Our Kārtika Program 2024

Ūrjeśvarī Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī ki jaya!

This year, I’m keeping our online Kārtika program super simple. It’s designed to simply complement your own Kārtika vrata program, so we won’t be singing the main traditional vrata kīrtans like Śrī Rādhā-kṛpā-kaṭākṣa-stavarāja, Śrī Nanda-nandanāṣṭakam, and Śrī Dāmodarāṣṭakam. It will start at our regular time (7:00 AM India Time) on Zoom and YouTube.

The programs will be mainly focused on singing these three stotras:

• Sva-niyama Dvādaśakam by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura

• Sva-niyama Daśakam by Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī

• Śrī Govardhana-vāsa-prārthanā-daśakam also by Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī

(Note: The translations are a work in progress. I’m updating them regularly, so check back often for the latest version.)

After singing them, I’ll explain the meaning of each word in the verses so we can better understand exactly what we’re singing. As mentioned in a previous post, every second or third day, I’m also conducting a special program aimed at memorizing the verses of Govardhana-vāsa-prārthanā-daśakam. If you’d like to join in, it’s never too late to start learning and memorizing the verses! Everything you need to memorize them is on this page.

On special festival days during Kārtika, we will focus on reading about the glories of that particular personality or occasion instead of doing the verse explanations.

There will be a few days when I won’t be able to hold a session—like when I’m traveling to Vṛndāvana on October 25–26, or when I may be out on parikramā (probably only 3 or 5 days during the whole month). If you’d like to participate in these programs or stay updated on what we're doing next, feel free to join our Bhaktivinoda-gīti-dhārā WhatsApp group.

This morning, I sent a post to the Gaudiya Kirtan mailing list with resources on Dāmodarāṣṭakam and the Dāma-bandhana-līlā from Gopāla-cāmpuḥ. You can read it below:

Okay, that's all for now. Wishing you a focused, deep, and inspiring Kārtika!