A full moon night...

Traditionally, on the first day of Kartik all the deities of Vrindavana are dressed in white. Not just the deities at Krsna-Balarama Mandir, but throughout Vrindavana - Radha Ramanji, Radha Gopinath, Banke Bihariji...

I have heard Deena Bandhu prabhu say that this is because it is a full moon night, and when Radha, Krsna and the gopis dress in white, it allows Them to move through Vrindavana, to the site of Their rasa dance, undetected by their husbands and elders.

I thought it might be nice to follow that tradition - even though I am thousand of miles away from Vraja:) So tonight, should Dauji and His younger brother wish to steal away for some night-time pastimes, it is less likely that They will be caught by Jatila or Kutila, or any of the others who would give Radha and Krsna a hard time :)

Kartik is my favourite time of the year - for many devotees, I imagine it is the same. Krsna seems so much more accessible, and we're all inspired to take advantage of that. Usually devotees make some kind of vrata - a special endeavour to increase their devotion.

Kartik has officially started and I'm still fumbling around for a meaningful, devotion-altering vrata. I feel a little out-of-sorts, being in the middle of my year-end exams (psychology and business management constantly swimming around in my head) where simply maintaining my current not-high-enough standard of devotion is a bit of a struggle.

Nonetheless, Kartik does only come around once a year. I have heard my Guru Maharaja and others refer to Kartik as a sale - a devotional sale, with Krsna's mercy as the goods. And unfortunately, or fortunately in this case, I am not one to overlook a sale of any kind :)

Hopefully, by the end of the night I will be a little more decisive about this vrata, and participate in and take full advantage of this once-a-year mega sale!