The Magic of Attending Mangala-Arati

A Godbrother of mine very wisely said that if you attend mangala-arati, magic will happen in your day. Mangala-arati means "auspicious welcoming ceremony for the Lord." It is to be conducted no later than one-and-a-half hours before sunrise. In ISKCON temples around the world it is celebrated every day at 4:30 A.M. It is our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, who taught us to perform mangala-arati. He writes in his purport to Nectar of Instruction, verse 3:

"In this Krishna consciousness movement we require everyone to rise early in the morning, by four A.M., and attend mangala-arati, or morning worship."

So whether one lives in a temple or lives at home, those who are following the principles of Krishna consciousness rise every day no later than four A.M. and celebrate mangala-arati. Mangala-arati is such an important part of our Krishna conscious life that we can judge our level of advancement in Krishna consciousness simply by how we experience mangala-arati. In this connection Srila Prabhupada explains in a Bhagavad-gita lecture he gave in London on 26 August 1973:

"So the test is within our hand. If during mangala-arati we feel laziness, that means I'm not yet spiritually advanced. And if one feels enthused, 'Now it is time for mangala-arati, let me stand up, let me do this,' then it is spiritual. Anyone can test."

So everyone who is serious to awaken the dormant love of God within their hearts should rise no later than 4 A.M. and exuberantly celebrate mangala-arati.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Mangala-Arati at ISKCON Austin--9 February 2013

Sankarshan Das performing Mangala-Arati at ISKCON Austin

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: Who is My Real Friend and Real Enemy?

In this material world, who is my real friend, and who is my real enemy?

Amit Gupta

Delhi, India

Answer: Who Helps You Remember or Forget Krishna

Your real friend is the person who helps you remember Krishna, and your real enemy is that person who helps you forget Krishna.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Little Sparrow Who Conquered the Ocean

Image
In his purport to Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 6, Text 24 Srila Prabhupada wonderfully teaches us the power of determinations by telling us the story of the little sparrow who conquered the ocean: "As for determination, one should follow the example of the sparrow who lost her eggs in the waves of the ocean. A sparrow laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean, but the big ocean carried away the eggs on its waves. The sparrow became very upset and asked the ocean to return her eggs. The ocean did not even consider her appeal. So the sparrow decided to dry up the ocean. She began to pick out the water in her small beak, and everyone laughed at her for her impossible determination. The news of her activity spread, and at last Garuda, the gigantic bird carrier of Lord Visnu, heard it. He became compassionate toward his small sister bird, and so he came to see the sparrow. Garuda was very pleased by the determination of the small sparrow, and he promised to help. Thus Garuda at once asked t
Read more

Heart Melting Reunion with Amarendra and Gayatri

Image
On Friday 26 June 2015 I was blessed with the greatest good fortune of meeting with two of the dearest devotees of my entire life, His Grace Amarendra Prabhu and his good wife, Srimati Gayatri devi dasi. I am eternally indebted to these great souls for how much they helped me in my spiritual life when I was a young devotee. When I was young brahmacari monk in 1973 I joined with the two of them in Gainesville, Florida. We were a three person preaching center, and they were just like a mother and father to me. I had so many wonderful Krishna conscious experiences in their association that I can hardly begin to describe them here. But at least may it suffice for me to say for now that Gayatri taught me what it means to be a soft-hearted devotee of the Lord and she gave me my first cooking lesson, teaching me how to make cauliflower pakoras, and Amarendra taught me the art of how to preach strongly, intelligently, and coolly to defeat opposing arguments. Recently Gayatri almost died. But
Read more

Misguided Fools Say that Masturbation is Healthy

Image
Foolish modern day materialists recommend masturbation as follows: "Masturbation is a common activity. It’s a natural and safe way to explore your body, feel pleasure, and release built-up sexual tension. It occurs among people of all backgrounds, genders, and races. Despite the myths, there are actually no physically harmful side effects of masturbation." They are wrong. To get a proper understanding on this this topic read the question and answer section below. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: What are the Ill Effects of Masturbation? Since you answered questions related to understanding the real need of sex in a human being's life, so I also request you to please enlighten us with the knowledge about semen conservation, it's importance, and the consequences of frequently releasing it thorough sex or masturbation. Since today most of the youth are indulged in mansturbation and they think it to be good in comparison to doing sex with some female for
Read more