B.A.D.V. DURGAPUJA 2009 · called Nigama . The examples of Tanara books are Mahanirvana, Kulasara, Kularnava, Rudra Yamala, Vishnu Yamala, Brahma Yamala, and Tantraraja. SUGGESTED

- 1 - B.A.D.V. DURGAPUJA 2009

Dear friends, The Bengali Association of Delaware Valley (BADV), one more time, welcomes you to join in celebrating the most popular festival of all Bengalis, the Durga Puja at the Hindu Temple in Delaware. Although we are many a mile from home, all of us still cherish the few days that we get to spend with family and friends during this time of the year. Fond memories from the event inspire us to live through the vagaries of winter and to embrace another year with renewed hope and aspirations. We are grateful to the support we have received from all our sponsors and those who have attended Durga Puja in all these years. But the biggest asset of BADV is its members who selflessly devote time and money in trying to make every BADV event a successful one. No words can describe our gratitude to them. We are also indebted to all the previous Boards of Trustees and Executive Committees (EC) for the support and leadership they provided in molding us into the vibrant and thriving organization we are today. Just to give you an example; in the last 2 years BADV’s net worth has increased by 5 times and its membership base has gone up by 30%. Without stating the obvious, that these are tough economic times, we are proud to announce sufficient revenue collection for this year’s Puja. It would not have been possible without the generosity showered on us by our various sponsors and donors. Durga Puja in Delaware wouldn’t be the same without their contribution. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our members for their kindness in donating towards BADV’s charitable contribution to the relief funds for hurricane Aila, which caused large scale devastation in West Bengal in 2009. 2009 marks the inauguration of our new ProtimaProtimaProtimaProtima acquired from Kumartuli earlier in the year. We hope that the Protima would be to everyone’s liking. Also, a new EC took reigns earlier this year. We acknowledge the remarkable contributions and achievements of our outgoing committee.

Last year we started a tradition of two performances from professional artists from Kolkata. We are keeping the tradition going this year with performances by Keka Ghoshal and Krosswindz. Hope everyone will enjoy the Puja and all the cultural programs which include active participation by BADV members and their children as well.

May Ma Durga’s blessings be with everyone!

Best regards,

BADV Executive CommitteeBADV Executive CommitteeBADV Executive CommitteeBADV Executive Committee


Program for Durga Puja 2009

9/25 (Friday) 1. 6:00 PM - Chandi path, Devi , Bodhan

(also called Jagaran or waking the Devi), Adhivas (Welcoming Devi)

2. 7:15 PM - Prasad & Dinner 3. 8:00 - 10:00 PM - Songs by Keka Ghosal 9/26 (Saturday) 1. 11:00 AM - Sasthi & Saptami Puja,

Saptami Pushpanjali (around 1:00 PM) 2. 2:30 PM - Prasad & Lunch 3. 6:00 PM - Performance by BADV Kids 4. 7:00 PM - Dance Drama (Chitrangada)

presented by BADV Dance Group 5. 8:00 PM – Dinner 6. 8:30 - 9:30 PM - Drama (Satyi Bhooter

Golpo) presented by BADV Drama Group

9/27 (Sunday) 1. 11:00 AM - Ashtami Puja, Ashtami

Pushpanjali (around 12:00 PM), Sandhi Puja with 108 lights, Navami Puja, Navami Pushpanjali, Kumari Puja, Bijoya Dasami

2. 2:30 PM - Prasad & Lunch 3. 4:30 - 7:30 PM - Performance by Bengali band

Krosswindz




THE HOLY BOOKS OF HINDUS

By Sudeb Das

VEDAS - The Divine Truth that were revealed from time to time in early days of Civilization (4000 years ago) are called Vedas. The Veda is a Sanskrit word meaning knowledge. For long time, the Hindu Sages consider Vedas very sacred and it was not written. It was preserved in memories and taught through instructions to the deserving students. In course of time, a sage named Vyasa collected all the Divine Truths and compiled in to a book called Vedas. It has 4 sections – 1) Rig Veda, 2) Sama Veda, 3) Yajur Veda and 4) Arthava Veda. Again each section has 2Parts, i) Samhita - contains Hymns, ii) Brahmana - which explains these hymns, how & when to use them. Original Vedas were written in Sanskrit. Today it has been translated in English, all Indian languages, and many western languages.

UPANISHADS – The Highly Philosophical portions of Vedas are called Upanishads ( also known as Vedanta). There are 108 Upanishads are available. The popular ones are – Isha, ken, Katha, Mundaka, Mandukya, Aitareya, Tittiriya, Chhandoga, Prashna, Shvetashvatra & Brihadaranayka

SMRITIS – All holy books of Vedas category are of final authority. Smritis (or Non -Veda holy books) are of secondary authority. Darshans & Tantras, (non-veda holy books) are not in Smriti category. The word Smriti means law books. These books describe the code of conduct for Hindus. Among these books, the books of Manu, Yajnavalkya, Vashishtha and Gautama are well known.

PURANAS - For most of the people, the Vedic Holy books are difficult to understand the deeper truth. The sages of India wrote a special type of religious books that are easily understandable in the form of stories and parables. These books are called Puranas. There are 18 Purana books available today. The popular Puranas are Bhagavata Purana, Skanda Purana, Vayu Purana, Padma Purana, Markandeya Purana, and Agni Purana. Chandi or Devimahatmyam is a part of Markandeya Purana.

EPICS – There are two Hindu Holy books of Epics category – i) Ramayana composed by the sage Valmiki and ii) Mahabharata Composed by the sage Vyasa. These great Holy books contains many religious teachings and moral values of life along with many interesting stories of Aryan dynasties (about king, queen & people). They are very rich in literary treasures, mythological & historical events. The characters of these two Holy books are considered as role models by many Hindus.

THE BHAGAVAD GITA – It is the most popular religious book of Hinduism and part of the great Epic Mahabharata composed by Vyasa. The Gita contains the conversation between the Divine Incarnation Sri Krishna and the Aryan Prince named Arjuna. During the answering questions of disciple Arjuna, Sri Krishna gave many valuable spiritual teachings. These teachings are very similar to Upanishads and of great value to Hinduism.

DARSHANAS – In course time, the Hindu sages based on Vedas, developed six different religious philosophy known as Darshanas. These Philosophical system is also known as Indian Philosophy they are – 1) The Sankhya Philosophy founded by Kapila, 2) The Purva Mimamsa Philosophy founded Jaimini,


3) The Uttara Mimamsa Philosophy founded by Vyasa, 4) The Yoga Philosophy founded by Patanjali, 5) The Nyaya Philosophy founded by Gotama, 6) The Vaisheshika Philosophy founded by Kanada, All the authors of above philosophical system wrote the original books in Sanskrit & very concise forms called Sutras. Later on, the explanatory notes or commentaries were written by other scholars like Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya. etc. THE TANTRAS – Another set of religious system called Tantras, parallel to Vedic religion were developed in Hunduism, where God is believed as Male & Female, called Shiva and Shakti (has many other names such as Parvati, Durga, Kali, Sarada etc.) respectively. Shakti is the creative power of Shiva. When Shiva is active, He is called Shakti and when Shakti is inactive, she is called Shiva. The Tanara literature is vast, and the books are written in the form of conversations between Shiva and Shakti (or Parvati). In the text dialogues, where Shiva is the speaker and Parvati is the listener, the text is called Agamas. While Parvati is the speaker and Shiva is the listener, the text is called Nigama. The examples of Tanara books are Mahanirvana, Kulasara, Kularnava, Rudra Yamala, Vishnu Yamala, Brahma Yamala, and Tantraraja. SUGGESTED READING -

1. Hindu View of Life – Dr. S. Radhakrishan 2. Hinduisum at Glance - Swami Nirvedanada 3. The Essentials of Hinduism – Swami Bhaskarananda


By: Atreya Saha


One Man Army (By Aratrik Guha)

Severed by sword

Cleaved into fractions The chance of survival

Is truly inactive But challenging the swordsman

Can only cause turmoil His blade of steel The steel of Lore

The Lore that stands As his holy fort

His actions are measureless His triumphs are infinite

He is a deity As his own entity Arduous is his life

Which he must shelter The demand of his head

Is unbelievably innumerable His only reason His only resolve

Is to protect the foundation Of his private war

Once his power wanes He will sever his sword But the Legend remains

Unforgotten Light shimmers

Hammer of Justice The swordsman’s name Forgotten

Those who fought Those who died

Those who survived Those who cried

Ask for condolence in their own manner Thus begins a new Era

The solace of the swordsman Consoles the weak

He is not the warrior who slew the righteous He is the holy knight who damned the corrupted

Once upon a time A story was told

About the swordsman who fought His own war



Vir Sanghvi - the editor of The Hindustan Times. Subject: Pujo By Vir Sanghvi

Note - This was originally published on August 25, 2005.

Most modern Indian cities strive to rise above ethnicity. Tell anybody who lives in Bombay that he lives in a Maharashtrian city and (unless of course, you are speaking to Bal Thackeray) he will take immediate offence. We are cosmopolitan, he will say indigenously. Tell a Delhiwalla that his is a Punjabi city (which, in many ways, it is) and he will respond with much self-righteous nonsense about being the nation's capital, about the international composition of the city's elite etc. And tell a Bangalorean that he lives in a Kannadiga city and you'll get lots of techno-gaff about the internet revolution and about how Bangalore is even more cosmopolitan than Bombay. But, the only way to understand what Calcutta is about is recognize that the city is essentially Bengali. What's more, no Bengali minds you saying that. Rather, he is proud of the fact. Calcutta's strengths and weaknesses mirror those of the Bengali character. It has the drawbacks: the sudden passions, the cheerful chaos, the utter contempt for mere commerce, the fiery response to the smallest provocation. And it has the strengths (actually, I think of the drawbacks as strengths in their own way). Calcutta embodies the Bengali love of culture; the triumph of intellectualism over greed; the complete transparency of all emotions, the disdain with which hypocrisy and insincerity are treated; the warmth of genuine humanity; and the supremacy of emotion over all other aspects of human existence. That's why Calcutta is not for everyone. You want your cities clean and green; stick to Delhi. You want your cities, rich and impersonal; go to Bombay. You want them high-tech and full of draught beer; Bangalore's your place. But if you want a city with a soul: come to Calcutta. When I look back on the years I've spent in Calcutta and I come back so many times each year that I often feel I've never been away - I don't remember the things that people remember about cities. When I think of London, I think of the vast open spaces of Hyde Park. When I think of New York, I think of the frenzy of Times Square. When I think of Tokyo, I think of the bright lights of Shinjiku. And when I think of Paris, I think of the Champs Elysee. But when I think of Calcutta, I never think of any one place. I don't focus on the greenery of the maidan, the beauty of the Victoria Memorial, the bustle of Burra Bazar or the splendour of the new Howrah 'Bridge'. I think of people. Because, finally, a city is more than bricks and mortars, street lights and tarred roads. A city is the sum of its people. And who can ever forget - or replicate - the people of Calcutta? When I first came to live here, I was told that the city would grow on me. What nobody told me was that the city would change my life. It was in Calcutta that I learnt about true warmth; about simple human decency; about love and friendship; about emotions and caring; about truth and honesty. I


learnt other things too. Coming from Bombay as I did, it was a revelation to live in a city where people judged each other on the things that really mattered; where they recognized that being rich did not make you a better person - in fact, it might have the opposite effect. I learnt also that if life is about more than just money, it is about the things that other cities ignore; about culture, about ideas, about art, and about passion. In Bombay, a man with a relatively low income will salt some of it away for the day when he gets a stock market tip. In Calcutta, a man with exactly the same income will not know the difference between a debenture and a dividend. But he will spend his money on the things that matter. Each morning, he will read at least two newspapers and develop sharply etched views on the state of the world. Each evening, there will be fresh (ideally, fresh-water or river) fish on his table. His children will be encouraged to learn to dance or sing. His family will appreciate the power of poetry. And for him, religion and culture will be in inextricably bound together. Ah religion! Tell outsiders about the importance of Puja in Calcutta and they'll scoff. Don't be silly, they'll say.Puja is a religious festival. And Bengal has voted for the CPM since 1977. How can godless Bengal be so hung up on a religions festival? I never know how to explain them that to a Bengali, religion consists of much more than shouting Jai Shri Ram or pulling down somebody's mosque. It has little to do with meaningless ritual or sinister political activity. The essence of Puja is that all the passions of Bengal converge: emotion, culture, the love of life, the warmth of being together, the joy of celebration, the pride in artistic ex-pression and yes, the cult of the goddess. It may be about religion. But is about much more than just worship. In which other part of India would small, not particularly well-off localities, vie with each other to produce the best pandals? Where else could puja pandals go beyond religion to draw inspiration from everything else? In the years I lived in Calcutta, the pandals featured Amitabh Bachchan, Princes Diana and even Saddam Hussain! Where else would children cry with the sheer emotional power of Dashimi, upset that the Goddess had left their homes? Where else would the whole citygooseflesh when the dhakis first begin to beat their drums? Which other Indian festival - in any part of the country is so much about food, about going from one roadside stall to another, following your nose as it trails the smells of cooking? To understand Puja, you must understand Calcutta. And to understand Calcutta, you must understand the Bengali. It's not easy. Certainly, you can't do it till you come and live here, till you let Calcutta suffuse your being, invade your bloodstream and steal your soul. But once you have, you'll love Calcutta forever. Wherever you go, a bit of Calcutta will go with you. I know, because it's happened to me. And every Puja, I am overcome by the magic of Bengal. It's a feeling that'll never go away.








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SHRI RAMAKRISHNA AND THE COMMON People

SWAMI Tathagathananda

“He who was Shri Ramakrishna, whose stream of love flowed with restless might even to the Chandal (the outcast); Oh, who was ever engaged in doing good to the world though superhuman by nature . . .” —Swami Vivekananda, Hymns to Shri Ramakrishna)

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and The Great Master contain innumerable anecdotes of the Master’s unbounded, infinite love for everyone. Our humble aim is to convey the impact of one aspect of Shri Ramakrishna’s grand and sublime life: his undying concern for common people. A few well-known examples and some that are lesser known will briefly illustrate the power of God’s love through Shri Ramakrishna, the Avatara.

1. The Master’s loving way of correcting a young disciple - One day at Dakshineswar the Master saw Latu Maharaj (Swami Adbhutananda) harshly reprimand a misbehaving devotee with hurtful words. After the devotee left, he said to Latu: “It is not good to speak harshly to those who come here. They are already suffering with worldly problems. If they come here and then are scolded for their shortcomings, where will they go? In the presence of holy company never use harsh words to anyone, and never say anything to cause pain to another. Tomorrow, visit this man and speak to him in such a way that he will forget what you said to him today.” Latu went the very next day. The Master asked him, “Did you offer him salutations from me?” When Latu said no, Shri Ramakrishna said, “Go to him again and offer him my salutations.” Latu did this, which moved the devotee to tears. When Latu returned, the Master Said, “your misdeed is now forgiven.” 2. The starving citizens of Deoghar - In 1868, Mathur Nath Biswas accompanied Shri Ramakrishna on a pilgrimage to Varanasi. When they stopped at Deoghar, the Master saw the extreme poverty of the villagers and wept. He told Mathur, “You are but a manager of Mother’s estate. Give these people sufficient oil to cool their heads and each a piece of cloth to wear and feed them to their fill once.” Mathur replied, “Father, the pilgrimage will requir e much money, and the poor are too many. I may later be in want of money if I begin to do all that. What do you advise under these circumstances?” Ramakrishna cried out, “You rascal! I will not go to your Kasi. I will remain here with them; they have none to call their own; I will not leave them behind and go.” Mathur fulfilled the Master’s wish. Only then did Ramakrishna proceed gladly with Mathur to Kasi. On another occasion, Shri Ramakrishna requested Mathur to stop taxing his poverty-stricken tenants at Ranaghat village. 3. The Master’s last days at Cossipore, 1886 - At Cossipore, Shri Ramakrishna told M., “I have gone on suffering so much for fear of making you all weep. But if you all say, ‘Oh, there is so much suffering! Let the body die,’ then I may give up the body.” But despite his suffering, the Master remained aware of the plight of the poor. 4. Rasik, the humble sweeper of the Dakshineswar Temple - Rasik was simple and guileless; his pure heart longed only for God. One day, he prostrated before Shri Ramakrishna while he was returning from the Panchavati absorbed in a spiritual mood and cried out, “What will happen to me?” Shri Ramakrishna said, “You will see me at the time of death.” Two years after the Master’s demise, Rasik became gravely ill. He took only sanctified water (Charanamrita) and spent his waking hours chanting God’s name and praying earnestly for His grace. Rasik died with full consciousness visualizing the presence of the Master .


5. Bhartabhari - This illiterate temple gardener was loved by Ramakrishna for his simple, good life. One night, Bhartabhari saw a bright radiance flowing from the Master as he meditated under the bel tree. He left the spot in fear but the next morning he fell tearfully at the Master’s feet and said, “Master, please bless me.” Ramakrishna said, “Meditate on the form that you saw last night. Clean this path that leads to the Panchavati. Many devotees will come here in the future.” 6. Dina Mukherjee - This very good devotee lived near Baghbazaar and was very poor. The Master so loved the pure in heart that he did not wait to be invited to their homes. One day Ramakrishna asked Mathur to take him to Dina’s house. It was so small and crowded with people that they could not find a place to sit. On their way back to Dakshineswar, Mathur complained to Ramakrishna about these inconveniences but the Master remained very lighthearted about it. 7. The Master’s mercy for aTemple Priest - Chandra Haldar, a priest of the Kali temple at Kalighat and Mathur’s family priest, envied Mathur’s steadfast loyalty to the Master. He was convinced that the Master had cast a secret spell over Mathur and asked Ramakrishna to teach it to him. Haldar’s failure to extract a magical formula from Ramakrishna bothered him. One day Halder visited Mathur’s Janbazar house and found the Master alone in an ecstatic mood, lying on the floor in a poorly lighted room. He kicked him several times, leaving black marks from his boots on the Master’s body. Shri Ramakrishna related this story one day to Narendra and other devotees at Shyampukur when Doctor Sarkar, his chief medical supervisor enquired about this markings on master.s body. Ramakrishna said, “Everybody wanted to tell Mathur Babu about it, but I forbade them.” Because Mathur might punish the priest harshly. When Mathur found out about it he remarked, “Father, if I had known that then, he would have been killed.” Master replied “you see, Haldar really believed me to be the possessor of some magic charm. I tried my best to remove this false idea from his mind, but I could not do it.” 8. Girish Chandra Ghosh - Girish Ghosh, a hopeless Bohemian devotee of Shri Ramakrishna is well known for his love for Thakur. Ramakrishna made Girish feel his eternal love. Girish testified to this:

One night, in a euphoric and drunken mood, I was visiting a house of prostitution with two of my friends. But suddenly I felt an urge to visit Sri Ramakrishna. My friends and I hired a carriage and drove out to Dakshineswar. It was late at night, and everyone was asleep. The three of us entered Sri Ramakrishna’s room, tipsy and reeling. Sri Ramakrishna grasped both my hands and began to sing and dance in ecstasy. The thought flashed through my mind: “Here is a man whose love embraces all—even a wicked man like me, whose own family would condemn me in this state. Surely this holy man, respected by the righteous, is also the saviour of the fallen.”

After the passing of Shri Ramakrishna, during a weekly meeting of the Ramakrishna Mission at

the house of Balaram Bose (August 15, 1897) Girish said, “I have never received such love from anyone. To me, Sri Ramakrishna is the Lord; he is God-incarnate. A single utterance of his removed the doubts of a lifetime from my mind. Even now, if I see doubts begin to stir, I think of him. Immediately they vanish and do not rise again. I find that it is not difficult to obey him, love him, and worship him. But indeed, it is difficult to forget him.” One hot afternoon Girish visited Shri Ramakrishna in the Cossipore House. The Master’s could no longer move without help; therefore, he asked Latu to give Girish some of the snacks from Fagu’s famed shop in Baranagore. “There is some nice water here,” Ramakrishna said. He crawled across the floor to offer Girish the cool water from the jug himself, apologizing that no cooler water was available. Girish’s good friend Kalipada Ghosh, a bohemian like himself, was also blessed by Shri Ramakrishna and became his very close devotee.

When the monks at Benares asked Girish to speak to them about Shri Ramakrishna, he mentioned

the day he saw Shri Ramakrishna weeping uncontrollably at Dakshineswar. Extremely taken aback


by this unexpected behavior, Girish asked the Master to explain. He told Girish that the able-

bodied Nityananda, disciple of Shri Chaitanya, traveled easily to his devotees’ homes, whereas his

own physical weakness forced him to go to homes of his devotees by horse-carriage or boat.

9. Bhagavati the maidservant - Bhagavati, the elderly maidservant at Dakshineswar, had led an immoral life in her younger days. Shri Ramakrishna knew her for many years and was very compassionate to her. Still, at Dakshineswar on June 4, 1883 with M. and Rakhal Maharaj present she touched his holy feet:

Like a man stung by a scorpion, Shri Ramakrishna stood up and cried out, “Govinda! Govinda!” A big jar of Ganges water stood in a corner of the room. He hurried there, panting, and washed with the holy water the spot the maidservant had touched. The devotees in the room were amazed to see this incident. Bhagavati sat as if struck dead.

Ramakrishna told her gently, “You should salute me from a distance” and consoled her by

singing three songs about the Divine Mother. Bhagavati later fulfilled the Master’s two requests of her that day: she made several pilgrimages and donated her money to charity. 10. The Master transforms Binodini and Manmatha - On September 21, 1884, Shri Ramakrishna saw a performance of the religious play, Chaitanya Lila, at the Star Theatre, managed by Girish Chandra Ghosh, who selected the actress Binodini for the main role of Shri Chaitanya. In spite of her unchaste lifestyle, Shri Ramakrishna praised Binodini and blessed her profusely after the performance, pouring his love upon her as he pressed his hands to her head with the words, “Mother, be illumined.” After receiving Shri Ramakrishna’s blessed touch, Binodini began to regard him as the living God. He fulfilled her longing to see him again during his last days at Shyampukur. Kalipada Ghosh agreed to take her there but fearing that the Master’s cautious disciples might turn her away due to his frailty, Kalipada advised her to dress like a European gentleman. Thanks to her ingenuity, she was led to the Master, who was amused by their clever action. He spoke briefly with her and was satisfied that she had improved her way of life. He gave her simple spiritual instructions “that she might have faith in and reliance on God, and bade goodbye to her soon afterwards. She shed tears of joy and repentance, touched adoringly his holy feet with her head and went away . . .” She touched his feet when he was in an ecstatic mood.

In her autobiography, Binodini wrote, “I don’t care if people of the world look down upon my

sinful life. I was blessed by Sri Ramakrishna. His loving, hopeful message still sustains me. When I am terribly depressed I see his sweet, compassionate face in my heart and hear his voice, “Say Hari guru, guru Hari (God is your guru, and the guru is your God).” After Shri Ramakrishna passed away, Binodini voluntarily gave up her profession at the height of her career on January 1, 1887, She married and began to worship God with devotion. We do not want to elaborate further.

The notorious wrestler and robber Manmatha was feared by the toughest gangs of Calcutta. Yogin Ma lived nearby in Nebubagan and used to visit Shri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar despite her brother Hiralal’s strong disapproval. It was when she invited Ramakrishna to her house that Hiralal hired Manmatha to intimidate the Master and prevent him from visiting devotees in Baghbazar. But as Swami Akhandananda wrote in his reminiscences, “After Manmatha saw the Master and heard a few words from him, he fell at his feet and said to him weeping, ‘My Lord, I am guilty. Please forgive me.’ The Master replied: ‘All right. Come one day to Dakshineswar’.” Manmatha asked Swami Akhandananda to accompany him to Dakshineswar a few days later and he agreed. Manmatha approached the Master who simply touched him. This mere touch gradually transformed Manmatha completely. Ramakrishna treated him affectionately. He asked him to put on again his sacred thread and led him to the Kali temple where he blessed him. After just one or two visits Manmatha began repeating


“ Priyanath, Priyanath” (Dear Lord, Dear Lord) constantly, remaining in Calcutta. Swami Akhandananda reported seeing him at the Baranagore Monastery, when Swami Vivekananda and other swamis were there. Manmatha was constantly repeating, “Priyanath, Priyanath.” Completely detached from the world, he died peacefully in due course of time. 11. The Master’s love for Animals - Two stray cats used to roam around the Dakshineshwar Temple. Though Shri Ramakrishna was always absorbed in God-Consciousness, his compassionate heart noticed their pitiable condition. After considerable hesitation, the Master asked a female devotee to take care of them at her house. Although Shri Ramakrishna’s word is a command to devotees, we must take note of Shri Ramakrishna’s manner of approaching that devotee, who was thrilled with his proposal. Shri Ramakrishna also got a promise from devotee to continue caring for the cats herself and not send them to anyone else. This very great devotee was the wife of Navagopal Ghosh, of high spiritual quality. Shri Ramakrishna often went to the homes of devotees in a horse carriage. Sometimes, the horses were undernourished and he was painfully aware of their burden whenever there was a heavy load of passengers. If the coachman whipped the horses to spur them on, Shri Ramakrishna felt as if he himself was being whipped. Therefore, he usually requested to be driven in a carriage sent by his devotee Beni Pal, who always provided a carriage with strong, healthy horses. It is sufficiently known that Shri Ramakrishna’s heart always bled at the sight of misery, that of creatures and humans alike.


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DURGA PUJA 2009 SUBDURGA PUJA 2009 SUBDURGA PUJA 2009 SUBDURGA PUJA 2009 SUB----COMMITTECOMMITTECOMMITTECOMMITTEE MEMBERSE MEMBERSE MEMBERSE MEMBERS

Puja Arrangement and Prosad Manidipa Nath, Chandan Nath, Durba Ghosh, Paramita Saha, Rupa Roy, Latika Roy, Sikha Das, Gitanjalee Chatterjee, Bony Banerjee, Manua Dutta, Soma Mazumdar, Bishakha Chowdhury, Runa Mitra, Moumita Sarbajna, Bitasta Gunin and Lipi Sen Food Committee Kalyan Ghosh, Shilpi Muhuri, Soma Mazumdar, Keka Biswas, Chitta Ranjan Das, Sandip Dutta, Latika Roy, Gargi Ghosh, Amrita Sengupta, Debaprasad Roy, Sudipto Ghosh and Sathi Dasgupta

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Documents

B.A.D.V. DURGAPUJA 2009 · called Nigama . The examples of Tanara books are Mahanirvana, Kulasara, Kularnava, Rudra Yamala, Vishnu Yamala, Brahma Yamala, and Tantraraja. SUGGESTED