New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Gopisa’s India Journal, continued…..

Please see the first few installments of Gopisa Prabhu’s timeless and  intriguing India journal on this Brijabasi Spirit at Gopisa’s India Journey Begins

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Vrindavan Day 3

Dearest family,

The trips to the temples and Loi Bazaar have been via bicycle rickshaw. I’d gladly trade some of my girth to the walla to make him stronger and make his portly fare easier to bear. Jaya Krsna takes it all in stride saying that this is their dharma and we are helping them out as they are the poorest of the lot seeing that they can’t afford a motorized rickshaw, but he still beats them up on the price! A ride to Loi Bazaar use to cost 5-7 rupees, now it’s 40 (after bargaining).

Loi Bazaar, a Unique Shopping Experience

We purchased some fruits, the quality is so nice. Also drank fresh squeezed pomegranate juice and sugar cane juice. It’s challenging to keep in mind that these are the residents of Vrindavan and therefore Krsna’s personal friends…but we do our best to remain humble and peaceful. Personal space is not a luxury one can afford in this town. In America people have a real need for physical contact but be assured that such necessities are well funded in this land of intimacy.

While it appears that much of the town is being overrun with capitalism and its maidservant technology, still there are remnants of the spirituality of the past tucked away in secret spaces hidden from the untrained eye. And I failed to mention that the rickshaw wallas don’t have horns for pedestrian traffic, the call out “Radhe-Radhe”. The chanting of Krsna’s holy name is ever present as we traverse this hallowed ground. Every time I pay obeisances, I make a point to take a little dust on my head…vancha calpa tarubyas ca….

Today we will endeavor to gain the audience of Syamasundar, the self manifest diety of Syamananda Pandit. As the story goes, he found an ankle bracelet and would not return it to a disguised Lalitadevi insisting on gaining the association of Srimati Radharani Herself. He was given a temporary spiritual body to accomplish this feat, initiated by Sriji Herself and given a beautiful diety of Krsna that self-manifest for Her pleasure.

This journey has been both humbling and enlightening…I cannot imagine what will come next. There is no way to predict Krsna’s plan…I canonly put one foot in front of the other and trust in Guru and Gauranga that They have my best interest in mind.

Love and Krsna to you all!   g

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Vrindavan Day 4

Dearest family,

Today was rather exceptional…up early (3:00 am), japa finished before breakfast. Had every intention to attend class with Vashiseka but wanted to check on Jaya Krsna as he’s been getting progressively sicker and didn’t get out of bed this morning. Entering the MVT, there’s Dhanudara Maharaja with a group of Iranian matajis and 4 bramacharis heading out to Radha Kunda. Needless to say, I was on my way down the rabbit hole. Though it would take considerable time to write the whole story, sufficient it to say that Maharaja feels he needs to reciprocate for some some small gesture on my part from 40 years ago.

Off we go to Radha Kunda to receive the mercy of Srimati Radharani in Her pure liquid form. Maharaja is careful to set the mood with kirtan on the way there and our first stop is our godbrother, Svarupa Damodara Maharaja’s temple to pray for his mercy. After kirtan in the temple room, two bhajans in his personal quaters and japa in front of his samadhi, we’re ready to go. Onward to Raghunatha das Goswami’s samadhi, Janavidevi’s sitting place with a specially constructed private bathing entrance and finally we offer obeisances on the steps and I get the mercy of Radha Kunda from Maharaja! A nice brahmana offers puja on our behalf and then it’s off to Bhaktisiddhanta’s house for a special treat. A cabinet is opened and out comes His Divine Grace’s cane for benedictions on our heads. These Iranian matajis are VERY enthusiastic chanters and we are all in a special state of grace.

All told we were gone 6 hours and there was no time for breakfast, yet I did not experience any hunger.

Tomorrow Maharaja has a special place he wants to take Jaya Krsna and me, it’s 15 minutes’ walk and through a gate the he says will take us back to the way Vrindavan was in the past. More on that tomorrow.

I’m still amazed at the animals here. When I describe the monkeys, pigs, cows, dogs, green parrots, etc… It’s not that they are an occasional occurrence here, they are EVERYWHERE! All the dogs are docile as are the cows and pigs. Only the monkeys get a little rambunctious and that’s mostly in the bazaar where they’ve learned to steal glasses to trade for bananas. It’s not surprising to see 20 monkeys, 5 pigs, 4 cows and a half dozen dogs in a single block.

 

And the driving is a state of perpetual chicken (or cow, dog, pig, monkey…you get my drift) yet all survive and one learns to take it all in stride. One truly must be convinced that they are not the body to adapt. Safety is non-existent, no seat belts, lines in the road, traffic lights, nothing! It’s chaotic symmetry on the highest order.

I found out that there is a swan boat festival here once a year where they flood the courtyard and give Their Lordships a nice ride. This temple is amazing! The deities are the absolute center of attention and the lines of people that stream in every single day for morning and evening darshan is incredible. There are so many fragrant flowers offered that it boggles the mind. The marble floors and walkways are swept two or three times a day and washed at least once. The crew that runs and maintains this facility is large, motivated and efficient. All wear neck beads and respond to a Hari Bol. The restaurants, sweet shops and snack bars are all top quality. They announce their book distribution totals every morning to Their Lordships and it’s typically 1400-1600 books every day! Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental book distribution Ki Jaya!

Enough for today. This took 1 1/2 hours to write…   I know the subject matter is more than a little esoteric and may be a bit much to absorb…..I can only beg for your tolerance and ask that you all bear with me on this rather extraordinary journey.

Love and Krsna to you all!     g

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Vrindavan As It Is

Dearest family,

Today Dhanudara Maharaja took a small group of us to see Vrindavan as it is. There is no describing the experience of passing through a dimensional portal into a world of 5000 years past. We turned off a road and went through a solid black steel gate and into paradise. Lest you think I exaggerate, there are pictures to prove it. What lies beyond is a Vrindavan untouched by the cold finger of “progress”.

This land is in the flood zone and therefore cannot be developed, at least not yet… It is all gardens, neatly arranged in multiple plots divided by 12″ high mounds. Within this remarkable vision of pastoral delight are countless rows of marigolds, roses, banana trees, large bale fruit trees, amala trees, and other strange and exotic varieties of plant life. Kalindi, you would be in ECSTASY! Try to conjure up the ideal rose fragrance….now multiply it tenfold. That’s how fragrant these roses are. Now I know where all those garlands and bushels of flowers come from that are offered to Their Lordships. For one tuned in to the olfactory sensations, this is a veritable gold mine. Yet in this land of Krsna, one instinctively feels, ” Oh, what a nice flower, let me offer it to my beloved Gopinatha”. It’s not that I have any love or realization, it’s just this place…one simply knows from somewhere deep within.

And the residents! Today is Ekadasi, fasting from beans and grains. The streets were buzzing all day with pedestrian traffic of chanting and singing people in blisstacy as they follow the parikram path that surrounds the town. At the temple every morning and evening, these same residents file through with banana leaf plates overflowing with garlands to offer both the Lord and His pure devotee. To see so many people coming through in droves, trying to get the merciful audience of Srila Prabhupada and the presiding deities. Today is Tuesday yet there are so many visitors…yes it’s Ekadasi, but yesterday was the same….I took both still pictures and a video so you can see what I mean. AND, there is 24 hour kirtan, every day, all day and all night. There’s a dozen large oriental rugs covering the floor for these kirtanias. And these rugs must be rolled up every day for the sweepers to clean and wash the floor.

Vrindavan Parikrama

Though Jaya Krsna is still quite sick (and I’m not far behind), we made it to Loi Bazaar to finish our shopping. I got a little incense, a bell for offerings, neck beads, counting beads and some other something or other…….;-) Suffice it to say, the flight home will be challenging. Jaya Krsna and I will have to sit on opposite sides of the plane to keep it from listing.

That’s all for now. We’re off to Govardhana tomorrow to begin the next retreat…or should I say “re-treat”?

Love and Krsna to you all!   g

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Govardhana

Dearest family,

We left Vrindavan today for the Govardhana retreat. I was quite sick last evening and couldn’t sleep, gave up at 3 am and got up for the morning program. Well worth the effort to get one last look at the heartbreakingly beautiful countenances of Sri-Sri Gaura-Nitai, Sri-Sri Krsna Balarama and the stunning Sri-Sri Radha Syamasundar, Lalita and Vishaka.

Sri Giriraja (the personality of Govardhana hill) is the greatest facilitator of Krsna’s pastimes and is not without a sense of humor. We finally arrived at our destination and my suitcase, which I watched them load, is missing. Apparently an Indian gentleman from Houston mistook mine (which is half again bigger, a lot heavier, a different hrand and doesn’t have a red ribbon on it) for his and it took him almost an hour to figure it out. So there I am with one set of dirty clothes, wet socks (because the drains here are flexible plastic pipe stuck in a hole in the floor which the rats displace when they come top side) and I’m facing the loss of all my clothes and the silver deity paraphernalia I’d just purchased. Can’t say it’s not an adventure!

We went out to a special place near the hill with very old pilu trees that appear to be in a state of frozen perpetual motion. Hard to describe, you’ll just have to see the pictures to understand. These entities are ancient and graceful. They could easily be thousands of years old.

The next 5-6 days will be filled with lectures, philosophy and deep discussions of the answers to God, the universe and everything…..and no, it’s not 42. Just foolin’, but suffice it to say that there is insufficient time or space to explain it. There’s 5 speakers, 4 lectures per day and it’s all taking place next to Govindaji’s garden in an elaborate tent that would rival the sultan tents of Persia AND right next to Govardhana Hill.

Don’t know if I’ll have much to write over the next several days but we’ll see…you’re probably getting overloaded anyway…

Love and Krsna to you all!   g