Entering into Sri Vrndavan Dham
Lord Caitanya taught that bhakti means to serve. We can’t see Krishna or Vrindavan if we come like tourists. Krishna and Sri Vrindavan dham are revealed to us according to the sincerity of our devotion.
Srila Prabhupada explained that one cannot really enter dham simply by plane or by any other type of motor-vehicle, or even by foot. One can enter dham in a state of consciousness of deep humility and appreciation. Srila Prabhupada taught that Akrura gave an example, when he just came into the precincts of Sri Vrndavana… actually even on his way… his heart was trembling with eagerness for the darsan of Krishna and Balarama. His mind was immersed intensely in that remembrance remembering the Lord’s names, remembering the Lord’s pastimes and especially hoping for the Lord’s mercy. In this way by the time he actually came to the precinct of Vrndavan, he was so very much fertile in his heart to receive mercy. When he saw the cows and heard the milking of the cows, and saw the trees and the flowers, the creepers of the forest, he was in ecstasy and when he saw the lotus footprints of Lord Sri Krishna in the soft sands, he literally fell from his magnificent chariot and rolled in the dust, weeping tears of grateful joy.
If you want to really enter into the realm of dham, Lord Caitanya taught us this consciousness.
gopi-bhartuhpada-kamalayordasa-dasanudasah
We should not try to become the master or the proprietor or the controller. The more we are in the sweet mood of serving the other vaishnavas, the more Krsna will reveal Himself. If you want to know Krishna you have to put the vaishnavas in front of yourself. We should not be self-centered. It is our service attitude that attracts Krishna to empower us to taste the sweetness of the holy name, to be able to actually experience and see the beauty of the holy dham.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to show through Swarup Damodar Goswami that, we should not see Vrndavan with material vision. Srila Prabhupada explained to us that, there is a fine layer covering dham; it is yoga maya. In order to perceive the Dham as it is, is not possible with our mortal eyes made of flesh & blood. The spiritual world cannot be seen through such a mechanism, the spiritual world can only be seen by our faith in the words of the great acharyas & by our humility & our devotion. Do not commit offences by thinking anything in dham to be ordinary. Those great personalities, who have completely purified hearts, they see the divine past times of Sri Krishna continuously taking place in dham. But some time we see sewage running in the street & hogs bathing in that sewage & walking around, sometime we see poverty, some time we see condition that may be not very sanitary. This is our vision. Actually behind all of this, the Lord is performing his unlimited past times.
Gour Kishore Das Babaji maharaj when he was living in Vrindavan, one time the devotees offered their obeisances in the dust & they got up & started cleaning the dust of their body & their hair. Gour Kishore Das Babaji chastised them, he said, do you not know the every particle of this dust is valuable than all the jewels of heavenly planets or Vaikuntha; & you are taking it so ordinary, you have been blessed by this dust & you are simply pushing it off as it is something ordinary. Srila Prabhupada taught us that, we have to see by our ears, we have to see through the faith that we have in our hearts; in the word of great souls. It is the great personalities that reveal to us, the holy Dham.
To understand the principal Deities established by the Goswamis of Vrindavan is the most effective way of entering into the mood of Vrindavan.
The three Deities of Vrndavana named Sri Radha-Madana-mohana, Sri Radha-Govindadeva and Sri Radha-Gopinathaji, these three Deities are worshiped in three different stages of one’s development. The followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu scrupulously follow these principles of approach.
Madana-mohana is He who charms Cupid, the god of love
Govinda is He who pleases the senses and the cows and
Gopijana-vallabha is the transcendental lover of the gopis.
Madana-mohana : Worship of Madana-mohana is on the platform of re-establishing our forgotten relationship with the Personality of Godhead. In the material world we are presently in utter ignorance of our eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord. Pangoh refers to one who cannot move independently by his own strength, and manda-mateh is one who is less intelligent because he is too absorbed in materialistic activities. It is best for such persons not to aspire for success in fruitive activities or mental speculation but instead simply to surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the beginning of our spiritual life we must therefore worship Madana-mohana so that He may attract us and nullify our attachment for material sense gratification.
Govinda: When one wishes to render service to the Lord with strong attachment, one worships Govinda on the platform of transcendental service. Govinda is the reservoir of all pleasures.
Gopijana-vallabha: When by the grace of Krsna and the devotees one reaches perfection in devotional service, he can appreciate Krsna as Gopijana-vallabha, the pleasure Deity of the damsels of Vraja.
Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu explained this mode of devotional service in three stages, and therefore these worshipable Deities were installed in Vrndavan by different Gosvamis.
- Because it is vrndavan those who come should be exemplary so that all the people of Vrndavan..will see that we are actually following the six Gosvamis headed by Rupa Gosvami
Srila Prabhupad letter, 23 March, 1974
- Akuras journey to Vrndavan is exemplary. One who intends to visit Vrndavan should follow the ideal footsteps of Akura and always think of the pastimes and activities of the Lord.
(Krsna book, Akuras arrival in Vrindaban)
The Glories of Sri Vrndavan Dham
- How wonderfull it is that simply by residing in Vrindavana even for one day, one can achieve a transcendental loving attitude towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This land of Vrndavan must be far more glorious than even Vaikuntha. Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu — Srila Rupa Goswami
- The results of travelling to all the pilgrimages in the three worlds is achieved simply by touching the holy land of Vrndavan.
Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu — Srila Rupa Goswami - If a man decides in his mind-I will go to Vrndavan and stay there-simply by having such thoughts he will be freed from the wheel of samsara
Ten Offen to be avoided in the Holy Dham
- To have contempt or disrespect towards the guru who is the revealer of the holy dham.
- To think that the holy dham is temporary.
- To commit violence towards any of the residents of the holy dhama, or to any of the pilgrims who come there, or to think that they are ordinary mundane people.
- To perform mundane activities while living in the holy dhama.
- Earning money by and making a business of Deity worship and chanting the holy name.
- To think that the holy dham belongs to some mundane country or providence such as Bengal, or to think that the dham of the Lord is equal to a holy place connected with some demigod, or to attempt to measure the area of the dham.
- To commit sinful acts while in the dham.
- To consider Vrndavana and Navadvipa different.
- To blaspheme the sastras which glorify the holy dham.
- To be faithless and to think that the glories of the dham are imaginary.
In the sacred land of Vrndavan, the results of all devotional activities performed here are magnified one thousand times. Therefore, one can make rapid advancement if one lives offencelessly in the holy dhama. If however, one does commit offences, they are also magnified one thousand times; therefore, one is advised to carefully avoid committing any offences in Vrndavan dham.