Radhanatha Swami story from the last day of Vrindavan parikrama

[krsna 3]

Radhanatha Swami story from the last day of

Vrindavan parikrama

 

 

Hare Krishna Prabhus,

 

PAMHO AGTSP.

 

Hari Sauri Prabhu passed this Radhanath Swami story on

to share with everyone

in Prabhupada Village.

It's a bit long, but certainly worth the reading.

 

Haribol,

 

Today is the last day of our yatra. On the request of

devotees we have come to

this place. It is a very unknown part of Vrindavana

this particular temple. It

is not to be found in any of the parikrama books. We

only are aware of these

deities Sri Sri Radha Gopijanavallabha. The mercy They

have personally bestowed

upon myself.

 

Yesterday devotees had a vote, by democratic process;

conclusion was we come

here today.

 

We understand Krishna by the grace of Krishna's

devotees. We cannot approach

Krishna directly. It is by His own sweet will that He

has arranged. Krishna

wants to give credit to His devotees, He wants to

bestow His mercy through His

devotees. It is only through the mercy of Vaisnavas

that we can understand what

is Krishna, what is the Holy name, what is Vrindavana,

what is the purpose of

life beyond just greed and egoism.

 

I would like to briefly narrate a few personal

encounters in my life in

relationship to Sri Sri Radha-Gopijanavallabha - with

your permission.

 

In 1971 I was a devotee of Lord Siva, I was travelling

from the area

Pashupatinatha to Amarnatha for a pilgrimage in month

of August. Very crowded

third class train, didn't sit down for about 40 hours.

Finally the train

stopped and I wanted to somehow or other to move, so I

crawled over people's

heads, somehow I pulled myself out of the window,

because I had these

attachments. The train started moving and I tried to

get back in and it was so

very crowded, no window to fit a human being inside.

 

So the train left and I was in this unknown place. I

asked a sadhu on the

railway platform - where is this. He said this is

Mathura, today is Janmastami!

 

So he took me to Janmasvana where I spent the whole

day. It was very crowded

and very joyful, although I really didn't know who is

Krishna or what is

Krishna so much. And then at midnight everyone went to

Dwarkadwishta. Bathed in

Visnu-ghata. So I was thinking actually that night I

stayed, although I was in

Mathura, in a temple of Lord Siva with a babaji named

Sivananda. And I was

thinking I will go to Vrindvana for about 3 days. Then

I will go to Amarnatha.

 

So I started walking down the road and a bus saw me on

the road between

Vrindavana and Mathura near fields and it stopped and

picked me up. They said I

did not have to pay anything. So I went on the bus and

then I arrived and I

just asked someone is there a river here - Yamuna,

because I knew there was

Yamuna. So they pointed, so I was just walking toward

Yamuna because that was

my tradition - whatever holy place I would just go to

whatever holy river was

there and just sleep under tree and do meditation. So

as I was walking and one

Vraja-vasi approached me and said to me; "oh you have

come from foreign land."

Because foreigners were very rare at that time. There

was no ISKCON at that

time.

 

He said you have come to Krishna's home, we are

Krishna's family, you are our

guest let me give you some food. So he took me to some

Vraja-vasi's house and

had prasad, nice prasad, and then he said where are

you staying, I said on the

river. He took me to one ashram of one blind sadhu,

then I met him and he said

let him stay here and he said yes, but still I went to

the Yamuna. So on the

3rd day when I was going to leave in the morning from

Mathura to the railway

station. I woke up with typhoid fever, so I was very

very sick. And some of

Srila Prabhupada's godbrothers were very kind to me.

And after I was in this

Rama-Krishna charitable hospital for about 2 weeks.

Laying in a room with 40

dying people.

 

They gave me shelter in one Gaudiya matha for some

time and I was studying

there. The doctor told me I had to wait at least 2

months before I could travel

or I would die. My body was so weak and emaciated from

the way I was living. By

the end of the 2 months I came to the conclusion that

of all the theologies,

philosophies, religions and spiritual paths that I

have experienced there is

nothing higher, nothing as sweet, nothing more

beautiful then the religion of

Vrindavana. Devotion to Sri Sri Radharani and Sri

Krishna. So I decided to

spend the rest of my life in Vrindavana and never

leave.

 

So after some time I was living on the bank of Yamuna.

Sometimes going to

Govardhana, Nandaghama, Varsana and various places. I

would usually sleep under

trees near Chir-ghata here in Vrindavana. We would go

to mangala-arati at

Radharamana temple and then Radha-vallabha temple then

go to mangal arati to

Seva-kunja and Bunki-bihari gets up quite late.

Sometimes to Radha-Damodara

temple. So what happened is some sadhu, one very nice

sadhu he got to know me.

 

I would go every night a few sadhu's and myself we

would go around Vrindavana,

Vrindavana parikrama, we did this every night. For the

whole month of kartik,

we would just sing bhajans on the bank of the Yamuna.

One of the sadhu's was a

musical godbrother of Ravi Shankara, he played sitar.

But he considered Ravi

Shankar to be somewhat in maya because he played ragas

without Krishna's names.

He would play ragas and only chant Krishna's names

when he played. So he was a

fantastic sitar player.

 

We would sit on bank of Yamuna and just chant and he

would just play, 3/4/5 of

us and then we would go around Vrindavana every night

in the moonlight. And one

of these nice sadhus told me I want you to meet a very

very very simple and

pure soul. When you meet him you will understand what

is bhakti. So I thought

he was going to bring me to some nice temple. He took

me in the Radha-Vallabha

temple area down this very isolated little ally way

where there was an open

sewer gutter just flowing like anything, black sewage

and had to step over the

sewage gutter to get in the door. And it was someone's

house. Very, very small

house. And a family was living in that house. Always

making noise and

everything. Then a hallway and in one of the hallways

in their house there was

a closet. The family was always passing, walking

through that hallway and in

that closet were the Deities of Sri Sri

Radha-Gopijanavallabha. And then he

introduced me to the pujari. His name was Ghanshyam.

 

How gracious and how kind he was. He had such pure

love and devotion to the

Deities. I was told that many years before when was

young a man, he came from a

very wealthy family. His Father, Mother all family

members came on a pilgrimage

to Vrindavana. They spent a few days and what the

dhama of Vrindavana did to

his heart was something wonderful. He became so deeply

attached to Vrindavana.

Just by being here he became completely detached from

everything in life. He

saw no other purpose or meaning to existence except

surrendering to Sri Radha

and Krishna in Vrindavana. So when it was time to go

he said I will stay here I

will not leave. So his parents thought this is

ridiculous so they said all

right you come a little later. So they went back.

 

The parents came back again; they said now you must

come, he said no I will not

leave. So they told him we will take away all your

property, all your money

everything unless you come back. We will not in any

way support you being here.

 

He considered the only real treasure and wealth in

life his residence in

Vrindavana, in the service of Radha and Krishna. So

they left.

 

>From a very wealthy family, he was in total poverty.

In the summer which is

very hot, in the winter it is extremely cold, he would

just sleep in the dust

of Vrindavana on the ground in various places. He

would go do madhucari and get

some roti. At that time Vrindavana was a very very

quite place. He hardly new

anyone. He would just be immersed in chanting the holy

name and praying. One

day he was just sitting in the dust all day long just

chanting the holy names

and do you know what his Deity was? - The name of

Radharani.

 

In the Sanskrit alphabet he just wrote Sri Radha. In

the dust with his finger

and he would just worship that. And at the end of the

day he would erase it so

that nobody would step on it. So when he erased he saw

some gold. He rubbed the

ground and he felt something there and he started

digging in a little and there

was a piece of gold. So he was thinking what is this?

Dug into the ground and

what he found was something extraordinary. It was the

top of the head of

Srimati Radharani's deity. And next to Her underground

was a beautiful blackish

deity of Lord Krishna. And it was written underneath

Him

Radha-gopijanavallabha.

 

So he had These deities, These deities you see,

They're quite big deities. He

had absolutely not one paise. He only had one torn-up

set of clothes, he had no

residence and here is self-manifesting deities of

Radha-gopijanavallabha. So he

felt that They have somehow put Themselves under my

care, I cannot leave Them.

 

So he would just sit there with Them and chant. And

sometimes people would come

by and give some madhucari. He could not go to homes

because he can't just

leave the deities in the field. He was worshipping

Them literary under a tree,

even in the rainy season under a tree. And people

would sometimes come by and

give some roti and he would offer it. This went on for

some time. And this

particular family of Vraja-vasis they saw his genuine

and sincere devotion. So-

they said you can put your deities in the closet of

our house near our hallway.

Those deities remained there for about the next 50

years. And he worshipped

Them there.

 

This is where we met him. He would never leave the

deities. He would only one

time of the day he would go the Yamuna, because he had

no one to help him, to

collect water. To bring back. He would bathe in Yamuna

and then bring a bucket

back to bathe the deities.

 

Now when I met him he was an old man. Perhaps in his

80's. And he had a certain

mood about him. It was that he was the most fallen,

insignificant servant of

Gopijanavallabha. Most unqualified and that anyone who

came to that temple and

very few people ever came. But anybody who would come

in to that little temple

he would consider that was Gopijanavallabha's very

special guest,

Gopijanavallabha's friend, personally invited. And he

would give his life, his

soul his everything to serve anybody who came. He was

one of the simplest

people I ever met. He was really living in poverty.

You know where he slept for

that 50 or 60 years? He slept in the hallway. People

would just, family would

just walk by. Practically stepping over him. The

deities were in a tiny little

closet near that closet was a tinier closet. Whatever

the deities belongings

were, were in there. And he just slept on the hallway

on the floor.

 

So I started coming there about 9 o'clock every

morning after about 5 different

mangal arati's that I would attend. I would go to

Gopijanavallabha temple. And

one day I just went there because I just wanted to be

with Ghanshyam. So one

day he told me come today at noon and I will give you

prasad. So I was thinking

how can I refuse this. So I came at noon, he gave me,

all he had was 3 roti's

nothing else. 3 rotis. So he said you come everyday,

you must come. He said you

must come everyday. Gopijanavallabha and Radharani

want you to come everyday to

take prasad with Them.

 

So after about 3 days there was this one sadhu who

bought me to his house. He

told me do you know that Ghanshyam has not eaten

anything for 4 days. I said

why. He said because you are eating all his rotis. He

said Ghanshyam does not

go out to beg really. He can't go far. There's 3

little houses right in that

area. Each one cooks one roti. And he goes to those 3

houses everyday to get 1

roti from each house. And he brings, that's all he

has. He offers that to

Gopijanavallabha. So he said he his giving you all of

his food.

So I came the next day and he just put down the roti's

down in front of me.

And I said Ghanshyam these are your roti's. He said

no, no, these are your

roti's. I said I already had prasad. He said doesn't

matter Gopijanavallabha

wants you to eat these roti's. I said no, no I do not

want these roti's. He

said You MUST, YOU MUST.

 

He spoke nice English, because he was coming from an

educated family.

 

I said Ghanshyam I have been told that you've not

eaten for 4 days because I am

eating all of your prasad. He said NO, WHO HAS TOLD

YOU THIS, IT IS NOT TRUE. I

AM EATING SO MUCH, GOPIJANAVALLABHA IS GIVING ME

EVERYTHING I NEED. Now you eat

these roti's, please. I said Ghanshyam I am not going

to eat these roti's

because they are your roti's. Literally he began to

weep and tremble with

folded palms begging me to eat the roti's. I said

Ghanshyam unless you show me

that there is more roti's in your house I am not going

to these.

 

He said I have so many roti's in this house. He said

Gopijanavallabha is

consort of Sri Radharani, She is the supreme goddess

of fortune. You don't

think there is any roti's in Her house. I said

Ghanshyam show me the roti's. He

said no need to show you, no need. They are here. You

just take this parasad.

He became so concerned, I said Ghanshyam I know that

there are 12 places in

Vrindavana that give madhucari to sadhus at a

particular time of the day.

 

In those days every sadhu knew where to go at what

time to get free roti's.

That was the first thing sadhu's learn when they come

to Vrindavana. Time

schedule of roti distribution in different temples.

 

So, I said I can go anywhere, you are here. You are

starving. He said No need,

you take these roti's. He started crying and pleading

and praying to me. I

understood if I did not take his roti's I would break

his heart. So I was

praying to Gopijanavallabha what should I do. Break

his heart or starve his

body. He would not let me leave without eating the

roti's. But I never came

back at 12 o'clock. The next day he didn't eat the

roti's at 12 o'clock knowing

that I would come 9 o'clock the next day. We had a big

fight and I refused to

eat his roti's.

 

This was a selfless service attitude.

 

He was so old and so thin. One day I saw him walking

with this bucket of water

to bathe Gopijanavallabha. And from the Yamuna he

would walk about 3 steps and

then would have to put the bucket down and rest. Then

he would pick it up

strenuously, 3 steps then put it down to rest. At the

time I was only 20 years

old. So I took the bucket from him and I said I will

carry it to the top. He

would not let go, he said no need, no need, no need. I

said Ghanshyam let me

carry it for you. I can carry it in 3 mins, it takes

you half hour. I am young.

 

He said yes you are young so you should enjoy. But I

am old man. I am just the

servant. My life is sacrifice, he said you are

Gopijanavallabha's friend. You

should not have to work for Him, but I am just his

fallen servant. It is my

duty to serve Him. He would not give me that bucket. I

was walking alongside

him for about 20 mins. We were having tug of wars, he

would not give me the

bucket. And then finally he began to cry and with a

choked up voice he said

this service I have to Gopijanavallabha is all I have

in life. Please, please

do not take it away from me. I never tried to take

that bucket from him again.

 

One day I happened to be there and it was some

festival so a Vraja-vasi brought

him a cup of sweet rice to offer to Gopijanavallabha.

Now please don't give or

take the spontaneous love of the Vraja-vasi's but you

can hear to understand

its nature. He was just eating 2/3 roti's a day for

how many years and here was

a small pot of sweet rice in a clay cup and it was

brought. The way he offered

it to the deities is he sat me down on the little

hallway in front of the

closet. He put the spoon, 1 spoon in a cup and put it

right to

Gopijanavallabha's mouth and said a little prayer.

Then he put it to Sri

Radharani's mouth and said a little prayer, then he

came to me. because its

only a few feet from the deities and where I was

sitting. He came and said open

your mouth and put your head back. Then I opened by

mouth and put my head back

and he just poured the sweet rice from the spoon in my

mouth. And this is how

he offered the entire pot of sweet rice. He just kept

on doing it spoon by

spoon, Gopijanavallabha's mouth, Sri Radharani's mouth

then he would just toss

in my mouth. I said Ghanshyam save some for yourself,

he said no need, no need.

Then with folded palms and tears in his eyes he said

you are Gopijanavallabha's

friend, you Gopijanavallabha's friend. I am only his

insignificant servant.

 

One time in the month of January I happened to come by

to visit him in the

nighttime. So Ghanshyam and I were chanting together.

Whenever I went, I would

come at all different times of the day sometimes just

to visit him and whenever

I would come he was never idle, he was never sitting,

sleeping, always doing

seva. I'd come and he would be fanning the deities he

just be standing and

fanning and singing songs. Another time I had come he

had sandalwood pulp and

he was putting chandan and grinding. But most of time,

90% of the times when I

would come he would just be sitting alone with the

harmonium and singing

beautiful songs for Gopijanavallabha. He was always

busy doing some seva.

Sometimes he would be doing puja, offering arati,

sometimes he be dressing

Them. So this night I came and we were singing this

nice kirtan together. In

this old broken down little house in a hallway. So

then I said I'm going, now I

must go and Ghanshyam said where are you going. I am

going to take rest. He

said where do you take rest. I said I always take rest

on the bank of Yamuna.

He said oh no, it is January, it is very cold. Then

you have no home, you have

no proper clothes, no blanket even. He said you stay

here tonight it is too

cold, I insist you must sleep here tonight. So I said

Ghanshyam I sleep on

Yamuna every night. He said no no, tonight you must

stay here.

 

Gopijanavallabha, you are His guest, you must sleep

nicely. So I laid down on

the floor next to him and he came out with this old

blanket and put it on top

of me. So I was thinking ahhh this is very nice

blanket. And then he laid next

to me. All he had is just a thin dhoti and little

chadar. Not even a pillow. He

slept right on the bare floor, he just had a little

piece of burlap he would

put on the floor and he would lay on his arm. And he

was trembling cold. I said

Ghanshyam this is your blanket. You sleep with your

blanket. He said no no, it

is not my banket. It is your blanket. He said

Gopijanavallabha wants you to

have this blanket. You are his friend. I am only his

fallen servant. You must

accept this blanket. I said no it is your blanket. I

will only stay here if you

sleep with the blanket.

 

So then he was begging me again, weeping, begging me

take the blanket, sleep

nicely. He said I am an old useless servant. What

difference does it make if I

suffer. But you are dear to the Lord, you must enjoy.

This was his mood. He

was worshipping the deities for 50, 60 years. And I'm

just a new devotee, I

just arrived in Vrindavana and understood who Krishna

is a couple months

before. So finally, he surrendered. I was about to

walk out. I said if you

don't take this blanket I am leaving for the Yamuna.

He said all right, all

right, I will sleep in the blanket. You just lay down.

So I lay down and it was

cold. Ghanshyam was under this old tattered blanket

but it was a little warm.

So sometime later I woke up at night, in the middle of

the night. And

mysteriously I was feeling a little warm. So, I looked

over at Ghanshyam and

he's just laying there trembling, trembling like a

leaf in the wind. And then I

looked at myself and I saw the blanket was on me.

While I was sleeping he put

the blanket on me.

 

So very, very quietly I picked up the blanket and I

wanted to not wake him. As

soon I touched his body with the blanket he just

leaped up "NO NEED, NO NEED" I

said Ghanshyam you are not even sleeping, you are

freezing. He said NO NEED, NO

NEED you are Gopijanavallabha's friend, I am his

servant. The duty of the

servant is to serve the friend. Gopijanavallabha will

never be pleased with me

unless I sacrifice my life for the happiness of His

guests and His devotees.

You must accept this blanket. He said you keep this

blanket, you take it with

you. I refused. So then we actually, I wasn't yelling

but I said no I'm not

going to sleep with this blanket and he was insisting

and insisting, then

finally I said I am going to the Yamuna. Then he said

all right, all right I

will sleep with the blanket. So I lay down, he laid

down. And I woke up a few

minutes later and I was warm. And I looked over there

he was suffering,

miserably, freezing, trembling and again I tried to

really, really secretly put

the blanket, as soon as I touched him NO NEED, NO

NEED, NO NEED. He said my

life is to serve. He said you don't understand my

happiness is to serve, my

only function in life is to serve. Whether I suffer or

I whether I enjoy means

nothing. The only meaning is Gopijanavallabha and

Radharani are happy with me.

They are happy when I give everything I have to

devotees. He was so sincere. I

would not accept. At least 5/6 times that night this

happened of the switching

of blankets. I never came back there at night. In the

winter.

 

Then it started getting warmer, started going there

sometimes at night and he

was aging. It was so nice, somehow or other he had

made this little bed for the

deities, have you seen the size of these deities? He

would, every night,

whenever possible, he would put the deities in the bed

and lay Them down and

massage Their feet and put a little blanket over Them.

And then he would sing

for Them for hours while They were sleeping. But

because he was getting, he did

this for many many years, but in his old age he could

not lift the deities and

put Them in the bed. So any time I would come at night

he would ask me please,

please help put Radharani and Gopijanavallabha in

Their bed. I wasn't

initiated at that time. I didn't even have a spiritual

master, what to speak of

being a brahmana. But he would have me lift, because

the feet are lighter he

would take the side of Gopijanavallabha's feet and I

would take His shoulder's

and we would carry Gopijanavallabha into and lay Him

into the bed and take Sri

Radharani and lay Her in bed. And he was so happy, he

would just be crying in

joy at Gopijanavallabha and Radharani tonight get to

sleep in Their bed again.

He would never ask me please come every night and help

me. If I happened to

come at night he would very humbly appeal, will you

put Gopijanavallabha in

Their bed. Otherwise he would put Them to rest

standing up. And how much he was

so happy I could see, it was like the most glorious

festival, was like the most

glorious feast in his heart to see the deities nicely

lying in Their bed to

take rest.

 

One day I said, I came in the morning, I said to

Ghanshyam I am going to

Varsana. He started to cry. He was so dedicated to

those deities. As far as I

know, although he was living in Vraja-bhumi since he

was 19/18 years old he

came, this time he was there about 60 years. As far as

I know he had never gone

to Varsana. He had never gone to Nanda-ghama, never

even seen Govardhana hill.

Because he was duty-bound to his deities. He would

never leave Them. When I

told him I going to Varsana he began to cry. With

folded hands he said when you

go so Sri-ji mandir please, please tell Sri Radharani

Ghanshyam is longing to

come there to see Her. But that I cannot come because

I am only Her servant.

And I cannot leave my service.

 

Another time I was going to Govardhana hill, I said I

am going for Govardhana

parikrama. Ghanshyam again began to cry. He said when

you see Giriraja, tell

Him that Ghanshyam has been worshipping to Him and

praying to Him for many

years and is longing to see Him. He was seeing

Varsana, he was seeing

Govardhana, much clearer then so many thousands of

pilgrims that walk around on

parikrama of these places.

 

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura taught us do not try

to see Krishna, decide

to serve Krishna in such a way that He will be pleased

to see you. When I heard

this statement of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura

some time later in

remembrance of Ghanshyam came very intimately into my

heart. Truly lived by the

principles of servant of the servant of the servant.

It was actually in that

little closet temple that I was with Ghanshyam and 2/3

other old sadhus that

would come to meet him in the mornings. And I had to

leave India because my

visa had expired. So they gave me 2 suggestions in the

presence of

Gopijanavallabha. One suggestion is if you have to

leave India go to Mithala -

Janakpura. It is the Varsana of Rama's lila. It's in

Nepal so it is out of

India. So I went there.

 

I was in Nepal in for about a month or something, and

then my Nepalise visa

expired. And I only had a 2-week transit visa in

India. Just to go through then

I had to depart. So from Pashupatinatha I went to

Ayodhya and Prayag, and then

I came to Vrindavana. There I spent about 10 days in

Vrindavana. My last day I

did Govardhana parikrama and then departed. But the

day before Govardhana

parikrama I visited Ghanshyam baba. And he and a

couple others were saying if

you have to leave Vrindavana, because I was crying I

have to leave Vrindavana.

They said if you have to leave Vrindavana you should

go to New Vrindavana. I

asked what is this New Vrindavana? They said Swami

Prabhupada, when he was here

in Vrindavana, because I had already accepted

Prabhupada as my guru by that

time in Vrindavana. They said your guru-maharaja Swami

Prabhupada, he was

telling us that he has created a Vrindavana in America

called New Vrindavana.

And he told us that it is non-different then from

Vrindavana. So you should go

there, that way you will never leave Vrindavana until

you can come back. And he

even told, he said you should be pujari when you go

there.

 

So I had to leave and I went to Amsterdam. That was

the first ISKCON temple I

ever saw. I would live with Prabhupada when he came to

Vrindavana. I was with

Prabhupada in Bombay for sometime before. When I never

saw an ISKCON temple and

the whole expect for 10 days when Prabhupada was doing

parikrama around

Vrindavana there was never any ISKCON devotees here.

So then I went to the

temple of London, Bury place stayed for some time. And

then I visited my

parents because they were severely heart-broken by my

spirit of attempted

renunciation. So I visited them for some time then I

got the news that

Prabhupada was coming to New York. So immediately I

went and hitchhiked to New

York. And I was with Prabhupada for about a week

there. And the day he was

leaving there was an announcement that Prabhupada is

coming to New Vrindavana.

And he is going to give a 7 day lecture series on

Srimad Bhagavatam and it is

going to be called the Bhagavat-dharma discourse. And

he is going to celebrate

Janmastami there and Vyasa-puja and we need people to

help prepare for the

festival because devotees from all over the country

are going to be coming so

whoever can come, please come and help to serve

Prabhupada there and be there

for his festival. So when I heard that I was thinking

in Gopijanavallabha

temple I was told that I should go to New Vrindavana

and Prabhupada is going to

be there. So I went to New Vrindavana. And my

intention was only one thing -

just to stay there till 6 months expired then I can

get a visa to come back to

Vrindavana India. That was my only intention. But when

Prabhupada came and I

heard him preach I realised that we really see

Vrindavana through serving the

spiritual master. Through the Supreme Lord. As long as

we have any selfishness

in our heart.

 

Narottama Dasa Thakura - as long as we have any

material desire in out hearts

we can't really see what is Vrindavana.

 

So by Prabhupada's mercy he inspired me that you

should just surrender to your

service, where you are. You are here now to surrender

to your service.

Surrender to serving in helping in my mission. So I

was in charge of milking

cows and doing some other simple work. Then the

pujari, the brahmacari asharam

got married. That happens sometimes.

 

I was such a simple new devotee. I was thinking how is

it possible, he's

serving Radha-Vrindavananatha. He is a personal, he is

bathing

Radha-Vrindavanatha, he is dressing Them, he's feeding

Them, why in the world

would anyone who had such a wonderful service would

want to get married.

Inconceivable, so I went to that devotee I said if you

want female association

come and help me milk cows. Its the safest way to

associate to with the

opposite sex. Somehow or other he didn't accept my

advice. So he got married.

 

Then the temple president said you should be the

pujari. I said who is going to

take care of the cows? he said you, you do both. So I

was pujari for

Radha-Vrindavananatha. I remember one day I was

putting the dress on Srimati

Radharani something wonderful happened, I remembered

then Ghanshyam baba told

me I should be the pujari at New Vrindavana. So for 11

years I was not allowed

to come to India. Because in those days devotees were

really in a sense of

surrender and they were very duty-bound in the way

they rendered their service.

We would never ever, ever act outside authority or

blessings. So for 11 years I

remained there worshipping the deities. And after I

was given sannayas,

actually I did not want to take sannayas. But the

leader of New Vrindavana

Kirtananda Maharaja he would. I would just always be

talking about Vrindavana,

because in those days nobody had ever been to India

but a few devotees.

 

When I was in London in Bury place, I had this old

thin, it was one of those

wolf grey chadars, was really an old one. Some sadhu

wore it for years and gave

it me. And I had it on when I was in London and the

devotees in Bury place were

gathering around me, they said that's just like

Prabhupada's chadar. They had

never seen a chadar except on Srila Prabhupada. And

me, they said where did you

get that, its just like Prabhupada's chadar, we have

never seen anything, its

so. I said a sadhu gave it to me in Vrindavana.

VRINDAVANA!, you have been to

Vrindavana! People would be very interested to know

what is Vrindavana. We

would read about it Krishna book, but what is it like

today.

 

So when I came to New Vrindavana only the leader had

been to Vrindavana. Nobody

else had ever been. So everyone would want to know

about Vrindavana and after I

would tell everyone, everyone wanted to go. Kirtananda

Maharaja made a rule

that I was not allowed to speak about Vrindavana. That

rule was very very

difficult to follow. Sometimes devotees would come way

up to that old mountain

farmhouse where the temple was of Radha-Vrindavanatha

and it would be just me

and them looking after the offerings and the aratis.

In between they would say

tell me about Vrindavana. And I would start telling

them about the places of

Govardhana and the places of Vrindavana and the places

of Nanda-ghama, Varsana.

I'd start telling them about Vraja-vasi's and start

telling them about

different sadhus I would know there. Telling them

about my meetings with

Prabhupada there. And then they'd start telling

everybody. And the temple

president would say, because I was a brahmacari, he'd

say Radhanatha is in

maya.

 

He wakes up at 1 in the morning and chants rounds and

works all day, why is he

in maya. Because he is talking about Vrindavana. Then

he'd come all the way up,

I told you not to talk about Vrindavana, you are

agitating the community. One

day he said Prabhupada said New Vrindavana is

non-different then Vrindavana so

you just talk about New Vrindavana. So he was trying

to convince me, he would

say I will never, ever in your life let you go back to

Vrindavana because I

know if you go you will never come back. So he was

trying to convince me to

take sanyassa in 1982. And I was refusing, refusing,

he was pushing, and

pressurizing, and he had the whole community, he

preached to whole community to

not give me any peace of mind till I took sannyasa. So

everyone would be

harassing me.

 

So finally he said to me you take sannyasa I will let

you visit Vrindavana. But

I still refused. Finally, it was too much, I had to

surrender, and after I

surrendered I decided I want to be unconditional so I

knew I had to do it

anyway I said but I still get to go to Vrindavana. So

11 years later 1983 I

returned to Vrindavana. First time. I remember I came

to Gaura-purnima, first

time I ever went to Gaura-purnima in Mayapura 1983.

Because when I was living

in India, so then I took a train from Calcutta to

Delhi and I took the Taj

express to Mathura and I decided to go according to my

old tradition. I went to

Visvam-ghata, took bath and walked along the Yamuna

from Mathura to Vrindavana.

But things really changed at that time, there was a

lot obstructions in that

water if you tried to do it today. So I came to

Vrindavana. And I'll never

forget, this is 11 years later, you know at

Radha-Vallabha temple there is the

old temple, there is the new temple where the deities

were. Well that old

temple is very close to Ghanshyam baba's house.

 

So I came and I happened to see Ghanshyam sitting on

the steps outside the old

temple. And now he was 11 years older, he was in his

late 80's or 90's, I don't

know. And he looked at me. When I lived in Vrindavana,

I wore this simple white

lungi, that was kind of torn up and I had a little

chadar and I had long

dredded hair and I never shaved because I was young,

it didn't make that much

difference that I never shave. And now here I am a

Sannyasi, with a danda, with

shaved head. So he was looking at me and he was old,

he was just looking at me.

 

Because one great sadhu living in Vrindavana had given

me a name when I was

little, the name Ratin-Krishna dasa. I never got

initiated but he gave it out

of affection. So Ghanshyam always called me Ratin.

That means Krishna the

chariot driver of Arjuna.

 

So he looked at me and he was just looking and I bowed

down, and I got up, and

he was just. And then he said, like a father to a long

lost son - Ratiiiiin!

 

Then he started to weep, started to cry. He embraced

me. And he said

Radha-Gopijanavallabha has been waiting for so long to

see you. And he took me

by the hand and took me to that same little hallway

where the closet was. And

he started; he started taking off the jewellery of the

deities and giving it to

me. Saying Radharani wants you to have this. He's

giving me rotis. And I came

that night from Krishna-Balarama temple, secretly. I

left Krishna-Balarama

temple that night to help him put

Radha-Gopijanavallabha into the bed, 11 years

later. I even brought a couple godbrothers to the

temple, he was just taking

off, giving them whatever he could give them, he would

give them, bow down to

each Vaisnava.

 

Then the next time I came, I came to the door and I

walked in. I walked into

that little temple there was no Gopijanavallabha,

there was no Ghanshyam. So I

asked the family members - Ghanshyam, Ghanshyam. And

the person, with tears in

their eyes, smiling said Goloka.

 

He was so old but he knew that if he were to die,

there'd be no one to take

care of the deities. Because that family had nothing

to do with the deity

worship, they were just working people and like that.

So even though, he was

really aged then in poor health, he just lived to take

care of the deities.

>From my understanding, because for many years I was

asking people, where is

Gopijanavallabha. Nobody knew, even that family didn't

know. Then I met one

very dear brother and friend named Asika-Krishna dasa

Prabhu. Who during the

time I lived in Vrindavana he would often, we would go

to see Ghanshyam baba.

And he told me, what he told was this - that Ghanshyam

baba was just living

because there was no one else to do the seva of the

deities. But then one trust

built this temple, but they had no deity, so they were

looking for a deity to

put in the temple. So someone told them, there is this

beautiful

self-manifesting deity just in the closet. So they

asked him, and he was so

happy. After 60 years in this closet Gopijanavallabha,

maybe 70 years in this

closet, Gopijanavallabha will finally have a temple.

So he came here when the

temple was built and he was, somebody else's temple,

somebody else's trust but

he was just the pujari. And very very soon after,

because the trust would

supply another pujari. As soon as he saw that

Gopijanavallabha had a house and

he trained some other pujari, someone to take care of

Them. As soon as he saw

the deity seva taken care of nicely he gave up his

body. A young person will

serve the deity better then me. So he had no reason to

remain in this world.

 

When we read about qualities of selfless service. When

we read about the

principle of servant of the servant of the servant.

When we contemplate actual

humility of the heart. Sri Gopijanavallabha empowered

him to be a very

wonderful wonderful example of that. But only a few

people in the whole world

ever saw him or knew him. He was just totally an

unknown person. But his life

and soul is the prayer where the people would just

come to see the deities.

Probably no more than 6/7 different people a month

would come to see his

deities. But anybody who came would be the joy of his

life. To serve

Gopijanavallabha's friend, his special invited guest.

So I think today

Ghanshyam baba is very happy. That all of you have

come to see the beautiful

forms of his beloved Lord. And what a mystery life is

that at the time I was

just an insignificant little beggar sleeping on bank

of Yamuna. And I have been

given the wonderful fortune of now bringing, helping

to bring a 1000 devotees

for the darshan of Gopijanavallabha.

 

Our beloved Srila Prabhupada was truly the embodiment

of selfless service.

Srila Prabhupada left Vrindavana, he left his beloved

Radha-Damodara. He

suffered heart attacks, strokes, sea-sickness, and

persecution to give us

Krishna. Srila Prabhupada told us that he saw us as

the representatives of his

guru-maharaja.

 

And he how served and gave his life to give us

Krishna. It is by Srila

Prabhupada's selfless compassion that my insignificant

self has been

spiritually sustained and nourished to whatever extent

there is year after

year. It is by his selfless service attitude based on

pure love that is

sustaining all our spiritual lives. And actually it's

Srila Prabhupada, his act

of such humble devotion even to wretched materialistic

people that has brought

all of us to Vrindavana. It is actually Srila

Prabhupada who has fulfilled the

spiritual desires of millions of people throughout the

world. And even it is

Srila Prabhupada who has actually fulfilled Ghanshyam

baba's great desire. The

1000's of sincere souls will come to take the

blessings of his beloved Lord.

 

So we should know with great faith and conviction that

His Divine Grace AC

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the ultimate

manifestation of the highest

teachings of Vaisnava scriptures. He has given us

everything, he has given us

everything. He has given us the complete,

unadulterated mercy of the parampara.

And what does he stress, he puts such great great

emphasis on the spirit of

service. Throughout his lectures, throughout his books

and manifested by his

life how much emphasis he has put on developing a

proper service attitude.

 

What is a service attitude?

 

Service doesn't simply mean doing something for

someone else. That is a very

superficial understanding. But real service is

selfless, unconditional,

uninterrupted by various obstacles that come in our

path. Ghanshyam baba longed

to visit Varsana, Govardhana, Maha-vana. But there was

no consideration because

his service was to his Lord. Srila Prabhupada could

have been living here in

Vrindavana, probably would have lived to over a 100

years old. But he

sacrificed his health, he sacrificed the peace of mind

of the holy dhama. He

sacrificed everything. Selfless to give you the

opportunity to love Krishna.

 

Prabhupada taught us this principle, to live by this

principle. It is the

principle we read on every page of Caitanya-caritarmta

- unconditional selfless

service. It is the principle that is broadcasted

throughout the entire

Srimad-Bhagavatam, from the first verse to the last -

unconditional devotional

service without ego.

 

What is the pleasure of the Lord, what is the pleasure

of His devotees. What is

my duty to Him. Prabhupada notes the will of the Lord

comes through Guru, Sadhu

and Sastra. His guru told him to spread the holy names

all over the world. It

became his life and soul. Doesn't matter what

obstacles, what inconveniences.

Doesn't matter whether it brings life or death.

Because he had that selfless

humble attitude of service all of us have been saved.

The doors to the

spiritual world of Goloka have been opened to billions

and billions and

billions of people.

 

trnad api su-nicena taror iva sahisnuna amanina

mana-dena kirtaniya sada harih

[Cc. Adi 17.31]

 

Caitanya Mahaprabhu told us to string this verse of

the thread of the holy name

and to wear it always. It is our life, we can evaluate

how we are successful by

how we are pleasing Krishna. We can evaluate how we

are pleasing Krishna by

studying our hearts, our intentions, our words and

actions. In relationship to

this teaching. trnad api su-nicena taror iva sahisnuna

amanina mana-dena

kirtaniya sada harih

[Cc. Adi 17.31]

 

Be humble like the straw in the street, tolerant like

trees, ready to offer all

respect to others and expect none in return. If we

live by this verse then we

can actually follow Prabhupada's teachings. And

broadcast the glories of the

holy name always.

 

Today is the last day of our yatra. This is the last

meeting we will all have

together. The purpose of this yatra is not

sight-seeing, not just to come to a

holy place and get sick become purified from that. The

purpose of this yatra is

to inspire us to dedicate our lives and soul with the

selfless service

attitude. To serving Srila Prabhupada and his mission.

Because he has given us

his life and his life's contribution to the param-para

was a society he

created. If we are not grateful to him for saving us

will Krishna be pleased

with us? However knowledgeable you may become in

various high topics. Will be

Krishna be pleased with if we are not grateful to his

pure servant who

sacrificed his life to take us out of the ignorance of

kali and give us the

path of perfection. So let us pray here, with very

sincere hearts, that through

this wonderful yatra, we have participated in over the

last 15 days will bring

us a much deeper sense of dedication, humility, to

really to that we possibly

can to Prabhupada and his mission of pure compassion.

And follow his teachings

to humbly serve the Vaisnavas, give his compassion to

the suffering conditional

souls. By reading his books, by speaking from his

books, distributing his

books. By helping in what other way and ultimately we

can pray that we can

sincerely, whole heartedly, understand the importance

of chanting the holy

names and making it the first priority in our lives.

 

The more love we have the more love we can give. That

love comes when we

gratefully serve those who have given us so much. And

we could really

reciprocate with Srila Prabhupada by taking shelter of

the holy name because

that is the ultimate gift that he has given us.

Prabhupada wanted us to remain

united, to cooperate with each other in spreading the

glories of chanting the

holy names:

 

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

 

I wish to thank all of you very much for your

outstanding service to the

Vaisnava community during Srila Prabhupada's

disappearance festival. It was, it

was a feast for my heart to see all of you serving so

nicely. What a great

benediction that was to have the opportunity to

perform the sacred service of

giving prasad to Srila Prabhupada's followers from all

over the world in honour

of Srila Prabhupada's disappearance festival. I think

some causeless mercy has

descended upon us. I think because all of you are very

very sincere in your

efforts, Srila Prabhupada has rewarded by giving you

the chance to serve his

devotees. We must be convinced, not only theoretically

but practically that

happiness is never an acquired, the illusory mirages

of this world, real

happiness can only come through service, through

giving.

 

Thakura Bhaktivinode said - the sufferings and

miseries I endure in my service

to Krishna are the source of my greatest joy.

 

Getting prestige, popularity, followers, getting

money, beautiful family, nice

home, good health, these things give a very temporary

superficial external

sense of happiness or pleasure. But in service even if

none of those things we

just stated are there, in service we gain actual inner

satisfaction.

 

Let me ask of, were you happy in seeing how blissful

the devotees were getting

served prasad? - HARIBOL

 

Who do you think was getting more inner joy - those

being served and eating or

those for fasting so long rendering service - huh?

Would you have been happier

sitting there eating?

 

This is Prabhupada's mercy. This is really Srila

Prabhupada and Sri Radha's

mercy, that we can understand this principle

practically. That our real

happiness is in sacrifice of service. And the more

that service is

unconditional and selfless the more it is a service of

love, of pure love. It

is that pure love of Krishna that every soul is

longing for. And nothing can

replace it. We must long for that love. But we have no

qualification, we are so

far away from the standard of unconditional love. But

if we serve sincerely,

with humility, and we desperately, desperately,

desperately trying to chant the

holy names properly then Krishna will see out efforts.

 

That little sparrow trying to dry up the ocean and

Krishna sees if we are

sincere and determined with the right purpose He will

bestow that love upon us

through the mercy of guru and Vaisnavas. Actually your

service to the devotees

during Prabhupada's festival will perhaps give faith

and happiness to people

all over the world, even those who are thousand's of

miles away when they hear

about it. It is preaching.

 

If we become proud we have served nicely then that

pride neutralizes the effect

of the great benediction we received. But if we feel

ourselves unqualified but

grateful, grateful for the causeless mercy that I was

allowed to serve amongst

other Vaisnavas. Soon Krishna will bestow the prime

benediction of pure love

within our hearts.

 

So I know all of you worked very hard to do this and

on behalf of Srila

Prabhupada, and behalf of all the leaders of the

International Society for

Krishna Consciousness and all the devotees who have

given their lives, I very

gratefully thank all of you very much. Let this be a

lesson of what is of real

value to the heart.

 

I'd like to also thank all of you for your incredible

enthusiasm throughout

this festival. Many of you have gotten sick,

physically, and of course many

thorns in your feet, much dust in your lungs. But

still I didn't hear anyone

complaining, everyone is just trying to get purified,

trying to help all the

other devotees to be happy in Vrindavana. And

especially thank you for

tolerating me. I honestly and sincerely do not know

how you do it or why you do

it but you do it. That is some special magic of Srila

Prabhupada, that he can

somehow or other see his eternal resplendent divine

mercy through a little

piece like me, that is his inconceivable power. So I

thank all of you very very

much and pray that when you return to your homes and

bring the real spirit of

Vrindavana - selfless service and the longing for

complete attachment to Sri

Sri Radha-Gopinatha. And complete determination to

glorify Them by hearing and

chanting Their holy names.

 

I want to especially offer my gratitude to Malati devi

mataji. She's so humble,

I've learnt so much, she's one of the senior most

disciples of Srila Prabhupada

on the entire planet. She's one of the few people who

had accessive personal

direct service to Srila Prabhupada and some of the

most intimate surroundings

of Srila Prabhupada's mission. She's fearless, she's

absolutely determined,

despite inconceivable health problems, she just never

gives up, never complains

and never wants any credit, just happy to be amongst

the devotees. My deep deep

gratitude to Malati mataji for all she's done and all

she's doing for Srila

Prabhupada and all of us. And to Rasalila mataji who

has performed very

difficult service maintaining a marriage in the

western world in the age of

kali for so many years. This is very very outstanding

preaching. And in the

process to raise a child - Gaurangakishor Prabhu.

Raise a child who loves

Krishna, loves to preach about Krishna. Good fruits

come from good trees. Thank

you mataji. And to Nartaki mataji, is she here? Such a

humble devotee and how

much she, she really has deep deep attachment to

Krishna. To hearing about

Krishna, to speaking about Krishna, to being with

devotees of Krishna. She has

truly been blessed deeply in her heart by Srila

Prabhupada's mercy.

 

During this yatra we had many wonderful souls come and

join us speak to us.

Amongst them the shining jewel of all Vraja-vasis has

come to be with us today

- Dinabandhu Prabhu - HARIBOL, HARIBOL, HARIBOL!

 

What would be Vrindavana yatra without Dinabandhu

Prabhu! His spontaneous

devotion, his enthusiasm to preach the glories of

Vrindavana-dhama, with his

incredible knowledge and realisations, always a

profound inspiration for us.

Same time he is very much involved performing great

sacrifices in Prabhupadas

service for making Vrindavana temple for what

Prabhupada wants it to be. So my

gratitude to you Dinabandu Prabhu. I learnt so much

from you. I hope you are

all happy - HARIBOL, HARIBOL, HARIBOL!

 

If you are happy then my insignificant life has served

some noble purpose. So I

am grateful that you have given me that. Srila

Prabhupada ki' jaya!

 

[vijay 0]

This story touches the heart.

I just wonder what kind of mercy radhanatha swami had to leave his home at 18 in america after the pursuance of god then travel to europe then the muslim countries then the himalayas and eventually becoming a shivate and then ending up in the holiest dham of vrindavan on janmastmi day by accident and not being able to leave again at a time when there were no westerners in vrindavan and not known in the west at all. Special mercy.

[krsna 3]

SPECIAL DARSHAN IN VRINDAVAN

by Deena Bandhu das

The day after Balaram Purnima in Vrindavan there are very special darshans in the Saptadevalay (Seven Goswami Temples). Padmanabha Goswami of Radharaman Temple explained to me that the last few days Jhulan Yatra has been going on and Radha and Krishna have been swinging in the cool rainy season breezes and are in a funny mood, so the Divine Couple manifests all these funny Darshans the day after Purnima.

 

 

We took all the devotees on kirtan procession to all the Saptadevalay. First we came to Madan Mohan Mandir where the darshan was Radharani Rai, Radharani as a King. After dancing in Rasa Lila, the gopis and Krishna were tired and they took rest in a grove of Kadamba trees. When He awoke, Krishna could not find his flute or mukut (crown). Lalita and Visakha told Him, "Kanha, we will only give them back when you become the darwan (guard) of our King." So here we see Radharani standing high dressed as a king and we get the merciful darshan of her divine padaravinda, two lotus feet. At her feet are Krishna's mukut and flute. Madan Mohan is standing down below and instead of flute, he is holding a silver sword and shield as the darwan of Radharani Rai!

 

Then we proceeded to Damodar temple to see the darshan of Shyam Sakhi. In order to get close to Srimati Radharani who is upset with Him, Damodara has dressed as a Kinnari holding a beautiful gold and silver vina. The sakhis then ask the Kinnari what is her name and if she can sing a song to cheer up Srimati Radhika. "She" says Her name is Shyam Sakhi, since "She's" blackish and sings a song that plunges the gopis into ectatic bliss. To reward Shyam Sakhi, Radharani is about to give her the jewel locket from Her own neck. Lalita notices that this "sakhi" is bent in three ways and points it out to Sri Radha. But seeing her beloved dressed up this funny way, She can no longer maintain her anger. Tonight even Krishna Chandra, Madhava, and Chalchikan have joined the fun and are also dressed as sakhis with even pots of yogurt on Their heads!

 

We came next to Radha Shyamsundar Mandir, where Nauka Bihar (boating) pastime is taking place. They placed a beautifully decorated boat in front of the altar and brought the small Deities of Radha Shyamsundar of Shyamananda Prabhu forward and raised them up like They are sitting in the boat. Many other sakhis have joined them and are manning the silver oars. The large Radha Shyamsundar Deities of Baladeva Vidyabhusana are presiding from behind. Even they have made a small pool of water in front of the boat.

 

Chanting through Loi Bazaar and around Nidhivan, we arrived at Radharaman Mandir. As there is no Radharani Deity here, there is no special darshan, but then Radharaman darshan is always special. Radharaman is the self-manifested Deity of Gopala Bhatta Goswami and this night He is outside the temple chamber on a beautiful silver singhasana and we were able to very nicely observe His divine features while a traditional kirtan party was singing sweet bhajans on the platform in the rear of the temple.

 

From there we went nearby to Radha Gokulananda Mandir. On the way there is a a small Sad Bhuja Mahaprabhu Deity. We enter and found to our surprise that Mahaprabhu is dressed up as Radharani! We know that Radha bhava dyuti sulalitam, Mahaprabhu has taken the bhava and luster of Radharani, but tonight, that bhava has burst out.

 

At Gokulananda Mandir the darshan is Raval Rai. Raval is the birthplace of Radharani just near Gokula, so here again She is dressed as a king and She is on a throne and have placed some extra feet coming out from under Her sari in such a way that She is sitting. They have used the large Deities of Radha Vijay Govinda of Baladeva Vidyabhusana for this darshan. Govinda's flute and mukut are resting at Radharani's lotus feet and Govinda is standing below with His silver sword and shield as the darwan of Radharani.

 

Going back past Radharaman Mandir, we chanted our way to Radha Gopinatha Mandir. Here the darshan is Van Bihar, forest pastimes in the night. The whole altar is covered with greenery with parrots, monkeys, and fruits. There are extra gopis and gopas besides the Deity of Ananga Manjari who traditionally presides here with Radha Gopinatha. After Nrsinga Caturdasi, there is Purnima and then two days after that, on the dwitiya day, all the Brijbasis do a Vrindavan Parikrama at night known as Van Bihar Parikrama. Here a small kirtan party sitting to one side, is sweetly serenading Radha Gopinatha in the forest.

 

Then there was a fired up Parikram through Gopinatha Bazaar on the way to Radha Govinda Mandir. But first we stop at Mahaprabhu Mandir, where there is an astonishing seven-foot Deity of Mahaprabhu known as Amiya Nimai. Here again, the Radha Bhava as burst forth and Mahaprabhu is dressed like Srimati Radharani. Seeing this wonderful display, the kirtan became very ecstatic with devotees dancing like firebrands. Suddenly as we went up to the upper darshan mandap to get a closer view, a small harmless snake appeared and frightened everyone. All the devotees jumped and all the video cameras focused in on him as he tried to hide behind some pillar.

 

Finally going around the back side of the stately dark red carved sandstone temple of Govinda Deva, we reached new Govinda Deva Mandir. All the devotees were amazed to see the incredible Subal Vesha Darshan. Krishna wanted to meet Radharani, but she was in Javat with her mother-in-law Jatila. On some pretext, Subal sent Jatila and Kutila to the forest to look for his calf. Since his features are very similar to Radhika, they exchanged dresses and She dressed up as Subal. But certain female features were still quite obvious. Subal said that there's no problem, I told everyone that I was looking for my calf, so just hold this calf on your chest and no one will notice. So here we see Radhika dressed as Subal with Her dhoti between Her legs and we also get darshan of Her supremely Divine Padaravinda! She is holding a beautiful white calf on Her chest.

 

We have arrived just in time for aratka so we have a very enthusiastic kirtan of Govinda Jaya Jaya Gopala Jaya Jaya. Before the temple closes for the evening, we had a boisterous kirtan in the sunken courtyard of the temple with all the visitors joining in. Then we all left and by Krishna's grace, we found just enough tongas (horsecarts) to take everyone back to Krishna Balaram Mandir doing kirtan along the way.

 

In service of Sri Sri Krishna Balaram,

Deena Bandhu dasa