Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Vraja Mandal Parikrama
06 04 2020 [1:01:33] Katha Day 5
Venue: Theur, PUNE

jaya jaya sri krsna caitanya jay nityananda jay advaita-candra jaya gaura bhakta vrnda

Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki jai

Here we are continuing with our Karunavatar Gaura Bhagvan katha. Ofcourse the topic Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. There are unlimited things to talk about Gauranga. There is Caitanya Caritamrta full of glories of Gauranga and there is Caitanya Bhagvat and Caitanya Mangal and Caitanya Carit, so many scriptures. So many acaryas have sang the glories of Gauranga, Nityananda, Adwaita, Gadadhara, Shrivasadi and gaura-bhakta-vrinda. So we are just taking a drop from the glories of Gauranga. There is a whole ocean, there is a sindhu and we just take a bindu. And we are able to say that drop each day. There is a statement that talks about what is Gauranga known for? Or what is His philosophy?

sri caitanya mahaprabhur-matam-idam

It is the opinion of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and what is that?

aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas tad-dhama vrndavanam

Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommends and He Himself follows that recommendation or He acts as per the recommendation. And what is that? aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas. He is the worshiper of Vrajesa tanaya. He is worshipper of Krsna and not only worships Krsna but He also worships Vrndavan.

ramya kascid upasana vraja-vadhu-varga-ya kalpita

The opinion continues, if you wish to serve the Lord, serve the way the Gopis served or Radharani served. That is the best mood or mode of worship, Gopi bhava.

srimad bhagavatam pramanam amalam

And the scripture for recitation, studying, hearing is Srimad Bhagavatam. Why? Its amala puran, spotless scripture. And then at the end He says, what is the prayojana? What is the goal of life?

Normally we say Purusartha, here it is pum-artho, same thing. prema pum-artho mahan – Attaining the love of Godhead. That is the goal of life, did you all get that? This Caitanya Mahaprabhus opinion and there is nothing superior.

Vrndavan dhama ki Jai

Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu exhibited, demonstrated love for Vrndavan dhama. As soon as He was initiated by Isvara Puri in Gaya, His love was revived and His love for Vrndavan was also revived. And He wanted to run to Vrndavan. Somehow His associates managed to stop Him and bring Him back to Navadvipa from Gaya. Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu undergoes another initiation,sannyasa initiation. Now you name is Sri Krsna Caitanya. And as soon as He took sannyasa initiation He wanted to run to Vrndavan. He thought He is free now, no strings attached. He was ready to fly to Vrndavan. However He was stopped by Sacimata. Sacimata met Him at Shantipur and told Him not to go far stay in Jagannath Puri. So He made Jagannath Puri as His base. He was proposing His associates His travels plan but they would not let him go. But they would not let Him go, they did not want to miss Him. They were not sure how they will survive. So they were postponing Gauranga Mahaprabhu’s departure to Vrndavan. Finally I want to go nothing doing. Then everyone wanted to go with Him, we will also go with you.

But He sais “No only one person goes with Me.”. Balabhadra Bhattarcarya was chosen and just two of then traveled to Mathura, Vrndavan. On the way they went through Jharkhand forest, now its state Jharkhanda. That is where Caitanya Mahaprabhu performed sankirrtana with jungle animal. And the birds in the sky revived their love for the Lord . Lord invested Krsna prema in them and they had forgotten their animalistic dealings. They were acting like pure devotees although in the body of elephant, tiger or deer, monkey or birds. They were thoroughly purified by association of Gauranga Mahaprabhu. And He felt oh this is Vrndavan there is no hatred, no envy , there is only love here. That is Vrndavan Vrndavan dhama ki jai. He thought He is in Vrndavan, although He was not half way through Vrndavan.

Then He proceeds towards Mathura. As soon as He see Mathura from a distance, He immediately offered His sastang pranam to Mathura dhama. He gets up and continues to travel and He enters Mathura dhama He is at Vishram ghat at the banks of Jammuna, Jammuna maiya ki jai.

Lord takes holy dip n Jammuna, although He is Krsna Himself, He is a devotee on pilgrimage so He takes a holy dip. He continues His journey towards Krsna Janmasthan, the birth place of Krsna. Since the time He had left Jagannath puri He had never stopped chanting and dancing. So form Vishram ghat to birth place of Krsna, He had chanted and danced through the town of Mathura. Finally he arrived at the famous temple called Keshav Dev and as He takes darsana of Keshav Dev, drinks the beauty of Keshav Dev He becomes excited and ecstatic and begins dancing like a madman. He does His udanda kirtana. The golden form, long arms jumping high.

aruna vasana subalita prakanda deha

The Lord was covered by a saffron garment. He was large in body and very strongly built. That golden form was dancing by this time many residents of Mathura had arrived. His arrival had become talk of the town. Finally they had come to Keshav Dev temple and saw His beautiful form and His ecstatic dance.They had never seen anything like this in their life. They were enchanted, captivated.

One Brahman called Sanodiya Brahman he was dancing also in front of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Finally as kirtana and dancing is concluded, Sanodiya Brahman who was initiated by Madhvendra Puri previously. He invited Caitanya Mahaaprabhu for bhiksha prasad. Now as Mahaprabhu was guest of the Sanodiya Brahman, all the residents had assembled at Brahmans small dwelling. They all want darsana of Gauranga, we want Gauranga we want darsana. They were climbing up, through the window thwy are trying to get the glimpse. Gauranga Mahaprabhu had no choice then to come out and give them drasana . He said Haribol and the people were also shouting loudly haribol. Everyone was joyful to see and hear Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

Then later on this Sanodiya Brahman took Mahaprabhu to Mathura parikrama. Vishram ghat, birth place of Krsna, there is Rangeshwar Mahadev, Pipaleshwar Mahadev, Bhuteshwar Mahadev, Gokarneshwar Mahadev. The four Shiv temples protecting the four directions of Mathura. Then place where Kamsa was killed, Kamsa tila. Then as He was taken for darsana of Mathura Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu had desire to go on entire Vraja mandal parikrama, of the 12 forests of Vrndavan. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Balabhadra Bhattacarya and the Sanodiya Brahman he is local so he wants to be guide for Caitanya Mahaprabhus parikrama. So they started parikrama from Madhuvan, Talavan, Kumudvan, Bahulavan then comes Vrndavan, Kamavan, Khadirvan. Then crossing of Jammuna is there then Bhadravan, Bhandirvan, Srivan, Lohavana and 12th one is Mahavan.

So Caitanya Mahaprabhu was on tour of these 12 forests of Vrndavan. As they had come to Bahulavan, one time there was a cow called Bahula. Some special pastime had taken place with that cow in Bahulavan. Mahaprabhu is travelling, dancing and singing in Bahulavan.

Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna he
Krsna Keshav Krsna Keshav Krsna Keshav pahi mam

At some distance cows were grazing the cows also noticed Mahaprabhu’s presence. All the cows stopped grazing and ran towards Mahaprabhu. They surrounded Mahaprabhu and they all started licking Him. Mahaprabhu started touching and caressing them, me too me too. Mahaprabhu making His arms long to touch all the cows or He is also sahasra bahu and He is dealing with all the cows simultaneously, Vatsalya bhava. Relationship between cows of Vrndavan and Lord is of Vatsalya bhava. The cows are the mothers and Lord is their vatsa. That’s how they were dealing with Mahaprabhua nd enjoying vatsalya rasa. And as Mahaprabhu was about to go, all the cows want to go with Him. The cowherd man is struggling to keep the cows behind.

So Mahaprabhu proceeds and now its turn of the birds now. Even so many peacocks have landed on the footpath. They are following Mahaprabhu and all the birds in the sky are singing in the 5th note pancham gaya very high pitch, chirping. Then He came across the deer, Mahaprabhu is embracing it and shedding tears so is the deer shedding tears by the touch of Gauranga Mahaprabhu. There are all trees around, Mahaprabhu proceeded forward and He embraced one tree. Before that Mahaprabhu was experiencing how trees were greeting Him. They were shaking their branches. Flower bearing trees were shaking their branches and showering flowers and puspha abhishek was happening of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The fruits trees they also start shaking their branches. And there are all varieties of fruits all around. Caitanya Caritamrita talks of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastime in Vrndavan. Every year in Kartik we also do Vraja mandal parikrama and remember this pastime of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s travel to Vrndavan.

Then trees were thinking our friend is here, we have to greet Him, give Him some patram pushpam phalam toyam, some fruits, some flowers. And that it what they were doing. Mahaprabhu is embracing some of those trees. Then the tree next door says “Me too.” And Caitanya Mahaprabhu runs to embrace that tree and the next tree, me too. Like that Mahaprabhu is running to trees to embrace them. Even trees are certainly, the cows are devotees, the birds are dveotees, the trees are devotees the bees are devotees in Vrndavan. And Lord is reciprocating with them.
The residents of Vrndavan and Mathura also, our Shyamsundar is back,Gaurasundar was in town and they say “Our shyamsundar is here” Shyamsundar is here dealing with Him accordingly.

In Bahulava, Mahaprabhu saw on a branch there were two suka and sarika, male and female parrot. And Mahaprabhu could see they were having some conversation some talk. Mahaprabhu had a desire to hear their dialogue. As Mahaprabhu had desire to hear the birds immediately the birds flew and came in front of Him. Mahaprabhu extended His both arm and both the birds sat on His arms. Ofcourse they were talking of Radha and Krsna. Male parrot was glorifying Krsna trying to prove the supremacy of Krsna. And female parrot was talking in favour of Radharani, no no my Radharani is superior to your Krsna. Very nice dialogue complied in Caitanya Caritamrta by Krsna Dasa Kaviraj.

Male parrot says my Krsna is Madanmohan.
kandarpa-koti-kamaniya-visesa-sobham

He is captivator of millions of kandrapas, Kamadevas are attracted to My Krsna’s beauty so He is known as Madanmohan. Sarika says “But you do not know My Radhika She is Madanmohan Mohini. You Krna may be attracting cupids but my Radhika is Madnmohan Mohini. Some sampling dialogue Sri Citanya Mahaprabhu was able to hear for the pleasure of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Then the birds flew back to their tree and Mahaprabhu continued His parikrama of Vrndavan. He looked at the peacocks, specially He was looking at the neck of peacock. By seeing peacocks complexion al the emotions arouse in Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He was rolling on the ground. There were no bed of roses but ditches and rocks. These two prabhus Balabhadra Bhattarya and Sanodiya Brahman they are running right behind, they both are trying to catch hold of Gauranga after long long time they were successful to catch Gauranga. They cleaned the body of Gauranga and they started calling the names of Lord.

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Finally they succeed in bringing Lord to external consciousness. And as soon He came to external conscious, immediately He jumped and sings,
Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna he Then parikrama continues. It’s confusing, sometimes all 12 forests put together is also Vrndavan. But amongst those 12 forests also there is one forest which gets the name Vrndavan. So Mahaprabhu has travelled through 4 forests and now He is entering fifth forest that is Vrndavan. As He reaches Vrndavan He asking, is anybody aware of where abouts of Radhakunda. Has anyone seen Radhakunda, I am looking for Radhakunda. No one has a clue of Radhakunda, no one has heard of Radhakunda. But they said, we know Aristagram where Aristasura was kille, and the area around was known as Aristagram. . But there are two fields one is Kalibadi and another is Goribadi. One is black and another is whitish. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu goes to these two badis. So Kalibadi refers to Shyamkunda and Gori refers to Radhagori is Radhakunda. Mahaprabhu goes towards the Goribadi and He finds there a small puddle and He sings,

Jai radha jai radhe radhe jai radhe jai sri radhe

He is taking bath there as He was taking bath in a holy kunda. Others were watching. Oh! This is our field, why is this person taking bath there. Ofcourse for Mahaprabhu was it was the most holiest place. And thus Caitanya Mahaprabhu discovered Radhakunda, Radhakunda ki jai.
In those days Vrndavan was neglected because of the Muslim rule. Vrndavan was abandoned they had thrown deities in different kundas. People had forgotten different locations in Vrndavan. Here is Caitanya Mahaprabhu reviving Vrndavan, discovering different pastimes places of Vrndavan. Soon He will send his first batch they would be known as Sad Goswami and before that Lokanath Goswami and Bhugarbha Goswami were also sent there to reestablish the glories of Vrndavan.

Now Mahaprabhu wants to perform parikrama of Govardhan. Jai Govardhan Dhari ki jai. One is Govardhan and another is Govardhana Dhari. Govardhan is hill and Govardhan Dahri is a person who hold Govardhan on his finger. He starts His Gaovardhana parikrama. As He crosses Kusum Sarovar and beyond there He gets the first glimpse of Govardhana shila and He begins running like a lightening is . And He touching and holding tight. He is thinking He is embarcing Govardhan Dhari, the holder of best of the mountains. With His tears He is doing abhishek of those shilas. He rolls in the dust . Then He gets up and continues Govardhana parikrama. While parikrama He was chanting one mantra that was chanted by the Gopis. The slok is part of Venu geet in the 10th Canto.

hantayam adrir abala hari-dasa-varyo
yad rama-krsna-carana-sparasa-pramodah
manam tanoti saha-go-ganayos tayor yat
paniya-suyavasa-kandara-kandamulaih[SB 10. 21.18]

Of all the devotees, this Govardhana Hill is the best! O my friends, this hill supplies Krsna and Balarama, along with Their calves, cows and cowherd friends, with all kinds of necessities — water for drinking, very soft grass, caves, fruits, flowers and vegetables. In this way the hill offers respects to the Lord. Being touched by the lotus feet of Krsna and Balarama, Govardhana Hill appears very jubilant.
This is the Gopis glorified Giriraj. So Mahaprabhu is reciting this while parikrama. Traditionally many times they try to do as they go around they carry a pot with milk and there is hole at the bottom and they pour the milk on the path they consider they are pouring on top of the Giriraja Hill. Mahaprabhu did not have to carry pot, there is lot of eyes oozing out of His lotus eye. And that is how He was doing abhishek of Giriraj. Giriraj Govardhan ki jai.

Like that mahaprabhu traveled from forest to forest there is much description in Caitanya Caritamrta. Finally He reaches Mathura. Then he decides to spend time at Akrura ghat that is in between Mathura town and Vrndavan. So it was a silent place and He could do His bhajan there. From there He would places like Imalitala.

So one time Mahaprabhu was sitting under that tamarind tree and chanting,

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

And He becomes Krsna conscious and not only Krsna conscious but He started looking as Shyamsundar , bluish complexion. Mahaprabhu spent some time at Akrura ghat. But there were difficulty in sitting at bank of Jamuna and chanting. He would go in trance and few time He had fell in the river and Balabhadra Bhattacarya had hard time in catching Him. So it was decided that it was time to go back, leave Vrndavan. And around that there was Maghamela at the confluence of Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati at Allahabad. Now it’s called Prayag, every year there is a festival. So it was decided that He has to return to Jagannath Puri. That was His base but on the they will stop at Prayag like that Mahaprabhu having completed His Vraja mandla darsana, Vraja mandal parikrama He left for Jagannath Puri vai Prayag then to Varanasi and then to Jagannath Puri dhama ki jai.