It was announced that a pilgrimage to Brindavan would be held between 13th and 21st of September, 2008. Having heard so much about this great place from our Guru Maharaj on various different occasions, I immediately registered for the tour. I booked my train tickets and was on board the train.

Let me take you along with me, as I experience the divine bliss of the Yatra….

Day - 1    Day - 2    Day - 3   Day - 4   Day - 5   

   DAY - 4  (Thursday,Sep 18)
 

This day was completely dedicated to visiting the holy places within Vrindavan.

We started off around 8 30 am after breakfast. The entire distance during the day was covered by foot. Rickshaws were arranged for those who preferred it. It was a wonderful experience for the team streaming through the narrow lanes of Vrindavan with Sri Sri Swamiji’s life-size portrait, chanting the Nama all the while. To an onlooker, it seemed as if a procession was on, led by Sri Sri Swamiji, devotees following Him on foot and a few human-pedaled rickshaws following them.

Brahmasri Mantramurthi Bhagavata spent the entire day with us, explaining the importance of all the shrines we visited today. The first destination of the day was Kathyayani Devi Mandir. This is adjacent to our camp location.

It has been said that this is where all the Gopis observed austerities during the winter (‘hemanta ritu’) in order to attain the Lord. This temple has stood here, since the times of Sri Krishna. All of us listened to the greatness of the Devi from Sri Mantramurthi Bhagavata and had a very nice and disciplined darshan there. It is also noteworthy that the ‘patasala’ that is planned to be built is close to this temple.

From here we proceeded to the ‘Gnan Kudhi’, the place where the conversation between Uddhava Swami and Gopis is said to have taken place, which turned Uddhava Swami a Prema Bhakta, the and supreme form of Bhakti. The soul stirring ‘Bramara Geetham’ (the beautiful ballad of the gopis addressing the bees) in Srimad Bhagavatam was born here. Reciting the same verses from the Bhagavatam, all of us prayed for more and more Guru Bhakti and ‘Krishna Prema’.

We were told that the ‘Mrita Sarira’ (mortal remains) of whoever passes away in the land of Vrindavan is brought to this place and the holy dust from here is placed on the chest before it is set ablaze. The underlying belief is that, if at all the soul is destined for rebirth, it is sure to be born in this very holy land of Vrindavan, in one form or the other! This indeed has been the prayer of so many great devotees of the Lord!

From ‘Gnan Kudhi’, we set off to ‘Tulsi Mandir’ where Goswami Tulsidas who composed the Ram Charit Maanas is said to have had the darshan of his ‘ishta deiva’ (personal deity) – Lord Rama. His unsurpassed love for Rama and the boundless grace of Krishna culminated into his Rama Darshan in Vrindavan.

Sri Gopeswar Mandir is an important destination in Vrindavan for every devotee. Once, on hearing the glories and the mesmerizing form of Lord Krishna from Sage Narada, Lord Parameswara descended from His Abode Kailas, to Vrindavan to have the darshan of Bala Gopal and enjoy His beauty. Clad in his usual attire, Sri Parameswara entered the palace of Nanda Baba and Yasoda Ma requested him not to do so lest the child could get frightened by His appearance. But the child would not eat or play and only cry bitterly until it was left to be with Parameswara. Parameswara also transforms Himself into a Gopi and participates in ‘Nitya Rasothsava’ and in accordance to this, Lord Parameswara here as Gopeswar is also dressed in ‘Gopi alankar’.

Then we moved to Vamsivat, which has the ‘Kadamba’ tree, upon which Sri Krishna used to sit and play His wonderful flute alluring the Gopis for Raas Lila. We were thrilled to know that the it is not only the place that has lasted more than five thousand years, but also the very same ‘Kadamba’ tree stood there as a testimony for us! A few kirtans were sung and ‘Venu Gitam’ from Srimad Bhagavatam was recited.

The next in the agenda was the Radha RamaN mandir. Sri Gopala Bhattaswami, a direct disciple of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was worshipping a Dhamodhara ‘Salagrama’ given by Sri Mahaprabhu. Due to his intense longing for a deity with a form, he could not derive full happiness from the worship of a ‘Salagrama’, which has no definitive form. One fine day, when he was performing pooja at the banks of river Yamuna the formless ‘Salagrama’ took the beautiful form of a ‘Venu Vaadana Murti’ (a deity playing the divine flute) which is named ‘Radha RamaNa’. The pooja routine of this temple is filled with ‘Raasikya Bhaava’ (filled with emotions of admiration and enjoyment). The pooja over here is not merely a ritual but is filled with love and affection just as anybody would love a tender child in a house.

As we entered the temple, it was time for Radha Ramana to have his Noon ‘bhojan’ and hence the curtain was drawn forbidding darshan. When we started singing Bhajans clapping our hands, the main priest of the temple immediately forbade us from clapping as it would disturb Radha RamaNji from having his bhojan peacefully! This is only a sample of a ‘Bhava’ there.

From Radha RamaN mandir, we proceeded to Nidhuvan, where Sri Krishna plays with Radha Rani and other Sakhis. This is yet another place where Sri Krishna performed ‘alankara’ (decoration) of Radha Rani. The place is with full of bushes and lot of monkeys.
On the lighter side, it was amazing to see how the monkeys tactfully stole away the belongings of the fellow-devotees and not part with it until something edible was given to them!

The holy Samadhi of Sri Haridas is located inside Nidhuvan. One can also see the place where Lord Banke Bihari appeared on the lap of Sri Haridas when He was singing Krishna Kirtans.

From here we went to the place where Meerabai stayed. Sri Manthramurthi Bhagavathar made the heart of everyone melt while narrating the story of Meerabai. We had dharshan of the very Giridhari worshipped by Meerabai and the very salagram which came into being by the miraculous conversion of a snake intended for killing her by her husband. We all felt very happy to know that the priest of the temple is an ordent devotee of our Swamiji who is keeping a photo of our Swamiji in the temple a precious possession as he had it from the hands of Sri Swamiji himself. The priest of the temple happily remembered the day when our Swamiji danced in bhava there while singing the kirtans of Meerabai. He feels blessed to have dharshan of our Swamiji in his lifetime. He inquisitively enquires, whenever someone from our satsang visits the temple as to when he can have the dharshan of Sri Swamiji at Vrindaban again.

After lunch in our place and a short rest, we commenced the afternoon session from Sri Govindji mandir which is a very old temple in the Vrindavan. The temple was built in red stones and is an architectural marvel.

Then we had darshan at Radha Dhamodhar Mandir before proceeding to Banke Bihari temple. The temple is situated in a conspicuous lane amidst the shopping area of Vrindaban. This is the place where Meerabai offered all her princely possessions, took to the austerity of a Sanyasin and lived a Krishna-Bhava-filled life.

At the Banke Bihari Temple! There is change in ‘Alankara’ in every six minutes for Banke Bihari. The deity is dark in colour and astonishingly beautiful. A few of Sri Sri Swamiji’s kirtans were sung for a while. Devotees also took some time out to do their shopping in the bazaar.

We also had dharshan of a great sadhu Sri Hridhayananda Baba who is a centenarian and is a Bhaava Bhakta. He lives adjacent to Radha Dhamodhar mandir. Baba looked at the photograph of our Guru Maharaj for a long time and then quoting from Chaitanya Charitamrita, said, that Mahaprabhu will be born again and again and the collosal, yet noblest of tasks – that of Nama Prachar will definitely be fulfilled. After an initial bout of reluctance, the Baba later insisted on taking a photo of himself with a picture of our Swamiji in his hands.

When some of us sought his blessings for Prema Bhakti towards our Guru, he immediately quipped, ‘Abide by your Guru’s words. Prema Bhakti will follow automatically!’

The day ended with wonderful North-Indian ‘thaali’ for dinner.