Few comments from the book Vrindavan days by Hayagriva prabhu. Srila Prabhupada explains it for all of us how the transcendental Dham is:
“So, how are you finding Vrindaban?”
“Uh—” I hesitate, as usual feeling very stupid before His Divine Grace. Sitting crosslegged on the floor in front of Prabhupada are my godbrothers—Shyamsundar and Gurudas—an elderly Indian gentleman, introduced as Dr. Kapoor, and two Indian boys. As always, others fall into the periphery in Srila Prabhupada’s presence. Customary greetings and chit-chat with others must wait. “Well, I saw the bazaar on the way from the tonga
“Your old friend Achyutananda is here,” he says. “He can show you around, and you can write up an article for Back To Godhead.”
“I never thought such a place could exist,” I say. “Just passing the bazaar was an experience in Krishna consciousness.”
“I told you,” Prabhupada says. “Remember? On 26 Second Avenue, I was telling you and Kirtanananda and others about this Vrindaban atmosphere, how I was always longing for it there in New York
“Even the monkeys here in Vrindaban don’t seem ordinary, Srila Prabhupada,” Shyamsundar says.
“No one born in Vrindaban is ordinary,” Prabhupada says. “It may not be very palatable to hear, but those who live in Vrindaban and commit sinful activities take birth as dogs, monkeys, and hogs here. In this way, by eating the dust of Vrindaban, they become purified, liberated.”
“Are these bodies all awarded for the same offenses,” Shyamsundar asks, “or for different mentalities?”
“Too much sex indulgence means a dog, a monkey, or a pigeon body. Or even the body of a tree. And the hog body is there for one who overeats or eats prohibited food.”
“And what about those men down by the river who smoke ganja all day?” Gurudas asks.
“Oh, they get hippy bodies,” Prabhupada laughs, “with big beards and long hair, and they have to take birth in San Francisco
“Well, at least we have a Radha Krishna temple there,” Gurudas says, “so they can take shelter of it.”
“Yes, that is Lord Krishna’s mercy,” Prabhupada says. ‘We may choose to take it or not, but it’s there. Krishna never deserts His devotees to the forces of maya. Na me bhaktah pranasyati. ‘My devotee will never perish.’ For hundreds of years, the Muslims tried to stamp out Krishna worship in Vrindaban, Mathura , Jagannatha Puri—practically all of India Krishna is all-powerful, His Deity form is indestructible, and His dham possesses all spiritual potencies. There might have been some damage to the temples, but generally the Muslims did not enter Vrindaban. They were afraid.”
“Even today there are very few Muslims in Vrindaban-Mathura,” Dr. Kapoor says.
“Even today there are very few Muslims in Vrindaban-Mathura,” Dr. Kapoor says.
“Yes,” Prabhupada agrees. “The Brijbasis prefer to die rather than give up their Krishna . Throughout India you’ll find that some of the lower castes—the sudras, or vaishyas, or harijans—will convert to Mohammedanism, but in Vrindaban even the sudra will not give up Krishna, not even for all the gold in the world.”
“Why is that, Srila Prabhupada?” Gurudas asks. “Is it from living in Vrindaban and being so close to Krishna day by day?”
“Yes, that effect cannot be overestimated,” Prabhupada says. “At every turn, you are reminded of Krishna here, and your spiritual strength increases due to that contact. For instance, from ’62 to ’65, when I lived here, I would sit in these rooms and chant Hare Krishna and see the samadhis of Jiva and Rupa Goswamis. Just by thinking of how they wrote, I got courage to write. I would type and cook a little. I lived very simply, content to be in Rupa Goswami’s presence. These samadhis are the best in Gaudiya Vaishnavism. They actually inspired me to go to the West. Now I have hundreds of temples to go to, but I still like it here best of all. What do you think, Hayagriva?”
“I’m glad you invited me here, Srila Prabhupada,” I say.
“But I think the sanitation facilities are not up to your country’s,” he laughs. Then, seriously: “Since 1965, they have not kept the streets very nicely. The sewage is spoiling it all, even the river. Now there’s no place to go bathing.”
“Most people agree that India
“Nonsense,” Prabhupada says. “Does that mean Krishna can’t supply His children with sufficient food, clothing, and shelter? No. The creation is perfect because it comes from the Supreme Perfect. Om purnam adah purnam idam. The Supreme Perfect has made perfect arrangements for all living entities. The problem is misuse of Krishna ’s gifts, misappropriation. Isavasyam idam sarvam. Everything belongs to the Supreme.”
“But why is it, Srila Prabhupada, that here in Vrindaban, Krishna ’s devotees also seem to suffer so?” Gurudas asks.
“Suffer? What is that suffering?” Prabhupada says.
“Many don’t have sufficient food. They sleep on the streets and—”
“Who says there’s not sufficient food? Is anyone starving? Just show me one starving man. In any temple a man can go and take prasadam. And as for sleeping, everyone is sleeping. When you sleep, do you know whether you’re on a king’s couch or a stone road? The Goswamis would sleep under a different tree every night, and then for only two or three hours. There’s no problem eating, sleeping, defending, mating. There’s no lack there, no poverty. The only poverty in India today is lack of Krishna consciousness—that’s all.”
“But most tourists are appalled when they come here and see the conditions,” Dr. Kapoor says. He is dressed in a spotless white kurta and pajama pants. “It will take more than your temple at Raman Reti to change all that.”
“Therefore I’m recommending a general program of clean-up, preservation, and restoration,” Prabhupada says. “True, the beautiful temples of the Goswamis—Madana Mohana, Govindaji, especially—are crumbling due to neglect.”
“Sometimes people even use them as stone quarries,” Dr. Kapoor laments.
“So, we must first protect them. Then restore them to first-class condition, install Deities, and conduct daily aratiks. Then many people will come and benefit.”
“Why has... Krishna allowed His dham to deteriorate, Srila Prabhupada?” Gurudas asks.
“It has not deteriorated,” he replies.
“Well, you just said that the Goswami temples were neglected.”
“That’s a fact. But Vrindaban has not deteriorated.”
“Most Americans would be shocked to see what I saw this morning,” I say.
“How’s that?” Prabhupada asks.
“Well, for one, they’d consider it unhygenic.”
“Just see. For a materialist, everything is topsy-turvy because his vision is perverted. Beauty and ugliness are in the eye of the seer.”
“But what’s this veneer covering the holy dham?”
“The ugliness that you see here is yoga-maya,” Prabhupada says. “It’s Krishna ’s covering. Vrindaban appears this way to drive away the atheists and impersonalists, just as New York Krishna ’s transcendental abode in the spiritual sky-Goloka Vrindaban. But you must have the eyes to see.”
“Transcendental vision,” Dr. Kapoor says.
“Yes, Vrindaban hides herself from the materialist,” Prabhupada says.
“You speak of Vrindaban as a person,” I say.
“In spiritual consciousness, everything is personal,” Prabhupada says. “Even the city of Ravana
“Well, I’ve certainly noticed a difference between the consciousness of Delhi
“Krishna ’s mercy keeps His devotees poor,” Prabhupada says. “Their only wealth is Krishna consciousness. Krishna doesn’t want them diverted by Maya Devi.”
“But I still don’t see how this is as good as Goloka Vrindaban,” I say.
“Then you must try to rediscover Vrindaban,” Prabhupada says. “That you must do. It is a question of consciousness. The real Vrindaban is there in your own heart, hiding herself from you.”
“So how do I go about it?” I ask.
“Just follow the examples of the elevated Brijbasis,” he says, smiling. “For instance, the gopis, the milkmaids of Vrindaban, simply tried to make Krishna happy. That is Krishna consciousness: making Krishna happy. When you love someone, you want to make him happy, right?”
“Right.
“In Vrindaban, everyone is trying to please Krishna: the birds, trees, cows, the river, and all Krishnas associates. It’s not that Vrindaban is only here. We can have Vrindaban everywhere. Krishna is not limited. We should not think that because Krishna is far away in Goloka Vrindaban, He cannot accept what we offer Him. If you offer food with love, Krishna eats. Krishna does not leave Goloka Vrindaban, but His expansion goes and accepts food. This Vrindaban that just happens to appear in India is as worshipable as Krishna . So we cannot offend His dham, His home. If we live in Vrindaban, we are living with Krishna, because Vrindaban is nondifferent from Krishna . There’s no difference between the original Vrindaban and this Vrindaban. Vrindaban is so powerful.”
Again, I feel stupid and confused. I look at Gurudas and Shyamsundar, expecting to see my confusion reflected, but they continue staring at Srila Prabhupada. According to scripture, the original Vrindaban, Goloka Vrindaban, is shaped like the whorl of a lotus and is situated in Vaikuntha, the spiritual sky. In Vaikuntha, there’s no anxiety, no birth, old age, disease or death, and everything partakes of the nature of sat-chit-ananda-eternity, knowledge, and bliss.
I wonder: Are the lepers composed of sat-chit-ananda? Are they actually four-armed demigods in disguise? Do they simply assume their ghastly appearances just to frighten the worldly?
“Srila Prabhupada,” I venture, breaking the brief, thoughtful silence.
“Yes?”
“Now I’m confused.”
“How’s that? I have not explained clearly?”
“Yes, but I don’t understand how this Vrindaban is nondifferent from Goloka Vrindaban.”
“You do not know what ‘nondifferent’ means?” he asks, looking straight at me, his head held back, his posture very erect, like a hatha-yogi’s.
“It means ‘the same as,’” I answer.
“Yes.”
“So ... I can’t quite accept that.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I’m confused because—”
“You must be confused,” he says. “You are not perfect.”
“Well—”
“Are you perfect?” His voice rises, and I sense that I’ve said something offensive.
“No,” I admit.
“Then you must be confused.”
“Well, I’m not the only one,” I say stupidly.
“If you’re not perfect, you must be confused. That’s the only answer.”
“There’s no other?”
“If you are not perfect, how can you get the right conclusion?”
“Most of what you say, I can understand, at least intellectually,” I say. “But this I don’t understand at all.”
“That means you are not completely perfect,” he says. “As far as you are perfect, you understand.”
“I’m afraid I’m far from perfect, Srila Prabhupada.”
“Because your senses are imperfect, you understand in an imperfect way. This means that you must understand from the authorities. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says that Vrindaban is as worshipable as Krishna .”
“That I can understand,” I say. “What I don’t understand is how this Vrindaban is nondifferent from Goloka Vrindaban. When coming here in the ricksha, I saw many old people, a dead man, and many diseased people, lepers. So, old age, disease, and death exist here.”
“Of course,” Prabhupada says. “Just listen. This is not Goloka Vrindaban. This Vrindaban is a replica, and therefore nondifferent, but because it’s manifest in the material universe, the laws of material nature are working here. When we worship Deities in the temple, everyone can see that They are made of stone, metal, or wood, but still the Deities are not different from Krishna . They are Krishna . We certainly are not worshiping stone and wood, though to the naked eye it may appear so. When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to Puri and saw Lord Jagannatha, He immediately fell down and said, ‘Here is Krishna .’ It’s a matter of vision. Now do you understand?”
“Yes,” I say. “My eyes deceive me.”
“Not just you,” Prabhupada laughs. “Everyone in a madhouse is more or less a lunatic, and everyone in this material universe is blind to Krishna . Otherwise, no one would be here.”
“Another point I don’t understand,” I say, “is Krishna ’s departure from this earth. You once said that when He leaves, He takes His paraphernalia with Him to the spiritual sky.”
“Yes. When a governor comes and goes from a circuit house, he takes his things with him but leaves the empty house behind. Similarly, when Krishna comes to this planet, He comes here. This Vrindaban is Krishna ’s house. Therefore it’s as good as Goloka Vrindaban.”
“Will He come again in this age?”
“No, not in Kali Yuga. But when He comes, this is the place.”
“‘But it wasn’t like this when He was here, was it?”
“That may be,” Prabhupada says patiently, “but that doesn’t mean it’s less important. Rest assured that those who are responsible for the upkeep of Vrindaban will have to suffer by taking birth as dogs and hogs here. Still, they are not the... losers. Vrindaban is even more potent because the dogs and hogs here are going to be liberated. Life here is not polluted because even the most polluted are being purified.”
“I still don’t understand why Krishna has allowed His own abode to deteriorate,” I say.
“It is not deteriorating,” Prabhupada says firmly. “If even the dogs are going to be liberated, how has it deteriorated?”
“But it’s not nicely kept up.”
“Not nicely kept up in your eyes, but your vision is imperfect.”
“Not only mine,” I persist.
“No. Everyone’s. But even if everyone says that two plus two equals five, is that a fact?”
“No.”
“Therefore the majority opinion may be mistaken. You must take shelter of a perfect authority like the bona fide guru. Because he never contradicts Shastra, the guru’s opinion outweighs all others. If guru says that grass is blue and sky is green, his opinion must still be accepted. We must accept the fact that our vision is so imperfect that we are mistaken about the color.”
“People are often mistaken about Vrindaban in the beginning,” Gurudas says.
“Yes, because they are trying to find fault with Vrindaban,” Prabhupada says. “But a devotee knows that Vrindaban is Vrindaban. ‘England land of Krishna
“Srila Prabhupada, are people here liberated even if they don’t have a bona fide spiritual master?” Gurudas asks.
“Yes,” Prabhupada says, “because Vrindaban is directly under Krishna ’s supervision. Krishna is their spiritual master.”
“I think it’s better to have you as a spiritual master,” Gurudas says, “than to be born in Vrindaban.”
“That’s a Vaishnava attitude,” Prabhupada smiles. “I remember that wherever my Guru Maharaj went, Vrindaban was there also. Since the bona fide spiritual master carries the Vrindaban atmosphere with him, then it’s better to be with him.”
“We’re in the best situation of all, Prabhupada,” Shyamsundar says. “We have both you and Vrindaban.”
“I’m simply Vrindaban’s messenger,” he says humbly, his demeanor suddenly very serious and reflective. “Vrindaban is revealed in the heart of the sincere devotee. In reality, it is not on any map, nor is it part of any country. It was in Vrindaban that I first began writing, not for name and fame, but because my Guru Maharaj told me, ‘Spread the gospel of Krishna in the English language.’ Although he gave that instruction in 1935, I hesitated, not knowing how to go about it or how to write. Then, twenty years later, my Guru Maharaj began appearing in my dreams, telling me to give up householder life and go to Vrindaban. After several of these dreams, I knew that the time had come. My children were grown, and I could leave my wife in their care. So, I came here, and eventually, by Krishna ’s arrangement, stayed at this most sanctified place, Radha Damodar. It was here that I began writing. I thought, ‘It may be published, or it may not be published—that does not matter. I will write for purification, that’s all.’
“Actually, it was my Guru Maharaj speaking through me. But I was not very expert at writing, as he was. Oh, he was a most erudite man, most refined and expert, a gentleman, a Vaikuntha man. Because I had never written before, there were so many grammatical discrepancies, yet I had to write. The subject matter was so important, so urgent. So I wrote those first three volumes of Srimad Bhagavatam, the First Canto. All of our philosophy, everything you need to know, is in those first three volumes. By Krishna’s grace, I managed to collect money to get them printed, and I took them with me on the boat to New York I didn’t go to America Krishna consciousness movement. If I have been successful, it’s because I have delivered my Guru Maharaj’s message intact, without change or deletion. That is parampara. The bona fide guru is like the postman delivering a message. He doesn’t open the mail and write his own opinion. You may like the message or not, take it up or not—I have done my duty. I have delivered it. And it all began here. Therefore these Radha Damodar rooms are the hub of the wheel of the spiritual universe.”