Vrindavana Travelogue

Dear devotees,

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Srimati Radharani, I had an opportunity to visit Sri Dham Vrindavana during the September of this year. Although my visit was very brief, I somehow managed to get into the deeper forests of Vraja for darshana. This time, I spent most of my time only in Vrindavana, chanting and having Darshan of the Deities there. I remember once, a devotee saying to me that one should always pray to the Deities of Sri Dham Vrindavana since They are all the Deities who have been worshipped by Gosvamis and pure devotees. They have enacted many pastimes with Their devotees. They are so merciful and powerful. Therefore we should always pray to Them to give us krishna-bhakti and as well as devotion to serve the mission of Srila Prabhupada, our beloved spiritual master.

Although I have take many pictures on my last visits to the holy land, I have not shared many pictures with devotees. But this time I thought I would share my images with the devotees since they also could be benefitted by having Darshan of the land of Vrindavana.

Always before entering the Vraja Dham we should always try to remember the importance of Vraja. Then our respect to this holy land and our stay here will be more spiritually fruitful. Srila Prabhupada says as follows about this transcendental land:

In Brahma-samhita the transcendental land of Vrndavana is described as being always spiritual. That spiritual land is populated by goddesses of fortune, who are known as gopis. These are all beloved of Krsna, and Krsna is the only lover of all those gopis. The trees of that land are kalpa-vrksa, wish fulfilling trees, and one can have anything he wants from them. The land is made of touchstone and the water of nectar. In that land all speech is song, and all walking is dancing, and one's constant companion is the flute. Everything is self-luminous, just like the sun in this material world. The human form of life is meant for understanding this transcendental land of Vrndavana, and one who is fortunate should cultivate knowledge of Vrndavana and its residents.(TLC 31: The Supreme Perfection)

Srila Rupa Gosvami further advises, tisthan vraje: one should live in Vrndavana or any part of Vrajabhumi. Vrajabhumi, or the land of Vrndavana, is supposed to be eighty-four krosas in area. One krosa equals two square miles. When one makes Vrndavana his residence, he should take shelter of an advanced devotee there. In this way one should always think of Krsna and His pastimes.(NoI: verse 8)

My dear Uddhava, Vrndavana is the land of rivers, forests and cows. Here the vibration of the flute was heard, and Krsna, along with His elder brother, Sri Balarama, enjoyed the atmosphere in our company. Thus the environment of Vrndavana constantly reminds us of Krsna and Balarama. On the land of Vrndavana are the impressions of His footprints, the residence of the goddess of fortune, and because of such signs we cannot forget Krsna. (KB 47: Delivery of the Message of Krsna to the Gopis)

When He comes into this universe, He, He is seen in that tract of land which is called Vrndavana. Therefore that tract of land is so sacred. Lord Caitanya describes by His mission, aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas tad dhama vrndavanam. Aradhya, the Supreme Lord, Krsna, is worshipable Deity, and His dhama, and His headquarters -- and His dhama means headquarters-Vrndavana. Therefore Vrndavana is so important. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 20.385-394 -- New York, January 1, 1967)

This time, my shooting of Vrindavana was only the shooting of Deity images. As I would have Darshan of Sri Sri Radha Shyamsundar and Sri Sri Radha Ramana, my hand would immediately go to fetch my camera. Amazingly beautiful Deities. So beautiful I am out of words to describe Their beauty. The only thing I could do is to pray to Them and nothing else.

After visiting the temples, my agenda would be to have Darshan of Sri Sri Banke Bihariji and have prasadam in the Banke Bihari market since that is my favourite place for having Lassi and other types. Perhaps this is the best place in whole of Vrindavana where you could get the best lassi, hot alu-tikki, golgappe, chole, etc..

I have uploaded the photos in the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/aishinice/RealisticReflectionTheVrindavanaPart03#