Cleaning the Kundas in New Vrindaban Dhama
by Sukhavaha dasi, Madri dasi & Lilasuka dasi
Radha Kunda, the crest jewel of Govardhan, is now beautifully shining, and freshly lined.
New Vrindaban’s replica Radha Kunda up on the replica of Govardhan Hill got a fresh lining at the end of this summer of 2014. It’s called “Rhino”, a type of cement which hardens into enamel, and is guaranteed for 30 years not to leak. This took two weeks, and lots of time and energy to shovel all the muck at the bottom. After seeing the beauty of Radha Kunda, and understanding that Lalita Kunda is also leaking, Gopisa Prabhu suggested that we also line Lalita Kunda and Shyama Kunda.
Radha Kunda, “before”, awaiting renewal.
During the lining of Radha Kunda
Renewed Radha Kunda
Sukhavaha dasi relates the story:
“We had the rare opportunity of immersing ourselves (literally) in the sacred mud of those kundas, thus receiving some very special mercy. There was only two days to clean out the other two kundas. Tilak das and I worked along with some help from Lalita Gopi dasi, Ananda Vidya das, Madri dasi and Gaura Shakti, and some extra help from Venkatta das, TK das, Navin das, Daivata das and Bhaktin Autumn as we all proceeded to clean out Shyama Kunda, which was going to be really simple, because it was only 3 and ½ feet deep, according to Varsana Maharaj. No big deal. “We will have this done in no time”, we thought. Well, see the story in pictures below.”
1 Lalita, how fortunate we are- now we are receiving Lord Shyama’s mercy.
2 Good thing we got more “Man” power.
3 The more . . . the merrier.
4 We need a bucket brigade.
5 Keep those buckets moving.
6 The Sacred Mud from Shyama Kunda.
7 There’s a lot of rocks down here.
8 How did all this mud get in here anyway?
9 We need Varsana Maharaj’s help.
10 Maharaj comes to the rescue.
11 Maharaj, I thought you said this kunda was only 3 and ½ feet deep.
12 There’s a big rock right down there. And a heavy tarp.
13 Maharaj gets the rock out.
14 Venkatta holds the tarp on the bucket.
15 . Maharaj, that was the best ride I ever had.
16 How could this much mud fall in here? Is it frog stool?
17 How deep is this, Maharaj?
18 It’s seven feet deep. Keep digging….
19 Maharaj, I need to see the bottom. Is there really a bottom to this??
20 Yes . . . . it’s in there. Keep going. This is a practice in going deeper.
22 So, Maharaj, where DID all this mud come from?
23 Did no-one realize that maybe I put it there for a good reason – to protect the deer or humans from drowning in such a deep Kunda?
24 There’s the bottom, finally
25 Sukhavaha, we’re done. Come out now. Stop scrubbing.
26 Shyama Kunda, Ki Jaya. A job well done!
26 So, TK, how was your experience of the “Brijabasi spirit”?
27 This is what we are here for: the service of beautifying the Dhamas and purifying our hearts.
THE END
Photography Courtesy: Arjun Bhattacharyya & Vitaliy Grytsyuk. The materialist thinks that persons engaged in Krishna consciousness are crazy fellows wasting time by chanting Hare Krishna, but actually he does not know that he himself is in the darkest region of craziness because of accepting his body as permanent. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.28.10 Purport) Read more › 
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