The village of Kajarotha is situated around one kilometre from Sri Tapovana and two and a half miles north of Gangaroli. East of the village is the temple of Sri Rama-Sita and next to that Sri Rama-Sita Mandira is Sri Aksaya Vata. Behind the village is Gadibhima. At this place Sri Balarama killed Pralambasura.

How to get there: You can easily go to this place by Auto from Vrindavana.

In my below video you can hear local pujari explaining the pastime of Sri Saligram Sila in Hindi.

Sri Nanda Baba use to do worship of Sri Saligram Sila at this place. Once lord Krishna came here with his cowherd friends and cows and noticed his father Nanda Baba worshiping a stone. Lord Krishna asked Nanda Baba, “what is this and what you are doing?”

Sri Nanda Baba said, “This is Sri Saligram Sila”.

Lord Krishna said, “You are always busy with this stone, I am standing in front of you, ask me if you  want to ask anything, I am the Supreme”.

Nanda Baba said, “okay Krishna you are also my lord and this Saligram Sila is also my lord”, and they all went back home.

Next day Lord Krishna came again, he took the Saligram Sila and put it in his mouth, and then climbed up on Aksaya vata. Then Nanda baba arrived and noticed the Saligram Sila is missing. Sri Nanda baba asked everyone, “where is my Saligram Sila?”.

But no one knew. Then Nanda baba wondered where Krishna was. He went out near the Aksaya vata tree and started calling “Krishna where are you?”.

Lord Krishna sitting on the tree replied “humm…”. Nanda baba requested him to come down, but Lord Krishna just replied “humm….” and did not come down. After many requests, Nanda baba climbed up and brought him down from the tree. He then, with his fingers, pushed lord Krishna’s cheek and then the Saligram Sila came out from His mouth.

Sri Nanda baba then washed the Saligram Sila at Tapovan.

Sri Nanda baba said to Krishna “everyday you say you are Supreme Lord, then I would like to take Darsana of your previous birth”.

Lord Krishna gave darsan of Lord Rama, Devi Sita and Lord Lakshamana at this place.

The local pujari will show the Saligram Sila that Lord Krishna put in his mouth only when you give donation of minimum Rs.500.

Killing the Demon Pralambasura

His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada explains the beautiful pastime :

     Krishna, surrounded by His relatives, friends, cows, calves and bulls and glorified by their singing, again entered Vrndavana, which is always full of cows. While Krishna and Balarama were enjoying life in Vrndavana, in the midst of the cowherd boys and girls, the season gradually changed to summer. The summer season in India is not very much welcomed because of the excessive heat, but in Vrndavana everyone was pleased because summer there appeared just like spring. This was possible only because Lord Krishna and Balarama, who are the controllers even of Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, were residing there. In Vrndavana there are many falls which are always pouring water, and the sound is so sweet that it covers the sound of the crickets. And because water flows all over, the forest always looks very green and beautiful.

     The inhabitants of Vrndavana were never disturbed by the scorching heat of the sun or the high summer temperatures. The lakes of Vrndavana are surrounded by green grasses, and various kinds of lotus flowers bloom there, such as the kalhara-kanjotpala, and the air blowing in Vrndavana carries the aromatic pollen of those lotus flowers. When the particles of water from the waves of the Yamuna, the lakes and the waterfalls, touched the bodies of the inhabitants of Vrndavana, they automatically felt a cooling effect. Therefore they were practically undisturbed by the summer season.

     Vrndavana is such a nice place. Flowers are always blooming, and there are even various kinds of decorated deer. Birds are chirping, peacocks are crowing and dancing, and bees are humming. The cuckoos there sing nicely in five kinds of tunes.

     Krishna, the reservoir of pleasure, blowing His flute, accompanied by His elder brother Balarama and other cowherd boys and cows, entered the  beautiful forest of Vrndavana to enjoy the atmosphere. They walked into the midst of newly grown leaves of trees whose flowers resembled peacock feathers. They were garlanded by those flowers and decorated with saffron chalk. Sometimes they were dancing and singing and sometimes wrestling with one another. While Krishna danced, some of the cowherd boy’s sang, and others played on flutes; some bugled on buffalo horns or clapped their hands, praising Krishna, “Dear brother, You are dancing very nicely.” Actually, all these boys were demigods descended from higher planets to assist Krishna in His pastimes. The demigods garbed in the dress of the cowherd boys were encouraging Krishna in His dancing, just as one artist encourages another with praise. Up to that time, neither Balarama nor Krishna had undergone the haircutting ceremony; therefore Their hair was clustered like crows’ feathers. They were always playing hide-and-seek with Their boy friends or jumping or fighting with one another. Sometimes, while His friends were chanting and dancing, Krishna would praise them, “My dear friends, you are dancing and singing very nicely.” The boys played at catching ball with bell shaped fruits and round amalaki. They played blind man’s buff, challenging and touching one another. Sometimes they imitated the forest deer and various kinds of birds. They joked with one another by imitating croaking frogs, and they enjoyed swinging underneath the trees. Sometimes they would play like a king and his subjects amongst themselves. In this way, Balarama and Krishna, along with all Their friends, played all kinds of sports and enjoyed the soothing atmosphere of Vrndavana, full of rivers, lakes, rivulets, fine trees and excellent fruits and flowers.

    Once while they were engaged in their transcendental pastimes, a great demon of the name Pralambasura entered their company, desiring to kidnap both Balarama and Krishna. Although Krishna was playing the part of a cowherd boy, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead He could understand everything-past, present and future. So when Pralambasura entered their company, Krishna began to think how to kill the demon, but externally He received him as a friend. “O My dear friend,” He said. ”It is very good that you have come to take part in our pastimes.” Krishna then called all His friends and ordered them: “Now we shall play in pairs. We shall challenge one another in pairs.” With this proposal, all the boys assembled together. Some of them took the side of Krishna, and some of them took the side of Balarama, and they arranged to play in duel. The defeated members in duel fighting had to carry the victorious members on their backs. They began playing, and at the same time tended the cows as they proceeded through the Bhandiravana forest. The party of Balarama, accompanied by Sridama and Vrsabha, came out victorious, and Krishna’s party had to carry them on their backs through the Bhandiravana forest. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, being defeated, had to carry Sridama on His back, and Bhadrasena carried Vrsabha. Imitating their play’ Pralambasura, who appeared there as a cowherd boy, carried Balarama on his back. Pralambasura was the greatest of the demons, and he had calculated that Krishna was the most powerful of the cowherd boys.    

    In order to avoid the company of Krishna, Pralambasura carried Balarama far away. The demon was undoubtedly very strong and powerful, but he was carrying Balarama, who is compared with a mountain; therefore he began to feel the burden, and thus he assumed his real form. When he appeared in his real feature, he was decorated with a golden helmet and earrings and looked just like a cloud with lightning carrying the moon. Balarama observed the demon’s body expanding up to the limits of the clouds, his eyes dazzling like blazing fire and his mouth flashing with sharpened teeth. At first, Balarama was surprised by the demon’s appearance, and He began to wonder, “How is it that all of a sudden this carrier has changed in every way?” But with a clear mind He could quickly understand that He was being carried away from His friends by a demon who intended to kill Him. Immediately He struck the head of the demon with His strong fist, just as the king of the heavenly planets strikes a mountain with his thunderbolt. Being stricken by the fist of Balarama, the demon fell down dead, just like a snake with a smashed head, and blood poured from his mouth. When the demon fell, he made a tremendous sound, and it sounded as if a great hill were falling upon being struck by the thunderbolt of King Indra. All the boys then rushed to the spot. Being astonished by the ghastly scene, they began to praise Balarama with the words, “Well done, well done.” All of them then began to embrace Balarama with great affection, thinking that He had returned from death, and they offered their blessings and congratulations. All the demigods in the heavenly planets became very satisfied and showered flowers on the transcendental body of Balarama, and they also offered their blessings and congratulations for His having killed the great demon Pralambasura. 

The Previous life of Pralambasura and how he became demon

     Kuvera, the king of the Yaksas, maintained a flower garden to grow flowers for his Siva-puja, but flowers were always being stolen from it, so he angrily pronounced this curse: “Anyone who steals flowers from my garden – be it demigod, human being or whoever else – will take birth on earth as a demon!” King Huhu had a son named Vijaya who wandered to many holy places, keeping a Gandharva Vina in his hand and singing the glories of Sri Govinda until he arrived at the garden of Citraratha. Without permission he began to pick flowers there, and when he heard about the curse he took shelter of the Yaksa-king Kuvera and begged him for redemption. The king, being pleased with his prayers, said: “You are a peaceful devotee of Lord Visnu, therefore do not be sad. In the Dvapara age Sri Krishna and Balarama will descend and at that time you will be redeemed, by Sri Balarama’s grace!”

This Vijaya took birth on earth as a demon and became a servant of Kamsa under the name of Pralambasura.

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

    Sri Tapovana is situated between Sri Aksaya vata and Sri Chira Ghata (Siyaro), around half a kilometer east of Aksaya vata on the bank of Sri Yamuna. Here one can see a duel deity of Sri Radha-Krishna. 

    At this Ghata on the Yamuna the gopis were always bathing at three o’clock at night, absorbed in penances to attain Sri Krishna for a husband. Hence this place is called Gopi Ghata, and the place where the gopis performed penances is named Tapovana. Even now one can attain the darsana of Sri Radha-Krishna here by always performing penances according to the regulative principles.

How to get there: You can easily go to this place by Auto from Vrindavana.

   The surrounding farm area belongs to Sri Tapovana. The local people grow their own grains for their living and for making food for the visitors. The temple head pujari or priest has given clear instructions not to ask donations from visitors. It is the visitor’s wish if they want to donate any money.

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

Central Vraja Mandal

1. Nandagram, Uttar Pradesh, India
2. Sanket, Uttar Pradesh, India
3. Javat, Uttar Pradesh, India
4. Barsana, Uttar Pradesh, India
5. Karela, Uttar Pradesh, India
6. Parasauli, Uttar Pradesh, India
7. Parakhama, Uttar Pradesh, India
8. Chowmuha, Uttar Pradesh, India
9. Bijvari, Uttar Pradesh, India

East Vraja Mandal

1. Bajana, Uttar Pradesh, India
2. Sei, Uttar Pradesh, India
3. Bhandiravana, Uttar Pradesh, India 
4. Bilvanana, Uttar Pradesh, India
5. Āṭhāsa, Uttar Pradesh, India
6. Basai, Uttar Pradesh, India
7. Nanda Ghata (Baigram), Uttar Pradesh, India

South-East Vraja Mandal

1. Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India
2. Vrindavana, Uttar Pradesh, India
3. Brahmanda Ghata, Uttar Pradesh, India
4. Chintaharana Ghata, Uttar Pradesh, India
5. Dauji (Baldev), Uttar Pradesh, India
6. Gokula (Mahavana), Uttar Pradesh, India
7. Ramana Reti, Uttar Pradesh, India
8. Raval, Uttar Pradesh, India
9. Sri Garuda Govinda, Uttar Pradesh, India
10. Ramtal, Sunarasa, Uttar Pradesh, India
11. Sri Bhojana Sthali / Bhatarola, Uttar Pradesh, India
12. Sri Akrura Ghata, Uttar Pradesh, India
13. Koyele Ghata, Uttar Pradesh, India
14. Talavana (Tadasi), Uttar Pradesh, India
15. Satoha, Uttar Pradesh, India
16. Ganesara, Uttar Pradesh, India

South Vraja Mandal

1. Sri Mukharai Grama, Uttar Pradesh, India
2. Vasati Grama (Basanti), Uttar Pradesh, India
3. Shri Radha Kunda & Shri Syama Kunda, Uttar Pradesh, India
4. Pali Brahmana, Uttar Pradesh, India
5. Sri Yamuna Mata Grama, Uttar Pradesh, India
6. Sri Kumudavana (Kadaravana), Uttar Pradesh, India
7. Govardhana Parikrama Part 1
8. Govardhana Parikrama Part 2
9. Govardhana Parikrama Part 3

South-West Vraja Mandal

1. Sri Adi Badrinatha, Rajasthan, India
2. Virara, Rajasthan, India
3. Pasopa, Rajasthan, India
4. Khonha & Kayarika Nagala, Rajasthan, India

West Vraja Mandal

1. Maharana, Uttar Pradesh, India
2. Kedaranatha, Rajasthan, India

North-West Vraja Mandal

1. Kokilavan, Uttar Pradesh, India
2. Pandav Ganga, Uttar Pradesh, India
3. Kosikala (Kosi), Uttar Pradesh, India
4. Hulvana, Uttar Pradesh, India
5. Sri Charana Pahadi, Uttar Pradesh, India
6. Bada Baithana, Uttar Pradesh, India
7. Gidoha, Uttar Pradesh, India
8. Kotban, Uttar Pradesh, India

North-East Vraja Mandal

1. Sri Chira Ghata (Siyaro), Uttar Pradesh, India
2. Sri Tapovana (Gopi Ghata), Uttar Pradesh, India
3. Sri Aksaya Vata (Kajarotha), Uttar Pradesh, India
4. Sri Bihara Vana, Uttar Pradesh, India
5. Sri Rama Ghata (Uhava), Uttar Pradesh, India
6. Khelana Vana (Seragada), Uttar Pradesh, India

   On the road between Vrindavana and Sri Mathura, on the bank of the Yamuna, is Sri Akrura Ghata. This is the place where Sri Akrura took his bath. Another name of this place is Brahma-hrada. One who bathes here will attain liberation from the ocean of material existence.

    Mentioned in Saura Purana : “Anyone who bathes in Akrura Tirtha, the most holy water, which is very dear to Lord Hari and which destroys all sins, on the fullmoon night, particularly the full moon night of Kartika, will be liberated from the material world.”

   Mentioned in Sri Caitanya Caritamrta: “One day Mahaprabhu sat on the Akrura Ghata and thought to Himself; “At this Ghata Akrura beheld Vaikuntha and the Vrajavasis had darsana of Goloka!” Saying this the Lord jumped into the water and remained submerged. Seeing this (Rajaputi) Krsna dasa cried out loud and Balabhadra Bhattacarya quickly came and took the Lord out.”

How to get there: You can easily go to this place by Auto from Vrindavana.

Akrura’s Return Journey and His Visiting of Vishnuloka Within the Yamuna River

   In my previous article “Bijvari – Gopis becoming grief-stricken at Krishna’s leaving Vrindavana” is explained in detail, after this pastime His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada explains the pastime of Akrura’s return journey and His visiting of Vishnuloka within the Yamuna river.

    The Lord, accompanied by Akrura and Balarama, drove the chariot with great speed towards the bank of the Yamuna. Simply by taking a bath in the Yamuna, anyone can diminish the reaction of his sinful activities. Both Krishna and Balarama took Their baths in the river and washed Their faces. After drinking the transparent crystal clear water of the Yamuna, They took Their seats again on the chariot. The chariot was standing underneath the shade of big trees, and both brothers sat down there. Akrura then took Their permission to also take bath in the Yamuna. According to Vedic ritual, after taking bath in the river, one should stand at least half submerged and murmur the Gayatri mantra. While he was standing in the river, Akrura suddenly saw both Balarama and Krishna within the water. He was surprised to see Them there because he was confident that They were sitting on the chariot. Confused, he immediately came out of the water and went to see where the boys were, and he was very surprised to see that They were sitting on the chariot as before. When he saw Them on the chariot, he began to wonder whether he saw Them in the water. He therefore went back to the river. This time he saw not only Balarama and Krishna there, but many of the demigods and all the Siddhas, Caranas, and Gandharvas. They were all standing before the Lord, who was lying down. He also saw the Sesa Naga with thousands of hoods. Lord Sesa Naga was covered with bluish garments, and His necks were all white. The white necks of Sesa Naga appeared exactly like snowcapped mountains. On the curved lap of Sesa Naga, Akrura saw Krishna sitting very soberly, with four hands. His eyes were like the reddish petals of the lotus flower.

     In other words, after returning, Akrura saw Balarama turned into Sesa Naga and Krishna turned into Mahavishnu. He saw the fourhanded Supreme Personality of Godhead, smiling very beautifully. He was very pleasing to all and was looking towards everyone. He appeared beautiful with His raised nose, broad forehead, spread-up ears and reddish lips. His arms, reaching to the knees, were very strongly built. His shoulders were high, His chest very broad and shaped like the conchshell. His navel was very deep, and His abdomen was marked with three lines. His waist was broad and big, resembling the hips of a woman, and His thighs resembled the trunks of elephants. The other parts of His legs, the joints and lower extremities, were all very beautiful, the nails of His feet were dazzling, and His toes were as beautiful as the petals of the lotus flower. His helmet was decorated with very valuable jewels. There was a nice belt around the waist, and He wore a sacred thread across His broad chest. Bangles were on His hands and armlets on the upper portion of His arms. He wore bells on His ankles. He possessed dazzling beauty, and His palms were like the lotus flower. He was still more beautiful with different emblems of the Vishnumurti, the conchshell, club, disc and lotus flower, which He held in His four hands. His chest was marked with the particular signs of Vishnu, and He wore fresh flower garlands. All in all, He was very beautiful to look at. Akrura also saw His Lordship surrounded by intimate associates like the four Kumaras, Sanaka, Sanatana, Sananda and Sanatkumara, and other associates like Sunanda and Nanda, as well as demigods like Brahma and Lord Siva. The nine great learned sages were there, and devotees like Prahlada and Narada were engaged in offering prayers to the Lord with clean hearts and pure words. After seeing the transcendental Personality of Godhead, Akrura immediately became overwhelmed with great devotion, and all over his body there was transcendental shivering. Although for the moment he was bewildered, he retained his clear consciousness and bowed down his head before the Lord. With folded hands and faltering voice, he began to offer prayers to the Lord.

Prayers by Akrura

     Akrura offered his prayers as follows: “My dear Lord, I here pay my respectful obeisances unto You because You are the supreme cause of all causes and the original inexhaustible Personality, Narayana. From Your navel a lotus flower grows, and from that lotus, Brahma, the creator of this universe, is born. Since Brahma is the cause of this universe, You are the cause of all causes. All the elements of this cosmic manifestation-earth, water, fire, air, ether, ego and the total material energy, as well as nature, the marginal energy, the living entities, mind, senses, the sense objects and the demigods who control the affairs of the cosmos-are all produced from Your body. You are the Supersoul of everything, but no one knows Your transcendental form. Everyone within this material world is influenced by the modes of material nature. Demigods like Lord Brahma, being covered by the influence of material nature, do not exactly know Your transcendental existence beyond the cosmic manifestation of the three modes of material nature. Great sages and mystics worship You as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original cause of all living entities, all cosmic manifestation and all demigods. They worship You as all-inclusive. Some of the learned brahmanas also worship You by observing the ritualistic ceremony of the Rg-veda. They offer different kinds of sacrifices in the names of different gods. And there are others also who are fond of worshiping transcendental knowledge. They are very peaceful and wish to give up all kinds of material activities. They engage themselves in the philosophical search for You, known as jnana-yoga.

     “There are devotees also known as Bhagavatas who worship You as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. After being properly initiated in the method of Pancaratra, they decorate their bodies with tilaka and engage in worshiping Your different forms of Vishnu-murti. There are others also, known as Saivites, followers of the different acaryas, who worship You in the form of Lord Siva.”

       It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that worship of demigods is also indirectly worship of the Supreme Lord. But such worship is not orthodox, because the worshipable Lord is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana. Demigods such as Brahma and Siva are incarnations of the material qualities, which are also emanations from the body of Narayana. Actually, there was no one existing before the creation except Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The worship of a demigod is not on the level with worship of Narayana.

     Akrura said, “Although the minds of those who are devotees of the demigods are fixed on a particular demigod, because You are the Supersoul of all living entities, including the demigods, worship of demigods indirectly goes to You. Sometimes, after flowing down from the mountains during the rainy season, small rivers fail to reach the sea; some reach the sea and some do not. Similarly, the worshipers of the demigods may or may not reach You. There is no guarantee. Their success depends on the strength of their worship.”

      According to Vedic principle, when a worshiper worships a particular demigod, he also conducts some ritual for Narayana, Yajnesvara, for it is mentioned in Bhagavad-gita that demigods cannot fulfill the desires of their worshipers without the sanction of Narayana, or Krishna. The exact words used in the Bhagavad-gita are mayaiva vihitan hi tan, which means that the demigods can award some benediction after being authorized by the Supreme Lord. When the demigod worshiper comes to his senses, he can reason as follows: “The demigod can offer benediction only after being empowered by the Supreme Lord, so why not worship the Supreme Lord directly?” Worshipers of the demigods may come to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but others, who take the demigod as all in all, cannot reach the ultimate goal.

     Akrura continued to pray: “My dear Lord, the whole world is filled with the three material modes of nature, namely, goodness, passion and ignorance. Everyone within this material world is covered by these modes, from Lord Brahma down to the immovable plants and trees. My dear Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, because You are beyond the influence of the three modes. Except for You, everyone is being carried away by the waves of these modes. My dear Lord, fire is Your mouth, the earth is Your feet, the sun is Your eye, the sky is Your navel, and the directions are Your ears. Space is Your head, the demigods are Your arms, the oceans and seas are Your abdomen, and the winds and air are Your strength and vitality. All the plants and herbs are the hair on Your body; the clouds are Your hair, the mountains are Your bones and nails, the days and nights are the twinkling of Your eyelids; Prajapati (the progenitor) is Your genitals, and the rains are Your semina.

      “My dear Lord, all living entities, including different grades of demigods, different grades of overlords, kings and other living entities, are supposed to be resting in You. As part and parcel of the big unit, one cannot know You by experimental knowledge. One can simply understand Your transcendental existence as the great ocean in which different grades of living entities are included, or as the fruit kadamba out of which small mosquitoes come. My dear Lord, whatever eternal forms and incarnations You accept and which appear in this world are meant for relieving the living entities from their ignorance, illusion and lamentation. All people, therefore, can appreciate the incarnations and pastimes of Your Lordship and eternally glorify Your activities. No one can estimate how many forms and incarnations You have, nor can anyone estimate the number of universes that are existing within You.

     “Let me therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto the incarnation of fish, who appeared in devastation, although Your Lordship is the cause of all causes. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Hayagriva incarnation who killed the two demons, Madhu and Kaitabha; let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You who appeared as the gigantic tortoise and held up the great mountain Mandara, and who appeared as the boar who rescued the earth planet which had fallen into the water of Garbhodaka. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Your Lordship, who appeared as Nrsimhadeva, who delivered all kinds of devotees from the fearful condition of atheistic atrocities. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You who appeared as Vamanadeva and covered the three worlds simply by expanding Your lotus feet. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You who appeared as the Lord of the Bhrgus in order to kill all the infidel administrators of the world. And let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You who appeared as Lord Rama to kill demons like Ravana. You are worshiped by all devotees as the chief of the Raghu dynasty, Lord Ramachandra. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You who appeared as Lord Vasudeva, Lord Sankarsana, Lord Pradyumna and Lord Aniruddha. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You, who appeared as Lord Buddha in order to bewilder the atheistic and demoniac. And let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You, who appeared as Kalki in order to chastise the so-called royal order degraded to the abominable condition of the mlecchas, who are below the jurisdiction of Vedic regulative principles.

   “My dear Lord, everyone within this material world is conditioned by Your illusory energy. Under the impression of false identification and false possession, everyone is transmigrating from one body to another in the path of fruitive activities and their reactions. My dear Lord, I am also no exception to these conditioned souls. I am falsely thinking myself happy in possessing my home, wife, children, state, property and effects. In this way I am acting as if in a dreamland because none of these are permanent. I am a fool to be always absorbed in such thoughts, accepting them as permanent and true. My dear Lord, due to my false identification, I have accepted everything which is nonpermanent, such as this material body, which is not spiritual and is the source of all kinds of miserable conditions. Being bewildered by such concepts of life, I am always absorbed in thoughts of duality, and I have forgotten You who are the reservoir of all transcendental pleasure. I am bereft of Your transcendental association and am just like a foolish creature who goes in search of water in the desert, leaving the water spot which is covered by water-nourished vegetables. The conditioned souls want to quench their thirst, but they do not know where to find water. They give up the spot where there is actually a reservoir of water and run into the desert where there is no water. My dear Lord, I am completely incapable of controlling my mind, which is now driven by the unbridled senses and is attracted by fruitive activities and their results. My dear Lord, Your lotus feet cannot be appreciated by any person in the conditional stage of material existence, but somehow or other I have come near Your lotus feet, and I consider this to be Your causeless mercy upon me. You can act in any way because You are the supreme controller. I can thus understand that when a person becomes eligible to be delivered from the path of repeated birth and death, it is only by Your causeless mercy that he further progresses to become attached to Your causeless devotional service.”

    Akrura fell down before the Lord and said, “My dear Lord, Your transcendental eternal form is full of knowledge. Simply by concentrating one’s mind upon Your form, one can understand in full knowledge everything that be, because You are the original source of all knowledge. You are the supreme powerful, possessing all kinds of energies. You are the Supreme Brahman and the Supreme Person, supreme controller and master of the material energies. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You are Vasudeva, the resting place of all creation. You are the all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead, and You are also the Supreme Soul residing in everyone’s heart and giving direction to act. Now, my Lord, I am completely surrendered unto You. Please give me Your protection.”

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

The village of Bijvari is situated almost halfway in-between Khayara and Nandagrama. This village is two kilometres from Khayara and two kilometre from Nandagrama. When Akrura came to take Sri Krishna and Balarama to Mathura the hearts of all the gopas and gopis as well as Sri Nanda and Yasoda became covered with the clouds of sorrow, but as soon they remembered Sri Krishna their hearts were startled as if illuminated by a bolt of lightning. Because of this pastime of separation this village is named Bijvari (Bijali = lightning). In this village is Bijore kund which was made by the tears of the gopis.

How to get there: You can go by Taxi or if you want to use public transport than, at Attlachunji in Vrindavana you will find many shared autos to take you to Mathura Bus stop, from there buses are available to take you to Nandagoan or Nandagrama, than you can hire auto to go around Bijavari.

Akrura’s Arrival in Vrindavana

His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada explains the beautiful pastime:

    Akrura was requested by Kamsa to arrive in Vrindavana by evening. After receiving instruction from Kamsa, Akrura started the next morning via chariot for Vrindavana. Because Akrura himself was a great devotee of the Lord, while going to Vrindavana he began to praise the Lord. Devotees are always absorbed in thoughts of Krishna, and Akrura was constantly thinking of Lord Krishna’s lotus eyes.

     He did not know what sort of pious activities he must have done to gain an opportunity to go see Lord Krishna. Akrura thought that if Krishna willed, he would be able to see Him. Akrura considered himself most fortunate that he was going to see Krishna, whom great mystic yogis desire to see. He was confident that on that day all the sinful reactions of his past life would be finished and his fortunate human form of life would be successful. Akrura also considered that he was very much favoured by Kamsa, who was sending him to bring back Krishna and Balarama and thus enabling him to see the Lord. Akrura continued to consider that formerly great sages and saintly persons were liberated from the material world simply by seeing the shining nails of the lotus feet of Krishna.

    ” That Supreme Personality of Godhead has now come just like an ordinary human being, and it is my great fortune to be able to see Him face to face,” Akrura thought. He was thrilled with expectations of seeing the very lotus feet which are worshiped by great demigods like Brahma, Narada, and Lord Siva, which traverse the ground of Vrindavana and which touch the breasts of the gopis covered with tinges of kunkuma. He thought, “I am so fortunate that I will be able to see those very lotus feet on this day, and certainly I shall be able to see the beautiful face of Krishna, which is marked on the forehead and the nose with tilaka. And I shall also see His smile and His curling black hair. I can be sure of this opportunity because I see that today the deer are passing on my right side. Today it will be possible for me to actually see the beauty of the spiritual kingdom of Vishnuloka because Krishna is the Supreme Vishnu, and He has advented Himself out of His own good will. He is the reservoir of all beauty; therefore my eyes will be filled today.”

   Akrura knew beyond doubt that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Vishnu. Lord Vishnu glances over the material energy, and thus the cosmic manifestation comes into being. And although Lord Vishnu is the creator of this material world, He is free, by His own energy, from the influence of material energy. By His internal potency He can pierce the darkness of material energy. Similarly, Krishna the original Vishnu, by expansion of His internal potency, created the inhabitants of Vrindavana. In the Brahma-samhita it is also confirmed that the paraphernalia and the abode of Krishna are expansions of His internal potency. The same internal potency is exhibited on earth as Vrindavana, where Krishna enjoys Himself with His parents and in the company of His friends, the cowherd boys and gopis. By the statement of Akrura, it is clear that, since Krishna is transcendental to the modes of material nature, the inhabitants of Vrindavana, who are engaged in loving service of the Lord, are also transcendental.

   Akrura also considered the necessity of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. He thought that the transcendental activities, instructions, qualities and pastimes of Krishna are all for the good fortune of people in general. The people can remain constantly in Krishna consciousness by discussing the Lord’s transcendental form, qualities, pastimes, and paraphernalia. By doing so, the whole universe can actually live auspiciously and advance peacefully. But without Krishna consciousness, civilization is but a decoration for a dead body. A dead body may be decorated very nicely, but without consciousness such decorations are useless. Human society without Krishna consciousness is useless and lifeless.

    Akrura thought, “That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, has now appeared as one of the descendants of the Yadu dynasty. The principles of religion are His enacted laws. Those who are abiding by such laws are the demigods, and those who are not abiding are demons. He has advented Himself to give protection to the demigods, who are very obedient to the laws of the Supreme Lord. The demigods and the devotees of the Lord take pleasure in abiding by the laws of Krishna, and Krishna takes pleasure in giving them all sorts of protection. These activities of Krishna, His protection of the devotees and killing the demons, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, are always good for men to hear and narrate. The glorious activities of the Lord will ever increasingly be chanted by the devotees and demigods.

    “Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the spiritual master of all spiritual masters; He is the deliverer of all fallen souls and the proprietor of the three worlds. Anyone is able to see Him by eyes smeared with love of Godhead. Today I shall be able to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who by His transcendental beauty has attracted the goddess of fortune to live with Him perpetually. As soon as I arrive in Vrindavana, I will get down from this chariot and fall prostrate to offer my obeisances to the Supreme Lord, the master of material nature and all living entities. The lotus feet of Krishna are always worshiped by great mystic yogis, so I shall also worship His lotus feet and become one of His friends in Vrindavana like the cowherd boys. When I bow down before Lord Krishna in that way, certainly He will place His fearless lotus hand on my head. His hand is offered to all conditioned souls who take shelter under His lotus feet. Krishna is the ultimate goal of life for all people who fear material existence, and certainly when I see Him He will give me the shelter of His lotus feet, I am aspiring for the touch of His lotus-like hands on my head.”

     In this way Akrura expected blessings from the hand of Krishna. He knew that Indra, who is the king of heaven and the master of the three worlds the upper, middle, and lower planetary systems-was blessed by the Lord simply for his offering a little water which Krishna accepted. Similarly, Bali Maharaja gave only three feet of land in charity to Vamanadeva, and he also offered a little water which Lord Vamanadeva accepted, and thereby Bali Maharaja attained the position of Indra. When the gopis were dancing with Krishna in the rasa dance, they became fatigued, and Krishna smeared His hand, which is as fragrant as a lotus flower, over the pearl-like drops of perspiration on the faces of the gopis, and immediately they became refreshed. Thus Akrura was expecting benediction from that supreme hand of Krishna. Krishna’s hand is capable of bestowing benediction to all kinds of men if they take to Krishna consciousness. If one wants material happiness like the king of heaven, he can derive that benediction from the hand of Krishna; if one wants liberation from the pangs of material existence, he can also get benediction from the hand of Krishna; and if one in pure transcendental love for Krishna wants personal association and the touch of His transcendental body, he can also gain benediction from His hand.

     Akrura was afraid, however, of being deputed by Kamsa, the enemy of Krishna. He thought, “I am going to see Krishna as a messenger of the enemy.” And at the same time, he thought, “Krishna is in each and everyone’s heart as the Supersoul, so He must know my heart.” Although Akrura was trusted by the enemy of Krishna, his heart was clear. He was a pure devotee of Krishna. He risked Kamsa’s wrath just to meet Krishna. He was certain that although he was going as a representative of Kamsa, Krishna would not accept him as an enemy. “Even though I am on a sinful mission, being deputed by Kamsa, when I approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I shall stand before Him with all humility and folded hands. Surely, He will be pleased with my devotional attitude, and maybe He will smile lovingly and look upon me and thereby free me from all kinds of sinful reaction. I shall then be on the platform of transcendental bliss and knowledge. Since Krishna knows my heart, certainly when I approach Him, He will embrace me. I am not only one of the members of the Yadu dynasty, but I am an unalloyed pure devotee. By His merciful embrace, my body, my heart and soul will be completely cleansed of the actions and reactions of my past life. When our bodies touch, I will immediately stand up with folded hands, with all humility. Certainly Krishna and Balarama will call me, ‘Akrura, uncle,’ and at that time my whole life will be glorious. Unless one is recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his life cannot be successful.”

     It is clearly stated here that one should try to be recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead by one’s service and devotion, without which the human form of life is condemned. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead, is equal to everyone. He has no friends and no enemies. But He is inclined to a devotee who renders Him service with devotional love. The Bhagavad-gita also declares that the Supreme Lord is responsive to the devotional service rendered by the devotee. Akrura thought that Krishna was like the desire tree in the heavenly planets which gives fruit according to the desire of the worshiper. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is also the source of everything. A devotee must know how to render service unto Him and thus be recognized by Him. In the Caitanya-caritamrta it is therefore explained that one should serve both the spiritual master and Krishna simultaneously and in that way make progress in Krishna consciousness. Service rendered to Krishna under the direction of the spiritual master is bona fide service because the spiritual master is the manifested representative of Krishna. Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur says that when one satisfies the spiritual master, he satisfies the Supreme Lord. It is exactly like service in a government office. One has to work under the supervision of the departmental head. If the supervisor of the department is satisfied with the service of a particular person, a promotion and increase in pay will automatically come.

    Akrura then thought, “When Krishna and Balarama are pleased with my prayers, certainly They will take my hand, receive me within Their homes and offer me all kinds of respectable hospitalities, and They will surely ask me of the activities of Kamsa and his friends.”

    In this way, Akrura, who was the son of Svaphalka, meditated on Sri Krishna on his journey from Mathura. He reached Vrindavana by the end of the day. Akrura passed the whole journey without knowing how long it took. When he reached Vrindavana, the sun was setting. As soon as he entered the boundary of Vrindavana, he saw the footprints of the cows and Lord Krishna’s footprints, impressed with the signs of His sole, the flag, trident, thunderbolt and lotus flower. Upon seeing the footprints of Krishna, Akrura immediately jumped down from the chariot, out of respect. He became overwhelmed with all the symptoms of ecstasy; he wept, and his body trembled. Out of extreme jubilation upon seeing the dust touched by the lotus feet of Krishna, Akrura fell flat on his face and began to roll on the ground.

      Akrura’s journey to Vrindavana is exemplary. One who intends to visit Vrindavana should follow the ideal footsteps of Akrura and always think of the pastimes and activities of the Lord. As soon as one reaches the boundary of Vrindavana, he should immediately smear the dust of Vrindavana over his body without thinking of his material position and prestige. Narottamadasa Thakur has sung in his celebrated song, visaya chadiya kabe suddha habe mana: “When my mind will be purified after leaving the contamination of material sense enjoyment, I shall be able to visit Vrindavana.” Actually, one cannot go to Vrindavana by purchasing a ticket. The process of going to Vrindavana is shown by Akrura.

     When Akrura entered Vrindavana, he saw Krishna and Balarama engaged in supervising the milking of the cows. Krishna was dressed in yellow garments and Balarama in bluish. Akrura also saw that Krishna’s eyes were exactly like the beautifully grown lotus flower of the autumn season. He saw both Krishna and Balarama in the spring of Their youth. Although both were similar in bodily features, Krishna was blackish in complexion, whereas Balarama was whitish. Both were the shelter of the goddess of fortune. They had well-constructed bodies, beautiful hands and pleasing faces, and They were as strong as elephants. Now, after seeing Their footprints, Akrura actually saw Krishna and Balarama, face to face. Although They were the most influential personalities, They were glancing at him with smiling faces. Akrura could understand that both Krishna and Balarama had returned from tending cows in the forest; They had taken Their baths and were dressed with fresh clothing and garlanded with flowers and necklaces made of valuable jewels. Their bodies were smeared with the pulp of sandalwood. Akrura greatly appreciated the aroma of flowers and sandalwood and Their bodily presence. He considered himself very fortunate to see Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His plenary expansion, Balarama, face to face, for he knew that They were the original personalities of the creation.

     As stated in the Brahma-samhita, Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead and the cause of all causes. Akrura could understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared personally for the welfare of His creation, to reestablish the principles of religion and to annihilate the demons. With Their bodily effulgence, the brothers were dissipating all the darkness of the world, as if They were mountains of sapphire and silver. Without hesitating, Akrura immediately got down from his chariot and fell flat, just like a rod, before Krishna and Balarama. Upon touching the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he became overwhelmed with transcendental bliss; his voice choked up and he could not speak. Due to Krishna’s transcendental presence, incessant torrents of tears fell from his eyes. He remained stunned in ecstasy, as if devoid of all powers to see and speak. Lord Krishna, who is very kind to His devotees, raised Akrura with His hand and embraced him. It appeared that Lord Krishna was very pleased with Akrura. Balarama also embraced Akrura. Taking him by the hand, Krishna and Balarama brought him to Their sitting room where They offered him a very nice sitting place and water for washing his feet. They also worshiped him with suitable presentations of honey and other ingredients. When Akrura was thus comfortably seated, both Krishna and Balarama offered Him a cow in charity and then brought very palatable dishes of eatables, and Akrura accepted them. When Akrura finished eating, Balarama gave him betel nut and spices, as well as pulp of sandalwood, just to make him more pleased and comfortable. The Vedic system of receiving a guest was completely observed by Lord Krishna Himself to teach all others how to receive a guest at home. It is a Vedic injunction that even if a guest is an enemy, he should be received so well that he does not apprehend any danger from the host. If the host is a poor man, he should at least offer a straw mat as a sitting place and a glass of water to drink. Krishna and Balarama welcomed Akrura just befitting his exalted position.

     After Akrura was thus properly received and seated, Nanda Maharaja, the foster father of Krishna, said, “My dear Akrura, what shall I inquire from you? I know that you are being protected by Kamsa, who is most cruel and demoniac. His protection is just like the slaughterhouse keeper’s protection of animals he will kill in the future. Kamsa is so selfish that he has killed the sons of his own sister, so how can I honestly believe that he is protecting the citizens of Mathura?” This statement is most significant. If the political or executive heads of the state are simply interested in themselves, they can never look after the welfare of the citizens.

    As Nanda Maharaja spoke to Akrura with pleasing words, Akrura forgot all the fatigue of his day’s journey from Mathura to Vrindavana.

Gopis becoming grief-stricken at Krishna’s leaving Vrindavana

      Akrura was warmly received by Lord Krishna and Nanda Maharaja and offered a resting place for the night. In the meantime, the two brothers Balarama and Krishna went to take Their supper. Akrura sat on his bed and began to reflect that all the desires which he had anticipated while coming from Mathura to Vrindavana had been fulfilled. Lord Krishna is the husband of the goddess of fortune; being pleased with His pure devotee, He can offer whatever the devotee desires. But the pure devotee does not ask anything from the Lord for his personal benefit.

    After taking Their supper, Krishna and Balarama came to bid goodnight to Akrura. Krishna asked about His maternal uncle, Kamsa, “How is he dealing with his friends?” And He asked, “How are my relatives?” He also inquired into Kamsa’s plans. The Supreme Personality of Godhead then informed Akrura that his presence was very much welcome. He inquired from him whether all his relatives and friends were well and free from all kinds of ailments. Krishna stated that He was very sorry that His maternal uncle Kamsa was the head of the kingdom; He said that Kamsa was the greatest anachronism in the whole system of government and that they could not expect any welfare for the citizens while he ruled. Then Krishna said, “My father has undergone much tribulation simply from My being his son. For this reason also he has lost many other sons. I think Myself so fortunate that you have come as My friend and relative. My good friend Akrura, please tell me the purpose of your coming to Vrindavana.”

     After this inquiry, Akrura, who belonged to the dynasty of Yadu, explained the recent events in Mathura, including Kamsa’s attempt to kill Vasudeva, the father of Krishna. He related the things which happened after the disclosure by Narada that Krishna was the son of Vasudeva. Sitting by Him in the house of Nanda Maharaja, Akrura narrated all the stories regarding Kamsa. He told how Narada met Kamsa and how he himself was deputed by Kamsa to come to Vrindavana. Akrura explained to Krishna that Narada had told Kamsa all about Krishna’s being transferred from Mathura to Vrindavana just after His birth and about His killing all the demons sent by Kamsa. Akrura then explained to Krishna the purpose of his coming to Vrindavana: to take him back to Mathura. After hearing of these arrangements, Balarama and Krishna, who are very expert in killing opponents, mildly laughed at the plans of Kamsa.

    They asked Nanda Maharaja to invite all the cowherd boys to go to Mathura to participate in the ceremony known as Dhanur-yajna. Kamsa wanted them all to go there to participate in the function. On Krishna’s word, Nanda Maharaja at once called for the cowherd boys and asked them to collect all kinds of milk preparations and milk to present in the ceremony. He also sent instructions to the police chief of Vrindavana to tell all the inhabitants about Kamsa’s great Dhanur-yajna function and invite them to join. Nanda Maharaja informed the cowherd boys that they would start the next morning. They therefore arranged for the cows and bulls to carry them all to Mathura.

      When the gopis saw that Akrura had come to take Krishna and Balarama away to Mathura, they became overwhelmed with anxiety. Some of them became so aggrieved that their faces turned black, and they began to breathe warmly and had palpitations of the heart. They discovered that their hair and dress immediately loosened. Hearing the news that Krishna and Balarama were leaving for Mathura, others who were engaged in household duties stopped working as if they had forgotten everything, like a person who is called forth to die and leave this world at once. Others immediately fainted due to separation from Krishna. Remembering His attractive smile and His talks with them, the gopis became overwhelmed with grief. They all remembered the characteristics of the Personality of Godhead, how He moved within the area of Vrindavana and how, with joking words, He attracted all their hearts. Thinking of Krishna and of their imminent separation from Him, the gopis assembled together with heavy beating hearts. Completely absorbed in thought of Krishna, tears fell from their eyes. They began to converse as follows.

      “O Providence, you are so cruel! It appears that you do not know how to show mercy to others. By your arrangement, friends contact one another, but without fulfilling their desires you separate them. This is exactly like children’s play that has no meaning. It is very abominable that you arrange to show us beautiful Krishna, whose bluish curling hair beautifies His broad forehead and sharp nose, who is always smiling to minimize all contention in this material world, and then arrange to separate Him from us. O Providence, You are so cruel! But most astonishingly You appear now as’ Akrura,’ which means ‘not cruel.’ In the beginning we appreciated Your workmanship in giving us these eyes to see the beautiful face of Krishna, but now, just like a foolish creature, You are trying to take out our eyes so we may not see Krishna here again. Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, is also very cruel! He must always have new friends; He does not like to keep friendship for a long time with anyone. We gopis of Vrindavana, having left our homes, friends, and relatives, have become Krishna’s maidservants, but He is neglecting us and going away. He does not even look upon us, although we are completely surrendered unto Him. Now all the young girls in Mathura will have the opportunity. They are expecting Krishna’s arrival, and they will enjoy His sweet smiling face and will drink its honey. Although we know that Krishna is very steady and determined, we are threatened that as soon as He sees the beautiful faces of the young girls in Mathura, He will forget Himself. We fear He will become controlled by them and will forget us, for we are simple village girls. He will no longer be kind to us. We therefore do not expect Krishna to return to Vrindavana. He will not leave the company of the girls in Mathura.”

     The gopis began to imagine the great functions in the city of Mathura. Krishna would pass through the streets, and the ladies and young girls of the city would see Him from the balconies of their respective houses. Mathura City contained different communities, known then as Dasarha, Bhoja, Andhaka and Satvata. All these communities were different branches of the same family in which Krishna appeared, namely the Yadu dynasty. They were also expecting the arrival of Krishna. It had already been ascertained that Krishna, who is the rest of the goddess of fortune and reservoir of all pleasure and transcendental qualities, was going to visit Mathura City.

    The gopis then began to condemn the activities of Akrura. They stated that he was taking Krishna, who was more dear than the dearest to them and who was the pleasure of their eyes. He was being taken from their sight without their being informed or solaced by Akrura. Akrura should not have been so merciless but should have taken compassion on them. The gopis went on to say: “The most astonishing feature is that Krishna, the son of Nanda, without consideration, has already seated Himself on the chariot. From this it appears that Krishna is not very intelligent. Yet He may be very intelligent-but He is not very civilized. Not only Krishna, but all the cowherd men are so callous that they are already yoking the bulls and calves for the journey to Mathura. The elderly persons in Vrindavana are also merciless; they do not take our plight into consideration and stop Krishna’s journey to Mathura. Even the demigods are very unkind to us; they are not impeding His going to Mathura.”

   The gopis prayed to the demigods to create some natural disturbance, such as a hurricane, storm or heavy rainfall, so that Krishna could not go to Mathura. They then began to consider: “Despite our elderly parents and guardians, we shall personally stop Krishna from going to Mathura. We have no other alternative than to take this direct action. Everyone has gone against us to take away Krishna from our sight. Without Him we cannot live for a moment.” The gopis thus decided to obstruct the passage through which the chariot of Krishna was supposed to pass. They began to talk among themselves: “We have passed a very long night-which seemed only a moment-engaged in the rasa dance with Krishna. We were looking at His sweet smile and were embracing and talking. Now, how shall we live even for a moment if He goes away from us? At the end of the day, in the evening, along with His elder brother Balarama, Krishna would return home with His friends. His face would be smeared with the dust raised by the hooves of the cows, and He would smile and play on His flute and look upon us so kindly. How shall we be able to forget Him? How shall we be able to forget Krishna, who is our life and soul? He has already taken away our hearts in so many ways throughout our days and nights, and if He goes away, there is no possibility of our continuing to live.” Thinking like this, the gopis became more and more grief stricken at Krishna’s leaving Vrindavana. They could not check their minds, and they began to cry loudly, calling the different names of Krishna, “O dear Damodara! Dear Madhava!”

     The gopis cried all night before the departure of Krishna. As soon as the sun rose, Akrura finished his morning bath, got on the chariot and began to start for Mathura with Krishna and Balarama. Nanda Maharaja and the cowherd men got up on bullock carts, after loading them with milk preparations, such as yogurt, milk, and ghee, filled in big earthen pots, and began to follow the chariot of Krishna and Balarama. In spite of Krishna’s asking them not to obstruct their way, all the gopis surrounded the chariot and stood up to see Krishna with pitiable eyes. Krishna was very much affected upon seeing the plight of the gopis, but His duty was to start for Mathura, for this was foretold by Narada. Krishna, therefore, consoled the gopis. He told them that they should not be aggrieved; He was coming back very soon after finishing His business. But they could not be persuaded to disperse. The chariot, however, began to head west, and as it proceeded, the minds of the gopis followed it as far as possible. They watched the flag on the chariot as long as it was visible; finally they could only see the dust of the chariot in the distance. The gopis did not move from their places but stood until the chariot could not be seen at all. They remained standing still, as if they were painted pictures. All the gopis decided that Krishna was not returning immediately, and with greatly disappointed hearts, they returned to their respective homes. Being greatly disturbed by the absence of Krishna, they simply thought all day and night about His pastimes and thus derived some consolation.

    The Lord, accompanied by Akrura and Balarama, drove the chariot with great speed towards the bank of the Yamuna.

    In this village is Bijore kund which was made by the tears of the gopis.

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A little to the south from Sri Akrura Ghata, close to the present Birla Mandira is Bhatarola also known as Sri Bhojana Sthali.  Sri Krishna came here with His elder brother to herd His cows and here the wives of the sacrificing brahmanas attained His grace. There is a famous temple here known as Batrol Bihari Mandira situated on top of a small hill known as Sri Bhojana Sthali. The word ‘bhatrola’ means ‘cooked rice’ or ‘rice cooked with vegetables’.   

Mentioned in Sri Bhakti Ratnakara – “O Srinivasa, behold this most lovely place! Here sages like Angira performed sacrifice. Krishna sent a friend to him to ask him for some food, but when the brahmanas heard the request of the cowherdboy they became very angry. The friend went back to Krishna and told Him everything that had happened. Now Krishna sent him to the wives of the sages, and these wives offered their food to Krishna-chandra in great transcendental bliss. Here Krishna and His friends ate the foodgrains and had endless fun. Everyone knows this place, where everyone had a happy heart, as Bhojana Sthala.”

How to get there: You can easily go to this place by auto from Vrindavan.

Delivering the Wives of the Brahmanas Who Performed Sacrifices

His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada explains the beautiful pastime:

    The morning passed, and the cowherd boys were very hungry because they had not eaten breakfast. They immediately approached Krishna and Balarama and said, “Dear Krishna and Balarama, You are both all-powerful; You can kill many, many demons, but today we are much afflicted with hunger, and this is disturbing us. Please arrange for something that will mitigate our hunger.”

     Requested in this way by Their friends, Lord Krishna and Balarama immediately showed compassion on certain wives of brahmanas who were performing sacrifices. These wives were great devotees of the Lord, and Krishna took this opportunity to bless them. He said, “My dear friends, please go to the house of the brahmanas nearby. They are now engaged in performing Vedic sacrifices known as Angirasa, for they desire elevation to heavenly planets. All of you please go to them.” Then Lord Krishna warned His friends, “These brahmanas are not Vaisnavas. They cannot even chant Our names, Krishna and Balarama. They are very busy in chanting the Vedic hymns, although the purpose of Vedic knowledge is to find Me. But because they are not attracted by the names of Krishna and Balarama, you had better not ask them for anything in My name. Better ask for some charity in the name of Balarama.”

     Charity is generally given to high class brahmanas, but Krishna and Balarama did not appear in a brahmana family. Balarama was known as the son of Vasudeva, a ksatriya, and Krishna was known in Vrindavana as the son of Nanda Maharaja, who was a vaisya. Neither belonged to the brahmana community. Therefore, Krishna considered that the brahmanas engaged in performing sacrifices might not be induced to give charity to a ksatriya and vaisya. “But at least if you utter the name of Balarama, they may prefer to give in charity to a ksatriya, rather than to Me, because I am only a vaisya.”

      Being thus ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all the boys went to the brahmanas and began to ask for some charity. They approached them with folded hands and fell down on the ground to offer respect. “O earthly gods, kindly hear us who are ordered by Lord Krishna and Balarama. We hope you know Them both very well, and we wish you all good fortune. Krishna and Balarama are tending cows nearby, and we have accompanied Them. We have come to ask for some food from you. You are all brahmanas and knowers of religious principles, and if you think that you should give us charity, then give us some food and we shall all eat along with Krishna and Balarama. You are the most respectable brahmanas within the human society, and you are expected to know all the principles of religious procedure.“

      Although the boys were village boys and were not expected to be learned in all the Vedic principles of religious ritual, they hinted that because of their association with Krishna and Balarama, they knew all those principles. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna and Balarama, asked for food, the boys would immediately deliver it without hesitation because it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that one should perform yajna (sacrifices) only for the satisfaction of Vishnu.

     The boys continued, “Lord Vishnu as Krishna and Balarama is standing waiting, and you should immediately deliver whatever food you have in your stock.” They also explained to the brahmanas how foodstuffs are to be accepted. Generally, the Vaisnavas, or pure devotees of the Lord, do not take part in ordinary sacrificial performances. But they know very well the ceremonials called diksa, pasu-samstha sautramani. One is permitted to take food after the procedure of diksa and before the animal sacrificial ceremony and the Sautramani, or ceremony in which liquors are also offered. The boys said, “We can take your food at the present stage of your ceremony, for now it will not be prohibitory. So you can deliver us the foodstuff.”

      Although the companions of Lord Krishna and Balarama were simple cowherd boys, they were in a position to dictate even to the high class brahmanas engaged in the Vedic rituals of sacrifices. But the smarta-brahmanas, who were simply sacrificial-minded, could not understand the dictation of the transcendental devotees of the Lord. They could not even appreciate the begging of the Supreme Lord, Krishna and Balarama. Although they heard all the arguments on behalf of Krishna and Balarama, they did not care for them, and they refused to speak to the boys. Despite being highly elevated in the knowledge of Vedic sacrificial rites, all such nondevotee brahmanas, although they think of themselves as very highly elevated, are ignorant, foolish persons. All their activities are useless because they do not know the purpose of the Vedas, as it is explained in the Bhagavad-gita: to understand Krishna. In spite of their advancement in Vedic knowledge and rituals, they do not understand Krishna; therefore their knowledge of the Vedas is superficial. Lord Caitanya, therefore, gave His valuable opinion that a person does not have to be born in a brahmana family; if he knows Krishna or the science of Krishna consciousness, he is more than a brahmana, and he is quite fit to become spiritual master.

     There are various details to be observed in the performance of sacrifices, and they are known collectively as desa. They are as follows: kala means the time, prthah dravya, the different detailed paraphernalia, mantra, hymns, tantra, scriptural evidences, agni, fire, rtvij, learned performers of sacrifices, devata, the demigods, vajamana, the performer of the sacrifices, kratu, the sacrifice itself, and dharma, the procedures. All these are for satisfying Krishna. It is confirmed that He is the actual enjoyer of all sacrifices because He is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supreme Absolute Truth, beyond the conception or speculation of material senses. He is present just like an ordinary human boy. But for persons who identify themselves with this body, it is very difficult to understand Him. The brahmanas were very interested in the comforts of this material body and in elevation to the higher planetary residences called svarga-vasa. They were therefore completely unable to understand the position of Krishna.

       When the boys saw that the brahmanas would not speak to them, they became very disappointed. They then returned to Lord Krishna and Balarama and explained everything that had happened. After hearing their statements, the Supreme Personality began to smile. He told them that they should not be sorry for being refused by the brahmanas because that is the way of begging. He convinced them that while one is engaged in collecting or begging, one should not think that he will be successful everywhere. He may be unsuccessful in some places, but that should not be cause for disappointment. Lord Krishna then asked all the boys to go again, but this time to the wives of those brahmanas engaged in sacrifices. He also informed them that these wives were great devotees. “They are always absorbed in thinking of Us. Go there and ask for some food in My name and the name of Balarama, and I am sure that they will deliver you as much food as you desire.”

     Carrying out Krishna’s order, the boys immediately went to the wives of the brahmanas. They found the wives sitting inside their house. They were very beautifully decorated with ornaments. After offering them all respectful obeisances, the boys said, “Dear mothers, please accept our humble obeisances and hear our statement. May we inform you that Lord Krishna and Balarama are nearby. They have come here with the cows, and you may know also that we have come here under Their instructions. All of us are very hungry; therefore, we have come to you for some food. Please give us something to eat for Krishna, Balarama and ourselves.”

     Immediately upon hearing this, the wives of the brahmanas became anxious for Krishna and Balarama. These reactions were spontaneous. They did not have to be convinced of the importance of Krishna and Balarama; immediately upon hearing Their names, they became very anxious to see Them. Being advanced by thinking of Krishna constantly, they were performing the greatest form of mystic meditation. All the wives then became very busily engaged in filling up different pots with nice foodstuff. Due to the performance of the sacrifice, the various food was all very palatable. After collecting a feast, they prepared to go to Krishna, their most lovable object, exactly in the way rivers flow to the sea.

     For a long time the wives had been anxious to see Krishna. However, when they were preparing to leave home to go see Him, their husbands, fathers, sons and relatives asked them not to go. But the wives did not comply. When a devotee is called by the attraction of Krishna, he does not care for bodily ties. The women entered the forest of Vrindavana on the bank of the Yamuna, which was verdant with vegetation and newly grown vines and flowers. Within that forest, they saw Krishna and Balarama engaged in tending the cows, along with Their very affectionate boyfriends.

     The brahmanas’ wives saw Krishna putting on a garment glittering like gold. He wore a nice garland of forest flowers and a peacock feather on His head. He was also painted with the minerals found in Vrindavana, and He looked exactly like a dancing actor on a theatrical stage. They saw Him keeping one hand on the shoulder of His friend, and in His other hand, He was holding a lotus flower. His ears were decorated with lilies, He wore marks of tilaka, and He was smiling charmingly. With their very eyes, the wives of the brahmanas saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead, of whom they had heard so much, who was so dear to them, and in whom their minds were always absorbed. Now they saw Him eye to eye and face to face, and Krishna entered within their hearts through their eyes.

     They began to embrace Krishna to their hearts’ content, and the distress of separation was mitigated immediately. They were just like great sages who, by their advancement of knowledge, merge into the existence of the Supreme. As the Supersoul living in everyone’s heart, Lord Krishna could understand their minds; they had come to Him despite all the protests of their relatives, fathers, husbands, brothers, and all the duties of household affairs. They came just to see Him who was their life and soul. They were actually following Krishna’s instruction in the Bhagavad-gita: one should surrender to Him, giving up all varieties of occupational and religious duties. The wives of the brahmanas actually carried out the instruction of the Bhagavad-gita in total. He therefore began to speak to them, smiling very magnificently. It should be noted in this connection that when Krishna entered into the wives’ hearts and when they embraced Him and felt the transcendental bliss of being merged with Him, the Supreme Lord Krishna did not lose His identity, nor did the individual wives lose theirs. The individuality of both the Lord and the wives remained, yet they felt oneness in existence. When a lover submits to his lover without any pinch of personal consideration, that is called oneness. Lord Caitanya has taught us this feeling of oneness in His Siksastaka: Krishna may act freely, doing whatever He likes, but the devotee should always be in oneness or in agreement with His desires. That oneness was exhibited by the wives of the brahmanas in their love for Krishna.

     Krishna welcomed them with the following words: “My dear wives of the brahmanas, you are all very fortunate and welcomed here. Please let Me know what I can do for you. Your coming here, neglecting all the restrictions and hindrances of relatives, fathers, brothers and husbands, in order to see Me, is completely befitting. One who does this actually knows his self interest, because rendering transcendental loving service unto Me, without motive or restriction, is actually auspicious for the living entities.”

     Lord Krishna here confirms that the highest perfectional stage of the conditional soul is surrender to Him. One must give up all other responsibilities. This complete surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the most auspicious path for the conditioned soul because the Supreme Lord is the supreme objective of love. Everyone is loving Krishna ultimately, but realization is according to the advancement of his knowledge. One comes to understand that his self is the spirit soul, and the spirit soul is nothing but a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord; therefore the Supreme Lord is the ultimate goal of love, and thus one should surrender unto Him. This surrender is considered auspicious for the conditioned soul. Our life, property, home, wife, children, house, country, society and all paraphernalia which are very dear to us are expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the central object of love because He gives us all bliss, expanding Himself in so many ways according to our different situations, namely bodily, mental or spiritual.

     “My dear wives of the brahmanas,” Krishna said. “You can now return to your homes. Engage yourselves in sacrificial activities and be engaged in the service of your husbands and household affairs so that your husbands will be pleased with you, and the sacrifice which they have begun will be properly executed. After all, your husbands are householders, and without your help how can they execute their prescribed duties?”

      The wives of the brahmanas replied, “Dear Lord, this sort of instruction does not befit You. Your eternal promise is that You will always protect Your devotees, and now You must fulfill this promise. Anyone who comes and surrenders unto You never goes back to the conditioned life of material existence. We expect that You will now fulfill Your promise. We have surrendered unto Your lotus feet, which are covered by the tulasi leaves, so we have no more desire to return to the company of our so-called relatives, friends, and society and give up the shelter of Your lotus feet. And what shall we do, returning home? Our husbands, brothers, fathers, sons, mothers and our friends do not expect to see us because we have already left them all. Therefore we have no shelter to return to. Please, therefore, do not ask us to return home, but arrange for our stay under Your lotus feet so that we can eternally live under Your protection.”

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead replied, “My dear wives of the brahmanas, rest assured that your husbands will not neglect you on your return, nor will your brothers, sons, or fathers refuse to accept you. Because you are My pure devotees, not only your relatives but also people in general, as well as the demigods, will be satisfied with you.” Krishna is situated as the Supersoul in everyone’s heart. So if someone becomes a pure devotee of Lord Krishna, he immediately becomes pleasing to everyone. The pure devotee of Lord Krishna is never inimical to anyone. A sane person cannot be an enemy of a pure devotee. “Transcendental love for Me does not depend upon bodily connection,” Krishna said further, “but anyone whose mind is always absorbed in Me will surely, very soon, come to Me for My eternal association.”

     After being instructed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all the wives again returned home to their respective husbands. Pleased to see their wives back home, the brahmanas executed the performances of sacrifices by sitting together, as it is enjoined in the sastras. According to Vedic principle, religious rituals must be executed by the husband and wife together. When the brahmanas’ wives returned, the sacrifice was duly and nicely executed. One of the brahmanas’ wives, however, who was forcibly checked from going to see Krishna, began to remember Him as she heard of His bodily features. Being completely absorbed in His thought, she gave up her material body conditioned by the laws of nature.

      Sri Govinda, the ever-joyful Personality of Godhead, revealed His transcendental pastimes, appearing just like an ordinary human being, and enjoyed the food offered by the wives of the brahmanas. In this way, He attracted common persons to Krishna consciousness. He attracted to His words and beauty all the cows, cowherd boys and damsels in Vrindavana.

      After the return of their wives from Krishna, the brahmanas engaged in the performance of sacrifices began to regret their sinful activities in refusing food to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They could finally understand their mistake; engaged in the performance of Vedic rituals, they had neglected the Supreme Personality of Godhead who had appeared just like an ordinary human being and asked for some food. They began to condemn themselves after seeing the faith and devotion of their wives. They regretted very much that, although their wives were elevated to the platform of pure devotional service, they themselves could not understand even a little bit of how to love and offer transcendental loving service to the Supreme Soul. They began to talk among themselves. “To hell with our being born brahmanas! To hell with our learning all Vedic literatures! To hell with our performing great sacrifices and observing all the rules and regulations! To hell with our family! To hell with our expert service in performing the rituals exactly to the description of scriptures! To hell with it all, for we have not developed transcendental loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the speculation of the mind, body and senses.”

     The learned brahmanas, expert in Vedic ritualistic performances, were properly regretful, because without developing Krishna consciousness, all discharge of religious duties is simply a waste of time and energy. They continued to talk among themselves; “The external energy of Krishna is so strong that it can create illusion to overcome even the greatest mystic yogi. Although we expert brahmanas are considered to be the teachers of all other sections of human society, we also have been illusioned by the external energy. Just see how fortunate these women are who have so devotedly dedicated their lives to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. They could easily give up their family connection, which is so difficult to do. Family life is just like a dark well for the continuation of material miseries.”

      Women in general, being very simple in heart, can very easily take to Krishna consciousness, and when they develop love of Krishna they can easily get liberation from the clutches of maya, which is very difficult for even so-called intelligent and learned men to surpass. According to Vedic injunction, women are not allowed to undergo the purificatory process of initiation by the sacred thread, nor are they allowed to live as brahmacarinis in the asrama of the spiritual master; nor are they advised to undergo the strict disciplinary procedure; nor are they very much expert in discussing philosophy or self-realization. And by nature they are not very pure; nor are they very much attached to auspicious activities. “But how wonderful it is that they have developed transcendental love for Krishna, the Lord of all mystic yogis!” the brahmanas exclaimed. “They have surpassed all of us in firm faith and devotion unto Krishna. Being too attached to the materialistic way of life, although we are considered to be masters in all purificatory processes, we did not actually know what the goal is. Even though we were reminded of Krishna and Balarama by the cowherd boys, we disregarded Them. We think now that it was simply a trick of mercy upon us by the Supreme Personality of Godhead that He sent His friends to beg foodstuff from us. Otherwise, He had no need to send them. He could have satisfied their hunger then and there just by willing to do so.”

      If someone denies Krishna’s self-sufficiency on hearing that He was tending the cows for livelihood, or if someone doubts His not being in need of the foodstuff, thinking that He was actually hungry, then one should understand that the goddess of fortune is always engaged in His service. In this way the goddess can break her faulty habit of restlessness. In Vedic literatures like Brahma-samhita is stated that Krishna is served in His abode with great respect by not only one goddess of fortune but many thousands. Therefore it is simply illusion for one to think that Krishna begged food from the brahmanas. It was actually a trick to show them the mercy of accepting Him in pure devotional service. The Vedic ceremonial paraphernalia, the suitable place, suitable time, different grades of articles for performing ritualistic ceremonies, the Vedic hymns, the priest who is able to perform such sacrifice, the fire and the demigods, the performer of the sacrifice and the religious principles are all meant for understanding Krishna, for Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the Supreme Lord Vishnu, and the Lord of all mystic yogis.

   “Because He has appeared as a child in the dynasty of the Yadus, we were so foolish that we could not understand that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,” the brahmanas said. “But on the other hand, we are very proud because we have such exalted wives who have developed pure transcendental service of the Lord without being shackled by our rigid position. Let us therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, under whose illusory energy, called maya, we are absorbed in fruitive activities. We therefore pray to the Lord to be kind enough to excuse us because we are simply captivated by His external energy. We transgressed His order without knowing His transcendental glories.”

    The brahmanas repented for their sinful activities. They wanted to go personally to offer their obeisances unto Him, but being afraid of Kamsa, they could not go. In other words, it is very difficult for one to surrender fully unto the Personality of Godhead without being purified by devotional service. The example of the learned brahmanas and their wives is vivid. The wives of the brahmanas, because they were infused by pure devotional service, did not care for any kind of opposition. They immediately went to Krishna. But although the brahmanas had come to know the supremacy of the Lord and were repenting, they were still afraid of King Kamsa because they were too addicted to fruitive activities.

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This is the famous place where Lord Krishna came on the Sarat Purnima, the beautiful full moon night of the Sarat season (Autumn), and called all the gopis of Vrindavana to dance with Him, simply by playing on His flute. Vamsi means flute and vata means Banyan tree. 

His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada explains, In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated the rasa dance took place on the full moon night of the sarat season. The full moon night of Asvina is called sarat–purnima. At the age of seven years, Lord Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill. Therefore, the rasa dance took place during His eighth year.

      From Vedic literature it appears that when a theatrical actor dances among many dancing girls, the group-dance is called a rasa dance. When Krishna saw the full moon night of the sara season, He decorated Himself with various seasonal flowers, especially the mallika flowers, which are very fragrant. He remembered the gopis‘ prayers to goddess Katyayani (which I have explained in Sri Chira Ghata), wherein they prayed for Krishna to be their husband. He thought that the full night of the sarat season was just suitable for a nice dance. So their desire to have Krsna as their husband would then be fulfilled.

The words used in this connection in the Srimad-Bhagavatam are bhagavan api. This means that although Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He has no desire that needs to be fulfilled because He is always full with six opulence’s. Yet He wanted to enjoy the company of the gopis. Bhagavan api signifies that this is not like the ordinary dancing of young boys and young girls. The specific word used in the Srimad Bhagavatam is yogamayam upasritah, which means that this dancing with the gopis is on the platform of yogamaya, not mahamaya. The dancing of young boys and girls within this material world is in the kingdom of mahamaya, or the external energy. The rasa dance of Krishna with the gopis is on the platform of yogamaya. The difference between the platform of yogamaya and mahamaya is compared in the Caitanya-caritamrta to the difference between gold and iron. From the viewpoint of metallurgy, gold and iron are both metals, but the quality is completely different. Similarly, although the rasa dance and Lord Krishna’s association with the gopis appear like the ordinary mixing of young boys and girls·, the quality is completely different. The difference is appreciated by great Vaisnavas because they can understand the difference between love of Krishna and lust.

     On the mahamaya platform, dances take place on the basis of sense gratification. But when Krishna called the gopis by sounding His flute, the gopis very hurriedly rushed towards the spot of rasa dance with the transcendental desire of satisfying Krishna. The author of Caitanya-Caritamrta, Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, has explained that lust means sense gratification, and love also means sense gratification-but for Krishna. In other words, when activities are enacted on the platform of personal sense gratification, they are called material activities, but when they are enacted for the satisfaction of Krishna, then they are spiritual activities. On any platform of activities, the principle of sense gratification is there. But on the spiritual platform, sense gratification is for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, whereas on the material platform it is for the performer. For example, on the material platform, when a servant serves a master, he is not trying to satisfy the senses of the master, but rather his own senses. The servant would not serve the master if the payment stopped. That means that the servant engages himself in the service of the master just to satisfy his senses. On the spiritual platform, the servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead serves Krishna without payment, and he continues his service in all conditions. That is the difference between Krishna consciousness and material consciousness.

      It appears that Krishna enjoyed the rasa dance with the gopis when He was eight years old. At that time, many of the gopis were married, because in India, especially in those days, girls were married at a very early age. There are even many instances of a girl giving birth to a child at the age of twelve. Under the circumstances, all the gopis who wanted to have Krishna as their husband were already married. At the same time, they continued to hope that Krishna would be their husband. Their attitude toward Krishna was that of paramour love. Therefore, the loving affairs of Krishna with the gopis is called parakiya-rasa. A married man or a wife who desires another wife or husband is called parakiya-rasa.

Actually, Krishna is the husband of everyone because He is the supreme enjoyer. The gopis wanted Krishna to be their husband, but factually there was no possibility of His marrying all the gopis. But because they had that natural tendency to accept Krishna as their supreme husband, the relationship between the gopis and Krishna is called parakiya-rasa. This parakiya-rasa is ever-existent in Goloka Vrndavana in the spiritual sky where there is no possibility of the inebriety which characterizes parakiya-rasa in the material world. In the material world, parakiya-rasa is abominable, whereas in the spiritual world it is present in the superexcellent relationship of Krishna and the gopis. There are many other relationships with Krishna: master and servant, friends and friend, parent and son, and lover and beloved. Out of all these rasas, the parakiya-rasa is considered to be the topmost.

    This material world is the perverted reflection of the spiritual world; it is just like the reflection of a tree on the bank of a reservoir of water: the topmost part of the tree is seen as the lowest part. Similarly, parakiya-rasa, when pervertedly reflected in this material world, is abominable. When people, therefore, imitate the rasa dance of Krishna with the gopis, they simply enjoy the perverted, abominable reflection of the transcendental parakiya-rasa. There is no possibility of enjoying this transcendental parakiya-rasa within the material world. It is stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam that one should not imitate this parakiya-rasa even in dream or imagination. Those who do so drink the most deadly poison.

    When Krishna, the supreme enjoyer, desired to enjoy the company of the gopis on that full moon night of the sarat season, exactly at that very moment, the moon, the lord of the stars, appeared in the sky, displaying its most beautiful features. The full moon night of the sarat season is the most beautiful night in the year. In India there is a great monument called Taj Mahal in Agra, a city in the Uttar Pradesh province, and the tomb is made of first-class marble stone. During the night of the full moon of the sarat season, many foreigners go to see the beautiful reflections of the moon on the tomb. Thus this full moon night is celebrated even today for its beauty.

     When the full moon rose in the east, it tinged everything with a reddish color. With the rising of the moon, the whole sky appeared smeared by red kunkuma. When a husband long separated from his wife returns home, he decorates the face of his wife with red kunkuma. This long-expected moonrise of the sarat season was thus smearing the eastern sky.

     The appearance of the moon increased Krishna’s desire to dance with the gopis. The forests were filled with fragrant flowers. The atmosphere was cooling and festive. When Lord Krishna began to blow His flute, the gopis all over Vrindavana became enchanted. Their attraction to the vibration of the flute increased a thousand times due to the rising full moon, the red horizon, the calm and cool atmosphere, and the blossoming flowers. All these gopis were by nature very much attracted to Krishna’s beauty, and when they heard the vibration of His flute, they became apparently lustful to satisfy the senses of Krishna.

      Immediately upon hearing the vibration of the flute, they all left their respective engagements and proceeded to the spot where Krishna was standing. While they ran very swiftly, all their earrings swung back and forth. They all rushed toward the place known as Vamsivata. Some of them were engaged in milking cows, but they left their milking business half finished and immediately went to Krishna. One of them had just collected milk and put it in a milk pan on the oven to boil, but ‘she did not care whether the milk overboiled and spilled-she immediately left to go see Krishna. Some of them were breast feeding their small babies, and some were engaged in distributing food to the members of their families, but they left all such engagements and immediately rushed towards the spot where Krishna was playing His flute. Some were engaged in serving their husbands, and some were themselves engaged in eating, but neither caring to serve their husbands nor eat, they immediately left. Some of them wanted to decorate their faces with cosmetic ointments and to dress themselves very nicely before going to Krishna, but unfortunately they could not finish their cosmetic decorations nor put on their dresses in the right way because of their anxiety to meet Krishna immediately. Their faces were decorated hurriedly and were haphazardly finished; some even put the lower part of their dresses on the upper part of their bodies and the upper part on the lower part.

     While all the gopis were hurriedly leaving their respective places, their husbands, brothers and fathers were all struck with wonder to know where they were going. Being young girls, they were protected either by husbands, elderly brothers or fathers. All their guardians forbade them to go to Krishna, but they disregarded them. When a person becomes attracted by Krishna and is in full Krishna consciousness, he does not care for any worldly duties, even though very urgent. Krishna consciousness is so powerful that it gives everyone relief from all material activities. Srila Rupa Gosvami has written a very nice verse wherein one gopi advises another, “‘My dear friend, if you desire to enjoy the company of material society, friendship and love, then please do not go to see this smiling boy Govinda, who is standing on the bank of the Yamuna and playing His flute, His lips brightened by the beams of the full moonlight.” Srila Rupa Gosvami indirectly instructs that one who has been captivated by the beautiful smiling face of Krishna has lost all attraction for material enjoyments. This is the test of advancement in Krishna consciousness: a person advancing-in Krishna consciousness must lose interest in material activities and personal sense gratification.

    Some of the gopis were factually detained from going to Krishna by their husbands and were locked up by force within their rooms. Being unable to go to Krishna, they began to meditate upon His transcendental form by closing their eyes. They already had the form of Krishna within their minds. They proved to be the greatest yogis; as is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, a person who is constantly thinking of Krishna within his heart with faith and love is considered to be the topmost of all yogis. Actually, a yogi concentrates his mind on the form of Lord Vishnu. That is real yoga. Krishna is the original form of all Vishnu tattvas. The gopis could not go to Krishna personally, so they began to meditate on Him as perfect yogis.

    In the conditioned stage of the living entities, there are two kinds of results of fruitive activities: the conditioned living entity who is constantly engaged in sinful activities has suffering as his result, and he who is engaged in pious activities has material enjoyment as a result. In either case material suffering or material enjoyment-the enjoyer or sufferer is conditioned by material nature.

    The gopi associates of Krishna, who assemble in the place where Krishna is appearing, are from different groups. Most of the gopis are eternal companions of Krishna. As stated in the Brahma-samhita, ananda-cin-maya-rasapratibhavitabhih: in the spiritual world the associates of Krishna, especially the gopis, are the manifestation of the pleasure potency of Lord Krishna. They are expansions of Srimati Radharani. But when Krishna exhibits His transcendental pastimes within the material world in some of the universes, not only the eternal associates of Krishna come, but also those who are being promoted to that status from this material world. The gopis who joined Krishna’s pastimes within this material world were coming from the status of ordinary human beings. If they had been bound by fruitive action, they were fully freed from the reaction of karma by constant meditation on Krishna. Their severe painful yearnings caused by their not being able to see Krishna freed them from all sinful reactions, and their ecstacy of transcendental love for Krishna in His absence was transcendental to all their reactions of material pious activities. The conditioned soul is subjected to birth and death, either by pious or sinful activities, but the gopis who began to meditate on Krishna transcended both positions and became purified and thus elevated to the status of the gopis already expanded by His pleasure potency. All the gopis who concentrated their minds on Krishna in the spirit of paramour love became fully uncontaminated from all the fruitive reactions of material nature, and some of them immediately gave up their material bodies developed under the three modes of material nature.

      Maharaja Pariksit heard Sukadeva Gosvami explain the situation of the gopis who assembled with Krishna in the rasa dance. When he heard that some of the gopis, simply by concentrating on Krishna as their paramour, became freed from all contamination of material birth and death, he said, “The gopis did not know that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They accepted Him as a beautiful boy and considered Him to be their paramour. So how was it possible for them to get freed from the material condition just by thinking of a paramour?” One should consider here that Krishna and ordinary living beings are qualitatively one. The ordinary living beings, being part and parcel of Krishna, are also Brahman, but Krishna is the Supreme-Parabrahman. The question is, if it is possible for the devotee to get free from the material, contaminated stage simply by thinking of Krishna, then why not others who are also thinking of someone? If one is thinking of a husband or son, or if anyone at all is thinking of another living entity, since all living entities are also Brahman, then why are they not all freed from the contaminated stage of material nature? This is a very intelligent question, because the atheists are always imitating Krishna. In these days of Kaliyuga, there are many rascals who think themselves to be as great as Krishna and who cheat people into believing that thinking of them is as good as thinking of Lord Krishna. Pariksit Maharaja, apprehending the dangerous condition of blind followers of demonic imitators, therefore asked this question, and fortunately it is recorded in the Srimad-Bhagavatam to warn innocent people that thinking of an ordinary man and thinking of Krishna are not the same.

    Actually, even thinking of the demigods cannot compare with thinking of Krishna. It is also warned in Vaisnava Tantra that one who puts Vishnu, Narayana, or Krishna on the same level of the demigods is called pasanda, or a rascal. On hearing this question of Maharaja Pariksit, Sukadeva Gosvami replied, “My dear King, your question is already answered, even before this incident.”

      Because Pariksit Maharaja wanted to clear up the situation, his spiritual master answered him very intelligently, “Why are you again asking the same subject matter which has already been explained to you? Why are you so forgetful?” A spiritual master is always in the superior position, so he has the right to chastise his disciple in this way. Sukadeva Gosvami knew that Maharaja Pariksit asked the question not for his own understanding, but as a warning to the future innocent people who might think others to be equal to Krishna.

   Sukadeva Gosvami then reminded Pariksit Maharaja about the salvation of Sisupala. Sisupala was always envious of Krishna, and because of his envy Krishna killed him. Since Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sisupala gained salvation simply by seeing Him. If an envious person can get salvation simply by concentrating his mind on Krishna, then what to speak of the gopis who are so dear to Krishna and always thinking of Him in love? There must be some difference between the enemies and the friends. If Krishna’s enemies could get freed from material contamination and become one with the Supreme, then certainly His dear friends like the gopis are freed and with Him.

     Besides that, in the Bhagavad-gita Krishna is called Hrsikesa. Sukadeva Gosvami also said that Krishna is Hrsikesa, the Supersoul, whereas an ordinary man is a conditioned soul covered by the material body. Krishna and Krishna’s body are the same because He is Hrsikesa. Any person making a distinction between Krishna and Krishna’s body is fool number one. Krishna is Hrsikesa and Adhoksaja. These two particular words have been used by Pariksit Maharaja in this instance. Hrsikesa is the Supersoul, and Adhoksaja is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, transcendental to the material nature. Just to show favor to the ordinary living entities, out of His causeless mercy, He appears as He is. Unfortunately, foolish persons mistake Him to be another ordinary person, and so they become eligible to go to hell. Sukadeva Gosvami reconfirmed that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, imperishable, immeasurable, and free from all material contamination.

      Sukadeva Gosvami continued to inform Maharaja Pariksit that Krishna is not an ordinary person. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full of all spiritual qualities. He appears in this material world out of His causeless mercy, and whenever He appears, He appears as He is without change. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita. There the Lord says that He appears in His spiritual potency. He does not appear under the control of this material potency. The material potency is under His control. In the Bhagavad-gita it is stated that the material potency is working under His superintendence. It is also confirmed in the Brahma-samhita that the material potency known as Durga is acting just as a shadow which moves with the movement of the substance. The conclusion is that if one somehow or other becomes attached to Krishna or attracted to Him, either because of His beauty, quality, opulence, fame, strength, renunciation or knowledge, or even through lust, anger or fear, or affection or friendship, then one’s salvation and freedom from material contamination is assured.

      In the Bhagavad-gita, Eighteenth Chapter, the Lord also states that one who is engaged in preaching Krishna consciousness is very dear to Him. A preacher has to face many difficulties in his struggle to preach pure Krishna consciousness. Sometimes he has to suffer bodily injuries, and sometimes he has to meet death also. All this is taken as a great austerity on behalf of Krishna. Krishna therefore has said that such a preacher is very, very dear to Him. If Krishna’s enemies can expect salvation simply by concentrating their minds on Him, then what to speak of persons who are so dear to Krishna? The conclusion should be that the salvation of those who are engaged in preaching Krishna consciousness in the world is guaranteed in all circumstances. But such preachers never care for salvation, because factually one who is engaged in Krishna consciousness, devotional service, has already achieved salvation. Sukadeva Gosvami therefore assured King Pariksit that he should always rest assured that one attracted by Krishna attains liberation from material bondage because Krishna is the transcendental master of all mystic power.

     When all the gopis assembled, as described, before Krishna, He began to speak to them, welcoming them as well as discouraging them by word jugglery. Krishna is the supreme speaker; He is the speaker of the Bhagavad-gita. He can speak on the highest elevated subjects of philosophy, politics, economics-everything. And He also spoke before the gopis who were so dear to Him. He wanted to enchant them by word jugglery, and thus He began to speak as follows.

     “O ladies of Vrindavana,” Krishna said. “You are very fortunate, and you are very dear to Me. I am very pleased that you have come here, and I hope everything is well in Vrindavana. Now please order Me. What can I do for you? What is the purpose of coming here in this dead of night. Kindly take your seats and let Me know what I can do for you.”

     The gopis had come to Krishna to enjoy His company, to dance with Him, embrace Him and kiss Him, and when Krishna began to receive them very officially, showing all kinds of etiquette, they were surprised. He was treating them as ordinary society women. Therefore they began to smile among themselves, and they very eagerly listened to Krishna talk in that way. When He saw that they were smiling at Him, He said, “My dear friends, you must know now that it is the dead of night, and the forest is very dangerous. At this time all the ferocious jungle animals, the tigers, bears, jackals and wolves, are prowling in the forest. Therefore it is very dangerous for you. You cannot select a secure place now. Everywhere you go you will find that all these animals are loitering to find their prey. I think, therefore, that you are taking a great risk in coming here in the dead of night. Please turn back immediately, without delay.”

     When He saw that they continued to smile, He said, “I very much appreciate your bodily features. All of you have nice, very thin waists.” All of the gopis there were exquisitely beautiful. They are described by the word sumadhyama; the standard of beauty of a woman is said to be sumadhyama when the middle portion of the body is slender.

      Krishna wanted to impress on them that they were not old enough to take care of themselves. Actually, they required protection. It was not very wise for them to come in the dead of night to Krishna. Krishna also indicated that He was young and that they were young girls. “It does not look very well for young girls and boys to remain together in the dead of night.” After hearing this advice, the gopis did not seem very happy; therefore Krishna began to stress the point in a different way.

       “My dear friends, I can understand that you have left your homes without the permission of your guardians; therefore I think your mothers, your fathers, your elderly brothers or even your sons, and what to speak of your husbands, must be very anxious to find you. As long as you are here, they must be searching in different places, and their minds must be very agitated. So don’t tarry. Please go back and make them peaceful.”

        When the gopis appeared to be a little bit disturbed and angry from the free advice of Krishna, they diverted their attention to looking at the beauty of the forest. At that time the whole forest was illuminated by the bright shining of the moon, and the air was blowing very silently over the blooming flowers, and the green leaves of the trees were moving in the breeze. Krishna took the opportunity of their looking at the forest to advise them. “I think you have come out to see the beautiful Vrindavana forest on this night,” He said, “but you must now be satisfied. So return to your homes without delay. I understand that you are all very chaste women, so now that you have seen the beautiful atmosphere of the Vrindavana forests, please return home and engage in the faithful service of your respective husbands. Some of you must have babies by this time, although you are very young. You must have left your small babies at home, and they must be crying. Please immediately go back home and just feed them with your breast milk. I can also understand that you have very great affection for Me, and out of that transcendental affection you have come here, hearing My playing on the flute. Your feelings of love and affection for Me are very appropriate because I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All living creatures are My parts and parcels, and naturally they are affectionate to Me. So this affection for Me is very much welcome, and I congratulate you for this. Now you can go back to your homes. Another thing I must explain to you is that for a chaste woman, service to the husband without duplicity is the best religious principle. A woman should be not only faithful and chaste to the husband, but affectionate to the friends of her husband, obedient to the father and mother of the husband, and affectionate to the younger brothers of the husband. And most importantly, the woman must take care of the children.”

     In this way, Krishna explained the duty of a woman. He also stressed the point of serving the husband: “Even if he is not of very good character, or even if he is not very rich or fortunate, or even if he is old or invalid on account of continued diseases, whatever her husband’s condition, a woman should not divorce her husband if she actually desires to be elevated to the higher planetary systems after leaving this body. Besides that, it is considered abominable in society if a woman is unfaithful and goes searching for another man. Such habits will deter a woman from being elevated to the heavenly planets, and the results of such habits are very degrading. A married woman should not search for a paramour, for this is not sanctioned by the Vedic principles of life. If you think that you are very much attached to Me and you want My association, I advise you not to personally try to enjoy Me. It is better for you to go home, simply talk about Me, think of Me, and by this process of constantly remembering Me and chanting My names, you will surely be elevated to the spiritual platform. There is no need to stand near Me. Please go back home.”

    The instruction given herein by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to the gopis was not at all sarcastic. Such instructions should be taken very seriously by all honest women. The chastity of women is specifically stressed herein by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore this principle should be followed by any serious woman who wants to be elevated to a higher status of life. Krishna is the center of all affection for all living creatures. When this affection is developed for Krishna, then one surpasses and transcends all Vedic injunctions. This was possible for the gopis because they saw Krishna face to face. This is not possible for any women in the conditioned state. Unfortunately, by imitating the behaviour of Krishna with the gopis, sometimes a rascal takes the position of Krishna, following the philosophy of monism or oneness, and he very irresponsibly takes advantage of this rasa-lila to entice many innocent women and mislead them in the name of spiritual realization. As a warning, Lord Krishna has herein hinted that what was possible for the gopis is not possible for ordinary women. Although a woman can actually be elevated by advanced Krishna consciousness, she should not be enticed by an imposter who says that he is Krishna. She should concentrate her devotional activities in chanting and meditating upon Krishna, as is advised herein. One should not follow the men called sahajiya, the so-called devotees who take everything very lightly.

     When Krishna spoke in such a discouraging way to the gopis, they became very sad, for they thought that their desire to enjoy rasa dance with Krishna would be frustrated. Thus they became full of anxiety. Out of great sadness, the gopis began to breathe very heavily. Instead of looking at Krishna face to face, they bowed their heads and looked to the ground, and they began to draw various types of curved lines on the ground with their toes. They were shedding heavy tears, and their cosmetic decorations were being washed from their faces. The water from their eyes mixed with the kunkuma of their breasts and fell to the ground. They could not say anything to Krishna, but simply stood there silently. By their silence they expressed that their hearts were grieviously wounded.  

       The gopis were not ordinary women. In essence they were on an equal level with Krishna. They are His eternal associates. As it is confirmed in the Brahma-samhita, they are expansions of the pleasure potency of Krishna, and as His potency they are nondifferent from Him. Although they were depressed by the words of Krishna, they did not like to use harsh words against Him. Yet they wanted to rebuke Krishna for His unkind words, and therefore they began to speak in faltering voices. They did not like to use harsh words against Krishna because He was their dearmost, their heart and soul. The gopis had only Krishna within their hearts. They were completely surrendered and dedicated souls. Naturally, when they heard such unkind words, they tried to reply, but in the attempt torrents of tears fell from their eyes. Finally they managed to speak.

    ” Krishna,” they said, “You are very cruel! You should not talk like that. We are full-fledged surrendered souls. Please accept us, and don’t talk in that cruel way. Of course, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and You can do whatever You like, but it is not worthy of Your position to treat us in such a cruel way. We have come to You, leaving everything behind, just to take shelter of Your lotus feet. We know that You are completely independent and can do whatever You like, but we request You, don’t reject us. We are Your devotees. You should accept us as Lord Narayana accepts His devotees. There are many devotees of Lord Narayana who worship Him for salvation, and He awards them salvation. Similarly, how can You reject us when we have no other shelter than Your lotus feet?

     ” O dear Krishna,” they continued, “You are the supreme instructor. There is no doubt about it. Your instructions to the women to be faithful to their husbands and to be merciful to their children, to take care of homely affairs and to be obedient to the elderly members of the family, are surely just according to the tenets of sastras. But we know also that all these instructions of the sastras may be observed perfectly by keeping oneself under the protection of Your lotus feet. Our husbands, friends, family members and children are all dear and pleasing to us only because of Your presence, for You are the Supersoul of all living creatures. Without Your presence, one is worthless. When You leave the body, the body immediately dies, and according to the injunction of the sastra, a dead body must immediately be thrown in a river or burned. Therefore, ultimately You are the dearmost personality in this world. By placing our faith and love in Your personality, there is no chance of our being bereft of husband, friends, sons or daughters. If a woman accepts You as the supreme husband, then she will never be bereft of her husband, as in the bodily concept of life. If we accept You as our ultimate husband, then there is no question of being separated, divorced or widowed. You are the eternal husband, eternal son, eternal friend, and eternal master, and one who enters into a relationship with You is eternally happy. Since You are the teacher of all religious principles, Your lotus feet first have to be worshiped. Accordingly, the sastras state, acharya-upasana: the worship of Your lotus feet is the first principle. Besides that, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita, You are the only enjoyer, You are the only proprietor, and You are the only friend. As such, we have come to You, leaving aside all so-called friends, society and love, and now You have become our enjoyer. Let us be everlastingly enjoyed by You. Be our proprietor, for that is Your natural claim, and be our supreme friend, for You are naturally so. Let us thus embrace You as the supreme beloved.”

     Then the gopis told the lotus-eyed Krishna, “Please do not discourage our long-cherished desires to have You as our husband. Any intelligent man who cares for his own self-interest reposes all his loving spirit in You. Persons who are simply misled by the external energy, who want to be satisfied by false concepts, try to enjoy themselves apart from You. The so-called husband, friend, son, daughter, father and mother are all simply sources of material misery. No one is made happy in this material world by having a so-called father, mother, husband, son, daughter and friend. Although the father and mother are expected to protect the children, there are many children who are suffering for want of food and shelter. There are many good physicians, but when a patient dies, no physician can revive him. There are many means of protection, but when one is doomed, none of the protective measures can help, and without Your protection the so-called sources of protection simply become sources of continued distress. We therefore appeal to You, dear Lord of all lords: please do not kill our long-cherished desires to have You as our supreme husband.

   “Dear Krishna, as women, we are certainly satisfied when our hearts are engaged in the activities of family affairs, but our hearts have already been stolen by You. We can no longer engage them in family affairs. Besides that, although You have repeatedly asked us to return home, and that is a very appropriate instruction, unfortunately we have been stunned here. Our legs have no power to move a step from Your lotus feet. Therefore, if even at Your request we return home, what shall we do there? We have lost all our ability to act without You. Instead of engaging our hearts in family affairs as women, we have no developed a different type of lust which is continually blazing in our hearts. Now we request You, dear Krishna, to extinguish that fire with Your beautiful smile and the transcendental vibration emanating from Your lips. If You do not agree to do us this favour, we shall certainly be burned in the fire of separation. In that condition, we shall simply think of You and Your beautiful features and give up our bodies immediately. In that way we think it will be possible for us to reside at Your lotus feet in the next life. Dear Krishna, if You say that if we go home our respective husbands will satisfy the lusty flame of our desire, we can only say that that is no longer possible. You have given us a chance to be enjoyed by You in the forest and have touched our breasts once in the past, which we accepted as a blessing, as do the goddesses of fortune, who are enjoyed in the Vaikunthalokas by You Since we have tasted this transcendental enjoyment, we are no longer interested in going to anyone but You for the satisfaction of our lust. Dear Krishna, the louts feet of the goddess of fortune are always worshiped by the demigods. Although she is always resting on Your chest in the Vaikuntha planets, she underwent great austerity and penance to have some shelter at Your lotus feet, which are always covered by tulasi leaves. Your lotus feet are the proper shelter of Your servitors, and the goddess of fortune, instead of abiding on Your chest, comes down and worships Your lotus feet. We have now placed ourselves under the dust of Your feet. Please do not reject us, for we are fully surrendered souls.

      “Dear Krishna, You are known as Hari. You destroy all the miseries of all living entities, specifically of those who have left their homes and family attachment and have completely taken to You. We have left our homes with the hope that we shall completely devote and dedicate our lives to Your service. We are simply begging to be engaged as Your servants. We do not wish to ask You to accept us as Your wives. Simply accept us as Your maidservants. Since You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead and like to enjoy the parakiya-rasa and are famous as a transcendental woman hunter, we have come to satisfy Your transcendental desires. We are also after our own satisfaction, for simply by looking at Your smiling face we have become very lusty. We have come before You decorated with all ornaments and dress, but until You embrace us, all our dresses and beautiful features remain incomplete. You are the Supreme Person, and if You complete our dressing attempt as the purusa-bhusana, or the male ornament, then all our desires and bodily decorations are complete.

    “Dear Krishna, we have simply been captivated by seeing You with tilaka and with earrings and by seeing Your beautiful face covered with scattered hair and Your extraordinary smile. Not only that, but we are also attracted by Your arms, which always give assurance to the surrendered souls. And although we are also attracted by Your chest, which is always embraced by the goddess of fortune, we do not wish to take her position. We shall simply be satisfied by being Your maidservants. If You, however, accuse us of encouraging prostitution, then we can only ask where is that woman within these three worlds who is not captivated by Your beauty and the rhythmic songs vibrated by Your transcendental flute? Within these three worlds there is no distinction between men and women in relation to You because both men and women belong to the marginal potency or prakrti. No one is actually the enjoyer or the male; everyone is meant to be enjoyed by You. There is no woman within these three worlds who cannot but deviate from her path of chastity once she is attracted to You because Your beauty is so sublime that not only men and women, but cows, birds, beasts and even trees, fruits and flowers-everyone and everything-become enchanted, and what to speak of ourselves? It is, however, definitely decided that as Lord Vishnu is always protecting the demigods from the onslaught of demons, so you have also advented in Vrindavana just to give the residents protection from all kinds of distress. O dear friend of the distressed, kindly place Your hand on our burning breasts as well as on our heads, because we have surrendered unto You as Your eternal maidservants. If You think, however, that Your lotus-like palms might be burned to ashes if placed on our burning breasts, let us assure You that Your palms will feel pleasure instead of pain, as the lotus flower, although very delicate and soft, enjoys the scorching heat of the sun.” 

    Upon hearing the anxious plea of the gopis, the Supreme Personality of Godhead began to smile, and being very kind to the gopis, the Lord, although self-sufficient, began to embrace them and kiss them as they desired. When Krishna, smiling, looked at the faces of the gopis, the beauty of their faces became a hundred times enhanced. When He was enjoying them in their midst, He appeared just like the full moon surrounded by millions of shining stars. Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead, surrounded by hundreds of gopis and decorated with a flower garland of many colors, began to wander within the Vrindavana forest, sometimes singing to Himself and sometimes singing with the gopis. In this way, both the Lord and the gopis reached the cool sandy bank of the Yamuna where there were lilies and lotus flowers. In such a transcendental atmosphere, both the gopis and Krishna began to enjoy one another. While they were walking on the bank of the Yamuna, Krishna would sometimes put His arms around a gopi’s head, breast or waist. Pinching one another and joking and looking at one another, they enjoyed. When Krishna touched the bodies of the gopis, their lust to embrace Him increased. They all enjoyed these pastimes. Thus the gopis were blessed with all mercy by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for they enjoyed His company without a tinge of mundane sex life.

     The gopis, however, soon began to feel very proud, thinking themselves to be the most fortunate women in the universe by being favored by the company of Krishna. Lord Krishna, who is known as Kesava, could immediately understand their pride caused by their great fortune of enjoying Him personally, and in order to show them His causeless mercy and to curb their false pride, He immediately disappeared from the scene, exhibiting His opulence of renunciation. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is always full with six kinds of opulences, and this is an instance of the opulence of renunciation. This renunciation confirms Krishna’s total nonattachment. He is always self-sufficient and is not dependent on anything. This is the platform on which the transcendental pastimes are enacted.

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

The village of Siyaro is situated two and a half km north of Gangaroli & around three and a half km from Nanda Ghata. Next to the village, on the bank of the Yamuna, is a Ghata named Chira Ghata. On this Ghata stands a very old Kadamba-tree. On the day of the observance of Katyayani vrata the gopis left there clothes here on the shore and went for a bath in the Yamuna. At that time Sri Krishna came here secretly, stole their clothes and climbed up into the Kadamba-tree. At the end the gopis were blessed with the fulfilment of their desires. Close by is a temple of Sri Katyayani devi.

How to get there: You can easily go to this place by Auto from Vrindavana.

Stealing the Garments of the Unmarried Gopi Girls

According to Vedic civilization, unmarried girls from ten to fourteen years of age are supposed to worship either Lord Siva or the goddess Durga in order to get a nice husband. But the unmarried girls of Vrindavana were already attracted by the beauty of Krishna. They were, however, engaged in the worship of the goddess Durga in the beginning of the hemanta season (just prior to the winter season). The first month of hemanta is called Agrahayana (October-November), and at that time all the unmarried gopis of Vrindavana began to worship goddess Durga with a vow. They first ate havisyanna, a kind of foodstuff prepared by boiling together mung dahl and rice without any spices or turmeric. According to Vedic injunction, this kind of foodstuff is recommended to purify the body before one enacts a ritualistic ceremony. All the unmarried gopis in Vrindavana used to daily worship goddess Katyayani early in the morning after taking bath in the River Yamuna. Katyayani is another name for goddess Durga. The goddess is worshiped by preparing a doll made out of sand mixed with earth from the bank of the Yamuna. It is recommended in the Vedic scriptures that a deity may be made from different kinds of material elements; it can be painted, made of metal, made of jewels, made of wood, earth or stone or can be conceived within the heart of the worshiper. The Mayavadi philosopher takes all these forms of the deity to be imaginary, but actually they are accepted in the Vedic literatures to be identical with either the Supreme Lord or a respective demigod.

     The unmarried gopis used to prepare the deity of goddess Durga and worship it with candana pulp, garlands, incense lamps and all kinds of presentations-fruits, grains and twigs of plants. After worshiping, it is the custom to pray for some benediction. The unmarried girls used to pray with great devotion to goddess Katyayani, addressing her as follows: “O supreme eternal energy of the Personality of Godhead, O supreme mystic power, O supreme controller of this material world, O goddess, please be kind to us and arrange for our marriage with the son of Nanda Maharaja, Krishna.” The Vaisnavas generally do not worship any demigods. Srila Narottama dasa Thakur has strictly forbidden all worship of the demigods for anyone who wants to advance in pure devotional service. Yet the gopis, who are beyond compare in their affection for Krishna, were seen to worship Durga. The worshipers of demigods also sometimes mention that the gopis also worshiped goddess Durga, but we must understand the purpose of the gopis. Generally, people worship goddess Durga for some material benediction. Here, the gopis prayed to the goddess to become wives of Lord Krishna. The purport is that if Krishna is the center of activity, a devotee can adopt any means to achieve that goal. The gopis could adopt any means to satisfy or serve Krishna. That was the superexcellent characteristic of the gopis. They worshiped goddess Durga completely for one month in order to have Krishna as their husband. Every day they prayed for Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, to become their husband.

      Early in the morning, the gopis used to go to the bank of the Yamuna to take bath. They would assemble together, capturing each other’s hands, and loudly sing of the wonderful pastimes of Krishna. It is an old system among Indian girls and women that when they take bath in the river they place their garments on the bank and dip into the water completely naked. The portion of the river where the girls and women take bath was strictly prohibited to any male member, and this is still the system. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, knowing the minds of the unmarried young gopis, benedicted them with their desired objective. They had prayed for Krishna to become their husband, and Krishna wanted to fulfill their desires.

     At the end of the month, Krishna, along with His friends, appeared on the scene. Another name of Krishna is Yogesvara, or master of all mystic powers. By practicing meditation, the yogi can study the psychic movement of other men, and certainly Krishna could understand the desire of the gopis. Appearing on the scene, Krishna immediately collected all the garments of the gopis, climbed up in a nearby tree, and with smiling face began to speak to them.

      “My dear girls,” He said. “Please come here one after another and pray for your garments and then take them away. I’m not joking with you. I’m just telling the truth. I have no desire to play any joke with you, for you have observed the regulative principles for one month by worshiping goddess Katyayani. Please do not come here all at once. Come alone; I want to see each of you in your complete beauty, for you all have thin waists. I have requested you to come alone. Now please comply.“

When the girls in the water heard such joking words from Krishna, they began to look at one another and smile. They were very joyous to hear such a request from Krishna because they were already in love with Him. Out of shyness, they looked at one another, but they could not come out of the water because they were naked. Due to remaining in the water for a long time, they felt cold and were shivering, yet upon hearing the pleasing and joking words of Govinda, their minds were perturbed with great joy. They began to tell Krishna, “Dear son of Nanda Maharaja, please do not joke with us in that way. It is completely unjust to us. You are a very respectable boy because You are the son of Nanda Maharaja, and You are very dear to us, but You should not play this joke on us because now we are all shivering from the cold water. Kindly deliver our garments immediately, otherwise we shall suffer.” They then began to appeal to Krishna with great submission. “Dear Syamasundara,” they said, “we are all Your eternal servitors. Whatever You order us to do, we are obliged to perform without hesitation because we consider it our religious duty. But if You insist on putting this proposal to us, which is impossible to perform, then certainly we will have to go to Nanda Maharaja and lodge a complaint against You. If Nanda Maharaja does not take action, then we shall tell King Kamsa about Your misbehavior.”

Upon hearing this appeal by the unmarried gopis, Krishna answered, “My dear girls, if you think that you are My eternal servitors and you are always ready to execute My order, then My request is that, with your smiling faces, you please come here alone, one after another, and take away your garments. If you do not come here, however, and if you lodge complaints to My father, I shall not care anyway, for I know My father is old and cannot take any action against Me.”

      When the gopis saw that Krishna was strong and determined, they had no alternative but to abide by His order. One after another they came out of the water, but because they were completely naked, they tried to cover their nakedness by placing their left hand over their pubic area. In that posture they were all shivering. Their simple presentation was so pure that Lord Krishna immediately became pleased with them. All the unmarried gopis who prayed to Katyayani to have Krishna as their husband were thus satisfied. A woman cannot be naked before any male except her husband. The unmarried gopis desired Krishna as their husband, and He fulfilled their desire in this way. Being pleased with them, He took their garments on His shoulder and began to speak as follows. “My dear girls, you have committed a great offense by going naked in the River Yamuna. Because of this, the predominating deity of the Yamuna, Varunadeva, has become displeased with you. Please, therefore, just touch your foreheads with folded palms and bow down before the demigod Varuna in order to be excused from this offensive act.” The gopis were all simple souls, and whatever Krishna said they took to be true. In order to be freed from the wrath of Varunadeva, as well as to fulfill the desired end of their vows and ultimately to please their worshipable Lord, Krishna, they immediately abided by His order. Thus they became the greatest lovers of Krishna, and His most obedient servitors.

     Nothing can compare to the Krishna consciousness of the gopis. Actually, the gopis did not care for Varuna or any other demigod; they only wanted to satisfy Krishna. Krishna became very ingratiated and satisfied by the simple dealings of the gopis, and He immediately delivered their respective garments, one after another. Although Krishna cheated the young unmarried gopis and made them stand naked before Him and enjoyed joking words with them, and although He treated them just like dolls and stole their garments, they were still pleased with Him and never lodged complaints against Him. This attitude of the gopis is described by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He prays, “My dear Lord Krishna, You may embrace me or trample me under Your feet, or You may make me brokenhearted by never being present before me. Whatever You like, You can do, because You have complete freedom to act. But in spite of all Your dealings, You are my Lord eternally, and I have no other worship able object.” This is the attitude of the gopis toward Krishna.

       Lord Krishna was pleased with them, and since they all desired to have Him as their husband, He told them, “My dear well-behaved girls, I know of your desire for Me and why you worship goddess Katyayani, and I completely approve of your action. Anyone whose full consciousness is always absorbed in Me, even if in lust, is elevated. As a fried seed cannot fructify, so any desire in connection with My loving service cannot produce any fruitive result, as in ordinary karma.”

     There is a statement in the Brahma-samhita: karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhajam. Everyone is bound by his fruitive activities, but the devotees, because they work completely for the satisfaction of the Lord, suffer no reactions. Similarly, the gopis’ attitude toward Krishna, although seemingly lusty, should not be considered to be like the lusty desires of ordinary women. The reason is explained by Krishna Himself. Activities in devotional service to Krishna are transcendental to any fruitive result.

      “My dear gopis,” Krishna continued, “your desire to have Me as your husband will be fulfilled because with this desire you have worshiped goddess Katyayani. I promise you that during the next autumn season you shall be able to meet with Me, and you shall enjoy Me as your husband.”

      You can read my another article “The Story of the Mithila Women” to know the previous life of these Gopis.

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