Excerpt from Today’s Adivas lecture at Sri Mayapur
22 March 2016

Happy Gaura Purnima!

So you have just participated in the Adivas ceremony. Adivas cermony is especially performed on Janmashtami and Gaura Purnima. So that means that the day before the actual tithi we prepare ourselves for having the adivas. 26 auspicious items are shown to the deity and these are offered to the
earth, deities, tulasi. Then all are offered to the deity again and then the prasada is offered to all of you. So special kirtans are sung. In one of the kirtan it says there is no limit to the ecstasy from serving the Lord , “Anander Shima Nai” – no limit to the happiness. All sadness goes away – ‘Niranando dure jay, niranando dure jay, niranando dure jay’. This is to get us into the mood for the sacred day that follows. And because we are Krishna bhaktas, we observe Janmashtami and Gaura Purnima. Keeping a full fast, taking Anukalpa prasada. On Gaura Purnima we fast till moon rise and then take the ekadashi meal. And the next day we take Jagannatha Mishra’s feast. We hope you stay for the feast and then go. We don’t want you to go, you can stay here also. If you have to go then go after the feast. So we hope you like this Adivas ceremony . Tomorrow is out special day apart from being the 50th anniversary year of ISKCON. Normally everyone will eat after seeing the moon. Since the moon is in an eclipse you should not eat until the eclipse is over that is I think till 7.24. I don’t know if they will have the Abhishek. Anyway when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared there was also a lunar eclipse. Everyone went to the Ganges, standing in the Ganges waters up to their waist. And they chanted the holy names. Hari bol!!! Ulu dhwani . Hari bol! Ulu dhwani! Hari dhwani. So either in the Ganges or in the kirtan, we should be chanting while the moon is under eclipse. Please join them and chant and make this Gaura Purnima experience a transcendental experience . Shri Shri Adivas ceremony ki jai.