Tattva-viveka
Gaudiya Matha and kartik songs
Madangopal - November 3, 2006 7:03 pm
I was recently looking over a couple of song books from Gaudiya missions and I have a question. It seems that it was standard during BSST's time to sing certain prayers during kartik; the prayers that BVT wrote which accompany each verse of siksatakam, and additionally a Radha-Krsna lila kirtan. First, I'm wondering if there is some significance to these prayers during kartik, if there is a history as to why they were chosen, etc.
I'm also wondering if someone can explain the concept of a lila kirtan to me. Are these meant to accompany, assist lila smaranam? As lila smaranam would seem to be an individual aspect of sadhana, is the lila kirtan meant to create a group meditation? When are they appropriate to be sung? Who are they written by and for whom? Is/was there a standard process in our history for singing them? I'm just throwing out ideas and questions if anyone can explain the concepts. Thank you!
Bhrigu - November 5, 2006 5:29 am
I have written about the Gaudiya Matha system of Karttika kirtanas before, before last year's Karttika.
In the Gaudiya Mathas they will follow Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Bhajana Rahasya, so that each verse is correlated to one of the eight watches (yamas) of the day. The first yama (brahma-muhurta) thus corresponds with the first verse of the Siksastaka (ceto darpana...). They will chant the verse, and then sing the Bengali CC verses where Mahaprabhu elaborates on it, followed by Bhaktivinoda's Bengali versified translation + purport for each verse. All of this is found at least in the Mandala songbook. But that's not all! After this, they will chant the verses from Krishnadasa Kaviraja's Govinda Lilamrita that describe the corresponding lila in Vraja + Bhaktivinoda's Bengali translation of that. All of this makes for a very sweet kirtana, beginning with nama-tattva and ending with vraja-lila.
Yes, lila-kirtana is meant to bring lila-smarana, just as chanting the Name should lead to remembering the Name. Both are done in a group, but the smarana is of course done by each member individually. In the Gaudiya Mathas, there is little emphasis on Lila-kirtana, so this is kind of an exception. As far as I know, everyone can take part, so singing these lila-kirtanas is appropriate for everyone in Karttika. Only one year until the next! 
I'm not sure about the history of this, but either it was instituted by Bhaktivinoda Thakura or Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati.
Madangopal - November 6, 2006 12:55 am
Thank you prabhu.