Festivals

By Aruddha Devi Dasi

As a child Srila Prabhupada showed great eagerness to celebrate festivals. He once spoke of his efforts to celebrate Rathayatra. When I was five or six years old, any carpenter I saw I would ask him why dont you make a Rathayatra cart for me. Yes, why not, they would say. I would have my father take me to the carpenter shop, but none of them would make it. One old lady saw me crying on the street because I could not have the Rathayatra cart built. She asked my father why is he crying and my father explained because he wants a Rathayatra cart but no carpenter is making it. I have got one, said the old lady, and my father purchased it from her. He bought oil paint for me and I painted. I was also preparing fireworks for the occasion. I saw little books how to do it. There are so many examples in the scriptures where the Lord and His devotees celebrated festivals on a regular basis. Krishna and residents of Vrndavan were always in a festive mood and celebrated by dressing up and decorating themselves, singing, dancing and feasting. During His own advent in Vrndavan, Krishna celebrated many festivals with his friends such as Govardhan Puja, Holi, Gopastami, His own birthday, Chandan Yatra during the hottest month of summer, the advent of the spring season and full moon days such as Sharad Purnima. In Gaura Lila, Lord Nityananda and his childhood friends regularly enacted plays that were so real that the residents of Ekacakra were amazed. Prabhupada also reminisces how once in his youth he did a play with his friends on the life of Lord Caitanya so effectively that the audience was moved to tears. Srila Prabhupada said that ideal householder life is one where all members of the family get full opportunity to hear and chant. Together, they should worship the Deity, observe festivals, invite friends and serve them prasadam. In Caitanya Caritamrta. Srila Prabhupada gives the example of Advaita Acarya to illustrate this point for all of us. Advaita crya set an ideal example for all householder devotees in His reception of Lord Caitanya Mahprabhu and His devotees and in His execution of a daily festival at His home. If one has the proper means and wealth, he should occasionally invite the devotees of Lord Caitanya who are engaged in preaching all over the world and hold a festival at home simply by distributing prasdam and talking about Krsna during the day and holding congregational chanting for at least three hours in the evening. Prabhupada wanted major celebrations such as Janamastami and Gaura Purnima to attract many people to the temple so that they could chant, dance and eat prasadam. He himself never missed a festival and often times managed and organized them even when it meant great physical austerity. One time when a devotee at the 1976 Mayapur festival asked him whether he was tired after so many busy days conducting the festival, he said, What tired? So many people are coming and hearing about Krsna. When youre preaching, you feel refreshed. Learning through Festivals Children love festivals. They get a break from the normal routine of home schooling and get a chance to show their love and appreciation for Krishna consciousness in a practical way. They can engage and assist in many different ways such as cleaning, organizing, decorating, participating in plays and Krishna conscious games the atmosphere can be surcharged with spiritual energy. They can have their friends over and sing and dance with them. When parents open their homes to friends and family, the children learn the concept of sharing and service easily. They understand that everything belongs to Krishna and should be

used in His service. They also learn the art of cooperation with other family members and friends, for without them it would be impossible to hold festivals. They learn to see all tasks, even activities such as cleaning, to be as important as Deity worship and chanting. But most of all they learn to relate to Krishna as a person - He is our most special guest at home. Taking part in a play, wearing appropriate costumes, is also great fun for them. The culture of Krishna consciousness becomes deeply imbedded in their hearts and mind and they carry fond memories of them throughout their life. Besides who does not like congregational chanting, prasadam, plays, good clothes etc? If we look at our Vaishnava calendars practically every day is a celebration of one type or another. During our home schooling days, my husband, Anantarupa Prabhu, was very particular to celebrate all festivals in a grand way. He encouraged us to make a collective family effort for their success and open our doors to all who came to join us for the celebrations. For days such as Janamastami, Gaura Purnima, Nrsinghadeva Caturdashi and Diwali we took two weeks off from the normal routine of home schooling. On other smaller festivals and appearance or disappearance days of acharyas we took a day or two off. During this time we dovetailed our study into learning about the festival and soon realized that the children did more study during those off days than the regular working days. For example, for Gaura Purnima, the appearance day of Lord Caitanya, we read about His advent and His early childhood pastimes from the Caitanya Caritamrta. I gave them English assignments based on what they read. We staged a play for most festivals, small or big, which required a script. We encouraged our children to write a script which took a tremendous amount of work such as reading, writing, editing and summarizing. Twice a week they had their friends over and practiced for the play, getting a chance to direct and act in the play. During the weeks prior to the festival their motivation to learn was stronger than other days. How did we celebrate festivals? My husband guided us through that. For all festivals we decorated the altar and dressed the Deities gorgeously with fresh clothes. We had a nice play in which we engaged children of devotees and congregation members, some special bhajans, dances and prasadam. We designed costumes and made props for the plays (that took care of their school art lessons). For example, just even making a bow and arrow for Lord Rama, a scenic backdrop or Govardhan Hill out of paper mache took much planning and tested our basic art skills. We also spent a substantial amount of time planning, shopping and cooking for the Deities food offering. We celebrated other festivals such as the appearance and disappearance days of our acharyas in the same manner. In the week prior to the festival, we would read the biography of that acarya. On the day, we would cook for them and offer pushpanjali and artik. Frankly, this is primarily what we did for our home schooling - plan festivals, temple programs, Deity worship and organize preaching activities, and any success we had was a result of this. Prabhupada gave many lectures on how to celebrate festivals and we can take guidance from them. In a 1972 room conversation in Vrndavan he explained the different kinds of festivals on the Vaishnava calendar, their spiritual significance, how they should be celebrated and how we should fast on those days. He wanted us to celebrate all festivals that he noted on the calendar as well as the appearance and disappearance days of our acharyas. Below is an excerpt from that conversation: The next important day is on the 26th, no, 12th September, 12th September, 1970, the advent day of Sri Jiva Gosvami Prabhu. (pause) On that day there are three functions. First of all, Ekdasi, a special Ekdasi called Parsvaika Ekadasi. Then on that day, actually, Ekadasi according to calendar, Ekadasi was to be observed on the 11th September, but because the

next day is Vamana Dvadasi.... Vamana Dvadasi means the advent of Lord Vmanadeva. Therefore we have fast., Ekadasi fasting, and we observe two fastings in one day, Ekadasi and Vamanadeva, Vamana Dvadasi. The same process as we observe Ekadasi, and the evening there should be a meeting discussing on the life and work of Srila Jiva Gosvami. He is one of the very mportant cryas in our sampradya, so especially his Sandarbhas should be discussed. If there is no such book, then the following discussion may be, take place. The question may arise as to whether children should be encouraged to fast on festivals. Until the age of ten I did not encourage total fasting but if they did wanted to do some, I had food readily available in case they got hungry. Sometimes children want to imitate and try to fast but cannot manage for very long. During such predicaments, giving them food without grains is a good option so that they are also doing some austerities but enjoy doing them. On Ekadasis I had plenty of food such as buckwheat, potato and other non-grain items so they could fast from grains without difficulty. Gradually their stamina for fasting increased, and as they grew older they were able to do full fasts on days such as Janmastami. Children love to play; therefore celebrating festivals is a great way to dovetail their playing tendency into something meaningful. They learn valuable practical skills while fixing their minds on Krishna. If we dont engage them in these activities they will spend their time playing with meaningless toys and games. The things that I remember most about my own childhood in Allahabad, India were my participation in festivals such as Holi, Diwali and Dassehra. My parents celebrated all festivals with enthusiasm especially Janmastami and Nandostava, and distributed hundreds of gifts to people every year. I remember fondly the yearly Dassehra in Allahabad when hundreds of floats depicting Lord Ramas pastimes were decorated and my father would make prior arrangements so that they waited extra time in front of our house so that we could see them to our hearts content. Then on the last day of the week-long festival he would wake us up early and take us to a special place where Lord Rama was residing and we would touch His feet and do aarti. This was my favorite festival growing up as a child. We can now pass these traditions that we imbibed from our parents to our children in a meaningful way, by following Srila Prabhupadas instructions. Let us not be reluctant about celebrating these holidays with our children, thereby helping them to become more Krishna conscious. It may mean some hard work on our part but the results are lasting. Children love festivities, color, song, dance, good food, but who doesnt?