During the auspicious month of Karttika, on October 15th, Sripada Giri Maharaja and the asrama devotees organized a Bhagavad-gita yajna on the occasion of inaugurating Srila Narasingha Maharaja's new Bhagavad-gita. The program was held in Mandya opposite the Laksmi-Venkatesvara Temple in Hosahalli.
The program began with Giri Maharaja offering puja to the Bhagavad-gita and giving a short talk on the importance of studying the Gita. Sankalpa and Nyasa was recited and Gaura-Gopala Dasa Brahmacari, who acted as hotr, lit the fire and offered worship to Agni.
Caitanya Dasa Adhikari and Sri Gopala Dasa Adhikari recited the entire Bhagavad-gita from 5:30 till 8:00 PM.
There were about 50 yajamanas (sponsors) offering grains in the fire and about 450 spectators.
After the Gita was finished, the Gita-mahatmya was recited by Caitanya Dasa and Sri Gopala.
When the final offering (purnahuti) was about to begin, many people came forward to give the priests items such as coconuts, fruits, cloth, grains etc. to offer into the fire.
The program ended with sankirtana and a short talk by Giri Maharaja explaining how the greatest and most effective yajna in Kali-yuga is sankirtana-yajna which was inaugurated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Srimad Bhagavad-gita ki jaya!
Sankirtana-yajna ki jaya!
