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Revati-raman Das, the president of ISKCON Tirupati, invited the GBC to have their midterm meeting in the temple complex. Tirupati is famous as the home of Lord Venkatesvara where more than 30 million pilgrims come to take His darshan every year.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 23 September 2012, Durban, South Africa, Radhastami Lecture)

Wherever in this world there were great manifestations of love between Radha and Krsna, not only was it an extraordinary experience for those who were present there, but actually that entire place also became transformed.

Various places in Vrindavan, where Radha and Krsna had great exchanges of love, are very potent with powerful mercy that becomes available to us as well. The appearance of Radha-kund, the lake of Srimati Radharani, is a most special occasion, as it is said that Radha kund is the most sacred space in the entire universe – because it is made of liquid prema, pure love of Radha and Krsna who perform many pastimes on the banks of those sacred waters.

In the tenth canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, there is a little anecdote given by Visvanath Cakravarti Thakur on appearance of Radha-kund. Krsna, at one point, killed the demon Aristasura that appeared in the form of a bull. Aristasura was a demoniac personality who took the form of the bull and came to kill the residents of Vrindavan, but then Krsna killed him. At that point, the innocent young gopis said, ‘Ah Krsna, do not touch us now, O killer of a bull! Alas, even though Aristasura was a terrible demon, still he was a male cow, so you will have to undergo atonement, just as Lord Indra did after killing Vritasura. But how can you purify yourself without taking trouble of visiting every single holy place in the three worlds?’  Krsna replied to them, ‘Why should I have to wonder throughout the entire universe? I will at once bring all the countless pilgrimage places here and take my bath in them. Just watch!’

Lord Mukunda struck his heel on the ground and said, ‘This is the water from the Ganga River coming from the Patala region! Now, oh holy places, all of you, please come here!’  When the Supreme Lord had spoken these words, all the holy places appeared before him. Krsna then addressed the gopis, ‘See, all the holy places!’ But the gopis replied, ‘We don’t see them, as you have described!’  Then the presiding deities of all the holy places, joining their palms in supplication, spoke up, ‘I am the salt ocean, I am the ocean of milk, I am the river Sindhu, I am the Tamraparni, I am the holy place Pushkar, I am the river Sarasvati. We are: Yamuna, Godavari and Reva rivers, and also the confluence of rivers at Prayag! Just see our waters!’

Then, after purifying himself by bathing in their waters, Lord Hari became quite arrogant and said, ‘I produced a pond that contains all the various holy places, whereas you gopis never executed any religious duties on this earth for the pleasure of Lord Narayana!’  Then Srimati Radharani addressed her gopi friends as follows, ‘I must create an even more beautiful pond, so please go to work!’  Having heard these words, the gopis saw that Aristasura’s hooves have dug a shallow ditch just west of Sri Krsna’s pond and at that nearby spot, all the gopis started digging lumps of earth. In this way, a divine pond manifested in an hour. Krsna was astonished to see the lake they had produced! The gopis wanted to make a human chain from Manasi Ganga and fill the lake with its waters with help of buckets, but Krsna was thinking that this would take too long. So, he ordered all the holy waters to enter into Radharani’s kund.

Thus in Vrindavan, we have Syama-kund and Radha-kund, divine lakes of Krsna and Srimati Radharani. Such eternal places that exist in the spiritual world are manifested within the material universe by the divine arrangement of the Supreme Lord in order to make his mercy widely available. These places are evenly accessible, at least to a degree, to the conditioned souls like us  – and that is just extraordinary! Such is the inconceivable mercy of the Lord!

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.9.18.

“Everybody is offering Krishna prayers and worship, and He appreciates it and accepts it. But He enjoys more when He forgets that He is God and reciprocates with intimate, confidential associates who also forget that He is God. This is the special feature of Vrindavan. In His original form of Krishna—who is the unlimited supreme—He allowed himself to be bound by ropes by Mother Yasoda. Still, within that pastime, or lila, He also manifested His unlimited potencies. But her love for Him was so intense that His display of mystic power did not eclipse her conception that He was her son. He manifested His unlimited potencies to test her determination—and to show the world that He is God—but she always maintained the conviction that He was her son.”

———————————

Kirtan
Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.9.18

From Vighnesh P

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1)
namamisvaram sac-cid-ananda-rupam
lasat-kundalam gokule bhrajamanam
yasoda-bhiyolukhalad dhavamanam
paramrstam atyantato drutya gopya

I bow down to Damodara, the form of full joy,
eternity and wisdom, within Vrindavan.
Whose shining earrings swung as he so swiftly ran
from mother Yashoda who caught that naughty boy.

(2)
rudantam muhur netra-yugmam mrjantam
karambhoja-yugmena satanka-netram
muhuh svasa-kampa-trirekhanka-kantha-
sthita-graivam damodaram bhakti-baddham

Captured by Yashoda, crying repeatedly,
he rubs his reddish eyes with his trembling hands.
On his conchlike neck his necklace shakes as he pants.
I bow down to Damodara, bound but by bhakti

(3)
itidrk sva-lilabhir ananda-kunde
sva-ghosam nimajjantam akhyapayantam
tadiyesita-jnesu bhaktair jitatvam
punah prematas tam satavrtti vande

Thus bathing Gokula in a great lake of bliss;
he shows love defeats him, devoid of reverence.
Conquered only by those in complete confidence,
I offer him unlimited loving praises.

(4)
varam deva moksam na moksavadhim va
na canyam vrne ‘ham varesad apiha
idam te vapur natha gopala-balam
sada me manasy avirastam kim anyaih

I beg not from you Lord, who can grant any boon,
even liberation or life in your abode.
Let memories of Gopala be ever bestowed,
for what other favour offers such great fortune?

(5)
idam te mukhambhojam atyanta-nilair
vrtam kuntalaih snigdha-raktais ca gopya
muhus cumbitam bimba-raktadharam me
manasy avirastam alam laksa-labhaih

Your dark, crimson hued curls encircle your face,
lovely like a lotus, with lips of ruby red;
kissed by Yashoda; within my mind be seated.
A billion other boons could not grant such grace

(6)
namo deva damodarananta visno
prasida prabho duhkha-jalabdhi-magnam
krpa-drsti-vrstyati-dinam batanu
grhanesa mam ajnam edhy aksi-drsyah

O Damodara, Ananta, O almighty Vishnu,
I fall down prostrate, pray be pleased upon me.
Blinded and sinking in a sea of misery,
grace me with your glance that I shall ever see you.

(7)
kuveratmajau baddha-murtyaiva yadvat
tvaya mocitau bhakti-bhajau krtau ca
tatha prema-bhaktim svakam me prayaccha
na mokse graho me ‘sti damodareha

Dear Damodara, the sons of Kuvera you saved,
while a baby, by breaking the trees they became.
As you granted them prema, pray grant me the same,
I want not salvation, your love alone I crave.

(8)
namas te ‘stu damne sphurad-dipti-dhamne
tvadiyodarayatha visvasya dhamne
namo radhikayai tvadiya-priyayai
namo ‘nanta-lilaya devaya tubhyam

I bow down to the bright rope that binds your belly,
within which the cosmos is completely contained.
To your beloved Radha I bow yet again,
and to you the hero who plays wonderfully.

Bhuta Bhavana prabhu Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya 18 101 20141011075229