Vraja Mandal Parikrama. Part 11.

[Guest guest]

Dear Maharajas and Prabhus.

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

Day 22. Shergarh to Cirghat.

Rama ghat. One night Lord Balarama became very blissful after drinking some

Varuni beverage. He then asked the Yamuna to come nearer. The Yamuna

refused, thinking He was intoxicated. Balarama then became very angry and

began to scrape the earth with His plow to bring the river closer to Him.

Yamuna devi being afraid then came and surrendered to Lord Balarama and

admitted her fault.

 

Khela Tirtha. Krsna and Balarama used to play here with the cowherd boys

throughout the day and forgetting to eat, their mothers came to get Them.

 

Aksayavat. There is a banyan tree here. While herding the cows Krsna would

play with His gopa friends here on the banks of Yamuna and they would hang

their lunch bags on the banyan tree.

 

Tapovan. This is where, right on the bank of the Yamuna, the gopis

performed austerities and worshipped the goddess Katyayani Devi to get Krsna

as their husband.

 

Chirghat. Where Krsna stole the garments of the gopis while they were

taking bath. The gopis prayed to the goddess Katyayani to marry Krsna,

While He sat in the branches of a kadamba tree He had each of the gopis come

out of the water and stand naked in front of Him. Since a woman can not be

naked in front of anyone but her husband, the unmarried gopis desire to have

Krsna as their husband was fulfilled.

 

Day 23. Chirgat to Bhandirvan.

The mornings are getting quite cold, so, the hot ginger tea served up just

before we start walking, is very welcome.

 

Nanda Ghat. While Nanda Maharaja was taking bath in the Yamuna in the early

hours of the morning, he was arrested by Varuna's servants. They brought

him before Varuna and accused him of taking bath in the river at the wrong

time. Krsna and Balarama immediately went to rescue Their father. With

great respect, Varuna received Krsna and Balarama and begged for pardon for

the offences of his servants.

Here, the parikrama devotees cross the Yamuna by boat. Some devotees choose

to swim across.

 

Bhadravan. The place where Krsna killed the calf demon, Vatsasura.

 

Bhandiravan. Here, Lord Balarama killed Pralambasaura by striking his head

with His fist.

 

Venukup. In front of the temple here, there is a well called Venukup. It

is created by Krsna pushing His flute into the ground. Krsna created this

well because the gopis told Him that He was contaminated by killing Vatsaura

and therefore would have to bathe in all the tirthas for purification.

Krsna pushed His flute into the ground and all the tirthas and holy rivers

came into this well. Krsna then took His bath with the water of this well.

 

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Your servant,

Ekanath dasa