Sri Gaurabda 528 Vaishnava Calendar for year 2014-2015 (following the time zone of Sri Dhama Mayapur)

vande ‘haṁ śrī-guru-varaṁ śrī-rūpānuga-pravaraṁ vraja-rasa-rasikaṁ ca nārāyaṇam taṁ prapannam ekadasyam nirahara sthitva ‘ham apare ‘hani bhoksyami pundarikaksa saranam me bhava ‘cyuta “On the day of Ekadasi I shall refrain from eating, and eat on the following day. O Acyuta, be my refuge!“(Hari-bhakti-vilasa 13.25)

ekadasyam niraharo varjayisyami vai jalam kesava-prinanarthaya atyanta-damanena ca “On Ekadasi I shall not eat, forsaking even water. For the sake of appeasing Kesava, I shall engage in this greatest of self-restraints.” (Hari-bhakti-vilasa 15.36)

ekadasi vrata samam vratam nasti jagattraye anicchaya’pi yat krtva gatir evam vidha ‘vayoh ekadasi vratam ye tu bhakti bhavena kurvate na jane kim bhavet tesam anukampaya “In the three worlds, there is no kind of fasting which is even comparable to the Ekadasi fast. Even if one performs this fast without a proper attitude, he achieves the Supreme Abode. For someone who fasts on Ekadasi day, with full devotion, the Supreme Lord’s mercy for him is not possible to describe.” (Padma Purana, Kriya Yogasara 23.172-174)

madhava-, bhakti-janani, jatane palana kari krsna-vasati, vasati boli’, parama-adare bari “I carefully observe Madhava’s holy days [such as Ekadasi and Janmastami], for they are the mother of devotion. Knowing that Krsna dwells in these holy days, with great regard, I, also, accept them as my shelter.” (Saccidananda Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur) Sri Gaurabda 528 Vaishnava Calendar for year 2014-15

MARCH 24/3/14 Mon Avirbhava: Sri Srivasa Pandita 27/3/14 Thu Papamocani Ekadasi Fri Break fast after sunrise before 6:18 am. 28/3/14 Tirobhava: Gosh 30/3/14 Sun Amavasya. Tirobhava: Krsnadas Thakur APRIL 04/4/14 Fri Avirbhava: Sri Ramanujacarya and Sri Srimad Bhakti Hrdoy Bon Maharaja 06/4/14 Sun Avirbhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaja 08/4/14 Tue Sri Ram Navami (Appearance of Lord Ramacandra). Fast till noon. Ekadasi preparations only. 09/4/14 Wed Break fast after sunrise and before 9:33 am. 11/4/14 Fri Fasting for Kamada Ekadasi. 12/4/14 Sat Break fast after sunrise and before 9:33 am 14/4/14 Mon Keshav Vrata begins. Tue Purnima. Rasa-yatra of Lord . 15/4/14 Vasanta Rasa-yatra of Sri Krsna. Avirbhava: Srila Syamananda Prabhu & Vamsivadananda Thakur 19/4/14 Sat Tirobhava: Krsnadas Babaji Maharaja & Nitaidas Babaji Maharaja 20/4/14 Sun Avirbhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Kumud Santa Maharaja 21/4/14 Mon Tirobhava: Sri Abhiram Thakur 24/4/14 Thu Tirobhava: Sri Das Thakur 25/4/14 Fri Fasting for Varuthini Ekadasi 26/4/14 Sat Break fast after sunrise and before 9:27 am 29/4/14 Tue Amavasya. Avirbhava: Sri Gadadhar Pandit MAY Fri Aksaya Tritiya, Candan-yatra of Lord Jagannatha begins. 02/5/14 Opening of the doors of Sri Badrinarayana Temple. Inauguration day of Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti in 1941. 04/5/14 Sun Avirbhava: Shankaracharya 06/5/14 Tue Jahnu Saptami Thu Avirbhava: Sita devi (consort of Lord Rama) 08/5/14 and Jahnava devi (consort of Lord Nityananda). Tirobhava: Srila Madhu Pandit. 10/5/14 Sat Fasting for Mohini Ekadasi. 11/5/14 Sun Break fast after 7:00 am and before 9:23 am. Mon Appearance day of Lord Nrsimhadeva. 13/5/14 (fast till dusk. Ekadasi preparations only.) Wed Purnima. Break fast after sunrise and before 9:22 am. 14/5/14 Avirbhava: Srila Srinivas Acarya and Srila Madhavendra Puripad. Tirobhava: Srila Paramesvari Thakur. Thu End of Sri Keshav Vrata. 15/5/14 Tirobhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Saranga Gosvami Maharaja 19/5/14 Mon Tirobhava: Srila Raya Ramananda Prabhu 25/5/14 Sun Fasting for Apara Ekadasi. Avirbhava: Vrndavan das Thakur 26/5/14 Mon Break fast after sunrise and before 9:21 am 28/5/14 Wed Amavasya. JUNE Sun Ganga dasahara, Ganga puja. 08/6/14 Avirbhava: Sri Gangamata Gosvamini. Tirobhava: Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana Prabhu. 09/6/14 Mon Fasting for Pandava Nirjala Ekadasi. 10/6/14 Tue Break fast after sunrise and before 9:22 am. 11/6/14 Wed Dahi-cira festival of Srila Raghunath Das Gosvami. Fri Purnima. Snana-yatra of Lord Jagannatha. 13/6/14 Tirobhava: Srila Mukunda Datta and Srila Sridhara Pandit. 14/6/14 Sat Tirobhava: Srila Syamananda Prabhu. 17/6/14 Tue Avirbhava: Srila Vakreshwar Pandit. 22/6/14 Sun Tirobhava: Srila Srivas Pandit. 23/6/14 Mon Fasting for Yogini Ekadasi 24/6/14 Tue Break fast after sunrise and before 9:24 am. Fri Amavasya. Tirobhava: Srila Gadadhar Pandit 27/6/14 and Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakur. 28/6/14 Sat Cleaning of the Gundica Temple Sun Ratha-yatra of Lord Jagannatha. Tirobhava: Srila Svarupa 29/6/14 Damodara Gosvami and Sri Sivananda Sena JULY 03/7/14 Thu Hera Pancami. Sri Lakshmi Vijay. 07/7/14 Mon Lord ’s return journey. End of Rath- yatra festival. Tirobhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaja 08/7/14 Tue Fasting for Sayana Ekadasi. (Sri Hari Sayana) 09/7/14 Wed Break fast after 6:00 am and before 9:28 am. 12/7/14 Sat Sri Guru Purnima. Sri Vyasa-puja. Tirobhava: Srila Sanatana Gosvami. First month of Caturmasya vrata begins. (Fasting from all green leafy vegetables.) 14/7/14 Mon Tirobhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Hrdoy Bon Maharaja 17/7/14 Thu Tirobhava: Srila Gopal Bhatta Gosvami 19/7/14 Sat Tirobhava: Srila Lokanatha Gosvami 22/7/14 Tue Kamika Ekadasi 23/7/14 Wed Break fast after sunrise and before 9:30 am 26/7/14 Sat Amavasya. Tirobhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Gosvami Maharaja Thu Tirobhava: Sri Raghunandan Thakur and 31/7/14 Sri Vamsidas Babaji Maharaja AUGUST Thu Fasting for Pavitraropani Ekadasi. 07/8/14 Beginning of Sri Sri -Govinda Jhulan-yatra. Fri Break fast after sunrise and before 7:24 am 08/8/14 Tirobhava: Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Gauridas pandit and Srila Govinda das. Sun Sri Baladeva Purnima (appearance day of Lord Balarama). Fast till noon. Ekadasi preparations only. End of Jhulan-yatra. 10/8/14 Raksha bandhan. Second month of Caturmasya begins - fasting from yogurt for 1 month. 11/8/14 Mon Break fast after sunrise and before 9:30 am. Mon Sri Janmastami - full fast till midnight. 18/8/14 Ekadasi preparations only 19/8/14 Tue Break fast after sunrise and before 9:32 am. Sri -utsava. Avirbhava: Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja. 21/8/14 Thu Fasting for Annada Ekadasi 22/8/14 Fri Break fast after sunrise and before 9:32 am. 25/8/14 Mon Amavasya 30/8/14 Sat Avirbhava: Sri Sitadevi, consort of Sri Advaita Acarya. SEPTEMBER 02/9/14 Tue Sri Sri Radhastami. No fasting. Fri Fasting for Parsva Ekadasi, Vamana Dvadasi, Sarabana 05/9/14 Mahadvadasi Sat Break fast after sunrise before 9:31 am. 06/9/14 Avirbhava: Srila Jiva Gosvami. 07/9/14 Sun Avirbhava: Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakur. 08/9/14 Mon Tirobhava: Srila Haridas Thakur. Ananta Caturdasi. Tue Purnima. Sri Visvarupa-Mahotsava. Sannyasa day of Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnan Keshav Goswami and 09/9/14 Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja. Third month of Caturmasya begins - fasting from milk 10/9/14 Wed Tirobhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Gosvami Maharaja 14/9/14 Sun Tirobhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Srirupa Siddhanti Gosvami Maharaja. 19/9/14 Fri Fasting for Indira Ekadasi 20/9/14 Sat Break fast after 9:53 am to 12 noon. 24/9/14 Wed Amavasya 28/9/14 Sun Avirbhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvami Maharaja OCTOBER 03/10/14 Fri Lord Sri Ramacandra Vijayotsava. Avirbhava: Sri Madhvacarya. Sun Fasting for Pasankusa Ekadasi. Tirobhava: Srila Raghunath das 05/10/14 Gosvami, Srila Raghunath Bhatta Gosvami Srila Krishna das Kaviraj Gosvami. 06/10/14 Mon Break fast after sunrise and before 9:27 am. Wed Purnima. Saradiya Rasa-yatra of Sri Krishna. Damodara Vrata, Kartika Vrata, Urja Vrata, Niyam seva begins. Tirobhava: Sri Murari Gupta and nitya-lila pravista om visnupada 08/10/14 108-Sri Srimad Bhaktiprajnana Keshava Gosvami Maharaja. Last month of Caturmasya - Fasting from sesame seeds, mustard seeds and mustard oil. Lunar eclipse (5:16-6:05 pm) Mon Tirobhava: Srila Narottama Das Thakur and Sri Srimad Bhakti 13/10/14 Kushal Narasingha Maharaja 16/1014 Thu Bahulashtami, Avirbhava: Sri Radha Kunda. Fri Avirbhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Gosvami Maharaja and 17/10/14 Sri Virachandra Prabhu. Tirobhava: Sakhicarana das Babaji Maharaja. 18/10/14 Sat Akash deep (Offering of lamp to the sky) starting for one month 19/10/14 Sun Rama Ekadasi Mon Break fast after sunrise and before 9:27 am. 20/10/14 Tirobhava: Srila Narahari Sarkar Thakur 23/10/14 Thu Amavasya. Dipavali (ghee lamp offering in Sri Visnu Temples) Fri Annakuta Mahotsava & Sri Govardhan Puja. Go-puja. 24/10/14 Avirbhava: Srila Rasikananda Prabhu. Tirobhava: Vrndavan das Thakur 25/10/14 Sat Yama dvitya. Bhaiya Dooj. Tirobhava: Srila Vasudeva Ghosh. Sun Tirobhava: Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Vamana Gosvami Maharaja 26/10/14 & Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja 27/10/14 Mon Tirobhava: Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja. 28/10/14 Tue Avirbhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Srirup Siddhanti Gosvami Maharaj. Fri Gopastami. Tirobhava: Srila Srinivasa Acarya, Srila Dhananjaya 31/10/14 Pandit and Srila Gadadhara Das Thakur NOVEMBER Mon Fasting for Utthana Ekadasi. Bhisma-pancaka. 03/11/14 Tirobhava: Srila Gaurakisora das Babaji Maharaja. Avirbhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhava Maharaja Tue Viraha Mahotsava Gaurakisora das Babaji Maharaja 04/11/14 Break fast after sunrise and before 8:38 am. Wed Tirobhava: Srila Bhugarbha Goswami, Srila Kasisvari Pandit, 05/11/14 and Sri Srimad Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvami Maharaja. 06/11/14 Thu End of Kartik/Damodar vrata 07/11/14 Fri Beginning of Sri Katyayani Vrata. 17/11/14 Mon End of akash deep Tue Fasting for Utpanna Ekadasi. 18/11/14 Tirobhava: Narahari Sarkar Thakur Wed Break fast after sunrise and before 9:33 am. 19/11/14 Tirobhava: Sri Kala Krsnadas 20/11/14 Thu Tirobhava: Sri Saranga Thakur 22/11/14 Sat Amavasya 25/11/14 Tue Tirobhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Jivan Janardan Gosvami Maharaja Sun Avirbhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Jivan Janardan Gosvami Maharaja 30/11/14 and Sri Srimad Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaja DECEMBER 02/12/14 Tue Fasting for Mokshada Ekadasi. Gita Jayanti 03/12/14 Wed Break fast after sunrise and before 9:39 am. 06/12/14 Sat Purnima. End of Sri Katyayani Vrata. 10/12/14 Wed Tirobhava: Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada Mon Avirbhava: Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Vamana Gosvami Maharaja. 15/12/14 Tirobhava: Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja 18/12/14 Thu Fasting for Saphala Ekadasi. Tirobhava: Sri Devananda Pandit Fri Break fast after sunrise and before 9:19 am. 19/12/14 Tirobhava: Sri Mahesh Pandit & Sri Srimad Bhakti Bhudev Srauti Maharaja 20/12/14 Sat Tirobhava: Sri Uddharan Thakur 22/12/14 Mon Avirbhava: Sri Locan das Thakur. Amavasya. 24/12/14 Wed Tirobhava: Srila Jiva Gosvami and Srila Jagadish Pandita JANUARY 01/1/15 Thu Fasting for Putrada Ekadasi 02/1/15 Fri Break fast after sunrise before 9:30 am 05/1/15 Mon Purnima. Krsna Pusya Abhiskek Thur Avirbhava: Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami 08/1/15 Tirobhava: Srila Ramacandra Kaviraja 10/1/15 Sat Tirobhava: Srila Narahari Seva Vigraha Prabhu 11/1/15 Sun Tirobhava: Srila Jayadev Gosvami 12/1/15 Mon Tirobhava: Srila Locana das Thakur 15/1/15 Thu Makar Sankranti, Ganga Sagar Snana 16/1/15 Fri Fasting for Sat-tila Ekadasi Sat Break fast after 6:37 and before 9:59 am. 17/1/15 Avirbhava: Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Trivikram Gosvami Maharaja. Tue Mauni Amavasya. 95th Appearance day of nitya-lila pravista om 20/1/15 visnupada astottara-sata Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja. Sri Vyasapuja Mahotsava. Sun Vasanta Pancami of Sri Krishna. Avirbhava: Sri Visnupriya devi, Srila Raghunatha Das Gosvami, Srila 25/1/15 Raghunandan Thakur and Pundarik Vidyanidhi. Tirobhava: Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur and Sri Srimad Bhakti Vivek Bharti Gosvami Maharaja. Sri Saraswati Puja. Mon Avirbhava: Maha- Sri Advaita Acarya 26/1/15 Fast till noon. Ekadasi preparations only 27/1/15 Tue Breakfast after sunrise and before 10:01 am. 28/1/15 Wed Tirobhava: Sri Madhvacarya 29/1/15 Thu Tirobhava: Sri Ramanujacharya 30/1/15 Fri Bhaimi Ekadasi Sat Breakfast after arcana of Sri Varahadeva and after 6:25 before 31/1/15 10:01 am. Sri Varaha-dvadasi. No fasting, because fast for Sri Varaha-dvadasi was done on Bhaimi Ekadasi. FEBRUARY Sun Avirbhava: Lord Sri Nityananda 01/2/15 Fast till noon. Ekadasi preparations only. 02/2/15 Mon Break fast after sunrise and before 10:01 am. 03/2/15 Tue Purnima. Avirbhava: Narottam das Thakur Sat 117th Appearance day of nitya-lila pravista om visnupada 108-Sri 07/2/15 Srimad Bhaktiprajnana Keshava Gosvami Maharaj. Mon 142th Appearance day of nitya-lila pravista om visnupada 108-Sri 09/2/15 Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Thakur Prabhupada. Tirobhava: Gaur Govinda Maharaja 10/2/15 Tue Avirbhava: Sri Srimad Bhakti Saranga Gosvami Maharaja 15/2/15 Sun Vijaya Ekadasi 16/2/15 Mon Break fast after sunrise and before 9:58 am 18/2/15 Wed Sri Siva-ratri vrata (Ekadasi preparations only). 19/2/15 Thu Amavasya. Break fast after sunrise and before 9:58 am. Fri Tirobhava: Srila Rasikananda Prabhu, Srila Jagannatha Das 20/2/15 Babaji Maharaja and Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja 23/2/15 Mon Avirbhava: Bhakti Vivek Bharati Maharaja 27/2/15 Fri Sankalpa and Mangal Adhivasa for Sridhama Navadvipa Parikrama 28/2/15 Sat First day of Sri Navadvipa-dhama Parikrama (upto 4 March) MARCH 01/3/15 Sun Amalaki Ekadasi Mon Break fast after sunrise and before 9:53 am. 02/3/15 Tirobhava: Srila Madhavendra Puripad 04/3/15 Wed Mangal Adhivasa of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu's Appearance 05/3/15 Thu Sri Gaura Purnima - fast till moonrise. Beginning of Gaurabda 529 Quotes about Ekadasi from Srila Gurudeva Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayan Goswami Maharaja:

“On Ekadasi, and on the birthdays of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Krsna and Lord Nrsimhadeva, on Rama-navami and so on, we should not take grains. Lord Sri Krsna has arranged this. If anyone does a very little effort, he will benefit so much. It is not very difficult. You can take yoghurt, milk and juice, and so many fruits, vegetables and other preparations. It is not difficult. Try to follow that.” (Miami, Florida: May 7, 2006)

“Moreover, the most important reason to follow Ekadasi is that Ekadasi is Krsna Himself. Krsna has become Ekadasi. He descends to this world on Ekasasi day, looks after all the people who are observing its vows, and gives special mercy to them. So we must observe Ekadasi.” (Hawaii: May 13, 2000)

“On the day of Ekadasi, we should honor Ekadasi by not taking grains. Ekadasi is the mother of krsna-bhakti, love and affection. If you do not follow Ekadasi,krsna- bhakti will never come. If you are young and strong, you can fast all day, not taking anything: not fruits, vegetables, juice, or even water. If you are not so strong, or you are sick or old, you can take very few fruits, or juice, or milk. Don’t try to take a large quantity of juice, one or two kilos three or four times a day, orrabari (a rich milk sweet), or other preparations. You can take very little, only to maintain your life. Not sleeping at all during the day, and chanting like Srila Haridasa Thakura. Then the fruit of Ekadasi will come.” (Hawaii: May 13, 2000)

“...Ekadasi is superior even to Janmastami. For the benefit of all jivas, Krsna Himself became Madhava-tithi. He thought, ‘All are forgetting Me, and they are suffering in this world. How can I bring them to Goloka? There is no way for them, as they are so fallen and helpless.’ He therefore became Ekadasi-tithi. Ekadasi-tithi is like a time period. How did he become thistithi ? All transcendental time is Krsna Himself, and therefore this transcendental time is also Him.” (Brisbane, Australia: Feb. 23, 2002)

“We should utilize at least one day in two weeks to be closer to Sri Sri Radha and Krsna, and in that way you will not lose your bhakti. Your bhakti will certainly increase by Their association, and therefore Krsna has arranged this opportunity – He Himself has become Ekadasi. In the form of Ekadasi, He invites us: ‘Today you should give your eleven senses to Me.’” (Los Angeles, California, on June 5, 1998)