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….

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   DAY - 5 (Friday,Sep 19)
 

The day was scheduled for Vrindaban Parikrama. We started off by 9 am and reached Lalitha Bagh. It is here that Sri Krishna used to rest leaving His cattle at the banks of Yamuna for its pastures. Radha Rani along with ‘Ashta Sakhis’ (Her 8 friends) used to serve the Lord at this beautiful and serene garden.

I found that the Sadhus here strictly adhere to certain austerities. They apply the holy sand from the Yamuna riverbed all over their face and lead a dispassionate yet, bhava-filled life. They spend their entire time singing the glories of the Lord, doing seva and are simply immersed in the bliss of Vraj Vasa (living in Brindavan). The importance of the place was narrated by Brahmasri Mantramurthi Bhagavata. Then we had the darshan of the harathi for the Lord during which time all the Sadhus living there sing the customary prayers, the sight of which was wonderful.

When we were about to continue our Parikrama, it seemed as if Krishna had other plans for us. It suddenly began to pour cats and dogs. We returned to Haridev Mandir where we heard an astounding narration of the entire Parikrama Marg by Sri Mantramurthi Bhagavata and Sri Balaji Bhagavata. The lecture, beautifully intertwined with apt kirtans and slokas and awe-inspiring anecdotes, took us to a different plane of divine bliss and we all felt as if we were really witnessing the Lord performing lilas in the respective lila Sthals.

Let me share in a nutshell, what we heard from the Bhagavatas:

Dhruva Ghat is found next to Lalitha Bagh in the Parikrama Marg and it is here that Bhagavan gave darshan to the tender child Dhruva, who with the benign blessings of Sage Narada, headed for a penance as advised by his mother Suneethi in the wake of his own father, listening to the words of the arrogant stepmother Suruchi, depriving him of love.

‘Yagnapathni Uddharan’ is the place where Sri Krishna blessed the Brahmin wives by accepting their food offerings and by giving darshan to them as ‘Rajagopala’. It is said in Bhagavatam that the spouses of the brahmin wives who were over-involved in religious austerities without understanding the purpose later realized their mistake in neglecting the call of the Lord and were in praise of their wives for their love and affection for Krishna.

Kaliya Ghat is a small pond where water from Yamuna drains into. It is here that Krishna shattered the ego of the great snake Kaliya whose existence poisoned the atmosphere and hence killed many cattle and people of Vrindavan. Krishna wisely used the occasion for punishing Kaliya and at the same time blessed the Vrajavasis with the sight of His wonderful dance.

Dhavaanala Ghat is where Krishna drank the forest fire when an Asura sent by Kamsa came in the form of fire to set the entire Vrindavan ablaze. An incarnation of love and tender devotion that the Lord is, He did not want to pain the hearts of the Vrajavasis by letting them witness this action and hence asked them to close their eyes for a moment while drinking the forest fire!

‘Prathama Samaagam’ is where the divine couple Radha and Krishna met each other at the Vraj boomi. ‘Imly Ghat’ is where Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu rested for a while during his Vrindavan Yatra.

‘Shringaar Ghat’ is the place where the divine couple Radha and Krishna decorated each other with fragrant flowers, sandal paste, perfumes and ornaments.

‘Cheer Ghat’ is the place where Krishna as a child playfully and tactfully robbed the Gopis of their garments in order grace them with Krishna-Anubhava in the guise of teaching them a lesson for deviating from Dharma.

‘Nauka Vihar’ is the place where Krishna played a mischievous prank on Radha and the other Gopis, feigning as a boatman asking them to board a boat which developed a hole in it during the sail. As the water gushed inside, the boat started sinking and all the Gopis cried for help whilst Krishna started swimming across! In order to come out of their plight, they all fell upon Krishna and caught hold of Him and to everybody’s awe, the water level there was only knee-deep which made the Gopis to show an unserious but an apparent anger towards Krishna while inwardly relishing His yet another unique mischief!

'Kesi Ghat' is the place where Krishna killed a demon called Kesi who came in the form of a wild horse that caused great devastation to Vrindavan. This place is considered to be holiest amongst the several holy places in the Vrindavan and is said to be capable of erasing all sins.

‘Dheera Sameera Ghat’ is the place where Krishna played his flute producing melodious, soulful tunes signaling Radha Rani (comprehendible only by her !) for Raas lila.

One of Sri Swamiji’s kirtan goes as, ‘Your mind is verily Brindavan where Divine Lilas happen day in and day out, and that these Lilas grow everyday with the grace of the Guru and culminate in the communion with the Divine’.
Truly, being in Brindavan and listening to the divine glories of the Lord, we could fathom the depth of Sri Sri Swamiji’s words.

When we left the mantap, our hearts were filled with inexplicable divine bliss of Krishna-Anubhava.

After lunch, we were requested to come with packed bags to facilitate departure for Mathura from where we are supposed to board the train.
When we assembled in front of the Mantap of Haridev Mandir in the evening, there was a nice lecture on ‘Raas Lila’.

Further, all those who were responsible for organizing this memorable Yatra were honoured.

Amidst Mahamantra Kirtan, all of us boarded the buses, which soon left the holy city headed towards Agra railway station.

The words on every one’s lips were in admiration of the culture and devotion of the Vrajavaasis and expressing thankfulness to the noble souls who have meticulously preserved, over ages, the massive shrines and temples of Vrindavan Dham, for our sake.

Heart of hearts, they carried cherished memories of their trip, which only is owing to the sheer grace of the Guru and Bhagavan. ‘When will I come to Vrindavan Dham again with our Swamiji?’ was the prime question in their hearts.

Once Sri Swamiji said, ‘To some extent, it might even be possible to bring the devotion and Bhakti found in Vrindavan to our people. But it is difficult to adapt the simplicity that they practice in life!’

While I am on my train back to my hometown down in Tamil Nadu, and after I return to my regular routines on Monday, and ever after, I will certainly cherish these the divine experience that I savoured during these 5 days...

 -- A Vraja Yaatri