First Program for Cāturmāsya-vrata

Hare Kṛṣṇa. Please accept my daṇḍavat praṇāma.

In only seven hours from now, we'll be commencing three programs for Cāturmāsya- and Puruṣottama-vrata:

1. A 45-min japa session
2. A 45-min kirtan/stotram session
3. A 1 1/2-hour Caitanya-bhāgavata reading

If you'd like to know details for these programs, I gave a detailed explanation in this video:

The global timings can be found at the end of this email.

Plan for the first program

I decided to change the format of the first program from what I mentioned in the video above so that we can properly honor the disappearance day of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī and Śrī Guru Pūrṇimā. Here's what I'm planning:

Japa program

I selected three paragraphs from an article entitled "Śrī Guru-pūjā" by my Paramgurudeva, Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja. We'll read them at the beginning, middle and end of the chanting session.

The next day, we'll begin reading verses from Chapter 2 of Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja's Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam. If you like, you can watch this video I made for Chapter 1.

Kirtan program

We'll sing the following stotrams: Śrī Gurvaṣṭakam, Śrī Prabhupāda-padma-stavakaḥ, Śrī Ṣaḍ-gosvāmyaṣṭakam, Śrī Nityānandāṣṭakam, Śrī Śacī-tanayāṣṭakam, Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda-bihārī-Tattvāṣṭakam, Śrī Kṛṣṇa-candrāṣṭakam, Śrī Rādhikāṣṭakam and Mahā-mantra.

This will continue daily throughout the first month of Cātumāsya.

Caitanya-bhāgavata program

First, we will recite the maṅgalācaraṇa for Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, sing a song written by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda at the beginning of his Gauḍīya Bhāṣya (commentary) and read his opening words. Then, we will read an article by my Śrīla Gurudeva entitled "The True Meaning of Śrī Vyāsa-pūjā". If there is enough time after that, I'd like to read Śrīla Bhakti Vijñāna Bhāratī Gosvāmī Mahārāja's glorification of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī.

This first reading might not be very interactive because we're trying to get through a lot.

How to join

To receive the Zoom meeting link for these programs, you can join either of the WhatsApp groups below. (I will share the link in the groups 10 minutes before the programs commence.)

Or, if you'd prefer to watch the program on YouTube, you'll find them streaming on my personal YouTube channel.

I'm feeling both excited and nervous about this first program. This past week has been so busy for me, I'm only now getting time to start preparing everything. 🙈 It might start off a bit rocky in this first program while I'm figuring things out, but I'm hopeful we'll get a good flow after one or two days. I appreciate whatever feedback you can give.

This program's success depends entirely on the satisfaction of Śrīla Gurudeva and the Vaiṣṇavas. I pray that with the blessings of the devotees, I can cultivate this aspiration.