Further Consideration of Devotional Principles 77

mother’s womb during birth, but it is a very painful and terrible ex-
perience. In order to make an escape from this material condition,
one is advised to visit a temple of Visnu with devotional conscious-
ness. Then one can very easily get out of the miserable condition of
material birth.

Circumambulating the Temple of Visnu

It is said in the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya: “A person who is cireum-
ambulating the Deity of Visnu can counteract the circumambulation
of repeated birth and death in this material world.’* The conditioned
soul is circumambulating through repeated births and deaths on ac-
count of his material existence, and this can be counteracted simply
by circumambulating the Deity in the temple.

The Caturmasya ceremony is observed during the four months of
the rainy season in India, beginning from Sravana (approximately
July, August, September and October). During these four months,
saintly persons who are accustomed to travel from one place to an-
other to propagate Krsna consciousness remain at one place, usually
a holy place of pilgrimage. During these times, there are certain spe-
cial rules and regulations which are strictly followed. It is stated in
the Skanda Purana that during this period, if someone circumambu-
lates the temple of Visnu at least four times, it is understood that he
has traveled all over the universe. By such circumambulation, one is
understood to have seen all the holy places where the Ganges water is
flowing, and by following the regulative principles of Caturmasya one
can very quickly be raised to the platform of devotional service.

Arcana

Arcana means to worship the Deity in the temple. By executing
this process one confirms himself as not body but spirit soul. In the
Tenth Canto, 81st Chapter, 16th verse, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, it
is told how Sudama, an intimate friend of Krsna, while going to the
