Here's a question about my favorite Indian village along with a few photos taken by and/or of me in and around Sri Vrndavana Dham:
A photo of me, a resident of the holy dham, and a Hanuman monkey
Questioner: Sanj
Private: no
Subject: Vrindavana
Question: I forgot the webpage, but the author/swami said something like 'how can I describe the glories of the spiritual world fully in a few paragraphs on this site, even the opulences of millions and millions of vaikuntha planets combined would not equal even a single ray of light of the pastimes in Vrindavana.
I thought this was intriguing, please help me locate it!
Me and one of Vrndavana's many holy sadhus. I was his disciple in my last life.
My Reply:Hi Sanj,
Vrndavana is wonderful!
Its not too far from Agra and Mathura. Maps often list it as Brindavan or Brindaban. I usually land in New Delhi and catch a cab to get there.
Here's a piece about the Holy Village from
http://www.agraindia.org.uk/excursions/vrindavan/index.html:
Vrindavan:
Vrindavan/Vrindavana within the jurisdiction of district Mathura is intimately connected with Krishna just like all its surrounding regions. Devotees believe that Lord Krishna never leaves Vrindavana and engage in his pastimes for eternity. It is believed to be one of the transcendental abodes of the Lord as mentioned in 'Srimad Bhagavatam', the religious holy book of Hindus. Mathura and Vrindavan have as many as sixty billion sacred places! The presiding deity of the once forest of Vrindavan was Vrinda Devi, who was believed to be the expansion of Radharani, the beloved of Lord Krishna.
It is said that at the time of Krishna, Vrindavan was a forest and Tulsi plants grew here abundantly. Since the other name of Tulsi is Vrinda, it was known as Vrindavan or Forest of Tulsi. The forest was a large one and stretched from the present town of Vrindavan across to Nandagaon and Barsana on one side and Govardhana on the other side. It is said to be the twelfth forest and the favorite forest of Lord Krishna, which he often visited with cowherd boys to graze his cows. There was a Radha Kunda within the forest.
It was here that Krishna played the enchanting tunes with his flute every evening and would beckon 'gopis' or maids of Braj [of Vraja] to play and dance 'raas' [or rasa]. There these beautiful village belles and Krishna would dance in the ecstasy of pure and spiritual love. Since, then 'Raas lila' [or rasa lila] has been re-enacted several times in Vrindavan. It is said that despite their numbers, all gopis got a chance to dance with their favorite Krishna and exchange intimate loving glances and embrace him. The site where the dance is believed to have been performed is semicircular in shape, is known as 'rasa mandala' and has a parameter of 16 km. It is situated on the banks of River Yamuna.
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As this article says, Sri Vrndavana dham is heaven on earth.
Also, the most supreme abode of the spirit world is named Goloka Vrndavan ('heavenly Vrndavana') and often the two are viewed as one.
Hope this helps.
~Jagannatha dasa
~John of AllFaith
All of India is wonderful, but Sri Vrndavana is exceptionally so. When one is there one is almost transported from the material world into the spiritual. God's presence is EVERWHERE in temples (mandirs), meditation huts and storefronts (kutirs), in sacred groves and in the person of thousands of enlightened sadhus (holy people) who live there.
