Celebrations
Shree Damodara Masa
November 1, 2026
All Glories to Shree Shree Guru and Gauranga!!
Shree Damodara Masa Celebrations
When: Sunday, November 1st, 2026 @ 4:00 PM
Where: 4040 Old Milton Parkway, Alpharetta, GA 30005
Hare Krishna!
The Glories of Shree Damodara Masa (October 26 - November 24 2026)
Damodara Masa, also known as Kartika Masa is the most beloved month of Lord Shree Krishna. Its extraordinary glories are described in the Skanda Purana, in a conversation between Lord Brahma and Sage Narada:
The Power of Offering a Ghee Lamp: If one offers a ghee lamp to Lord Damodara during the holy month of Kartika, the sins accumulated over thousands of lifetimes are destroyed.
The Spiritual Benefit of Lamp Offering: Offering a lamp to Lord Damodara during Kartika is said to be equivalent to performing religious rituals and bathing in sacred rivers.
What Is the Significance of Damodara Vrata?
Damodara Vrata, is observed during the sacred month of Kartika, which generally falls in October and November. The Sanskrit name Damodara has a beautiful meaning: dama means “rope,” and udara means “belly.” The name refers to Lord Krishna’s endearing childhood pastime in which Mother Yashoda lovingly binds Him around His belly with a rope. Just as Lord Damodara is deeply cherished by Mother Yashoda and His devotees, the month of Kartika—also known as Damodara Maas—is especially dear to the Lord and His devotees. During this auspicious month, devotees observe sacred vows, perform austerities, offer ghee lamps, chant the holy names, and engage in other devotional practices to please the Supreme Lord and deepen their love for Him.
What Is the Significance of Singing the Damodarashtakam?
The Damodarashtakam is a deeply moving devotional song that glorifies Lord Damodara and recounts His enchanting childhood pastimes, especially the loving exchange between Krishna and Mother Yashoda.The Linga Purana glorifies the practice of singing the Lord’s praises. In a statement quoted by Srila Prabhupada, we find the following teaching:“A brahmana who is constantly engaged in singing the glories of the Lord is elevated to the same planet as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Krishna appreciates this singing even more than the prayers offered by Lord Shiva.”The singing of the Damodarashtakam is a particularly beautiful offering of love and devotion to Lord Krishna during Kartika. Each time you offer a ghee lamp to the Lord, you can also sing the verses of the Damodarashtakam, meditating on His loving pastimes and offering Him your heartfelt prayers.As the lamp illuminates the Lord’s beautiful form, may the light of devotion illuminate our hearts, draw us closer to Krishna, and awaken within us a deeper love for the Supreme Lord.
Damodarashtakam Lyrics and Translation:
(1)
namāmīśvaraṁ sac-cid-ānanda-rūpaṁ
lasat-kuṇḍalaṁ gokule bhrājamanam
yaśodā-bhiyolūkhalād dhāvamānaṁ
parāmṛṣṭam atyantato drutya gopyā
To the Supreme Lord, whose form is the embodiment of eternal existence, knowledge, and bliss, whose shark-shaped earrings are swinging to and fro, who is beautifully shining in the divine realm of Gokula, who I (due to the offense of breaking the pot of yogurt that His mother was churning into butter and then stealing the butter that was kept hanging from a swing) is quickly running from the wooden grinding mortar in fear of mother Yasoda, but who has been caught from behind by her who ran after Him with greater speed--to that Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, I offer my humble obeisances.
(2)
rudantaṁ muhur netra-yugmaṁ mṛjantam
karāmbhoja-yugmena sātaṅka-netram
muhuḥ śvāsa-kampa-trirekhāṅka-kaṇṭha-
sthita-graivaṁ dāmodaraṁ bhakti-baddham
(Seeing the whipping stick in His mother's hand) He is crying and rubbing His eyes again and again with His two lotus hands. His eyes are filled with fear, and the necklace of pearls around His neck, which is marked with three lines like a conch shell, is shaking because of His quick breathing due to crying. To this Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, whose belly is bound not with ropes but with His mother's pure love, I offer my humble obeisances.
(3)
itīdṛk sva-līlābhir ānanda-kuṇḍe
sva-ghoṣaṁ nimajjantam ākhyāpayantam
tadīyeṣita-jñeṣu bhaktair jitatvaṁ
punaḥ prematas taṁ śatāvṛtti vande
By such childhood pastimes as this He is drowning the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy, and is revealing to those devotees who are absorbed in knowledge of His supreme majesty and opulence that He is only conquered by devotees whose pure love is imbues with intimacy and is free from all conceptions of awe and reverence. With great love I again offer my obeisances to Lord Damodara hundreds and hundreds of times.
(4)
varaṁ deva mokṣaṁ na mokṣāvadhiṁ vā
na canyaṁ vṛṇe ‘haṁ vareṣād apīha
idaṁ te vapur nātha gopāla-bālaṁ
sadā me manasy āvirāstāṁ kim anyaiḥ
O Lord, although You are able to give all kinds of benedictions, I do not pray to You for the boon of impersonal liberation, nor the highest liberation of eternal life in Vaikuntha, nor any other boon (which may be obtained by executing the nine processes of bhakti). O Lord, I simply wish that this form of Yours as Bala Gopala in Vrndavana may ever be manifest in my heart, for what is the use to me of any other boon besides this?
(5)
idaṁ te mukhāmbhojam atyanta-nīlair
vṛtaṁ kuntalaiḥ snigdha-raktaiś ca gopyā
muhuś cumbitaṁ bimba-raktādharaṁ me
manasy āvirāstām alaṁ lakṣa-lābhaiḥ
O Lord, Your lotus face, which is encircled by locks of soft black hair tinged with red, is kissed again and again by mother Yasoda, and Your lips are reddish like the bimba fruit. May this beautiful vision of Your lotus face be ever manifest in my heart. Thousands and thousands of other benedictions are of no use to me.
(6)
namo deva dāmodarānanta viṣṇo
prasīda prabho duḥkha-jālābdhi-magnam
kṛpā-dṛṣṭi-vṛṣṭyāti-dīnaṁ batānu
gṛhāṇeṣa mām ajñam edhy akṣi-dṛśyaḥ
O Supreme Godhead, I offer my obeisances unto You. O Damodara! O Ananta! O Vishnu! O master! O my Lord, be pleased upon me. By showering Your glance of mercy upon me, deliver this poor ignorant fool who is immersed in an ocean of worldly sorrows, and become visible to my eyes.
(7)
kuverātmajau baddha-mūrtyaiva yadvat
tvayā mocitau bhakti-bhājau kṛtau ca
tathā prema-bhaktiṁ svakāṁ me prayaccha
na mokṣe graho me ‘sti dāmodareha
O Lord Damodara, just as the two sons of Kuvera, Manigriva and Nalakuvara, were delivered from the curse of Narada and made into great devotees by You in Your form as a baby tied with rope to a wooden grinding mortar, in the same way, please give to me Your own prema-bhakti. I only long for this and have no desire for any kind of liberation.
(8)
namas te ‘stu dāmne sphurad-dīpti-dhāmne
tvadīyodarāyātha viśvasya dhāmne
namo rādhikāyai tvadīya-priyāyai
namo ‘nanta-līlāya devāya tubhyam
O Lord Damodara, I first of all offer my obeisances to the brilliantly effulgent rope which binds Your belly. I then offer my obeisances to Your belly, which is the abode of the entire universe. I humbly bow down to Your most beloved Srimati Radharani, and I offer all obeisances to You, the Supreme Lord, who displays unlimited pastimes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~