Ecstatic Month of Kartik

This is the sacred month of Damodar (also known as Kartik) on the Vaisnava lunar calendar. It comes every year in October-November. It is a very spiritual month when devotees are encouraged to go to Vrindavan, India to spend the entire month engaged in devotional service in Lord Sri Krishna's sweet transcendental abode. For those who cannot go to Sri Vrindavan Dham it is advised to create a very spiritual, Vrindavan-like atmosphere in their place of residence. They should try to attend their nearest ISKCON temple as much as possible where the singing of the Damodarastakam prayers are sung every evening along with a ceremony of everyone offering a small candle or ghee wick before the Deity. If one cannot get to the evening program at the temple one can sing Damodarastakam and offer a candle at home. The Damodarastakam is as follows:

Śrī Dāmodarāsṭaka

Text One
namāmīśvaraṁ sac-cid-ānanda-rūpaṁ
lasat-kuṇḍalaṁ gokule bhrājamanam
yaśodā-bhiyolūkhalād dhāvamānaṁ
parāmṛsṭam atyantato drutya gopyā

To the Supreme Lord, whose form embodies eternity, knowledge, and bliss, whose earrings swing to and fro, who shines beautifully in Gokula, who quickly ran from the grinding mortar in fear of mother Yaśodā, and who was caught from behind by her, who ran faster than He--to that Supreme Lord, Śrī Dāmodara, I offer my humble obeisances.

Text Two
rudantaṁ muhur netra-yugmaṁ mṛjantam
karāmbhoja-yugmena sātaṅka-netram
muhuḥ śvāsa-kampa-trirekhāṅka-kaṇṭha-
sthita-graivaṁ dāmodaraṁ bhakti-baddham

[Upon seeing His mother's stick,] He cried and rubbed His eyes again and again with His two lotus hands. His eyes were fearful, and His quick breathing shook the strand of pearls on His neck, which bore three lines like a conchshell's. To that Supreme Lord, Śrī Dāmodara, whose belly is bound with the ropes of His mother's pure love, I offer my humble obeisances.

Text Three
itīdṛk sva-līlābhir ānanda-kuṇḍe
sva-ghosaṁ nimajjantam ākhyāpayantam
tadīyesita-jñesu bhaktair jitatvaṁ
punaḥ prematas taṁ śatāvṛtti vande

With these superexcellent childhood pastimes Lord Kṛñṇa drowned the residents of Gokula in pools of ecstasy. In this way He declared to those absorbed in knowledge of His majesty and opulence: "I am conquered only by My pure loving devotees." With great love I again offer my obeisances to Lord Dāmodara hundreds and hundreds of times.

Text Four
varaṁ deva moksaṁ na moksāvadhiṁ vā
na canyaṁ vṛṇe 'haṁ varesād apīha
idaṁ te vapur nātha gopāla-bālaṁ
sadā me manasy āvirāstāṁ kim anyaiḥ

O Lord, though You can award all kinds of benedictions, I pray to You neither for the boon of impersonal liberation, nor for the highest liberation of eternal life in Vaikuṇṭha, nor for any other such boon. O Lord, I simply wish that this form of Yours as Bāla Gopāla in Vṛndāvana may ever be manifest in my heart, for what use do I have for any other boon besides this?

Text Five
idaṁ te mukhāmbhojam atyanta-nīlair
vṛtaṁ kuntalaiḥ snigdha-raktaiś ca gopyā
muhuś cumbitaṁ bimba-raktādharaṁ me
manasy āvirāstām alaṁ laksa-lābhaiḥ

O Lord, again and again mother Yaśodā kisses Your lotus face, which is framed by locks of soft black hair tinged with red and beautified by Your lips colored red like the bimba fruit. May this vision of Your lotus face be ever manifest in my heart. Thousands and thousands of other benedictions are of no use to me.

Text Six
namo deva dāmodarānanta visṇo
prasīda prabho duḥkha-jālābdhi-magnam
kṛpā-dṛsṭi-vṛsṭyāti-dīnaṁ batānu
gṛhāṇesa mām ajñam edhy aksi-dṛśyaḥ

O Supreme Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. O Dāmodara! O Ananta! O Viñṇu! O master! O Lord, be pleased upon me. Shower me with Your merciful glances and deliver this poor ignorant fool immersed in an ocean of worldly sorrows, and become visible to my eyes.

Text Seven
kuverātmajau baddha-mūrtyaiva yadvat
tvayā mocitau bhakti-bhājau kṛtau ca
tathā prema-bhaktiṁ svakāṁ me prayaccha
na mokse graho me 'sti dāmodareha

O Lord Dāmodara, as a baby tied to a grinding mortar, You delivered Kuvera's two sons from the curse of Nārada and made them into great devotees. In the same way, please give me pure loving devotion for You. I long for this alone and have no desire for any kind of liberation.

Text Eight
namas te 'stu dāmne sphurad-dīpti-dhāmne
tvadīyodarāyātha viśvasya dhāmne
namo rādhikāyai tvadīya-priyāyai
namo 'nanta-līlāya devāya tubhyam

O Lord Dāmodara, obeisances unto the brilliantly effulgent rope binding Your belly! Obeisances unto Your belly, the abode of the entire universe! Obeisances unto Your dearmost beloved, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī! And obeisances unto You, O Lord, who display unlimited pastimes!

To learn the melody attend your nearest ISKCON temple as much as possible this month.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Is Our Life Scripted?

If the day and time of our leaving this body has already been decided, are we living a scripted life or is our script being written or changed every day? Please be kind to remove my ignorance.

Hare Krishna

Sanjay M. Bhagtani
(the servant of the servants of Lord Krishna and His sweet devotees)

Answer: Only If We Remain in the Material Energy

As long as one remains under the influence of the material energy, his day and time of departure from his present body is rigidly scripted by the law of karma. It cannot be altered.

But if one surrenders to Krishna, He is no longer under the material energy's law of karma. Such a surrendered devotee is fully under the protection of the divine nature acting freely in the Lord's service. His time of departure is no longer scripted according to his past pious and impious deeds. It is completely up to Krishna in reciprocation with His devotee's service. The devotee joyfully accepts whatever arrangement the Lord makes, taking it as the Lord's kindness upon him.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari