Following are the
instructions that must be followed by the disciples of HH Siddharth Swami Maharaj :
- A. Ekadasi Fasting
On
Ekadasi day, the food made out of grains and beans shall not be consumed. Depending on the self capacity, individuals
can opt for a nirjala
fasting or may consume only water till noon. The lunch
and dinner shall be light ekadasi prasadam made out of sama
rice, tapioca, sabudana, fruits etc. ‘Fasting
salt’ shall be used instead of commonly used packed & powdered salt
available in the market.
Haldi
powder ( turmeric powder), hing (asafoetida) and
muster seeds shall not be used for preparing ekadasi prasadam. The persons above 60 years, the persons who
are ill and pregnant ladies may eat ekadasi prasadam for 3 times or more a day.
Pandava
Nirjala Ekadasi fasting starts from previous day sunset to next day (Dwadasi)
fast breaking time. If someone has
failed to observe other ekadasi fasting knowingly or unknowingly, by observing Pandava Nirjala ekadasi they will get benefit of observing all
ekadasis of a year. However, Maharaj
recommends Pandava Nirjala ekadasi for everyone. He himself observes it even at
this old age.
On
Ekadasi day, minimum 25 rounds of Hare Krishna Mahamantra chanting must be done
as recommended by Srila Prabhupad. But those who are very busy with devotional
activities like cooking for Lord, book distribution
etc. need chant only 16 rounds. The Lord’s alter shall be cleaned on previous
day of Ekadasi. Sikshashtakam or Shadgoswami
ashtakam must be recited on Ekadasi day. Maharaj advises to read Prabhupad Lilamrut because Srila
Prabhupad used to talk about his guru maharaj His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhantah
Saraswati Maharaj on ekadasi days. Tulsi
arati shall be conducted on Ekadasi day by house holder devotees even if not
done on other days. On Ekadasi day,
travelling shall be restricted to minimum required and sleeping during day is
not permitted.
B. Ram Navami
On
Ram Navami day, nirjala fasting is to be done till Noon followed by normal
grain prasadam. Those who face
difficulty on observing nirjala fasting, can drink
water and have fruits if really required.
C. Sri
Krishna Janmashtami
On
Sri Krishna Janmashtami day, nirjala fasting is to be done till midnight
followed by Ekadasi prasdam
Those who face difficulty on observing nirjala fasting, can drink
water and have fruits if really required.
D.
Radhashtami
– Appearance day of Srimati RadhaRani
On
Radhashtami day, nirjala fasting is to be done till noon followed by normal
prasadam. Those who face difficulty on
observing nirjala fasting, can drink water and have
fruits if really required.
E.
Chaturmasya
fasting
During Chaturmasya
(literally “four months” ) , a vrata or vow is
traditionally observed for the four lunar months of Sravana, Bhadra, Asvina,
and Kartika—approximately July/August through October/November. Please refer ISKCON calendar for exact dates. In the month of Sravana one should not eat
spinach, in the month of Bhadra one should not eat yogurt, and in the month of
Asvina one should not drink milk, in the month of Kartika one should not eat urad
dhal items like Dosa, idli etc.
Guru Maharaj
advises to follow this vrata unless there is any health related difficutly to
follow it.
F. Bhishma Panchaka
Bhishma Panchaka ( eating only roots and fruits for the last five days of
kartika masa) is beneficial if followed, but not mandatory. It is up to
individual whether to observe it or not. Maharaj gives weightage for full spirit
preaching rather than observing this.
G. Narasimha Chaturdasi
On the appearance day of Lord
Narasimha, nirjala fasting is to be done till Sunset followed by Ekadasi
prasadam. Those who face difficulty on
observing nirjala fasting, can drink water and have
fruits if really required.
H.
Goura
Purnima- Appearance day of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
On
the appearance day of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, nirjala fasting is to be done
till moon rise followed by Ekadasi prasadam.
Those who face difficulty on observing nirjala fasting,
can drink water and have fruits if really required. On this day, one should do
keertans and read Chaitanya Charitamruta.
I.
Balaram
Jayanti
On
the appearance day of Lord Balarama, nirjala fasting is to be done till noon followed by
normal grain prasadam. Those who face
difficulty on observing nirjala fasting, can drink
water and have fruits if really required.
J. Nityananda
Trayodasi:
On
the appearance day of Nityananda Prabhu, nirjala fasting is to be done till
noon followed by normal grain prasadam. Those who face difficulty on observing
nirjala fasting, can drink water and have fruits if
really required.
k.
Guru Appearance days
On appearance day of one’s own Guru up to
Srila Jagannath Das Babaji, nirjala fasting till noon followed by normal grain
prasadam must be observed.
OTHER GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
1.
Do not use peacock feather for Arati during the
winter season ( from Sharath Purnima day to Sivaratri , approx. From mid
October to End February ). But in hot regions/countries, this is not
applicable.
2. When a child is born in the family :
For
one week of the child birth or till the naval cord of the child drops off, the initiated
mother of the new born child and the child should restrict visiting temples, doing aarati in the
home altar, doing abhisheka on deities or close association with deities. The
initiated father shall restrict visiting temples during the restriction period
and shall avoid close association with the child if he wants to continue to do
arati etc. and may do so after taking bath and wearing new dress.
The
Non-initiated mother shall not visit temples and shall not do aarati etc. for
21 days. For father, restriction period is 21 days and shall avoid close
association with the child if he wants to continue to do arati etc. and may do
so after taking bath and wearing new dress.
If
the child is born to other relatives who are initiated or non-initiated staying
in different house, no restriction is applicable for the affected devotee
unless the devotee closely associate with the child.
If
the relative’s child is in the same house of the devotee, try not to closely
associate with the child for 7 days and take bath and wear new dress before
performing puja/aarati at home alter.
3. In case of death of a relative who is
initiated:
The
‘Relative’ referred here is the relative from the father’s side or mother’s
side. If the initiated devotee is a
pujari in a temple, after his attendance of the funeral ceremony, shaving the
head and wearing the new sacred thread he can continue to do deity puja. Here
the relaxation is given because both the devotee and the dead devotee are
initiated which means they are of same gotram namely Achyuta gotram.
Same as above for house holder devotee as
well.
4. In
case of death of a relative who was not initiated regardless that he/she was
doing mahamantra japa or not:
If
the affected devotee attends funeral, he should do not do puja at the temple or
at home alter for 36
hours. If the devotee did not attend
funeral, there is no any restriction.
5. For Matajis to follow during menstrual periods :
During
periods, female
devotees should not do activities like arati, abhishekam, stitching dress for
deities, cooking & offering bhoga
etc. The devotee should depend on her
husband or children or neighbours for making & offering bhoga for deities.
