Purushottam month has just gone. It has gone away from us to return after three years. It came to bless us and left after blessing us. Who received how much blessings is dependent on who did what during this month.
Those who cherished its arrival, lovingly welcomed it, and performed additional devotional service during this month will miss the month-long blissful activities.
They will miss the soul-lifting, early morning aratis and special evening kirtans. They will miss singing and hearing the Yugalastakam by Srila Jiva Gosvami, Chorastakam by Srila Bilvamangal Thakur and Sri Jagannastakam by Sripad Shankarachaya, and many other sweet songs revealing intimate feelings of devotees for their beloved Lordships.
They will miss standing in the queue preparing for offering ghee lamps, they will miss the rush for cooking something special for the Lord, they will miss chanting extra rounds of the Hare Krishna maha mantra and reading of Srimad Bhagavatam and they will miss the soothing and purifying dips in the supremely holy waters of mother Ganga, mother Yamuna, the all auspicious ocean at Sri Purushottam ksetra Puri, and other sanctifying water bodies.
They will miss the tirtha yatras and parikramas, getting tired while walking extra miles and taking occasional rest under some benevolent trees. They will miss the cows and the birds who lent them association on the way, and they will also miss those street dogs who walked with them a few meters before turning away.
Why miss? Why can’t they still do all this, and more, even now? Yes they can but they will still miss all of it because engaging in all these activities during Purushottam month has a special flavor. They will miss that flavor.
O Purushottam month! We will miss the excitement of waiting for your arrival and we will miss the fear of losing your association with every passing days even when you were with us. Being the dear-most month to Lord Purushottam, you are supremely merciful towards your devotees. Your benevolence sees no limit and your compassion for the conditioned souls is unfathomable. The exceptionally bounteous nature of yours bewilders even the believers, not to speak of those unfortunate ones who deride your purest position by considering you inauspicious! Please be merciful to them too, O Purushottam month, so that some day they also wait for your arrival and invoke their good fortune by serving Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha-Krishna during your stay on the planet.
Deriving benefits from performing devotional service during Purushottam month is never a consideration for a devotee. A devotee sees such special months simply as an additional opportunity to render more devotional service. For them, pleasing the Lord is their only goal. But because the Lord is extremely benevolent, He bestows unlimited blessings on His devotees who even try to please Him.
On a different yet relevant note, as ironically seen across the world, we tend to appreciate things or people and remember them more fondly after they are gone. Be it a friend who you may have parted path with, a teacher who you did not like, the parents who you thought were obstacles, children who you found too distracting, spouse or a neighbor who you often fought with, the boss you hated or the employee you fired for a small mistake. We tend to appreciate them when they are no more with us. In some cases you may get them back but in some cases they are gone forever. Purushottam month is also gone but fortunately it has gone to return.
How often do we contemplate on the fact that a moment gone will never ever come back? We hear about living every moment of life, enjoying it to the fullest and so on, but how often do we notice that in pursuit of doing so, we often end up losing the most precious aspect of that particular moment? Something similar happens also with our spiritual life when we don’t realize the value of certain rare opportunities. Some may find these things unworthy of contemplation but which are nonetheless important for self development. We don’t expect robots to think in these terms but as human beings we ought to behave like humans, i.e. sensitive to who or what we meet and deal with.
In celestial terms, Purhoshottam month is also a personality, and as such, we need to welcome it and deal with it sensitively, with respect. Purushottam month does not come to take something from us; it comes to give us something rare, Krishna bhakti. Neither Purushottam month nor the spiritual benefits it offers is a myth; they are real. The event of its appearance and meeting with Lord Krishna is recorded in ancient Vedic texts. It is the influence of Maya, especially in Kaliyuga, that makes people take what is real as false and what is false as real, and as such, we need to keep ourselves safe from its influence as much as possible.
The glories of Purushottam month is well documented in different Vedic scriptures, especially the Puranas. Devotees need to increase awareness of it among general populace. People these days are unaware of good things in the world. They are going after temporary, illusory benefits and missing out on the real thing. Helping them see the real thing is the ultimate social welfare. Their misfortune can be eradicated by the performance of months like Purushottam month, Kartik month and various other special days.
We will miss you, O Purushottam month! No matter where we are, we will wait for your next arrival and for those blissful moments you bestowed upon us so generously. Thank you very much for blessing us with your most auspicious association!
Purushottam month ki jay!. Purna Purushottam Bhagavan Sri Krishna ki jay! Hare Krishna.