Hare Krishna - Verse foe meditation 29/03/2014 - 31/03/2014 - Wishing you all a very Happy Ugadi and Gudipadava festival

Hare Krishna.

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai !!
All glories to Sri Sri Radha Vallabha !!
All glories to Sri Sri Jagannath Sri Sri Baladev and Srimati Subhadra Devi !!

All glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga.  All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
All glories to Vaisnava Acharyas.

Wishing you a wonderful Ugadi / Gudipadava celebrations and remembrance of Lord Sri Sri RadhaVallabha always.

It is a good occasion to start scrutinizing study of Srimad Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. Wishing you many more Years of active devotional service to the Lord.

What is Ugadi!?

Yugadi or Ugadi or "Samvatsradi", formed by sandhi of yuga "age" and ādi "beginning": the beginning of an age  is the New Year's Day for the people of the Deccan region of India. According to the Brahma Purana, this is the day on which Brahma created the world after the deluge and time began to tick from this day forth The word Yugadi can be explained as; 'Yuga' is the word for 'epoch' or 'era', and 'aadi' stands for 'the beginning'. Yugadi specifically refers to the start of the age we are living in now, Kali Yuga. Kali Yuga started the moment when Lord Krishna left the world. Maharshi Vedavyasa describes this event with the words "Yesmin Krishno divamvyataha, Tasmat eeva pratipannam Kaliyugam". Kali Yuga began on February 17/18 at midnight in 3102 BC.

Special Ugadi Prasadam

The eating of a specific mixture of six tastes, called Ugadi Pachhadi / Bevu-Bella  in Kannada,symbolizes the fact that life is a mixture of different experiences (sadness, happiness, anger, fear, disgust, surprise) , which should be accepted together and with equanimity through the New Year.

The special mixture consists of:

Neem Buds/Flowers for its bitterness, signifying Sadness

Jaggery and ripe banana pieces for sweetness, signifying Happiness

Green Chilli/Pepper for its hot taste, signifying Anger

Salt for saltiness, signifying Fear

Tamarind Juice for its sourness, signifying Disgust

Unripened Mango for its tang, signifying Surprise

SB 2.3.17

ayur harati vai pumsam
udyann astam ca yann asau
tasyarte yat-ksano nita
uttama-sloka-vartaya

Both by rising and by setting, the sun decreases the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead.

Saunaka Rsi

SB 12.3.51

kaler dosa-nidhe rajann
asti hy eko mahan gunah
kirtanad eva krsnasya
mukta-sangah param vrajet

My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.

Sukadeva Gosvami