Hari-bhakti-vilāsa

Author: Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī

"The Pastimes of Devotion to Hari" — the code of Vaiṣṇava life and worship compiled by Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, one of the six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana. It gathers thousands of verses from the Purāṇas, Tantras and Smṛtis and arranges them along the devotee's day: guru and disciple, initiation, morning purity, the Vaiṣṇava's marks and ornaments, the place of worship and the śālagrāma, bathing the Deity, flowers and tulasī, offerings and prasāda, the company of the saintly, the evening duties, the glory of the holy name, the Ekādaśī fast, the great Dvādaśī vows, the feasts and vows of the whole year from Mārgaśīrṣa to Āśvina, with Janmāṣṭamī and Rāma’s victory festival, Kārttika, the month dear to Dāmodara, puraścaraṇa, the vow that perfects a mantra, and the making of the holy image: its measures, forms and the choosing of the stone, and the installation of the image — from the choice of the time and the ācārya to the opening of its eyes, the calling of the Lord’s presence and the restoring of a worn image, and the building of the temple — the ground, the site maṇḍala, the stones, the measures and kinds of temples, the doors, the marriage of Tulasī, and, in closing, the wholly devoted, for whom Kṛṣṇa’s name and remembrance are everything.