Lalita Sakhi Day

[Deleted]

Jay Radhe!

Today, the 17th (at least here in Hawaii) is Lalita Saptami, the appearance of Lalita Sakhi. As most of you already know, according to the CV theology, she is Srimat Radhika's best girlfriend. Within the most intimate circle, the Asta-Sakhis ( eight principal friends of Radha), she is counted as the most intimate friend.

Lalita Sakhi from KB Mandir, Vrindavana:


This also goes to the Swami Haridas, who is considered by some Vaishnavas an incarnation of Lalita Sakhi. It says that his samadhi is still in Seva Kunj, Vrindavan. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haridas

Here is a clip from the movie "Baiju Bawra", made in 1952, where the legendary mystic singer Baiju, sings to his guru Swami Haridas:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJCqDLLdKHY

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More about Lalita Devi:



www.salagram.net/parishad-lalitasakhi.html

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(Please do not think that I am trying to preach anything here; I just consider the information that I am put together in here relevant to this particular thread and the pure curiosity about "others Vaishnava Sampradaya". )



Here is more info about Swami Haridas Philosophy:

Aacharya Sri Lalita Sakhi, Rasik Hamaaari Chaap,
Our teacher is Sri Lalita ji, we are known as 'Rasiks'

Nitya Kishore Upasana, Yugal Mantra Ko Jaap.
We worship Nitya Kishore Kishori, we chant the yugal mantra

Yugal Mantra Ko Jaap, Ved Rasikan Ki Vaani,
The rasik guru's teachings are our scriptures (ved)

Sri Vrindavan Dhaam, Isht Shyama Maharani.
Residence is Vrindavan, Shyama maharani is our revered one

Premdevta Mile Bina, Siddhi Hoye Na Karaj,
Everything is worthless if you do not meet your loving God

Bhagwat Sab Sukh Daani Prakat Bhaye Rasikacharaj.
To spread the love and happiness Swamiji appeared
- SRI BHAGWAT RASIK JI MAHARAJ

www.swamiharidasji.com/index.html

[Deleted]

A good friend is in doubt about the real date for the appearance of Lalita Sakhi (Radhe's friend). If anyone knows, please.

There is another deity, who is also known as Lalita Devi (Kali Ma; Durga Ma).

"Sri Lalitha Sahasranamam is an important hymn in the praise of the Great Divine Mother, Shakti. This clip contains the Dhyanam part of the Sahasranamam, chanted by Aiya of Sri Rajarajeshwari Peetam, NY (www.srividya.org)"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eZK5UoGXrI

All Glories to Mother Kali; The female form of Krishna!
All Glories to Shiva; The male form of Radha!

[madanmohandas]

THanks Harisaranji, I'm still not sure about this. I posted the question on Vilasakunja, but no response yet. I am sure I have read somewhere that her (Lalitasakhi's) birthday is 27 days prior to Radha's, and that, as with all the asta sakhis on their birthdays, the Rasa LIla is performed that night in her pleasance.

[Deleted]

Yes Madanmohan-ji, seems that you are right, but now I am the one confused. The article below says that Lalita is 27 days older than Sri Radhika, but it was commemorate in Mayapur just 3 days prior to Radhasthami, on Sept 17, just like I have in the Calendar....

Lalita Sakhi

"Lalita Sasti is the divine appearance day of Lalita Sakhi , Srimati Radharani’s constant companion and follower. Of the eight sakhis (main gopis) Lalita Devi in the main sakhi. She is 27 days older than Srimati Radharani. She is the leader and best of the eight main gopis. She is the constant companion and follower of Srimati Radharani.
She is a dear friend of Srimati Radharani. She has a contradictory and hot-tempered nature. Her complexion is bright yellow. Her garments are the color of peacock feathers. She is expert at arranging both the meeting of Radha and Krishna and their conjugal fights.Her mother is Saradi Devi and her father is Vishoka. Her husband is Bhairava, who is a close friend of Govardhana Malla, the husband of Candravali.

Let us meditate on the glories of Lalita Sakhi on her transcendental appearance day." By Shyamagopika de... on Mon, 2007-09-17 06:33.

www.mayapur.com/main/?q=node/586

Here is another Vaishnava calendar that confirms the Lalita Saptmi on Sept 17th.

[madanmohandas]

Yes, I'm still confused about it. May be in Dhyanacandra's Paddhati or in some Gutika there is some reference. I don't put much trust in info provided by the Hare Krsnas on subjects like that. I would not be surprised if there is some misinformation there. Let's see what comes up.
One thing that's strange on the calender you linked up is that there seem to be three days between saptami and astami(?).

[Deleted]

Yes Madanmohadas-ji, according to the IGM Calendars, 3 days between Saptami and Radhastami.

I understand your point about no trusting the Hare Krishnas for accurate information on delicate subjects. However, I still use their calendar and yes, for Ekadasi dates they are not too bad...

[squeegee]

What's 3 days between friends?

3 shakes, on the other hand...

Let's count: 1, 1 and a half, 1 and three quarters, 1 and seven eighths, 1 and fifteen sixteenths, 1 and thirty-one thirty-seconths... Tell me when to stop.

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squeegee said:

What's 3 days between friends?

3 shakes, on the other hand...

We are trying to understand the actual date for the appearance of Lalita Sakhi (Radha's friend). According to Madanmohan-ji, the IGM calendar seems to be contradictory.

[kingcobra]

The answer to the first question based on the Gutika by Gopal Das (which section I have posted my translation of on the Gutikas topic):
Her age is fourteen years, three months and twelve days.
Radha's age is fourteen years two months fifteen days.
Traditional calendars are lunar, not solar. So a month is from full moon to full moon. The difference between their ages is (1 month + 12 days) - 15 days. The time it takes for the moon to complete its phases is not an exact number of days, nor is it the same from one month to the next, but there is an average you can use (don't remember it off the top of my head).


The answer to the second question is how the tithis (lunar days) are calculated and the rules for observances. Lunar days are calculated by subdividing the waxing (new to full) half of a lunar month and the waning (full to new) half of a lunar month. So, there is no direct correspondence with calendar dates based on a solar calendar, i.e. a tithi can begin or end any time of the day or night. Observance dates are determined by the time of sunrise at one's geographical location. In the case of ekAdazIs and mahAdvAdazIs, just how long before sunrise the tithi begins is the determining factor that calls for the occasional observance on the 12th lunar day instead of the 11th. To do the calculations correctly requires taking one's longitude and latitude into consideration. For that reason, sometimes the observance date for people in North America is the same as the observance date in India, but not always. At any rate, there is no reason that there should be three calendar days between two lunar days. Someone calculated something wrong to come up with that.

squeegee: You can stop counting as soon as the numerator of your fraction add to 1 reaches a prime numer that is greater than 10 to the 100,000,000,000th power. That ought to keep you busy for a while. Maybe we'll see your next post in the next kalpa.

[Deleted]

I called a local devotee from IGM, who lived in Vrindavana for sometime, like 10 years or so. She said that over there people have different dates for most of the commemorations. Anyways, just to make it short, she said that the calculations made by IGM is mostly based on the calculations made by a devotee named Shyamasundara (ACBSP) disciple.

It is really hard to say what is right and wrong on this subject.
BTW, Lalita Saptami in Hawaii was commemorated by the local IGM community on the 17th (Goura saptami), while in the mainland it was actually on the 18th, just a day before Radhasthami (Goura Asthami). In Oceania for example, the Lalita day was on 18th and Radha on the 20th:
www.giriraja.org.au/panjika2007_2008.htm

The question may be here is, what was the date for Lalita appearance day for "CV" ...?

Anyways, here is more about the calendar man:

"Vaisnava calendar calculations are made with the ISKCON-approved Vcal 4.01 software written by H.G. Shyamasundara prabhu & H.G. Markendeya Rishi prabhu, as adjusted by the vcal.iskcongbc.org website."


Detailed list of VCal 4.01 calculation rules that are adjusted in the calendars produced by this site:

Glossary:

Tithi -- A lunar day, the time period during which the angle between the sun and the moon changes by an increment of 12 degrees.

Ksaya -- Said of a tithi that does not intersect with a sunrise.

Vriddhi -- Said of a tithi that intersects with two consecutive sunrises.

1. When a tithi is ksaya, the general rule, based on our current research, is that an observance scheduled for that tithi should be celebrated on the solar day which has its sunrise just after that tithi ends. VCal 4.01 calculates such an observance to occur on the solar day which has its sunrise just before that tithi begins.

2. When a tithi is vriddhi, the general rule, again based on our current research, is that an observance scheduled for that tithi should be celebrated on the first of the two solar days. VCal 4.01 sometimes calculates such an observance for the second of the two solar days.

3. Gundica Marjana should always be celebrated the day before Ratha Yatra. VCal 4.01 calculates it according to tithi.

4. The Festival of Jagannath Misra should always be celebrated the day after Gaura Purnima is celebrated. VCal 4.01 calculates it always for the Krishna Pratipat of Visnu Masa, but this is not correct if the Purnima tithi is vriddhi. To allow for such an eventuality, this site now shows the entry for this occasion placed together with Gaura Purnima at the end of the year instead of at the beginning of the following year.

5. Ganga Sagara Mela always occurs on the day of Makara Sankranti. VCal 4.01 calculates it according to tithi.

In addition to these adjustments, we have also made numerous minor wording changes to improve readability and avoid the possibility of confusion. Most notable among the wording-only changes is the way in which Ekadasi fasting days are described.When VCal 4.01 calculates that a day is suitable for Ekadasi fasting, the printout shows either "Suddha Ekadasi" or "<some type of> Mahadvadasi". Actually, such a day may be either an Ekadasi or a Dvadasi, and from the printout term used it is not obvious which one it is. To avoid any confusion, the calendars produced by this site specify whether the day is an Ekadasi or a Dvadasi.

Read more about Vaishnava Calendar by IGM

[madanmohandas]

Actually, this was not the question. Weather Lalita sasti or saptami falls on whatever day, like King cobra says the calculations vary. However, what the question was, for me at least, is if that Lalita sasti/saptami has anything at all to with Lalita sakhi; I think not, but until I find conformation, I'm still in doubt. It may be of little importance here, but I feel the imperative to get it right; no one likes to be told 'happy birthday' when its not their birthday, especially by those that should know.

[madanmohandas]

Madhavananda dasji just posted on vilasakunja, in response to the query, the birthdays of the asta sakhis. Lalita sakhi's is on sravan sukla ekadasi.

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madanmohandas said:

Madhavananda dasji just posted on vilasakunja, in response to the query, the birthdays of the asta sakhis. Lalita sakhi's is on sravan sukla ekadasi.

Thanks for asking Madhavananda dasji; he actually replied with all the dates:

Lalitā: śravaṇa śukla-ekādaśī
Viśākhā: bhādra śuklāṣṭamī
Citrā: aśvina śukla-trayodaśī
Indurekhā: bhādra śukla-pañcamī
Campakalatā: bhādra śukla-saptamī
Raṅgadevī: bhādra śukla-tṛtīya
Tuṅgavidyā: bhādra śukla-pratipad
Sudevī: bhādra śukla-tṛtīya


Vilasa Kunja@

Here is the "date for Sravana Ekadasi" that I found:

24th August, 2007, Friday
Sravana Shukla Ekadashi

Was that the date for Lalita appearance?