Permission granted by Shree Hari to Uttam Raja to use his wealth for noble deeds.
Suvrat said:-
In order to appease his departed father, King Uttam served delicious food to thousands of ascetics every month. 1.
After a lapse of one year, King Uttam, like his departed father King Abhaya, who used to celebrate annual festivals, expressed his desire to celebrate all the Mahotsavas (annual festivals), and please Shri Hari, who was residing in his palace. 2.
King Uttam, who was competent in implementing his duties, respectfully approached his sisters Jaya and Lalita and humbly said, ‘My dear sisters, since both of you are more competent than me by virtue of your devotion towards Shri Hari and since you are also expert in practical dealings, I have come to you.’ 3 - 4.
‘ Lord Shri Hari has favoured us by staying in our town. It is by His grace that our wealth is increasing; we are flourishing well. Hence it will be appropriate to utilize this wealth for His cause only. We should execute this job the way it was done by our late father.’ 5 - 6.
‘Starting from Janmashtami, I wish to celebrate all the annual festivals independently, as was done by our dear father.’ 7.
‘O Mahavrata ! You are well-versed in the jobs in which I need your help. You have to shoulder the responsibility of this sacred and religious undertaking. I have already supplied to you enough funds and work force. I shall also provide you with all the necessary material required by you’. 8 - 9.
‘You will carefully look after cooking of food and you will take proper care of those women devotees who have come from other towns, to take ‘Darshana’ of Shri Hari.’ 10.
Suvrat said:-
O King! Learned Jaya and Lalita who were very much delighted and were eager to celebrate the congregation in favour of Lord Krishna, praised their royal brother.’ 11.
Jaya and Lalita said, ‘You have taken the right decision and you are making thoughtful use of your wealth for the celebrations in honour of Shri Hari.’ 12.
‘It is the duty of a son to follow the virtuous path of his father. O Good mannered! ‘you are aware that you are graced by Shri Hari. You arrange for the material required for cooking purposes. We will handle all the work properly and hence you need not worry.’ 13 -14.
Suvrat said:-
“King Uttam, who was overjoyed by the assurance given by Jaya and Lalita, modestly narrated his desire to Shri Hari. Shri Hari said, ‘O King! You are Great! You have attained the unshakable faith in Lord Krishna. Your honourable two sisters are expert in this job. Hence, go ahead and follow them in the celebrations of the Krishnamahotsava. 15 -17.
It is in the fitness of things, that you have assigned the charge of this festival to your two sisters, since they are really capable of performing the job. 18.
But it is out of place to assign the charge to two persons simultaneously for one and the same function. It would be appropriate to give the charge only to one person’. 19.
Description of Sud-Paksha and Vad-Paksha festivals allocated to Jayaba and Lalitaba.
Having said thus, Shri Hari called both of them (Jaya and Lalita) and said, ‘O Bhadre ! Listen to me and act accordingly. 20.
O Jaya! ‘You will be in charge of the food preparations (cooking) of the Krishna Festivals occurring in the bright half of the month. O Lalita! You will be in charge of the Krishna festivals occurring in the dark half of the month. You have to implement this accordingly’. 21-22.
‘Your enthusiasm in serving Lord Krishna, which is rarely found even in the divine ladies, will certainly materialize.’ 23.
‘O Lord of the world! both Jaya and Lalita, obeying the aforesaid instruction of Shri Hari and after having respectfully, bowed down to Him, returned to their residence. 24.
Consequently, King Uttam celebrated all the Ekadashi days (eleventh day of each lunar month) by worshipping Lord Krishna. He provided food to the ascetics on every Dvadashi day. i.e. twelfth day of each lunar month. 25.
O King! By the grace of Shri Hari, who was of the divine preceptor of all the people, King Uttam could observe the Janmashtami celebrations (eighth day of the dark half of the month of Shravana), the birthday of Shri Krishna, in a manner which was impossible even if all the kings were to celebrate it jointly. Lalita pleased Shri Hari by rendering her services in preparing the food, quite appropriate for the Janmashtami festival. The devotees coming from different countries were very much delighted by the celebrations. They also praised Lalita as they were very happy to witness her (whole- hearted) devotion. 26.
Thus ends the third chapter entitled ‘ Giving the charge of the celebrations to Jaya and Lalita at the time of festivals ‘ in the third Prakaran of Satsangi jivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as Dharmashastra, (the rules of the code of conduct). 3