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Calendar Of Events |
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Jagadguru Divas Basant Panchami Maha Shiva Ratri Mahaprabhu Jayanti Holi Ram Navami Guru Purnima Raksha Bandhan Janmastami Radha Astami Vijaya Dashami Sharat Purnima Deepavali Govardan Pooja |
14 January 2008 11 February 2008 06 March 2008 21 March 2008 22 March 2008 14 April 2008 18 July 2008 16 August 2008 24 August 2008 07 September 2008 10 October 2008 14 October 2008 28 October 2008 29 October 2008 |
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Sharad Poornima: Why Is It So Special... |
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"In India, in our Hindu religion, almost every day of the year is a celebration of some holy festival or the other. The reason? It is because God has descended to earth in the holy land of India countless times, as have His divine associates. Consequently, there is an abundance of festivals. Some people name Ramnavmi as the greatest festival; others Janmashtami, Divali or Dusshehra.
I feel Sharad Poornima is the most important and the greatest festival of all. Why? Because it was on the full-moon night of Sharad Poornima 5,000 years ago that Shri Radha-Krishna gave the sweetest bliss to individual souls.
There are varying levels of happiness, both worldly and Godly. In this imperfect world of ours, there are 3 levels of happiness: sattvic, rajas and tamas. In the perfect world of God, there are many levels of bliss. There is, first of all, brahmanand, the bliss of the Impersonal Absolute. This is the lowest level of Godly bliss. Godly bliss is unlimited and inexpressible. Words fail to describe it; the material mind fails to comprehend it. Still, out of all the levels of Godly bliss, Brahmanand is the lowest. Beyond the bliss of the Impersonal Brahman is the bliss of the Personal aspect of God. This bliss is known as Premanand, of which there are many levels also. |
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There is Shanta Bhav of Premanand, in which the devotee loves and serves Shri Krishna as the King. Higher and sweeter than Shanta bhav is Dasya bhav, in which the devotee loves Shri Krishna as King and Master. Still higher and sweeter is Sakhya bhav, in which the devotee loves and serves Shri Krishna as King, Master and Friend. Higher and sweeter still is Vatsalya bhav, in which Shri Krishna is loved and served as King, Master, Friend and Son. The highest is Madhurya bhav, in which Shri Krishna is loved and served in all possible ways: as King, Master, Friend, Son and Beloved.
In Madhurya bhav, there are further levels. Sadharanee Rati, in which the devotee’s love for Krishna is tinged with selfish desire; Samanjasa Rati, in which the devotee seeks not only his happiness but also that of the Beloved; and Samartha Rati, in which there is no desire for one’s personal happiness.
This Samartha Rati Premanand is attained by extremely rare divine souls. Such a soul may be one in many billions. This sweetest happiness and sweetness was distributed by Lord Krishna some 5,000 years ago on the night of Sharad Poornima in the form of Maharaas, and this is why I consider Sharad Poornima the greatest of all festivals."
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Radha Madhav Satsang (Registered Charity No. 1988) Mail @ 5000E Marine Parade Road, #03-20 Singapore 449288 Satsang @ 47 Cuff Road, Singapore North Indian Hindu Association, Singapore 209755 |
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