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Song in Praise of Lord Chaitanya – devotional songs

Lord Chaitanya appears in a dream to Gopal Bhatta

This is a song by Narottama dasa Thakura in praise of the glories of Lord Caitanya.

For any devotees who want to relish the transcendental and nectarian words of the devotees of Shri Krishna Chaitanya, I know you will be so happy to have this soundtrack to listen to. Lord Chaitanyas devotional songs are the heart and soul of His devotees!

SAVARANA-SRI-GAURA-MAHIMA
Anyone who has accepted the two lotus feet of Lord Chaitanya as their only asset knows the true essence of devotional service. If anyone gives submissive aural reception to the pleasing and sweet pastimes of Lord Chaitanya, then immediately his heart becomes cleansed of all material contamination.

For you to read, here is the verse and translation to learn and sing along with in this wonderful melody.

SAVARANA-SRI-GAURA-MAHIMA

The Glories of Sri Gauranga from Prarthana by Sri Narottama dasa Thakura 

Text One 

gaurangera duti pada, jar dhana sampada, se jane bhakati-rasa-sar gaurangera madhura-lila, jar karne pravesila, hrdoya nirmala bhelo tar

Translation
Anyone who has accepted the two lotus feet of Lord Chaitanya as their only asset knows the true essence of devotional service. If anyone gives submissive aural reception to the pleasing and sweet pastimes of Lord Chaitanya, then immediately his heart becomes cleansed of all material contamination.

Text Two 

je gaurangera nama loy, tara hoy premodoy, tare mui jai bolihari gauranga-gunete jhure, nitya-lila tare sphure, se jana bhakati-adhikari

Translation 
Anyone who simply chants the name of Sri Krishna Chaitanya will immediately develop love of Godhead. I offer him all congratulations by saying, ‘Bravo!’ If anyone feels ecstasy and cries by simply hearing the transcendental qualities of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he at once understands the eternal loving affairs between Radha and Krishna.

Text Three
gaurangera sangi-gane, nitya-siddha kori’ mane, se jay brajendra-suta-pas sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi, jeba jane cintamani, tara hoy braja-bhume bas

Translation
Anyone who has understood that the associates of Lord Chaitanya are eternally liberated souls immediately becomes eligible to enter into the abode of Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja in Vrndavana, in his next birth. If anyone understands that there is no difference between Gauda-mandala, the place in West Bengal wherein Lord Chaitanya had His pastimes then he actually lives in Vrndavana.

Text Four
gaura-prema-rasarnave, se tarange jeba dube, se radha-madhava-antaranga grhe ba vanete thake, ‘ha gauranga’ bo’le dake, narottama mage tara sanga

Translation 
Anyone who takes pleasure sporting within the waves of the ocean of Lord Chaitanya’s distribution of love of God immediately becomes a confidential devotee of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava. It doesn’t matter whether such a devotee is in the renounced order of life or whether he is a householder. If he is actually taking part in Lord Chaitanya’s sankirtana activities and actually understanding what it is, then such a person is always liberated. Narottama dasa aspires for his association.

NOW BACK TO US

I grew up listening to this wonderful prayer on repeat, and my dear friends, you need to be able to hear it to! Would you like more access to some of the wonderful soundtracks I was blessed to learn about? I bet you would! So I will keep seeking them out and sharing here.

If you have joined my newsletter then you will get a little blitz with this and a personal story as well.

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Remember Krishna – the solution to all of life’s problems

remember krishna radha decorated with garland with fairylights poster

Please read on where I am sharing the most beautiful spiritual wisdom talk shared by my own spiritual teacher, who has given us all this gift of transcendental knowledge.

Take heart; Remembering Krishna makes it possible to have actual life.
When you remember Krishna big mountains seem like very small hills you can easily cross.
When you’re not remembering Krishna even small hills look too hard.
When you remember Krishna you have courage facing difficulties & challenges.
When you forget Krishna even the smallest obstacles seem insurmountable, you experience frustration, anxiety, depression.
When you remember Krishna you experience hope.
We forget Krishna & experience hopelessness.
When we remember Krishna we experience purposefulness.
When we forget Krishna we experience life is without any purpose.
When we remember Krishna we are surcharged with spiritual strength.
When we forget Krishna we become spiritually weak.
When we forget Krishna we are like a blind person, we cant see which way to go or where to aim.
When We remember Krishna we can see very clearly what path to follow.
When We remember Krishna our hearts fill with love, appreciation & gratitude.
When we forget Krishna we have hate, anger, feeling resentful, jealousy.
When we remember Krishna we experience tolerance, patience, forgiveness.
When we forget Krishna forgiveness is beyond our reach. We cannot forgive those who offend us.
Simply by remembering Krishna we have life – with forgetfulness of Krishna we have darkness & death.
We should always remember Krishna, and organise our life so that we always remember Krishna.
Chant japa – japa is the private practice of chanting names of Krishna solitarily.
If we neglect to spend time everyday chanting our japa, if we take lightly this instruction from our Spiritual master and don’t spend time alone with Krishna chanting japa then our remembrance of Krishna is weakened.
Some disciples think they are so busy that they don’t have time. They think that they cannot put aside an hour of the morning to chant the names of Krishna.
This is a big mistake. There is no meaning to ‘service’ without remembrance of Krishna.
If we neglect to follow the our vow of spending time with Krishna then we are undermining or rejecting the relationship with our spiritual master and Krishna.
when we neglect this basic central instruction to chant japa by ourselves with Krishna focused on hearing th enames, the form and pastimes of Krishna then we are neglecting the most wonderful opportunity that has been given by Krishna to come into contact with His representative and receive His holy names.
First make sure to remember Krishna by spending time every day chanting japa. Every opportunity here and there through the day we can do more japa.
Hearing the names of Krishna, putting on a cd of Krishna chanting, listening to the names of Krishna and hearing pastimes of Krishna, the names and forms of Krishna & chanting in congregational kirtan.
Organise your life so you are engaged in Krishna.
We eat and drink throughout the day – we can offer that to Krishna.
Remembering Krishna.
We offer obeisances to our Spiritual Master by thanking him for filling our hearts with transcendental knowledge – the truth of my identity that I am part and parcel of Krishna. He is my dear-most friend.
Remember Krishna means remembering our relationship with Krishna, not philosophically but in tasting love for Krishna, in remembering our loving relationship with Krishna.
Transcendental knowledge and love for Krishna are one and the same.
The realization of transcendental knowledge means loving Krishna.
My dear Krishna, you are the heart of my heart, the life of my life, let me take shelter of you. Just rest your heart and mind in Krishna – this is rememberance of Krishna.
This remembrance of Krishna saves us from the greatest dangers, the darkest night.
In all situations just remember Krishna, this is the solution to all of lifes problems.
Just remember Krishna means love Krishna.
Love Krishna and remember Krishna is one and the same. Please chant the names of Krishna

My notes from a lecture given by Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa Prabhupad a bonafide disciple of a bonafide spirtual master coming in a long line of spiritual teachers, originating from God Himself.

Any errors are due to my own note-taking & poor memory, and I beg you will forgive me for them.
For more nectarian instruction visit www.wisdom.yoga
Follow instagram @scienceofidentity for regular spirtual wisdom love bursts on your insta feed!

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Easiest dhoti in the world for Krishna deity

Following on from my first HOW TO MAKE A DHOTI FOR KRISHNA post, I have put together a very simple guide, with some ideas and explanations about the reasons for pleating, and how and where to pleat.

This really is the worlds easiest dhoti… or maybe I should say, realistic dhoti, after all there are some dhoti which are just a sarong and that is probably easier style.

It’s also extra fun because I have temporarily in my custody this beautiful Krishna deity I painted! Isn’t He lovely? Syamasundar Krishna in all joyous happy beauty. (If you are painting deities then please check out my tips on painting deity forms)

As long as you know how to sew and hem a simple rectangle, then this DIY tutorial is all you need to get started on making your own clothes for Krsna! If you have your deity standing in front of you then you can easily work out the length you need to cut.

I love it if I have Krsna in front of me it makes sewing for Him SO much easier! In general I would allow 1/2 of waist width for the front pleats, 3cm extra for the back pleat, and then 1.5 times waist width for the length to pass between Krishna legs and fold into the back of his dhoti at the back.

Always sew on your braid before you do your final stitches to secure the ends and add your press studs!

If anything in this tutorial is unclear, please refer to my step-by-step tutorial which is detailed with images! Here’s that link again 

There’s a whole catalogue of Krishna videos on my YouTube channel which you may or may not follow – not everything makes it’s way to my blog, we’ve diversified across social media platforms, hah! Please subscribe and follow me on YouTube & Facebook! I promise to keep it Krishna conscious! I don’t promise not to totally obsess over art, Krishna, deities, and more 🙂

 

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Bedtime story magic

I am so happy that my 8yr old has begun requesting them again – for awhile there, it was no mum, not a Krishna story (break my heart!).
Now tho, we do everything and the final request of the night is a Krishna story, or JUST ONE MORE!

So, as the Krishna story request is usually accompanied by a demand for a NEW story mum, I have been delightfully pushed into reading and hearing more, to keep up with this insatiable thirst for the treasure house of Krsna story nectar (that we both love).

One source of joy has been the new treasure trove of Krishna lore from instagram account @KrishnaEveryday (Oh Hari! What a perfect name!)

Pictures from vrindavan
Krishna instagram account with nice stories of Krsna everyday and beautiful images of Vrindavan and the cowherd boys and other inhabitants. Lots of quotes from various bonafide scriptural sources.

 

As a sidenote, somebody please name their child Hara! I heard a beautiful lecture from the wonderful speaker Acharaya das where he talks about the potency of Hara, as a name for Radharani. Hari and Hara? Oh the beauty. Check out more wonderful lectures from Acharya das, an authority on Vedic wisdom, on The Journey of Life.

Ok back to original thread here, one joy was re-reading the Krishna stories as an adult. Yes I was very fortunate to be born into a nice Vaishnava family (my parents are disciples of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad), and my dad was keen on reading us the Ramayan nightly. I’m pretty sure I learnt to read at 5 just to start reading those stories myself! Anyway it’s amazing how much more you can note and soak up as an adult re-reading Krishna’s pastimes from the Krishna book.

Mostly we switch out the light and cozy up on my daughters bed and I tell her the story as I remember it. I don’t have the worlds greatest memory (it’s wretched), so sometimes I say we are going to have to fact check that in the morning!

I love simple stories, and I love complicated stories! Sometimes you hear snippets studded with wonder from venerable Vaishnava devotees that you haven’t heard elsewhere and we hoard those up like jewels and take them out and marvel at them in story time.

My favorite part of our Krishna playdays is the story telling section. I just love it, and all the kids do too.

Because really, Krishna is for every day! Yay!
Visit @doddyart on instagram for a beautiful stream of Krishna art and all things Krishna related!

What pastime of Krishna do you remember back to front and can tell as you are falling asleep? Me, I like to tell these faves right now: Lord Chaitanya discovers Toto Gopinath in the garden of Gadadhar, and also Mother Yasoda & Rohini call Krishna & Balaram home. My daughter loves to hear how Krishna and Balaram are naughty, and their friends threatening them not to play next time!

As it has just been the appearance day of Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya we have been talking all the stories I can remember of little Gaura – again so much appreciated!

So if you want to enjoy beautiful pastimes of Krishna then I urge you to start reading and hearing, and you will have so many just ready to flow from your lips when your little ones request Just One More at bedtime.

 

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Craft activity – creating hanging fish

Krishna craft activity playday

See post on the fun had during the reenactment activity here

Craft for kids, krishna fish making activity diy tutorial
Setting up the activity table with all the required paints, papers, cutting tools and precut fish shapes makes the craft go smoothly

Krishna craft precut shapes for kids to make into their activity
An assortment of fish shapes, cut out from brown (natural) paper plates and turtles, ready for kids to decorate and IMPORTANTLY some examples so they have an idea to springboard their imaginations off

Creating craft essentials with Krishna accessories and tools like cardobard for DIY
Googly eyes, precut baby turtle shapes from green cardboard, twine, a carved wooden turtle inspiration and some cut off egg carton cardboard are the perfect tools to create some marvellous sea creatures.

krishna kids craft activity playday making turtles for Krsna activity
Making turtles, cut out the silhouette from paper plates first and decorate with “scales” from bits of mini muffin liners

homeschooling kids craft activity Krishna centred play
Preparing in advance is key to quick and easy craft activities for kids, easy for them to grab the materials and away they go!

 

Krishna craft activity playday
These fun fish have a destination! Were made using brown paper plates and little “boats” dishes for food.

Krishna craft turtles with glitter and googly eyes
Creatively decorated with glitter, big and little turtles – and adorable googly eyes

Turtle DIY craft
Letting the kids DIY craft is most of the fun. See how creatively adorned with shiny metallic foil wrappers this turtle is? The paper plate base makes nice texture on his flippers and fins

Krishna craft activity playday
An assortment of fish created using eco-disposable serving ware, these fish are made with little wood paper boats, and covered in silver and gold foil cupcake wrappers for a fish scale effect that catches the light and is shiny

 

DIY Krishna kids play dress up crafts for Varuna play fun
A little stage was set using the fish craft.
A throne was made for Varuna, and paper streamers and balloons were hung to give the underwater world effect, as well as all the crafted fish the kids had made during the activity section of the Krishna playday.