The Appearance and Glories of Sri Radha-kunda

vanamadhuryamofficial
Dec 11, 2020
14 min read

Updated: Oct 6

This is a very pure day, as it is the day when Radha-kunda was manifested and as earlier, we had the great fortune of performing a choti parikrama (small circumambulation) of Giriraja, arriving at the banks of Radha-kunda. For some special reason, we were unable to speak a long and detailed hari-katha (narrations of the Lord) while there. We also visited the bhajana-sthali (place of spiritual practices) of Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and his samadhi (sacred meditation place).

While in Radha-kunda, we also visited the bhajana-sthali of Srila Vishvanatha Chakravartipada as well as the place of samadhi for Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. They are such beautiful and pure places. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself, through His Six Gosvamis, manifested many pastime places in Vrindavana. Especially, while in Navadvipa-dhama, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sent His two commanders to Vrindavana— Sri Bhugarbha Gosvami and Sri Lokanatha dasa Gosvami. Gaurachandra instructed, “You should go to Vrindavana and prepare a place of bhajana for Me there.”

According to the Lord’s instructions, they performed their sadhana (spiritual practice) in Vraja-mandala. They preached the holy names, composed many books, established deities and manifested the pastime places of the Lord. In this way, they fulfilled all the desires of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Through the efforts of other Gosvamis, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu revealed many pastime places, however, Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda were manifested by Mahaprabhu Himself.

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Reveals Radha-kunda

In Bhakti-ratnakara and in other books, this is explained in many details. When Mahaprabhu arrived in Vrindavana, He came to a village, Arita Gaon. There, Gaurasundara was so absorbed in bhava (deep mood) and began dancing so much. This particular village, Arita Gaon, is the very place where Krishna Himself, while manifested in this material world, killed Aristasura— which is why its name is now Arita Gaon. Afterwards, Krishna’s great-great-grandson, Vajranabha, in remembrance of the Lord’s pastimes, named these villages, established temples and accomplished many other things. Yet, after some time, these sacred places and the memories of their pastimes and their glories were regretfully forgotten by people.

When Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu arrived, approximately five thousand years had passed, and people were unaware of the locations of Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda. Hence, Mahaprabhu asked the villagers, “Shastras (scriptures) mention Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda— where are these places?” Despite residing in Vraja, the villagers did not know where Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda were.

However, there was an elderly Vrajavasi, perhaps eighty or ninety years old and Mahaprabhu asked him, “Our shastras explain the great glories of Radha-kunda, Shyama-kunda. Where are they located?” The Vrajavasi replied, “I do not know about Radha-kunda or Shyama-kunda. But there are two dhana kheti.” Kheti means agricultural fields where crops are grown, and dhana means rice. Thus, there were two rice crop fields. Wherever rice is cultivated, the soil must be kept wet by a regular source of water. So, this Vrajavasi said, “We know of these two rice fields nearby.” Previously in Vraja, there were many fields for growing crops such as rice.

The elderly Vrajavasi continued, “On these fields of rice, there are two bodies of water. One is Kali-kheta, a dark coloured pond and the other is white, Gauri-kheta.” After hearing this, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu first took a bath in Gauri-kheta and proclaimed, “Here is Radha-kunda! Jaya Radha-kunda!” Afterwards, Mahaprabhu, went to Kali-kheta to bathe and said, “Here is Shyama-kunda!” This is how they became known as Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda. Thus, if Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had not appeared, we would not have known of their glories. Therefore, all Vaishnavas are greatly indebted to Sriman Mahaprabhu, as He, Himself manifested these holy places.

Sacinandana Gaurahari described the glories of Radha-kunda, with His lotus lips, “Kuṇḍera ‘mahimā’ - yena rādhāra ‘mahimā.” The glories of Radha-kunda are non-different from Srimati Radhika. Radha-kunda is actually the melted form of the love of Srimati Radhika manifested into this pond. The Puranas state that amongst all the gopis (Vraja cowherd girls), Radha is the topmost. In the same way, Radha-kunda is the topmost kunda (pond), amongst all other kundas. Srimati Radhika is the nearest and dearest of Sri Krishna and Radha-kunda is the direct, manifested form of Srimati Radhika.

Srimati Radhika Manifests Radha-kunda

The Puranas contain various pastimes of Krishna and they explain the different ways in which Radha-kunda appeared. For example, one lila states how one day as Krishna was playing with the gopis, a demon, manifested by Kamsa, appeared in the form of a bull; the demon’s name was Arishtasura and he had a gigantic body. When he came, Arishtasura created so much chaos in Vraja, causing all of the Vrajavasis to become very disturbed.

In this state, they nervously called for Krishna’s help, “Krishna! Krishna!” After delivering the demon in the form of a bull, the gopis seemed to remain far from Krishna. Noticing this, Krishna inquired, “Gopis, why are you staying so far from Me?” “You killed a cow, a bull. Now, you have this sin,” they replied. Krishna said, “He was a demon!” However, they insisted, “It doesn’t matter, he was still a cow. And now, You have the sin of killing a cow.” “Okay. How can I be freed from this sin?” asked Krishna. The gopis answered, “You must bathe in all of the kundas, in all of the tirthas (holy waters) of all the pilgrimage places.”

It is explained that in some yugas (ages), Krishna, with His heel, manifested Shyama-kunda. But in some yugas, He utilised His vamshi, flute, to dig a hole to create Shyama-kunda. In this specific pastime, Krishna called on all of the pure waters from different tirthas, like the river Ganga. They all appeared and, after introducing themselves, filled the kunda with their waters. Sri Krishna then bathed in the holy waters of the kunda and the kunda became known as Krishna-kunda.

Still, the gopis said, “You have killed a cow and now, just because we are near you, when the wind comes by Your body, it also touches us and we have become contaminated as well. We will also require purification and need a kunda. So, we will build one.” Krishna inquired, “Why do you need to build another kunda? Just bathe in My own kunda.” However, the gopis are always two steps ahead of Krishna. The gopis cleverly said, “What? Why? We don’t want to take bath in your kunda, especially Srimati Radhika. We will simply construct our own kunda.”

Then, Srimati Radhika, with Her bangles, dug into the ground and manifested Her kunda. Just like a bangle is round, Her kunda was also round. Despite its beauty, there was no water inside there. So, what did Srimati Radhika do? She said, “We will bring water from Manasi-ganga and fill this kunda with that water”. Then Srimati Radhika, with the assistance of all of Her friends, brought many pots to Manasi-ganga to fetch water. At that very moment, all of the tirthas manifested in front of Her, blocking the passage of Srimati Radhika; falling at Her feet, they began speaking stutis (prayers):

munīndra-vṛnda-vandite triloka-śoka-hāriṇi

prasanna-vaktra-pańkaje nikuñja-bhū-vilāsini

vrajendra-bhānu-nandini vrajendra-sūnu-sańgate

kadā kariṣyasīha māḿ kṛpā-katākṣa-bhājanam

Sri Radha-kripa-kataksha-stava-raja (1)

[O Srimati Radhika, who is glorified by great sages! O You who dispel the lamentation of the three worlds, whose lotus face blossoms with a humorous smile, and who sports in the kunjas. O beloved daughter of King Vrishabhanu! O most near and dear to the son of the king of Vraja, when will You make me the recipient of Your merciful sidelong glance?]

They spoke so many stutis, saying, “O Srimati Radhika, O Sarveshvari, please accept our service….” When they fell at the feet of Srimati Radhika, being incredibly merciful, She became pleased and allowed these tirthas to also fill Her kunda. Hence, all the pure kundas filled Radha-kunda with their waters.

Afterwards, the gopis bathed, and with His flute, Krishna created a channel, connecting Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda, causing their waters to mix. Meaning now, Radha and Krishna are meeting. Jaya! This conjoining of Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda represents the meeting between Radha-Krishna, and significantly Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This is because Krishna-kunda is the direct manifestation of Krishna and Radha-kunda is the direct manifestation of Srimati Radhika; therefore these kundas are Their forms of prema (pure, divine love) and moreover, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as He is the combined, manifested form of Radha-Krishna. In some Kali-yugas, Krishna appears with the mood and complexion of Srimati Radhika. In this Kali-yuga, we see Krishna manifested with the mood and complexion of Srimati Radhika, in the form of Gauranga. Our shastras have described all of these kathas.

And what occurred in another pastime? With His heels, Krishna manifested His kunda like His own body, which is so twisted—isn’t it? His three-bend form. So this is the reason why Krishna-kunda is somewhat crooked, not at all perfectly shaped like Srimati Radhika’s. Her kunda was manifested with Her bangles, which is why it was completely round. Radha-kunda is not ordinary, it is so beautiful.

To attain the moods and the very rare prema of Srimati Radhika, all of the demigods undergo severe austerities on the banks of Radha-kunda. Krishna Himself explained the glories of Srimati Radhika to the Pandavas. Afterwards, the Pandavas were incredibly eager to attain this prema of Srimati Radhika, and began residing at the banks of Radha-kunda, performing hard austerities in the form of trees.

Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami Resides at Radha-kunda

Once, Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, was doing his bhajana on the banks of Radha-kunda. Amongst all of the associates of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the glories of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami are so beautiful and special, as he abandoned everything, went to Jagannatha Puri and absolutely surrendered on to the lotus feet of Sacinandana Gaurahari. Then, Mahaprabhu took him by the hand and offered him directly to the hand of Svarupa Damodara. For this regard, his name became Svarupera Raghu, the Raghu of Svarupa. Several days after Chaitanya Mahaprabhu entered His nitya-dhama, the eternal and transcendental world, Sri Gadadhara, Sri Svarupa Damodara, Raya Ramananda and other exalted personalities also departed this material world.

Then Raghunatha dasa Gosvami left Jagannatha Puri and went to Radha-kunda, where he remained performing his bhajana in a mood of separation. He stayed there under the direct guidance of Rupa and Sanatana. All of the Gosvamis had different places of bhajana within the circumference of Vraja. Yet, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami only had one bhajana-sthali, place of bhajana. Where? At Radha-kunda. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami states, “I will never leave Radha-kunda to go anywhere.” One special quality of Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is that he developed and displayed so much radha-nishtha (firm faith in Srimati Radhika).

The speciality of attaining manjari-bhava (the mood of Srimati Radhika’s maidservants) is radha-nishtha. And amongst different gopis, there are three kinds of nishthas found: radha-nishtha gopis, ubhaya-nishtha-parayana gopis and krishna-nishtha-parayana gopis. Remember these three kinds of gopis. Krishna-nishtha-parayana gopis like Vrinda, Vrindarika and Dhanishtha, they have nishtha, steadiness, towards Krishna. Ubhaya-nishtha-parayana gopis: Lalita, Vishakha and ashta-sakhis, show inclinations towards and have nishtha in both Radha and Krishna.

However, those who experience manjari-bhava, only have radha-nishtha— not even in their dreams will they leave Srimati Radhika to meet with Krishna. This is the specialty of manjari-bhava. One must read Ujjvala-nilamani and its commentary to fully understand the intricacies of manjari-bhava. Perhaps then you will have some realisation.

By observing the bhajana of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, we can clearly see this radha-nishtha. He always remained at Radha-kunda, and day and night, did his bhajana whilst remembering Srimati Radhika. He also composed many granthas (books) and his most exalted book is Vilapa-kusumanjali. There, you can see how he was reciting each verse and offering them like precious gifts unto the lotus feet of Srimati Radhika. Through his actions, he is directly showing us the importance of radha-nishtha.

Until we develop this radha-nishtha, we simply cannot attain manjari-bhava. But first, we must achieve guru-nishtha, followed by vaishnava-nishtha and bhajana-nishtha. Everything depends on nishtha, this is why Chaitanya-charitamrita states the importance of developing this stage— guru-nishtha, bhajana-nishtha, nama-nishtha and seva-nishtha. So, seva-abhilasha, the tendency to serve or desire to serve— steadiness must be developed there. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami composed many granthas, but amongst all of his books, the highest and most important is Vilapa-kusumanjali. In Vilapa-kusumanjali, in such a beautiful way, his radha-nishtha, his steadiness in Srimati Radhika is shown.

Once, Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was performing his regular bhajana and enduring so many austerities. Which kind of austerities? During the month of Jyaishtha, the months of May, June or July, there is so much heat caused by the scorching rays of the sun. During this month, he was undergoing austerities, like chanting the holy names at the banks of Radha-kunda and thinking of Srimati Radhika while sitting under these blistering hot rays of the sun.

Then, Srimati Radhika Herself, with Her anchala, tip of Her sari (dress), covered Raghunatha dasa Gosvami with a nice shadow. With divine vision, both Raghunatha dasa and Sanatana dasa Gosvami noticed this. Later on, Srila Sanatana Gosvami approached Raghunatha and said, “O Raghunatha, did you come to serve or to be served?”

Sri Sanatana’s meaning was: do you want to serve Srimati Radhika or do you want Her to serve you? Ragunatha dasa Gosvami quickly replied, “I want to serve.” Sanatana Gosvami then said, “Today, I directly saw how Srimati Radhika Herself was taking Her anchala and creating a shadow over you as you were sitting under the scorching hot rays of the sun. For this reason, She appeared and made this shade over you. It should not be like this. You want to perform bhajana, this is fine, but you should not accept Her service. Rather, always offer your service to Her. I will construct a kutira (hut) for you.” Afterwards, Sanatana Gosvami himself built a nice kutira for Raghunatha dasa Gosvami on the banks of Radha-kunda, allowing him to do his bhajana inside the hut, away from the hot sun.

Once, while sitting and performing his sadhana-bhajana there, two tigers arrived, however, they merely drank some water and left. Completely absorbed in his meditation, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami had not even realised that the tigers had appeared!

One time Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was mentally contemplating, “So many days have passed, I should do some renovation of this kunda.” He thought, “I will do some samskara (reformatory process) and renovate Radha-kunda.” However, he also considered that Radha-kunda is transcendental and considering the renovation of the kunda caused some feelings of regret. So he said, “Oh no. What am I thinking? This kunda is transcendental. How can I renovate anything?” Brahma-samhita explains that everything in Vrindavana is transcendental: the water is nectar and the dust is chintamani (transcendental wish-fulfilling gems). Hence, the kundas are also transcendental. “Whatever I see, everything is transcendental. How can I believe that I can improve upon anything here?” thought Raghunatha dasa Gosvami.

Badri-narayana Instructs Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami

However, it is known, ‘bhava grahi janardhana’ – the Lord accepts our mood. Once, a wealthy man, from Badrikashrama, was inspired by Badri-narayana in his heart, “Take this money, go to Vrindavana, to Radha-kunda and give this wealth to Raghunatha dasa Gosvami.” Then, this man travelled to Vrindavana and donated all of his money to Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. At first, Sri Dasa Gosvami did not want to accept the money. But, Badri-narayana appeared in the dream of Raghunatha and told him, “You have to accept the money from the wealthy man and with it, perform the renovation and cleaning of Radha-kunda.”

Following Badri-narayana’s instructions, Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami took this money and commenced the renovation. He constructed a very beautiful place. Five thousand years had passed from the time Vajranabha, the great-great-grandson of Krishna, and now, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami had completed a very beautiful renovation, shaping the kunda into its current square form. However, when he went to renovate Krishna-kunda, specifically, the connecting part between Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami thought, “I will also make Shyama-kunda into a square, just like Radha-kunda.” So, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami decided he had to cut five trees in order to create the square shape within Krishna-kunda.

Early in the morning, he decided, “Oh, tomorrow these five trees will be cut.” Everything was planned, but these trees appeared that night in a dream of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and requested, “O Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, please do not cut us. We are the five Pandavas. We are performing austerities here to attain this prema.” Hence, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami did not proceed with his plans to cut the five trees.

And rather, he shaped Krishna-kunda into a bending form, with a twisted, bent shape, similar to Krishna’s three-bend form. Do you know? Krishna, He is twisted, crooked! Accordingly, Shyama-kunda is also crooked. Have you ever noticed the shape of Krishna-kunda? It is misshapen. So, the Pandavas were actually enacting severe austerities, yet, they still could not achieve their goal— as it all depends on the svarupa (constitutional nature) of the jiva (living entity).

Potency of the Jiva

When the jiva manifests from tatastha-shakti (marginal potency) region, whether the jiva is in a siddha (perfection) stage or is a sadhaka (practising stage), whether baddha or mukta, conditioned or liberated, all of the jivas contain some potency. One can perform thousands of austerities for thousands of lives and still, you cannot attain that which is not already within your svarupa. In Uddhava’s pastimes— he also performed so many austerities and glorified the gopis with his prayers.

Have you heard of Uddhava? He described the glories of the gopis in six verses, told in our shastra. This is one of those verses:

āsām aho caraṇa-reṇu-juṣām ahaṁ syāṁvṛndāvane kim api gulma-latauṣadhīnāmyā dustyajaṁ sva-janam ārya-pathaṁ ca hitvābhejur mukunda-padavīṁ śrutibhir vimṛgyām

Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.47.61)

[The gopis of Vrindavana have given up the association of their husbands, sons and other family members, who are very difficult to give up, and they have forsaken the path of chastity to take shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, Krishna, which one should search for by Vedic knowledge. O, let me be fortunate enough to be one of the bushes, creepers or herbs in Vrindavana, because the gopis trample them and bless them with the dust of their lotus feet.]

Even the shrutis (Vedic scriptures) engage in austere practices to attain this goal. Uddhava realised this and said, “Just see how the shrutis are performing hard austerities to get this path. Look, to receive the footdust of Srimati Radhika, to achieve Her prema, if I take birth in Vrindavana, as a creeper or something, my life will be successful.”

Uddhava left Vrindavana about ten months after saying these stutis. But why did he leave? This question may arise. Because, how does one attain prema? We cannot simply reach the stage of prema by staying with Krishna only. We only get prema by staying with the associates of the Lord, not only with the Lord Himself - ‘Mahat kripa vina’.

Thus, Krishna is vishaya-vigraha (the object of prema) and His associates are ashraya-vigraha (the abode of love for Krishna). So, why did Uddhava speak so many prayers to the gopis? And then, why did he leave afterwards? Actually, since Mathura Puri was protected by Krishna, Uddhava decided, “I must go to Mathura as Krishna is there and Mathura is protected by His arms.”

Another thing, Uddhava was also thinking, “I have to give this message from the gopis to Krishna.” Still, why did he leave? Uddhava knows everything, he is no-less qualified. You have heard of Uddhava, he was ornamented with six qualities and thus, was a great mahapurusha (great personality). This considered, why did he decide to leave the company of the gopis? If you do not take shower or bathe in the foot dust of the devotees, you cannot achieve your perfected goal:

mahat-kṛpā vinā kona karme ‘bhakti’ nayakṛṣṇa-bhakti dūre rahu, saṁsāra nahe kṣaya

Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya-lila 22.51)

[Unless one is favoured by a pure devotee, one cannot attain the platform of devotional service. To say nothing of krishna-bhakti, one cannot even be relieved from the bondage of material existence.]

naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁspṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥmahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁniṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat

Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.5.32)

[Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaishnava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord, who is glorified for His uncommon activities. Only by becoming Krishna conscious and taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord in this way can one be freed from material contamination.]

If you do not bathe in the foot dust of a devotee you cannot attain prema-bhakti (pure love of Lord Krishna). So, if Uddhava knows everything, then, why did he abandon the company of the gopis? Actually, he did not have this kind of potency, so he had to leave. However, he returned again and began performing hard austerities, yet, he could not achieve his goal.

Through all of this, Uddhava is showing us the sweet glories of Radha-kunda, such sweet glories. Gurudeva would say that living in Radha-kunda is a rare accomplishment, those residing in Radha-kunda are not common personalities. Gurudeva cited the example of a particular place in Radha-kunda, which we visit when we do parikrama, that is full оf jackals. Siyar means jackal.

Once, a jackal came out of his hole and all of the dogs surrounded and attacked him. The jackal instantly gave up his body and a divya-sharira appeared— he manifested a divine body and directly attained Bhagavad-dhama (abode of the Lord). Always remember, those who are staying at Radha-kunda are not ordinary people. Actually, after doing bhajana and austerities for many lives, that person earns the chance to reside at Radha-kunda, this is no common feat and is our main goal.

This is why Rupa Gosvami, in Upadeshamrita, progresses slowly from Vaikuntha and eventually reaches the highest destination, Sri Radha-kunda. Everyone must visit Radha-kunda, everybody has to go there. Because Radha-kunda is our ultimate perfection and our ultimate goal. Again and again I offer my pranamas to Radha-kunda. All the acharyas (spiritual preceptors) in our guru-varga (succession of acharyas), especially Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Srila Vishvanatha Chakravartipada and Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami resided there to perform their bhajana.