY TO EXPRESS MY HAPPINESS?
Sri Krsna finally returns to Sri Radha's forest bowerhouse (nikunja-bhavana)!!!
Srimati Radhika spoke to her friends in a voice choked with emotion,
“My dear sakhis, what shall I say? Today I have received the highest joy. After many, many days, Krsna is in My forest pavilion.”
Binding Sri Krsna with a fragrant garland of flowers, Srimati Radhika addressed Him, “Many days You escaped Me by your tricks. Now I have You in My home, and I will keep You bound up.”
This photo shows the "suna vesa", golden ornamentation of Sri Jagannatha Deva (Ekadasi 17th July). The golden ornaments represent Sri Krsna's opulent crown and armour as a royal prince of Dvaraka in the ksatriya (warrior) caste of the Yadu dynasty. In this festival, all these trappings of the ksatriya life are forcefully removed so that Sri Krsna can forget this episode as a prince in a foreign country and return to his life as a simple gopala (dairy farmer) in the village community of Vraja.
Huge terracotta pots with one hundred litres of delicious juice are then offered to Sri Krsna. This nectarean juice, called "adhara-pana" is a mixture of milk, cream, cottage cheese, plantain pulp, grated coconut, nabata (brown sugar spiced with camphor), nutmeg and black pepper.
After the offering, the huge terracotta pots are playfully broken. This act embodies the pure love of Vraja that manifests not as reverent courtesy, but as playful teasing.
When the pots break, all the "adhara-pana" juice splashes everywhere as it spills onto the crowds below. "Adhara" means lips. The significance of the ceremony is that when Sri Krsna finally tastes the flavour of the lips of Sri Radha after long separation, the ecstasy of their meeting overflows and drowns all the sakhis with ujjvala-rasa, the radiant mellow of the highest unconditional and pristine romantic love.
What an unprecedented privilege it is to serve Sri Radha Krsna at that time! A special thanks to all the students and well-wishers of Chaitanya Academy who contributed over $1500 pranami for the offerings and service during this beautiful pastime. May Sri Jagannatha Deva bless you all!
Don't forget to register for the Chaitanya Academy "Jagannatha Puri Parikrama" - 6th-12th FEB 2025.
ki kahiba re sakhi ajuka ananda ora
cira-dine madhava mandire mora
“My dear sakhis, what shall I say? Today I have received the highest joy. After many, many days, Krsna is in My forest pavilion.”
aneka dina tumi more bedaile bhandiya
gharete panachi, ebe rakhiba bandhiya
Binding Sri Krsna with a fragrant garland of flowers, Srimati Radhika addressed Him, “Many days You escaped Me by your tricks. Now I have You in My home, and I will keep You bound up.”
This photo shows the "suna vesa", golden ornamentation of Sri Jagannatha Deva (Ekadasi 17th July). The golden ornaments represent Sri Krsna's opulent crown and armour as a royal prince of Dvaraka in the ksatriya (warrior) caste of the Yadu dynasty. In this festival, all these trappings of the ksatriya life are forcefully removed so that Sri Krsna can forget this episode as a prince in a foreign country and return to his life as a simple gopala (dairy farmer) in the village community of Vraja.
Huge terracotta pots with one hundred litres of delicious juice are then offered to Sri Krsna. This nectarean juice, called "adhara-pana" is a mixture of milk, cream, cottage cheese, plantain pulp, grated coconut, nabata (brown sugar spiced with camphor), nutmeg and black pepper.
After the offering, the huge terracotta pots are playfully broken. This act embodies the pure love of Vraja that manifests not as reverent courtesy, but as playful teasing.
When the pots break, all the "adhara-pana" juice splashes everywhere as it spills onto the crowds below. "Adhara" means lips. The significance of the ceremony is that when Sri Krsna finally tastes the flavour of the lips of Sri Radha after long separation, the ecstasy of their meeting overflows and drowns all the sakhis with ujjvala-rasa, the radiant mellow of the highest unconditional and pristine romantic love.
What an unprecedented privilege it is to serve Sri Radha Krsna at that time! A special thanks to all the students and well-wishers of Chaitanya Academy who contributed over $1500 pranami for the offerings and service during this beautiful pastime. May Sri Jagannatha Deva bless you all!
Don't forget to register for the Chaitanya Academy "Jagannatha Puri Parikrama" - 6th-12th FEB 2025.
sri hari guru vaisnava krpa lesa prarthi,
Prem Prayojan das
Radhe Shyama!
17th July 2024
