By Victor Epand
 In the lunisolar calender, there is another kind, which differs from the former in the way that the months are named. When a full moon, instead of new moon, occurs before sunrise on a day, then that day is said to be the first day of the lunar month.
In this case, the end of the lunar month will coincide with a full moon, which is called the purnimanta mana or full moon ending reckoning, as against the amanta mana or new moon ending reckoning that was used before. Due to this, the definition leads to a number of complications, which includes the first paksha of the month will be krishna and the second will be shukla. Also, the new year is still on the first day of the Chaitra shukla paksha.
The next pakshas will be the Vaishakha krishna, Vaishakha shukla, Jyaishtha krishna and so on, till Phalguna krishna, Phalguna shukla and Chaitra krishna, which is now the last paksha of the year. The shukla paksha of a given month, say Chaitra, comprises the same actual days in both systems, as can
be deduces from a careful analysis of the rules. However, the Chaitra krishna pakshas defined by the two systems will be on different days, since the Chaitra krishna paksha precedes the Chaitra shukla paksha is the purnimanta system but follows it in the amanta system.
Though the regular months are defined by the full moon, the adhika and kshaya lunar months are still defined by the new moon. That is, even if the purnimanta system is followed, adhika or kshaya months will start with the first sunrise after the new moon, and end with the new moon. The adhika month will therefore get sandwiched between the two pakshas of the nija months. For example, a Shravana adhika masa will be inserted as nija Shravana krishna paksha, adhika Shravana shukla paksha, adhika Shravana krishna paksha, and nija Shravana shukla paksha after which Bhadrapada krishna paksha will come as usual.
If there is an adhika Chaitra, then it will follow the nija, Chaitra krishna paksha, at the end of the year. Only with the nija, Chaitra shukla paksha, will the new year start. The only exception is when it is followed by a kshaya, and that will be mentioned later. The kshaya month is more complicated. If in the amanta system there is a Pausha-Magha kshaya, then in the purnimanta system there will be the following pakshas, Pausha krishna paksha, Pausha-Maagha kshaya shukla paksha, Maagha-Phaalguna kshaya krishna paksha and a Phalguna shukla paksha.
In a special kshaya case where an adhika masa precedes a kshaya masa gets even more convoluted. First, we should remember that the Ashvayuja shukla paksha is the same in both the systems. After this come the following pakshas, nija Kartika krishna paksha, adhika Kartika shukla paksha, adhika Kartika krishna paksha, Kartika-Magashirsha kshaya shukla paksha, Magashirsha-Pausha kshaya krishna paksha, Pausha shukla paksha, followed by the Magha krishna paksha etc as usual.
The considerations for the new year depends upon if there is a Chaitra-Vaishakha kshaya shukla paksha, if an adhika Chaitra precedes it, then the adhika Chaitra shukla paksha starts the new year, and if not, then the kshaya shukla paksha starts the new year. If there is a Phalguna-Chaitra kshaya shukla paksha then it starts the new year. It must be noted, however, that none of these above complications can cause a change in the day of religious observances.
Since only the name of the krishna pakshas of the months will change in the two systems, the festivals which fall on the krishna paksha will be defined by the appropriate changed name. That is, the Mahashivaratri, defined in the amanta mana to be observed on the fourteenth of the Magha krishna paksha will now, in the purnimanta mana, be defined by the Phalguna krishna paksha.
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for Krishna art, religious gifts from India, and Hare Krishna books. Please visit these sites for Krishna art, religious gifts from India, and calendar exceptions.
The Dwelling Place Of Kali
By Victor Epand
 Kali's final dwelling place, which was the cremation ground, denotes a place where the five elements are dissolved, and is where dissolution takes place.
In terms of devotion and worship, this denotes the dissolving of attachments such as anger, lust, and other binding emotions, feelings, and ideas. The heart of the devotee is where this burning takes place, and it is in the heart that Kali dwells. The devotee makes her image in his heart and under her influence burns away all limitations and ignorance in the cremation fires. This inner cremation fire in the heart is the fire of knowledge, which Kali bestows.
The image of a recumbent Shiva lying under the feet of Kali, represents Shiva as the passive potential of creation, and Kali as his Shakti. The generic term, Shakti, denotes the universal feminine creative principle and the energizing force behind all male divinity including Shiva. Shakti is known by the general name Devi, which is from the root div that means to shine. She is the shining one, who is given different names in different places and in different appearances, as the symbol of the life giving powers of the universe.
Kali powers him. This Shakti is expressed as the I in Shiva's name, and without this I, Shiva becomes Shva, which in Sanskrit means a corpse. This suggesting that without his Shakti, Shiva is powerless or inert. Kali is the appropriate image for conveying the idea of the world as the play of the gods. The spontaneous, effortless, dizzying creativity of the divine reflex is conveyed in her wild appearance. Kali is identified with the phenomenal world, as she presents a picture of that world that underlies its ephemeral and unpredictable nature.
In her mad dancing, disheveled hair, and eerie howl there is made present the hint of a world reeling and careening out of control. The world is created and destroyed in Kali's wild dancing, and the truth of redemption lies in man's awareness that he is invited to take part in that dance, to yield to the frenzied beat of the Mother's dance of life and death. Kali and her attendants dance to rhythms pounded out by Shiva, who was the lord of destruction, and his animal headed attendants who dwell in the Himalayas.
Associated with chaos and uncontrollable destruction, Kali's own retinue brandishes swords and holds aloft skull cups from which they drink the blood that intoxicates them. Kali, like Shiva, has a third eye, but in all other respects the two are distinguished from one another. In contrast to Shiva's sweet expression, plump body, and ash white complexion, dark Kali's emaciated limbs, angular gestures, and fierce grimace convey a wild intensity. Her loose hair, skull garland, and tiger wrap whip around her body as she stomps and claps to the rhythm of the dance.
Many stories describe Kali's dance with Shiva as one that threatens to destroy the world by its savage power. Art historian, Stella Kramrisch, has noted that the image of kali dancing with Shiva follows closely the myth of the demon Daruka. When Shiva asks his wife, Parvati, to destroy this demon, she enters Shiva's body and transforms herself from the poison that is stored in his throat. She emerges from Shiva as Kali, ferocious in appearance, and with the help of her flesh eating retinue attacks and defeats the demon.
Kali became so intoxicated by the blood lust of battle that her aroused fury and wild hunger threatened to destroy the whole world. She continued her ferocious rampage until Shiva manifested himself as an infant and lay crying in the midst of the corpse strewn field. Kali became calm as she suckled the baby. When evening approached, Shiva performed the dance of creation, which is known as the tandava, to please the goddess, and as she was delighted with the dance, Kali and her attendants joined in.
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for Krishna art, religious gifts from India, and Hare Krishna books. Please visit these sites for dwelling place of Kali, religious gifts from India, and Hare Krishna books.
The Ten Avatars Used By Krishnas
By Victor Epand
 The ten incarnations of Vishnu are known as the most famous of all the divine incarnations of Rama, whose life has been depicted in the Ramayana, and in the Krishna, whose life has been depicted in the Mahabharata and the Srimad Bhagavatam.
The Bhagavad Gita, which contains many of the spiritual teachings of Krishna, is one of the most widely read scriptures in the Hindu customs and society. Matsya, which is a type of fish, first appeared in the Satya Yuga and it represents the beginning of life. Kurma, which is a type of tortoise, first appeared in the Satya Yuga and represents a human embryo just growing tiny legs, with a huge belly. Varaha, which is the boar, also appeared in the Satya Yuga and represents a human embryo that is almost ready with its features being visible.
Narasimha, which is the man lion, appears in the Satya Yuga and represents a newborn baby, hairy and cranky, bawling, and full of blood. Vamana is the dwarf, which appears in the Treta Yuga and represents a young child. Parashurama, is Rama with the axe, and appeared in the Treta Yuga and represents both an angry young man and a grumpy old man simultaneously.
Rama, Sri Ramachandra, which is the prince and king of Ayodhya, appeared in the Treta Yuga and represents a married man with children in a very ideological society. Krishna, which means dark or black, appeared in the Dwapara Yuga and represents a person in more practical society, where there is one good or bad, which depends on society you live in. Gautama Buddha is considered an avatar that returned pure dharma to the world.
Kalki, which means eternity, time, or destroyer of foulness, is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga, the time period in which we currently exist, which will end in the year 428899 CE. There is also a hidden avatar mentioned in eleventh canto of the Bhagavata Purana. Some consider Balarama, who is the brother of Krishna, to be the eighth avatar of Vishnu, and delete Buddha.
The Buddha avatar, which occurs in different versions in various Puranas, may represent an attempt by orthodox Brahminism to slander the Buddhists by identifying them with the demons. Helmuth Von Glasenapp attributed these developments to a Hindu desire to absorb Buddhism in a peaceful manner, both to win Buddhists to Vishnuism and also to account for the fact that such a significant heresy could exist in India.
Brahma is described within the Puranas as the god of creation. The pantheon in Srauta consists of many deities and gods are called devas or devatas and goddesses are called devis. The various devas and devis are personifications of different aspects of one and the same God. For instance, when a Hindu thinks of Ishvara as the giver of knowledge and learning, that aspect of Ishvara is personified as the deity Saraswati. In the same manner, the deity Lakshmi personifies Ishvara as the giver of wealth and prosperity.
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for Krishna art, religious gifts from India, and Hare Krishna books. Please visit these sites for Krishna art, religious gifts from India, and avatars.
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