Vol I
Issue II
Winter 2015
A quarterly publication presented by Sri Govindaji Gaudiya Matha Vedic Educational and Cultural Center, Houston, TX.
Inside this Issue derful transcendental gatherings filled with kirtan, hari-katha, and prasadam, we were especially happy to see so many attendees at Sri Radhastami! Even though most members of our congregation had work and school earlier in the day, we celebrated with over 200 devotees. Indeed, it is important to remember that our most beautiful and merciful Deities at SGGM are bestowing their darshan every day of the week. Srimati Radharani, Photo by Visnujan Das You do not have to wait for a All glories to Sri Sri Guru and weekend or a festival to visit Sri Gauranga! Dandavat pranams. Sri Radha-Govindaji, Sri Sri We have celebrated many more Gaura-Nitai, and Sri Sri Sita-Ram festivals since our last newsletter, -Laksman-Hanuman. So see you and although it is very difficult to before next Sunday! Sri Govinhighlight just one of these wondaji Gaudiya Matha ki jaya! Aspiring for the service of the Devotees, Tarun Krishna Das (Tanmoy Chakravarty), President Vishnu Das (Vikas Budhiraja), Vice President Sushil K. Agrawal, Treasurer
A Few Words from the Board of Directors
1
Hari Katha Corner
2
Remembering Srila Gurudeva
5
Vaisnava Calendar
7
Temple Bulletin Board
8
Srimati Radhika’s Kitchen 10
Patrika Parivar
11
Celebrating Sri Krishna Janmastami
12
Diwali Word Search
13
Meet Our Temple Pujaris 14
Building a Spiritual Library
16
Hari Katha Corner
You should think that I am always with you in the form of my books and in the form of my lectures and classes. Know that I am always guiding you. If you do this, you will not be weak, and you will also be able to make others very strong. — Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja
2 Sri Govindaji’s Patrika
Left to Right: Srila Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja, Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja, and Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvami Maharaja, three illustrious godbrothers, who took shelter of Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada. 3 Hari Katha Corner
4 Sri Govindaji’s Patrika
Remembering Srila Gurudeva
Left:
Srila Gurudeva at the ground breaking ceremony for Sri Govindaji Gaudiya Matha in May 2009. (Pictured Left to Right) Brajanatha Prabhu, Srila Gurudeva, Sripad Madhava Maharaja, Laxmi Patel, Vimla Agrawal. Right: Srila Gurudeva arriving at the Durgabari Temple where he gave blissful hari katha every evening of the May 2009 festival. (Pictured Left to Right) Vikas Budhiraja, Tanmoy Chakravarty, Srila Gurudeva, Sripad Madhava Maharaja, Sripad Tirtha Maharaja.
5 Remembering Srila Gurudeva
All glories to Sri Sri Radha Govindaji! I greatly hope you will enjoy reading the second issue of Sri Govindaji’s Patrika just as much as the first! Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide us with important feedback. As a result of one of the comments we received, I am pleased to announce that instead of the lengthy address srigovindajispatrika@gmail.com, you can now contact us at sgp@sggm.org! Please continue to give us your thoughts about the publication and report any errors and mistakes. Please also forgive us for any shortcomings and for the omission of diacritical marks in all of the patrika text which is infeasible for us to maintain at this time. Remember that Sri Govindaji’s Patrika can only flourish with your help and support. Please send us your pictures, recipes, news, and remembrances of Srila Gurudeva for our newest column. You also can sign up to write an article. All submissions must be original work, and all selected contributions will be attributed with a by-line. I hope to hear from you soon! Seva Abhilasi, Sita Dasi sgp@sggm.org
6 Sri Govindaji’s Patrika
Vaisnava Calendar
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7 Vaisnava Calendar
Daily Arati Schedule Mangala Arati
05:30 am
Srngara Arati
08:00 am
Bhoga Arati
12:30 pm
Utthapan Arati
05:00 pm
Sandhya Arati
07:00 pm
Kirtan & Hari Katha
07:30 pm
/15/15 1 1 r a g in cock Shr
Pea
Sunday Evening Classes
Bull e l p m e T
Ramacaritamanasa is undoubtedly one of the most widely read and revered books in Indian literature. It has been read by so many people so many times that many consider its every word to be a mantra. Though it dates back more than 500 years, scholars continue to research it. This word index is a readymade reference for all words that appear in Manas. It is a comprehensive index that provides exact locations of each word. The book uses a unique system of indexing so that words can be located in any edition of Manas. We hope that readers, devotees, students, and scholars or Manas will find this book useful in their pursuit of devotion, learning, and research.
Hindi 5:00-6:00 pm Bhakti Gurukula 6:00-7:00 pm
C
U
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S
Z
P E J
letin Board a d n a n a y t i Sri N Trayodasi
Kya Khabar Hai? SGGM Community News
Did your sister just get married? Did your son win a prestigious scholarship? Please tell us your news so we can congratulate you on your achievements or celebrate your good tidings.
Shri Ram Sharing
20th b e F ay , Saturd :00 pm 7 5:00
Diwali Word Search
R A V A N A Y A R L T H S U W I M X E J
Charit M
the jewels
anthan
of the Ra
T o be a s peaker Ompraka at the 5th Manth sh Gupta a at om@r n, please contact amachar it.org
Solution
N A A S G A M S L R I F S L F J D T H Q A V A L M I K I E K S E S U K T K K M R X S Y E K N O M U I A O H I A E G D I R B Z C S S R N Y Z M D T C H S K B F I T Y E H N A Q A C A Y B N D L Z O Q L Q H D H Y O A R P U B Q U T A Y A J U A D M B C O T A K R I X J Q M S P N V K K X H H M D P N D U E D U P G A A R H N S S W K C H V A J S J A C R A R O A R E M H Y F U P H Y R I H A N U M A N K X N A E C S V A E S N Y R X Q U X T V A X R N C F Y E I E I L X I L E I Z H B H H M A U G X Q C D H O S N D U J H A T B L D Q A B R N M C B G R J X G D S H R M U P J S Q I Q F K I G Y E P G J M G N U Y O W Z R Z N O I V P D E U A Q T E U K L E M P D T O D T E G L S H A T R U G H N A J E V S U G R M X I V A F S U M K X B S X Q Y I N D R A D A J I T H Y C L A N K A W
mayana
Govardhan Puja11/12/15
Srimati Radhika’s Kitchen (Right) A large variety of fresh fruits, sweets, and other snacks are offered to Thakurji every morning, Picture Courtesy of Sita Dasi
Left: Cilantro pakoras with a side of cilantro chutney. Right: Apple halava (Note: This is what it looks like when you add too much lemon juice (which curdles the milk) and cannot smooth it out to cut into pieces...Good news, it is still wonderful!) Pictures by Sita Dasi 10 Sri Govindaji’s Patrika
Patrika Parivar Print distribution of Sri Govindaji’s Patrika is made possible by the generosity of the following individuals who have pledged their support to this publication. Patrika Parivar members receive four copies of Sri Govindaji’s Patrika mailed to their home address (a one year subscription) as a thank you for their donation of $51. Their names are highlighted in all four issues of the year. For making your contribution or for other information, please contact Omprakash Gupta at om@ramacharit.org or (713)471-7822. Please help us reach our goal of 25 Patrika Parivar members, which will make our publication goal sustainable! Ruchira Agrawal
Ajay & Sharmila Gupta
Sachin & Haripriya Agrawal
Omprakash & Savitri Gupta
Sita Dasi
Rakesh & Anita Kapoor
Kundalata Dasi
Ram & Saraswati Mallik
Gopal & Gita De
Sarita Mehta
Pramod & Poonam Dewan
Krishna Puvvada
Subhash & Sharda Gadiya
Tara Datt & Janak Tewari
Sri Govindaji’s Patrika would like to extend a special thank you to
A big thank you to
Dr. Omprakash K. Gupta for his initiative, organization, and support for the creation and maintenance of Patrika Parivar. In addition, he has arranged for a sustainable printing model for Sri Govindaji’s Patrika and will be overseeing this entire effort. Thank you!
for their excellent customer service and quality printing for the first issue of Sri Govindaji’s Patrika. We will always keep you in mind for future printing needs! Reprint! Inc, 713-522-9299 2035 Southwest Freeway, Houston, TX 77098 USA
11 Patrika Parivar
Sri Sri Radha Govindaji bestowing their darshan in their special Janmastami Shringar.
Top: Abhishek of Chote Thakurji. Bottom: A multitude of cakes were offered to Sri Govindaji in honor of the occasion, including a hand-painted, stained glass cake by Ishita Chakravarty of Deelish Cupcakes.
12 Sri Govindaji’s Patrika
Second Place Janvi Patel Age 3
Third Place Anjali Polanco Age 6
1st
First Place Darsh Kishore Age 4
2nd
3rd
D wal Ayodhya Bharata bridge Dasaratha deer exile Hanuman Indrajit
R N R S M Y Q D X S F E C U A S Z P E J
A A L U X E H M H W U C F G B Q R D V Q
V Y T W E H D B H K P S Y X R I Z T S Y
A A H I J N H C M C H V E Q N Q N O U I
N D S U S A Y O D H Y A I C M F O D G N
A T U I R Q O T P V R E E D C K I T R D
A H K A N A P R U S I Y X S R Y D L I R
S Q T O Y C U I E J H R I N J E E S V A
G A K H Z A B X D A A X L D X P U H A J
A V K I M Y Q J U C N Q E U G G A A F I
M A M A D B U Q P R U U I J D J Q T S T
S L R E T N T M G A M X Z H S M T R U H
Word Search
L M X G C D A S A R A T H A H G E U M Y
R I S D H L Y P A O N V B T R N U G K C
I K Y I S Z A N R A K A H B M U K H X L
F I E R K O J V H R X X H L U Y L N B A
S E K B B Q U K N E N R M D P O E A S N
L K N Z F L A K S M A N A Q J W M J X K
F S O C I A A N A H S I H B I V E M A A
J E M S T R K D J Y N L O G G P G X D W
Jayatu kidnap Kumbhakarna Laksmana lamp Lanka monkeys prince Rama Ravana Shatrughna Sita Sugriva Surpanakha Valmiki Vibhishana 13
Diwali Word Search
PUNEET PRABHU’S FAVORITES Service:
Kirtan:
Book:
Festival:
14 Sri Govindaji’s Patrika
Puneet Prabhu announcing the start of Sri Sandhya Arati by blowing the ceremonial conch shell.
RADHAPRIYA DIDI’S FAVORITES Kirtan: Festival: Service: Book:
15 Meet Our Temple Pujaris
Bhagavad
Jaiva Dharma
Gita
(