This is the ideal daily routine which the vaishnavas must follow:
Wake-up early : There is a saying “Early to bed & early to rise; that is the way to be healthy, wealthy & wise!!”. Vehela sui vehela uthe, bal buddhi ane vidya vadhe. Even from the point of view of the Hindu-shastra granths it is advisable to wake up between 5-7 am, during this time the “Pran-vayu” – the breath which controls the heart – improves our health.
Kanthi darshan / charan-sparsh : The first thing to do after getting up is to hold the kanthi which we wear and touch them softly on our eyelids & head. After doing this do the charan-sparsh of the chitraji’s of Shrinathji, Shri Mahprabhuji & Shri Yamunaji (each & every room in a vaishnavas house must have these chaitrajis!). Only after all these activities are over must one go out of the bedroom.
“Jai Shri Krishna” : When we meet the other family members for the first time in the morning we must greet each other with –“Jai Shri Krishna”- because everyone of our family member is a vaishnav also.
Charanamrut : After bath we must take charanmrut (The sweet-smelling sand of holy vrajbhumi which cleans our senses). Proper way of taking charanmrut is as follows : First put a little amount of charanmrut powder in the mouth (be careful that the fingers do not touch any part of the mouth), then apply the smeared fingers on the eyelids (for pure eyesight) and throat (for pure words).
Tilak : After taking charanmrut apply tilak on the forehead (only male vaishnavas). It is the duty of every vaishnav to apply tilak after each bath. The tilak which is of a particular shape is known as Urdhva-pundra tilak. Use kumkum only for applying the tilak and not chandan or sinbdoor. Be careful that the tilak is not too small or extra large, it must look nice on the forehead. The tilak is the footprint of Lord Shrinathji, applying it on the forehead depicts that the lotus feet of Shrinathji are there to help us in our troubles.
Sewa : If “pusht swaroop-sewa” is done in the household then each & every member of the family must atleast come & do dandvat (bow) infront of the swaroop. Ideally each member must do sewa personally but if it is not possible then atleast we must go and do dandvat in the sewa and pray that Shriji allows us to do his sewa at the earliest.
Going out : Before going out of the house we every member must do “Jai Shri Krishna” to the others and leave only after bowing infront of the chitraji in the drawing room (each & every vaishnav household must have a nice & big chitraji of Shrinathji in the drawing room).
Satsang : After dinner ‘satsang’ must be held in every vaishnav home, even if it is for a short period of 15 minutes only. In satsang we must read the vartas (stories) of the 84 & 252 Vaishnavas, Shiksha-patras, Gokulnathji’s Hasyamrut, etc. The routine must be such that one family member reads the varta while the others listen to him/her.
There are many advantages of doing satsang such as :
After a hard day at work the reading of the divine lives of these vaishnavas relieves us from the mental tensions & stress and acts as a good reliever.
The children of the house get to know the principles of the sampradaya.
We get to know the real swaroop of Shri Mahaprabhuji, Shri Gusainji & the Vallabhkul.
If the whole family sits to do satsang then satsang can also bind the family members together as they get to know each other and spend some time in each other's company.
Sincere thanks to My Vaishnav Parivar
