Today is Vasanta Panchami, the first day of the spring. The atmosphere is full of celebrations. The spring of Vrindavan is a charming time. Coinciding with Vasanta Pancami is Sarasvati-puja, worship of the goddess of learning, as well as the appearance days of Srimati Vishnupriya Devi and Sri Pundarika Vidyanidhi, as well as the disappearance of Srila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur.

At Radha-kunda, the first Holi-kirtan will take place at Gopinath Mandir. There will then be a break, and two weeks of Holi-kirtans will go on from Amavasya onwards. The kirtan will begin in the morning at around ten, followed by parikrama of the two kundas. The fine young men from the Gauranga Sanskrit Vidyalaya also visited us the day before yesterday to beg for alms for today's celebrations, pushpanjali and so forth will be taking place. We wish them all success in their studies.

From Vasanta Panchami onwards, chamara is taken back into use after the cold season. Yet, because it is still a bit chilly, we do not fan the Lord with full enthusiasm to not bring him discomfort, but rather just slightly show the chamara, reminding him that the spring has arrived and warm weathers are on their way. From today onwards, in the place of Srita Kamala, we'll be chanting the verses beginning with Lalita Labanga Lata from Gita Govinda in the evening to prepare the atmosphere for Vasanti-rasa. Today, the deities are clad in yellow clothing, the color of the spring-time.

On this day, some of Krishna's prasad may be offered to Sarasvati, calling for her blessings in properly assimilating the heaps of devotional wisdom at our disposal. We may also offer worship to devotional books and instruments, placing them near our altar; they are all items under her affectionate care. Many devotional authors, such as Kavi Karnapura (CC) and Lochan Das Thakur (CM), have invoked her blessings before undertaking the writing of the work.

Baladeva, in his Vedanta-shyamantaka (2.34), notes that divine Sarasvati is the goddess of Samvit-shakti. Raghava Pandit's Krishna-bhakti-ratna-prakash, referring to a text called Goloka-samhita, notes that Saraswati was born from the root of Krishna's tongue. The palace of Sarasvati, in the capacity of an aspect of Lakshmi, is situated in the South-Western area of Vaikuntha. (LBh 1.5.289)

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Please also watch a video recording of Vasanta-panchami Parikrama from last year to get into the spirit of the season.