Special Darshan in Vrindavan

[Guest guest]

If photos were available of these pastimes, it would be exceptional.

 

Your servant,

Vraja-kumara das.

 

> 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