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ISKON to mark Gaura Purnima

Auckland, March 5, 2017

The International Society for Krishan Consciousness (ISKON) will mark ‘Gaura Purnima’ at the Hare Krishna Temple located in Kumeu in Auckland on Sunday, March 12, 2017.

The Festival will commence at 430 am with Candlelit Mangal Arati and conclude at 7 pm with Maha Gaura Arati followed by Prasadam.

The Programme will include Gaura Katha, Darshan of the Deities, Srila Prabhupada Guru Pooja, Kirtan, Mahabhishekam and entertainment (Drama and Dance).

The festival is open to all and entry is free.

The event also celebrates the rise of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Incarnation of Krishna

According to Wikipedia, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (also spelt Caitanya), born on February 18, 1486 and died on June 14, 1534, was a spiritual leader who founded Gaudiya Vaishnavism.

He is believed by his devotees to be Krishna Himself who appeared in the form of His own devotee to teach the people of this world the process of Bhakti and how to attain the perfection in life.

He is considered as the most merciful manifestation of Krishna. Chaitanya was the proponent for the Vaishnava school of Bhakti yoga (meaning loving devotion to God), based on Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad Gita. Of various incarnations of Vishnu, he is revered as Krishna, popularised the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra and composed the Siksastakam (eight devotional prayers) in Sanskrit.

His followers, Gaudiya Vaishnavas, revere him as a Krishna with the mood and complexion of his source of inspiration Radha.

Gaura, the Fair One

Chaitanya is sometimes referred to by the names Gauranga or Gaura due to his fair complexionand Nimai because he was born underneath a Neem tree.

There is no evidence, however, that he was born under a Neem Tree. He was very mischievous in his young days. His original name was Vishvambhar. He was a brilliant student and Nimai was his nickname.

He chanted the following holy names of God:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Those who witnessed Mahaprabhu’s pastimes saw Him dance and chant with ecstatic love for God, the likes of which had never been seen before. He encouraged everyone to follow this same process. He taught that anyone—regardless of background or spiritual qualification—could develop their innate love of God and experience great spiritual pleasure by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra.

Good work continues

ISKON continues the work begun by Lord Chaitanya, who predicted that the chanting of the holy names of Krishna would spread all over the world.

Gaura Purnima means ‘Golden Full Moon,’ signifying that 1. Lord Chaitanya was born during a Full Moon and 2. The Lord blesses everyone with the soothing, moonlike rays of His sublime teachings.

Lord Krishna thought in Goloka, “I shall personally inaugurate the religion of the age; Nama Sankirtana, the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord in the form of Lord Gauranga. By accepting the role of a devotee, I shall make the whole world dance in ecstasy, and thus realise the four mellows of loving devotional service. In this way, I shall teach devotional service to others by personally practicing it, for whatever a great personality does, common people will follow. Of course, My plenary portions can establish the religious principles for each age, but only I can bestow the kind of loving devotional service which is performed by the residents of Vraja.”

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