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It is located 135km south of Delhi and 55km north of Agra, just
off the Delhi-Agra Road. It is 12 km or a 25 minute auto-rickshaw
ride from Mathura.
It is the heart of grater area called Braja-Mandala, the place
of Lord Krisna's pastimes on this Earth 5000 years ago.
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The area of present day Vrindavan is actually the place of Krisna's
rasa-lila pastime. There is a parikram-road around the town and
some devotees are respectfully circumambulating Vrindavan every
day.
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Temples, shrines, ashrams, chipped walls, shops and bazaars -
this is how the ancient town looks today.
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Vrindavan is said to have 5000 temples and shrines of all different
dimensions. One can walk around the town in about 2 hours, but
to go through all streets and see all the altars may possibly
take even years. Seven of the temples are most important.
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Madanmohan of Sanatana Goswami.
Govindaji of Rupa Goswami.
Radha-Gopinath of Madhu Pandit Goswami.
Radha-Damodar of Jiva Goswami.
Radha-Syamasundar of Syamanada Pandit Goswami.
Radharaman of Gopal Bhatta Goswami.
Radha-Gokulananda of Lokanath Goswami.
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Madanmohan Temple
Madanmohan means “one who can even enchant Cupid.” The Deity of
Madanmohan (formerly Madan-Gopal) was made for Krisna's great
grandson Vajranabha and for many years it was lost...
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Advaita Acarya discovered the original Deity of Madanmohan (Krisna)
in Mahavan-Gokul and served Him here at the base of an old "vat"
tree. Before His departure for Navadvip He entrusted the Deity
to brahmana Chaubhe in Mathura. Years later Caitanya Mahaprabhu
sent Sanatana Goswami to Vrindavan to discover lost places of
Krisna's pastimes and write books about devotional service...
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Advaita Acarya performed his bhajana here at Advaita-vat at
the base of the hill.
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Beautiful Deity at Advaita-vat.
...Sanatan used to beg in nearby Mathura and one day came to
doors of the brahman Chaubha. He saw brahmana's children playing
with the Deity as if Madanmohan was one of them. Horrified Sanatan
chastised Chaubha and taught him proper ways of Deity worship.
Both Sanatan and brahman had a dream that night. Madanmohan appeared
to Sanatan and told him, that he liked to be treated as one of
the brahmana's children and since Sanatan introduced so many rules,
He don't like it any more...
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...To Chaubha Madanmohan said that he is like one of his children.
He told him that he had many children and he should give Him to
Sanatan. Next morning both devotees wanted to apologize, but at
the end Madanmohan went with Sanatan. But not before He promised
to Sanatan that He would be satisfied with whatever he will be
able to offer. Sanatan, being traveling mendicant could not give
much luxury to his Deities...
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Sanatana was practicing madhukari (begging from doors to doors)
and he could offer to the Deity just dry bread balls...
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...Madan-Mohan asked him, if he could give Him at least little
salt. Sanatana replied he would like to but being dedicated to
his bhajan couldn't afford such a "luxury". Shortly afterwards
down the Dvadasaditya Hill, the merchant's boat went aground in
the Yamuna river...
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...The owner Krisnadas Kapoor was worried about his goods and
didn't know what to do. Madan-Mohan took the form of small cowherd
boy and led him upwards to Sanatana...
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...Merchant described what happened, but Sanatan replied he couldn't
do anything about it, being just a sannyasi. But he told him to
pray to Madan-Mohan Deity he had kept just humbly roofed nearby...
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...The merchant did what Sanatan advised and few moments later
his boat was released by rising of Yamuna's waters...
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...Sailing down to Agra and making big profit, he later under
Sanatana's direction began to construct temple for Madan-Mohan
which became one of the symbols and dominant features of Vrindavan.
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Worshiped along with Madan-Mohan are Radharani and Lalita. They
were sent to Vrindavan by Purusottam Sen, a disciple of Maharaja
Prapatarudra. The original Madan-Mohan Deity was moved from Vrindavan
to Jaipur when the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb's soldiers attacked
Vrindavan in 1670. That Deity is now in Karoli, which is southeast
of Jaipur in Rajasthan.
Original Madanmohan Deity in Karoli.
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Old kirtan hall temple altar where Madanmohan Deity was being
worshiped.
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There is a new Madanmohan Temple (right tower) built next to
an old one (left tower), where the replacement Madan-Mohan Deity
is now being worshiped.
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Replacement or "pratibhu" Deities are considered as good as the
original ones. Worship was moved to this new temple because the
old temple was considered contaminated.
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Pujari is more than 100 years old.
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The temple is presently state property, since it is considered
to be historical sight.
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Bhajan kutir of Sanatana Goswami
Sanatana Goswami was born into sarasvata-brahmana community in
Bengal but was ostracized due to his acceptance of a ministerial
post in the government of Hussain Sah. He served in the Muslim
government and was high-ranking officer, but after meeting with
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu he quit his post and was imprisoned by
the Nawab...
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...With the help of some money left by hi brother Srila Rupa
Goswami, he was freed from jail and fled from the country. Sanatana
Goswami later met Sri Caitanya in Banares and was instructed by
Him in the science of devotional service, bhakti-yoga...
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...Sri Caitanya told him to go to Vrindavan, write books about
devotional service and rediscover the lost places of Krisna's
pastimes. Before Goswamis came to Vrindavan, it was just lost
forest. Vrindavan's glory was regained by the effort of great
devotees of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and especially by "Six Goswamis
from Vrindavan".
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Sri Sanatana Goswami is described in the Gaura-gandodesa-dipika
(181). He was formerly known as Rati-manjari or sometimes as Lavanga-manjari.
Manjaris are small girls - intimate maidservants of Srimati Radharani.
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Next to his bhajan-kutir, there is also sweet water well here
that Sanatana Goswami used. Good sweet water is rare to found
in Vrindavan area since it is mostly too mineralized and taste
salty. From many wells it is not even advisable to drink.
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Yoga-pith at Dvadasaditya Hill.
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Samadhi of Sanatana Goswami
There are several places throughout the Vraja area where Srila
Sanatana Goswami performed his bhajana, but the last days of his
life he spent at Govardhan Hill...
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...He departed from this world on Guru Purnima, while residing
at Govardhan...
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...His body was brought to Vrindavan and placed in samadhi behind
the Radha Madanmohan Mandir.
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Sila at his samadhi.
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Sri Caitanya meeting Sanatan.
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"I am just a mendicant and cannot afford such a luxury."
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In a nice proximity of Sanatana's samadhi are other important
shrines.
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Just behind his samadhi is grantha-samadhi, which contains some
of the original manuscripts of the Goswamis...
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...Some of the books compiled by Sanatan Goswami were Hari-bhakti-vilasa,
Brihad-bhagavatamrita, Dasama-tippani and Dasama-carita.
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In nice garden surrounding Sanatana's samadhi there are puspa-samadhis
of Tapana Misra and Candrasekhara...
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...They were close associates of Lord Caitanya. When Caitanya
Mahaprabhu visited Benares, He stayed and took prasadam at their
house. Tapana Misra was the father of Raghunath Bhatta Goswami.
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Sanatana's samadhi in the garden just next to Dvadasaditya Hill.
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Sri Sri Radha Govindaji
Sri Govinda was originally installed nearly 5,000 years ago by
Lord Krisna's great-grandson. Govinda is one of the four presiding
Deities of Braja-mandala. But for long time the Deity was lost...
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...Rupa Goswami, feeling
separation because of being unable to find Deity of Govinda, sat
under a tree on the bank of Yamuna... |
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...At that time a beautiful young boy came and told him of a
hill where a cow went every day and poured milk into a hole. The
young boy then disappeared and Rupa Goswami went there...
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...He started to dig on that spot and discovered the Deity of
Sri Govindaji.
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Purusottam,
the son of King Prapatarudra, sent the Deity of Radharani from Jagannath
Puri to be installed next to Govindadev. This was first Deity of
Radharani to be installed in Vrindavan... |
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...This magnificent Krisna temple was built in 1590 by Maharaja
Man Singh from Jaipur, a disciple of Raghunath Bhatta Goswami,
and took several thousand men five years to build. He built it
after meeting with Rupa Goswami and altar was made from marble,
silver and gold...
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...This temple was originally seven stories high and on the top
there was burning gheelamp. Aurangzeb could see it shining even
from his residence in Agra and sent his troupes to destroy it...
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...When a few stories remained, all of a sudden the ground began
to shake violently and Aurangzeb's men were terrified and run
for their lives, never to return. Remnants of destroyed stories
can be found around the temple.
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A sculptured lotus flower weighting several tons decorated the
main hall.
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There are two small temples on two sides of the Jagmohan, the
main audience hall.
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Inside the small temple on the southern side, down 12 steps is
a cave in which the Deity of Govinda was found and where Rupa
Goswami used to meditate. A deity of eight-armed Yogamaya sitting
on a lion is also there. There is also a stone slab with the footprint
of Krisna on it. Vrindadevi, who is now in the town of Kamavan,
used to be in the northern part of the temple.
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Since this temple was partially destroyed by Muslims, it is
considered that worship cannot be done in this temple.
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Behind the temple, therefore, another temple was established
where worship is performed to the Deities that were installed
after Govindaji was removed and taken to Jaipur.
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Govindaji was brought to the city of Amber, near Jaipur, by Maharaja
Jai Singh II to protect the Deity from destruction at the hands
of the Muslim emperor about 1728 (some say 1735).
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Maharaja Jai Singh created his "City of Victory," the city of
Jaipur, as a dedication to Lord Govindaji. The temple is in a
garden of the palace complex, and when the temple doors were opened,
Maharaja Jai Singh in the past could see his beloved Deity from
the royal quarters. Jai Singh's grandfather had originally constructed
the Govindaji Temple in Vrindavan.
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Radha-Govinda
Deity from Vrindavan is until today the real heart of the city of
Jaipur. |
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Sri Sri Radha-Gopinath
It is said that Vajranabha, Krisna's great-grandson, had three
Deities of Krisna carved. He never saw Krisna, so the Deities
were carved according to the description given by Uttara, the
mother of Maharaja Pariksit...
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...He had three different images carved, but none of them were
perfect. Govindaji resembled Krisna's face (Mukharavinda), Madana-Mohan
resembled Krisna from the navel down to the lotus feet, and Gopinath
resembled Krisna from the navel to the neck.
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In one book about the temples of Vrindavan, the Padma Purana
is quoted saying that to get the full vision of Sri Krisna, pilgrims
have to visit and offer obeisances to all three Deities during
a single day, while the sun is still up...
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...Sri Govinda and Sri Gopinath are now in Jaipur, and Madana-Mohan
is in Karoli, a small town in Rajasthan and this triple darsan
seems to be possible even today, if you are efficient traveler,
of course...
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Radha-Gopinath are the Deities worshiped by Madhu Pandit Goswami
and discovered at Vamsivata in Vrindavan by Paramananda Bhattacarya,
the disciple of Gadadhar Pandit. Vajranabha originally installed
Gopinath in Vrindavan. This Deity was brought to Jaipur from Vrindavan
when the Muslims raided Vrindavan.
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Original Radha-Gopinath
Deity at Jaipur. |
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The chapel of the old temple.
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This temple was also desecrated by Aurangzeb in 1670...
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...and new one was built next to it...
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...where pratibhu-murti is worshipped today.
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Samadhi of Madhu Pandit Goswami.
Madhu Pandit was a disciple of Gadadhar Pandit. He established
the temple of Gopinath in Vrindavan and lived here until his sacred
body was entombed here...
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...near the original main gate of the Gopinath temple.
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Present day gate of Radha-Gopinath Temple.
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Radha-Damodar Temple
was founded by Srila Jiva Goswami, nephew of Rupa and Sanatana
Goswami. He was son of Annupam. Sadhana-dipika mentions that Sri
Rupa Goswami had many skills. He could carve Deities, draw, he
was expert astrologists and fluent in Sanskrit, Bengali, Persian
and other languages. In Karttik 1542 Sri Rupa, knowing Jiva's
desire for the Deity, personally carved, installed and offered
a small Deity of Damodar to his foremost disciple. Eight inches
high Lord Damodar came from a piece of black marble brought from
Vindhya Parvat in central India...
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..."Dama"
means "rope" and "udara" is "abdomen". Damodar is a form of Krisna
who is being bound by the ropes of mother Yasoda because He broke
the yogurt and milk pots like the ordinary naughty boy... |
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This temple was built for Jiva Goswami by Maharaja Man Singh
from Jaipur (Ambra). On the left you can see opened altar. The
temple room is actually roofless courtyard...
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...Other Deities worshiped here are the Radha Vrindavan-candra
Deities worshipped by Krisnadas Kaviraj Goswami, the Radha-Madhava
Deities of Jayadev Goswami, and the Radha-Chalacikana Deities
of Bhugarbha Goswami. The original Deities were all moved to Jaipur...
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Original Radha Damodar Deities made by Rupa Goswami for Jiva
(Jaipur)
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There is a Govardhan-sila in this temple that was worshiped by
Sanatana Goswami. It has Lord Krisna's footprint on it, and it
was given to Sanatana Goswami by Krisna Himself. Sanatan was getting
old and couldn't circumambulate whole Govardhan any more (21 km)...
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...Lord Krisna gave him this sila and told him that circumambulating
this sila is as good as circumambulating the whole Govardhan Hill.
For a small donation the pujari will show you this sila. You can
see the imprints of Krisna's footprint, walking stick, flute,
and the hoof-print of a calf imbedded in the sila.
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Samadhi of Jiva Goswami.
Turning to the left entrance from the temple room, one goes into
another courtyard. There one can find samadhi of Srila Jiva Goswami.
In Gaura-gandodesa-dipika it is stated that he was actually Vilas
Manjari. He was very found of Srimad-Bhagavatam even from his
childhood and went to Navadvip to study Sanskrit. Nityananda Prabhu
was his guide during Navadvip-parikram. After further studies
in Benares he went to Vrindavan to help Rupa and Sanatan...
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...After their departure he was adviser and acarya of all devotees.
Jiva Goswami consolidated the works of his uncles Rupa and Sanatana
Goswamis and compiled twenty five books of over 400 000 verses.
Srila Prabhupada writes: "To understand Lord Caitanya, one
has to follow the direst descendants of Lord Caitanya - the Six
Goswamis - and especially the path chalked out by Srila Jiva Goswami."
Later he sent the next generation of Vaisnavas (Srinivas, Narottam
and Syamanada) to preach to Bengal with a cart full of books written
by Goswamis.
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Jiva Goswami consolidated the works of his uncles Rupa and Sanatana
Goswamis and compiled twenty five books of over 400 000 verses.
Srila Prabhupada writes: "To understand Lord Caitanya, one
has to follow the direst descendants of Lord Caitanya - the Six
Goswamis - and especially the path chalked out by Srila Jiva Goswami."
Samadhi of Jiva Goswami (left) and Krisnadas Kaviraj Goswami
(right).
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Samadhi
of Krisnadas Kaviraj Goswami
Krisnadas Kaviraj Goswami is the author of celebrated classic
Sri Caitanya-caritamrita. Once, Sri Nityananda appeared to him
in a dream and told him to go to Vrindavan. He became disciple
of Raghunath das Goswami and lived near his spiritual master at
Radha-kund. In 1581 he completed Caitanya-caritamrita and one
year later he entered samadhi. Krisnadas Kaviraj Goswami is and
incarnation of Kasturi Manjari, Radharani's maidservant.
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There are whole roads of different shrines and samadhis...
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Puspa-samadhi of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati...
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...and puspa-samadhi of the king Birhambir who became Srinivasa's
disciple and transformed his kingdom into Vaisnava state and other
vaisnava saints.
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Samadhi of Srila Rupa Goswami
is on another courtyard right to the altar.
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In Gaura-gandodesa-dipika Sri Rupa Goswami is described as gopi
named Rupa-manjari - young personal maidservant of Srimati Radharani.
On the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Rupa Goswami wrote many
books about the Vaisnava philosophy. Possibly the most famous
of them is Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, translated into English as
"Nectar of Devotion". Rupa Goswami is protector and leader of
devotees and his followers call themselves "rupanugas". We can
pray at his samadhi for his mercy so that at least little bit
of transcendental glory of Vrindavan will be revealed to us.
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This is how his samadhi looked in 90ties (there was no marble
floor yet).
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Inside the samadhi in 1992...
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...and in 2004.
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Bhajan-kutir of Srila Rupa Goswami
is just next to his samadhi.
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Between them there is sacred
tamal tree. Tamal trees are very rare, hardly growing anywhere expect
Vrindavan area. Their blackish bark resembles dark complexion of
Lord Krisna. Gopis in time of intense fear or separation from their
Lord began to embrace Tamal trees to get feeling of safety and His
closeness. |
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Inside bhajan-kutir is small humble altar.
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In his last days Rupa Goswami gave all the manuscripts to Jiva
Goswami, requesting him to write the commentaries. In 1564, on
Sravan-dvadasi-pavitra, Sri Rupa Goswami entered samadhi. Jiva
Goswami placed his transcendental body to his samadhi mandir,
where it stands now...
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...On that most holy day, the Goswamis, Raghunath Bhatta, Gopal
Bhatta, Raghunath das and all the Vaisnavas in attendance proclaimed
to Jiva Goswami: "From this day on, you are our master, and
our leader."
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Shortly after Rupa's disappearance, Jiva Goswami established
a "Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha", a type of school or formal
assembly to tech Sanskrit based on his own Hari-nama Vyakarana
and the bhakti granthas of the Goswamis Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu
(Rupa Goswami), Brihad-bhagavatamrita (Sanatan Goswami) ad Ujjvala-nilamani.
Jiva Goswami was the most systematic preacher, and was soon acclaimed
as the greatest philosopher in all of India.
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Although Radha-Damodar temple was not large and ornate, it was
once famous for its vast library, where Jiva Goswami neatly stored
all the original manuscripts of the Goswamis.
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In 1670 demoniac Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb ruthlessly attacked
Vrindavan Temples. Raiders, mistaking it for the private residence,
didn't defile the simple designed Radha-Damodar temple. But the
Deities were moved to Jaipur before that. The temple priests implored
the Jaipur king to return Deity and after a sixty-nine years in
Jaipur, Radha-Damodar came home to Vrindavan. The Lord did not
stay long, however, because a determined Maharaja Jai Singh prevailed
upon Damodar's priests to allow the Deity to move back to Jaipur,
where He remains today.
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Prabhupada's rooms
On the right side of the temple courtyard there are two rooms
where Srila Prabhupada lived before his departure to America.
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His small kitchen has a
window (on the white wall behind) overlooking the samadhi of Srila
Rupa Goswami. |
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Srila Prabhupada often said he received great inspiration from
Rupa Goswami.
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Simple living place of "Swami who is always writing", how local
people started to call him.
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The worship in those rooms is carried out by Prabhupada's disciples.
We got invited by Smita-krisna Maharaja who served us wonderful
feast prepared for Prabhupada. Afterwards he cleaned everything
saying he is now Prabhupada's servant and we are his guests. We
could hardly imagine better welcome to Vrindavan...
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Srila Prabhupada lived here for nearly 6 years. He wrote and
traveled to Delhi to publisher.
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He was finishing the commentary to the first canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
This part was published in India before his departure.
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"I eternally reside in my rooms at the Radha-Damodar Temple,"
said Srila Prabhupad many times.
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"When Krisna descended on the earth, He appeared in Vrindavan.
Although I am presently living in America, my residence is in
Vrindavan, because I am always thinking of Krisna. Although I
may be in a New York apartment, my consciousness is there, and
this is as good as living there."
Path of perfection, p.128
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Radha-Syamasundar Temple
This temple was established by Syamananda Prabhu during his second
visit to Vrindavan...
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The original Deity given to Syamananda by Srimati Radharani can
be seen to the right of the altar.
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Extremely beautiful Radha-Syamasundar Deity...
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...were also worshipped by gaudiya-vedantacarya Baladev Vidyabhusana...
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...Baladev Vidyabhusana was born in a village near the famous
Remuna in Orissa. He studied rhetoric, logic and Sat-sandarbhas
under Sri Radha-Damodar, a disciple of Rasikananda Prabhu. Later
he studied Srimad-Bhagavatam under Visvanath Cakravarti Thakur
and under his instruction he went to Jaipur...
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...Visvanath Cakravarti, being too old to travel, send is most
brilliant student to defend gaudiya-sampradaya, because pandits
from Ramanuja-sampradaya wanted to take over the worship of famous
Govindaji Deity in Jaipur. At the well-known Galta in Jaipur he
defeated opponents of the gaudiya line and established vigraha
of Sri Vijay Gopal. He composed a commentary on Vedanta-sutra
called Govinda-bhasya because it was dictated to him by Lord Govindadev
Himself. He reinstalled Sri Radha besides Sri Govindaji...
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...He also wrote other books, that are treasured as a gems in
gaudiya-vaisnava tradition: Siddhanta-ratnam, Vedanta-syamantaka,
Prameya-ratnavali, Siddhanta-darpana and commentary on Sad-sandarbha.
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Entrance gate of Radha Syamasundar Temple.
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Puspa-samadhi of Syamanada Pandit is little further towards Radha-Damodar
Temple opposite the entrance gate.
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Syamanada's former name was Duhkhi Krisnadas. One day he was
sweeping the ground and found an anklet. A small girl came looking
for it, claiming it to belong to her sister. He refused to give
it back to anyone but the owner and the girl left...
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...The small girl was actually Lalita-sahki and returned short
time later with Srimati Radharani Herself. Radharani blessed Krisnadas
with the anklet and pressed it against is forehead, creating permanent
tilak mark...
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...Vaisnava devotees later criticized Duhkhi Krisnadas for his
unusual tilak, but only until the time when Radharani appeared
to Jiva Goswami in a dream and explained everything to him. Jiva
Goswami thus renamed Duhkhi Krisnadas (literary "unhappy Krisnadas")
to Syamananda.
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Syamananda Tilak-sthan.
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Puspa-samadhi of Syamananda Pandit.
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Syamananda Pandit Goswami was no other than Kanaka Manjari, one
of the Srimati Radharani's intimate maidservants.
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Sri Radharaman Temple
was established by Gopal Bhatta Goswami.
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Radharamana's lotus face is like Sri Govindaji's, His chest is
like Sri Gopinath's and His lotus feet are like Sri Madanmohanji's.
By taking darsan of Radharaman one receives the simultaneous darsan
of these three Deities.
The Deity of Sri Radharaman was manifested from one of Gopal
Bhatta Goswami's salagram-silas on the full moon day of Vaisakha
(April/May) in 1542.
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This event is celebrated every year (May) by bathing the Deity
with 100 liters of milk and other auspicious items. Gopal Bhatta
Goswami's other salagram-silas are also worshiped on the altar.
There is no Deity of Radharani with Radharaman, but gomati-cakra
is worshipped on the altar to His left. According to an injunction
of Sri Hari-bhakti-vilas, a gomati-cakra is to be worshipped along
with a salagram-sila.
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Radharaman is one of the few original Deities of the Goswamis
still in Vrindavan. Other Deities went to Jaipur, but Radharaman
never left Vrindavan. The fires for cooking in the temple kitchen
have been burning continuously for over 435 years, since the Deity
was installed. This is so no foreign elements, such as matches,
are used for ignition purposes.
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The standard of worship at samadhi and temple is exemplary and
Srila Prabhupada wanted his disciples to learn Deity worship from
local pujaris.
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Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's kaupina (cloth) and asana (seat), which
Gopal Bhatta Goswami brought from Jagannath Puri, are also in
this temple. They are brought out to be seen by the public three
or four times a year. The asana is black wood and is about 30
cm (12") by 25 cm (10").
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Govardhan-sila of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
|
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Before large temples were built, the Goswamis worshiped their
Deities simply, keeping them in a tree under which they slept...
|
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...Radha-raman Deity was adored in a tree for centuries. In the
area of the present Radha-raman temple, there used to be a large
lake, connected to the Yamuna river...
|
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...For a couple of hundred years they worshiped Radha-raman in
a tree, and at night put him in a boat anchored in the middle
of a lake...
|
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...They stood guard with bows and arrows, if anyone came to
hassle the Deity. Even today, they have the bows and arrows in
the temple.
|
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Besides daily puja there are other festivals held at the samadhis.
Upon taking initiation into Gaudiya-vaisnava Sampradaya, a new
disciple may sponsor a special uttsava (festival) consisting of
hari-nama sankirtana (chanting of the name of the Lord), bhagavatha-katha
(discourses about the Lord) and offer an opulent feast of prasadam
to present Vaisnavas and Braja-vasis (residents of Vrindavan).
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Outer Gate
of Radha-raman Temple is close to the Nidhivan garden. |
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Radharaman Temple was not attacked by Aurangzeb's soldiers because
they mistakenly thought it to be just residential quarter.
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Inner entrance to the Temple.
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Gopal Bhatta Goswami's samadhi is to the left after you
enter the first gate from the street into the temple compound.
Gopal Bhatta Goswami was the son of Vyenkatta Bhatta, a brahmana
priest of Srirangam Temple in Tamil Nadu. His uncle Prabhodananda
Sarasvati also became his spiritual master. In 1511 Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu visited Srirangam a danced in ecstasy before Lord Ranganath...
|
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...Vyenkata Bhatta invited Lord Caitanya to stay at his house
during Caturmasya. Gopal Bhatta was at that time small boy and
got the chance to serve the Lord and hear directly from Him. After
some time Lord Caitanya left on his tour to South India and told
Gopal Bhatta to go in the future to Vrindavan...
|
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...Gopal Bhatta became learned in Sanskrit, poetry, rhetoric
and all aspects of devotional service. After passing of his parents,
he left home and proceeded towards Vrindavan where he joined Rupa
and Sanatan...
|
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...After some time studying in Vrindavan Gopal Bhatta made a
trip to Nepal. One day when he was taking bath in Kali-Gandakini
river, he dipped his kamandalu into the water and 12 silas mysteriously
entered his water pot...
|
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...He put them back into the water and dipped the kamandalu again
in the water of the holy river, but the silas again entered his
water pot...
|
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...When it happened for the third time, Gopal Bhatta realized,
that those are not ordinary stones, but they must be some very
special ones and there must be some divine arrangement behind
it. He kept them in a cloth bag hung around his neck and from
that time on he started to worship them and returned to Vrindavan...
|
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...Once he intensely desired to decorate his salagram, seat Him
on a swing and serve Him as other devotees can. "If only He had
arms and legs like a Deity," he thought...
|
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...Lord Krisna, being very kind to His devotees, that very night
transformed Himself from one of small salagram-sila into threefold
form of Radharaman. If one has darsan of Radharaman's back, one
will see that it resemble salagram-sila. Although the Deity is
quite small many devotees find Him to be extremely attractive.
|
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The appearance place of the Sri Radharaman Deity is next to the
temple besides Gopal Bhatta's samadhi.
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Gopal Bhatta was actually originating the Sat-Sandarbhas, later
elaborately developed by Jiva Goswami, he also edited Hari-bhakti-vilas.
His most prominent disciple was Srinivas Acarya.
|
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Gopal Bhatta Goswami was no other than Ananga Manjari, one of
the eight intimate maidservants of Srimati Radharani.
|
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Radha Gokulananda Temple
was founded by Lokanath Goswami. The entrance to the temple
is on the same street as Radharaman Temple.
|
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In this temple you can see the Radha-Vinod Deities of Lokanath
Goswami, Radha-Gokulananda Deities of Visvanath Cakravarti, Caitanya
Mahaprabhu Deity of Narottam das Thakur, Vijaya Govinda Deities
of Baladev Vidyabhusana, and the Govardhan-sila given to Raghunath
das Goswami by Sri Caitanya...
|
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...Original Deity of Visvanath Cakravarti is the small one in
the front. Other Deities are pratibhu-murtis.
|
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Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave
a govardhan-sila to Raghunath das Goswami, and this can be seen
if one offers a small donation. The sila bears the thumbprint of
Lord Caitanya, who used to chant while holding the sila, pressing
it to His heart or eyes... |
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... Sometimes He would smell it or place it on His head. The
stone was almost always moist with Lord Caitanya's tears. Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu would say: "This stone is directly the body
of Lord Krisna." Sri Caitanya kept the sila for three years and
than gave it to Raghunath das, being greatly satisfied by his
behavior. Visvanath Cakravarti also worshipped for some time Raghunath's
govardhan-sila.
|
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The samadhi of Lokanath Goswami.
Lokanath Goswami was a contemporary of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
and when the Lord took sannyas, Lokanath came to Vrindavan with
Bhugarbha Goswami and performed very strict bhajana. He was always
meek and humble. When young Narottam das came to Vrindavan to
study under the Goswamis, he was attracted by this saintly person...
|
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...Lokanath, however, did not want to accept disciples and refused
repeated requests from Narottam. But Narottam was very determined.
He acted as menial servant of Lokanath Goswami, who was finally
pleased by his behavior and accepted him as his only disciple.
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Lokanath Goswami found Deity of Radha-Vinod (Vinodial) in Umaro
Gaon near Chatravan. Upon request of Rupa, Sanatan and other Goswamis
he brought the Deity to Vrindavan. Vinodilal is a beautiful Deity
about 30cm tall. On the left we can see the original Deities now
worshipped in Jaipur.
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In the courtyard of Radha-Gokulananda Temple besides Lokanath's
samadhi there are samadhis of Visvanath Cakravarti Thakur (left),
puspa-samadhi of Narottam das Thakur (center) and samadhi of Ganganarayan
Cakravarti (right).
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Visvanath Cakravarti was the greatest acarya of seventeenth
century. His guru Radharaman Cakravarti asked him to copy Srimad-Bhagavatam
in his home and while writing he entered into trance. He wrote
day and night. Even though the sun was scorching, the spot where
he sat was as if by miracle shaded. Another day started to rain,
but on Visvanath no rain fell. The local landlord saw this miracle
and told to townspeople much to Visvanath's embarrassment. After
some time his spiritual master ordered him to live at Radha-kund
and write books...
|
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...One brahmacari
from Mathura had a dream in which the Lord appeared to him and asked
him to give his small Gokulananda Deity to Visvanath. He did so,
but Visvanath refused to take the Deity because he could not afford
proper worship. That night the Lord appeared to Visvanath and told
him that He would arrange everything necessary for the offerings.
The brahmacari had another dream and this time, Visvanath accepted. |
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After the disappearance of Jiva Goswami a controversy aroused
among his followers. Some believed that Radha and Krisna are eternally
married (svakiya-rasa) and should not be worshipped as paramours
in parakiya-rasa. In order to accommodate neophytes Jiva Goswami
acknowledged svakiya-rasa in his book Ujjvala-nilamani, but his
followers failed to see that in his other books he wrote about
parakiya-vada as thought by Lord Caitanya Himself...
|
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...Visvanath Cakravarti defeated the controversy, but the pundits
got angry and plotted to kill him. They waited for him in secluded
place for a long time, but he was not coming. Suddenly they saw
a very beautiful young girl picking flowers and they were completely
enchanted by her beauty. They forgot their enmity towards Visvanath
and asked her who she was. The girl replied she is the maidservant
of Sri Radha and he is collecting flowers so that Sri Radha could
make a garland for Her beloved paramour. Sri Krisna. Upon saying
this the girl disappeared and the scholars saw only Visvanath
sitting there...
|
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...Visvanath than asked them what place lies between Varsana
and Nandagram. "Sanket," they replied.
"Why than Radha meets Krisna at Sanket rather than at Krisna's
home at Nandagram? If the Divine Couple were actually married,
they could easily meet at His father's home at Nandagram. Instead
They meet at Sanket, the place of Yogamaya, who arranges Their
meeting." Shortly after that those scholars became Visvanath's
disciples.
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Narottam das Thakur was born in Khethuri in 1534, the
year of Lord Caitanya's disappearance. His father was king, but
by caste he was kayastha (sudra). Before that, when Sri
Caitanya visited Ramakeli, He went to River Padma and suddenly
began to call out: "Narottam!" "Narottam!" He told His devotees:
"Very soon a personality will be born in Khethuri and he will
absorb My kirtana-rasa with all of my love. Now I am depositing
my prema to Padma and she will deliver it to Narottam..."
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...Young Narottam became brilliant student and one day Lord Nityananda
appeared to him in a dream and told him to go to river Padma and
take bath. On waking Narottam rushed towards the river and while
bathing his body have changed from blackish to golden. Narottam
started to call and cry and upon returning his parents could not
recognized him. He was dancing and singing the holy names day
and night. After some time Narottam had a dream in which Sri Caitanya
ordered him to go to Vrindavan and take initiation from Lokanath
Goswami. Narottam run away from home much to the despair of his
parents...
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...Upon arriving to Vrindavan he fainted in front of Govindaji
and all devotees headed by Jiva Goswami came there to meet him
as Sri Caitanya predicted his appearance. Narottam became the
only disciple of Lokanath Goswami and his bhajans are famous among
vaisnavas even today. Srila Prabhupada said that even stones are
getting melted listening to Narottam's bhajans. This puspa-samadhi
contains his garland, cloth, kaupin and japa beads. Narottam das
Thakur is Vilas Manjari, one of the Radharani's intimate maidservants
who usually prepares milk products. Narottam's body is not entombed
anywhere since his transcendental body dissolved as milk into
the water during his bath in a river at his disappearance.
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Ganganarayan Cakravarti
was a prominent disciple of Narottam das Thakur. He was high caste
brahmana by birth and smarta-brahmanas at those times strongly
protested against Narottam (sudra by birth) initiating brahmanas
and convinced the king to challenge Narottam. When Ganganarayan
heard that king's party is approaching, he and Ramacandra Kaviraj
disguised themselves as clay pot seller and betel nut seller.
Shortly afterward smarta-pandits went shopping clay pots for cooking
and were amazed that shopkeepers in this town speak fluent Sanskrit...
|
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...They have got into debate and clay pot walla and betel nut
walla defeated them in argument. Perplexed reported it to the
leader of the party and told him: "If shopkeepers in this village
defeated us in debate, only God knows what will happen when we
will meet the guru himself!" Ganganarayan Cakravarti in this way
protected Narottam from this disturbance. That night the king
and the Digvijai-pandit had a dream that they should accept initiation
from Narottam.
|
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The entrance door to Radha-Gokulananda Temple is on the same
street as Radharaman Mandir.
|
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After getting to know about main seven temples established by
Goswamis we will perform parikram around the town and in the next
round we will visit other places inside the town area.
|
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Detailed map of Vrindavan with most places of interest can be
found at the end of this page.
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Vrindavan-parikram
Circumambulating Vrindavan by foot can be made in two or three
hours, provided on does not stop in many places.
|
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Since it is not our case and it will take us a lot more, it is
therefore wise to take an umbrella providing a shade.
|
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Parikram of course, can be made in many ways - for instance as
a reverential tapasya.
|
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Vrindavan-parikram can be started at any place on parikram road
going clockwise.
|
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We start our journey at Ramana-reti where Krisna and Balaram
performed Their pastimes, just next to Radha-tila where
Radharani's parrots gather every evening in numbers.
|
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Our first stop is Krisna-Balaram tree. Balaram (with white
complexion) sits on Krisna's (blackish) neck, as the white tree
grows from the dark tree.
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But the whitish tree is drying up (2004).
|
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Varaha-ghat
Formerly Yamuna river used to flow here...
|
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...and at this place Krisna showed His Varaha form to the gopis...
|
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Beautiful Varaha Deity at Varaha-ghat.
|
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Gautama Muni asram
is just opposite to Varaha-ghat on parikram path...
|
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...Here great sage Gautama Muni performed austerities many thousands
years ago.
|
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Few plots of
land are cultivated attempting to restore some of the former beauty
of Vrindavan of Krisna's times. This plot is quite near the river,
but to pump water for irrigation from areas further from Yamuna
river can be more harmful than beneficial. In this way the level
of the underground water would drop even lower and the trees would
get even harder time in worm Vrindavan summer. We shouldn't forget
that Vrindavan area is near Rajasthan desert, which is growing partially
due to cutting of the trees. |
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Go-ghat
At Go-ghat Nanda Maharaja gave cows in charity to the brahmanas.
|
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ISKCON Gosala
is situated just next to it.
|
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Further can be seen another interesting tree, called Radha-Krisna
tree. Dark Krisna embraces white Radharani...
In 90ties there was construction going on at this plot and the
tree was to be cut. But fortunately a devotee gave some money
to the owner to spare it and let the tree live.
|
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Still further is a place called Kaliya-hrada. In times
of Krisna's pastimes a serpent named Kaliya lived in Yamuna river.
Due to poisonous vapor the tree and grass near the bank of the
Yamuna had all dried up...
|
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...Lord Krisna saw the effect of the great serpent's poison:
the whole river that ran before Vrindavan was now deadly. Krisna
climbed up in a big Kadamba tree, tightened His belt cloth and
flapping His arms just like a wrestler, jumped into the poisonous
lake...
|
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...Krisna and Kaliya serpent fought within the Yamuna river.
The Lord danced upon Kaliya's hoods and defeated him, but speared
his life because of the sincere prayers of the naga-patnis, the
serpent's wives. The kadamba tree from which Krisna had jumped
was the only tree, which was not dead. Some say that due to touching
the lotus feet of the Lord, the tree became immediately alive...
|
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...But in some Puranas it is stated that Garuda, the eternal
carrier of Visnu, knew that Krisna would take this action in future,
so he put some nectar on this tree to preserve it. In either case
the same tree is still standing at Kaliya-ghat and nice Deity
of Krisna's dancing oh Kaliya's hoods can be seen there.
|
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Nearby Kaliya-mardana Temple...
|
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...where 5000 years old Deity installed by Vajranabha is worshiped...
|
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...by friendly pujaris.
|
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Beginning in the year 1511, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu made a journey
of the holy places in South India. On Sukla Ekadasi He arrived
at Ranga-ksetra, where He decided to stay and practice austerities
during the four months of Caturmasya. At this time Lord Caitanya
stayed at the home of three brothers: Tirumala, Vyenkata (whose
son was Gopal Bhatta Goswami) and Gopal Guru (Prabhodananda Sarasvati)
In his youth Gopal Bhatta was instructed by Prabhodananda Sarasvati...
|
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...They were Sri Vaisnavas, followers of Ramanujacarya, and devoted
to the worship of Laksmi-Narayan. Lord Caitanya explained superiority
of Lord Krisna's lila to His hosts, and according to Caitanya-caritamrita
(Madhya, 9) they became great devotees of Lord Caitanya after
that...
|
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...Prabhodananda Sarasvati
became follower of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and is considered one
of the great acaryas in the gaudiya-vaisnava sampradaya. Actually
he is one of the great eternal associates of the Lord. When the
Lord appeared in His original form of Sri Krisna, Prabhodananda
Sarasvati was one of the important gopis, Tungavidya devi. After
Sri Caitanya left South India he meditated about his Lord and left
his home at Ranga-ksetra and traveled to Vrindavan, where he stayed
in the forest of Kamyavan and where he was soon met by his nephew,
Gopal Bhatta Goswami... |
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...Samadhi tomb of Prabhodananda
Sarasvati is located on what was previously the bank of Yamuna
river near Kaliya-ghat. |
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Prashkananda-ghat,
where Krisna's prashkananda (perspiration) caused a small lake to
appear is no longer visible as well as Suraj-ghat where Surya
performed great austerities so that he could achieve darsan of Lord
Krisna. Srimati Radharani also prayed here to Sun god to appear
and warm Lord Krisna who felt very cold after spending a long time
in the water chastising Kaliya. |
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Parikram road used to be beautiful dust sand road where anybody
could walk barefoot even when not use to.
|
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Walking on the old riverbed bring us to a place where one of
the Yamuna branches flows today.
|
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Imli-tala
"Imli" means "tamarind" and this tamarind tree dates back
as far as Lord Krisna's times, five thousands years ago. Krisna
would come here on the bank of the Yamuna and because of His ecstatic
feelings of separation from Radharani, His blackish body would
turn golden...
|
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...Gauranga Mahaprabhu would also come here and meditate upon
Krisna. Due to ecstatic love His golden body would on the contrary
turn blackish...
|
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...The old tree is said to be cut by neighbors and blood was
flowing from the tree instead of sap |
