Sit Properly

I’m sort of frustrated with shopping online for devotional items. I don’t want much, but what I want, I have to get from THREE different places. I wouldn’t mind so much if shipping wasn’t pretty outrageous.

Here’s what I want:

-Three Gamsas (towels) from Krishna Culture – $8.00 a piece + $8.50 in shipping.
-Three books from Krishna.tv – $25.40 + $6.00ish in shipping.
-A few magnets and a couple of tshirts from krishna.com – $26.79 +$7.80 in shipping.

The shipping for the gamsas is a bit much, but Krishna Culture’s shipping has always been ridiculous. Krishna.tv’s shipping has always been reasonable. The reason it’s $6ish is because it has to ship from two separate places. That means that I can probably get one of the books from Krishna.com.

And speaking of Krishna.com, why in the world do they not sell gamsas?? What possible reason? They have everything else! Well… not quite everything. They, oddly enough, don’t carry the reprinted original editions of Srila Prabhupada’s books (except for the Gita – though not the compact edition … and maybe an odd and end here and there, though not ones that I need). Krishna culture doesn’t really either. And their website leaves a lot to be desired.

I need gamsas. Badly. So I guess I’ll have to plunk down the cash for the shipping.

I also really really dig the Lil’ Krishna items.

Like this. Only Krishna.com sells them, which is fine, it’s their own line of clothing, etc. I just wish that they had Jagannatha tshirts!

Oh well. Maybe someday.

Yeah, I know that Cafepress has them.. but they’re on white tshirts and I don’t get along well with white. I’m a greasebunny.

I was moving the last bits of the stuff that I want to keep from the old house. I’ve had my deities in boxes for quite a long time, never really feeling that I could do Them justice. Well, I still can’t do them justice, I guess I’m just getting a bit more lax or expecting Them to be a bit more austere. Thank god that Jagannatha is merciful.

I’m still not finished with it, but will be soon. I have a cloth that I’ll be putting under the entire thing and will be getting a small Panca-tavta picture shortly.

The Nrsimhadeva murti is an odd one. Not really sure what to make of Him. But Jaya Nrsimhadeva anyway! The Jagannatha deities are wearing new outfits and They look lovely, even though I don’t have turbans for the boys. The clothing came with chadars (sorta like scarfs or shawls) for Them, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out a way for Them to wear them, so they don’t have chadars, sorry. It’s summer anyway.

There’s also an amazing little Jagannatha picture that I would like to have on the altar, but THREE instances of Jagannatha might be a bit much. Three would come from the little tiny Jagannatha mini altar to “big” Jagannatha’s left.

Here is another pic with an explanation for those who have no freaking idea what I’m talking about…

Ok, the two largest pictures, the ones in the back, are the Columbus, Ohio temple deities. Their names are Radha-Vrndavana Natabara. That’s pronounced “Rhaad-ha Vrin-da-vin Nha-ta-bar.” Vrndavana Natabara is a name for Krishna which mean’s the best dancer in Vrndavana (the town in which Krishna grew up). Radha is the girl with Krishna. She’s his eternal consort. Picture it, if you will, as the male and female aspects of God.

The deity that is half man/half lion is Nrsmhadeva (pronounced “nri-sim-ha-deyv”). There is a long explanation here.

The deities in the middle are, from left to right, Baladeva, Subhadra and Jagannatha. Jagannatha is Krishna. Baladeva is His brother and Subhadra, His sister. The story of these forms of God is here and here is nice too.

The picture on the middle right is Srila Prabhupada. He brought the Krishna consciousness movement to America in 1965. You’ll find more info about him here.

On the far right is the picture of the Jagannatha deities. What do you think? Too much? I REALLY like that picture though. Like a LOT.

And that’s my altar for now.