Lifelong circumambulation of Govardhana - Is it common?

I recently saw a slideshow of photographs from VRndAvana. One of the photographs showed an old renounced bhakta who was engaged in a lifelong circumambulation of Govardhana. He had a pile of 108 stones and a small altar. His procedure was that he would offer obeisances to his deity, move a stone from his feet to his head, offer obeisances again, move another stone, and so on until all 108 stones were in front of him. He would then move his altar forward and repeat the procedure.

Is this common? Are there many devotees who do this? Is there a name for this practice?

I haven't heard of life-long circumambulation as such. However, many people do come with a pile of 108 stones and do their dandavati-parikrama around Govardhan, often doing it for several months. I've heard some having even more stones. Some do with less, too. Some have a small wagon they push around for the purpose, hosting a small altar and some of their belongings.

Dandavati-parikrama is not practiced by all that many Gaudiyas. Many have, however, taken a vrata to complete two or three Govardhan-parikramas daily. Some sleep under the trees or on the banks of the kundas, dedicated to their life of bhajan, of which a major aspect is the circumambulation of Govardhan.

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Two sadhus on a walking parikrama.

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Sadhu doing dandavat-parikrama.

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An uninterrupted flow of pilgrims on a Dvadashi.

I haven't heard of life-long circumambulation as such. However, many people do come with a pile of 108 stones and do their dandavati-parikrama around Govardhan, often doing it for several months. I've heard some having even more stones. Some do with less, too. Some have a small wagon they push around for the purpose, hosting a small altar and some of their belongings.

Dandavati-parikrama is not practiced by all that many Gaudiyas. Many have, however, taken a vrata to complete two or three Govardhan-parikramas daily. Some sleep under the trees or on the banks of the kundas, dedicated to their life of bhajan, of which a major aspect is the circumambulation of Govardhan.

[attachmentid=1364]
Two sadhus on a walking parikrama.

[attachmentid=1365]
Sadhu doing dandavat-parikrama.

[attachmentid=1367]
An uninterrupted flow of pilgrims on a Dvadashi.

I haven't heard of life-long circumambulation as such. However, many people do come with a pile of 108 stones and do their dandavati-parikrama around Govardhan, often doing it for several months. I've heard some having even more stones. Some do with less, too. Some have a small wagon they push around for the purpose, hosting a small altar and some of their belongings.

Dandavati-parikrama is not practiced by all that many Gaudiyas. Many have, however, taken a vrata to complete two or three Govardhan-parikramas daily. Some sleep under the trees or on the banks of the kundas, dedicated to their life of bhajan, of which a major aspect is the circumambulation of Govardhan.

[attachmentid=1364]
Two sadhus on a walking parikrama.

[attachmentid=1365]
Sadhu doing dandavat-parikrama.

[attachmentid=1367]
An uninterrupted flow of pilgrims on a Dvadashi.

Thank you, Madhavananda. Apparently, this particular bhakta had made a lifelong commitment to performing such parikrama. Is such parikrama described in any text?

Of course, in his Stavavali, we find Raghunath Das Goswami's two heart-felt dashakams for residence at Govardhan. Most Vaishnavas who attain a resolve to live near Govardhan come to Govardhan for the remainder of their lives, and since circumambulation is one of the main methods of worship of Govardhan, they also adopt a vow to regularly circumambulate the mountain.

I do not know of a specific term for such a vow of parikrama. I would tend to think it is included in a vow to reside at Govardhan for good.

The lifelong vrata of Govardhana parikrama as a daily sadhana may have its roots in the example of Sri Sanatan Goswami. Sri Sanatan Goswami would daily perform the worship of Sri Govardhana Hill through this parikrama. When Sri Sanatan was unable to perform this vrata because of old age he lamented. Sri Krsna then appeared to the Goswami, playing His lovely sweet sounding flute and with a cow next to Him standing on a stone of Govardhana. The Lord's melodiously sweet flute music melted the Govardhana stone and Sri Krsna presented this stone to Sanatan and told him to perform parikrama of this stone 7 times and it will give him the blessing of having completed the entire parikrama around the Hill.

That stone is visible in the temple of Sri Radha Damodara in Seva Kunja with the imprint of Sri Krsna's foot and a cow's hoof print.

Parikrama (circumambulation of holy places, bathing in holy rivers) is of the devotional item of pada sevanam-serving Lord Krsna's feet.

Thank you for that story. I was thinking of it myself, but couldn't recall the details. Aren't there similar narrations of some of the other Goswamis as well? This narration is of course very famous. I wonder if Raghunath Das Goswami ever made it out of Radha-kunda towards the end of his life...

I recently read online that the ashes of Raghunatha dasa Goswami are entombed in the temple of Radha-Gopinath. Also that Jiva Goswami personally performed last rites and placed ashes in the samadhi and that some parts of his ashes were placed in different places because of fear of repressive Mogul rule, to prevent desecration.

This may be a bit off topic, but does anyone know why he was cremated rather than (what I thought was) the usual practice for advanced devotees of being placed into samadhi in their physical form without cremation?

I think this is the samadhi...

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I recently read online that the ashes of Raghunatha dasa Goswami are entombed in the temple of Radha-Gopinath. Also that Jiva Goswami personally performed last rites and placed ashes in the samadhi and that some parts of his ashes were placed in different places because of fear of repressive Mogul rule, to prevent desecration.

This may be a bit off topic, but does anyone know why he was cremated rather than (what I thought was) the usual practice for advanced devotees of being placed into samadhi in their physical form without cremation?

I think this is the samadhi...

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I believe the cremations were done for the very reason you mention, namely the grave possibility of desecreation. The same was actually done also with Raghunath Bhatta Goswami and Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami, who, along with Das Goswami, all joined nitya-lila on the same day (Azvina-zukla-dvAdazI), during different years. In the memory of their place of cremation, you'll now find the "Tin Goswami Samadhi" or the samadhi of the three Goswamis at Shyama-kunda.

What exactly does the zAstras say regarding what to do with the dead body of an advanced bhakta? I know plenty of statements to the effect that the body of a sannyAsin should not be burned and some detailed instructions on the matter as well, but an advanced bhakta is not necessarily a sannyAsin. Does the HaribhaktivilAsa have something on this?

As everyone knows of course, the actual parikrama of Govardhana Hill goes back to the time of Lord Krsna's manifest lila wherein He orders His associates to worship the Hill through food offerings and circumambulation of the Hill.

I remember some of my most mystical devotional experiences was circumambulating Govardhana Hill. Although it can be great suffering for the body, the spiritual rewards are fantastic.



We all know how he wanted to end his life by jumping off Govardhana Hill because of separation from Mahaprabhu, after Das Goswami left Jagannath Puri and the Vaisnavas in Puri were in grief because of Prabhu's disappearance. But Sri Sanatana and Sri Rupa saved him and offered him a place near Govardhana Hill--Sri Radha Kunda. That was the benediction offered by Mahaprabhu to Sri Das Goswami by offering him His very own Govardhana Shila and gunja mala, a place near Govardhana and the feet of Sri Radha.

This was a very nice read of the sadhus and their devotion to Govardhana Hill. Thank you all for your devotional practices and those who have passed along this rich heritage.