Vrindavan
Vrinda is the sacred ‘Tulsi’. Van meaning forest. Vrindavan, of Tulsi groves
Krishna is the origin of the Vishnu Tatwa. But we don’t approach Krishna directly, we approach him through
Radha. With her grace, we can attain Krishna consciousness.
My Jyotisha Guru, KN Rao Sir, a devotee of Krishna, always says, Shree Radha is the ‘Ahladini’ shakti of Krishna. Shree Radha is the pleasure potency of Krishna, the very essence of his ecstatic being. In the inter-linkage between the Dusha Mahavidyas and Lord Vishnu’s Dashavtaras, Lord Krishna is equated with Ma Kali…Krishna Kali, dark as the night, dark as the waters of the Yamuna. In Garg Samhita, in the Vrindavan khand, it is mentioned that Krishna in Goloka requests Shree Radha to appear on earth, she says she won’t be happy without the Yamuna and the Govardhan parvat. Krishna says, he has already sent Vraja dhama along with Govardhana and the Yamuna to the west of Bharata varsha, in Salmali-dvipa, where Nanda Dronachal’s wife will give birth to the Govardhana hill.
Govardhana is in Mathura. A parikrama is of great merit. These are some temples in Vrindavan, which should be on everybody’s itinerary, currently devotees just go to the more advertised temples – missing the real beauty.
Radha Raman, Radha Vallabha, Madan Mohan, Nidhi Van, Seva Kunj, Rang ji, Govind Dev ji, Katyayini Peetha, Garuda Govinda, Chamunda Ma, Radha Damodar, Meera Mandir,Lala Babu temple, Banke Bihari, Tulsi Ram Mandir – where Tulsidas worshipped the Lord and he appeared as Lord Krishna. Now Tulsidas was an ardent devotee of Rama, he said he would bow his head only if the Lord appeared, not with a flute but with a dhanush, as dhanurdhari Rama. And he had a vision of Lord Rama. Gopeshwar Mahadev, where Shiva dresses as a Gopi to witness the rasleela of Krishna. Remember this ‘Raasleela’, is esoteric – this is not about adultery or promiscuity. Krishna’s raasleela is subliminal, it is happening at the sahasra chakra, the crown chakra and the kapala kundala rises and consciousness permeates the 16000 kalas . No wonder Krishna is supposed to have 16000 queens or Ranis. The halo that you see in the pictures of Gods and Goddeses, is nothing but a visual representation of the highest consciousness which has permeated every point/ every cell in the highest chakra. These are the gopis, the nityas, the kalas. Krishna’s leela is extraordinaire. It requires ‘chaitanya’ within to understand Krishna, a base intellect is not capable of deciphering the cosmic dance of Radha and Krishna.
There is a chaurasi kosa (84 kosas or 252 km – through vrindavan, the 12 vanas and 24 upvanas) yatra that one can undertake.. And if one is not able to do that, then do the parikrama of Vrindavan – ananda unparalleled. There are other powerful temples, a bit far, from the main town – Radha Mansarovar, Bansi vata, Bhandeer Vana, Lakshmi Narayana temple. Devraha Baba’s samadhi is at Vrindavan. And Neem Karoli baba’s too.
A yogi of great spiritual merit, Vishnu Giri ji, Baba, as we lovingly call him, once told me, ‘You will visit many tirthas, stay at some for a bit longer, you will do your sadhana in the mountains. But eventually, in the latter part of your life, you will come to stay at Vrindavan – mark my words.’
My Jyotisha Guru, KN Rao Sir, a devotee of Krishna, always says, Shree Radha is the ‘Ahladini’ shakti of Krishna. Shree Radha is the pleasure potency of Krishna, the very essence of his ecstatic being. In the inter-linkage between the Dusha Mahavidyas and Lord Vishnu’s Dashavtaras, Lord Krishna is equated with Ma Kali…Krishna Kali, dark as the night, dark as the waters of the Yamuna. In Garg Samhita, in the Vrindavan khand, it is mentioned that Krishna in Goloka requests Shree Radha to appear on earth, she says she won’t be happy without the Yamuna and the Govardhan parvat. Krishna says, he has already sent Vraja dhama along with Govardhana and the Yamuna to the west of Bharata varsha, in Salmali-dvipa, where Nanda Dronachal’s wife will give birth to the Govardhana hill.
Govardhana is in Mathura. A parikrama is of great merit. These are some temples in Vrindavan, which should be on everybody’s itinerary, currently devotees just go to the more advertised temples – missing the real beauty.
Radha Raman, Radha Vallabha, Madan Mohan, Nidhi Van, Seva Kunj, Rang ji, Govind Dev ji, Katyayini Peetha, Garuda Govinda, Chamunda Ma, Radha Damodar, Meera Mandir,Lala Babu temple, Banke Bihari, Tulsi Ram Mandir – where Tulsidas worshipped the Lord and he appeared as Lord Krishna. Now Tulsidas was an ardent devotee of Rama, he said he would bow his head only if the Lord appeared, not with a flute but with a dhanush, as dhanurdhari Rama. And he had a vision of Lord Rama. Gopeshwar Mahadev, where Shiva dresses as a Gopi to witness the rasleela of Krishna. Remember this ‘Raasleela’, is esoteric – this is not about adultery or promiscuity. Krishna’s raasleela is subliminal, it is happening at the sahasra chakra, the crown chakra and the kapala kundala rises and consciousness permeates the 16000 kalas . No wonder Krishna is supposed to have 16000 queens or Ranis. The halo that you see in the pictures of Gods and Goddeses, is nothing but a visual representation of the highest consciousness which has permeated every point/ every cell in the highest chakra. These are the gopis, the nityas, the kalas. Krishna’s leela is extraordinaire. It requires ‘chaitanya’ within to understand Krishna, a base intellect is not capable of deciphering the cosmic dance of Radha and Krishna.
There is a chaurasi kosa (84 kosas or 252 km – through vrindavan, the 12 vanas and 24 upvanas) yatra that one can undertake.. And if one is not able to do that, then do the parikrama of Vrindavan – ananda unparalleled. There are other powerful temples, a bit far, from the main town – Radha Mansarovar, Bansi vata, Bhandeer Vana, Lakshmi Narayana temple. Devraha Baba’s samadhi is at Vrindavan. And Neem Karoli baba’s too.
A yogi of great spiritual merit, Vishnu Giri ji, Baba, as we lovingly call him, once told me, ‘You will visit many tirthas, stay at some for a bit longer, you will do your sadhana in the mountains. But eventually, in the latter part of your life, you will come to stay at Vrindavan – mark my words.’