Vedic Hindustan

Sri Nidhuvana

In this sacred kunja (garden), the divine couple Radha and Krishna perform rasa-lila and they rest after performing the rasa-lila dance.

After sunset the whole area is locked. No one stays. Not even a monkey or any living animal. If anyone stays behind either they will die or they will become mad.

The plants inside this kunja are called Van Tulasi. It is believed they are gopis and that at night they become gopis and perform rasa-lila with Lord Krishna. In this garden there is a small temple called Rang Mahal, where a bed is kept for the divine couple to rest. It is also here that Krishna decorates Radharani with various kinds of cosmetics before performing the Rasa dance. Everyday evening the pujari sets up the room and leaves a saree, bangles, cosmetics (lipstick, bindi, Kumkum) in a basket. In a tray he puts sweets: 4 laddus, betel nut leaves with sweet filling, neem stick used for brushing teeth and a pot filled with water to drink.

Every day morning when the lock is opened, we see the room has been used, saree, bangles are on the bed, lipstick has been used, laddus are eaten and half eaten laddu remaining in the plate, betel nut leaves are half eaten, neem stick has been used it is wet and half water is remaining in the pot. Pujari distributes the maha prasad in the morning.

I went there early morning to take darshan and also maha prasad. Videography is prohibited. I was taking video without knowing and after the temple door was opened, the pujari noticed me and asked me to stop.

In this kunja there is also another small temple dedicated to Radha, when she stole Krishna’s flute. In this temple, Radharani can be seen playing on Krishna’s flute, accompanied by her girl-friends, Lalita and Visakha.

There is also a kunda (pond) dedicated to Visakha Sakhi.

One can also see the samadhi of Swami Haridasa, who used to perform his bhajana here. It was also in this kunja that the Deity of Banke-bihari was found by Swami Haridasa. This spot is just near the Rang Mahal.

Seva Kunja

This is the sacred place of the rasa dance and also where Lord Krishna offered service to Srimati Radharani by decorating Her hair with flowers, as well as massaging and painting Her lotus feet. Radha and Krishna would sometimes spend the night here, dancing with the gopis and enjoying various transcendental pastimes. One can see the rasa-sthali, commemorating the rasa dance of Lord Krishna with the gopis. There is also a small temple dedicated to Radha and Krishna’s pastimes called Rang Mahal where Lord Krishna decorated Srimati Radharani. Near the entrance to this garden is a kunda created by Lord Krishna. He pushed His foot into the ground just to please Lalita devi when she was feeling thirsty and wanted to drink water.

The transcendental rasa dance performance of Lord Krishna can never be compared to any mundane dancing of the conditioned souls. Krishna’s performance of the rasa dance  is a completely spiritual affair of pure love, enacted on the spiritual platform, between the Lord and His greatest devotees, who had all taken the form of gopis, the beautiful cowherd damsels of Vrindavana. They were by far the most beautiful damsels in the whole universe.

By His divine mystic power, Lord Krishna expanded Himself into hundreds of forms, in order to dance simultaneously with hundreds of gopis. Each gopi thought that Krishna was dancing with her alone. As Lord Krishna and the gopis danced together, a most wonderful musical sound was produced by the tinkling of their anklebells, ornaments, and bangles. The gopis also began to sing beautiful songs whilst dancing, which pleased Krishna very much. Some of the gopis touched Krishna cheek to cheek and Krishna began to offer them chewed betal nuts from His lotus mouth, which they exchanged by kissing. By accepting those chewed betel nuts from Lord Krishna’s mouth , the gopis became even more spiritually advanced.

Krishna, being the Supreme Lord, is also the Supreme Enjoyer. Everything in creation is meant for the Lords pleasure; the gopis of Vrndavana perfectly understood this and were prepared to do anything and everything for the satisfaction of Krishna. They did not expect anything in return for their service; this is bhakti-yoga, complete surrender in pure unalloyed devotion to the Lord.

In a former life, some of the gopis had been great rsis and perfect yogis. Due to their great austerities and perfect meditation, they had attained the chance to associate with the Supreme Lord in His most intimate loving pastimes within the forest of Vrindavana. It should be clearly understood that there is not even the slightest tinge of material lust, or mundane sensual plane due to their perfect meditation; in their next lives they associated directly with the Lord, in their pure spiritual forms as the beautiful gopis of Vrindavana. Those who think that these pastimes of the Lord in Vrindavana are manifestations of mundane lusty activities are certainly possessed of a hellish mentality.

Imli Tala (Tamarind Tree)

This tree was a favorite place of Srimati Radharani. Once, during a rasa dance performance, Srimati Radharani suddenly left and finding Her missing, Krishna went in search of Her. As He was unable to find Her, He came and sat beneath this tree. Due to intense feelings of separation from His beloved Radha, Krishna’s body started to trun the same golden hue as Srimati Radharanis body. At that moment, Radharani came there accompanied by Her girl friends and had darsana of that golden complexioned form of Lord Krishna.

Radharani asked Krishna the meaning of this golden form and He explained to Her that after searching for Her, He came and sat here and in a mood of deep separation, after chanting the name of Radharani, His body started to turn a golden colour just like Hers. Then His own feelings and sentiments were replaced by Hers, and He began to experience Her mood of separation form Himself. Krishna then told Radharani that in the Kali-yuga, He would again take on Her mood and complexion and distribute love of God to all the conditioned souls.

Lord Krishna again came in the form of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of Krishna, known as the ‘Golden Avatara’ due to His golden complexion. When visiting Vrindavana, He came here regularly, and sat beneath this same tree and chanted the holy names of Krishna. Feeling deep separation from Krishna, Sri Chaitanya’s body would turn the same blackish hue as Lord Krishna’s body and He would continually shed tears of love in spiritual ecstasy.

(For complete details watch my below video. To follow me on Social Media Click Here –  Twitter   Facebook )

Sri Radharani’s desire to enjoy with Lord Krishna in Bhandiravana was fulfilled in Vrindavana. Explained in this video Nidhuvana, Banke Bihari Temple, Seva Kunja, Imli Tala.