Braja in Braja - What's the news?

I would really like to hear the news from Braja's visit to Braja. (We may need to discuss alternative spellings for Braja.)

Any chance?

Having trouble readjusting to life here, so please excuse the delays.

I've thought a bit about what to write here but will probably just let it flow. As a background to it all, I'll just say that I spent a few years living in the Krishna Balaram Mandir and have always considered Vrindavan to be a central part of my devotional world. I came away from this visit convinced more than ever of both the power and the necessity of a connection with the dhama. It's no accident that Mathura-vasa is included in pancanga bhakti!

Within hours of arriving, I was unexpectedly on my way to Vrindavan in a private car. My business engagements were primarily in Delhi, but my host happened to be visting Vrindavan as part of his monthly schedule so I jumped at the serendipitous opportunity.

It's been 5-6 years since I left India and there are many changes--there are more cars (and faster cars = deadlier accidents, give me an ambassador any day!) better roads, etc. Delhi is much, much cleaner now that all the buses run on CNG instead of diesel. No more digging and coughing black stuff out of your system after a day in the city. However the vehicle situation also means that Vrindavan is much more accessible, so, as it was a weekend, there were intense traffic jams several hundred feet before the Bhaktivedanta Swami gate.

Purusottama Masa had also swelled the number of visitors exponentially. In all my time in Vrindavan, I have never seen the number of dandavat-parikramiyas as there were during this month--kids, husbands and wives (with the wife also touching her husband's feet at each dandavat), families, whole villages, those missing limbs or fractions of limbs. If you have never been in Vrindavan during this month, I'd highly recommend it. It is very much like Karttika, but warmer, and there aren't the same kind of distractions you get when the angrezis arrive en masse.

Soon after arriving I was face-to-face with my past. Three pillars of my life in Vrindavan were present there and I spent many hours in conversation with them. It was incredibly enlivening and edifying. And this is one of the great powers of the dhama that I appreciated: it seemed entirely possible to respect and hear from someone even when disagreeing with them. The heavy undercurrent of having a shared goal, of being in the land of Sri Radha and Syama, made the differences in view seem minor, inconsequential even.

Within 24 hours though, I was heading back to Delhi to pursue the business side of the trip. There too, I had some interesting discussions on ISKCON vs orthodoxy and I'll see if I can find time to mention some of them later. When I was able to return to Vrindavan again, I made an arrangement to visit Surya Kunda and Radha Kunda. (I've got a few photos of Surya Kunda and will post them separately). Surya Kunda has always been a place I really wanted to visit after seeing a photo of Surya Narayana-ji years ago and then hearing of the pastimes that take place there. By the time I reached Radha Kunda, there was a torrential downpour and parts of the parikrama-marg were a foot deep in water. Madhavananda-ji had mentioned a guest house across from Bhaktivinode Thakura's Swananda-Sukhada-Kunj but I found myself in front of the Manorama (?) dharmasala with buckets of water coming down so decided to stay there. Once the rain cleared, I headed out to take bath and perform parikrama. A nice panda welcomed me to the dhama, yelling "Go back to your country" when I ignored his orders on where and what I should be doing (or should it be "how much?"). I then set out to visit Ananta Das Baba's asrama.

When I went up the stairs, I saw a Western devotee eating a handful of prasada. I recognized him slightly and later found out that he had lived at the Krishna Balarama Mandir during a time when I had also lived there. The gusto with which he ate, and the amount of prasad in his hand--it was piled high--had me wondering whether he was performing some kind of vrata. Then when he started nodding and gesturing instead of speaking, I assumed that he might also be performing mauna. I was wrong on both counts. In fact, seriously wrong. :-) If this particular devotee was silent for an extended period, his head might explode! He was enthusiasm personified.

He asked me if I wanted to meet Babaji Maharaja, to which I enthusiastically agreed. (The gesturing had been in the direction of where Baba's room is). Just as we started to walk there, the gate on Baba's office closed but the devotee--let's call him Caitanya Das--called in through the gate, saying there was a Western devotee here who wanted to meet Baba. I was allowed in and, after offering dandavats, I introduced myself and began dropping names like crazy. Baba was very congenial and with a big smile said that he had been expecting me and wondered if I wasn't going to come. I passed on respects from Rasaraja and Jagat. He mentioned that he had just written to Rasaraja and then he spoke about Jagat for a while, saying "he used to be here and sometimes in Navadvipa. He gives very good patha. When will he come? When will he come to Vraja?"

When the topic got onto books he laughed a lot at the mention of LoiBazzar.com. He asked how long I would stay and seemed disappointed when I told him that I could only stay two days. After some time he offered me prasad (it was a feast day) but I could only take a little. He told me something of his program for that evening and the next day and then said that he had to leave.

I then talked with "Caitanya Das" (CD) for an hour or two. He quickly revealed to me all kinds of visions he'd had, intimate visions. At one point he held his hands over his chest indicating what it felt like to have breasts!

After that I spent most of the rest of the day chanting by Jahnava Ma's baithak. Around 5pm I heard a beautiful mangalacaranam being recited and went to investigate. It was Vaisnava Pada Das beginning an evening patha. I sat through it, just to "be there" despite the language issue. (Interestingly, across the kunda the loudspeakers had begun reciting the Bhagavatam's Fifth Canto around the same time. 5th Canto at Radha Kunda--now there was a stereotype being broken. Probably a Bhagavata-saptaha.) After the patha, I went back out to chant and found CD there.

We talked for a while--he often sees the face of Radha in the Kunda--and then Yugal Kishore came by, apparently looking for me. Yugal is another of these brilliant young guys (23-24, I think) who must have some past life devotional samskara. He is Russian, a programmer, very intelligent and somehow fortunate enough to be living at Radha Kunda serving Babaji Maharaja. It was 10:45 pm by the time we finished talking. The power had gone off a couple of hours earlier so we sat there basking in the natural aura of the Kunda. I was so transfixed by the conversation that my neck actually started to lock up from focussing so intently. Yugal gave a very rounded introduction to lila smarana and other practices. One of the salient points he made was in regard to truly believing and being attracted to Radha Krsna lila. Without the absorption of smarana, are you both truly convinced and ready to "step over"? Yugal has set his watch to beep every 24 minutes to remind himself of the lila taking place at each period. He has also developed elaborate computer maps and time scales of the daily pastimes. And he has begun to collect photos of all the siddha babas of recent times. But more on that later...

In fact, more on everything later. I've gotta get back to work. In the next installment, I'll describe my longer discussion with Babaji Maharaja and general impressions.

Dandavats. All glories to the Vaisnavas.

Life is so extremely hectic right now that I barely find myself able to catch my breathe... right now life is like a soccer match and I am the ball! Thank you to Braja for bringing some life as I was no doubt living through you as I read your story so please coninue. I am praying earnestly that Sri Radhika allows me to come to Braja this December especially in the company of Madhava, Braja and so many wonderful Vaisnavas.

Aspiring to serve the Vaisnavas,
Rasaraja dasa

Radhe Radhe!

I've never been to Vraja, Braja!

"kabe habe bolo sedina amar"! I'm the most unfortunate one, but fortunate enough at the same time to be qualified to join in Srivas Angan so that I can get this ride with you to Vrindavan. Like to see more...

Jay Radhe!

Thank you for sharing this inspiring narration, Brajaji.

Ah, Caitanya Das. Many consider him a bit mad, but you have to admit he is sincere about his thing.

Yugal has had his watch beeping every 24 minutes for a couple of years now. You should hear his PC reading out Govinda Lilamrita to him. Where does he stay at Radha Kund now?

We are now considering the possibility of going to Vraja a bit later this year and staying until sometime after Gaura Purnima.

I like CD a lot. His enthusiasm conquers all! One of the pandas calls him "Radha Kunda Das," which is appropriate. He doesn't seem to have interest in anything else.

Yugal is in Gaura Dhama, a staying in a nice room in a house at the end of the lane...with a good wireless internet connection!

I loved his scientific approach to lila--for me the effect outweighed the means. I'm not scientific at all but his wasn't dry science, just someone applying their nature and personal methodology in a wonderful way.

I think that I got a much better perspective on the practicalities of raganuga practices by meeting Yugal. For instance he told me that he that often times people will try and adopt all aspects of yoga-pitha meditation, astakala-lila, etc., and then give up as it is too much. I also liked the pragmatism of Babaji Maharaja that came out when speaking with Yugal. e.g. that Baba told him that he should get a job as he was young, that he should charge for the materials that he produces, etc. He was also very respectful toward ISKCON, saying that they do the hard work. There was balance and maturity there, besides the obvious taste for bhajan, which was remarkable for someone so young. (I'm over the hill at 34!)

Sevaram was another devotee who impressed me greatly. His nature and even his physical features seemed to emanate bhakti.

I offered Yugal a ride to Delhi when I had to leave the dhama so I got to spend some more time with him. That was quite an experience in itself as I was also travelling with Braja Bihari, a good friend of mine and a prominent person in ISKCON. It was fun to watch the "two worlds" and see myself moving between them at each turn in the conversation. I spent a lot of time debating issues with ISKCON friends and it all went very well. But, as I suggested earlier, I think the dhama is a powerful place for putting things into perspective and sawing off any rough edges.

Jaya Radhe! Jaya Krsna! Jaya Vrindavan!

It will be wonderful if we can meet there en masse. Personally, I had forgotten the immense importance of the dhama and it will now be difficult to keep me away...OK, I guess that tickets do cost money and I am now broke due to all the book purchases, but that aside...

You're over the hill! Pity me...

Is Sachinandan Das still alive? Next person to go to Radha Kund has to see him for me. Get his photo. He is a very special soul. I hope he is still well enough to give you one of his world-illuminating smiles.

Dandavats. All glories to the Vaisnavas.

I am very interested to hear the details between yourself and our good friends. I am also interested in hearing more of your visits with Baba so get to work!

Aspiring to serve the Vaisnavas,
Rasaraja dasa

Since this is Srivas Angan, I thought I'd share what just happened. Actually, it's based on this thread. Braja wrote about Baba's kind thoughts toward me, and then Tamal wrote about Sachinandan Da.

I have written about Sachinandan Dasji before. He is my older godbrother. He was always an ecstatic, and his way of doing kirtan was so joyful. He was much taller than most Bengalis, with a beautiful face and a sunshine smile. His hair was uniformly white and he always kept it shaved so it gave him a very special appearance. He was always ready for kirtan.

But he was a lousy householder. He had a job, but his mind was always on Krishna. Our Prabhu (this is how we called Lalita Prasad Thakur) would make fun of him because of this, but I am sure that he was really pleased, because no one was more like a Vaishnava amongst all his disciples. His father was a babaji who lived in Vraja for many years before returning to householder life, so there was a Radha Kund culture in his family home. Some of his kirtan style must have rubbed off on Yashodananda and Gurukripa also.

Anyway, thanks Braja and Tamal for reminding me of these two saints who have given me so many blessings. I was chanting on my walk and I suddenly had a vision of them smiling at me, and I could feel how much they love me. It's not something I have really thought of, but it hit me powerfully, immobilizing me for a few moments.

When I opened my eyes, a snake slithered across my path. An itsy-bitsy thing, but a snake nevertheless. It was the first time I had seen a snake on these japa walks. My mind said, "There goes Maya, slithering away."

Anyway. The mercy is definitely real. That I don't doubt for a moment. I don't know how I am going to pay everyone back. With each day I go deeper into debt.

wow, thanks for sharing that. I don't know why I was given this little cyber sanga of Srivas Angan, but thank you all for it. Mercy...

Day Two: (cont'd)

I went to a Panda's house for prasad in the morning. (The prasad was from an offering of 56 items at Puncari that day before. Some Gujurati bhakta's were sponsoring massive distribution.) His name escapes me right now but he is one of the youngest pandas there. Between him and "Caitanya Das," we had a very lively conversation over breakfast. CD asked the panda what his svarupa was, to which the panda replied that brijbasis were "Radha nakha." Afterward, CD told me that he had seen the panda at Baba's asrama several times and believed that he may have secretly taken initiation there. Such are the adventures in Vraja.

After that I was scheduled to meet Yugal and arrange for all the books but we got to Babaji Maharaja's room early so I got a chance to speak with him in more depth. I asked about selling books to which he responded that I could sell "all." As I'd been told by Yugal that Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi and Vilap Kusumanjali shouldn't be distributed freely, I took the all to mean all minus them. I told Babaji Maharaja how I found his commentaries to be so effective and recounted an example of reading Raga Vartma Candrika and often finding that I didn't know what VV Cakravartipada was saying but my exact doubts were answered in Baba's commentary. I remember telling him that it was as if the commentary was alive. He seemed to really like that and laughed a lot, looking at the other devotee in the room.

After some time I asked my first "challenging" question, regarding siddha pranali and why it wasn't mentioned in the Goswami literature. I've asked the same question here before but as I'd been attending classes on Bhakti Sandarbha while in Vrindavan and we'd been covering the different types of guru, I thought to ask it then. Baba began by explaining that Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to give raganuga bhakti and then spoke in general terms before honing in with an example that bowled me over. He spoke of the parampara being like a river, "like the Yamuna". It is flowing in one place and you have to go to the river, it doesn't come to you. His reply really affected me as I am so eclectic in my approach. His response challenged that and showed me the weakness of my independent position...and my arrogance also.

A few other points:
- he asked about my background and I told him that I had taken harinam in ISKCON. He then said, "Harinam has brought you here."
- he told me to chant and keep reading, take shelter of harinam.

[Actually, I am remembering his voice now as I write. Powerful memories!]

-he asked if I had done Govardhana parikrama and I said that I had done it several times, but he said, "no, now. During Purusottama Mas. There is special benefit." I said I hadn't and didn't really have a lot of time, but he pressed on, saying that I was young and that I should do it. I then put my palms together and told him that I would do it. Later, I started thinking that maybe I could go to Radha Damodar and circumambulate Giriraj there! But after returning to Vrindavan, I decided that I'd have to fulfill my duty so the next day, I took a tempo (the only way to go!) and enlisted a former pupil of my wife's and performed the parikrama. We did it in four hours, which was quite amazing as it was incredibly busy and we started in the afternoon. Each time we hit a crowd, I'd speed up. It was a very nice parikrama--so nice that its effects lingered in my legs for several days after.

All for now.

Dear Braja,

Dandavats. All glories to the Vaisnavas.

Can you further elaborate on the following exchange:

"After some time I asked my first "challenging" question, regarding siddha pranali and why it wasn't mentioned in the Goswami literature. I've asked the same question here before but as I'd been attending classes on Bhakti Sandarbha while in Vrindavan and we'd been covering the different types of guru, I thought to ask it then. Baba began by explaining that Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to give raganuga bhakti and then spoke in general terms before honing in with an example that bowled me over. He spoke of the parampara being like a river, "like the Yamuna". It is flowing in one place and you have to go to the river, it doesn't come to you."

I look forward to future installments!

Aspiring to serve the Vaisnavas,
Rasaraja dasa

Wow! I don't know what to say except thanks for sharing your experiences Braj. I am just reading straight through pretty much everything in SRIVAS ANGAN and I'm impressed. Thanks so much - everyone!

Ys,

It is your guys time now - it is wonderful to hear about it!
So much Love and Joy and enthusiasm!

Dandavats. All glories to the Vaisnavas.

I think we should make it a point to document our time together in Vrindavan this year. It will be so nice to be with you all together in the dham and I think much can be made of our time together.

Aspiring to serve the Vaisnavas,
Rasaraja dasa

I'm definitely planning to keep a journal, which I plan to start now as my thoughts are very much gearing up for the trip. By the way, who is all going to be there? As far as I know the following people will be there: Rasaraj & family, Madhava & Malatilata, and myself. Who am I missing?

Hey! We can have another East Coast Gathering there! That is east of all of us, no? Oh, but its not on the 'coast'

Ys,

NMd

Dandavats. All glories to the Vaisnavas.

From here you are missing Braja and his family. Outside of here and from our old group of friends you are missing many: Dhanurdhar Maharaja, Keli Lalita and family, Gopi Manjari dasi, Kirtana Rasa and family, Gandiva dasi, Trivikrama dasa, Bhurijana and family, etc.

In all honesty I wish it would be a bit more "quiet" when we are there although I really look forward to seeing many of these devotees. Just all at once is a bit daunting to me. I don;t do well in large groups! That is magnified as I really want to spend the "right" time when I am in the dhama and that becomes hard with so many eyes on you.

Aspiring to serve the Vaisnavas,
Rasaraja dasa