Sharad Poonam

Sharad Poonam - Thursday 25/10/2007.

Sharad - The season marking the end of monsoon & the beginning of winter. Poonam - Full moon day. This festival marks the day when the moon is at its brightest in the year, one of Lord Swaminarayan lila takes place on Sharad Poonam in Panchala, when Bhagwan Swaminarayan assumed multiple forms and played raas with all the Satsangi's under the light of the moon. Also on Sharad Poonam Lord Krishna played Raas with the Gopi's in Vrundavan. Like the moon glows in the sky, Vrundavan was glowing with Lord Krishna's presence and the air was filled with the sweet sound originating from his flute.
On hearing this sweet sound the Gopi's immediately abandoned their home chores and rushed towards where this sound was emanating from. This showed how devoted they were to Lord Krishna. Their devotion and love for Lord Krishna was so great that the Gopi's commenced playing raas around Him. Lord Krishna and Radhikaji played raas in the middle and eventually He assumed as many forms as there were Gopi's and played raas with each and every one of them. The essence of this event is that our devotion for God should be like the love of the Gopi's to Lord Krishna. Traditionally dudh pakh and puri is offered to God and taken as prasad. Raas is played in the Temples, in the presence of the full moon.