By: Babhru Dasa
Sri Vrindavan-dham is truly a place where all spiritual desires can become easily manifest. Yet so many of us visit Sri Vrindavan-dham and somehow or other, don’t exactly get ecstatic love of God. Even many people visit Vrindavan and feel as if they are forced to leave for some reason, or as if they are not “pure enough” to be there. Why is this? In my opinion, there are few reasons why devotees do not receive love of God very quickly while being in Vrindavan.
The first reason is that our internal perception of Vrindavan-dham must be correct. This is a very deep thing but by understanding the gaudiya-siddhanta in all of its jewel like facets and having good association, one can get this perception very easily.
To start off, we have to understand cent percent that Sri Vrindavan-dham is literally non-different than Sri Krsna. And to see that the visible Prakata-Vraja, Vrindavan-dham that is within our material sense perception is absolutely non-different in quality with the transcendental and invisible aprakata-Vraja.
However, this becomes difficult because according to our senses, mind, and intelligence, the visible Vraja seems to be made up of ordinary stones, water, air, trees, plants, and animals etc. But does this mean it is material and ordinary? Absolutely not! To illustrate this point in a way that most devotees can relate to in their day to day lives, we speaking the following truths about Sri Guru and Sri Arca-vigraha.
The Arca-vigraha deity manifestation of Sri Krsna appears to be made of stone, brass, or wood. Yet the devotee approaches the deity seeing it as non-different than Krsna. Although that perception may not be fully realized within their heart, still they orient themselves in that way. To consider the deity to be nothing more than stone or inert matter is actually a grave offense. So a knowledgeable devotee views the deity form of Krsna, as Krsna! According to their capacity of course.
How does a devotee approach and serve the deity in order to be successful in deity worship? In the external sadhaka-deha the devotee always cultivates the same reverence that they would give Sri Krsna Himself. They offer the deity prayers, food, clothing, different sevas, and most of all love.
If one is qualified they will also render devotional service via the internal siddha-deha to Krsna as they see Him within their heart. If one is qualified to render seva via the siddha-deha does that mean the devotee via the sadhaka-deha ceases to show the highest amount of reverence towards the deity? No. Bowing down before the deity and things of such nature are always a part of bhakti. Such internal service goes on at the same time as ones external service. But it is important to note that ones internal service (manasi-seva) will continue even after the external service ceases. This is all done according to ones adhikara of course.
Yes, there may be a few rare exceptions to this general outline of sadhakas but that is an exception for highly elevated souls. So in this way we can see by honoring the deity (who is externally seen to be “made of stone/brass/wood”) properly with our sadhaka/siddha-dehas we can get higher and higher realizations about Krsna and our service to Him.
In a similar way, the Guru or bhagavata-bhakta is also seen by the material senses to be made of material ingredients. Yet, we also understand that seeing the guru, as an ordinary person is considered extremely offensive! Truly, the bonafide Guru is imbued with the full potency of the swarupa-shakti and is considered to be the abode of Sri Krsna Himself! So in a similar way to the deity, we offer all reverence and seva to the guru.
The standard approach to worship the guru no matter what your spiritual qualification may be is with a reverence and humility filled heart. Even if a bhakta is fully steeped on the raga-marga they always keep a reverential mood towards their gurudev who has given them all qualification for such a thing. How the qualified guru and disciple interact with each other via their siddha-rupas is another thing. In this way we see that a humble, sincere, and honest approach of service to the guru, is the best type and the devotee will certainly be blessed by Guru and Gauranga!
In the sadhaka-deha, we see reverence to go hand in hand with humility. These are two qualities that are fully resplendent in all the acharyas headed by The Six Goswamis, and Sriman Mahaprabhu Himself! By cultivating the dual paradigm of external-reverential/internal-spontaneous moods towards the Guru, Deity, and Vrindavan-dham one will soar through the stages of bhakti and come to the platform of prema-bhakti very quickly.
So now bringing all of that back to the main point of the essay. How to cultivate the correct orientation mental/physical in regards to Sri Vraja-dham?
In order to gain true entrance to the invisible Vrindavan-dham, we should cultivate the highest reverential mood towards the visible Vrindavan as possible. This does not mean that we should cultivate internal feelings such as, “Vrindavan is the Abode of Narayan. Krishna is the God of God and king of kings! This land is an expansion of Vaikuntha and all of these vraja-vasis are Krsna’s humble servants. So much magnificent splendor is here! This is the abode of God Himself! Let me always bow down eternally to this place and serve Krsna’s feet just as I would serve Narayan’s.” This type of reverential conception is not wanted, as it would effect ones aspirations for raga-bhakti.
Rather, one should think in the following way, “This abode of Sri Krsna is so special and is the topmost abode! Why? Because awe and reverence inspired devotion is kicked far away! Only here Sri Govinda sports with all his associates in such a carefree and spontaneous way! It is the realm of the most intimate and sweet love! Let us always bow down to such a place along with all of its inhabitants! Let us always pray to the dust of Vrindavan to quickly give us a place there amongst Lord Hari’s associates! I am nothing in comparison to anyone or anything in Vrindavan! I pray for all the vraja-vasis mercy day and night!” In this way humility, and reverence are foremost but only with the desire to attain residence within the atmosphere of Goloka in one of the four vraja-bhavas.”
This is only possible when one sees Vrindavan and all of its parts as Krsna Himself! In our heart of hearts, we should offer prayers and homage to every pastime place, deity, shuddha-bhakta, particle of dust, water droplet, air particle, plant, tree, insect, animal, and human. We must deeply imbibe this perspective at every moment of the day. From the time we wake up until the time we lie down for rest, we should simply beg Sri Vrindavan dham to award us entrance into its inner nature!
Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar-dev Goswami put it very nicely by saying Vrindavan is the “Land of Guru.” Basically, this means to always try and think, “Everyone and everything in Vrindavan is my most worship able Gurudev. I am inferior to everyone and everything here. Everything is my worshipable object and is directly samvit-sandini-hladini-shakti. The personal energy of Sri Krsna. In this way we should try to cultivate a real heart connection with every existence that is to be found in Vrindavan. Not just in a dry mechanical way, but in a real moment to moment heart way.
Only in this way will one begin to feel that Krsna is personally embracing them via all of their senses, external and internal. One will become totally saturated with Krsna that every moment becomes an inexplicable festival of love and emotion! By genuinely cultivating this mood, Sri Guru, Gauranga, and all of the gaudiya-vaishnava guru-parampara will bless one and all of their internal goals and aspirations will become thickened and alive.
Everywhere ones sight falls, Krsna will embrace them, and every particle of air, water, or dust that touches their skin will be the direct touch of Sri Krsna! Every thing that enters ones ear, weather it be cows mooing, the speech of humans (yelling at each other, conversing with one another, or speaking hari-katha), dogs barking, bells ringing, harinam sounding, or car horns honking, all of it will be Krsna entering one via their ears. Every thing that comes to the mouth will of course be prasadam, which is also non-different than Krsna. And every smell good or bad will be seen as Krsna! There is no good and bad in this regard! It is all divine! Similarly, if one has the wrong conception in regard to the guru or deity of Krsna, they may also find things, which they think, are not so “good”.
If we hold disgust in our heart towards any of the aspects of Vrindavan and especially its people, we will surely fail in all of our attempts. We must simply see everyone as superior to our own selves. Simply put, this is the only way to remain free of a negative mentality towards Vraja’s sentient and non-sentient parts. Srila Prabhodananda Saraswati Thakura says the same:
“When our mind spontaneously runs to the limitless nectar of Lord Kåñëa, then the supremely purifying realm of Vṛndāvana appears on this earth. However, if, with body, mind or words, we offend the moving and stationary residents of Vṛndāvana, we will not have the intelligence to see the truth.” Vrindavan Mahimamrta- 53
So by cultivating the deepest moods of humble reverence towards Vrindavan, one will gradually or quickly attain their desired spiritual aspirations. Some may say, “Oh this is Vrindavan, Krsna is only attained by raga-bhakti–sadhana, therefore let me relate with Vrindavan in a carefree, rule free way, and imitate the on-goings of Vrindavan dham’s inhabitants. It is an innocent place, and Krsna favors sweet love over reverential love.”
This is absolutely true! Yet the fact remains that in the sadhaka-deha one should cultivate the highest moods of reverence towards the visible aspects of Krsna. If we have the right internal orientation and goals that are in connection with raga-marga-sadhana, then we will gradually gain the adhikara to relate with Sri Krsna in the siddha-rupa in the innocent, carefree, madhurya way. So we have to relate with the external form of Vraja and the internal form of Vraja accordingly with our sadhaka-deha and siddha-dehas.
In a similar mood, Srila Thakura Bhaktivinode writes in one of his songs,
“By worshipping Gaura-Nitai with the mood of aishvarya, I will attain the sweet darshan of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava in my heart.”
And what is the simplest way to help bring these moods and practices to perfection? By always chanting the name of Lord Hari day and night. In all of our Vrindavan activities and meditations we should chant harinam in the mind and outside the mind. Sri Harinam prabhu will give life and energy to these practices, and will ensure that we always remain in a humble state of mind free of pride, envy, arrogance, and all other unfortunate states of being.
We should see harinam as our gurudev come to help us. Thinking, “I will not perform any activity day or night without going through the medium of my gurudev, sri harinam! Harinam is my life and soul and only by the name of Hari will I be successful in any of my spiritual endeavors!
So in essence, let us always remember not to just “not make offenses to Vrindavan,” but to actually worship Vrindavan to the fullest capacity! There are so many ways to do this, and this essay just touched upon a few of them.