“Krishna has played on every square inch of our parikrama path.”

— LOKANATH SWAMI

Radha-Kund lake, the most sacred spot in Vraja Mandala

Santanu Kund to Radha Kund
By Bhakta Damon

CHAKRA (Vraja Mandala Parikrama) - Krishna has played on every square inch of our parikrama path. There is no such spot that you can choose and say "Krishna didn't perform pastimes here." Not even one space the size of a pin. We meditate on all the wonderful activities Krishna performed in His manifested pastimes. There are too many places to visit at one time, and not enough time to tell all the pastimes that have occurred in these forests of Vrindavan.

"Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mind was absorbed in ecstatic love at Jagannatha Puri, but when He passed along the road on the way to Vrindavan, that love increased a hundred times. The Lord's ecstatic love increased a thousand times when He visited Mathura, but it increased a hundred thousand times when He wandered in the forests of Vrindavan. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was elsewhere, the very name of Vrindavan was sufficient to increase His ecstatic love. Now, when He was actually traveling in the Vrindavan forest, His mind was absorbed in great ecstatic love day and night. He ate and bathed simply out of habit." (Madhya 17.226-229)

In the cool morning we walked single file up the steep steps to take darsan of Santanu-bihari Krishna. This temple is on top of a hill on the middle of Santanu kund (small lake). It was in this area that King Santanu performed tapasya (austerity) in order to get Bhismadev as his son. Krishna would also come here with His cowherd friends and play on the banks of this kund.

We wound our way through the narrow streets that were lined with numerous small, children welcoming and cheering us. They looked special with their dark eye make-up, giving the impression that they have lotus eyes. The aroma of cow dung fires and shouts of 'Radhe, Radhe' from the local residents created a special atmosphere as we passed through Bahulavan Forest to the Bahula temple situated next to Sankarsana Kund.

In this temple there is a Deity of Krishna, Yamaraj and Bahula (a cow) carved into the wall. The Padma purana tells the following story: Yamaraja once took the form of a lion and approached Bahula in order to eat her. Bahula agreed, but asked that she be able to feed her calf before the lion ate her. The lion accepted this, and Bahula went off to feed her calf, promising she would return. When Bahula returned to the lion, she found Krishna had appeared there and the lion was actually Yamaraj. Rupa Goswami states that Bahula became one of Krishna's wives because of her extraordinary display of the quality of truthfulness. We took darsan and prayed that we can acquire the same adherence to truthfulness.

The parikrama party stretched out as we walked through many fields on our way to Kechari gram, the birthplace of Putana, and the great demoness who was awarded a place in Goloka. Kechari gram is also close by the place where Krishna danced with and imitated the peacocks. Class was very short today as we had quite a large distance to cover to reach the holiest of holy places, Radha Kund.

Some devotees kindly gave their comments on their experience so far:

Madhava-kanta das, (New Delhi): "This is my second parikram, the first I did in '98. Then I was fortunate enough to do the dandavat parikrama around Radha kund. This parikrama really gives me life. For my service at the temple, I am working busily for 10 to 12 hours daily, but I don't get the bliss that I get on parikrama. I wish I could do it 12 months of the year. This year is especially good because I can see many Bengali devotees. They don't usually come for Vrndavan parikrama, only for the Mayapur parikrama. That is another benefit that one can get the association of many different devotees.

Mahamantra dd, (Ireland): "I am addicted to parikrama. This is my 9th parikrama. I started by doing three half parikramas and since then I have done six full parikramas. It keeps getting better and better each year. With my temple service, I am so busy that I dont have any time to relax, but when I come on parikrama I feel like I am diving into the Krishna book."

Silavati dd, (Ireland): "My feet are a little sore, but it's worth it. Actually my friend Mahamantra persuaded me to come and I'm glad she did. This is my first parikrama."

We stopped at small Hanuman temple to take morning prasad. Lokanath Maharaj led a hundred devotees in an ecstatic kirtan. The dust of Vrndavan filled the air and seemed to jump for joy with us. The temple grounds were filled with devotees, creating a festival atmosphere; many dancing and singing in the long and sweet kirtan; some explored the surroundings or caught up on some sleep, while others sat waiting eagerly to honour prasad. The prasad, a delicious subji, chutney, kachoris and halava, was sponsored by Mother Banke Bihari, an elderly Indian Mataji who has been sponsoring parikram prasad for the past 14 years. She also distributed dakshina in the form of money and cloth to all the brahmacaris. This is the wonder of Indian (Vedic) culture. No where can you find such an occassion in western countries.

After eating so much nice prasad it was difficult to walk to the next destination, Ral. The walk took us through three kilometres of moonja grass, that rose above the path like a canopy. It provided some cooling shade from the sun. Radha raman prabhu informed us that the pastime of the forest fire happened in a forest of moonja grass. Although we weren't expecting any fires, we did have to be wary of the bumble bees.

During a break Lokanath Swami spoke of Lord Caitanya's arrival in Vrndavan. When Lord Caitanya arrived in Bahulavan forest, all the residents and even the animals had that strong feeling that 'Krishna has returned to Vrndavan.' The cows rushed towards Him out of affection and began to lick His body.

"Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited the different forests, including Madhuvana, Talavana, Kumudavana and Bahulavana. Wherever He went, He took His bath with great ecstatic love. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu passed through Vrindavan, herds of grazing cows saw Him pass and, immediately surrounding Him, began to moo very loudly. Seeing the herds approach Him, the Lord was stunned with ecstatic love. The cows then began to lick His body out of great affection. Becoming pacified, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu began to caress the cows, and the cows, being unable to give up His company, went with Him. It was only with great difficulty that the cowherd men were able to keep the cows back. Then when the Lord chanted, all the deer heard His sweet voice and approached Him. When the does and bucks came and saw the Lord's face, they began to lick His body. Not being at all afraid of Him, they accompanied Him along the path. Bumblebees and birds like the parrot and cuckoo all began to sing loudly on the fifth note, and the peacocks began to dance in front of the Lord. Upon seeing Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the trees and creepers of Vrindavan became jubilant. Their twigs stood up, and they began to shed tears of ecstasy in the form of honey. The tree branches and creepers, overloaded with fruits and flowers, fell down at the lotus feet of the Lord and greeted Him with various presentations as if they were friends." (Madhya 17.193-201)

Vrindavan dhama ki jaya!

Your servant, Bhakta Damon (Secretary to Lokanath Swami)

© CHAKRA 29-Nov-2003

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