Ancient Murtis Stolen From Vraj

Jahnava Nitai Das · June 8, 2001

By Deena Bandhu Dasa

Last week two ancient murtis were stolen from one of my favorite places of pilgrimage in Nandagram, Hau Bilau. There were four mortis of Hau, two of them broken and two complete sitting at that place said to have been placed there 5000 years ago by Lord Krishna's great grandson, Vajranabh. Sometime in the night, some thievs stole the two complete Hau statues, most likely to be smuggled out of the country to sell as ancient antiques.

Hau Bilau is located on the eastern side of Nandagram, the village of Nanda Maharaja where Lord Krishna and His elder brother Balaram lived after moving from Their Birthplace at Gokula. It is just next to Yashoda Kund nearly a Km from Nandagram Temple. Yashoda Kund is where Lord Krishna's Mother Yashoda would come to take her bath since everyone else would bathe in a beautiful lake west of Nandagram called Pavana Sarovara. It was always crowded with men, so here Yashoda Mayi could privately bathe, do her laundry, and puja.

"What are Hau?" you must be asking by now and Krishna asked Mother Yashoda that very same question. One time when Krishna and Balaram were quite young, Mother Yashoda brought Them with her to Yashoda Kund along with Their friends. Now she can't bear to see them out of her sight, so she told them to play just near by while she did her morning duties at Yashoda Kund.

But since boys will be boys, they all started going into the forest and she called out, "Dur khelan mat jau, Lal, van mem hau ayo hai, Lala, (affectionate term in Vraj for young boy) don't go playing far away or the hau in the forest will get you." When Lala asked, "O Meiya, what's a hau?" She said, "Lala, he has great big claws, and beady eyes, and great big mouth with long sharp teeth and he'll come and eat you up!" Like sometimes in the west, we scare children with stories about the boogey man.

So then Lala was scared and he played close by. But since we all know that little boys have very long memories, they all began to play far away out of Mother Yashoda's sight. Again she called out that the hau would get them. Lala said, "Ari! Meiya, I never seenen any hau. Jamuna tat pe dhenu charai te ne dekho hau. Baint Patala Kaliya dah me Ma bhi na dekho hau. I herded my cows all along the Yamuna, but I never saw a hau. Even when I jumped in Kaliya lake, I went all the way to Patala Loka, but I never seen any hau. O Meiya, what is this hau?"

Ma Yashoda said, "Lala, he's big and ferocious. He's got long curved claws. He has a big head with yellow eyes, and long sharp teeth, and his mouth is so big, he'll eat You up in one bite!" Then Lala said, "Ari! Meiya, you're just telling stories. I never seen any hau."

Then Ma Yashoda made great big eyes and said, "Well don't look now, but here comes one," and she screamed and began to run. Krishna, Baldau, and all the cowherd boys also screamed and began to run behind her. And they ran all the way to Nandagram and arrived just in time for lunch and they sat down with Nanda Baba and between breaths they told him how they just missed by a hair's breadth getting eaten by a hau.

The villagers went to the police, who didn't pay much attention to them. So then they came to me with the news, since I was staying out at Vrinda Kund where construction is going on full swing of Vrinda Devi's Shrine. So I had an idea and went to see D.K. Love, the Nandagram news correspondent. Of course in true journalistic style, he really spiced up the story and said that the murtis were worth millions of dollars on the international market and the administration is doing nothing.

Boy did things get hopping. The CO (Police Chief) from Mathura came, the SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate), SHO (Station House Officer) from Varsana, even the CID (Indian version of FBI) showed up. There are about ten brahman families in Nandagram who are responsible for these places and one of those is Bhagwat our pujari at Vrinda Kund. So the police came all the way out to Vrinda Kund to bring him into town for questioning. These are ancient artifacts that are state property and it is highly illegal to take them out of the country. So they had Bhagwat make the police report, which before they were too bothered to make

atma · June 10, 2001

I only know one. American, Prabhupada's disciple, great story teller. Used to be in Portland or Seattle in the 70's. Ex-wife in Alachua.Lives in Krsna-Balaram Mandir in Vrindavan.

Maitreya · June 10, 2001

That's my prabhu.Little does he know a ghostlike being from the past is headed his way.

atma · June 11, 2001

So sad, I remember those murtis, and still ring in my ears Deena Bandhu's voice telling the story and making all the funny faces.

Maitreya, you should go with Deena Bandhu to the holy places. He knows all the pastimes and the language too. Is a nectar to go in pilgrimage with him.

Maitreya · June 11, 2001

Originally posted by atma:

So sad, I remember those murtis, and still ring in my ears Deena Bandhu's voice telling the story and making all the funny faces.

Maitreya, you should go with Deena Bandhu to the holy places. He knows all the pastimes and the language too. Is a nectar to go in pilgrimage with him.

I am not sure which Deena Bandhu you mean as I hear there are two in Vraja.One I know from the early seventies.Great story teller.But he used to spell his name dina so I'm not sure its the same one.