Jay Sri Rdhe

Archanam in brief
[Note: Please use sandalwood paste for all the drawings. We may say the Sanskrit prayers in the language of our
choice.]
We wake up before sunrise. After saying the prayers to Sri Gurudev, Vaishnavs, and completing our ablutions
and bath, we decorate ourselves with tilak. Then we clean the surrounding of the mandir. Next we pay
obeisance to Sri Gurudev in our mind, gain His permission, clap thrice, and open the door of the sanctum
sanctorum (where the Deities reside). While opening the door, we pray thus
sos vadabhra karunobhagavn vivriddha
premsmitena nayanmburuham vijrimbhavan,
utthya vishwa vijayya cha no vishdam
madhvy girpanayant purusha purnah.
Meaning - "Sri Bhagavn is most compassionate. He has all the six majesties, and is always enhancing our prem.
He is the Primeval One and He is always smiling out of love. I pray to Him to please wake up and conquer the
world with His gaze, for His eyes are like beautiful lotus petals. I also pray that He may drive away my sorrow
with His sweet speech.
Now we enter the mandir and clean it. Then we wash the puja-vessels, sit on an san and prepare chandanpaste. We keep two small vessels that serve as wash-basins one for the Deities and the other for the
Goswmis, and the manjaris. We install the pancha-ptra (two of these), small shankha (pni-shankha) and
bell. We install them like this
We fill the pancha-ptras with fresh clean water. In one of them we place a tulsi leaf, and little chandan-paste.
We use the water of this pancha-ptra to give chaman to the three Prabhus and Rdh-Krishna. We use the
water (without the tulsi leaf) of the other pancha-ptra to give chaman to the Goswmis, and the manjaris,
and also use it for our own chaman. We put chandan on the other pancha-ptra, the bell, the shankha. In the
shankha, we place some water, chandan and tulsi. Then we lift the shankha and say the following prayer
twam pur sgarotpanno vishnun vidhrita kare,
mnitwah sarva deveshcha pnchajanya namostute.
Meaning - "Dear Pnchajanya1, You have appeared since endless time in the sea and is held by the Supreme
Lord. All devats worship you. Therefore I pay you my obeisance.
We ring the bell and say the following prayer
sarva vdyamayee ghant deva-devasya-vallabh,
tasmt sarva prayatnena ghant-vdantu krayet.
Meaning - "Dear bell, who keeps on ringing always, you are the beloved of the God of all gods, Sri Krishna.
Therefore all the devotees should ring you with all care and attention.
1

The name of Sri Krishnas conch shell.

Now we take permission from our Sri Gurudev and Sri Guru-manjari.
Prayer to Sri Gurudev
sri guru paramnanda, premnanda-phalaprad,
nabadweepa-paramnanda sevym mm niyojaya.
Meaning Dear Spiritual Master, you are supreme bliss personified. You give the prem-fruit to all who are
surrendered unto you. Please engage me in the loving service of Sriman-Mahprabhu in Nabadweep.
Prayer to Sri Guru-manjari twam gopik vrisharave-stanayntikesi
sevdhikrini gudhe, nija pda-padmam,
dsyam pradya kuru mm brajaknane
srirdhiknghri-sevana-rase sukhinim sukhbje.
Meaning - "Dear devi, you are a gopa-kishori who is qualified to serve the Divine Couple in a very confidential
manner. Therefore you are very close to Sri Vrishabhnu-Nandini. O Happy-one, please immerse me in the
nectarine sev of your lotus feet, and thus grace me with eternal happiness.
While ringing the bell, we say the waking-up prayer and move the curtain of the altar. The waking-up prayer is
as follows
uttishthatishtha gournga, saprshada jagatpate,
tway chotthiya-mnena chotthitam bhuvanatrayam.
Meaning - "Dear Gournga, dear Jagat-pate1, You are enjoying blissful sleep. Now please wake up, for if You
wake up, the three worlds will wake up.
We wake up Sri Krishna with the following prayer
go-gop-gokulnanda yashodnandanandana,
uttishtha rdhay srdham prtah seet jagatpate.
Meaning - "Dear Yashod-nanda-nandan, dear Jagat-pate, You shower happiness on the cattle, cattle-grazers
and all residents of Gokul. It is the break of dawn; therefore please wake up with Your Beloved Sri Rdh.
Now we wash the feet of the three Prabhus and Sri Krishna.
etat pdyam2 (we pour water in the basin3) klim shrim gourngya namah
etat pdyam (we pour water in the basin) klim nitynandya namah
etat pdyam (we pour water in the basin) klim advaitya namah
etat pdyam (we pour water in the basin) klim krishnya namah

Master of the all creation

Here is the water to wash Your feet
3
Meant for the Deities
2

We offer Them water to rinse the mouth

idam chamaniyam1 (we pour water in the basin) klim shrim gourngya namah
idam chamaniyam (we pour water in the basin) klim nitynandya namah
idam chamaniyam (we pour water in the basin) klim advaitya namah
idam chamaniyam (we pour water in the basin) klim krishnya namah
We offer Them towel to wipe Their face
etat pronchhan-vastram2 (we lift the towel3 and wave it) klim shrim gourngya namah
etat pronchhan-vastram (we lift the towel and wave it) klim nitynandya namah
etat pronchhan-vastram (we lift the towel and wave it) klim advaitya namah
etat pronchhan-vastram (we lift the towel and wave it) klim krishnya namah
We offer Them toothbrush and paste
etat danta-kshtham4 (we show Them a tulsi-leaf5 and put it in the basin) klim shrim gourngya namah
etat danta-kshtham (we show Them a tulsi-leaf and put it in the basin) klim nitynandya namah
etat danta-kshtham (we show Them a tulsi-leaf and put it in the basin) klim advaitya namah
etat danta-kshtham (we show Them a tulsi-leaf and put it in the basin) klim krishnya namah
Now we once again offer Them water to rinse Their mouth, and offer Them the towel to wipe Their face.
idam punar-chamaniyam6 (we pour water in the basin) klim shrim gourngya namah
idam punar-chamaniyam (we pour water in the basin) klim nitynandya namah
Idam punar-chamaniyam (we pour water in the basin) klim advaitya namah
idam punar-chamaniyam (we pour water in the basin) klim krishnya namah
etat pronchhan-vastram (we lift the towel and wave it) klim shrim gourngya namah
etat pronchhan-vastram (we lift the towel and wave it) klim nitynandya namah
etat pronchhan-vastram (we lift the towel and wave it) klim advaitya namah
etat pronchhan-vastram (we lift the towel and wave it) klim krishnya namah
We wash the feet of Sri Gaddhar Pandit, the devotees such as Shrivs and Sri Rupa Goswmi7 in Nabadweep,
and Sri Rdh, Lalit etc. and the manjaris in Vrindban. We also offer them water to rinse their mouths, a towel

Here is the water to rinse Your mouth.

Here is the towel to wipe Your face.
3
A small clean decorative cloth kept for this purpose.
4
Toothbrush and paste.
5
That denotes the toothpaste made of powdered dried mango leaf.
6
Here is the water to rinse Your mouth once again.
7
And the other Goswmis as well.
2

to wipe their faces and then offer them tooth-paste and brush. After this we once again offer them water to
wash their mouths, and a towel to wipe their faces.
etat pdyam (water1) sri gaddhar srivsdi bhaktavrindebhyo namah
etat pdyam (water2) sri rupa goswmi vargebhyo namah
etat pdyam (water) sri rdhikyai namah, sri lalitdi sakhibhyo namah
etat pdyam (water) sri rupa-manjari-dibhyo namah
idam chamaniyam (water) please say the above mantras.
etat pronchhan-vastram (we lift the towel and wave it) please say the above mantras.
etat danta-kshtham (we show Them a tulsi-leaf3 and put it in the basin) - please say the above mantras.
idam punar-chamaniyam (we pour water in the basin) klim shrim gourngya namah
idam chamaniyam (we pour water in the basin) please say the above mantras.
etat pronchhan-vastram (we lift the towel and wave it) please say the above mantras.
We offer water to all the Gurudevs and Guru-manjaris to wash their feet and mouths. We offer them towel to
wipe their faces. Then we offer them toothpaste and brush. Next we offer them water to wash their mouth
once again and a towel to wipe their faces.
etat pdyam (water) sri guru-vargebhyo namah
etat pdyam (water) sri gurumanjari- vargebhyo namah
idam chamaniyam (water) please say the above mantras.
etat pronchhan-vastram (we lift the towel and wave it) please say the above mantras.
etat danta-kshtham - please say the above mantras.
idam punar-chamaniyam (we pour water in the basin) please say the above mantras.
etat pronchhan-vastram (we lift the towel and wave it) please say the above mantras.
Next we bathe our Deities. We should remember that both Sri Murtis and photos are Deities and we should
treat both equally. The only difference is that we bathe Sri Murtis with water, while we only wipe the photos.
How do we bathe the Sri Murtis?
We draw a lotus with chandan on the bathing vessel and place a tulsi leaf on it. We add tulsi, chandan, rose
water to clean water meant for bathing the Deities. We use cool water in summer, while slightly warm water in
the winter and monsoon. After all, we love and care for our Deities just like our babies, do we not? We place Sri
Murtis, Girirj Mahrj, Nm Brahma on the bathing vessel and bathe Them with the pni-shankha, all the time
ringing the bell with the left hand. After bathing our Deities, we wipe and dress Them as nicely as possible, do
shringr and tilak-sev for Them. Then we place each one of Them on a tulsi leaf. We place photos of
Panchatattva and the Divine Couple on tulsi leaves as well. However we do not place the six Goswmis,
Guruvarga and Gurudev on tulsi leaves. After this, we worship as follows

In the basin meant for the Deities.

Take water from the other pancha-ptra in which you have NOT put tulsi leaf and pour this water in the basin meant for the devotees.
3
We use tulsi leaf for Gaddhar and Rdhrni, but not for Rupa Goswmi and the manjaris.
2

We place a tulsi on the left foot and then the right foot of Goursundar1, saying etat sachandana tulsi patram sri
gourngya namah (I offer this tulsi leaf dipped in chandan). We do the same for Nitichnd, Advaita Prabhu
and Sri Krishna saying etat sachandana tulsi patram sri nitynandya namah, etat sachandana tulsi patram
sri advaitya namah and etat sachandana tulsi patram sri govindya namah respectively.
Then we offer Gour-prasdi tulsi leaves to Gaddhar, Shrivs etc., Sri Rupa-Santan and other Goswmis, to the
Guruvarga in Nabadweep. We also offer prasdi tulsi to Sri Rdh, the sakhis and the manjaris in Vrindban.
How do we get prasdi tulsi? Simple. We merely take a fresh tulsi and touch it to the one that we have already
offered to Gournga. This tulsi is now Gour-prasdi. Similarly we take a fresh tulsi, touch it to the one offered
previously to Sri Krishna, and it now become Krishna-prasdi.
We take a Gour-prasdi tulsi, say etat gour-prasdi tulsi patram sri gaddhar srivsdi bhaktavrindebhyo
namah2, and place it in the hand or head of Gaddhar Pandit and Shrivs Pandit. Next we say etat gourprasdi tulsi patram sri rup-santan-di goswmivargebhyo namah and place Gour-prasdi tulsi in the hand or
head of each Goswmi. We do the same for Sri Gurudev, saying etat gour-prasdi tulsi patram sri
guruvargebhyo namah.
Then we take Krishna-prasdi tulsi, and saying etat krishna-prasdi tulsi patram sri rdhikyai namah, we
place it in Sri Rdhs hand. Then we touch a tulsi leaf to the leaf in Sri Rdhs hand. It becomes Yugalprasdi, since the one in Her hand was already Krishna-prasdi. After offering to Her, it has become Rdhprasdi as well. So our leaf is now both Rdh and Krishna-prasdi, in short, Yugal-prasdi. We offer this leaf to
Sri Rupa manjari (who is to Sri Rdhs left in the photo). While offering we say etat yugal-prasdi tulsi
patram sri rupdi manjaribhyo namah. We also offer another Yugal-prasdi leaf to all our Guru-manjaris,
saying -etat yugal- prasdi tulsi patram sri guru-manjarivargebhyo namah.
At this juncture, depending on our convenience and availability we can offer flowers, flower-garlands etc. Next
we offer bhog to our Deities. After the bhog, we offer rati. Last of all, we give shayan (sleep) to our Deities.
While putting Them to sleep we say the following prayer
(For Sriman-Mahprabhu)
yatbhym vishlbhym sheetalbhym kripnidhe,
karunpurna netrbhym nidrm kuru jagatpate.
Meaning - "Dear Goursundar, dear Ocean of compassion, dear Master of the world, please close Your big
beautiful serene and merciful eyes, and go to sleep.
For Sri Krishnagovinda paramnanda yoganidrm vitanyatm,
rdhay pushpa-shayymm dsigana nishevita.
Meaning - "Dear Govinda, dear Supreme Bliss, please sleep on this bed of flowers with Your Beloved Sri Rdh
and enjoy Your yoga-nidra3, while Your maid servants serve You.

If we have Sri Murtis of Gour and Niti, we place the leaves directly on Their feet; however in the absence of Sri Murtis, we stick the
leaves with chandan on the photos. Many a times the photos are too small to accommodate two leaves on the feet; in this case we place
the leaves on Their feet in meditation, and externally we place them on a plate. Later on we may consume the leaves as prasd or
immerse them in a water-body.
2
Meaning - "I offer Gour-prasdi tulsi leaf to Gaddhar Pandit, Shrivs Pandit and other devotees.
3
Yogic slumber

Order of Bhog-offering
Sri Nabadweep

Sri Vrindban

1st
bhog

2nd
bhog
3rd
bhog

klim gourngya namah klim nitynandya namah klim advaitya namah

klim sri krishnya namah

sri gaddhar-srivsdi bhaktavrindebhyo namah

sri rdh, anangamanjari lalitdi

ashta sakhibhyo namah
sri rupa-manjari di
manjarivargebhyo namah
sri gurumanjari-vargebhyo namah

sri rupa-santan-di goswmi vargebhyo namah

sri guruvargebhyo namah

Gournga

Nitynanda

Advaita

* Jay Sri Rdhe *

Sri Rdh