Today is Harivasar Tithi (the day which is very dear to the Supreme Lord). Compared to other days, more numbers of devotees visit the Math on this day. Even if there is rain or storm devotees come on this particular day. Even though they may not come on other days, they would definitely come on the day of Ekadashi. There is a special significance of the day of Ekadashi, also called Harivasar Tithi. This day is very dear to the Supreme Lord. We may perform devotional activities like hearing, chanting etc. on other days which will yield fruits but the same activities when performed on this day will yield much more results than when performed on ordinary days. Also, instead of observing Ekadashi-vrata at home if one observes the Vrata in Math or in Dhama (abode of the Lord), then the results of such observance will be even more than when observed in home. When our Param Gurudeva, Srila Prabhupada was at Baghbazar Gaudiya Math, though externally he was staying at Kolkata, he used to say, “I do not stay in the abode of Kali namely Kalikata.” So, did he speak a lie? His worshipable deity is residing at Baghbazar Gaudiya Math and so the abode of the Lord has descended there. Nabadwip Dham has descended. It is not a part of West Bengal or India. This land is transcendental (Chinmaya Bhoomi). In Vraja Dhama the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna has descended with all His personal associates. We think that it is a part of India which we can reach by travelling and with this mind-set we go there. But one cannot go to the transcendental abode of the Lord by means of this material body. It looks as if it is a part of this world but in reality the land is transcendental where the Supreme Lord descends with His personal associates. If a diamond is kept in light its brightness cannot be properly seen, but if kept in darkness one can easily feel its brightness. The beauty of a diamond is more enhanced when kept in darkness. Similarly when the Lord descends in this material world with His personal abode and associates His effulgence can be more realized in this material world covered by darkness of ignorance. In fact the effulgence can be felt more than that in Goloka Vrindavan where the eternal pastimes of the Lord go on continuously.

The Lord appears in the heart of a pure devotee, and He manifests Himself in the form of a deity. The place where such a deity, established by a pure devotee, resides is also a Dhama or the abode of the Lord. Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math is not a part of Kolkata. The personal form of the Lord, His Holy Names and His personal abode are non-different from each other. So when Srila Prabhupada was residing in Baghbazar Gaudiya Math, he said, “I am not staying in the abode of Kali namely Kalikata, I am staying in Vrindavan Dham.” His vision was like that. So the place where devotees worship the Supreme Lord and sing and chant His glories is actually a Dhama or the abode of the Lord. One cannot realize the glories of the Dhama without the association of devotees. Those who know the significance of the Dhama see the Dhama by means of his ears. One can see the Dhama only by the ears, not by the eyes.

Devotees visit Math on the Ekadashi day since they know that the fruits of observing Ekadashi-vrata in the abode of the Lord will be many-fold compared to the fruits of observing the Vrata at home. And because of that devotees who live far from the Math who cannot visit the Math everyday, visit once in every fifteen days on the day of Ekadashi, they then get the fruits of performing Bhajan of fifteen days in one single day. The philosophy of Economics says, “Less time, less energy and more profit.” Following this principle of Economics, the devotees visit the Math on the day of Ekadashi despite heavy rains, storms etc.

Today is Varuthini Ekadashi. In Bhavishya Purana, there is evidence of the significance of this Ekadashi. The glories of this Ekadashi are even found in the book called Ekadashi Mahatmya. There are two different spellings for this word ‘Varuthini’. In some places, the letter ‘u’ in the word ‘Varu’ is big and in some places it is small. And accordingly the significance of the word ‘Varu’ differs as per the pronunciation of the letter “u” in the word. Anyhow, Maharaj Yudhishthir wanted to hear the glories of this Ekadashi from the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna.

Yudhishthira Maharaj asked, “Oh Vasudeva, I offer my most humble obeisances unto You. Please describe to me about the Ekadashi of the dark fortnight (Krishna-paksha) of the month of Vaishakh (April-May), including its specific merits and influence.”

In reply the Lord told him that one can get all sorts of good fortunes and get delivered from all sorts of misfortunes by observing this Ekadashi. By observing this Ekadashi properly, King Mandhata went to heaven (Svargaloka). Also kings such as Maharaja Dhundhumara and many other kings too got liberation by observing this Ekadashi-vrata. The merit one achieves by donating one Mon (37 kilogram) of gold during a solar eclipse at Kurukshetra is gained by one who observes this Ekadashi with love and devotion. How many crores of rupees shall one Mon gold cost? There is no certainty of the price. There are different types of donations like Ashwa-daan (donating horses), Gaja-daan (donating elephants), Bhoomi-daan (donating land) etc. But the fruits of such donations differs as per the object that is being donated. Like the fruits of donating an elephant is more than the fruit of donating horses. Again the fruit of donating land is more than the fruit of donating elephants. The fruit of donating ‘Til’ is more than the fruit of donating land, and the fruit of donating gold is even more than the fruit of donating ‘Til’. And the best donation is donating food grains (Anna-daan) which is even better than donating gold. Everyone gets satisfied by getting the donation of food grains and no other donation is comparable. Equivalent of donating food grains is giving away a young maiden in marriage (Kanya-dan) to a worthy person. Also giving cows in charity is equal to giving food grains in charity. Those who donate a girl in exchange for money, they have to remain in hell until the time of Mahapralaya (total cosmic annihilation). Such persons will be reborn as cats. The topmost donation is Vidya-daan (giving knowledge). The total sum of the fruits of all the different types of donations that are mentioned above will be obtained together if one observes the vow of Varuthini Ekadashi.

Gurudeva (Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj) narrated an incident of the time when Congress was striving to gain independence. There was a very wealthy person who used to feed five hundred poor people every day. Mahatma Gandhi wrote in the newspaper named ‘Young India’ that he was not at all satisfied by this act of charity of feeding five hundred people every day. As per his opinion the act of charity of giving knowledge instead of food is much more beneficial though giving food is more costly. No charity can equal the charity of giving knowledge. Again knowledge or Vidya is of two types. One is Apara-vidya (material knowledge) and the other one is Para-vidya (transcendental knowledge).

jaḍa-vidyā jata, māyāra vaibhava,
tomāra bhajane bādhā
moha janamiyā, anitya saḿsāre,
jīvake koraye gādhā

“All the so-called knowledge of this world is born of the external potency of Your illusory energy (Maya). It is an impediment to the execution of devotional service to You. Indulgence in mundane knowledge verily makes an ass of the living entity by encouraging his infatuation with this temporary world.”

So, the transcendentalists say that imparting material knowledge to the general masses will not benefit them much. It will make an ass out of the living entity and make him carry the heavy burden of material life all throughout his entire life. So what benefit will the living entity receive by getting this material knowledge? The best knowledge is ‘Para-vidya’ or transcendental knowledge by which one can know about the real self and the Supreme Lord. His will attain all-auspiciousness.

yasmin prāpte sarvam idam prāptam bhavati
yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati
tad eva brahma
(Mundaka Upanisad 1.3)

“The Supreme Lord is such by attaining Him one attains everything and by knowing Him one knows everything.”

yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ
manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ
yasmin sthito na duḥkhena
guruṇāpi vicālyate
(Srimad Bhagavad Gita 6.22)

“If one can obtain the Supreme Lord there will be nothing better for him to obtain. If one can situate himself within the Supreme Lord, he cannot become perturbed by the most extreme types of sorrows and miseries.”

So the real benefit of a living entity lies in obtaining the Supreme Lord and He can only be obtained by ‘Para-vidya’ or Transcendental Knowledge.

In the scriptures it is written that one should observe ten types of rules and regulations on the tenth day (Dashami), eleven types of rules and regulations on the eleventh day (Ekadashi) and twelve types of rules and regulations on the twelth day (Dwadashi). Those who follow Harivasar Tithi do Ekahar (eat only once) on the tenth day (Dashami), do Nirahar (complete fasting) on the day of Ekadashi and do Ekahar (eat only once) on the twelveth day (Dwadashi). Such types of rigid rules and regulations were followed during previous ages. In Kali Yuga, the life-air of living entities is dependent on grains (Annagata-prana). In Satya Yuga the life air of living entities is dependent on bone-marrow. In Treta Yuga the life air is dependent on bones and in Dwapara Yuga, on flesh. In Kali Yuga the life air is dependent on grains (Anna). If one doesn’t consume grains then he will not be able to sustain his life.

Nowadays people observe Ekadashi nicely (Gurudev wants to say that these days we get lot more things to eat on Ekadashi). My Shiksha-Guru Srila Bhakti Kusum Shravan Goswami Maharaj used to tell us, “You people have come here to perform Hari-bhajan and penance (Tapasya), isn’t it? So, you all should do Anukalpa—consuming least amount of food.” Those days, we were given what is called real Anukalpa—very small quantity only. Srila Shravan Goswami Maharaj used to tell us that we have come here to perform penance. But our mind-set is like, even while observing Ekadashi, we wait for the fast to be over so that we can eat the normal meal. On the Ekadashi evening itself, we prepare the food to be taken after breaking the fast beforehand. And after the fast is over we take double the amount of food compared to other days. Our habits were more spoiled after going to Punjab. There, we were served a sort of milk preparation on the day of Ekadashi which looked like rice from outside but in actuality was a sort of milk preparation. Nowadays in the Math people are served so much boiled potato preparation on the day of Ekadashi, but during our times we were been given much less of it.

In kaliyuga, the life of living beings is in food, some foods are allowed by eating which the observance of Vrata will not be breached.

āpo mūlam phalam payaḥ
havir brāhmaṇa kāmyā ca
guror vacanam auṣadham’e
aṣtaitānyavrataghnani
(Sri Hari-Bhakti-Vilasa 12.40, quoted from the Udyoga-parva of Mahabharata)

If you take the foods stated in this verse, there will be no breach of your vow. You can take water. Mulam means potatoes and other roots that grow under the earth. You can boil them and eat. By that your vow will not be broken. Phalam—all kinds of fruits can be taken. Cow’s milk and milk preparations such as yogurt and ghee (clarified butter) can also be taken. With ghee from cow’s milk, you can prepare a curry from vegetables like potatoes or other roots. Green bananas (plantains) and papaya are also acceptable. There will also be no breach of vow if medicine is taken that doctors has prescribed for a serious, possibly life threatening, health problem. If a bona-fide Brahman would like to take something, then he or she should fulfill their desire in such a way that their vow will not be destroyed.

By eating grains like rice, wheat, semolina or oil like mustard oil, the Vrata will be broken, so you cannot eat them on the day of Ekadashi. Even on the day of Dashami, eating Chana Dal is forbidden. As per scriptural regulations one should not sleep on the day of Ekadashi and remain awake all throughout the day. There are also regulations to be followed on the next day of Ekadashi. One should remain away from any enjoyments on Dwadashi. On Dwadashi, one should not apply oil on the body and should not consume honey. We should study the significance of observing Ekadashi-vrata from the book called ‘Hari Bhakti Vilash’ where the glories of this Vrata are written. In the Karma-kanda (fruitive activities) section of the scriptures, the material benefits of observing this Ekadashi-vrata is written. Just by refraining from the food is not the real fasting.

upāvṛttasya pāpebhyo
yas tu vāso gunaiḥ saha
upavāsaḥ sa vijṣeyaḥ
sarva bhoga vivarjitaḥ
(Sri Hari-Bhakti-Vilāsa, 13.14)

Giving up all sins, and with all good qualities, one who remains near Krishna, totally relinquishing all enjoyments, has actually observed the vow of Ekadashi. We do not observe this vow for any kind of material benefits. Upāvṛttasya pāpebhyo—we are to give up all sinful activity. We are to refrain, to desist from committing all sins. We should restrain ourselves from all the kinds of enjoyments and should stay near the Supreme Lord. We can enjoy only things inferior to us and they are temporary. By having tendency to enjoy we will be entangled in the temporary things, ignorance or illusory potency of the Supreme Lord, we cannot remain near to Him.

So just refraining from food is not the observance of such Vrata. Once we were traveling from Delhi to Hyderabad. It was so hot that one cannot survive without drinking water. One Vaishnava in particular had vowed not to take a drop of water. We were trying to convince him to take some water reasoning that he might fall ill if he did not do so, or he may meet will some stomach ailments which may even turn deadly if he abstains from drinking water. Though we were repeatedly telling him to take something, he desisted, but instead he took some water in a vessel and was applying it on his abdomen to make it cool.

We asked him, “Why are you doing such things?”

He replied, “No, I will not accept anything on the day of Ekadashi.”

After that he soaked his towel in water and was applying it on his abdomen. We gain requested hi to accept some water. But he said, “No, I will not accept anything. I will remain like this.” The injunction for observing Ekadashi-vrata is to reside close to the Supreme Lord and not close to one’s abdomen. It is not something like waiting eagerly for the Ekadashi to end and take food and water and get relieved. But he was thinking continuously of his abdomen and how to feel some relief. Our target of observing Ekadashi is to discard all sorts of material enjoyments and think of the Supreme Lord. When we try to get material enjoyment we come in contact with inferior things which are inert in nature. The Supreme Lord is the soul enjoyer. So, one should discard all sorts of tendencies for material enjoyments. In fact we do not have the right to enjoy, or renounce. We are not the master or the proprietor and so we only have the right to serve. Only the master has the right to enjoy or renounce but we do not. Since I am not the master, I do not have the right to donate anything. This mentality of being a donor is false.

The Lord says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita (9.24):

ahaṁ hi sarva-yagyānāṁ
bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca
(Srimad Bhagavad Gita 9,24)

“I am the only enjoyer and master of all sacrifices.”

As I have come from Him, I should serve Him. My gross and subtle bodies, which are outcomes of the Apara potency of the Lord, belong to Him. The soul or Atma being the outcome of the Para potency of the Lord also belongs to Him. As I belong to him, I should serve Him by all means—by gross and subtle bodies, by mind, intelligence and ego. The tendency to serve is natural. Neither the enjoying spirit nor the renouncing spirit is correct. Enjoying spirit and renouncing spirit are born out of false ego. We should stay near the Supreme Lord. Who is the Supreme Lord? Is he a material thing?

harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ
(Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.88.5)

“Hari is transcendental, beyond the three modes of material nature. He is beyond mind, intelligence and the sense organs of the conditioned souls of this world.” How can one stay near Him with this material body? It is a common sense. He is Sat-chid-ananda-vigrah, not made up of the five material elements.

‘nāma’, ‘vigraha’, ‘svarūpa’ — tina eka-rūpa
tine ‘bheda’ nāhi, — tina ‘cid-ānanda-rūpa’
(Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya 17.131)

“The Lord’s Holy Name, His form and His personality are all one and the same. There is no difference between Them. Since all of Them are Absolute and transcendentally blissful.” How can one stay near Him with this material body? Therefore, among the 64 kinds of limbs of devotion the first limb is Guru-padasraya (taking shelter at the lotus feet of a bonafide spiritual master).

guru-pādāśrayas tasmāt
kṛṣṇa-dīkṣādi-śikṣaṇam
viśrambheṇa guroḥ sevā
sādhu-vartmānuvartanam
(Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.2.74)

(Srila Rupa Goswami has delineated four preliminary requisites for advancement for the sincere disciple) “Accepting the shelter of the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master, becoming initiated by the spiritual master and learning how to discharge devotional service from him, obeying the orders of the spiritual master with faith and devotion, and following in the footsteps of great Acharya under the direction of the spiritual master.”

So at first one should take shelter at the lotus feet of a bonafide Guru. Otherwise he will not achieve anything.

We find in Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita,

dīkṣā-kāle bhakta kare ātma-samarpaṇa
sei-kāle kṛṣṇa tāre kare ātma-sama
sei deha kare tāra cid-ānanda-maya
aprākṛta-dehe tāṅra caraṇa bhajaya
(Chaitanya Charitamrta Antya 4.192-193)

“At the time of taking Mantra-diksha, the devotee takes absolute shelter of Gurudev, the grace incarnate form of Supreme Lord, non-different from Supreme Lord. Sri Krishna makes the devotee cid-ananda-maya via the medium of Gurudev and in that transcendental form, the devotee can worship Sri Krishna.” The spiritual master must be bona fide, who must be well-versed in scriptural knowledge and have proper realization of Divinity. When I submit to such a Guru, the Lord will accept me and make my body sad-chid-ananda too. He will then make me qualified to associate with Him. But merely taking the Mantra will not help unless one practices the teachings imparted by the spiritual master. So it is through a bona fide Guru who has the realization of Divinity one becomes cid-ananda-maya (nirguna) and realizes one’s relation with the Supreme Lord. Therefore, it is written in Srimad Bhagavatam in Ajamila narration,

na tathā hy-aghavān rājan
pūyeta tapa-ādibhiḥ
yathā kṛṣṇārpita-prāṇas
tat-puruṣa-niṣevayā
(Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.16)

“My dear King, if a sinful person engages in the service of a bonafide devotee of the Lord and thus learns how to dedicate his life unto the lotus feet of Krishna, he can be completely purified. One cannot be purified merely by undergoing austerity, penance, Brahmacharya and the other methods of atonement I have previously described."

Sri Sukadeva Goswami tells that atonement done by following the path of Karma-kanda (fruitive activities) and Gyana-kanda (path of knowledge) is unsuccessful. By following the path of atonement through knowledge or Gyana-kanda he may atone for his sins but his material sense organs will not get converted to spiritual sense organs by following this path. Since he is still existing with the material senses, he may again commit sinful activities and may again fall down. Only by following the path of pure devotion can one atone for his sins. Saubhari Rishi was a big Gyani but he fell victim to his senses. Even the saint Vishwamitra who could create another world also fell victim to sense enjoyment being lured by the celestial nymph Menaka. So unless and until one comes in contact with superior taste one cannot give up his aptitude for inferior taste. So, Sukadev Goswami told Maharaj Pariksit that a sinful person cannot get that much purification by following the path of knowledge and renunciation than he can get by following the path of surrendering to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. The path of knowledge includes Tapasya (performing penances), Brahmacharya (following the vow of celibacy) etc. Sukadev Goswami compared all these processes of atonement to setting fire to a wood of bamboos, burning them all down. In reply Maharaj Pariksit told him that though the bamboo trees may burn down due to fire, the roots of those trees still exist and if rain falls then new bamboo trees may sprout out again from those trees. So he told Sukadeva Goswami that paths like Gyana-marga (path of knowledge) still has uncertainty. In reply to this Sukadeva Goswami said, “For ordinary people the path of Karma-kanda (fruitive actions) is applicable. For special persons the path of knowledge (Gyana-marga) is applicable, and the persons eligible for the path of pure devotion to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna are the rarest, almost impossible to find one.”

kecit kevalayā bhaktyā
vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ
aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena
nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ
(Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.15)

“If a person takes absolute shelter at the lotus feet of Supreme Lord Vasudeva then that one pointed devotion to Him will uproot the weeds of sinful actions from him, as the sun dissipates the dew drops that are collected over plants and flowers at night by its rays.”

Since the Karmis and the Gyanis do not take shelter to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, if they have a fall down the Lord doesn’t come to lift them up. But for one who is following the path of pure devotion and had taken shelter to the Lord meets a fall down the Lord will personally rescue him up.

An example is cited as follows. A father is holding a child in his arms in the tenth floor of a building and playing with him by whirling him in his arms and the child is moving with him. Since the father is holding the child in his arms, the child will not fall down. But if the father lets go of the child, he will fall down immediately. Similarly the Lord is holding the devotees in His arms and if he falls down the Lord will lift him up personally. But for the Karmis and the Gyanis who haven’t taken shelter to the Lord, the Lord will not lift them up if they fall down from their respective positions. If we can surrender to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, He will protect us and maintain us. When I will go back to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna I will no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the laws of this material world. For example a person might commit a crime and flee to Pakistan. Then the Indian Government will no longer be able to punish him. The Government might at most make a plea to the Pakistan Government to punish that man which the Pakistani Government may or may not hear. This is because Pakistan is a separate independent country and has its own constitution. Similarly when one will cross over the barriers of this material world and move to the personal abode of the Supreme Lord, the laws of this material world will no longer become applicable on him. Now, how can I surrender to the Supreme Lord Krishna? One can only do this by serving the personal associates of the Supreme Lord. If I am able to serve the personal associates of the Supreme Lord the eternal nature of the soul to surrender to the Lord will be awakened. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has told that in this age of Kali performing meditations and other austerities is very difficult. Mahaprabhu called all His associates in Srivas Angan and told them to chant and sing the Holy Names of the Lord on Harivasar Tithi.

śrī hari-vāsare hari-kīrtana-vidhāna
nṛtya ārambhilā prabhu jagatera prāṇa

“On Ekadashi day Mahaprabhu, who is the life and soul of all beings, decreed that every-one should gather for Kirtan. Hearing the sound of His own name, He began to dance in ecstasy.” There is nothing to worry. In this age of Kali the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna has descended as His Holy Names.

kali-kāle nāma-rūpe kṛṣṇa-avatāra
nāma haite haya sarva-jagat-nistāra
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 17.22)

“In this age of Kali, the Holy Name of the Lord is the incarnation of Lord Krishna. Simply by chanting the Holy Name, one associates with the Lord directly. Anyone who does this is certainly delivered.”

nāma vina kali-kāle nāhi āra dharma
sarva-mantra-sāra nāma, ei śāstra-marma
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 7.74)

“In this Age of Kali there is no religious principle other than the chanting of the holy name, which is the essence of all Vedic hymns. This is the purport of all scriptures.”

So, I am asking all of you to chant the Holy Names on the day of Ekadashi. There is no need today to watch the clock for timings.

śrī hari-vāsare hari-kīrtana-vidhāna

So, on Harivasar Tithi you should go on chanting Hari, Hari, Hari, Radhe Govinda, Radhe Govinda, Radhe Govinda. It is very unfortunate that now-a-days no one is interested in hearing and speaking about the Lord. If there is continuous chanting of the Holy Names all throughout the night the neighbouring people will get disturbed. It is really unfortunate that the influence of Western civilization had made the people materialistic minded and they are only interested in speaking and hearing worldly matters. People only watch television and engage themselves in other worldly activities. But this is not at all correct. These material activities create all sorts of pollutions like air pollution, sound pollution etc. But the sound of the blow of the conch-shells, the chanting of the Lord’s Holy Names, Hulut Dhwani (a peculiar sound made by women with their tongue while worshipping) drives away all sorts of inauspiciousness and bad things.

nṛtya ārambhilā prabhu jagatera prāṇa

“Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Who is the combined manifestation of Radha Krishna and Who is the life and soul for the whole worlds started dancing.”

He is the Supreme Lord Himself Who is ordering everybody to sing the Names of Sri Hari on the day of Harivasar.

puṇyavanta śrīvāsa-ańgane śubhārambha
uṭhila kīrtana-dhvani ‘gopāla’ ‘govinda’

“In Srivasa-angana, Srivasa Thakura’s divine courtyard, He inaugurated the auspicious reverberations of the Kirtan in a booming voice, Gopal! Govinda!”

Hari O Ram Ram, Hari O Ram Ram

When Chanda Kazi broke down the Mridanga of the devotees to stop the Sankirtan movement, Mahaprabhu liberated him by means of Sankirtan.

We only speak from our mouths that we want to stay in the vicinity of the Lord on Hari-vasar Tithi but our activities say something else. We remain busy in all sorts of worldly activities. In Goalpara, Hari-kirtan was held in the house of Radhamohan Prabhu on the day of Ekadashi all throughout the night. I went there to attend the Kirtan. Srila Turyasrami Maharaj who was called Bhagavan Das Prabhu also went along with me. Till 11 pm or 12 am everything was fine. After that some of the audience started drowsing. So, a suggestion was made to take rest for sometime and then start the Kirtan again as it is not possible for everybody to participate in Kirtans continuously by remaining awake whole night. It is not possible to properly participate in Kirtans and simultaneously fight with sleep. But if the Lord bestows His power on somebody, he can do this all night. Our Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj and Thakur Das Prabhu used to do Kirtan whole night. In Srivas Angan there were continuous Kirtans on the day of Ekadashi, the whole night. Srivas Angan is called Sankirtan-rasa-sthali—the place of Sankirtan-rasa. In Vrindavan, during the performance of Rasa-lila pastimes at Vamsivata, when the Rasa dance was stopped all the Gopis became morose due to the halt. One who relishes the bliss in service only get morose on any interruption in the service. So in Srivas Angan is the place for Sankirtan-rasa. One can understands all these only when he gets the Divine taste.

vancha-kalpataru..