06/10/2022
Dear Devotee Friends,
The Kartik month (Damodara-Masa) is from (9th OCT to 8th NOV 2022).It's a wonderful period of the year to deepen one's relationship with the Lordships, & all spiritual activities performed during this month are multiplied a hundred to a thousand times!
Here are some suggestions/inspirations what type of spiritual activities you can adopt during Kartika-masa.
1. Daily sing the Damodarastakam-prayer & meditate on its meaning.
2. Daily offer a pure ghee-lamp (lit with a Tulasi-stick from a departed Tulasi-bush) to Radha-Damodara with love & devotion.
3. Daily worship, water, circumambulate (min. 4 times) & chant in front of Tulasi Devi & pray for eternal residence in Sri Vrindavana-Dhama.
4. Daily hear Hari-Katha from elevated Vaishnavas (esp. the story about Gajendra, the elephant, from Srimad Bhagavatam)
5. Chant extra rounds of Hare Krishna maha-mantra on yr beads & perform extra Harinama-sankirtana (“jagaran” - try to stay up on certain nights, e.g. Ekadasi)
6. Practise brahmacarya all month & sleep on the floor.
7. Visit holy places such as Vrindavana-Dhama, Sri Dhama Mayapur & Jagannatha Puri & take bath in sacred waters (Radha-Kunda, Ganges, etc.)
8. Observe all the festivals during the Kartik-masa such as Goverdhana Puja, Diwali, etc. (BVT: “Festivals are the mother of devotion.”)
9. Give in charity to deserving Vaishnavas/Brahmanas.
10. Daily recite Sri Siksatakam & Upadesamrita & deeply meditate on the meaning of the verses. Also read different tikas (commentaries) on them by the Vaishnava acaryas.
We wish you a lot of inspiration & deep realizations! Jaya Radhe Shyam!
