(3/3) Sri Govardhan Parikrama:
At Sri Radha Kunda

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Govardhan Parikrama, Sri Radha Kunda
29 October 2019, translated from Bengali

[His Divine Grace 'Radha-kunda-tata-kunja-kutira'.]

Can you all hear me? Where have your minds gone? Listen attentively to the glories of Sri Radha Kunda and Sri Shyama Kunda. I will tell you how these two places were created.

Jay Radha Kunda ki jay!
Jay Shyama Kunda ki jay!
Jay Lalita Kunda ki jay!

As the result of our great fortune and by the mercy of our Sri Gurupadpadma, we have come together with all the devotees to Sri Radha Kunda on the last day of our Sri Govardhan parikrama. You know it and when we go to Vrindavan, we will also be talking about it – when Krishna appeared in Kamsa's prison house in Mathura, Vasudev took Krishna to Gokula to protect Him from Kamsa. Despite that, Kamsa caused so much atrocities that Nanda Maharaj could not tolerate it. He loved Krishna so much that he could not allow risking Krishna getting hurt. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so nobody can hurt Him, but out of parental love (vatsalya-rasa) Nanda Maharaj could not help worrying and wanting to protect his son. So, to shield Krishna from any danger, they moved to Nandagram at Nandiswar Parvat. Nanda Maharaj and Raja Vrisabhanu (the father of Srimati Radhika) were good friends, so when When Nanda Maharaj moved to Nandagram, Raja Vrisabhanu also moved with him. He and his family settled in Varshana, at Varsanu Parvat (Varsanu Hill). We will go to both places tomorrow.

In the meantime, Krishna performed many of His pastimes – Terkadamba, etc. – wherever He was. Kamsa also did not waste time. He sent many demons to kill Krishna, but none of them could do anything to Him. Kamsa grew angrier and angrier and devised more and more ways to kill Krishna. He knew that Krishna loved cows very much, so one day he sent to Krishna a demon disguised as a bull. That demon's name is Aristasur. Krishna could easily understand who had come (that it was not a bull but a demon sent by Kamsa), but He did not kill the demon at once. He first waited for him to come closer. As soon as Aristasur came close, Krishna killed him.

When that happened, Lalita Devi, Visakha and other gopis and manjaris spoke to Radharani, expressing their condemnation, 'Oh, Krishna has killed a cow! He is a sinner, so we will not mix with Him anymore!' What was Krishna to do now? He stayed alone. He asked His girlfriends, 'What can I do to atone for My sin?' Srimati Radharani told Him, 'You must go to the twelve holy places (Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, and so on) and bathe in each of them, then Your sin will be removed.' At first, Krishna thought, 'How can I go there? How can I leave Vrindavan?' but then He came up with an idea, 'What if I bring all the holy places here?' Srimati Radharani replied, 'Yes, it will work, too.'

So, Krishna took His flute and created a pond (kunda) with His flute. This is how Shyama Kunda appeared.

At first, nobody believed Krishna that all the holy places were inside Shyama Kunda. Krishna called all the gopis and in front of them started calling out to the twelve holy places:

'Ganga Devi? Are you here?'

'Yes, I am present.'

'Yamuna Devi?'

'Here.'

And so on. Krishna called out to all twelve places, and all the places confirmed that they were present. Then, everybody believed Krishna.

'So, shall I bathe in this pond?' Krishna asked.

'Yes, go ahead.'

Krishna bathed in His Shyama Kunda, but then the gopis made another statement. They said, 'You have bathed in this holy pond, so all Your sin is now in its water. We will not touch this water!' Then, Srimati Radharani took Her bangles off and made another holy pond with them – Sri Radha Kunda. Seeing Radha Kunda, Krishna said, 'So, My pond is contaminated, and Your pond is pure? Let us do this. Let us take some water from Your pond and put it in My pond, then My pond will become purified.

From that time, the two ponds are forever connected and the water from both ponds always remains mixed. Both ponds are eternally pure, and if you come to these ponds, you get the result of visiting all holy places.

Jay Radha Kunda ki jay.

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Sri Uddhav Kunda and Sri Narad Kunda: Tears of Afflicted Hearts
2) At Sri Radha Kunja-Bihari Gaudiya Math
3) At Sri Radha Kunda