Adhyaya 16

Chapter 16 has Skanda recount Nārada’s visionary ascent. From Mount Meru, Nārada beholds Śvetadvīpa and the liberated devotees (śvetamuktas); fixing his mind on Vāsudeva, he is instantly conveyed to the divine realm. The śvetamuktas recognize his ekāntika-bhakti—exclusive, one-pointed devotion—and respond to his longing to see Kṛṣṇa directly. A śvetamukta, inwardly impelled by Kṛṣṇa, guides him along the celestial route: past the abodes of the devas, beyond the Saptaṛṣis and Dhruva, through Maharloka, Janaloka, and Tapoloka, and even beyond Brahmaloka and the “eight coverings” of the cosmic elements. Nārada reaches an extraordinary Goloka, radiant with the Virajā river, jeweled banks, wish-fulfilling trees, and a many-gated, fortified splendor. The narration expands into a sacred catalogue of architecture and ecology—fragrant groves, divine animals, rāsa-maṇḍapas, innumerable ornamented gopīs, and the celestial Vṛndāvana as the beloved play-region of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā. At last Nārada arrives at Kṛṣṇa’s wondrous temple complex with layered gates and named gatekeepers; admitted by permission, he beholds an immense inner effulgence, signaling nearness to direct darśana while emphasizing devotional qualification and divinely guided access.