Special Darshan in Vrindavan

[Guest guest]

The day after Balaram Purnima in Vrindavan there are very special darshans in

the Saptadevalay (Seven Goswami Temples). Padmanabha Goswami of Radharaman

Temple explained to me that the last few days Jhulan Yatra has been going on

and Radha and Krishna have been swinging in the cool rainy season breezes and

are in a funny mood, so the Divine Couple manifests all these funny Darshans

the day after Purnima.

 

We took all the devotees on kirtan procession to all the Saptadevalay. First we

came to Madan Mohan Mandir where the darshan was Radharani Rai, Radharani as a

King. After dancing in Rasa Lila, the gopis and Krishna were tired and they

took rest in a grove of Kadamba trees. When He awoke, Krishna could not find

his flute or mukut (crown). Lalita and Visakha told Him, "Kanha, we will only

give them back when you become the darwan (guard) of our King." So here we see

Radharani standing high dressed as a king and we get the merciful darshan of

her divine padaravinda, two lotus feet. At her feet are Krishna's mukut and

flute. Madan Mohan is standing down below and instead of flute, he is holding a

silver sword and shield as the darwan of Radharani Rai!

 

Then we proceeded to Damodar temple to see the darshan of Shyam Sakhi. In order

to get close to Srimati Radharani who is upset with Him, Damodara has dressed

as a Kinnari holding a beautiful gold and silver vina. The sakhis then ask the

Kinnari what is her name and if she can sing a song to cheer up Srimati

Radhika. "She" says Her name is Shyam Sakhi, since "She's" blackish and sings a

song that plunges the gopis into ectatic bliss. To reward Shyam Sakhi,

Radharani is about to give her the jewel locket from Her own neck. Lalita

notices that this "sakhi" is bent in three ways and points it out to Sri Radha.

But seeing her beloved dressed up this funny way, She can no longer maintain

her anger. Tonight even Krishna Chandra, Madhava, and Chalchikan have joined

the fun and are also dressed as sakhis with even pots of yogurt on Their heads!

 

We came next to Radha Shyamsundar Mandir, where Nauka Bihar (boating) pastime

is taking place. They placed a beautifully decorated boat in front of the altar

and brought the small Deities of Radha Shyamsundar of Shyamananda Prabhu

forward and raised them up like They are sitting in the boat. Many other sakhis

have joined them and are manning the silver oars. The large Radha Shyamsundar

Deities of Baladeva Vidyabhusana are presiding from behind. Even they have made

a small pool of water in front of the boat.

 

Chanting through Loi Bazaar and around Nidhivan, we arrived at Radharaman

Mandir. As there is no Radharani Deity here, there is no special darshan, but

then Radharaman darshan is always special. Radharaman is the self-manifested

Deity of Gopala Bhatta Goswami and this night He is outside the temple chamber

on a beautiful silver singhasana and we were able to very nicely observe His

divine features while a traditional kirtan party was singing sweet bhajans on

the platform in the rear of the temple.

 

>From there we went nearby to Radha Gokulananda Mandir. On the way there is a a

small Sad Bhuja Mahaprabhu Deity. We enter and found to our surprise that

Mahaprabhu is dressed up as Radharani! We know that Radha bhava dyuti

sulalitam, Mahaprabhu has taken the bhava and luster of Radharani, but tonight,

that bhava has burst out.

 

At Gokulananda Mandir the darshan is Raval Rai. Raval is the birthplace of

Radharani just near Gokula, so here again She is dressed as a king and She is

on a throne and have placed some extra feet coming out from under Her sari in

such a way that She is sitting. They have used the large Deities of Radha Vijay

Govinda of Baladeva Vidyabhusana for this darshan. Govinda's flute and mukut

are resting at Radharani's lotus feet and Govinda is standing below with His

silver sword and shield as the darwan of Radharani.

 

Going back past Radharaman Mandir, we chanted our way to Radha Gopinatha

Mandir. Here the darshan is Van Bihar, forest pastimes in the night. The whole

altar is covered with greenery with parrots, monkeys, and fruits. There are

extra gopis and gopas besides the Deity of Ananga Manjari who traditionally

presides here with Radha Gopinatha. After Nrsinga Caturdasi, there is Purnima

and then two days after that, on the dwitiya day, all the Brijbasis do a

Vrindavan Parikrama at night known as Van Bihar Parikrama. Here a small kirtan

party sitting to one side, is sweetly serenading Radha Gopinatha in the forest.

 

Then there was a fired up Parikram through Gopinatha Bazaar on the way to Radha

Govinda Mandir. But first we stop at Mahaprabhu Mandir, where there is an

astonishing seven-foot Deity of Mahaprabhu known as Amiya Nimai. Here again,

the Radha Bhava as burst forth and Mahaprabhu is dressed like Srimati

Radharani. Seeing this wonderful display, the kirtan became very ecstatic with

devotees dancing like firebrands. Suddenly as we went up to the upper darshan

mandap to get a closer view, a small harmless snake appeared and frightened

everyone. All the devotees jumped and all the video cameras focused in on him

as he tried to hide behind some pillar.

 

Finally going around the back side of the stately dark red carved sandstone

temple of Govinda Deva, we reached new Govinda Deva Mandir. All the devotees

were amazed to see the incredible Subal Vesha Darshan. Krishna wanted to meet

Radharani, but she was in Javat with her mother-in-law Jatila. On some pretext,

Subal sent Jatila and Kutila to the forest to look for his calf. Since his

features are very similar to Radhika, they exchanged dresses and She dressed up

as Subal. But certain female features were still quite obvious. Subal said that

there's no problem, I told everyone that I was looking for my calf, so just

hold this calf on your chest and no one will notice. So here we see Radhika

dressed as Subal with Her dhoti between Her legs and we also get darshan of Her

supremely Divine Padaravinda! She is holding a beautiful white calf on Her

chest.

 

We have arrived just in time for aratka so we have a very enthusiastic kirtan

of Govinda Jaya Jaya Gopala Jaya Jaya. Before the temple closes for the

evening, we had a boisterous kirtan in the sunken courtyard of the temple with

all the visitors joining in. Then we all left and by Krishna's grace, we found

just enough tongas (horsecarts) to take everyone back to Krishna Balaram Mandir

doing kirtan along the way.

 

In service of Sri Sri Krishna Balaram,

Deena Bandhu dasa