Bhisma Pancaka

“The only hope now … to reestablish the pristine glory of the varnasrama system.”
Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Caitanya-siksamrta 2.3)

Blog 002– 13-11-13, Ekadasi, Gaura Paksa, Damodara Masa, 527 Gaurabda

Theme: Bhisma Pancaka

Camp: Bangalore

Om Sri Surabhyai Namah! Om Sri Gurave Namah! Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

Today marks the first day of “Bhisma Pancaka” where one takes special vows for the last five days of the Caturmasya period. We get the following brief explanation of the ancient tradition from http://old.mayapur.com/node/190 :

“Bhisma-pancaka refers to a special vow (vrata) that can be taken up by Vaisnavas during the last five days of the Damodara month. The vow is to eat only fruits and roots, abstaining from any type of grain. Some devotees, during Bhisma-pancaka, consume only panca-gavya or the five cow products — cow dung, cow urine, cow milk, ghee and yogurt.

Due to many circumstances, it may not be possible to fast during all the four months of caturmasya, so by following Bhisma-pancaka, one receives the benefit of fasting throughout the whole caturmasya.”

This will be my first observance of the “Bhisma Pancaka”. I will be taking only fruits and milk starting tomorrow (today being Ekadasi) and I will be chanting 64 rounds during this five-day period. This is the least I can do to make up for the irregularities that come when having to travel during caturmasya.

Following such vows and practices is part of our Vedic culture. By doing so, we remain more focused on the goal, that of advancing in spiritual life. It is a wonderful opportunity to remember this great personality, Grand-father Bhismadeva, who has given so many valuable instructions to Yudhisthira Maharaja on the science of varnasrama dharma, in particular on the science of good governance. Bhismadeva instructs, among other things, how land, cows, milk, food and education are meant to be given in charity and never to be sold as commodities. We have deviated so much for these basic instructions.

Today, while returning from the Dental clinic (my main reason for having come to Bangalore) we noticed the following sign, “Madhuloka, The Liquor Boutique”.

This is the present condition of the Indian culture today due to having deviated from our traditional practices. What was traditionally strictly forbidden is openly being advertised in the big cities of the world.

Before leaving the clinic today, I had the opportunity to present a few of Srila Prabhupada’s books, namely the Bhagavad-gita and the Krishna book to Dr. Venkateshvar and the mataji working for him.

In the days to come, I plan to share some of the on-going work that our IDVM Ministry here in India has taken up. Between now and Gaura Purnima 2014, there are a number of important events taking place, one being the IDVM Annual Meeting to be held at the New Naimisaranya Farm near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, the Sahyadri Varnasrama College to begin from January 1, 2014 up to the end of March at the Sahyadri Sri Krishna Balarama Ksetra (SSKBK) near Udupi in South India, the 5th Annual Global Varnasrama Mission seminar to be organized in Sri Dham Mayapur in the early part of February, the Varnasrama Training Courses covering both traditional agriculture and Dharma Shastri to be given in Sri Dham Mayapur respectively by Kalakantha prabhu and myself, and of course the up-coming ISKCON Leadership Sanga (ILS) convention to start from February 16 to 23rd. There are many more events for which I will be giving additional information soon.

Please check some of our websites below for additional information on some of these events.

We also plan to start putting up various pamphlets, Power Points and other information on our main websites in the weeks to come.

Thank you for your kind attention and interest.

Yours in the service of the Vaisnavas,

RP Bhakti Raghava Swami

*********************************
GLOBAL VARNASRAMA MISSION

PROTECT KRISHNA’S COWS & MAKE VRINDAVAN VILLAGES

MINISTRY INTERNET SITES

www.iskconvarnasrama.com www.varnasramabooks.com

MINISTRY RELATED INTERNET SITES

www.careforcows.org www.iscowp.org www.vrajabhumi.org
www.iskconcambodia.com www.affcap.org www.sahyadriksetra.org

www.global-varnasrama-college.com
www.global-varnasrama-mission.org