My First Mangal Aarti

One word: Brilliant.

I slept at around 2:30 AM last night, so I prayed to Krishna to please wake me up at 5 AM so I wouldn't miss the mangal aarti. My alarm rang at sharp 5 AM, yet my eyes weren't ready to open. I was slowly drifting off to sleep once again, when I realized I needed to be there by 5:30. So I got out of bed, woke my darling grandmother, and we started getting ready.

The sun hadn't risen yet and it was freezing.We got there and had to wait for some others to come. We sang the Guru Pranam, Nrishinga pranam, Tulsi aarti, recited the offenses against the Holy Name, and then we chanted. Atul Krishna Das Prabhu was singing most of the songs. He was singing such mellow, slow-paced and soulful versions of these songs, yet he was in the highest ecstasy. He was dancing so happily! It was just such a joy to watch him dancing so enthusiastically even though the songs were mellow. It just showed that he was connecting with Krishna and he was just floating in Vaikuntha. Prabhu then gave us a little lecture from the Srimad Bhagavatam 7th Canto. He narrated how Hiranyakasipu sent his son Prahlada to a demonic school where they encouraged misdeeds of all kinds, shedding no light on the goodness of God. But even so, Prahlada Maharaj was an exalted soul. When his father asked him what he learned in school, Prahlada would begin to speak the glories of God. Prahlada Maharaj, a 5-year old boy, was speaking intense philosophy. He suggested that in order to be happy and peaceful, we need to get rid of our material desires. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, that whatever one thinks of at the time of death, he will surely attain that. So if we have material desires in our hearts at the time of death, we will have to be born again. Prabhu mentioned that it's very important for pregnant women to listen to recitations of the Holy Name, or the Srimad Bhagavatam, or be engaged on any type of Krishna Conscious activity while the baby is in the womb, so that, like Prahlada, the child will be able to progress in bhakti while he is in the womb.

Somewhere in the middle, one of the devotees explained one of the songs by Aandal (ILWK, as soon as I received the printout of the verses, I thought of you!) We went over Song 18. The devotee explained it saying that Aandal would go with her girl friends early in the morning to wake up Krishna. But instead of waking Him up directly, she would first wake up His consort who would then wake up Krishna. The idea being that devotees of God are very merciful and we should seek their mercy and blessings in order to go to God. We need guru and Radha to bring us to Krishna and therefore, it is necessary that we seek their mercy.

By around 8 the program ended. I left feeling joyful. The sun had risen. It was so nice to say goodmorning to Krishna with the mangal aarti. I came home and went back to sleep, my head flooding with songs about Krishna. I woke up, singing songs about Krishna. The whole afternoon, my mind was just absorbed in His thoughts. How wonderful it would be if every morning were like this... If I saw Krishna's beautiful lotus feet before the rays of the sun even touched my eyes... Krishna would be the sun for me every morning, lighting up my day. I wish that every morning I could wake up, pray, chant, and read literature with devotees and then have a nice discussion for a little while, and then set of doing my daily chores, my mind focused on Krishna. Ah, bliss!

Lord, You have made this life so wonderful for us, by giving us so many ways to come close to You. Yet I remain foolish, putting other useless material things above Your worship. Cleanse my heart, my mind, my soul, my dear dear Lord, so that everything I do may turn into an act of worship of You.