![]() |
![]() |
|||
HOME > Vrindavan > Braja & Vrindavan Spiritual Subjects | ||||
Braja & Vrindavan Spiritual Subjects Braja is where Sri Krishna performed His pastimes 5,000 years ago. Braja Mandala covers an area of 1453 square miles (2325 square km) surrounding Vrindavana and Mathura. The area of Braja Mandala goes from Agra in the south to Banchari in the north. It is about 150 km (84 miles) across. Braja is the area 75 km (42 miles) in each direction, with Mathura in the center. This Braja area, even though appearing to be part of India, is not destroyed when the universe is destroyed. In the Adi Varaha Purana it says that there are over 600 million tirthas (holy places) on this earth. The benefit of going to all these tirthas and more is attained by going to the tirthas (holy places) in Mathura. It also says in the Adi Varaha Purana that by circumambulating Mathura you attain a hundred times the same results as circumambulating all the holy places, temples in the world, and the benefits of giving all charity and doing all rituals for the well-being of the world. It also says that even those who just see a person who has just returned from Mathura get cleansed of their sins. Vrindavana and Mathura are the most important Vaishnava holy places in all of India. This is because Mathura is the birthplace of Lord Krishna and Vrindavana is where He had His childhood pastimes. There are twelve principle forests in Braja and all of them are considered places of pilgrimage. Other major places in the Braja area are: Nandagram, Varsana, Gokula, Govardhana Hill, and Radha Kund. It is said in the Padma Purana that “Simply by residing for one day in Mathura one will attain Hari-bhakti, devotion to Hari (Vishnu).” Some of the important and especially interesting temples in the town of Vrindavana are the Govindaji, Madana Mohana, Banke Bihari, Radha Damodara, Radha-Raman, and Sri Raghunatha Temples. All the places in Vrindavana are considered important because they are transcendental. ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) has one of its major centers in Vrindavana called the Krishna Balarama Mandir. “In the Varaha Purana there is a statement praising
the residential quarters of Mathura. Lord Varaha tells the men of
earth, ‘Any person who becomes attracted to places other than
Mathura will certainly be captivated by the illusory energy.’
In the Brahmanda Purana it is said that all the results of traveling
on all the pilgrimages within the three worlds can be achieved simply
by touching the holy land of Mathura. In many sastras (scriptures)
it is said that simply by hearing, remembering, glorifying, desiring,
seeing or touching the land of Mathura, one can achieve all desires.”
(Nectar of Devotion, page 102) Emperor Akbar named Vrindavana “Fakirabad” (the land of the ascetics). When he visited Vrindavana he asked the devotees there what they wanted. As they had renounced everything, there was nothing for them to ask for. When he insisted, they asked that he prohibit killing of any animals in the area of Vrindavana and Braja Mandala by hunters or persons killing animals for sport. Killing a peacock, a monkey or cutting a tree for no reason is a punishable offense. Statements
About Vrindavana “We must understand the transcendental importance of Mathura, Vrindavana and Navadvipa dhamas. Anyone who executes devotional service in these places certainly goes back home, back to Godhead after giving up his body. “Whenever the Supreme Personality appears, He
appears in Mathura because of His intimate connection with this place.
Therefore, although Mathura and Vrindavana are situated on this planet
earth, they are transcendental abodes of the Lord.” (Srimad
Bhagavatam 10.1.28 Purport). “As Brajendranandana, Krishna, is worshipable, His dhama, Vrindavana is also worshipable. We should be very much respectful toward Vrindavana-dhama. Otherwise we will be offenders, dhama-aparadha.” (Srila Prabhupada Tape 72/48) “The human form of life is meant for understanding this transcendental land of Vrindavana and its inhabitants. An expansion of this Vrindavana, which is the supreme abode of Krishna, is also present on earth. No one can appreciate Vrindavana without being highly elevated in spiritual knowledge, Krishna consciousness.” (Teachings of Lord Caitanya) “Vrindavana-dhama is non-different from Krishna because the name, form, fame and place where the Lord manifests are all identical with the Lord as absolute knowledge. Therefore, Vrindavana-dhama is as worshipable as the Lord.” (Srimad Bhagavatam, Intro.) “The ideal place to execute Krishna consciousness is Braja-bhumi, or Vrindavana, where the people are naturally inclined to love Krishna and Krishna is naturally inclined to love them.” (Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya 4.95) Description
of Vrindavana “The inhabitants of Vrindavana were never disturbed by the scorching heat of the sun or the high summer temperatures. The lakes of Vrindavana are surrounded by green grasses, and various kinds of lotus flowers bloom there, and the air blowing in Vrindavana carries the aromatic pollen of those lotus flowers. When the particles of water from the waves of the Yamuna, the lakes and the waterfalls, touched the bodies of the inhabitants of Vrindavana, they automatically felt a cooling effect. Therefore they were practically undisturbed by the summer season. “Vrindavana is such a nice place. Flowers are always blooming, and there are even various kinds of decorated deer. Birds are chirping, peacocks are crowing and dancing, and bees are humming. The cuckoos there sing nicely in five kinds of tunes.” (Krishna Book) “Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead
full of all opulence, and His complete opulences are exhibited only
in Braja-dhama. Braja-dhama is made of transcendental touchstone.
Its entire surface is the source of all valuable jewels, and the cintamini
stone is used to decorate the lotus feet of the maid of Vrindavana.
Vrindavana is a natural forest of desire trees and creepers, and the
inhabitants do not want anything but the fruits and flowers of those
desire trees. Instruction
from Nectar of Devotion One must circumambulate the temple building at least
three times. (In every temple there is an arrangement to go around
the temple at least three times. Some devotees go around more than
three times—ten times, fifteen times—according to their
vows. The Gosvamis used to circumambulate Govardhana Hill). One should
also circumambulate the whole Vrindavana area. All together there are sixty-four items for discharging the regulative practice of devotional service. Out of these sixty-four items, five items—namely worshiping the Deity, hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, associating among the devotees, sankirtana, and living in Mathura—are very important. Statements
from the Varaha Purana The Yamuna joins the Ganges at Prayaga, but the Yamuna is a hundred times more sacred at Mathura. Of what need is Varanasi for one who goes to Mathura and dies there. Even a bird or a worm that dies there becomes four-armed like Lord Vishnu. If one bathes at Visrama Ghata he reaches My world. He gets the benefits of bathing in all holy places by seeing the Lord there. The benefit of bathing at Visrama Ghata is not obtained by sacrifice, penance, mediation or control of the mind. A resident of Mathura gets more benefit than a person who performs the austerity of standing on one foot for a thousand years. Honoring a single brahmana in Mathura is equal to honoring a thousand other brahmanas. There is no place greater than Mathura in the three worlds. Mathura is the greatest of all holy places because Krishna played everywhere there. There is no tirtha greater than Mathura and no God greater than Keshava (another name of Krishna). Forests
in Braja Mandala Deities
Carved by Vajranabha The four presiding Deities of Braja Mandala are Sri Harideva of Govardhana, Sri Keshava Deva of Mathura, Sri Baladeva (Dauji) of Baldeo, and Govinda Deva of Vrindavana, who has now been moved to Jaipur. There are two Naths—Sri Nathji, who was originally
at Govardhana and is now in the town of Nathdwar, which is near Udaipur
in Rajasthan, and Sri Gopinatha, who is now in Jaipur. The four Mahadevas (deities of Lord Siva) are Chakalesvara at Govardhana, Kamesvara at Kamyavana, Bhutesvara at Mathura, and Gopisvara in Vrindavana. The four goddesses carved are Manasi Devi at Govardhana, Vrinda Devi at Kamyavana, Patala Devi at Mathura, and Yogamaya Devi at Vrindavana. Sri
Madana Mohana, Sri Govinda and Sri Gopinatha In one book about the temples of Vrindavan, the Padma Purana is quoted saying that to get the full vision of Sri Krishna, pilgrims have to visit and offer obeisances to all three Deities during a single day, while the sun is still up. Sri Govinda and Sri Gopinatha are now in Jaipur, and Madana-Mohan is in Karoli, a small town in Rajasthan. The Deities in the Govindaji, Gopinatha, and Radha Damodara temples are important Krishna Deities, and were originally installed in Vrindavan. If you are departing from Vrindavana or Delhi and want to see these three Deities all in one day you have to take a taxi to Karoli in the morning and from there go to Jaipur. It would be difficult to see all three Deities in a one day by public transportation. Three
Stages of Devotional Service Pratibhu
Murtis (Deities) The Deities installed in place of the original Deities are called pratibhu murtis. They are expanded forms, which are nondifferent from the original Deities. Since the original Deities stayed at Radha Kunda and Kamyavana, temples have been established at these places, which contain pratibhu murtis to honor the Lord’s visit to these places. Deities
that have moved Paurnamasi Vrindavana Residents Don’t Know Krishna’s Position “When Krishna was on this earth all the residents
of Vrindavana loved Him. Indeed, they knew nothing but Krishna. They
did not know whether Krishna is God or not God, nor were they disturbed
by such thoughts, ‘I shall love Krishna if He is God.’
Their attitude was one of pure love, and they thought. ‘He may
or may not be God, it doesn’t matter. We love Krishna, that’s
all.’ This then is the platform of real, unalloyed love.”
(SSR) “In Brajabhumi, Krishna is certainly the central point of love, and the inhabitants there know Krishna as a friend, son, lover or master.” (C.C . Madhya 9.131 purport) Spiritual
Forms of Prominent Gaudiya Vaishnava Acarya Ten
Offenses to be Avoiding in the Holy Dhama Personalities
in Krishna Lila Nanda Maharaja and Vasudeva were cousins. Both of them
had the same grandfather, Devamidha. Devamidha had two wives. One
was a kshatriya and the other was from a vaisya family. Each one of
these wives had a son. The son from the kshatriya wife was Surasena,
the father of Vasudeva and the son from the vaisya wife was Parjanya,
the father of Nanda Maharaja. Nanda Maharaja had four brothers: Upananda,
Abhinanda, Sunanda and Nandana. At first all the children of these
four sons of Parjanya had only daughters. Parjanya would go to the
temple of Lord Siva at Nandagram and pray for a grandson. Finally
Parjanya got a grandson when Krishna appeared. “Let others worship the Mahabharata if they are afraid of material existence and want to become liberated from that condition. But as far as I am concerned, I wish only to worship Maharaja Nanda, because the supreme absolute Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is crawling in his courtyard as his own child.” (Nectar of Devotion)
Demons
Killed by Krishna and the Anarthas They Represent 1. Putana - the pseudo guru. Bhaktivinoda Thakura says: “The devotee who worships the holy name should first petition the Lord for the strength to cast out all these unfavorable tendencies—and should pray thus before Lord Hari on a daily basis. By doing this regularly, the devotee’s heart will eventually become purified. Sri Krishna has killed a number of demons which may arise in the kingdom of the heart—so in order to destroy these problems, a devotee must cry very humbly before the Lord and admit defeat—then the Lord will nullify all contaminations.” Sampradaya
in Braja The Nimbarka Sampradaya has controls of several temples
in across Braja. Some Brahman priests have inherited control of some of the important temples. These important priests are often referred to as “Goswami.” Goswami means “controller of the senses.” Usually the local people give these priests great respect. Rules
for Pilgrims to Braja The local people should be treated with respect, because
they are resident of Vrindavana. Even the sweeper of the street is
treated as special. It is totally banned to do any harm to the monkeys
and to kill one is a punishable offense. If a monkey steals some food
from someone, they are expected to just see the humorous side of it.
While visiting Vrindavana, pilgrims usually rise early, bathe and
go to a temple to worship. Sanjhikala
Art |
Our own Vegetarian, Vegan, Alternative & Spiritual Sales Shop Buy Spiritual India, A Practical Guide
Please Help Support This Site Buy USA Vegetarian Restaurants Book Please check out our Natural Nirvana Store, which we started to help pay for the maintenance of this Website. Natural Nirvana is dedicated to selling vegetarian, spiritual and alternative products. We sell only animal-friendly and cruelty-free clothing, gifts, health foods, books and beauty products. |
|||
Copyright
©2001 John Howley and Spiritual Guides |
||||
|