Krishna Seva

[Kesha]

Jai shri Vallabh..... Why is Gunja mala so priya to thakurji ????...

[Vasant Punjabi]

Jai Shri Krishna,

Shringar in sanskrit means to get ready.In the shringar sewa we ready Shriji for the day ahead as any mother would do to her child.We do the shringar of Shriji according to the sewa pranalika of that day.The shringar may vary from day to day depending on the importance of that day.There are different kinds of shringar for each utsav (occassion). Generally only the shringar of Shri Mastak (head) change depending on the utsav.

History
Pagh-Chandrika and Gunja mala is the most basic shringar.The large variety of shringars that we see today were not started by Shri Mahaprbhuji,during his time the only shringar were that of pagh-chandrika.It was Shri Gusainji who introduced most of the shringars that we see today.This is one of the reasons why Shrinathji has accepted the shringar of pagh-chandrika as his favourite.Even on the patotsav of Shrinathji the shringar is of pagh-chandrika though generally on such a large utsav the shringar of Jod-Kulah are done.

Gunja mala is offered as nihsadhan bhav and is affordable by any vaishnav whether rich or poor. There are different colors of gunjamala, red , black, white and yellow thread. represent four yuth of swaminiji.
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Vasant Punjabi.

"Shri Vallabh Shri Vithal Sukh-kari naa-me nishpap thai nur-nari,
------Nitya Lila nitya nautam shruti na pame par."----

[Kesha]

Jai shri Vallabh......... I m imbarresed as Questions r rising in my mind even from the answers given, so everyone plz bare me.... Vasantji thanks for the reply. Can u plz ans these....... As u said gunja mala comes in 4 colors, but does these colors come in beeds or in threads, And does yuth of swaminiji means group ??. I want to know which yuth represents which colour and why.... And lastly what is : Jod-Kulah. Sorry for so many Qsts.

[Kesha]

Jai shri krishna everyone, plz take the above questions as discussion topic, so plz share your knowledge.... The questions r not for particular vaishnavas..... it would be more intresting if more vaishnavas can share their knowledge.

[jagdish]

Jai Shri Krishna

Krutiji, very nice topic... and your questions are good, nothing to be embarassed about - there is no such thing as a "silly question".

The beads (i think they are also called chanothi) grow naturally coloured (not the thread)

What are the the Yuths and how many are there ?

As it is rightly mentioned, the meaning of "Yuth" means group.

According to the primary bhavs, there are four Yuths

The Bhavs and Characteristics are:

Sattvik, Rajas, Tamas and Nirgun - Hence there is a Group/Yuth of swaminiji for each of these groups.

Example: Shri Yamunaji is the leader of the Yuth that represents Nirgun bhaktas

Shri Mukhya Swaminiji/Shri Radhaji is the leader of the Yuth that represents Tamas bhaktas

i am only familiar with the three colours that a gunja bead has.

So as a guess i would say the following - and i would be grateful for any corrections/clarifications

red - rajas - prem/anurag
black - tamas - vyasan ?
white - sattvik - asakti ?

Each of the above also has the bhaavatmak representation for the three states of a bhakta - they are: Prem, Asakti and Vyasan

also, i am not sure about the yellow colour, so would be grateful if vasantji could help clarify this further. Perhaps the yellow represents the Nirgun ?
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Best Wishes
Jagdish

[Vasant Punjabi]

Jai Shri Krishna,

Following question was put forward the Goswami Balaks Shri Vrajresh-Kumarji and Shri Yadunathji

Q. 78: What are the bhavs of different flower malagis (flower neckless)? With what bhav are they (Dharavai) offered?

Ans: The different malajis that Thakorji wears represents the bhav of Shri swaminiji and the Vraj bhaktas. Gunjamala represents the 4 types of soul’s Swamini-Bhav. (Yellow represents Shri Swaminiji's Ang)
White flower represents Shree Chandravaliji; Lotus resembles Swaminiji’s heart; Red flower represents Kumarika’s Bhav(Unmarried woman); Rose resembles the laughter swaroop of Shree Swaminiji (Radhaji). Other flowers and leaves resemble the bhav of Vraj Bhaktas.

A mala of Yellow chameli indicates the bhav of Swaminjis Shree ang while that of white chameli inidicates the bhav of Shree Chandravalijis Shree ang. Mogran ki mala indicates the bhav of Shree Chanravalijis smiling teeth and a mala of champa dipicts teh bhav of Shree Kumarika. A mala of roses is consisdered to the Hasya bhav of Shree Swaminiji,corelating the dropping of petals with her smile. Koyal represents Shree Yamunajis bhav and Shree Kumarikas bhav is represented also by Kadamb
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Vasant Punjabi.

"Shri Vallabh Shri Vithal Sukh-kari naa-me nishpap thai nur-nari,
------Nitya Lila nitya nautam shruti na pame par."----

[Kesha]

Jai shri Krushna........., thank u very much Jagdishji and vasantji for explanations, its pleasure joining k.s. Just to add a little......, I came to know from a small google search that white gunja mala is offered to thakurji from Akshay trutiya as summer begins n red gunja mala is not offered during this bcoz it attracts heat. And also white gunja mala would provide coolness to thakurji during summer. Plz feel free for any corrections....

[Kesha]

Jai shri krishna......, please can anyone tell what is : Jod-Kulah

[jagdish]

Jai Shri Krishna

Jod = two/couple/twin/double

Kuleh - is the Kuleh Shringar for shri mastak ?
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Best Wishes
Jagdish

[Kesha]

Jai shri krushna....... Thanks for recalling the qst jagdishji. what i have come to know is Jod kuleh is shringar of thakurjis shri mastak but i dont know how exactly it look like. May be some other vaishnava could help us out......

[Kesha]

Jai shri vitthal....... this is as per my limited knowledge....... but i would like to share what hve come to know...... jod-kuleh is made by joining ( jod of ) chandrikas. Usually kesri ( orange ) jod-kuleh is offered ( with jod of 5 chandrikas ) on the paatutsav of shri gokulchandramaji on asad vad ( vraj-shravan vad) coth ( 4 ). And Red kuleh is offered with zari and sada jod of 5 chandrika on Samvatsar utsav. i think jod of 7 chandrika is offered on shrinathjis paatutsav, but not sure about this

[jagdish]

Jai Shri Krishna,

very nicely explained
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Best Wishes
Jagdish