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Jay Sri Rdhe

Archanam in brief

[Note: Please use sandalwood paste for all the drawings. We may say the Sanskrit prayers in the language of our

choice.]

We wake up before sunrise. After saying the prayers to Sri Gurudev, Vaishnavs, and completing our ablutions

and bath, we decorate ourselves with tilak. Then we clean the surrounding of the mandir. Next we pay

obeisance to Sri Gurudev in our mind, gain His permission, clap thrice, and open the door of the sanctum

sanctorum (where the Deities reside). While opening the door, we pray thus

sos vadabhra karunobhagavn vivriddha

premsmitena nayanmburuham vijrimbhavan,

utthya vishwa vijayya cha no vishdam

madhvy girpanayant purusha purnah.

Meaning - "Sri Bhagavnis most compassionate. He has all the six majesties, and is always enhancing our prem.

He is the Primeval One and He is always smiling out of love. I pray to Him to please wake up and conquer the

world with His gaze, for His eyes are like beautiful lotus petals. I also pray that He may drive away my sorrow

with His sweet speech.

Now we enter the mandirand clean it. Then we wash the puja-vessels, sit on an sanand prepare chandan-

paste. We keep two small vessels that serve as wash-basins one for the Deities and the other for the

Goswmis, and the manjaris. We install the pancha-ptra (two of these), small shankha (pni-shankha) andbell. We install them like this

We fill thepancha-ptraswith fresh clean water. In one of them we place atulsi leaf, and little chandan-paste.

We use the water of thispancha-ptrato give chamanto the three Prabhus and Rdh-Krishna. We use the

water (without the tulsi leaf) of the other pancha-ptra to givechamanto the Goswmis, and the manjaris,

and also use it for our own chaman. We putchandan on the other pancha-ptra, the bell, the shankha. In the

shankha, we place some water,chandanandtulsi. Then we lift the shankhaand say the following prayer

twam pur sgarotpanno vishnun vidhrita kare,

mnitwah sarva deveshcha pnchajanya namostute.

Meaning - "Dear Pnchajanya1, You have appeared since endless time in the sea and is held by the Supreme

Lord. All devatsworship you. Therefore I pay you my obeisance.

We ring the bell and say the following prayer

sarva vdyamayee ghant deva-devasya-vallabh,

tasmt sarva prayatnena ghant-vdantu krayet.

Meaning - "Dear bell, who keeps on ringing always, you are the beloved of the God of all gods, Sri Krishna.

Therefore all the devotees should ring you with all care and attention.

1The name of Sri Krishnas conch shell.

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Now we take permission from our Sri Gurudev and Sri Guru-manjari.

Prayer to Sri Gurudev

sri guru paramnanda, premnanda-phalaprad,

nabadweepa-paramnanda sevym mm niyojaya.

Meaning Dear Spiritual Master, you are supreme bliss personified. You give the prem-fruit to all who are

surrendered unto you. Please engage me in the loving service of Sriman-Mahprabhu in Nabadweep.

Prayer to Sri Guru-manjari -

twam gopik vrisharave-stanayntikesi

sevdhikrini gudhe, nija pda-padmam,

dsyam pradya kuru mm brajaknane

srirdhiknghri-sevana-rase sukhinim sukhbje.

Meaning - "Dear devi, you are a gopa-kishori who is qualified to serve the Divine Couple in a very confidential

manner. Therefore you are very close to Sri Vrishabhnu-Nandini. O Happy-one, please immerse me in the

nectarine sevof your lotus feet, and thus grace me with eternal happiness.

While ringing the bell, we say the waking-up prayer and move the curtain of the altar. The waking-up prayer is

as follows

uttishthatishtha gournga, saprshada jagatpate,

tway chotthiya-mnena chotthitam bhuvanatrayam.

Meaning - "Dear Gournga, dearJagat-pate1, You are enjoying blissful sleep. Now please wake up, for if You

wake up, the three worlds will wake up.

We wake up Sri Krishna with the following prayer

go-gop-gokulnanda yashodnandanandana,

uttishtha rdhay srdham prtah seet jagatpate.

Meaning - "Dear Yashod-nanda-nandan, dearJagat-pate, You shower happiness on the cattle, cattle-grazers

and all residents of Gokul. It is the break of dawn; therefore please wake up with Your Beloved Sri Rdh.

Now we wash the feet of the three Prabhus and Sri Krishna.

etat pdyam2(we pour water in the basin3) klim shrim gourngya namah

etat pdyam(we pour water in the basin) klim nitynandya namah

etat pdyam (we pour water in the basin) klim advaitya namah

etat pdyam(we pour water in the basin) klim krishnya namah

1Master of the all creation

2Here is the water to wash Your feet

3Meant for the Deities

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We offer Them water to rinse the mouth

idam chamaniyam1(we pour water in the basin) klim shrim gourngya namah

idam chamaniyam(we pour water in the basin) klim nitynandya namah

idam chamaniyam(we pour water in the basin) klim advaitya namah

idam chamaniyam(we pour water in the basin) klim krishnya namah

We offer Them towel to wipe Their face

etat pronchhan-vastram2(we lift the towel3and wave it) klim shrim gourngya namah

etat pronchhan-vastram(we lift the towel and wave it) klim nitynandya namah

etat pronchhan-vastram(we lift the towel and wave it) klim advaitya namah

etat pronchhan-vastram(we lift the towel and wave it) klim krishnya namah

We offer Them toothbrush and paste

etat danta-kshtham4(we show Them a tulsi-leaf5and put it in the basin) klim shrim gourngya namah

etat danta-kshtham (we show Them a tulsi-leaf and put it in the basin) klim nitynandya namah

etat danta-kshtham(we show Them a tulsi-leaf and put it in the basin) klim advaitya namah

etat danta-kshtham(we show Them a tulsi-leaf and put it in the basin) klim krishnya namah

Now we once again offer Them water to rinse Their mouth, and offer Them the towel to wipe Their face.

idam punar-chamaniyam6(we pour water in the basin) klim shrim gourngya namah

idam punar-chamaniyam(we pour water in the basin) klim nitynandya namah

Idam punar-chamaniyam(we pour water in the basin) klim advaitya namah

idam punar-chamaniyam(we pour water in the basin) klim krishnya namah

etat pronchhan-vastram(we lift the towel and wave it) klim shrim gourngya namah

etat pronchhan-vastram(we lift the towel and wave it) klim nitynandya namah

etat pronchhan-vastram(we lift the towel and wave it) klim advaitya namah

etat pronchhan-vastram(we lift the towel and wave it) klim krishnya namah

We wash the feet of Sri Gaddhar Pandit, the devotees such as Shrivs and Sri Rupa Goswmi7in Nabadweep,

and Sri Rdh, Lalit etc. and the manjaris in Vrindban. We also offer them water to rinse their mouths, a towel

1Here is the water to rinse Your mouth.

2

Here is the towel to wipe Your face.3A small clean decorative cloth kept for this purpose.4Toothbrush and paste.5That denotes the toothpaste made of powdered dried mango leaf.

6Here is the water to rinse Your mouth once again.

7And the other Goswmis as well.

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to wipe their faces and then offer them tooth-paste and brush. After this we once again offer them water to

wash their mouths, and a towel to wipe their faces.

etat pdyam(water1) sri gaddhar srivsdi bhaktavrindebhyo namah

etat pdyam(water2) sri rupa goswmi vargebhyo namah

etat pdyam(water) sri rdhikyai namah, sri lalitdi sakhibhyo namah

etat pdyam(water) sri rupa-manjari-dibhyo namah

idam chamaniyam(water) please say the above mantras.

etat pronchhan-vastram(we lift the towel and wave it) please say the abovemantras.

etat danta-kshtham(we show Them a tulsi-leaf3and put it in the basin)- please say the above mantras.idam punar-chamaniyam(we pour water in the basin) klim shrim gourngya namah

idam chamaniyam(we pour water in the basin) please say the above mantras.

etat pronchhan-vastram(we lift the towel and wave it) please say the above mantras.

We offer water to all the Gurudevs and Guru-manjaris to wash their feet and mouths. We offer them towel to

wipe their faces. Then we offer them toothpaste and brush. Next we offer them water to wash their mouth

once again and a towel to wipe their faces.

etat pdyam(water) sri guru-vargebhyo namah

etat pdyam (water) sri gurumanjari- vargebhyo namah

idam chamaniyam(water) please say the above mantras.

etat pronchhan-vastram(we lift the towel and wave it) please say the above mantras.

etat danta-kshtham- please say the above mantras.idam punar-chamaniyam(we pour water in the basin) please say the abovemantras.

etat pronchhan-vastram(we lift the towel and wave it) please say the above mantras.

Next we bathe our Deities. We should remember that both Sri Murtis and photos are Deities and we should

treat both equally. The only difference is that we bathe Sri Murtis with water, while we only wipe the photos.

How do we bathe the Sri Murtis?

We draw a lotus with chandanon the bathing vessel and place a tulsi leaf on it. We add tulsi, chandan, rose

water to clean water meant for bathing the Deities. We use cool water in summer, while slightly warm water in

the winter and monsoon. After all, we love and care for our Deities just like our babies, do we not? We place Sri

Murtis, Girirj Mahrj, Nm Brahma on the bathing vessel and bathe Them with the pni-shankha, all the time

ringing the bell with the left hand. After bathing our Deities, we wipe and dress Them as nicely as possible, do

shringr and tilak-sev for Them. Then we place each one of Them on a tulsi leaf. We place photos of

Panchatattva and the Divine Couple on tulsi leaves as well. However we do not place the six Goswmis,

Guruvarga and Gurudev on tulsileaves. After this, we worship as follows

1In the basin meant for the Deities.

2Take water from the other pancha-ptrain which you have NOT put tulsileaf and pour this water in the basin meant for the devotees.

3We usetulsi leaf for Gaddhar and Rdhrni, but not for Rupa Goswmi and the manjaris.

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We place atulsi on the left foot and then the right foot of Goursundar1, saying etat sachandana tulsi patram sri

gourngya namah (I offer this tulsileaf dipped in chandan). We do the same for Nitichnd, Advaita Prabhu

and Sri Krishna saying etat sachandana tulsi patram sri nitynandya namah, etat sachandana tulsi patram

sri advaitya namahand etat sachandana tulsi patram sri govindya namahrespectively.

Then we offer Gour-prasdi tulsi leaves to Gaddhar, Shrivs etc., Sri Rupa-Santan and other Goswmis, to the

Guruvarga in Nabadweep. We also offer prasdi tulsito Sri Rdh, the sakhisand the manjaris in Vrindban.

How do we get prasdi tulsi? Simple. We merely take a fresh tulsiand touch it to the one that we have already

offered to Gournga. This tulsiis now Gour-prasdi. Similarly we take a fresh tulsi, touch it to the one offered

previously to Sri Krishna, and it now become Krishna-prasdi.

We take a Gour-prasdi tulsi, say etat gour-prasdi tulsi patram sri gaddhar srivsdi bhaktavrindebhyo

namah2, and place it in the hand or head of Gaddhar Pandit and Shrivs Pandit. Next we say etat gour-

prasdi tulsi patram sri rup-santan-di goswmivargebhyo namah and place Gour-prasdi tulsiin the hand or

head of each Goswmi. We do the same for Sri Gurudev, saying etat gour-prasdi tulsi patram sri

guruvargebhyo namah.

Then we take Krishna-prasdi tulsi, and saying etat krishna-prasdi tulsi patram sri rdhikyai namah, we

place it in Sri Rdhs hand. Then we touch a tulsi leaf to the leaf in Sri Rdhs hand. It becomes Yugal-

prasdi, since the one in Her hand was already Krishna-prasdi. After offering to Her, it has become Rdh-

prasdias well. So our leaf is now both Rdh and Krishna-prasdi, in short,Yugal-prasdi. We offer this leaf to

Sri Rupa manjari (who is to Sri Rdhs left in the photo). While offering we say etat yugal-prasdi tulsi

patram sri rupdi manjaribhyo namah. We also offer anotherYugal-prasdi leaf to all our Guru-manjaris,

saying -etat yugal- prasdi tulsi patram sri guru-manjarivargebhyo namah.

At this juncture, depending on our convenience and availability we can offer flowers, flower-garlands etc. Next

we offer bhogto our Deities. After thebhog, we offer rati. Last of all, we give shayan (sleep) to our Deities.

While putting Them to sleep we say the following prayer

(For Sriman-Mahprabhu)

yatbhym vishlbhym sheetalbhym kripnidhe,

karunpurna netrbhym nidrm kuru jagatpate.

Meaning - "Dear Goursundar, dear Ocean of compassion, dear Master of the world, please close Your big

beautiful serene and merciful eyes, and go to sleep.

For Sri Krishna-

govinda paramnanda yoganidrm vitanyatm,

rdhay pushpa-shayymm dsigana nishevita.

Meaning - "Dear Govinda, dear Supreme Bliss, please sleep on this bed of flowers with Your Beloved Sri Rdh

and enjoy Youryoga-nidra3,while Your maid servants serve You.

1

If we have Sri Murtis of Gour and Niti, we place the leaves directly on Their feet; however in the absence of Sri Murtis, we stick theleaves with chandanon the photos. Many a times the photos are too small to accommodate two leaves on the feet; in this case we placethe leaves on Their feet in meditation, and externally we place them on a plate. Later on we may consume the leaves as prasd orimmerse them in a water-body.2Meaning - "I offer Gour-prasdi tulsi leaf to Gaddhar Pandit, Shrivs Pandit and other devotees.

3Yogic slumber

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Gournga Nitynanda Advaita Sri Rdh

Order of Bhog-offering

Sri Nabadweep Sri Vrindban

1st

bhogklim gourngya namah klim nitynandya namah klim advaitya namah klim sri krishnya namah

2nd

bhogsri gaddhar-srivsdi bhaktavrindebhyo nama sri rdh, anangamanjari lalitdi

ashta sakhibhyo namah3

rd

bhogsri rupa-santan-di goswmi vargebhyo namasri guruvargebhyo namah

sri rupa-manjari dimanjarivargebhyo namahsri gurumanjari-vargebhyo namah

* Jay Sri Rdhe *

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