Vrndavana Land of No Return

Kusum Sarvara

Vrndavana – Land of No Return
by Brahmananda Swami
Excerpted from Back to Godhead Magazine 1975 Vol.10, No. 11

I once visited Vrndavana, India with His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. As I accompanied him on his daily walk one morning we suddenly came upon a particularly beautiful spot. The cool sands were thick with foliage; the tall trees full of singing birds. As the sun brightened the clear morning sky, peacocks filled the air with their peculiar call.

Srila Prabhupada looked over his shoulder and said to me, “So, Brahmananda, this is Vrndavana. How do you like it?”

“It’s wonderful, Srila Prabhupada,” was all I could reply. I felt that he was actually revealing the glories of Vrndavana to me even though I had no particular spiritual qualification.

Vrndavana is the place where the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna appeared five thousand years ago. Lord Krsna descended there from His own spiritual planet, Goloka Vrndavana to attract us by displaying His supernatural pastimes. Srila Prabhupada has explained that when Krsna descends to the material world, this same Vrndavana descends with Him just as an entourage accompanies an important personage. Because when Krsna comes His land also comes, Vrndavana is not considered to exist in the material world. Therefore devotees take shelter of the Vrndavana in India, for it is considered to be a replica of the original Goloka Vrndavana.

Śrī Śrī Rādhā-kripa-kaṭākṣa-stava-rāja

Śrī Śrī Rādhā-kripa-kaṭākṣa-stava-rāja

The Prayer for the Merciful Sidelong Glance of Sri Radha

(An Appeal to Śīmatī Rādhāraṇi from the Ūrdhvāmnāya-tantra)
Spoken by Lord Śiva to Parvati

Translated by Kuśakratha dāsa

It is also known as: “The King of Prayers which Petitions the Most Merciful Side-long Glance from Srimati Radharani”. This exceptional prayer is composed in a lovely meter and daily sung in a charming melody by many Brijabasis (Vrindavan residents).

Full prayer plus a Free PDF Download follows;

The Spiritual Sky

click on image to enlarge

The liberated living entities seek that place where there are no material miseries. The Bhāgavatam says:

samāśritā ye padapallava-plavaṁ
mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ
bhāvambudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ
paraṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām
(Bhāg. 10.14.58)

“For one who has accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Mukunda or the giver of mukti, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf’s hoofprint. Param padam, or the place where there are no material miseries, or Vaikuṇṭha, is his goal, not the place where there is danger in every step of life.” (From purport to Bg. 2.51)

Full verse and purport

Sri Hamsadutta

Sri Hamsadutta
By Srila Rupa Goswami

Text 1

dukulam bibhrano dalita-haritala-dyuti-bharam
java-pushpa-shreni-ruci-rucira-padambuja-talah
tamala-shyamango dara-hasita-lilancita-mukhah
paranandabhogah sphuratu hridi me ko ‘pi purushah

dukulam-silk garments; bibhranah-wearing; dalita-manifested; haritala-yellow; dyuti-effulgence; bharam-abundance; java-java; pushpa-flowers; shreni-series; ruci-with the splendor; rucira-resplendent; pada-feet; ambuja-lotus; talah-surface; tamala-tamala tree; shyama-dark; angah-form; dara-gentle; hasita-smile; lila-playfully; ancita-bent; mukhah-mouth; para-supreme; ananda-bliss; abhugah-enjoyment; sphuratu-may be manifest; hridi-in the heart; me-of me; kah api-someone; purushah-the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

May a certain blissful person in splendid yellow silk garments, the soles of His lotus feet glorious as a host of red roses, His form dark as a tamala tree, and His mouth playfully curved in a gentle smile, appear in my heart.

Text 2

yada yato gopi-hridaya-madano nanda-sadanan
mukundo gandinyas tanayam anuvindan madhu-purim
tadamankshic cinta-sariti ghana-ghurna paricayair
agadhayam badha-maya-payasi radha virahini

yada-when; yatah-went; gopi-of the gopis; hrdaya-in the heart; madanah-cupid; nanda-of Nanda Maharaja; sadanat-from the house; mukundah-Lord Mukunda; gandinyah-of Gandini-devi. tanayam-the son (Akrura); anuvindan-meeting; madhu-purim-the city of Mathura; tada-then; amankshit-longed; cinta-of anxiety; sariti-in the river; ghana-intense; ghurna-movements; paricayaih-with an abundance; agadhayam-very deep; badha-pain; maya-consisting of; payasi-in the water; radha-Shrimati Radharani; virahini-separated from Krishna.

The Essence of Everything is the Supreme Lord

Sometimes when I am sitting and reading from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad Bhagavatam, a verse or sentence from the purport just jumps out from the page almost like it is in 3D, and I catch a glimpse of what the Spiritual World must be like. It is beyond even my imagination, but sometimes I catch a glimmer of light, through a transcendental window, by the grace of my spiritual master His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

…The transcendental abode of the Lord where the trees are all desire trees and the buildings are made of touchstone. The Lord Govinda is engaged there in herding the surabhi cows as His natural occupation.

“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs or gopīs.” (Bs 5.29)

…The Lord Govinda is engaged there in herding the surabhi cows as His natural occupation. And those who are artists, overtaken by the beautiful creation, should better see to the beautiful face of the Lord for complete satisfaction. The face of the Lord is the embodiment of beauty. What they call beautiful nature is but His smile, and what they call the sweet songs of the birds are but specimens of the whispering voice of the Lord.

Transcendental Realm known as Goloka

I worship that transcendental seat, known as Śvetadvīpa where as loving consorts the Lakṣmīs in their unalloyed spiritual essence practice the amorous service of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa as their only lover; where every tree is a transcendental purpose tree; where the soil is the purpose gem, all water is nectar, every word is a song, every gait is a dance, the flute is the favorite attendant, effulgence is full of transcendental bliss and the supreme spiritual entities are all enjoyable and tasty, where numberless milk cows always emit transcendental oceans of milk; where there is eternal existence of transcendental time, who is ever present and without past or future and hence is not subject to the quality of passing away even for the space of half a moment. That realm is known as Goloka only to a very few self-realized souls in this world. (Bs. 5.56)

Full Sanskrit Text and Transliteration

The Cintāmaṇi Jewel of Beauty

Śri Rūpa-cintāmaṇi
by Srila Vishvanath Cakravarti Thakura

The 32 verses of “The Cintāmaṇi Jewel of Beauty” plus a free pdf download

Gopi-janas / Pure Lovers of Krsna

…Kṛṣṇa’s only business is satisfying the devotees, and their only business is satisfying Kṛṣṇa. This is the reciprocation of love… The Supreme Personality of Godhead, wanders on the banks of the Yamunā to please the gopīs, the cowherd boys, the birds, the bees, and the cows and calves. These are not ordinary birds, bees, cows, calves, or men; they have all reached the summit of self-realization and thus, after many, many lives, have attained a position whereby they can play with Kṛṣṇa. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement can enable everyone to go to Kṛṣṇaloka and become Kṛṣṇa’s associate as a friend, servant, father, or mother. Kṛṣṇa is agreeable to take any of these positions in relation to His devotee.

Peacock in Garden

We ran across this image one day while searching for garden images. Liked it very much and thought we would share it with our readers. Thanks to unknown artist.

The Holy Places of Vrndavan

The Holy Places of Vrndavan
by Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami

1)

jaya rādhe, jaya kṛṣṇa, jaya vṛndāvan
śrī govinda, gopīnātha, madana-mohan

jaya rādhe jaya kṛṣṇa–all glories to Srī Srī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa; jaya vṛndāvana–glories to the transcendental realm of Vṛndāvana; śrīgovinda gopīnātha madana-mohana–glories to the three presiding Deities of Vṛndāvana : Govinda, Gopīnātha and Madana-mohana.

All glories to Radha and Krsna and the divine forest of Vrndavana. All glories to the three presiding Deities of Vrndavana–Sri Govinda, Gopinatha, and Madana-mohana.

2)

śyama-kunḍa, rādhā-kuṇḍa, giri-govardhan
kālindi jamunā jaya, jaya mahāvan

śyāma-kuṇḍa–glories to the personal lake of śyāma; rādhā-kuṇḍa–glories to the personal lake of Rādhā; giri-govardhan–glories to Govardhana Hill; kālindī yamunā jaya–glories to the Yamunā river, known as Kālindī, the daughter of the Kalinda mountain; jaya mahāvana–glories to the great forest of Mahāvana, the place of Kṛṣṇa’s childhood pastimes.

All glories to Syama-kunda, Radha-kunda, Govardhana Hill, and the Yamuna River (Kalindi). All glories to the great forest known as Mahavana, where Krsna and Balarama displayed all of Their childhood pastimes.