{"id":32478,"date":"2018-11-07T07:50:19","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T06:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dandavats.tumblr.com\/post\/152021456586"},"modified":"2018-11-07T08:45:15","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T07:45:15","slug":"the-glories-of-damodara-masawhatever-one-does-for-krishna-at","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=32478","title":{"rendered":"The Glories Of Damodara Masa"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The Glories Of Damodara Masa
\nWhatever one does for Krishna \u2013 at any time, at any place, under any circumstance \u2013 is to one\u2019s eternal benefit
\nSuch is the benefit of devotional service in general. However, during certain times of year\u2013such as appearance anniversaries of Lord Krishna and His devotees\u2013the benefits of one\u2019s service are compounded.<\/p>\n

During the month of Damodar, or K\u0101rttika (October\/November), rewards for service to Krishna are greater than at any other time of year. For instance, Krishna always likes tulasi leaves, so it\u2019s always a good time to offer tulasi leaves to Krishna. However, in the Hari-bhakti-vilas of Sanatan Goswami, we find these statements:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe result one obtains by giving ten thousand cows in charity can be obtained by offering only one tulasi leaf to the Supreme Lord during the month of K\u0101rttika.\u201d (7.335) and\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who worship Lord Hari with an offering of one hundred thousand tulasi leaves during the month of K\u0101rttika certainly advance on the path of pure devotional service, which includes liberation, with each leaf offered. (7.336)\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cK\u0101rttika could be thought of as the ultimate \u201cbuy one, get a-whole-lot-more free\u201d sale, or the equivalent of a \u201csuper, multi-triple word score\u201d in the game of Scrabble.\u201d
\nIt is also recommended to offer malati (very fragrant white jasmine-like flowers) to Krishna, and here\u2019s what Hari-bhakti-vilasa says about malati offerings during K\u0101rttika: <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is better to offer malati flowers to Lord Kesava in the month of K\u0101rttika than to donate gold, cows, or land to worthy recipients.\u201c
\nMalati flowers are pleasing to Lord Kesava (Krishna) in whatever month they are offered. In the month of K\u0101rttika, the offering of malati flowers awards one the merit of performing a horse sacrifice.<\/p>\n

It would take some research to find exactly what the merit of performing a horse sacrifice is.<\/p>\n

It is easy to understand the importance of the following statement, though, considering that Yamaraja is the universal superintendent in charge of meting out punishment to those who transgress karmic law: <\/p>\n

\u201cFor a devotee who worships Lord Vishnu with offerings of malati flowers in the month of K\u0101rttika, Yamaraja orders the removal of all his sinful reactions from the account book.\u201d (7.90-92)
\nNot bad. And the list goes on. Whatever you offer\u2013tulasi, malati, ghee lamps, time, energy, attention\u2013takes on greater significance this month.<\/p>\n

K\u0101rttika could be thought of as the ultimate \u201cbuy one, get a-whole-lot-more free\u201d sale, or the equivalent of a \u201csuper, multi-triple word score\u201d in the game of Scrabble. For a limited time only, whoever is lucky (or greedy, or intelligent) enough to do some service for Krishna during this special month gets a uniquely huge return on their investment. The ultimate return: one becomes more Krishna conscious.<\/p>\n

It was during K\u0101rttika that Krishna allowed Himself to be bound with ropes by His mother, Yasoda. Out of loving anger at her transcendentally naughty child, she tied him (dama) around the abdomen (udara) with ropes. Thus the month of K\u0101rttika is also known as the month of Damodara, \u201cHe Who was bound around the abdomen\u201d.<\/p>\n

Srila Prabhupada discusses this at some length in Nectar of Devotion (quoting Padma Purana): <\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this month, in Vrndavana it is the regulative principle to pray daily to Lord Krishna in His Damodara form. The Damodara form refers to Krishna in His childhood when He was tied up with rope by His mother, Yasoda. Dama means \u2018ropes,\u2019 and udara means \u2018the abdomen.\u2019 So mother Yasoda, being very disturbed by naughty Krsna, bound Him round the abdomen with a rope, and thus Krishna is named Damodara.\u201d (Chapter 5, page 42)<\/p>\n

He elaborates on this in the section \u201cPerforming Devotional Service in K\u0101rttika:\u201d \u201c\u2026 in the month of K\u0101rttika (October-November); especially in Vrndavana, there is a specific program for temple worship of the Lord in His D\u0101modara form. \u201cD\u0101modara\u201d refers to Krishna\u2019s being bound with rope by His mother, Ya\u015bod\u0101. It is said that just as Lord D\u0101modara is very dear to His devotees, so the month known as D\u0101modara or K\u0101rttika is also very dear to them.<\/p>\n

The execution of devotional service during \u016arja-vrata in the month of K\u0101rttika is especially recommended to be performed at Mathur\u0101. This system is still followed by many devotees. They go to Mathur\u0101 or Vrndavana and stay there during the month of K\u0101rttika specifically to perform devotional services during this period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prabhupada makes a point to say it is \u201cespecially recommended\u201d to perform devotional service during K\u0101rttika in Mathura, or Vrindavana. This is not to say that K\u0101rttika\u2019s benefits are exclusively available there, but devotees who are able to go make the trip if at all possible. <\/p>\n

\u201cUrja-vrata\u201d refers to the acceptance of special vows during K\u0101rttika. Devotees often take vows to increase their hearing, chanting, worship, or to observe restrictions in their eating. Making and keeping such vows during the month of Damodara guarantees compounded benefits.
\nPrabhupada ends Nectar of Devotion\u2019s section on K\u0101rttika with an interesting commentary from Padma Purana: <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026the Lord does not award devotional service to ordinary persons who are not serious about it. But even such unserious persons who execute devotional service according to the regulative principles during the month of K\u0101rttika, and within the jurisdiction of Mathur\u0101 in India, are very easily awarded the Lord\u2019s personal service.\u201d (N.O.D., Chapter 12)
\nIf even an \u201cunserious\u201d person can attain Krishna\u2019s personal service, simply by \u201cexecuting devotional service according to the regulative principles during the month of K\u0101rttika\u201d\u2013wouldn\u2019t it then also be a seriously good time to get serious?<\/p>\n

Damodara Masa ki Jai!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The Glories Of Damodara Masa
\nSuch is the benefit of devotional service in general. However, during certain times of year\u2013such as appearance anniversaries of Lord Krishna and His devotees\u2013the benefits of one\u2019s service are compounded.
\nDuring the month of Damodar, or Karttika (October\/November), rewards for service to Krishna are greater than at any other time of year. For instance, Krishna always likes tulasi leaves, so it\u2019s always a good time to offer tulasi leaves to Krishna. However, in the Hari-bhakti-vilas of Sanatan Goswami, we find these statements:
\n\u201cThe result one obtains by giving ten thousand cows in charity can be obtained by offering only one tulasi leaf to the Supreme Lord during the month of Karttika.\u201d (7.335) and\u2026\u201cThose who worship Lord Hari with an offering of one hundred thousand tulasi leaves during the month of K\u0101rttika certainly advance on the path of pure devotional service, which includes liberation, with each leaf offered. (7.336)\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10650,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32478"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37068,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32478\/revisions\/37068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}