Vrindavan

When Dhruva Mahārāja, the son of the King, was thus advised by the great sage Nārada, he circumambulated Nārada, his spiritual master, and offered him respectful obeisances. Then he started for Madhuvana, which is always imprinted with the…

Their lotuslike faces extraordinarily beautiful, being decorated with saffron and newly grown kuṅkuma, the wives of the cowherd men hurried to the house of mother Yaśodā with presentations in their hands. Because of natural beauty, the…

Meanwhile, all the cowherd men, headed by Nanda Mahārāja, returned from Mathurā, and when they saw on the way the gigantic body of Pūtanā lying dead, they were struck with great wonder.

The supreme, foremost abode of the Sātvatas—exceedingly difficult to attain even for those devoted to Viṣṇu—is the eternal place called Vṛndāvana, situated above the cosmic egg (the universe).

Pārvatī said: “O Lord, the secret of Vṛndāvana has been explained in many ways. By what particular kind of merit did Nārada attain (his) true nature?”

In delightful Vṛndāvana, on the auspicious bank of the Yamunā, they made a beautiful dwelling—for the cows and for the community of cowherd maidens as well.

With drifting pollen-dust making the faces of the directions fragrant, the mantra-practitioner—fully collected in mind—should contemplate Vṛndāvana, cooled as it were by remembrance.

Sacred are the many narratives of kings, the description of Jagannātha, and the glorification of Vṛndāvana—(all of these are) destroyers of every sin.

Next comes the greatness of Vṛndāvana; then the account of how even an animal attained a higher destiny in Brahmā’s presence. After that follows the narrative of Mohinī—thus, one topic after another, proceeds the Nāradiya Purāṇa.

Thus instructed, the mighty cowherds set out—led in front by Nanda—having loaded their goods upon carts and having paid the due levy (toll/tribute) for the journey.

Therefore, let us not delay—let us go from this place to Vṛndāvana at once, before the baleful taint of some great earthly portent overwhelms Vraja.

Once, without Balarāma at his side, Kṛṣṇa went to Vṛndāvana; surrounded by the cowherd boys, radiant with garlands woven from forest-flowers, he wandered freely through the woodland—moving as the sovereign indweller who sports within his…