Daily Online Programs to Conclude 2024

Quick post here—I should’ve been in bed 2 hours ago. 😅 With a new program starting in just a few hours, I figured it’s the perfect time to announce it—and while I’m at it, I’ll share the rest of this year’s programs too.

We’re closing 2024 with these three programs:

1. Six-Day Bhagavad-gītā Recital

2. Study of Daśa-mūla-śikṣā

3. Online readings honoring Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja, and Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja on their tithis

I'll go through them one-by-one.

Six-Day Bhagavad-gītā Recital

Our Bhagavad-gītā recital will start in just a few hours! Over the next six days, we’ll recite all the verses along with Śrīla Prabhupāda’s translations, culminating on Mokṣada Ekādaśī (Dec 11)—the auspicious day Śrī Kṛṣṇa spoke the Gītā.

This morning, we recited the maṅgalācāraṇa, verses from the Gītā-māhātmya, and beautiful glorifications of the Gītā by Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja, and Śrīla Prabhupāda. If you missed it, you can catch the replay here.

Daily Schedule:

📅 Time: 7 AM IST (regular program time)

📍 On Zoom, with live streams on my YouTube channel and Facebook.

Here’s how we’re dividing the chapters based on the word count:

• Day 1: Chapters 1 (1875 words) + 2 (3312 words) = 5187

• Day 2: Chapters 3 (2002) + 4 (1989) + 5 (1386) = 5377

• Day 3: Chapters 6 (2164) + 7 (1429) + 8 (1467) = 5059

• Day 4: Chapters 9 (1586) + 10 (1847) + 11 (2971) = 6404

• Day 5: Chapters 12 (896) + 13 (1568) + 14 (1235) + 15 (1027) + 16 (1030) = 5756

• Day 6: Chapters 17 (1244) + 18 (3491) = 4735

To get the Zoom and YouTube links before we start, you can join the Bhaktivinoda-gīti-dhārā WhatsApp group where I’ll be sharing them.

Daśa-mūla-śikṣā

In my last update, I mentioned plans to memorize Upadeśāmṛta verses and go through Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s corresponding songs. I’ve decided to push that to New Year’s Day instead.

For now, we’ll dive into Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s Daśa-mūla-śikṣā verses and possibly read through the middle section of Jaiva-dharma related to these verses.

I switch the program because I need to prepare a translation of Daśa-mūla-śikṣā for Śrī Gauḍīya Gīti-guccha. It's best for me to just focus all my attention in one direction. Also this way, we won't feel rushed when we go over Upadeśāmṛta and restart the Bhaktivinoda-gīti-dhārā program.

Beginning 2025 with Upadeśāmṛta and Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s prayers showing us how to approach and practically apply those verses feels like an incredibly powerful way to start the year. And yes, I’m a total sucker for New Year’s resolutions. The idea of restarting the Bhaktivinoda-gīti-dhārā on January 1 really excites me. haha

Three Festivals

December is blessed with these three especially important festivals:

1. December 19: 88th Disappearance Day of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura

2. December 24:

• 14th Disappearance Day of Śrīla Gurudeva Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja

• 103rd Appearance Day of Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja

We’ll dedicate about four or five days to reading their glories and teachings.

That's all for the programs for December. On a personal side note, two things made me really happy today:

• Our cow, Śyāmalī, showed signs today (I don’t fully understand what it was) that her baby might arrive in about 20 days!
• We decided to add Veṇu-gītā to the upcoming Śrī Gauḍīya Gīti-guccha (just finished the translation). I timed myself reciting it this morning and the whole thing only took 5½ minutes—or 4 minutes if you just sing the verses sung by the gopīs’. Veṇu-gītā could possibly become a regularly sung bhajana—how amazing is that?!

I’m hoping to write one more post before the year’s end on how I finally (for the first time ever!) stuck to some New Year’s resolutions this year and what helped me stay consistent. Hopefully, it’ll inspire you or give you some ideas for 2025! Let's see if I get around to writing it...

Haribol!