Your Kartik Passport
Each day of Kartik opens on its own morning — Day 1 on Monday, October 26, 2026, and one new practice each day through Day 28 on Sunday, November 22, closing with Kartik Completion on Monday, November 23. Days still to come stay sealed, so the month unfolds a day at a time and no one can run ahead. Each open day pairs its practice — in its own colour theme — with the Damodarashtakam verse appointed for that day, one learning about Krishna taken only from Srila Prabhupada's books (Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, the KRSNA book, The Nectar of Devotion, The Nectar of Instruction and Sri Isopanisad, as listed at prabhupadabooks.com/books) with its book, chapter and verse cited, and a short sadhana record: what you read, what you heard, and what service you performed. Completing a day lights its lamp and earns sadhana points. Everything is kept only in this browser, on your own device.
The Month of Damodara
Kartik — Damodara month — is regarded in the Vaishnava tradition as the most auspicious month of the year. It commemorates Mother Yashoda binding the child Krishna to a wooden mortar: the Supreme Lord, bound by nothing else, allowing Himself to be bound by love alone. The scriptures attach extraordinary significance to even a small offering made in this month, above all the offering of a ghee lamp accompanied by the Damodarashtakam prayers.
Days of practice
Scriptural study, kirtan and deep listening, the Damodara pastime examined in depth, practical seva, and disciplines of gratitude and remembrance — a full sadhana for the month, for practitioners of every age and stage.
Verses of Damodarashtakam
The eight verses attributed to Satyavrata Muni are the defining prayers of Kartik. Here you learn one verse each day in rotation — Sanskrit, transliteration and translation — returning to each verse at a deeper level across the month.
Lamp each evening
Offer a ghee lamp at home or at the temple, sing the day's verse, and record the day's reading, hearing and service. The passport lamp and sadhana points mark the practice kept.
Visit the Temple
These activities are offered by Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir in Milpitas, California — home of Sri Sri Krishna Balaram, a loving devotee community, and the Sri Krishna Balaram Goshala. Come for darshan, kirtan and prasadam, and offer a real lamp this Kartik.