Purpose of Pilgrimage

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
8 June 2019, Kolkata, part 2

In order to teach materialists, Mahaprabhu performed the pastimes of going to Vrindavan to take the darsan of the transcendental abode of the Lord's pastimes. He did this to teach us. Krishna and Mahaprabhu are non-different—Vrindavan is the place of Krishna's pastimes, but Mahaprabhu went there to discover many places in order to show others how it is necessary for them to practise Krishna consciousness. What for should one go to Vrindavan? For the service to the dham. This is what Mahaprabhu went there for.

The souls who are bound by maya mistake a holy abode of Vrindavan for a material place—material people think Vrindavan is a place for their enjoyment. They go to Puri and see it as a place for enjoyment, they bathe in the sea and see it as a place for enjoyment, but this is wrong—Mahaprabhu did not teach this, it is completely against Mahaprabhu's teaching.

People think that living in a holy place can give them a birth in heaven, it can help them remove sins, it can give them piety or renunciation, but it is not what is implied by the sloka "Premanjana-chchhurita-bhakti-vilocanena: the Lord is always seen by the devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love." Materialists' staying in Vrindavan and pure transcendental devotees' staying in Vrindavan is not the same. Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami and the rest of the six goswamis are the ones who truly stayed in Vrindavan. It is not like us, material people, who stay in Vrindavan for enjoyment. It is completely different.

So, this is what Mahaprabhu teaches us. He went to Vrindavan to show people, "I am visiting holy places—I am searching for the holy places, I want to discover holy places—so that those who are conditioned souls, who cannot understand everything, could go there with devotees and be able to understand what a holy place is. This is what we should go to a holy place for.

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Previous parts:

• Purpose of Pilgrimage

• Mahaprabhu's Arrival in Vrindavan

• Mahaprabhu Returns to Prayag